Leofranc Holford-Strevens, who read and commented on the entire manu-
script. An early draft of Chapter 5 was sent to Peter Derow, my former tutor,
days before his unexpected demise; the late Simon Price, another former tutor,
read and commented on parts of the same chapter; I dedicate it to both their
memory. The book as a whole, however, is dedicated to my wife Evadne,
whose share in this work has been earned through tireless support and
steadfast friendship.
A generous reviewer (J. M. Baumgarten 2003, himself the author of lucid
studies on the Qumran calendars, who died as I was completing the last
chapter of this present work) described my previous work on Jewish calendars
as‘a challenging and exciting foray into the links between the measurement of
time and a millennium of Jewish social history’. I hope the same will be said of
this present work: through the study of ancient calendars, a new perspective
on Antiquity will have been achieved.
SS
London, September 2011vi Preface