The Human and the Divine

Aspects of Sanctity in Time and Space
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-54884-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 142, 344 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 716 g

Reihe: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East

This volume offers detailed insights into both familiar and overlooked aspects of how humans engage with sanctity and the divine in various cultures of Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, and Beyond. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific theme—whether a region or phenomenon—from Prehistoric times to the Modern era, exposing readers to a whirlwind of impressions presented by individuals who have studied or been captivated by particular subjects. Framing the individual case studies are broader presentations by the editors, who highlight key issues with the aim of reviving a multidisciplinary dialogue and encouraging reader participation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Ulanowski, Krzysztof

Warburton, David A.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

Introduction: “Grounded Sanctity, yet Still in Motion” in the Context of the Discussion about Sacred Places in Antiquity

Krzysztof Ulanowski

Keynote: Sacred Places, Holy Spaces

David A. Warburton

Part1 The Mesopotamian World

1 Travelling the Mesopotamian Spaceways: Time and Space and an Ancient City

Piotr Michalowski

2 Continuity and Change of a Sacred Space: The Evidence of Two Burials from the Old Akkadian Ekur

Bernhard Schneider

3 How to Destroy Sacredness? Some Insights from Sumerian Cuneiform Texts

Noah Kröll and Sebastian Fink

4 The “Juniper Garden”: from a Setting of Divine Love to a Political Arena

Rocío Da Riva

5 Can Accounting Be Sacred? The Case of First-Millennium Babylonian Temple

Michael Kozuh

Part2 The Mediterranean World and Beyond

6 Some Notes on Prehistoric Sacred Places/Temples of Malta and Ancient Near Eastern Sanctuaries (IX–Mid IV Millennia BC)

Vladimir Sazonov

7 Agalma and “Hierai Hodoi” in Samos and Didyma

Slawomir M. Bobola

8 Sacred Landscape of the Muses

Tomasz Mojsik

9 The Raven as a Sacred Bird of Odin and Apollo: A Comparative Approach to the Near Eastern, Greek and Viking Ornithomancy and Cleromancy

Krzysztof Ulanowski

10 Basque Sacred Places in the Past and at Present: Cultural Change and Memory

Katarzyna Mirgos

Postface: Synthesis

David A. Warburton

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Krzysztof Ulanowski is an Associate Professor (Ph.D.) in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Anthropology (University of Gdansk, Poland). His main scientific interests related not only to anthropology but to Religious Studies, History, Classical and Oriental Studies.

David A. Warburton, Dr. phil. Bern (1996), habil, Paris I, Sorbonne-Pantheón) (2007), taught Egyptology and Archaeology at universities in Europe, Egypt and China, publishing monographs, edited volumes, translations, reviews, encyclopaedia entries, articles and chapters on religion, cognition, economics, history, chronology, etc.