Die Welt der Götterbilder

Divine images create their own world of theological reflection and religious practice. Pictorial representations have to reduce complexity, yet at the same time they create their own complexity. The present volume examines this phenomenon with papers on fundamental issues and presentations of material from the Ancient Orient, Greece and the Hellenic world. Papers on the contact between Christianity and Islam in the matter of the veneration of images make clear what compensation strategies are developed when pictorial representations are subject to theological censure. The volume contains eighteen contributions from internationally renowned researchers writing in German and English.

Brigitte Groneberg und Hermann Spieckermann, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

"Den Herausgebern ist gemeinsam mit den Autoren ein hochinteressanter Querschnitt durch verschiedene Epochen und Regionen des alten Vorderasien und der klassisch-griechischen Welt gelungen. Das Grundthema dieses Buches, das 'Götterbild', wird aus unterschiedlichsten Blickwinkeln untersucht und dem Leser durchaus verständlich näher gebracht. Es sei allen, die sich für diese Thematik interessieren, zu empfehlen."
Michael Herles in: Ugarit-Forschungen 42/2010 [2011]

"Ciononostante l'opera potrà essere letta e utilizzata con profitto non soltanto dal cultore di archeologia vicino-orientale e di studi biblici, ma anche da chi intende investigare il vasto universo della rappresentazione del divino nella relazione fra le tre grandi religioni monoteistiche."
Francesco Bianchi in: Rivista Biblica 3-4/2010

"The topic addressed in this volume is clearly worthy of attention."
Marvin A. Sweeney in: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 71/2009