Women's Roles in Ancient Civilizations

A Reference Guide

Bella Vivante author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:30th Jun '99

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Women's Roles in Ancient Civilizations cover

A comprehensive reference and wealth of information on women's roles in ancient civilizations

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.

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 cult

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 furnish serious students with a study base for topical research in many areas of social history. * School Library Journal *
[T]his edition would be a good starting point for discussion of why and whether women need a history of their own. * Journal 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 *

ISBN: 9780313301278

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 794g

408 pages