Theme:
5. All Roads Lead to Rome: Multiscalar Interactions
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Sacred Landscapes in Context: Creation, Development, and Conceptualisation
Content:
This session aims to shed light on the notion of sacred landscapes on the one hand as part of ancient living realities and, on the other hand, as part of analytical categories in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. We would like to expand and deepen current conversations about the meaning(s) of sacred landscapes and the methodologies that scholars can use to investigate religiosity in the landscape with a broad chronological and geographical framework, considering the Mediterranean basin from Prehistory to the Middle Ages. Within this framework, the session will focus on four interrelated themes:
1. ‘Creation’ explores how and why sacred landscapes were created and recognised in different contexts in the ancient Mediterranean world, or whether they were unique to a geographical location or time.
2. ‘Development’ hones in on questions of continuity and change within sacred landscapes, exploring the impact of socio-cultural, political, and religious dynamics on their transformations and considering whether they remained constant amidst evolving human contexts.
3. ‘Evolution' highlights the shift from the notion of the sacred landscape to a geography of the sacred brought about by the emergence of medieval societies and the new role played by religious establishments in constructing territory.
4. ‘Conceptualization’ addresses contemporary scholarly frameworks for defining 'sacred landscapes' and explores methodologies for discerning sacred meanings within ancient landscapes.
This session seeks to assemble diverse perspectives from different contexts to elucidate the complex and multifaceted nature of sacred landscapes in the Mediterranean basin throughout one and a half millennia and to generate discussion across disciplines beyond chronological and geographical boundaries. By establishing comparative frameworks, the session will showcase a range of research questions and methodologies that can enhance our comprehension of sacred landscapes.
Keywords:
Sacred landscape, Religious practice, Continuity, Ancient Mediterranean, Human-environment interaction, Comparative approaches
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Arianna Zapelloni Pavia (Czech Republic) 1
Co-organisers:
Emilie Comes-Trinidad (France) 2
Francesca Mazzilli (United Kingdom) 3,4
Aurelie Terrier (Switzerland) 5
Mirjam von Bechtolsheim (United Kingdom) 6
Affiliations:
1. Charles University Prague
2. Laboratoire ArAr - Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée (Lyon, France)
3. Royal Holloway University of London
4. Universität Münster
5. EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) - ENAC IA LAPIS
6. Open University
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT