Routledge Studies in Ancient Disabilities – serie

By triangulating the Greco-Roman world, classical reception, and disability studies, this book presents a range of approaches that reassess and reimagine traditional themes, from the narrative voice to sensory studies.It argues that disability and disabled people are the ‘forgotten other’ of not just Classics, but also the Humanities more widely. Beyond the moral merits of rectifying this neglect, this book also provides a series of approaches and case studies that demonstrate the intellectual value of engaging with disability studies as classicists and exploring the classical legacy in the medical humanities. The book is presented in four parts: ‘Communicating and controlling impairment, illness and pain’; ‘Using, creating and showcasing disability supports and services’; ‘Real bodies and retrieving senses: disability in the ritual record’; and ‘Classical reception as the gateway between Classics and disability studies’. Chapters by scholars from different academic backgrounds are carefully paired in these sections in order to draw out further contrasts and nuances and produce a sum that is more than the parts. The volume also explores how the ancient world and its reception have influenced medical and disability literature, and how engagements with disabled people might lead to reinterpretations of familiar case studies, such as the Parthenon.This book is primarily intended for classicists interested in disabled people in the Greco-Roman past and in how modern disability studies may offer insights into and reinterpretations of historic case studies. It will also be of interest to those working in medical humanities, sensory studies, and museum studies, and those exploring the wider tension between representation and reality in ancient contexts. As such, it will appeal to people in the wider Humanities who, notwithstanding any interest in how disabled people are represented in literature, art, and cinema, have had less engagement with disability studies and the lived experience of people with impairments.

By triangulating the Greco-Roman world, classical reception, and disability studies, this book presents a range of approaches that reassess and reimagine traditional themes, from the narrative voice to sensory studies.It argues that disability and disabled people are the ‘forgotten other’ of not just Classics, but also the Humanities more widely. Beyond the moral merits of rectifying this neglect, this book also provides a series of approaches and case studies that demonstrate the intellectual value of engaging with disability studies as classicists and exploring the classical legacy in the medical humanities. The book is presented in four parts: ‘Communicating and controlling impairment, illness and pain’; ‘Using, creating and showcasing disability supports and services’; ‘Real bodies and retrieving senses: disability in the ritual record’; and ‘Classical reception as the gateway between Classics and disability studies’. Chapters by scholars from different academic backgrounds are carefully paired in these sections in order to draw out further contrasts and nuances and produce a sum that is more than the parts. The volume also explores how the ancient world and its reception have influenced medical and disability literature, and how engagements with disabled people might lead to reinterpretations of familiar case studies, such as the Parthenon.This book is primarily intended for classicists interested in disabled people in the Greco-Roman past and in how modern disability studies may offer insights into and reinterpretations of historic case studies. It will also be of interest to those working in medical humanities, sensory studies, and museum studies, and those exploring the wider tension between representation and reality in ancient contexts. As such, it will appeal to people in the wider Humanities who, notwithstanding any interest in how disabled people are represented in literature, art, and cinema, have had less engagement with disability studies and the lived experience of people with impairments.

This book explores disability across time and space—from ‘ancient Egypt’ as a culture to Egyptology as a contemporary field—to go beyond simply identifying disability, encouraging readers to thoughtfully consider the history of disabled people in ancient Egypt and Egyptology.Through a critical investigation, this volume reshapes often-overlooked narratives of disability within the discipline of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology. Chapters explore evidence of disability, the historiographical ways in which disability has been approached, and how disability histories are (mis)represented in various contemporary spaces. Coverage stretches across Egypt and Nubia from the Predynastic to the Roman periods, as well as receptions of these cultures and disability in museums. Its editors and many of its authors are disability community members who are experts in their respective professions, comprising an international authorship and including voices from typically underrepresented groups. Contributors range from early career researchers to senior scholars, as well as those working outside of and adjacent to academia. While focusing on ancient Egypt and Egyptology, this volume offers new ways to consider disability in the broadest possible sense. It uses terminology informed by the disability community and offers guidance for disability inclusivity in curatorial and pedagogical museum and university contexts. It prioritises disability as an essential area of research in ancient world studies, and platforms both ancient and modern disabled voices. The deep, detailed exploration into disability in the past and in our discipline offered by this book inspires readers to further explore and appreciate the infinite diversity of the human experience in all its infinite combinations.The first-book length treatment of the subject, Disability in Ancient Egypt and Egyptology provides a much-needed resource for students and scholars of ancient Egypt, Egyptology, and disability in the ancient world. It is also suitable for researchers in Disability Studies, practitioners in broader ancient world studies, and museum and heritage professionals. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This is one of the first single-authored books to utilise Critical Disability Studies and the lens of embodiment to comprehensively unveil, explore, and celebrate disability in Ptolemaic Egypt and the Hellenistic world through a critical examination of art, artefacts, texts, and human remains.Through a thoughtful investigation, this volume reveals often-overlooked narratives of disability within Ptolemaic Egypt and the larger Hellenistic world (332 BCE to 30 BCE). Chapters explore evidence of physical and intellectual disability, ranging from named individuals; representations of people and mythological figures with dwarfism, blindness and vision impairments; cerebral palsy; mobility impairments; spinal disability; and medicine, healing, and prosthetics. Morris examines the historiographical ways in which disability has been approached, and how ancient disability histories are (mis)represented in various contemporary spaces. It uses terminology informed by the disability community and offers guidance for disability inclusivity in curatorial and pedagogical museum and university contexts, as well as prioritizing disability as an essential area of research in ancient world studies and assisting readers with the identification of ancient disability artefacts.The first-book length treatment of the subject, Disability in Ptolemaic Egypt and the Hellenistic World provides a much-needed resource for students and scholars of ancient Egypt, Egyptology, Classics, Classical Studies, and disability in the ancient world. It is also suitable for researchers in Disability Studies, practitioners in broader Ancient World Studies, and museum and heritage professionals. It is accessible to disabled people curious about their own history, as well as nondisabled people interested in disability history and those interested in a more accurate view of ancient Egyptian history.