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SABAZIOS , a god of the Thracians and the Phrygians, is also known from Greek and Latin sources as Sabadios, Sauazios, Saazios, Sabos, Sebazios, Sabadius, and Sebadius. His name is related to the Macedonian word sauâdai, or saûdoi, meaning "satyrs" (Detschew, 1957, p. 427). According to some scholars (e.g., Lozovan, 1968), he was a Thracian mountain god whose cult was carried by Phrygian emigrants from Thrace to Anatolia.

Greek sources from the fifth century bce onward mention Sabazios as a Thracian or Phrygian god. In Athens, his cult's initiation ceremonies took place by night, and the adepts were purified by being rubbed with mud. A sacramental drink was also involved. The identification of Sabazios with Dionysos, which occurs regularly in Hellenistic sources, is unquestionable. However, Phrygian inscriptions relate him to Zeus, and in North Africa, where his cult is attested as early as the fourth century bce, he might have had the features of a heavenly god; hence he was later identified with the Semitic god Baal, both of them receiving the Greek epithet hupsistos ("highest, supreme"). He was probably worshiped in Thrace under other local names, such as Athyparenos, Arsilenos, Batalde Ouenos, Eleneites, Mytorgenos, Ouerzel(enos), and Tasibastenus.

Sabazios's name has been connected with the Indo-European *swo-, meaning "[his] own," and with the idea of freedom, which occurs frequently among the epithets of Dionysos. Franz Cumont has suggested a relationship with the Illyrian sabaia, or sabaium, identifying a beer extracted from cereals (see Russu, 1969, p. 241). More recently, Gheorghe Muşu has translated Sabazios as "sap god," from the Indo-European roots *sap- ("taste, perceive") and *sab- ("juice, fluid"). This translation corresponds well to the pattern of Dionysos/Sabazios, who was the divinity of humidity and as such was connected with both vegetation and intoxication (see Muşu, in Vulpe, 1980, pp. 333–336).

The Jews of Syria and Anatolia identified Sabazios with Sabaoth. Under the Roman rulers Sabazios was worshiped in Thrace, where he was more often known as Sebazios or, in Latin, Sabazius, Sabadius, or Sebadius and where he received such epithets as epekoos ("benevolent"), kurios ("lord"), megistos ("greatest"), and so forth. In Crimea, probably under Jewish-Anatolian influence, he was called hupsistos. He was constantly identified with both Zeus and the sun. Motifs of hands making the votive gesture of benedictio Latina are among the distinctive features of his cult. According to several Christian writers (Clement of Alexandria, Arnobius, and Firmicus Maternus), the most impressive rite of initiation into the mysteries of Sabazios consisted of the adept's contact with a snake (aureus coluber ) that was first put over his breast (per sinum ducunt ) and then pulled down to his genitals.

No less enigmatic than Zalmoxis, Sabazios was worshiped as early as the fourth century bce both as a chthonic and as a heavenly god. Scholars have too often tried to solve this riddle by supposing a borrowing from Jewish religion, but Jewish influence was not relevant in Anatolia before the third century bce. One should rather consider that chthonic features determined the character of the Thracian Sabazios, whereas the Phrygian Sabazios was probably connected with the sky.

The ecstatic Eastern rites practiced largely by women in Athens were thrown together for rhetorical purposes by Demosthenes in undermining his opponent Aeschines for participating in his mother's cultic associations:

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Cooney is a UCLA professor of Egyptology and archaeology and already a bestselling author (“The Woman Who Would Be King,” 2014, and “When Women Ruled the World,” 2019). In her latest book, she admits that her fascination with ancient Egypt has soured — so much so that she now describes herself as a “recovering Egyptologist.” The uncritical admiration of the pharaohs that has continued to the present day, she writes, is a legacy of the ancient rulers’ efforts to manipulate how they were perceived, and has even served as a narrative and cultural foundation propping up modern authoritarianism.

“How many of us have had deep obsessions with the ancient world — I just love Egyptian temples! I adore Greek mythology! — that are really symptoms of an ongoing addiction to male power that we just can’t kick?” Cooney writes.

“The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World,” published by National Geographic, draws direct parallels between the rulers of 3,000 years ago and modern tyrants. In it, Cooney describes how the pharaohs created a compelling moral argument for power that continues to mislead people today, and which is linked directly to the current rise of authoritarianism.

Cooney explores the pitfalls of patriarchal systems that harm women and men alike, and she convincingly argues that society is duplicating the historical patterns that have repeatedly led to power collapses. Only this time, she notes, climate change has altered the rules of recovery.

Cooney is chair of UCLA’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. In an interview with UCLA Newsroom, she talks about what lessons ancient Egyptian narratives might offer in light of the societal and social challenges the world faces in 2021.

Why are the pharaohs of ancient Egypt still so relevant thousands of years later?

Pharaohs open themselves up to social justice discussions. The hard thing is that the pharaohs were arguably the best ever at presenting an authoritarian regime as good and pure and moral. That’s the underlying idea that needs to be popped first, because we still buy into it today. Concepts of patriarchal society, extraction of natural resources for profit, exploitation, overwork, misogyny and more all came pouring out of the Egyptian narrative.

Osiris (/oʊˈsaɪrɪs/, from Egyptian wsjr, Coptic: ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ ousire, Late Coptic [uˈsiræ]; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned deity with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive atef crown, and holding a symbolic crook and flail. He was one of the first to be associated with the mummy wrap. When his brother Set cut him up into pieces after killing him, Osiris' wife Isis found all the pieces and wrapped his body up, enabling him to return to life. Osiris was widely worshipped until the decline of ancient Egyptian religion during the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

The first evidence of the worship of Osiris is from the middle of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt (25th century BC), although it is likely that he was worshiped much earlier; the Khenti-Amentiu epithet dates to at least the First Dynasty, and was also used as a pharaonic title.

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DIONYSUS, CULT OF, the cult of the Greek god of wine and fertility. The non-Jews of Alexandria and Rome alleged that the cult of Dionysus was widespread among Jews. Plutarch tarch gives a Bacchanalian interpretation to the Feast of Tabernacles:

"After the festival called 'the fast' [the Day of Atonement], during the vintage, the Jews place tables laden with different fruits in booths of thickets woven from vines and ivy. Their first festival is called by them Sukkah (σκηνή). A few days later, the Jews celebrate another festival, which one may simply call a Bacchanalian festival. For this is a festival on which the Jews carry fig branches and sticks adorned with ivy and carry them into the Temple. One does not know" – adds Plutarch – "what they do in the Temple. It seems reasonable to suppose that they practice rites in honor of Bacchus. For they blow small horns as the people of Argos do during the festival of Dionysus, and call upon their god. Others, who are called Levites, walk in front, either in allusion to Lysios (λύσιος) – perhaps 'the god who attenuatescurses' – or because they call out 'Euius,' i.e., Bacchus."

According to Plutarch the subject of the connection between the Dionysian and Jewish cults was raised during a symposium held at Aidepsos in Euboea, with a certain Moiragenes linking the Jewish Sabbath with the cult of Bacchus, because "even now many people call the Bacchi 'Sabboi' and call out that word when they perform the orgies of Bacchus." Tacitus too thought that Jews served the god Liber, i.e., Bacchus-Dionysus, but "whereas the festival of Liber is joyful, the Jewish festival of Liber is sordid and absurd." According to Pliny, *Beth-Shean was founded by Dionysus after he had buried his wet nurse Nysa in its soil. His intention was to enlarge the area of the grave, which he surrounded with a city wall although there were as yet no inhabitants. Then the god chose the Scythians from among his companions, and in order to encourage them, honored them by calling the new city Scythopolis after them (Pliny, Natural History 5:18, 74). An inscription found at Beth-Shean dating from the time of Marcus Aurelius mentions that Dionysus was honored there as ktistes. Stephen of Byzantium reports a legend that connects the founding of the city of Rafa also with Dionysus (for the Dionysian foundation legends of cities in the region, see Lichtenberger's study). It is wrong to assume as some do that Plutarch took his account of the festival of Tabernacles from an antisemitic source, for despite all the woeful ignorance in his account it contains no accusation against, or abuse of, the Jews. It is more likely that Plutarch described the festival of Tabernacles from observation, interpreting it in accordance with his own philosophical outlook, which does not prevent him, however, from introducing into it features of the cult of the famous Temple of Jerusalem gleaned by him in his wide reading. The description as a whole, however, is of Tabernacles as it was celebrated in the Greek diaspora at the end of the first and the beginning of the second century C.E., and not as it was celebrated in the Temple, which had already been destroyed for more than a generation. The festival undoubtedly absorbed influences from the environment, so that Plutarch could indeed have witnessed what he recognized as customs of the Dionysian feast.

By this it is conjectured that the Romans identified the Jewish YHVH Tzevaot ("sa-ba-oth", "of the Hosts") as Jove Sabazius.

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The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to the Kingdom of Israel, but at length, Chemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab. Mesha also describes his many building projects. It is written in a variant of the Phoenician alphabet, closely related to the Paleo-Hebrew script.

The stone was discovered intact by Frederick Augustus Klein, an Anglican missionary, at the site of ancient Dibon (now Dhiban, Jordan), in August 1868. A "squeeze" (a papier-mâché impression) had been obtained by a local Arab on behalf of Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, an archaeologist based in the French consulate in Jerusalem. The next year, the stele was smashed into several fragments by the Bani Hamida tribe, seen as an act of defiance against the Ottoman authorities who had pressured the Bedouins to hand over the stele so that it could be given to Germany. Clermont-Ganneau later managed to acquire the fragments and piece them together thanks to the impression made before the stele's destruction.

The Mesha Stele, the first major epigraphic Canaanite inscription found in the region of Palestine, the longest Iron Age inscription ever found in the region, constitutes the major evidence for the Moabite language, and is a "corner-stone of Semitic epigraphy", and history.[7] The stele, whose story parallels, with some differences, an episode in the Bible's Books of Kings (2 Kings 3:4–28), provides invaluable information on the Moabite language and the political relationship between Moab and Israel at one moment in the 9th century BCE. It is the most extensive inscription ever recovered that refers to the kingdom of Israel (the "House of Omri"); it bears the earliest certain extrabiblical reference to the Israelite god Yahweh. It is also one of four known contemporary inscriptions containing the name of Israel, the others being the Merneptah Stele, the Tel Dan Stele, and one of the Kurkh Monoliths. Its authenticity has been disputed over the years, and some biblical minimalists suggest the text was not historical, but a biblical allegory. The stele itself is regarded as genuine and historical by the vast majority of biblical archaeologists today.

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The ancient Pelasgians mentioned by the Greek poet Homer were a mysterious and enigmatic people who played a significant role in early Greek mythology and history. Homer described them as a prehistoric civilization, often associated with the region of Thessaly and the city of Argos. However, the exact origins and characteristics of the Pelasgians remain a subject of debate among historians and scholars.

According to Homer, the Pelasgians were a people who lived in the time before the Trojan War and were associated with the construction of massive structures, such as the walls of Mycenae. They were considered skilled builders and were often depicted as a semi-divine or legendary group. Some ancient Greek writers even suggested that the Pelasgians were the original inhabitants of Greece, predating other Greek-speaking tribes.

The historical reality of the Pelasgians is complex and elusive, as they appear in various ancient Greek texts with different interpretations. Some scholars argue that they were a distinct ethnic group, while others propose that the term "Pelasgians" was used to refer to various indigenous populations of the Aegean region.

Ultimately, the true identity and nature of the Pelasgians remain shrouded in the mists of antiquity, leaving us with fragments of mythology and historical accounts that continue to intrigue and fascinate to this day.

The proto-Indo-European ancestors of the Greeks in and around the Black Sea region are generally believed to be the people known as the Proto-Greeks or the Mycenaean Greeks. The Mycenaean civilization, which flourished from around the 16th to the 12th century BCE, is considered an important precursor to classical Greek civilization.

The Mycenaeans were part of a broader group of Indo-European speakers who migrated into the Balkans and Anatolia during the Bronze Age. These migrations are often associated with the expansion of the Indo-European language family, which includes Greek as one of its branches. The exact origins of the Proto-Greeks are still a subject of ongoing research and debate among historians and linguists.

The Mycenaeans established a powerful civilization centered around the southern part of mainland Greece, with major centers such as Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns. They were skilled warriors, traders, and builders, known for their impressive palaces and fortifications. Their culture and language laid the foundation for the later development of ancient Greek civilization.

It's important to note that while the Mycenaeans and their language are considered a significant part of the proto-Indo-European ancestry of the Greeks, the complex history of ancient migrations and cultural interactions in the region makes it difficult to attribute the Greek population exclusively to a single ancestral group.

Civilization around the Black Sea region has a long and rich history, dating back thousands of years. The area has been inhabited by various cultures and civilizations since ancient times. The earliest evidence of human habitation in the region can be traced back to the Paleolithic era, around 45,000 to 12,000 years ago.

In terms of more complex civilizations, one of the notable early cultures in the region was the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which flourished from approximately 5500 to 2750 BCE. This Neolithic culture was known for its advanced agriculture, pottery, and sizable settlements.

Moving forward in time, the Black Sea region saw the rise and fall of various ancient civilizations. The ancient Greeks established numerous colonies along the coast of the Black Sea from the 8th century BCE onward, fostering trade and cultural exchange in the region.

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DYING AND RISING GODS . The category of dying and rising gods, once a major topic of scholarly investigation, must now be understood to have been largely a misnomer based on imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts.

As applied in the scholarly literature, "dying and rising gods" is a generic appellation for a group of male deities found in agrarian Mediterranean societies who serve as the focus of myths and rituals that allegedly narrate and annually represent their death and resurrection.

Beyond this sufficient criterion, dying and rising deities were often held by scholars to have a number of cultic associations, sometimes thought to form a "pattern." They were young male figures of fertility; the drama of their lives was often associated with mother or virgin goddesses; in some areas, they were related to the institution of sacred kingship, often expressed through rituals of sacred marriage; there were dramatic reenactments of their life, death, and putative resurrection, often accompanied by a ritual identification of either the society or given individuals with their fate.

The category of dying and rising gods, as well as the pattern of its mythic and ritual associations, received its earliest full formulation in the influential work of James G. Frazer The Golden Bough, especially in its two central volumes, The Dying God and Adonis, Attis, Osiris. Frazer offered two interpretations, one euhemerist, the other naturist. In the former, which focused on the figure of the dying god, it was held that a (sacred) king would be slain when his fertility waned. This practice, it was suggested, would be later mythologized, giving rise to a dying god. The naturist explanation, which covered the full cycle of dying and rising, held the deities to be personifications of the seasonal cycle of vegetation. The two interpretations were linked by the notion that death followed upon a loss of fertility, with a period of sterility being followed by one of rejuvenation, either in the transfer of the kingship to a successor or by the rebirth or resurrection of the deity.

ESHMUN was a Phoenician healer god, later identified with Asklepios, the patron of medicine, by the Greeks and the Romans. He seems to be attested since the third millennium bce in Syria, though his physiognomy becomes clear only in the first millennium bce. The etymology of Eshmun clearly connects him with "oil," which had therapeutic and ritual functions (in relationship with the kingship ritual) in the ancient Near East. In the Ebla archives (middle of the third millennium bce), the theophoric element sí-mi-nu/a is found in some personal names, written dì-giš in Sumerian, meaning "oil." In the ritual texts of Ugarit and Ras Ibn Hani, in the late Bronze Age (eighteenth century bce), the god Šmn is also mentioned as a beneficiary of offerings (Keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit 1.164:9, 1.41:[45], 1.87:50). Unfortunately nothing is known about the functions or the role of this god in the Syrian pantheons, but his connection with oil must indicate that he was "the one who oils," and thus "the one who heals." This is surely the main reason why Eshmun was later assimilated to Asklepios/Aesculapius. His occasional interpretatio as Apollo (for example, in Carthage) is also based on the same background, because Apollo was also a salvific god. According to Philo of Byblos (Eus., Praeparation Evangelica I, 10, 38)

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A Venus figurine is any Upper Palaeolithic statuette portraying a woman, usually carved in the round. Most have been unearthed in Europe, but others have been found as far away as Siberia, and distributed across much of Eurasia.

Most date from the Gravettian period (26,000–21,000 years ago). However, findings are not limited to this period; for example, the Venus of Hohle Fels dates back at least 35,000 years to the Aurignacian era, and the Venus of Monruz dates back about 11,000 years to the Magdalenian. Such figurines were carved from soft stone (such as steatite, calcite or limestone), bone or ivory, or formed of clay and fired. The latter are among the oldest ceramics known to historians. In total, over 200 such figurines are known; virtually all of modest size, between about 3 and 40 cm (1.2 and 15.7 in) in height. These figurines are recognised as some of the earliest works of prehistoric art.

Most have wide hips and legs that taper to a point. Arms and feet are often absent, and the head is usually small and faceless. Various figurines exaggerate the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva, although many found examples do not reflect these typical characteristics. Depictions of hairstyles can be detailed, and especially in Siberian examples, clothing or tattoos may be indicated.

The original cultural meaning and purpose of these artefacts is not known. It has frequently been suggested that they may have served a ritual or symbolic function. There are widely varying and speculative interpretations of their use or meaning: they have been seen as religious figures, an expression of health and fertility, grandmother goddesses, or as self-depictions by female artists.

The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in Morocco. It and its contemporary, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form.

The Venus of Berekhat Ram (280,000-250,000 BP) is a pebble found at Berekhat Ram on the Golan Heights. The pebble was modified by early humans and is suggested to represent a female human figure.

The object was excavated and first described by Naama Goren-Inbar from the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The artifact is a scoria pebble, 35 mm long, 25 mm wide, and 21 mm thick. It weighs approximately 10 g. It was excavated in 1981 at the Acheulian site of Berekhat Ram, Golan Heights. The object is dated 280,000-250,000 BP.

Goren-Inbar reported several artificial grooves on the object: one is a transversal groove in the upper third, others are longitudinal grooves on the sides below the traversal groove. Alexander Marshack performed a microscopic study of the object in 1997. He also reported artificial modifications including the transversal and longitudinal grooves found by Goren-Inbar. Finally, Francesco d'Errico and April Nowell re-examined the object using a comparative approach. They partly confirmed, partly corrected the findings of Marshack. d'Errico and Nowell also reported the above grooves (with some corrections) and, additionally, reported areas of possible abrasion on the front, back and bottom of the object.

The Lion Man is a masterpiece. Sculpted with great originality, virtuosity and technical skill from mammoth ivory, this 40,000-year-old image is 31 centimetres tall. It has the head of a cave lion with a partly human body. He stands upright, perhaps on tiptoes, legs apart and arms to the sides of a slender, cat-like body with strong shoulders like the hips and thighs of a lion.

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The Death of Heracles or the Apotheosis of Heracles. It is a mythological tale that recounts the final moments and the subsequent events after the death of the great Greek hero, Heracles (or Hercules in Roman mythology).

In Greek mythology, Heracles was renowned for his incredible strength and numerous heroic feats. However, his life was not without tragedy. After completing his twelve labors, Heracles faced a series of misfortunes, including the accidental murder of his wife Megara and their children, which was caused by a fit of madness sent by the goddess Hera, who harbored a deep resentment towards him.

As a form of penance and purification for the crime he had committed, Heracles sought guidance from the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle instructed him to serve his cousin Eurystheus, the king who had imposed the twelve labors upon him, for a period of twelve years as recompense for the murders. After fulfilling this requirement, Heracles would be rewarded with immortality and a place among the gods.

Following the completion of his servitude, Heracles was eager to ascend to Mount Olympus and join the gods. However, he faced a final challenge orchestrated by Hera. The goddess sent a vengeful centaur named Nessus to wreak havoc on Heracles and his wife Deianeira. During their encounter, Heracles slew Nessus with arrows dipped in the venomous blood of the Hydra.

However, the story takes an unusual turn regarding the fate of Heracles' body. As the flames continued to burn, his close friend Philoctetes and his son Hyllus (also known as Hyllas) were present at the pyre. Stricken with grief, they debated the appropriate course of action. Some versions of the myth claim that the gods themselves ordered the disciples to eat the remains of Heracles as a means of absorbing his divine essence and allowing his soul to ascend to Olympus.

This act of consuming Heracles' flesh is known as the immolation or autochthonous banquet. It was believed to symbolize the assimilation of Heracles' divine power by his followers, thus allowing his spirit to be released and join the realm of the gods.

The story of the death of Heracles and the subsequent consumption of his body by his disciples is a lesser-known aspect of his myth. It emphasizes the hero's transition from mortality to immortality and the continuation of his divine legacy through his devoted followers. Hyllus was said to become the new heracles, and continue to Avenge and fufill the Will of the Father in Heaven.

In Egyptian mythology, the story of how Horus avenged his father Osiris varies in different versions but generally involves a series of conflicts with his uncle Set (also known as Seth). The tale is part of the larger Osiris myth, which centers around the death and resurrection of Osiris, the god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.

The deification of Julius Caesar and Augustus served both political and religious purposes. It bolstered the legitimacy and authority of Octavian/Augustus as the rightful heir and successor to Caesar. By presenting the emperors as gods, their rule was elevated above mortal affairs, and dissent or opposition could be construed as sacrilegious.

The cults of Julius Caesar and Augustus continued to thrive long after their deaths, even beyond the time of the Roman Empire. Their influence extended to the early centuries of Christianity, as the refusal of Christians to partake in the Imperial Cults became a defining characteristic of their faith.

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Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in preliterate societies – scholars of comparative mythology have reconstructed details from inherited similarities found among Indo-European languages, based on the assumption that parts of the Proto-Indo-Europeans' original belief systems survived in the daughter traditions.

The Proto-Indo-European pantheon includes a number of securely reconstructed deities, since they are both cognates – linguistic siblings from a common origin – and associated with similar attributes and body of myths: such as *Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr, the daylight-sky god; his consort *Dʰéǵʰōm, the earth mother; his daughter *H₂éwsōs, the dawn goddess; his sons the Divine Twins; and *Seh₂ul, a solar goddess. Some deities, like the weather god *Perkʷunos or the herding-god *Péh₂usōn, are only attested in a limited number of traditions – Western (European) and Graeco-Aryan, respectively – and could therefore represent late additions that did not spread throughout the various Indo-European dialects.

Some myths are also securely dated to Proto-Indo-European times, since they feature both linguistic and thematic evidence of an inherited motif: a story portraying a mythical figure associated with thunder and slaying a multi-headed serpent to release torrents of water that had previously been pent up; a creation myth involving two brothers, one of whom sacrifices the other in order to create the world; and probably the belief that the Otherworld was guarded by a watchdog and could only be reached by crossing a river.

Various schools of thought exist regarding possible interpretations of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology. The main mythologies used in comparative reconstruction are Indo-Iranian, Baltic, Roman, and Norse, often supported with evidence from the Celtic, Greek, Slavic, Hittite, Armenian, Illyrian, and Albanian traditions as well.

One of the earliest attested and thus one of the most important of all Indo-European mythologies is Vedic mythology, especially the mythology of the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas. Early scholars of comparative mythology such as Friedrich Max Müller stressed the importance of Vedic mythology to such an extent that they practically equated it with Proto-Indo-European myths. Modern researchers have been much more cautious, recognizing that, although Vedic mythology is still central, other mythologies must also be taken into account.

Another of the most important source mythologies for comparative research is Roman mythology. The Romans possessed a very complex mythological system, parts of which have been preserved through the characteristic Roman tendency to rationalize their myths into historical accounts. Despite its relatively late attestation, Norse mythology is still considered one of the three most important of the Indo-European mythologies for comparative research, due to the vast bulk of surviving Icelandic material.

Baltic mythology has also received a great deal of scholarly attention, as it is linguistically the most conservative and archaic of all surviving branches, but has so far remained frustrating to researchers because the sources are so comparatively late. Nonetheless, Latvian folk songs are seen as a major source of information in the process of reconstructing Proto-Indo-European myth.

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Steve Mason is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Cultures and Religions in the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands. His degrees are from Canada’s McMaster University (BA, MA) and University of St Michael’s College (PhD), with years of graduate study in Jerusalem and Tübingen, Germany. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society in the UK, Steve has published widely on Roman Judaea, the works of Josephus, historical method, and Christian origins. He leads an international project providing the first commentary to thirty Greek volumes by Flavius Josephus, along with a new translation, and has contributed three volumes to that project. His other books include Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees; Josephus and the New Testament; Josephus, Judaea, and Christian Origins; Orientation to the History of Roman Judaea; A History of the Jewish War, AD 66 - 74; and most recently, Jews and Christians in the Roman World — appearing this month from Brill Academic Publishers.

Steve was born in Canada and grew up in Canada, Britain, and Australia. After first jobs in kitchens, factories, a mine mill, security, and counselling, Steve worked for the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Toronto’s York University, The Pennsylvania State University, The University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and The University of Groningen. He has been a guest professor with stays in Oxford, Princeton, Konstanz, Berlin, Paris, Trinity College Dublin, and Rome's Pontifical Biblical Institute.

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Steve Mason (B.A., M.A. McMaster, Ph.D. St. Michael’s) is Professor of History and Canada Research Chair in Greco-Roman Cultural Interaction at York University in Toronto. He edits the twelve-volume Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary (Brill, 2000-), and has contributed two of its volumes: Life of Josephus and Judean War 2. His other books include Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees (1991), Josephus and the New Testament (second edn. 2003), and Josephus, Judea, and Christian Origins: Methods and Categories (2009). He is currently writing a book for Cambridge University Press on the Judaean-Roman War of 66 to 74.

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