| Summary: | This interdisciplinary volume of text and art offers new insights into various unsolved mysteries associated with May Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and Miriam the sister of Moses. Mariamic traditions are often interconnected, as seen in the portrayal of these women as community leaders, prophets, apostles, and priests. These traditions also are often interreligious, echoing themes back to Miriam in the Hebrew Bible as well as forard to Maryam in the Qur'an. This book explores questions such as Which biblical Mary did the author of the Gospel of Mary intend to portray-Magdalene, Mother, or neither? Why did some writers depict Mary of Nazareth as a priest? Were extracanonical scriptures featuring Mary more influential than the canonical Gospels on the depiction of Maryam in the Qur'an? Contributors dig deep into literature, iconography, and archaeology to offer cuting-edge research under three overarching topics. The first section examines the question of "which Mary?" and illustrates how some ancient authors (and contemporary scholars) may have conflated the biblical Marys. Focus then moves on to Mary of Nazareth, and includes research related to the portrayal of Mary the Mother of Jesus as a Eucharistic priest. Finally, these essays explore how artists and authors have engaged with one or more of the Marys, from the early Christian era through to medieval and modern times, supplying a deeper examination of the way our modern imagination of the Marys depend upon scribes, copyists, artists, and storytellers of the past. --
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