Greek Inscriptions in Mesopotamia (and Babylonia)

This article provides a short overview on the few Greek inscriptions from Mesopotamia which date to the period between the third century bce and the first century ce. It argues that since the concept of “identity” has certain shortcomings for a historical analysis of an ancient society it might be u...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kai Ruffing
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Finnish Oriental Society 2023-05-01
Series:Studia Orientalia Electronica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.fi/store/article/view/129808
Description
Summary:This article provides a short overview on the few Greek inscriptions from Mesopotamia which date to the period between the third century bce and the first century ce. It argues that since the concept of “identity” has certain shortcomings for a historical analysis of an ancient society it might be useful to apply the concepts “commonality,” “connectedness,” and “groupness” for a somehow further and deeper insight. Due to the lack of a larger group of Greek documents in the timeframe mentioned, these concepts are used for some short remarks on the graffiti of the Nebuchelos-Archive from Dura-Europos which dates to the third century ce. The article attempts to show how, in a situation of cultural contact which produced hybrid and ambiguous forms of cultural practices, individuals used different cultural markers and practices of the different societies to demonstrate and publicly display their “commonality” and “connectedness.”
ISSN:2323-5209