Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean: Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries

Book Open Access

Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean

Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries

Edited by: Thomas Galoppin , Elodie Guillon , Max Luaces , Asuman Lätzer-Lasar , Sylvain Lebreton , Fabio Porzia , Jörg Rüpke , Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli and Corinne Bonnet

Languages: English, French, Italian

Published/Copyright: 2022

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Explore this Subject How to publish with us

About this book

Ancient religions are definitely complex systems of gods, which resist our understanding. Divine names provide fundamental keys to gain access to the multiples ways gods were conceived, characterized, and organized. Among the names given to the gods many of them refer to spaces: cities, landscapes, sanctuaries, houses, cosmic elements. They reflect mental maps which need to be explored in order to gain new knowledge on both the structure of the pantheons and the human agency in the cultic dimension. By considering the intersection between naming and mapping, this book opens up new perspectives on how tradition and innovation, appropriation and creation play a role in the making of polytheistic and monotheistic religions.
Far from being confined to sanctuaries, in fact, gods dwell in human environments in multiple ways. They move into imaginary spaces and explore the cosmos. By proposing a new and interdiciplinary angle of approach, which involves texts, images, spatial and archeaeological data, this book sheds light on ritual practices and representations of gods in the whole Mediterranean, from Italy to Mesopotamia, from Greece to North Africa and Egypt. Names and spaces enable to better define, differentiate, and connect gods.

Reviews

"Overall, this publication makes a valuable contribution to the study of ancient religious topography. [...] While the text is dense at times, scholars of religion, literature, and archaeology will find this publication a worthy contribution to the study of sacred topography." Hannah B. Smagh in: BMCR 2024.04.18

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Volume 1
Introduction Corinne Bonnet, Thomas Galoppin, Elodie Guillon, Sylvain Lebreton, Max Luaces, Fabio Porzia and Jörg Rüpke Open Access Download PDF	1
1 Naming and Locating the Gods: Space as a Divine Onomastic Attribute
1.1 Egypt and Near East
The Names of Osiris in the Litany of the So-Called Spell 141/142 of the Book of the Dead in Ancient Egypt Giuseppina Lenzo Open Access Download PDF	11
Divine Epithets as Perspectival Discourse Mark S. Smith Open Access Download PDF	41
Nomina nuda tenemus: The God Elyon (ʿlyn) Anna Elise Zernecke Open Access Download PDF	71
Naming and Mapping the Gods in Cyprus: a Matter of Scales? Corinne Bonnet Open Access Download PDF	89
1.2 Greece: Literature
Regional Loyalties in the Iliad: The Cases of Zeus, Apollo, and Athena Mary R. Bachvarova Open Access Download PDF	103
Agrotera: Situating Artemis in Her Landscapes Massimo Giuseppetti Open Access Download PDF	123
πολύθεοι ἕδραι: Terms for Spatio-Cultic Relationships in Greek Emrys Schlatter Open Access Download PDF	147
Les épiclèses toponymiques comme outil interprétatif chez Hérodote : quelques exemples Fabrizio Gaetano Open Access Download PDF	159
ΚΥΠΡΙΣ. Ovvero l’interpretazione degli epiteti divini nel Περὶ θεῶν di Apollodoro di Atene (244 FGrHist 353) Andrea Filoni Open Access Download PDF	167
Place Names as Divine Epithets in Pausanias José Marcos Macedo Open Access Download PDF	187
1.3 Greece: Local and Regional Approaches
Artemis and Her Territory: Toponymic and Topographical Cult-Epithets of Artemis in Attica Micaela Canopoli Open Access Download PDF	211
Alla ricerca della “Buona Fama”: Eukleia tra epiclesi di Artemide e teonimo indipendente Alessio Sassù Open Access Download PDF	233
Insights into the Cult of Apollo and Artemis at the Parian Sanctuaries Erica Angliker Open Access Download PDF	247
Founders, Leaders, or Ancestors? Ἀρχηγέτης/-ις: Variations on a Name Claudio Biagetti Open Access Download PDF	271
Zeus « qui-règne-sur Dodone (Hom., Il. 16.233–234) » et ses épigones. Les attributs onomastiques construits sur medeôn, -ousa + toponyme Sylvain Lebreton Open Access Download PDF	289
1.4 Rome and the West
The Quadruviae: Cult Mobility and Social Agency in the Northern Provinces of the Roman Empire Audrey Ferlut Open Access Download PDF	311
Naming the Gods in Roman Sicily: The Case of Enguium Beatrice Lietz Open Access Download PDF	335
2 Mapping the Divine: Presenting Gods in Space
2.1 Egypt and Near East
Khnoum d’Éléphantine et Isis de Philae : la lutte pour le contrôle de la première cataracte du Nil et du Dodécaschène Audrey Eller Open Access Download PDF	345
From High to Low: Reflections about the Emplacement of Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia Nicola Laneri Open Access Download PDF	371
A New Mobilities Approach to Naming and Mapping Deities: Presence, Absence, and Distance at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud Eric M. Trinka Open Access Download PDF	387
Entre espace et puissance : le séjour des morts et la persistance de structures polythéistes dans la Bible hébraïque Hélène Grosjean and Christophe Nihan Open Access Download PDF	407
2.2 Phoenician and Punic World
Death at the Centre of Life: Some Notes on Gods and the Dead, Temples and Tombs in the Phoenician Context Giuseppe Garbati Open Access Download PDF	431
In and Out What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Role of Liminality in the Phoenician Rites Ida Oggiano Open Access Download PDF	457
Graeco-Phoenician Figurines in Phoenicia. A Medley of Imports, Derivatives, Imitations, and Hybrids Barbara Bolognani Open Access Download PDF	473
The Gods of the Others: Images of Foreign Deities in the Hellenistic Cult Place of Kharayeb Marianna Castiglione Open Access Download PDF	493
Remarques sur le rôle du sel dans les pratiques votives de Kition : un exemple d’interaction entre les figurines divines et leur milieu Pauline Maillard Open Access Download PDF	519
On Gods and Caves: Comparing Cave-Sanctuaries in the Ancient Western Mediterranean Adriano Orsingher Open Access Download PDF	535
Between Astarte, Isis and Aphrodite/Venus. Cultural Dynamics in the Coastal Cities of Sardinia in the Roman Age: The Case Study of Nora Romina Carboni Open Access Download PDF	561
2.3 Archaic and Classical Greece
Déplacements, mobilité, communication. Quelques réflexions sur le mode d’action d’Iris dans la poésie archaïque Ombretta Cesca Open Access Download PDF	577
Spatialité, performance, choralité divines et humaines : les Charites de Pindare et Bacchylide Michel Briand Open Access Download PDF	597
Linking Centre and Periphery: Nymphs and Their Cultic Space in Euripides, Electra 803–843 Doralice Fabiano Open Access Download PDF	617
2.4 Rome and its Empire
La plebs des dieux. Réflexions sur la hiérarchie et la spatialité des dieux romains Francesca Prescendi Open Access Download PDF	629
A Contest for the Control of Ideological Space in Ovid’s Metamorphoses XI 146–94: Apollo/Augustus, Pan, and an Allegory of the Romanization of Hellenistic Lydia Gabriele Roccella Open Access Download PDF	645
The Gods at Play: Mapping the Divine at the Amphitheatres in Hispania Jaime Alvar Ezquerra Open Access Download PDF	671
Spaces of Reinvented Religious Traditions in the Danubian Provinces Csaba Szabó Open Access Download PDF	691
Where Did the Gods Speak? A Proposal for (Re)defining “Oracular Sanctuaries” on the Basis of Anatolian Data of the Hellenistic and Roman Period Kevin Bouillot Open Access Download PDF	707
Volume 2
3 Gods and Cities: Urban Religion, Sanctuaries and the Emergence of Towns
3.1 Egypt and Near East
Akhenaten and His Aten Cult in Abydos and Akhmim Briana C. Jackson Open Access Download PDF	725
Nippur: City of Enlil and Ninurta Bernhard Schneider Open Access Download PDF	745
Urban Religion in First Millennium BCE Babylonia Rocío Da Riva Open Access Download PDF	763
Hatra of Shamash. How to assign the city under the divine power? Aleksandra Kubiak-Schneider Open Access Download PDF	791
3.2 Greek World
Un réseau de rapports symboliques. Santuari, territorio e pratiche collettive nella Sparta arcaica Lucio Maria Valletta Open Access Download PDF	805
Spatializing ‘Divine Newcomers’ in Athens Sabine Neumann Open Access Download PDF	825
L’articulation de l’espace religieux et de l’espace civique : l’exemple du sanctuaire de Zeus sur l’agora de Thasos Natacha Trippé Open Access Download PDF	853
Squaring Nemesis: Alexander’s Dream, the Oracle, and the Foundation of the New Smyrna Daniela Bonanno Open Access Download PDF	871
3.3 Rome and the West
Gods in the City Jörg Rüpke Open Access Download PDF	891
« Religious Ancient Placemaking » : une nouvelle approche méthodologique pour l’évaluation des religions à l’époque antique Asuman Lätzer-Lasar Open Access Download PDF	911
Cybele and Attis from the Phrygian Crags to the City. History, Places and Forms of the Cult of Magna Mater in Rome Fulvio Coletti and Francesca Diosono Open Access Download PDF	945
La ritualisation des territoires ibériques : les sanctuaires urbains de l’Âge du Fer Angélique Guigner Open Access Download PDF	971
Jumping Among the Temples: Early Christian Critique of Polytheism’s “Spatial Fix” Emiliano R. Urciuoli Open Access Download PDF	989
The Space of “Paganism” in the Early Medieval City: Rome’s Polytheistic Past along the Real and Imaginary Topography of the Pilgrims’ Paths Nicola Luciani Open Access Download PDF	1011
Epilogue
Que faut-il pour faire un sanctuaire ? Philippe Boissinot Open Access Download PDF	1037
Index Nominum Open Access Download PDF	1057

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

December 31, 2022

eBook ISBN:

9783110798432

Hardcover published on:

December 31, 2022

Hardcover ISBN:

9783110796490

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

20

Main content:

1069

Illustrations:

34

Coloured Illustrations:

86

Tables:

24

Coloured Tables:

1

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110798432

eBook ISBN: 9783110798432

Hardcover ISBN: 9783110796490

Keywords for this book

Onomastics; spacial turn; sanctuaries; ancient religion

Audience(s) for this book

Students and scholars of ancient history, classical studies, religious studies and spacial studies

Creative Commons

BY 4.0

Safety & product resources

Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean

Overview

About this book

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Bibliographic data