Vestnik drevnei istorii
The Vestnik drevnei istorii (VDI, Journal of Ancient History, Revue d’Histoire Ancienne) is a leading Russian academic journal in the field of ancient history and related disciplines. Founded in 1937, the VDI is Russia’s oldest scholarly history journal that continues to be published. From the autumn of 1937 till March of 1941, it also accepted papers on the history of the Slavs, Byzantium, and Ancient Russia. After a break during the World War, it has been appearing quarterly since 1946.
Since 1938, the journal has been edited in the Institute of History (since 1968, Institute of World History) of the Soviet (since 1991, Russian) Academy of Sciences. It was published by the United State Publishing House [OGIZ] (1937–1941) and the Publishing House of the Soviet/Russian Academy of Sciences [“Nauka”] (1946 – present).
The editors-in-chief were Alexander Svanidze (1937), Alexander Mishulin (1938-1948), Sergey Kiselyov (1949-1962), Vassily Struve (1962-1965), Sergey Utchenko (1965-1976), Zinaida Udaltsova (1976-1987), Gregory Bongard-Levin (1988-2008), Askold Ivantchik (2009 – present).
In 1937-1947, the VDI had the French subtitle Revue d’histoire ancienne and summaries in French. Since 1967 it has the English subtitle Journal of Ancient History and summaries in English.
Media registration certificate: № 0110170 от 04.02.1993
Current Issue
Vol 83, No 4 (2023)
Articles
On the Fate of Two Old Kingdom Reliefs from the Saqqara Excavations of Selim Hassan
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About an Unpublished Assyrian Cylinder Seal (MMA 1999.325.90)
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Hebrew Prophecies about the Future Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty: A Folklore and Literary Tradition and Its Representation in Biblical Literature
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The Sources of Oriental Imports at the Samian Sanctuary of Hera
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The Marble Stele from Asklepeion of Cos as a Testimony of the Transformation of the Religious Festival in Didyma and the “Propaganda” of Apollo’s Cult
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This article presents a research of the marble stele found on the Cos island by R. Herzog. The stele is one of the most significant testimonies about the religious life at Miletus during the Hellenistic period. This document proclaims the panhellenic status of the Didymeia’s festival and establishes the coronation of the winner. Such transformation of the local festival was aimed at ‘propaganda’ of Apollo Didymeus’ cult among other Greeks. We can see the image of Apollo Didymeus on the coins of Miletus of that period with a new phase of the large Apollo’s temple construction beginning at the same time. All these may reflect the general politics aimed at the expansion of sanctuary’s influence. Inscriptions from Didyma and other sites of the Mediterranean and numismatic data confirm that from the end of the 3rd century BC the influence of the sanctuary and the oracle has spread across the region.