Dear Sigrid,
as you have clearly seen, there are many things that I have to define
more precisely. I can not answer all your questions yet (as I said
it's the very beginning of my research), but they are a great help to
me because by answering them I'll precise the boundaries of my work.
Right now I can only say that my region will be Egypt and that I
intend to use papyri and/or ostraca. As for the 4th century AD, it's a
very arbitrary choice depending on the quantity of material available
and on a personnal interest for that period; but that choice needs
being tested and justify in a more solid and scientific way.
Thank you very much for your help, I hope that I'll be able to produce
valuable answers to your questions.
Best regards
Noemi Poget
Quoting Sigrid Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
Dear Noemi
You have helpful narrowed down your research question to the 4th century
CE. Do we assume that because you've written to the Papy listserv that your
region will be Egypt, and the materials will be available on papyrus or
ostraca?
In literary production it helps to limit your focus to one cultic focus,
Christianity, Egyptian religion, Judaism, Roman Imperial cult, other pagan
forms. Within any of those -- as well as between one or two or three or four
of them, you will find similarities and differences. In addition, in the
surviving religions you will find theological traditions that try to say
what "death" was, and what "death" meant, sometimes in terms of a specific
time period, and sometimes in general terms such as "Late Antiquity." It is
not helpful to say "Read everything by Libanius (Antioch) and by Augustine
(North Africa)." I would suggest starting with a series called *Late Ancient
Christianity: A People's History Of Christianity, Vol. 2, *ed. by Virginia
Burrus*. *The following encyclopedic examination is due to be released on
September 30th: the nominal editor is a respected scholar in the area of
Judaism and Christianity, Jacob Neusner, and the two volume book is
*Encyclopedia
of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity: Pagan, Judaic,
Christian.
*On papyri, do you want to use letters? scriptures? literary papyri? a
particular Nome? several archives? Greek or Latin? anything from Egypt
dealing with death?
Your review of the literature in the area that interests you is what tells
you whether anyone has done anything similar. For example, if Neusner's *
Encyclopedia* doesn't have any articles on "death," then even the broadest
treatment has probably not been done. But you still need to do due diligence
and search for other encyclopedic treatments that may treat the topic of
"death."
Sigrid Peterson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 9/27/07, Noemi Poget Kern <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Everyone on the list,
I have started some preliminary research for my future PhD and I am
worried in case someone else has already done the work I intend to do.
I would like to examine how people talk about death in the IVth
century AD and whether there is any link with the literary production
at the same period (similar wording, recurrent topics, etc.).
Please, could you let me know what you might know about it? Do you
have any comments or advice for me?
Thank you very much for your help!
Best regards
Noemi Poget
Noemi Poget Kern
assistante de recherche
Unité de Grec
Département des Sciences de l'Antiquité
Faculté des Lettres
Université de Genève
Noemi Poget Kern
assistante de recherche
Unité de Grec
Département des Sciences de l'Antiquité
Faculté des Lettres
Université de Genève
