Tuesday, October 04, 2005

PACE

There is an excellent new resource: PACE. Under the leadership of Steve Mason [Well known for his excellent work on Josephus and the New Testament, even though I think his proposal that Luke used Josephus is strained.] this is a project to offer texts, commentaries, archeological studies and more. As Phil Harland notes:

The Project on Ancient Cultural Engagement (PACE) "aims to recover the Ancient Mediterranean World for our time in new ways. Its focus is the set of problems arising from the encounter and interaction of cultures: representation of one's own group and others', motivations for learning about or depicting the other, stereotypes (e.g., the barbarian) and rhetorical commonplaces, attraction to the exotic or revulsion at the alien, conscious assimilation or repudiation, and all the attendant problems of identity-construction." Although only entering phase two of the project, there are already Greek texts and facing English translations (with commentaries) of Josephus' works and Polybius' Histories (click on "Texts and Commentary" on the site). There are also many relevant images and even videos pertaining to important places mentioned in Josephus' works. The plan is to include other living commentaries of ancient authors who engage in ethnography or reflect cultural encounters. This is an excellent resource.

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