In this post Dr. Elif Hilal Karaman tells us about her recent book Ephesian Women in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Perspective. Karaman is Research Associate in the Department of History of Religions at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir, Turkey.
1. Take us “behind the scenes” to the making of Ephesian Women in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Perspective? What inspired you to write it?
This book is based on my doctoral dissertation “A Change in Perspective: A Comparison Between Early Christian Literature and Greco-Roman Evidence on the Lives of Ephesian Women” which was completed under the supervision of Dr Peter Oakes and Dr Roberta Mazza at the University of Manchester in 2015. The topic of my PhD dissertation had been inspired by my concern for history and gender in society, with Ephesus as a geographical focus in part because I had grown up nearby. I have lived in Izmir for most of my life and it is incredible to be able to examine the layers of history of women of this land.
My scholarship presents a new approach to the study of early Christian texts through employing literary and archaeological Greco-Roman sources, including previously unstudied sources, in order to offer a fresh perspective on the way in which these works present early Christian women. My study reveals that early Christian authors Christianised Greco-Roman customs to establish exemplary social roles for women as wives, mothers and members of the public (among others) in the early Christian community. In essence, my research demonstrates that early Christian authors worked to maintain what was deemed right and moral by society at large, but through their message is to be a good Christian over being a good member of society.
2. Who do you hope will read this book and why? I hope that academics who study or have an interest in the early Christianity, the New Testament, gender studies, socio-historical approach, biblical archaeology, the ancient world and the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire will benefit from my work. Although the book offers mostly specialized research, every chapter contains introductory sections which cover topics such as the history of Ephesus, issues of authorship of early Christian texts, and the contents of the works of ancient authors. Therefore, academics or students who do not have detailed knowledge of the field will also find it useful.
3. What practical suggestions do you have for teachers or others who might want to use this for the classroom or discussions?
It is very easy to find your way around the book because, after the introductory chapters on method (ch 1), scholarship (ch 2), history of Ephesus (ch 3), all the chapters follow the same template. Each chapter focuses on a particular role of women in society; wives (ch 4), widows (ch 5), social individuals (ch 6) and teachers (ch 7) examining the Greco-Roman sources in the first section and the early Christian texts in the second section of each chapter.
Chapter 1 may be useful for teachers to instruct students on how to construct their own methodology, as I developed a systematic approach to classifying my keywords and setting up time and place parameters. Chapter 3 is particularly useful for history students as it presents a very comprehensive social history of Ephesus prepared from many different primary and secondary sources. Chapters 4-7 would provide material both for classes and discussion groups on early Christian texts on/about Ephesus (and Asia Minor in general). The first sections of each chapter present a background for the texts on the above-mentioned issues on women and the second sections of each chapter develop analyses of the texts in a new light, as opposed to traditional approaches- that is, to interpret the motives of the writings by looking at the texts themselves apart from their socio-historical context.
