Women's Roles in Ancient Civilizations: A Reference Guide / Edition 1

by Bella Vivante

Overview

Knowledge about the roles of women in ancient civilizations has been limited to traditionally held notions, but recent discoveries and research have led to exciting insights into the great variety of ways in which women contributed to ancient cultures. This reference work, designed for student research, features lengthy essays and a wealth of new information about women's roles in twelve ancient civilizations around the world—China, India, Japan, Mesopotamia, the Levant, Egypt, West Africa, Greece, Rome, the Maya, the Inca, and Native North America.

Historical studies have tended to ignore women's roles in ancient civilizations and to devalue their contributions to the community. These essays examine women's religious, political, public, economic, and domestic roles, their legal status, creative expression in art and literature, and notions of beauty. Students can then compare women's roles across cultures. The contributors, each of whom is a subject specialist, examine not only the nature of women's limitations in patriarchal culture but the ways in which women often succeeded, despite these limitations, in becoming agents of social change. Each essay begins with a timeline of events in the history of that culture to place the narrative in historical context, and concludes with suggestions for further reading about women in that culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313301278
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)
Lexile:	1390L (what's this?)
Age Range:	15 Years

About the Author

BELLA VIVANTE is Associate Professor in the Humanities Program at the University of Arizona. Her research has focused on women's roles in ancient Greek religion, drama, poetry, and society, and she has also performed in ancient Greek, including scenes at the famed ancient theatre at Epidauros in Greece. Her translation of Euripides' Helen in Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides is forthcoming.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Asia: The Far East
Women in Ancient China
Women in Ancient India
Women in Ancient Japan
Asia: The Near East
Women in Ancient Mesopotamia
Women in Ancient Levant
Africa
Women in Ancient Egypt
Women in Ancient West Africa
The Mediterranean
Women in Ancient Greece
Women in Ancient Roman Civilization
The Americas
Women in Ancient Mesoamerica
Women in the Ancient Andes
Native America in North America: Ojibway and Iroquois
Glossary
Index

What People are Saying About This

Phyllis Trible

"The collection provides a cornucopia of information and insights."

Eileen M. Strange

"I...enthusiastically endorse Women's Roles in Ancient Civilizations (Bella Zweig, ed.)....[I]t is a very valuable resource which should be available in every high school library."

Editorial Reviews

Gr 10 Up-Unique in scope, this dense guide to what the scanty evidence tells us about women in 12 ancient societies will fill a gap in libraries serving academic high schools with strong history or women's studies programs. Each essay, written by a subject specialist, opens with a map and chronology and closes with a summary, explanatory notes, and suggested further reading. In between, the author analyzes art, artifacts, myths, texts, and, where possible-as in the survey of Ojibway and Iroquois cultures-surviving traditions for insights into the general roles and individual accomplishments of women, as well as misconceptions or outright biases in contemporary and later accounts. The book is not designed for quick reference ("Astarte," for instance, is indexed only under "Goddesses, Levant") and there are no cross-references. The black-and-white photos are sparse and muddy. Still, used in conjunction with differently focused books such as Margaret Ehrenberg's Women in Prehistory (Univ. of Oklahoma, 1990; o.p.), this systematic and eye-opening resource will furnish serious students with a sturdy base for topical research in many areas of social history.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Unique in scope, this dense guide to what the scanty evidence tells us about women in 12 ancient societies will fill a gap in libraries serving academic high schools with strong history or women's studies programs….[T]his systematic and eye-opening resource will furbanish serious students with a study base for topical research in many areas of social history.” —School Library Jourbanal

“[T]his edition would be a good starting point for discussion of why and whether women need a history of their own.” —Jourbanal of World History

“This is a solid work that gives insight into ancient civilizations and allows the reader to compare female roles across cultures. It is a scholarly yet accessible work that is a valuable addition to the field of women's studies.” —American Reference Books Annual

“[A] thoughful and varied look at women's role in ancient civilizations.” —Reference & Users Quarterly

“The volume succeeds admirably in its presentation of the data available on the topic, clarifying the differences between the more recent and ancient treatment of women in each area and bringing together the texts and archaeological evidence to support the claims made. The book is an important resource because it allows easy access to the information about the similarities and differences in the roles of women in the different ancient areas, but also between the ancient and the modern within each area. Also interesting is the nature of the evidence available in the different areas considered.” —Religious Studies Review

“This collection has achieved an elegant balance, avoiding the defects of, on one hand, starkness of primary sources without much context, or on the other hand, confusion of anthologized excerpts, sometimes also out of context, that are inaccessible to all but expert…the wook is a rich compilation of information and should be in every library's collection.” —Cloelia

“An excellent resource for students!” —Pennsylvania School Librarian's Association

From the Publisher