The Gift in Antiquity

In his seminal essay The Gift (1922), French sociologist Marcel Mauss proposed an original theoretical framework for thinking about gift–giving practices. Emphasizing that all gifts were "total social facts" that created bonds of reciprocity between communities and individuals, Mauss’s framework has been fundamental in anthropological research. The Gift in Antiquity applies Mauss’s notion of gift–giving as a catalyst in strengthening group bonds to the study of antiquity. This thought–provoking series of 14 original essays 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; Jewish and Christian religious gifts; along with wider theoretical and methodological reflections. Collectively, the essays open up a cross–cultural dialogue that generates new ways of thinking about both antiquity and theories of gift–giving and reciprocity. The Gift in Antiquity offers illuminating insights into the enduring value of Mauss’s work and the influential nature of reciprocity and exchange throughout the course of history.

Notes on Contributors vii Series Editor’s Preface x Preface xii 1 Introduction 1 Michael L. Satlow 2 Ceremonial Gift–Giving: The Lessons of Anthropology from Mauss and Beyond 12 Marcel Hénaff 3 Alms, Blessings, Offerings: The Repertoire of Christian Gifts in Early Byzantium 25 Daniel F. Caner 4 Gift–Giving and Power Relationships in Greek Social Praxis and Public Discourse 45 Marc Domingo Gygax 5 Fictive Giftship and Fictive Friendship in Greco–Roman Society 61 Zeba Crook 6 Ovid Negotiates with His Mistress: Roman Reciprocity from Public to Private 77 Neil Coffee 7 “Can’t Buy Me Love”: The Economy of Gifts in Amorous Relations 96 David Konstan 8 Without Patronage: Fetishization, Representation, and the Circulation of Gift–Texts in the Late Roman Republic 107 Sarah Culpepper Stroup 9 Roses and Violets for the Ancestors: Gifts to the Dead and Ancient Roman Forms of Social Exchange 122 Nicola Denzey Lewis 10 Graffiti as Gift: Mortuary and Devotional Graffiti in the Late Ancient Levant 137 Karen B. Stern 11 Marriage Gifts in Ancient Greece 158 Beate Wagner–Hasel 12 Charity Wounds: Gifts to the Poor in Early Rabbinic Judaism 173 Gregg E. Gardner 13 Barter Deal or Friend–Making Gift? A Reconsideration of the Conditional Vow in the Hebrew Bible 189 Anne Katrine Gudme 14 Neither Mauss, nor Veyne: Peter Brown’s Interpretative Path to the Gift 202 Ilana F. Silber 15 Gifts for God, Gifts for Rabbis: From Sacrifice to Donation in Rabbinic Tales of Late Antiquity and Their Dialogue with Early Christian Texts 221 Galit Hasan–Rokem Index of Subjects and Names 245 Index of Ancient Sources 253

Michael L. Satlow is Professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies at Brown University.  He is the author of Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, Practice (2006); Jewish Marriage in Antiquity (2001); Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality (1995) and numerous essays on Jews and Judaism in antiquity.