Brill’s New Pauly
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Subject: Classical Studies
Edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (Antiquity) and Manfred Landfester (Classical Tradition).
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)
Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)
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Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Whale
(245 words)
[German version] Employing a term originally used for large marine animals in general, the whale, he largest marine mammal and related to dolphins [1], was called τὸ κῆτος/
kêtos (first in Hom. Od. 12,97; Latin loanword
cetus, plural
cete(a): Ambrosius, Exameron 5,10,28 and 5,11,32; Isid. Orig. 12,6,8); there also is the term φάλαινα/
phálaina (Aristot. Hist. an. 1,5,489b 4 f.), Latin
ballaena (Plaut. Rud. 545; Ov. Met. 2,9; Plin. HN 9,4; 9,8 and 9,16) for the supposedly female animal, and for the male the ironic term
musculus ('little mouse', Isid. Orig. 12,6,6). Furthermore, …
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Brill’s New Pauly
White-ground pottery
(793 words)
[German version] Pottery with a light-coloured, whitish slip containing kaolinite as a base for painting is known in the Geometric and Archaic Periods from various Greek landscapes (esp. Ionia, Laconia, Cyklades). But only in Athens did WGP develop into its own genre from 530/525 BC next to black-figured and red-figured pottery. The term WGP is therefore used almost exclusively in reference to Attic pottery. The light-coloured slip was probably intended to make the pottery appear more valuable, perhaps to elicit associations with ivory or marble. However, th…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Widow
(797 words)
(χήρα/
chḗra; Latin
vidua). [German version] I. Greece Remarriages, including of widows, were common in Classical Athens, and were accepted by public opinion. Especially if a widow was still of childbearing age, remarriage was even expected. Athenian legal speeches attest on a number of occasions to widows marrying a second time (Isaeus 7,7; 8,8; 9,27; 11,8; Lys. 32,8; Dem. Or. 36,8; 45,3 f.). This attitude is attributable to the fact that women married very young in ancient societies, and that the age …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wig
(282 words)
[German version] (φενάκη/
phenákē, πηνήκη/
pēnḗkē, Latin
capillamentum,
galerus). The use of wigs apparently began in Greece at the end of the 6th cent. BC; late Archaic
korai show hairstyles that are inconceivable without added hairpieces. In the theatre, too, people made use of wigs in the 5th cent. BC (Aristoph. Thesm. 258) and also used false beards (Aristoph. Eccl.25), musicians and conjurers similarly wore wigs and hairpieces (Ael. VH 1,26; Lucian Alexandros 3). The use of wigs and hairpieces was extremely popular i…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Will
(812 words)
Gk. βούλησις/
boúlēsis (βουλή/
boulḗ, βούλημα/
boúlēma), γνώμη/
gnṓmē, διάνοια/
diánoia, (ἐ)θέλησις/
(
e)thélēsis, ἐπιθυμία/
epithymía, ὄρεξις/
órexis, ὁρμή/
hormḗ, προαίρεσις/
prohaíresis, etc.; Latin
voluntas, arbitrium, etc. [German version] I. Definition and background As is already indicated by the variety of the Greek terms and their secondary meanings, there was no concept of the will in the sense that, since the Middle Ages, has been serving in all European languages to describe an autonomous mental readiness to act (wh…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Willow
(416 words)
[German version] In ancient sources, Greek ἰτέα/
itéa and its related forms, ἡ οἰσύα/
oisýa (Poll. 7,176), ἡ ἑλίκη/
helíkē (especially in Arcadia, according to Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,13,7) and Latin
salix each designate in a non-specific way (cf. the descriptions in Theophr. l.c.; Plin. HN 16,174-177) one of the species of the
Salicaceae family growing around the Mediterranean. Its many forms include the white willow (
S. alba L.), crack willow (
S. fragilis L.), basket willow (
S. viminalis L.), goat willow (
S. caprea L.), almond-leafed willow (
S. triandra L.) and purple willow (
S. purpure…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wills and testaments
(3,807 words)
[German version] [1] (Religion) see Bible; Christianity; New Testament Apocrypha; Septuagint; Testamentary literature; Vulgate (Religion) see Bible; Christianity; New Testament Apocrypha; Septuagint; Testamentary literature; Vulgate Hengstl, Joachim (Marburg/Lahn) [German version] [2] History of law (History of law) Hengstl, Joachim (Marburg/Lahn) [German version] I. General Testament (from the Latin
testamentum in the sense of the final will made before witnesses; see below IV.) denotes a unilateral 'last will and testament' (or, in common E…
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Wilusa
(674 words)
[German version] State recorded in the 14th-13th cents. BC by the Hittite tradition (Hittite
U̯ilusa-/
U̯ilussa-) in the northwest of Asia Minor, which was initially known to the Hittites at the end of the 15th cent. under the name Āssuwa (=Ā.). Its geographical location in the Troad (cf. Ḫattusa II, map, and above all the maps in [2. 304-307]), which was proposed as early as 1924 [6] and was able to be proved in 1997 on the basis of new evidence [8; 4], follows from W.'s close connexion with the sea [10. 603…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Winch
(636 words)
Wartke, Ralf-B. (Berlin) [German version] I. The Ancient Orient The winch, as a mechanical device for moving and lifting or lowering objects, is not attested archaeologically in Egypt nor in the Ancient Near East. However, its functional components, the spool with protruding crank arm (handspikes) for the application of muscle power (horizontal spool = reel, vertical spool = windlass), the pulley for transferring or diverting the applied force, the rope/hawser with the drum for winding and unwinding it, …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Winckelmann-Gesellschaft
(2,246 words)
Kunze, Max [German version] A. History (CT) The
Winckmann-Gesellschaft (WG) was created in December 1940 in Stendal in the Altmark (Germany), the town where Johann Joachim Winckelmann was born (1717-1768), and it already counted more than 1100 members within a year. The occasion for its creation was the death of a Stendal collector, Heinrich Segelken, whose Winckelmanniana (first editions, letters, archival material) were acquired by the city, which sought a body responsible for administering and incre…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Window
(997 words)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Ancient oriental houses usually had small highly placed window slits. Internal spaces in larger architectural complexes required special lighting by means of a clerestory or openable skylights in the ceiling. Findings in Egypt are in principle similar. Some wider window openings there had richly decorated grilles. Sievertsen, Uwe (Tübingen) Bibliography D. Arnold, s.v. Fenster, Lexicon der ägyptischen Baukunst, 80-82 G. Leick, A Dictionary of Near Eastern Architecture, 1988, 242-244. [German version] II. Greece and Rome As a means …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Winds
(2,151 words)
Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) I. Meteorology [German version] A. Early conceptions In Antiquity, Greece with its many islands, and intimately connected with the sea, relied on the observation of the winds (ἄνεμος/
ánemos, Latin
ventus) that blow at various times of the year, because navigation (Navigation) for merchant ships through the Aegean and Mediterranean to Egypt and Magna Graecia was always important (except for the Spartans) [1]. Homerus [1] already refers to the most prevalent winds, named after their direction of o…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wine
(4,434 words)
(οἶνος/
oînos; Lat.
vinum). [German version] I.Egypt and Ancient Near East Archeological finds (excavations, pictorial representations in tombs) as well as Egyptian and Roman texts contain a plethora of information about the growing, production and use of wine in Egypt from the Early Period to the Ptolemaic-Roman Period. Wine (Egyptian
jrp; Coptic
ērp; Old-Nubian
orpj/ē; cf. in Sappho 51 ἔρπις/
érpis [9. 46], probably an old foreign cult word [7. 1169]) was grown primarily in Lower Egypt or the Nile Delta and in the oases, clearly because of the favourab…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wineskin
(173 words)
[German version] (ἀσκός/
askós; Lat.
culleus,
uter). For transporting solid (Thuc. 4,26) and liquid foods (Hom. Il. 3,247; Hom. Od. 5,265; 9,196), apart from barrels, people also used animal (ox, sheep, goat; in the Arab lands also camel, Hdt. 3,9) skins sewn together, a leg of the animal serving as inlet and outlet. Representations of wineskins are common in ancient art in transportation scenes; a wineskin-carrying silen is a fixed feature of the iconography of Dionysian scenes (Dionysus). In myths, …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Winged sun
(344 words)
The winged sun arose as a combination of a solar disc with a pair of falcon wings in Egypt during the Third Dynasty (27th cent. BC), where it became a symbol for the manifestation of a divinely gifted kingship [1]. In the ancient Orient, the earliest evidence for the winged sun is found on the seal of the Matrunna of Karchemish (first third of the 18th cent.) [2]; in the ancient Syrian glyptic, it replaced the simple sun disc in a crescent moon and then found its way into Assyrian iconography, b…
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Wisdom
(3,618 words)
(σοφία/
sophía, Latin
sapientia). I. Greco-Roman [German version] A. General and philosophical concept The Greek noun σοφία/
sophía (Ionic: σοφίη/
sophíē), derived from the adjective σοφός (
sophós), which has been documented since the 6th cent. BC, generally refers to the superior skill and knowledge that distinguishes the expert and artist from the masses and accounts for the high regard in which he is held. The term
sophía is used to describe any practical mastery, such as that of a helmsman, master builder, physician, military commander or statesman (cf. Ho…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wisdom literature
(3,886 words)
I. Ancient Near East [German version] A. Definition When applying the term wisdom literature (WL) to ancient Mesopotamian literature we need to distinguish between the idea of wisdom (Akkadian
nēmequ, Sumerian nam.kù.zu, 'precious knowledge') [10; 11] as 'wealth of general human experience' and the concept of wisdom as expertise in a cult. On the one hand, there are a number of non-homogenous, formally different literary genres in which knowledge, procedures, advice and behavioural guidelines are passed on; on the other han…
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Brill’s New Pauly