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Revelation and the Marble Economy of Roman Ephesus
A People's History Approach
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2020
Summary
In an effort to bring the (im)practicalities of John’s command for withdrawal from cultural participation in 18:4 to the forefront of scholarly discourse, this book reconstructs the marble economy of ancient Ephesus and proceeds to read Revelation by foregrounding the daily lives of its marble-workers. This book argues that Ephesus was a major center of the marble economy in the Roman world and that the infrastructure that went into creating, building, and sustaining such an enterprise generated the need for a large workforce. Anna M. V. Bowden further demonstrates that the majority of marble-workers endured poor working conditions and struggled on a daily basis to ensure subsistence. Finally, Bowden explores the ways marble-workers participated in empire “through the work of their hands” (9:20) and questions John’s characterization of marble-workers as idolaters, sorcerers, murderers, fornicators, and thieves. Bowden concludes that the praxis Revelation requires from its audience of complete withdrawal is pragmatically not sustainable and is ultimately a manifesto leaving marble-workers jobless, hungry, and with a heightened risk for malnutrition, disease, injury, and even death.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2020
ISBN-Print
978-1-9787-1017-7
ISBN-Online
978-1-9787-1018-4
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
210
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
List of Figures and Tables No access
Acknowledgments No access
Chapter 1 Rev 18:4 and Societal Participation No access Pages 1 - 40
Chapter 2 A People’s History Approach No access Pages 41 - 56
Chapter 3 The Ephesian Marble Economy No access Pages 57 - 108
Chapter 4 The Marble-Workers No access Pages 109 - 138
Chapter 5 The Work of Their Hands No access Pages 139 - 170
Chapter 6 The Marble-less New Jerusalem No access Pages 171 - 180
