Two diametrically opposed assumptions have influenced interpretations of circumcision rituals in ancient Judaism: either women performed the operation on their infant sons because children at birth and during infancy remained under the purview of the mother; or, conversely, men—specifically a ritual agent known as the mohel—performed cir…[Read more]

This article assesses whether or to what level Jesus and his original Jewish followers were literate. The question of “craftsman’s literacy”–a low to moderate level of literacy associated with trades–is addressed, and important extraliterary means of education are discussed, including learning cultural traditions in the household, participating…[Read more]

Addressing studies of the concepts of structure and agency, in 2008 sociologist François Dépelteau called for a ‘relational approach’ that compared the ‘trans-actions’ of actors, but notably left open the question of how such a study should be conducted. The present article attempts to operationalise Dépelteau’s call, albeit in a manner tailo…[Read more]

Review essay covering eleven books published from 2012 to 2016 in the area of early Christianity and its relation to economic issues.

A fresco at the entrance of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii that depicts the god Priapus weighing his semiturgid phallus against a bag of coins has plausibly been interpreted as an apotropaic image, protecting the domus against the baneful influence of the evil eye. This article points to humorous elements of the fresco that have been largely…[Read more]

The present special issue of the journal Archimède: Archéologie et histoire ancienne, organized under the auspices of the Imago Genitalium: Sex and Gender in Ancient Mediterranean Art project, focuses on depictions of the phallus in Antiquity. It aims to fill the gap in research on the sexual parts of the body, their associated organs (the b…[Read more]

Review of Jennifer A. Quigley, Divine Accounting: Theo-Economics in Early Christianity, Yale University Press, 2021.

The article assesses the contribution of Simon Claude Mimouni to discussions about circumcision in early Christianity in light of more recent findings from the “Paul within Judaism” approach. Moreover, the article points to the potential that the “lived ancient religion” and processing approaches have to further discussions in this area.

This article examines Philo of Alexandria’s discussions of the practice of circumcision in light of conventions in Greek and Roman art and literature associating the ritual practice with unrestrained lust and barbarity. Philo interprets circumcision as a metaphor for the excision of the passions through the contemplation of scriptural texts in a…[Read more]