Roland Färber, Rita Gautschy (Hg.), Zeit in den Kulturen des Altertums – Antike Chronologie im Spiegel der Quellen (2020) –

It may seem paradoxical at first glance that a book on ancient chronology, which reports on events, documents, and artifacts from the past, is written in the present tense. However, the authors are making a point. Their aim is not merely to provide a general account of the past in the mode of present-day reflection, but also, and especially, to discuss empirically grounded insights into the social handling of the phenomenon of time, which they reflect through the lens of ancient cultures. This consistently expresses their clearly stated constructivist view that temporal orders for structuring the world are the created result of the cultural developments of complex societies, which have their roots in a world of experience in which the measurability of events, the possibility of their chronological documentation, and their options for creating meaning and identity, as well as their instrumentalization for providing power, had to be discovered and invented. In short, the book explores what people have made of and with time throughout history, revealing the multifaceted impact of social temporality in particular.

Following Emil Durkheim, the authors posit that a society’s conceptions of time reflect its orientations toward action. The socially constructed temporal order is shaped by the specific qualitative evaluation of quantitatively measured periods: „Systems of time reckoning […] emerge from conventions and serve as […] frames of reference for coordinating complex societies.“ In the sense of Norbert Elias and Eviatar Zerubavel, they have identity-forming and social control functions. This collection of essays offers an overview and contextualization of ancient conceptions and practices of time based on extensively explained relevant sources. This work is the result of three years of research by the German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded network „Chronos. Social Time in the Cultures of Antiquity,“ which focuses on Egypt, the Ancient Near East and Judaism, the Greek world, and the Roman Empire, each of which is addressed in separate chapters. The book aims to provide both a source-based introductory text and easy access to the sources themselves. A glossary, an index, and extensive bibliographical references are included.

Each chapter begins with an overview of the chronological foundations of the cultural sphere under consideration and then devotes a subchapter to each presented source. The subchapters follow a consistent structure and are illustrated with numerous images of the described artifacts and documents, as well as transliterations and translations. Each subchapter begins with an explanation of the source, documents selected publications, translations, and commentaries, and mentions related sources. In addition to explaining the technical aspects associated with the artifact, the sociocultural analysis is of particular interest, as it provides contextualization and an interpretation of the artifact’s significance.

A total of 60 sources are included, the study of which would certainly be overwhelming for the interested layperson. However, the introductory texts and socio-cultural analyses provide a readily understandable insight into the conceptions of time in the selected cultures of antiquity. The exemplary interpretations of individual source descriptions offer a glimpse into the current state of research, and last but not least, the compendium serves as an encyclopedia-like reference work, containing many frequently cited works, such as, to name just two examples, Hesiod’s Works and Days or Pliny’s Account of the Meridian of Augustus, presented in a concise and clear format.