Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction - Alicia J. Batten, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Canada and Kelly Olson, Western University, Canada
Section A - Methods
1. Dress and Classical Studies - Kelly Olson, Western University, Canada
2. Dress and Religious Studies - Alicia J. Batten, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Canada
3. Dress and Anthropology - Lynne Hume, University of Queensland, Australia
4. Dress and Sociology - Beth E. Graybill, Dickinson College, USA
Section B - Materials
5. Clothing in Marble and Bronze: The Representation of Dress in Greek and Roman Sculpture - Glenys Davies, University of Edinburgh, UK
6. Greek Dress from the Inscriptional Evidence - Laura Gawlinski, Loyola University of Chicago, USA
7. The Colours of Ancient Greek dress - Cecilie Brøns, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Denmark
8. Ancient Jewelry and the Construction of Ancient Identity - Courtney Ward, Norwegian Institute in Rome, Italy
9. Dress in the Desert: Archaeological Textiles as a Source for Work Clothes in Roman Egypt - Lise Bender Jorgensen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
10. Roman Women Dressing the Part: The Visual Vocabulary from Paintings and Mosaics - Lisa A. Hughes, University of Calgary, Canada
11. "They Leave Behind them Portraits of their Wealth, not Themselves:" Aspects of Self-presentation in the Dress of the Deceased in Mummy Portraits and Portrait Mummies from Roman Egypt - Lorelei H. Corcoran, University of Memphis, USA
Section C - Meanings
12. Dress and Ceremony in Achaemenid Persia: the 'Gaunaka' - Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University, Wales
13. Hair and Social Status in the Near East and Early Greece, c. 900-300 BCE - Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University, Wales
14. Stepping over the line: shoes and boundary-crossing in ancient Greece - Sue Blundell, Independent Scholar
15. Clothing in Roman Religion - Kelly Olson, Western University, Canada
16. Andromeda Unbound: Possession, Perception, and Adornment in the House of the Dioscuri -Neville McFerrin, University of North Texas, USA
17. From Grass to Gold: The Ambivalent Symbolism of Roman Crowns - Andrew Gallia, University of Minnesota, USA
18. Clothes Make the Jew: Was There Distinctive Jewish Dress in the Greco-Roman Period? - Joshua Schwartz, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
19. What did Mary Magdalene Look Like? Images from the West, the East, Dura and Judaea - Joan E. Taylor, King's College London, UK
20. Robes of Transfiguration and Salvation in Early Christian Texts -- Janelle Peters, Loyola Marymount University, USA
21. Worn stories: (ad)dressing wives in 1 Peter - Kelsi Morrison-Atkins, Harvard University, USA
22. "Exposed!": Nakedness and Clothing in the Book of Revelation' -- Harry Maier, Vancouver School of Theology, Canada
23. Dirty Laundry in the Christ Cult - Alicia J. Batten, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Canada
24. "He Must Buy Her New Clothes for Winter": Women's Attire in the Rabbinic Imagination of the Tannaitic Period - Gail Labovitz, American Jewish University, USA
25. Textual Problems in Textile Research: The Use of the Talmud in Studies of Ancient Jewish Dress - Katie Turner, King's College London, UK
Index

Alicia J. Batten is professor of religious studies and theological studies at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Canada.

Kelly Olson is professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Insights from anthropology, religious studies, biblical studies, sociology, classics, and Jewish studies are here combined to provide a cutting-edge guide to dress and religion in the Greco-Roman World and the Mediterranean basin. Clothing, jewellery, cosmetics, and hairstyles are among the many aspects examined to show the variety of functions of dress in communication and in both establishing and defending identity.

The volume begins by reviewing how scholars in the fields of classics, anthropology, religious studies, and sociology examine dress. The second section then looks at materials, including depictions of clothing in sculpture and in Egyptian mummy portraits. The third (and largest) part of the book then examines dress in specific contexts, beginning with Greece and Rome and going on to Jewish and Christian dress, with a specific focus on the intersection between dress, clothing and religion.

By combining essays from over twenty scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, the book provides a unique overview of different approaches to and contexts of dress in one volume, leading to a greater understanding of dress both within ancient societies and in the contemporary world.