Author Description
Hailing From The Syrian City Of Palmyra, A Woman Named Zenobia (also Bathzabbai) Governed Territory In The Eastern Roman Empire From 268 To 272. She Thus Became The Most Famous Palmyrene Who Ever Lived. But Sources For Her Life And Career Are Scarce. This Book Situates Zenobia In The Social, Economic, Cultural, And Material Context Of Her Palmyra. By Doing So, It Aims To Shed Greater Light On The Experiences Of Zenobia And Palmyrene Women Like Her At Various Stages Of Their Lives. Not Limiting Itself To The Political Aspects Of Her Governance, It Contemplates What Inscriptions And Material Culture At Palmyra Enable Us To Know About Women And The Practice Of Gender There, And Thus The World That Zenobia Navigated. It Reflects On Her Clothes, House, Hygiene, Property Owning, Gestures, Religious Practices, Funerary Practices, Education, Languages, Social Identities, Marriage, And Experiences Motherhood, Along With Her Meteoric Rise To Prominence And Civil War. It Also Ponders Zenobia's Legacy In Light Of The Contemporary Human Tragedy In Syria.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates the life and governance of the third-century Palmyrene queen Zenobia by situating her within the specific social, economic, and material realities of her home city. Nathanael J. Andrade, a scholar of the Roman East, utilizes archaeological evidence, epigraphy, and surviving historical fragments to reconstruct the world of a woman who challenged Roman authority. The book argues that understanding Zenobia requires moving beyond traditional political narratives to examine the daily life, gender roles, and cultural practices of Palmyrene women in the late third century.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of Palmyrene material culture including inscriptions, funerary art, and domestic architecture.
- Examination of gendered social practices such as marriage, motherhood, property ownership, and religious participation.
- Contextualization of Zenobia’s political rise and the subsequent civil war within the broader Roman imperial framework.
Scope Limits
- The study is constrained by the scarcity of primary sources regarding Zenobia’s personal life, necessitating reliance on broader archaeological data.
- It does not provide a traditional military biography but focuses instead on the cultural and social environment of Palmyra.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and historians recognize this text as a significant contribution to the study of the Roman East, particularly for its focus on gender and material culture. Readers frequently note the academic rigor of the prose, which balances archaeological detail with historical analysis to provide a nuanced portrait of a complex historical figure.
Page Count:
240
Publication Date:
2018-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190638826
ISBN-13:
9780190638825
Biography
History
Archaeology
Ancient History
Gender Studies
Middle Eastern
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