Sabine R Huebner
Biographic Data
| ID | 1074528 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sabine R Huebner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sabine R |
| FAMILY NAME | Huebner |
| SIGNATURE | HUEBNER S R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Basel |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3324-5050 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 64 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 4 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Reconstructing the Nile
This article revisits and refines the reconstruction of Nile flood levels during the Roman period, using a multidisciplinary approach to integrate textual, numismatic, and epigraphic sources with environmental data and comparative Islamic-era Nilometer records. The Nile flood was a linchpin of agricultural prosperity and socio-economic stability for both Roman Egypt and the wider Mediterranean, yet systematic annual flood data remain absent for t…
Mummy Labels
Mummy labels are relics found in large quantities in Egypt, often in an excellent state of preservation (like most woods preserved in arid environments). As a result, they are widespread in Roman Egyptian collections of many museums. These labels reflect funerary practices that possess Egyptian and Roman influences and are an important source of historical and archaeological information. These corpora of mummy labels offer several possibilities f…
Egypt as a Gateway for the Passage of Pathogens into the Ancient Mediterranean
Ancient Egypt plays a crucial role in the history of infectious disease. An intersection for communication and commerce, Egypt linked disparate civilizations and ecologies, allowing the spread of local epidemics and Mediterranean-wide pandemics. The region south of Egypt developed a pestilential reputation, due in part to Thucydides' account of the Plague of Athens, which traced the disease's origins to that area. Later records are modeled on Thu…
The “Plague of Cyprian”
Kyle Harper's article on the “Plague of Cyprian” that appeared in this journal in 2015 constitutes the only comprehensive study to date of this important disease outbreak in the third quarter of the 3rd c. CE. The current article revisits the main evidence for this epidemic and corrects and improves our understanding of its origin, timeline, and spread. It contends that the disease entered the Roman Empire via Gothic invasions on the Danube rathe…
Climate Change in the Breadbasket of the Roman Empire—Explaining the Decline of the Fayum Villages in the Third Century CE
The paper focuses on one of the most productive wheat-growing regions in the entire Roman Empire, the Arsinoite nome (modern Fayum) in Egypt. Towards the end of the third century CE, multiple formerly thriving farming villages at the edges of the district went into decline and were eventually abandoned. This paper presents a new perspective on causes of this abandonment by synthesizing existing research. The papyri as well as the archaeological r…
Papyri of the University Library of Basel (P.Bas. II)
Die Universitatsbibliothek in ist im Besitz einer kleinen Papyrussammlung von 63 Papyri aus ptolemaischer, roemischer sowie spatantiker Zeit in uberwiegend griechischer, aber auch hieratischer, lateinischer, koptischer und mittelpersischer Sprache. Der Freiwillige Museumsverein der Stadt erwarb sie im Jahre 1899 fur die Universitatsbibliothek und machte damit zur einer der ersten Universitaten, die im Besitz einer Sammlung griechischer Papyri war…
The Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman World
Using a variety of historical sources and methodological approaches, this book presents the first large-scale study of single men and women in the Roman world, from the Roman Republic to Late Antiquity and covering virtually all periods of the ancient Mediterranean. It asks how singleness was defined and for what reasons people might find themselves unmarried. While marriage was generally favoured by philosophers and legislators, with the argumen…
Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament
Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman World
Der Klassische Archäologe Hermann Thiersch (1874–1939) und der Erwerb der Basler Papyrussammlung im Jahr 1899/1900
The Classical Archaeologist Hermann Thiersch (1874–1939) and the Acquisition of the Basel Papyrus Collection in 1899/1900 . During the winter of 1899/1900, the young archaeologist Hermann Thiersch traveled to Cairo to purchase papyri for the universities in Basel, Strasbourg, and Munich. By this point, European and North American collectors and researchers were racing to discover the finest material either for their own archaeological excavations…
Soter, Sotas, and Dioscorus before the Governor
In this article I argue that P.Mil.Vogl. 6.287, a private fragmentary excerpt made from the official journal of Roman court transcripts constitutes the first genuine protocol of a trial of Christians lacking any later alterations or embellishments. I further reason that the papyrus scrap of unknown prov- enance and housed today in the papyrus collection of the University of Milan belongs to the middle of the third century ce. The fragmentary line…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire. A response to Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome (2)
This is the second of a three‐section review of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome in which we examine in detail Harper's treatment of two allegedly widespread and mortal Roman outbreaks of disease. In the case of the second‐century Antonine plague, we demonstrate that Harper overlooked a major controversy and instead portrayed an oversimplified narrative of a catastrophic event. In the case of the third‐century Cyprianic plague, we call attention to…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome , written for a popular audience, uses the environment to explain the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The book asserts that Rome fell as a result of environmental stress, in particular through a combination of pandemic disease and climate change. Although we agree that the environment can and should be integrated within traditional historical accounts, we challenge the book's claims on several issues. These in…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
This is the last of a three‐part review of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome . Here, we scrutinize Harper's treatment of the Justinianic Plague, demonstrating how he crafts a convincing narrative based on rhetorical flourishes but little evidence. We call further attention to several internal contradictions within the chapter and misinterpretations of evidence. We conclude this series of articles with a reflection on Harper's deterministic approach …
Mediterranean Families in Antiquity
Adoption and Fosterage in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean
This chapter focuses on the practice of adoption and fosterage in the Eastern Mediterranean, a family strategy that is, compared with its equivalent in the Roman West, understudied. She traces the source material for adoption from ancient Near Eastern through classical Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman times up to late antiquity comparing the respective legal backgrounds and analyzing recorded cases that reveal motives of the adopter and age and stat…
Brother–sister marriage
The avoidance of sexual relationships between full siblings is considered by sociobiologists to be a universal cultural norm across societies.
Census
Our modern term “census” comes from the Latin word censere , “to count” or “to estimate.” The procedure of counting people is already attested in our earliest historical records.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Herakleopolis Magna, the capital of the Herakleopolite nome, was an important town throughout the history of ancient Egypt
Female Circumcision as a Rite de Passage in Egypt—Continuity through the Millennia
In Greece and Rome, a female stood at the center of attention of her family and the outside world only on two occasions, at her marriage and at her funeral. Therefore a party thrown in the honor of a minor girl, recorded in three papyri, all from third-century Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy. Hels. 50.17; P.Oxy. LXVI 4542 and 4543) seems rather odd at first sight. From these papyri we learn that this event, the so-called therapeuteria, was a family get-togeth…
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Scholars over the last few decades have been unable to find a convincing explanation for the widespread practice of brother-sister marriage among the common people in Roman Egypt, a social practice seemingly disregarding one of the most fundamental taboos. This paper now argues that these ‘incestuous’ marriages were in fact marriages between a biological child and an adopted one, a practice documented also for other parts of the Eastern Mediterra…
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Herakleopolis Magna, the capital of the Herakleopolite nome, was an important town throughout the history of ancient Egypt
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome , written for a popular audience, uses the environment to explain the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The book asserts that Rome fell as a result of environmental stress, in particular through a combination of pandemic disease and climate change. Although we agree that the environment can and should be integrated within traditional historical accounts, we challenge the book's claims on several issues. These in…
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Scholars over the last few decades have been unable to find a convincing explanation for the widespread practice of brother-sister marriage among the common people in Roman Egypt, a social practice seemingly disregarding one of the most fundamental taboos. This paper now argues that these ‘incestuous’ marriages were in fact marriages between a biological child and an adopted one, a practice documented also for other parts of the Eastern Mediterra…
Adoption and Fosterage in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean
This chapter focuses on the practice of adoption and fosterage in the Eastern Mediterranean, a family strategy that is, compared with its equivalent in the Roman West, understudied. She traces the source material for adoption from ancient Near Eastern through classical Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman times up to late antiquity comparing the respective legal backgrounds and analyzing recorded cases that reveal motives of the adopter and age and stat…
The “Plague of Cyprian”
Kyle Harper's article on the “Plague of Cyprian” that appeared in this journal in 2015 constitutes the only comprehensive study to date of this important disease outbreak in the third quarter of the 3rd c. CE. The current article revisits the main evidence for this epidemic and corrects and improves our understanding of its origin, timeline, and spread. It contends that the disease entered the Roman Empire via Gothic invasions on the Danube rathe…
Soter, Sotas, and Dioscorus before the Governor
In this article I argue that P.Mil.Vogl. 6.287, a private fragmentary excerpt made from the official journal of Roman court transcripts constitutes the first genuine protocol of a trial of Christians lacking any later alterations or embellishments. I further reason that the papyrus scrap of unknown prov- enance and housed today in the papyrus collection of the University of Milan belongs to the middle of the third century ce. The fragmentary line…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
This is the last of a three‐part review of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome . Here, we scrutinize Harper's treatment of the Justinianic Plague, demonstrating how he crafts a convincing narrative based on rhetorical flourishes but little evidence. We call further attention to several internal contradictions within the chapter and misinterpretations of evidence. We conclude this series of articles with a reflection on Harper's deterministic approach …
Female Circumcision as a Rite de Passage in Egypt—Continuity through the Millennia
In Greece and Rome, a female stood at the center of attention of her family and the outside world only on two occasions, at her marriage and at her funeral. Therefore a party thrown in the honor of a minor girl, recorded in three papyri, all from third-century Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy. Hels. 50.17; P.Oxy. LXVI 4542 and 4543) seems rather odd at first sight. From these papyri we learn that this event, the so-called therapeuteria, was a family get-togeth…
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Egypt as a Gateway for the Passage of Pathogens into the Ancient Mediterranean
Ancient Egypt plays a crucial role in the history of infectious disease. An intersection for communication and commerce, Egypt linked disparate civilizations and ecologies, allowing the spread of local epidemics and Mediterranean-wide pandemics. The region south of Egypt developed a pestilential reputation, due in part to Thucydides' account of the Plague of Athens, which traced the disease's origins to that area. Later records are modeled on Thu…
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Brother-Sister’ Marriage in Roman Egypt
Scholars over the last few decades have been unable to find a convincing explanation for the widespread practice of brother-sister marriage among the common people in Roman Egypt, a social practice seemingly disregarding one of the most fundamental taboos. This paper now argues that these ‘incestuous’ marriages were in fact marriages between a biological child and an adopted one, a practice documented also for other parts of the Eastern Mediterra…
Female Circumcision as a Rite de Passage in Egypt—Continuity through the Millennia
In Greece and Rome, a female stood at the center of attention of her family and the outside world only on two occasions, at her marriage and at her funeral. Therefore a party thrown in the honor of a minor girl, recorded in three papyri, all from third-century Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy. Hels. 50.17; P.Oxy. LXVI 4542 and 4543) seems rather odd at first sight. From these papyri we learn that this event, the so-called therapeuteria, was a family get-togeth…
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Herakleopolis Magna, the capital of the Herakleopolite nome, was an important town throughout the history of ancient Egypt
Brother–sister marriage
The avoidance of sexual relationships between full siblings is considered by sociobiologists to be a universal cultural norm across societies.
Census
Our modern term “census” comes from the Latin word censere , “to count” or “to estimate.” The procedure of counting people is already attested in our earliest historical records.
Adoption and Fosterage in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean
This chapter focuses on the practice of adoption and fosterage in the Eastern Mediterranean, a family strategy that is, compared with its equivalent in the Roman West, understudied. She traces the source material for adoption from ancient Near Eastern through classical Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman times up to late antiquity comparing the respective legal backgrounds and analyzing recorded cases that reveal motives of the adopter and age and stat…
Mediterranean Families in Antiquity
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire. A response to Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome (2)
This is the second of a three‐section review of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome in which we examine in detail Harper's treatment of two allegedly widespread and mortal Roman outbreaks of disease. In the case of the second‐century Antonine plague, we demonstrate that Harper overlooked a major controversy and instead portrayed an oversimplified narrative of a catastrophic event. In the case of the third‐century Cyprianic plague, we call attention to…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome , written for a popular audience, uses the environment to explain the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The book asserts that Rome fell as a result of environmental stress, in particular through a combination of pandemic disease and climate change. Although we agree that the environment can and should be integrated within traditional historical accounts, we challenge the book's claims on several issues. These in…
Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire
This is the last of a three‐part review of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome . Here, we scrutinize Harper's treatment of the Justinianic Plague, demonstrating how he crafts a convincing narrative based on rhetorical flourishes but little evidence. We call further attention to several internal contradictions within the chapter and misinterpretations of evidence. We conclude this series of articles with a reflection on Harper's deterministic approach …
The Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman World
Using a variety of historical sources and methodological approaches, this book presents the first large-scale study of single men and women in the Roman world, from the Roman Republic to Late Antiquity and covering virtually all periods of the ancient Mediterranean. It asks how singleness was defined and for what reasons people might find themselves unmarried. While marriage was generally favoured by philosophers and legislators, with the argumen…
Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament
Single Life in the Roman and Later Roman World
Der Klassische Archäologe Hermann Thiersch (1874–1939) und der Erwerb der Basler Papyrussammlung im Jahr 1899/1900
The Classical Archaeologist Hermann Thiersch (1874–1939) and the Acquisition of the Basel Papyrus Collection in 1899/1900 . During the winter of 1899/1900, the young archaeologist Hermann Thiersch traveled to Cairo to purchase papyri for the universities in Basel, Strasbourg, and Munich. By this point, European and North American collectors and researchers were racing to discover the finest material either for their own archaeological excavations…
Soter, Sotas, and Dioscorus before the Governor
In this article I argue that P.Mil.Vogl. 6.287, a private fragmentary excerpt made from the official journal of Roman court transcripts constitutes the first genuine protocol of a trial of Christians lacking any later alterations or embellishments. I further reason that the papyrus scrap of unknown prov- enance and housed today in the papyrus collection of the University of Milan belongs to the middle of the third century ce. The fragmentary line…
Climate Change in the Breadbasket of the Roman Empire—Explaining the Decline of the Fayum Villages in the Third Century CE
The paper focuses on one of the most productive wheat-growing regions in the entire Roman Empire, the Arsinoite nome (modern Fayum) in Egypt. Towards the end of the third century CE, multiple formerly thriving farming villages at the edges of the district went into decline and were eventually abandoned. This paper presents a new perspective on causes of this abandonment by synthesizing existing research. The papyri as well as the archaeological r…
Papyri of the University Library of Basel (P.Bas. II)
Die Universitatsbibliothek in ist im Besitz einer kleinen Papyrussammlung von 63 Papyri aus ptolemaischer, roemischer sowie spatantiker Zeit in uberwiegend griechischer, aber auch hieratischer, lateinischer, koptischer und mittelpersischer Sprache. Der Freiwillige Museumsverein der Stadt erwarb sie im Jahre 1899 fur die Universitatsbibliothek und machte damit zur einer der ersten Universitaten, die im Besitz einer Sammlung griechischer Papyri war…
The “Plague of Cyprian”
Kyle Harper's article on the “Plague of Cyprian” that appeared in this journal in 2015 constitutes the only comprehensive study to date of this important disease outbreak in the third quarter of the 3rd c. CE. The current article revisits the main evidence for this epidemic and corrects and improves our understanding of its origin, timeline, and spread. It contends that the disease entered the Roman Empire via Gothic invasions on the Danube rathe…
Mummy Labels
Mummy labels are relics found in large quantities in Egypt, often in an excellent state of preservation (like most woods preserved in arid environments). As a result, they are widespread in Roman Egyptian collections of many museums. These labels reflect funerary practices that possess Egyptian and Roman influences and are an important source of historical and archaeological information. These corpora of mummy labels offer several possibilities f…
Egypt as a Gateway for the Passage of Pathogens into the Ancient Mediterranean
Ancient Egypt plays a crucial role in the history of infectious disease. An intersection for communication and commerce, Egypt linked disparate civilizations and ecologies, allowing the spread of local epidemics and Mediterranean-wide pandemics. The region south of Egypt developed a pestilential reputation, due in part to Thucydides' account of the Plague of Athens, which traced the disease's origins to that area. Later records are modeled on Thu…
Reconstructing the Nile
This article revisits and refines the reconstruction of Nile flood levels during the Roman period, using a multidisciplinary approach to integrate textual, numismatic, and epigraphic sources with environmental data and comparative Islamic-era Nilometer records. The Nile flood was a linchpin of agricultural prosperity and socio-economic stability for both Roman Egypt and the wider Mediterranean, yet systematic annual flood data remain absent for t…
History (16 works) · Ancient history (11 works) · Archaeology (11 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (9 works) · Geography (9 works) · History (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Art (8 works) · Genealogy (8 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (7 works)