Household and Family Religion in Antiquity

The first book to explore the religious dimensions of the family and the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity. Advances our understanding of household and familial religion, as opposed to state-sponsored or civic temple cults Reconstructs domestic and family religious practices in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and Philistia Explores many household rituals, such as providing for ancestral spirits, and petitioning of a household's patron deities or of spirits associated with the house itself Examines lifecycle rituals from pregnancy and birth to maturity, old age, death, and beyond Looks at religious practices relating to the household both within the home itself and other spaces, such as at extramural tombs and local sanctuaries

The first book to explore the religious dimensions of the familyand the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asianantiquity.* Advances our understanding of household and familial religionas opposed to state-sponsored or civic temple cults* Reconstructs domestic and family religious practices in EgyptGreece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and Philistia* Explores many household rituals, such as providing forancestral spirits, and petitioning of a household's patron deitiesor of spirits associated with the house itself* Examines lifecycle rituals - from pregnancy and birth tomaturity, old age, death, and beyond* Looks at religious practices relating to the household bothwithin the home itself and other spaces, such as at extramuraltombs and local sanctuaries

List of Figures viiNotes on Contributors xSeries Editor's Preface xiiiAcknowledgments xvMap xvi1 Introduction 1John Bodel and Saul M. Olyan2 Theorizing the Religion of Ancient Households and Families5Stanley K. Stowers3 Family Religion in Second Millennium West Asia (MesopotamiaEmar, Nuzi) 20Karel van der Toorn4 The Integration of Household and Community Religion in AncientSyria 37Daniel E. Fleming5 Family, Household, and Local Religion at Late Bronze AgeUgarit 60Theodore J. Lewis6 Family Religion in Ancient Israel and its Surroundings89Rainer Albertz7 Family Religion in Israel and the Wider Levant of the FirstMillennium bce 113Saul M. Olyan8 Household Religion, Family Religion, and Women's Religion inAncient Israel 127Susan Ackerman9 Ashdod and the Material Remains of Domestic Cults in thePhilistine Coastal Plain 159Rüdiger Schmitt10 Household Religion in Ancient Egypt 171Robert K. Ritner11 Household and Domestic Religion in Ancient Egypt 197Barbara S. Lesko12 Household Religion in Ancient Greece 210Christopher A. Faraone13 Family Matters: Domestic Religion in Classical Greece229Deborah Boedeker14 Cicero's Minerva, Penates, and the Mother of theLares: An Outline of Roman Domestic Religion 248John Bodel15 Comparative Perspectives 276John Bodel and Saul M. OlyanBibliography 283Index 314