The Gift in Antiquity

The Gift in Antiquity presents a collection of 14 original essays that apply French sociologist Marcel Mauss’s notion of gift–giving to the study of antiquity. • Features a collection of original essays that cover such wide–ranging topics as vows in the Hebrew Bible; ancient Greek wedding gifts; Hellenistic civic practices; Latin literature; Roman and Jewish burial practices; and Jewish and Christian religious gifts • Organizes essays around theoretical concerns rather than chronologically • Generates unique insights into gift–giving and reciprocity in antiquity • Takes an explicitly cross–cultural approach to the study of ancient history