Identifiers and Identification Methods in the Ancient World

This volume provides a survey of how people were identified in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Greece and Rome. Rather than discussing the identifiers themselves, the contributions focus on the selection of elements such as names, genealogy, titles, or ethnics, as well as on legal confirmation of identity in the form of witnesses, seals or signatures. The varying socio-onomastic and legal conventions illustrate intense cultural exchange as well as regional traditions in the Ancient World, and this collection of papers will be of interest to both social and legal historians.