Conference: Redefining the Sacred: Religious Identity, Ritual Practice, and Sacred Architecture in the Near East and Egypt, 1000 BC – 300 AD

Redefining the Sacred: Religious Identity, Ritual Practice, and Sacred Architecture in the Near East and Egypt, 1000 BC – 300 AD 19th – 21st March, 2009 Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, University of Oxford.

Organised by Elizabeth Frood (University of Oxford) and Rubina Raja (University of Aarhus)

Call for papers: Deadline November 30th, 2008

The conference theme is situated at the interface between the study of texts, architecture, and archaeology, integrating domains of evidence that are normally treated separately and often generate contradictory interpretations of religious ideas and practices. Sacred space and ritual landscapes have become a major focus of interest in archaeology over the last decade but, because of the richness of the material in these regions, few broader comparative studies have been undertaken.
Most studies concentrate on single contexts and isolated periods.
Despite the realities of geographical distance and political separation, the cultures of the Near East and Egypt from the first millennium BC to AD 300 were dynamically interconnected and mutually dependent. Religious architecture, which was central to ancient environments, is at the core of expressions of relationship and difference. By bringing together ancient historians, philologists, Assyriologists, classical archaeologists, and Egyptologists, the aim is to explore the immense potential of diachronic studies of sacred space.

We would like to invite proposals for papers from scholars and graduate students working in related areas. Please email a paper title and abstract, of no more than 500 words, to Elizabeth Frood:


For more information, please see the website:
http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/conferences/redefining_the_sacred/index.html

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