Ted Kaizer is Professor in Roman Culture and History at Durham University. He is the author of The Religious Life of Palmyra and has edited or co-edited several volumes on the social and religious history of the Roman Near East. Most recently he has written the historiographical introductions for two volumes on Dura-Europos in the Bibliotheca Cumontiana, Scripta Minora VII and Scripta Maiora XI.

Preface xii List of Figures xiii List of Maps xxi Contributor Biographies xxii Abbreviations xxviii Maps xxx 1 Introduction 1Ted Kaizer 2 Historical Narrative 9Maurice Sartre Part I Sources 19 3 Geographical Sources and Documents 21Gillian Ramsey 4 Berossos between Greek and Babylonian Culture 34Johannes H. Haubold 5 Lucian, Philo of Byblos, and Ps.-Meliton 44J.L. Lightfoot 6 Jewish Sources 54C.T. Robert Hayward Copyrighted Material 7 Josephus 66Jan Willem van Henten 8 Syriac Sources 76Alberto Rigolio 9 Greek and Latin Inscriptions 86Pierre-Louis Gatier 10 Ancient North Arabian 99Ahmad al-Jallad 11 Parchments and Papyri 105Kimberley Czajkowski 12 Statues, Reliefs, and Paintings: Hellenism versus Local Culture 114Lucinda Dirven 13 Archaeology and Architecture 126Rubina Raja 14 Numismatics 135Kevin Butcher 15 Air-Photography 154David L. Kennedy 16 Mosaics 177Janine Balty Part II Regions, Places, and Peoples 189 17 The Tetrapolis and Other City Foundations 191Apostolos Bousdroukis 18 The Decapolis 213Achim Lichtenberger 19 Commagene 223Margherita Facella 20 Hellenistic and Roman Phoenicia 240Michael Sommer 21 Lebanon 249Julien Aliquot 22 Judaea, the Palestinian Coast, the Galilee, Idumaea, and Samaria 259Yaron Z. Eliav 23 The Nabataeans 272David F. Graf 24 Palmyra 284Jean-Baptiste Yon 25 Dura-Europos 295J.A. Baird 26 The Middle Euphrates 305P.M. Edwell 27 The Parthian and Sasanian Near East (including Hatra, Edessa, and the Characene) 316Tommaso Gnoli 28 The Desert and its Peoples 327M.C.A. Macdonald Part III Themes 335 29 The Roman Armies in the Near East 337Oliver Stoll 30 Roads and Harbors 350Benjamin Isaac 31 Kingdoms and Principalities 365Andreas J.M. Kropp 32 Trade 378Michä Gawlikowski 33 Local and Regional Economies 389Kai Ruffing 34 The Arabs 397M.C.A. Macdonald 35 Indigenous Law 402John F. Healey 36 Funerary Traditions 412Lidewijde de Jong 37 Religious Life 423Alison C. Ewins and Eris B. Williams Reed 38 Early Christianity in the Near East 435L. Van Rompay Bibliography 445 Index 518