1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Music and Dance Performances in the Ancient Mediterranean An Interpretative Approach

Edited By Angela Bellia, Clemente Marconi Copyright 2026
442 Pages 155 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

442 Pages 155 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The Routledge Handbook of Music and Dance Performances in the Ancient Mediterranean: An Interpretive Approach brings together research from the subdiscipline of archaeomusicology, or music archaeology, with new perspectives from art history, the archaeology of performance, and sensory studies, to provide a comprehensive overview of music and dance in the ancient Mediterranean world. Through an... Read more

1. Interpreting Music and Dance in the Ancient Mediterranean through Material Culture

Angela Bellia and Clemente Marconi

PART I: The Religious Sphere

2. Music and Dance Performances in Ancient Egyptian Temples

Heidi Köpp-Junk

3. Location of Tableaux with Dance and Music Scenes in Egyptian Temple Architecture: Meaning and Significance?

Batyah Schachter

4. Music in Early Mesopotamia

Lorenzo Verderame

5. Musical in Festivals, Sacrifices, and Processions in Third- and Second- Millennium Mesopotamia: Insights from Three Remarkable Depictions

Daniel Sánchez Muñoz

6. Phoenician-Punic Musical and Dance Performances: Instruments, Contexts, and Significance

Meritxell Ferrer and Mireia López-Bertran

7. Choral Dancing on Archaic Greek Sacred Architecture

Clemente Marconi

8. Sacred Sounds and Ritual Movements in Greek Sacred Spaces

Tyler Jo Smith

9. Instruments and Sound Tools in Sacred Contexts of the Ancient Greek World

Sylvain Perrot

10. Musical and Dance Performances among Iberian and Celtiberian Communities

Raquel Jaménez Pasalodos

11. Performances in Oriental Cults in Rome: Instruments and Sound Tools in Context

Arnaud Saura-Ziegelmeyer

PART II: The Sphere of Everyday Life

12. The Sound of Work: An Ancient Near Eastern Perspective

Agnès Garcia-Ventura and Mireia López-Bertran

13. Musical and Choral Performances in the Human Cycle of Life: Infancy and Childhood, Wedding and Marriage, and Death in the Ancient Greek World

Angela Bellia

14. Sounds, Songs, and Ritualized Movements in Work, Hunting, and Travel Activities in the Ancient Greek World

Fàbio Vergara Cerqueira

15. Musical and Choral Performances in Greek Theater Spaces and Contexts

Luigi Todisco

16. Musical and Dance Performances at the Banquet in Etruria

Alessandro Naso

17. Musical and Choral Performances in Banqueting Halls in the Roman World

Claudina Romero Mayorga

PART III: The Funerary Sphere

18. Dancing with the Dead: Music and Performance in Ancient Near Eastern Funerals

Nicola Laneri

19. Musical Iconographies on Funerary Attic Vases

Elvia Giudice

20. Musical and Dance Performances in the Funerary Spaces in Magna Graecia

Fabien Bièvre-Perrin

21. Voice and Body, Emotion and Motion: Music and Dance at Roman Funerals

Valerie M. Hope

PART IV: Beyond the Ancient Mediterranean

22. Music and Dance Performance and Material Culture: A Global Perspective

Lars-Christian Koch

Biography

Angela Bellia is Professor of Musicology and Music History at the University of Palermo. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator of the research project “Voicing Spaces,” supported by an Advanced Grant from the Italian Science Fund (FIS).

Clemente Marconi is James R. McCredie Professor of Greek Art and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Milan.