Akkadica
Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin
Georges Dossin
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Akkadica Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin |
Conspectus Librorum - Book Review:
List price: sFr. 120,- Orders: Academic Press Fribourg Pérolles 42 CH-1700 Fribourg - Switserland Fax: +41-(0)26-426 4300 eduni@st-paul.ch This publication reunites a collection of interdisciplinary papers on pregnancy, birth and childhood in Antiquity, presented to the international colloqium in Freiburg (Switserland) which was held from 28. November untill 1. December 2001. The book starts with a presentation of the authors and a foreword, followed by a short note on the colloqium by the editor Véronique Dasen, who is professor of Classical Archeology and Ancient History at the University of Freiburg. As already appears from the table of contents, the book is clearly divided into four categories: 1° Egypt and the ancient Near-East (4 papers); 2° the ancient Greek World (7 papers); 3° the Roman World (11 papers) and 4° the Byzantine World (2 papers). The contributions, including English, French as well as German texts appear as follows: 1) The first paper, presented by François Dunand, focuses on children and child mortality in ancient Egypt (p.13-32). He treats the evidence of infant mortality in Ptolemaic and Roman times which is mainly based on written documents (papyri), funerary stèles and inscriptions and on archaeological research of necropolei. The latter illustrated by a few examples, such as the Necropolis of Douch, Ain el-Labakha and Ed Deir. 2) Erika Feucht discusses in "Der Weg ins Leben" (p.33-53) conception, childbearing, and the ancient Egyptian opinion on "life before birth". 3) In the third paper "Femmes et divinités enceintes dans l'Egypte du nouvel Empire" (p.55-70), Cathie Spieser deals with the information on pregnant women, pregnant royals and deities, derived from texts (s.a. the Ebers Papyrus, the Kahun Papyrus), statues and anthropomorphic vases. 4) Konrad Volk focusses on pregnancy, birth and childhood in Babylon and Assyria in his paper "Vom Dunkel in die Heiligkeit: Schwangerschaft, Geburt und frühe Kindheit in Babylonien und Assyrian" (p.71-92). 5) "La naissance et ses recettes en médicine antique" (p.93-102) was contributed by Vincent Barras. 6) "Unnatural conception and birth in Greek mythology" was explored through a few case studies (e.g. the birth of the goddess Athina), by John Boardman (p.103-112). 7) "L'enfance au miel dans les récits antiques", by Philippe Borgeaud (p.113-126). 8) "Femmes à titoir", by the editor Véronique Dasen (p.127-144). 9) "Mortality, mourning and mothers", by Mark Golden (p.145-158). 10) "Offrandes à Artémis pour une naissance. Autour du relief d'Achinos", by Yvette Morizot (p.159-170). 11) "Qui est la Kourotrophos athénienne ?" by Vincaine Pirenne-Delforge (p.171-186). The next eleven papers concentrate on several different aspects concerning pregnancy and birth in Roman times: 12) Jean-Jacques Aubert contributes "La procréation (divinement) assistée dans l'Antiquité gréco-romaine" (p.187-198). 13) "Si l'enfant se trouve dans une présentation contre nature, que doit faire la sage-femme ?", by Christine Bonnet-Cadilhac (p.199-208). 14) "Images et imaginaire de la naissance dans l'Occident romain", by Gerard Coulon (p.209-226). 15) "La femme et l'enfant au maillot an Gaule. Iconographie et épigraphie", by Simone Deyts (p.227-238). 16) "Chirurgie obstétricale dans le monde romain: césarienne et embryotomie", by Danielle Gourevitch (p.239-264). 17) "A long-lived 'quick-birther' (okytokion)", by Ann Ellis Hanson (p.265-280). 18) "Le législation romaine et les droits de l'enfant", by Marguerite Hirt (p.281-292). 19) "La mort des tout petits dans l'Occident romain", by Fanette Laubenheimer (p.293-316). 20) "Gynaecia Muscionis. Réincarnation des 'Ginaikia' de Soranos ou naissance d'un traité ?", by Brigitte Maire (p.317-324). 21) "Mère charnelle et mères de substitution à la naissance de Rome. Quelques aspects d'une complémentarité symbolique", by Alain Meurant (p.325-338). 22) "Non pueri sicut uiri. Petit aperçu de pédiatrie romaine", by Philippe Mudry (p.339-348). The two final papers are dedicated to the Byzantine period: 23) "Genèse d'un regard chrétien sur l'embryon", by Marie-Hélène Congourdeau (p.349-362). 24) "Autour des nourrissons byzantins et leur régime", by André-Louis Rey (p.363-375). From this study it becomes clear that the meaning and treatment of pregnancy, birth and childhood has clearly changed throughout the ages. The variety of perspectives from scholars of different disciplines such as sociology, history, medicine, law and archaeology, undoubtedly makes this volume a comprehensive and fundamental work. The book is concluded with a selective bibliography (from 1990 onwards) on the research of our topic. Furthermore we should mention that most articles are illustrated by photographs or drawings. Ingrid Swinnen Vrije Universiteit Brussel |