Subject guides: Chicago 18th (A) Notes and Bibliography: Sacred and ancient sources

Sacred and ancient sources

Note number. Author Full Name, Title of Source Book.Section.Line.

1. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 6.11.20.

Rather than using page numbers, these sources are commonly separated into sections that remain consistent throughout different editions and translations. Cite by using book, section, and line to refer to specific passages.
If your assessment requires sub-headings in your bibliography, then list these sources in alphabetical order by ancient author under a separate heading labelled 'Ancient Sources'. Include the name of the translator and the date of the publication of the translation.

Note number. Editor Full Name, ed., Title of Book: Subtitle, (Publisher, Year of publication), Page(s).

1. Miriam Lichtheim, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature, (University of California Press, 1973), 34.

2. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 34.

Author Surname, First Name, ed. Title of Book: Subtitle. Publisher, Year of publication.

Lichtheim, Miriam, ed. Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume 1: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. University of California Press, 1973.

There is no universally accepted system of standardised citation for these sources, so refer to the ancient writer or the name of the text in your sentence and cite the modern edition or translation you are using.
List the edition, and/or the translator, and the publication details following the patterns outlined in the Books section of this guide.
If your assessment requires sub-headings in your bibliography, list these sources with the modern sources.

Note number. Title of Source Book:Verse

Note number. Abbreviated title of Book Chapter:Verse (Version).

1. Koran 19:17–21.

2. Gen. 1:27 (New Revised Standard Version).

Cite sacred sources by using variations of book, chapter, and verse to refer to specific passages.
Abbreviate the titles of versions and books of the Bible by following advice from Chapter 10 of the Eighteenth Edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
Citations of transliterated texts should indicate the name of the version or translator. The Koran (or Qur’an) is set in roman, and citations of its sections use Arabic numerals and colons (e.g., Koran 19:17–21).