Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean(English, Paperback, Gruen Erich S.)

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Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean(English, Paperback, Gruen Erich S.) is written by Gruen Erich S. and published by Getty Trust Publications. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0892369698 (ISBN 10) and 9780892369690 (ISBN 13).

This is an illuminating collection of essays that explore the idea of cultural identity in the ancient Mediterranean. Cultural identity is a slippery and elusive concept. When applied to the collective self-consciousness among people or nations, it becomes all the more difficult to define or grasp. In recent decades scholars have focused on the 'other' - the alien, the unfamiliar, the different, perceived or conceived as the opposite - to highlight the virtues and advantages of the self. While this influential idea continues to hold sway, the time has come for a more nuanced and complex understanding of how the various societies of the ancient Mediterranean shaped their sense of identity. The twenty-four essays in this volume examine the subject from a variety of angles, encompassing a broad range of cultures: Greek, Persian, Jewish, Phoenician, Egyptian, Roman, Gallic, and German - and an impressive array of topics.