Beatriz Pañeda Murcia | Lund University (original) (raw)

Dissertation by Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

Books by Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

Papers by Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

A. Alvar Nuño, J. Alvar Ezquerra, C. Martínez Maza (eds.). Calling upon Gods, Offering Bodies : Strategies of Human-Divine Communication in the Roman Empire from Individual Experience to Social Reproduction. Peter Lang, pp. 17-50, 2024

This volume aims at analysing how self-experience of religious communication becomes a reflexive ... more This volume aims at analysing how self-experience of religious communication becomes a reflexive phenomenon reproduced in time and space to constitute a collectively shared narrative. The issues addressed in this volume investigate how individual, creative micro-strategies of communication with the gods became established patterns of behaviour, to what extent individual behaviour was mediated by cultural constraints, or why individual biographies of divine experience became exempla and identity markers. The different chapters of this volume explore human-divine communication through three different study-cases: linguistic communication and, specially, the role and processes of construction of divine epithets; the use of the body as a tool for communication with the supernatural; and the role of objects in the human-divine communicative act.

In A. Alvar Nuño, J. Alvar Ezquerra, C. Martínez Maza (eds.). Calling upon Gods, Offering Bodies : Strategies of Human-Divine Communication in the Roman Empire from Individual Experience to Social Reproduction. Peter Lang, p. 149-214, 2024

Calling Upon Gods, Offering Bodies This volume aims at analysing how self-experience of religious... more Calling Upon Gods, Offering Bodies This volume aims at analysing how self-experience of religious communication becomes a reflexive phenomenon reproduced in time and space to constitute a collectively shared narrative. The issues addressed in this volume investigate how individual, creative micro-strategies of communication with the gods became established patterns of behaviour, to what extent individual behaviour was mediated by cultural constraints, or why individual biographies of divine experience became exempla and identity markers. The different chapters of this volume explore human-divine communication through three different study-cases: linguistic communication and, specially, the role and processes of construction of divine epithets; the use of the body as a tool for communication with the supernatural; and the role of objects in the human-divine communicative act.

C. Bonnet, J. Alvar, V. Gasparini (eds.), My Name is your Name: Anthroponyms as Divine Attributes. Proceedings of the International Conference (Madrid, June 2-3, 2021), De Gruyter., 2025

ARYS , 2021

This paper analyses the divine onomastic sequences documented in the rural epigraphy of Baetica b... more This paper analyses the divine onomastic sequences documented in the rural epigraphy of Baetica by applying the taxonomy of divine epithets developed within the EPIDI project. The aim is to determine whether or not the use of these onomastic formulae is independent of the usage found in the cities and, consequently, whether they reveal religious behaviours specific to the countryside that would allow us to speak of a rustic religious praxis, or whether, on the contrary, they reflect an orthopraxis determined by urban religion. to this end, we conduct, firstly, a comparative study of the gods and epithets attested in the urban zones and in the rural areas of the province. Secondly, we examine the most singular deities and epithets from the rural milieu taking into ac- count the circumstances that may have motivated the worshippers’ choice of the deities and the divine appellatives concerned.

N. Belayche, F. Massa, Ph. Hoffmann (eds.). Les “Mystères” au IIe siècle de notre ère : un tournant. BEHE 187. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021

La collection Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Sciences religieuses, fondée en 1889 et ... more La collection Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Sciences religieuses, fondée en 1889 et riche de plus de cent quatre-vingts volumes, reflète la diversité des enseignements et des recherches menés au sein de la Section des sciences religieuses de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris, Sorbonne). Dans l'esprit de la section qui met en oeuvre une étude scientifique, laïque et pluraliste des faits religieux, on retrouve dans cette collection tant la diversité des religions et aires culturelles étudiées que la pluralité des disciplines pratiquées : philologie, archéologie, histoire, philosophie, anthropologie, sociologie, droit. Avec le haut niveau de spécialisation et d'érudition qui caractérise les études menées à l'EPHE, la collection Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Sciences religieuses aborde aussi bien les religions anciennes disparues que les religions contemporaines, s'intéresse aussi bien à l'originalité historique, philosophique et théologique des trois grands monothéismes -judaïsme, christianisme, islamqu'à la diversité religieuse en Inde, au Tibet, en Chine, au Japon, en Afrique et en Amérique, dans la Mésopotamie et l'Égypte anciennes, dans la Grèce et la Rome antiques. Cette collection n'oublie pas non plus l'étude des marges religieuses et des formes de dissidences, l'analyse des modalités mêmes de sortie de la religion. Les ouvrages sont signés par les meilleurs spécialistes français et étrangers dans le domaine des sciences religieuses (chercheurs enseignants à l'EPHE, anciens élèves de l'École, chercheurs invités…). Secrétaires d'édition : Cécile Guivarch, Anna Waide Comité de rédaction : Andrea acri, Mohammad Ali amir-moezzi, Constance arminJon, Jean-Robert armoGathe, Samra azarnouche, Marie-Odile boulnois, Marianne buJard, Vincent Goossaert, Ivan Guermeur, Andrea-Luz Gutierrez-choquevilca, Vassa Kontouma, Séverine mathieu, Gabriella Pironti, François de PoliGnac, Ioanna raPti, Jean-Noël robert, Arnaud sérandour, Judith törszöK, Valentine zuber.

Revista ARYS : Vestir divinamente. Deidades y cultores arropados o desnudos = Dressing Divinely. Clothed or Naked Deities and Devotees, 2019

The iconography of Attis’ clothing is varied. One of the most characteristic types is the image o... more The iconography of Attis’ clothing is varied. One of the most characteristic types is the image of the god with the open dress showing often his sex. The way the tunic is opened leaves no doubt: it represents a vulva. It is suggesting imagining that this form alludes to the moment of the myth whereby the castration takes place. Catullus’s Carmen 63 is a good propaedeutic material for the problem. Beyond the verification of the sexual ambiguity of the emasculated god, the interesting point in this case is that the ambiguity is resolved by means of an ideological mechanism of opposition of opposites: what is not clearly virile, seems feminine. Consequently, the representation of the clothing is used to resolve a conflict generated in the observers who badly endure generic lack of definition: the loss of the male sex is clothed with the female genital mark.

Keywords: Androgyny, Attis, Cibeles, Phrygia, vulva.

Revista de Historiografía (RevHisto), 2018

This paper critically reviews research into the cults of Mater Magna and Attis in Hispania, from ... more This paper critically reviews research into the cults of Mater Magna and Attis in Hispania, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, focusing on the processes underlying their establishment and on the agents that introduced them into the Iberian Peninsula. In contrast to the eager document collection and the Cumontian hermeneutics of the ‘oriental’ cults that have dominated historiography, the research questions posed here are tackled from the perspective of the new theoretical trends of individualization and agency. In concert with these, a new reading of the most ancient Metroac inscriptions from the the Iberian Peninsula is suggested.

Databases by Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

DEpHis (Divine Epithets in Hispania), 2022

Database of the project "Epítetos divinos: Experiencia religiosa y relaciones de poder en Hispani... more Database of the project "Epítetos divinos: Experiencia religiosa y relaciones de poder en Hispania" (EPIDI), led by Jaime Alvar Ezquerra at the University Carlos III of Madrid and funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (2018–2021, Plan Nacional HAR2017-84789-C2-2-P).

Mitra en Hispania, 2021

Open-access database collecting the epigraphic and archaeological materials relating to the cult ... more Open-access database collecting the epigraphic and archaeological materials relating to the cult of Mithras in Hispania, based on Jaime Alvar's book "El culto de Mitra en Hispania", Dykinson, 2019.

URL: https://humanidadesdigitales.uc3m.es/s/mitra/page/inicio

Conference Presentations by Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

This talk examines the entanglement of maritime mobility (of people, goods, and ideas), domes... more This talk examines the entanglement of maritime mobility (of people, goods, and ideas), domestic space, and religion on the port island of Delos at its height under the Second Athenian Domination (167 BCE – 69 CE). The analysis is framed within an integrated theoretical approach that combines a ‘material religion’ perspective on domestic cultic practices with ‘home-making’ theory from Migration Studies.
Following new materialist theories, I consider built environments and portable objects, with their affordances and interrelations, as central actants in integrating divine presence and. enabling ritual communication with it within the multifunctional, fluid, and dynamic space of domestic settings. Through their sensory affordances, material things transform sensescapes and thus play a crucial role in setting apart the space and time of the sacred within domestic contexts. Domestic material culture mediates religious experience, thereby shaping perceptions and understandings of the divine. In migration processes, domestic and ritual (or domestic-ritual) objects and religious practices serve as a cornerstone in establishing a sense of home in new dwellings. These elements cultivate a feeling of continuity with cherished traditions, lifestyles, places, and relationships from the past, fostering familiarity, security, and a sense of control in new environments. Building on certain objects and uses of the domestic space, migrants appropriate both religion and domestic settings as tools to negotiate their adjustment to the host culture while simultaneously maintaining and recreating connections to their homelands.
Drawing upon this framework, I aim to shed light on two interrelated sets of questions concerning the religious life of Delos:
• How was religion spatially, materially, and temporarily emplaced within houses? How permanent or ephemeral and central or peripheral were the religious locations in these settings? To what extent, and in what ways, were these locations visually and functionally connected to other rooms and to the building entrances? How did the material culture of domestic religious practices shape experiences and conceptions of the divine?
• Delos was a religious melting pot, where immigrants cultivated and publicly displayed connections to their homelands through ethnic cults within associations and private sanctuaries. It was also a place where foreign gods, such as the Syrian Goddess and Hadad, and Isis and Sarapis, were worshipped by people from across the Mediterranean. In this context, how did migrants appropriate religious customs from their homelands to turn their new houses into meaningful homes? What role did objects play in this process? Did migrants engage with religious practices of their host city in their domestic life? To what extent, and in what ways, were migrant and local forms of religion transformed through their appropriation in home-making processes and adaptation to the Delian domestic and social environments?

The conference challenges and advances on-going discussions by specifically focusing on the mater... more The conference challenges and advances on-going discussions by specifically focusing on the material aspects of religious and cultural developments across the Mediterranean basin during the Imperial period. Against the focus on gods, religious symbols, and religious tenets that are seen as competing for new adherents or as instruments for intra-and inter-group competition, the conference will focus instead on the role of objects and object-related practices in the formation of groups as well as a hindrance to or blurring of boundaries implicit in group formation. In the context of urbanization, we will look at processes of change. Urban conditions of life, division of labor and, above all, urbanity accelerate the production of objects that stimulates the formation of groups while also thriving beyond urban space.

Access to the online sessions: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/03d8a126de224e4f9fbd118ee924cc09

Dans un article qui a fait date, intitulé « ΣΥΝΝΑΟΣ ΘΕΟΣ », Arthur D. Nock inaugura en 1930 la re... more Dans un article qui a fait date, intitulé « ΣΥΝΝΑΟΣ ΘΕΟΣ », Arthur D. Nock inaugura en 1930 la recherche sur le phénomène du partage des lieux de culte entre les dieux traditionnels et les monarques divinisés dans le monde gréco-romain, en s’intéressant spécifiquement à leur cohabitation dans les temples, établie au moyen de leurs images cultuelles. Depuis lors, l’expression σύνναος θεός est fréquemment utilisée dans la littérature académique pour désigner un souverain recevant des honneurs cultuels dans un temple partagé avec une divinité traditionnelle. Cependant, cette appellation, telle qu’elle est employée au singulier par les modernes, n’existe pas dans les sources antiques. Seul l’adjectif σύνναος est occasionnellement appliqué à un dignitaire dont la statue-portrait a été installée dans le temple d’un dieu ; et même dans un tel cas l’adjectif est ambigu à l’égard du caractère honorifique ou cultuel de l’image. D’autres termes grecs, en revanche, expriment nettement le partage d’un lieu de culte et de cérémonies religieuses entre les vieux et les nouveaux dieux : σύνθρονος d’abord, qui fait référence à la fois au plan théologique, en soulignant la nature divine de la figure royale concernée, et à la sphère rituelle, en signalant l’association cultuelle de cette figure avec une divinité, toutes deux étant « intronisées » ensemble ; puis principalement les verbes συγκαθιδρύειν et συγκαθιέρουν, « fonder ou consacrer avec », faisant allusion à une fondation cultuelle conjointe, et σύμβωμος, « compagnon d’autel ». En outre, ce lexique est parfois combiné dans nos sources avec d’autres formules linguistiques mettant en relation directe une figure humaine du pouvoir et une divinité, comme l’appellation des monarques moyennant des séquences onomastiques incluant des épithètes transférées de leurs compagnons de culte ou les théonymes de leurs partenaires précédés dans chaque cas de l’adjectif neos. L’application aux souverains du lexique des cohabitations divines doit donc être considérée de pair avec d’autres rapprochements ou identifications possibles entre hommes et dieux, ainsi que par rapport à la configuration spatiale des lieux de culte. Cette démarche permettra d’approfondir notre compréhension des stratégiques de construction et représentation de la divinité des dynastes et l’intégration de ces nouveaux dieux dans le paysage religieux des cités.

C. Bonnet, J. Alvar, V. Gasparini (eds.), My Name is your Name: Anthroponyms as Divine Attributes. Proceedings of the International Conference (Madrid, June 2-3, 2021), De Gruyter., 2025

ARYS , 2021

N. Belayche, F. Massa, Ph. Hoffmann (eds.). Les “Mystères” au IIe siècle de notre ère : un tournant. BEHE 187. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021

Revista ARYS : Vestir divinamente. Deidades y cultores arropados o desnudos = Dressing Divinely. Clothed or Naked Deities and Devotees, 2019

Keywords: Androgyny, Attis, Cibeles, Phrygia, vulva.

Revista de Historiografía (RevHisto), 2018

DEpHis (Divine Epithets in Hispania), 2022

Mitra en Hispania, 2021

URL: https://humanidadesdigitales.uc3m.es/s/mitra/page/inicio

Access to the online sessions: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/03d8a126de224e4f9fbd118ee924cc09

The Roman cult of Mater Magna and Attis has traditionally been considered as a mystery cult inc... more The Roman cult of Mater Magna and Attis has traditionally been considered as a mystery cult including secret initiatory rituals of individual and voluntary participation, during which the devotee would receive an emotional striking revelation allowing access to an intimate relationship with the divine. However, evidence for initiations in this cult is scarce and comes mainly from the polemical writings of Christian authors and a handful of fourth-century inscriptions commemorating the most characteristic metroac ritual, i.e. the taurobolium. Examination of these sources reveals, in fact, that the taurobolium is the sole metroac ceremony with a mysteric character.
Furthermore, these documents do not support the traditional historiographical view that the taurobolium was a rite of substitution for the self-castration of the galli with a double public and secret dimension, whose sacrificial procedure evolved over time to become the “bloody baptism” described by Prudentius (Peristephanon, 10.1011-50). Against this idea and in line with recent research into the ancient mysteries, which has shown that not all mysteries involved secret initiations, we argue that the taurobolium was not a substitution rite, neither was it originally conceived as a mysteric initiation. It only came to be regarded as such in the late third century CE as a result of the “mysterisation” undergone by the religious and philosophical discourse of the Roman Empire from the second century CE onwards, as well as of the existence of similarities between the taurobolic ceremony and some mystery rites.
Nevertheless, the taurobolium was never celebrated in secret. Its mysteric character relied on the fact that it involved, at least in the late period, high levels of emotional arousal allowing for a relationship of intimacy with the divine, and that it placed the worshippers under the protection of the Great Mother and Attis in this life and in the hereafter.

This paper explores the different spatial, material and symbolic strategies and tools used in Hel... more This paper explores the different spatial, material and symbolic strategies and tools used in Hellenistic and early Roman Delos to construct and represent the divinity of rulers, from the Antigonids to Augustus, as well as their impact on the perception and experience of the divine by the Delian cosmopolitan population. The analysis seeks to advance our knowledge on the processes of formation, continuation and change of ruler cults and the related (re)creation of social and divine hierarchies by problematizing the role of human agency in the construction of the sacred.

Dans le prolongement de la journée d'études « Antiquité classique et postcolonialismes : inspirat... more Dans le prolongement de la journée d'études « Antiquité classique et postcolonialismes : inspirations, tensions, résistances » (12 février 2021), qui a rencontré un vif succès (et dont les vidéos sont disponibles en ligne, sur la chaîne youtube de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdOyjK3Z4yU&t=7s), et dans un contexte où des polémiques autour des études classiques se déploient dans le champ médiatique et politique, ce colloque de deux jours se propose d'interroger scientifiquement les évolutions épistémologiques et institutionnelles de nos disciplines (Lettres classiques, histoire ancienne, archéologie, philosophie, anthropologie historique, « Sciences de l'Antiquité »), en dialogue avec les études postcoloniales. Dans cette démarche, nous nous inscrivons donc dans une dynamique interdisciplinaire et transhistorique, grâce aux croisements mis en oeuvre entre étude de l'Antiquité et questionnements issus de mouvements de pensée actuels. L'approche est également comparatiste, dans la mesure où divers milieux académiques, insérés dans des contextes géographiques et politiques variés, seront observés ensemble pour faire ressortir les évolutions globales et, par contraste, certaines spécificités nationales.

Cette communication analyse les réseaux divins vénérés dans la zone du port fluvial de Rome dans ... more Cette communication analyse les réseaux divins vénérés dans la zone du port fluvial de Rome dans la Regio XIII ou Aventinum, y compris l’Emporium et les entrepôts et magasins liés à son activité commerciale, depuis la République tardive jusqu’au IIIe siècle de notre ère. En examinant ces réseaux divins dans les contextes spatiaux, sociaux et historiques où ils étaient honorés, je vise, premièrement, à déterminer les logiques relationnelles qui régissent la formation de ces configurations de dieux: association de divinités distinctes (par ex. Numen Domus Augustae, Genius Conservator horreorum Galbianorum, Fortuna Conservatrix horreorum Galbianorum: CIL VI, 236), interpretatio fondée sur la comparaison ou l’identification transculturelle de deux divinités ou plus (par ex. autel votif dédié à Sol Sanctissimus / Malakbel et les dieux de Tadmor: CIL VI, 710 = CIL VI, 30817) ou rapports ambigus issus de compréhensions individuelles ou sociales imparfaites des liens entre plusieurs dieux, particulièrement entre des dieux d’une culture et ceux d’une autre. En deuxième lieu, j’examine comment ces divinités en réseaux sont nommées et adressées rituellement. Enfin, je cherche à établir la relation entre les champs d’action des configurations divines et les activités économiques du port et les besoins de vie des travailleurs portuaires. Pour ce faire, une attention particulière est portée à la condition sociale, à l’origine culturelle et au métier des acteurs des cultes. Le but ultime de la recherche, qui est fondée sur des sources épigraphiques, archéologiques et littéraires, est de faire la lumière sur les dynamiques du polythéisme dans un noyau portuaire de premier ordre, donc dans un contexte local défini par une forte connectivité et mobilité maritimes et par un haut degré de multiculturalisme.

L’Asie Mineure est la région du monde méditerranéen avec la plus large variété de dénominations c... more L’Asie Mineure est la région du monde méditerranéen avec la plus large variété de dénominations collectives pour des dieux qui partagent un lieu de culte, construites sur le lexique spécifique des cohabitations divines (ex. θεοὶ ἐντεμένιοι, θεοὶ σύνναοι, θεοὶ σύμβωμοι) ou sur des propositions à peur près synonymes (ex. θεοὶ οἱ ἐν τῷ τεμένει, θεοὶ οἱ παρὰ Δάματρι καὶ Κούρᾳ πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι), et la deuxième région, après l’Égypte, qui compte le plus grand nombre d’attestations de ce type de désignations. De plus, on trouve dans l’Anatolie gréco-romaine des groups de dieux qui, sans être désignés par référence à leur condition de cohabitants, sont présentés dans le sources comme l’entourage divin de la divinité ou des divinités principales d’un sanctuaire. Tel est le cas du Dodecatheon qui accompagne tant Men que Zeus Tarigyenos et Hera dans plusieurs sanctuaires de la Lydie, des dieux συνεπερχόμενοι (“qui apparaissent avec”) co-vénérés avec Men Ploneates à Pereudos et, dans certains contextes, de collectivités génériquement nommées οἱ (ἄλλοι) θεοὶ πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι. Cette étude vise à déterminer les particularités de ces divers ensembles de dieux qui cohabitent, rares ou inexistants dans d’autres parties de la Méditerranée, au moyen de leur analyse dans leurs contextes cultuels. Observer à quel point l’abundance de ces groups divins en Asie Mineure relève des spécificités des cultes locaux anatoliens, savoir si ces collectivités étaient pensées comme une unité divine et traitées comme telle dans les adresses rituelles ou si, au contraire, leurs membres avaient une individualité dans le culte, et identifier leur arrangement dans les contextes spatiaux des sanctuaires sont certaines des problématiques centrales de l’enquête.

Este estudio aborda la problemática de la naturaleza y el contenido de los misterios isíacos desd... more Este estudio aborda la problemática de la naturaleza y el contenido de los misterios isíacos desde una perspectiva renovada, en la línea de trabajos recientes que han puesto en cuestión la visión tradicional de los misterios antiguos como rituales iniciáticos “a la griega”, creados a partir del modelo de Eleusis. Desde esta perspectiva, se rechaza la existencia de una ceremonia de iniciación isíaca individual, voluntaria, nocturna y transformadora del espíritu, una idea que solo se deriva del relato novelesco de la Metamorfosis de Apuleyo. En verdad, la documentación de la práctica religiosa ni siquiera permite afirmar la existencia de un ritual de iniciación isíaco propiamente dicho, sino que más bien apunta a un componente cultual mistérico de carácter fluido, que atraviesa distintas ceremonias del culto ordinario y festivales públicos. Esta dimensión mistérica se caracteriza por: 1) un acceso restringido a la parte más interna de los santuarios isíacos, como es la cella que acoge las estatuas de culto de Isis, Serapis y sus theoi synnaoi, acceso regulado por normas rituales tanto en el Egipto greco-romano como en distintas localidades del resto del Mediterráneo; 2) el secreto que preserva las actividades rituales desarrolladas en este espacio exclusivo; 3) actores de culto individuales y asociaciones cultuales que ostentan el privilegio de poder penetrar en este espacio para desempeñar tales actividades. Estos operadores rituales, a quienes cabría llamar iniciados, contraían un compromiso personal con el culto y podían generar un vínculo emocional particular con las deidades isíacas, pero nada permite afirmar que la asunción de sus responsabilidades cultuales exigiera un ritual de iniciación previo. A partir del estudio de las fuentes que atestiguan los tres aspectos indicados, este trabajo defiende que el elemento mistérico de los cultos isíacos se deriva principalmente de la desigual recepción y apropiación a lo largo del Mediterráneo de concepciones y prácticas propias de la religión egipcia, adaptadas a los usos locales de las comunidades cultuales. Estas nociones y prácticas se encuentran en el origen de los actos rituales ejecutados a puerta cerrada en la oscuridad de las cellae o adyta de los templos isíacos, al abrigo de las miradas de los profanos.

ATELIER DE RECHERCHE DU PROJET FNS « LA COMPÉTITION RELIGIEUSE DANS L’ANTIQUITÉ TARDIVE », 2022

l'évanouissement d'une ritualité monumentale au III e siècle de notre ère

This paper aims to present the full catalogue of Anatolian anthroponymic cult epithets and to con... more This paper aims to present the full catalogue of Anatolian anthroponymic cult epithets and to conduct a first general analysis of them, focused on the circumstances under which this naming practice originated and the nature of the bond between the god and the individual from whom he borrows his name.

This paper analyses the divine onomastic sequences documented in the rural epigraphy of Baetica b... more This paper analyses the divine onomastic sequences documented in the rural epigraphy of Baetica by applying the taxonomy of divine epithets developed within the EPIDI project. The aim is to determine whether or not the use of these onomastic formulae is independent of the usage found in the cities and, consequently, whether they reveal religious behaviours specific to the countryside that would allow us to speak of a rustic religious praxis, or whether, on the contrary, they reflect an orthopraxis determined by urban religion. To this end, we conduct, firstly, a comparative study of the gods and epithets attested in the urban zones and in the rural areas of the province. Secondly, we examine the most singular deities and epithets from the rural milieu taking into account the circumstances that may have motivated the worshippers’ choice of the deities and the divine appellatives concerned.

The Greco-Roman world was, in line with Thales' notorious aphorism, a "world full of gods". Its r... more The Greco-Roman world was, in line with Thales' notorious aphorism, a "world full of gods". Its religious "marketplace" included an effectively limitless number of puissances to be worshipped and invoked, ranging across angels and demons, gods and demigods, genies, heroes, saints, and spirits. Of course, this divine plurality strongly encouraged cultic competition: the more powerful the numen one addressed, the better the chances of success for the contingent problem-solving strategy. Over time, and regardless of the belonging of these options either to the crowd of Greco-Roman gods or to the plethora of Jewish or Christian religious referents (Yahweh, the Trinity, the angels, Mary and the other saints), competition tended to increase exponentially. The overall goal of the research project "Omnipotens. Manufacturing and Empowering Gods in Greco-Roman Antiquity" (OMEGA) is to challenge the traditional idea that Greco-Roman "pagan" religion, Judaism, and Christianity all developed in separate social realms. Against the still widespread tendency to historically conceptualize such religions in terms of parallel and alternative "cultural packages", we propose to approach this issue from a very different angle, by setting aside the modern taxonomical dichotomy of "monotheism" vs. "polytheism" and focusing instead on the shared Greco-Roman cultural capability of manufacturing "bespoke" gods and empowering them up to the highest plausible level. We seek to show how cultic actors-regardless of their religious affiliation-could eventually envisage and contemplate the possible selection or creation of almighty gods. The specific objective of the OMEGA project is thus to analyse the strategies employed in these religious "high-stakes bets" in the area corresponding to the Roman territory at its widest geographic extent, in the period between the 7th cent. BCE and the 7th cent. CE.

Member of the organizing committee

As lived spaces, ancient cities conditioned and were conditioned by very specific social relation... more As lived spaces, ancient cities conditioned and were conditioned by very specific social relationships. As suggested by Emiliano Urciuoli, 'citification' of religion represented a phenomenon pressing religious actors to "adopt and adapt city features", to "engage with the socio-spatial conditions of city life", including appropriating city-spaces, localising or de-localising religious practices, providing specific infrastructures in order to attract, collect and host crowds of people (theatres, for example), facilitating processes of 'intellectualisation' of religion, authorship, and, more generally, competition. The concept of 'citification' prompts to explore the rural areas too as lived spaces, to investigate the peculiarities of non-urban religious practices and related social configurations. Firstly, if we accept a definition of the city as "a spatial form that organises and regulates phenomena of density on a larger scale" (J. Rüpke & E. Urciuoli), it is likely to infer that rural areas, on the contrary, are characterised by a much less dense concentration of people and buildings, unevenly distributed in the territory under the different forms of villages, fortified hamlets, villae, small farms, way stations, extra-urban sanctuaries, etc. Secondly, if "city is a place inhabited by a substantial population of non-food-producing individuals pursuing different trades (including intellectual occupations) on the basis of an agricultural surplus", rural areas, on the contrary, are mainly occupied by a population whose occupation primarily consists in the production of food and livelihood resources (mostly agriculture and livestock). Thirdly, while "city is a place engendering diversity and endemic conflict", extra-urban, ex-centric areas are probably much more socially homogenic, and cannot compete with urban centres as for cultural diversity and plurality, adaptability, and social mobility. All these reflections lead us to ask, among further questions: Were the group-styles of religious grouping in ancient cities different from those taking place in non-urban contexts? Were the hierarchies of and the rituals performed by the religious specialists in the cities the same of the countryside? Did being far from the cities leave more space for religious deviance and diversity? How the architectural record did affect and was affected by these differences? In one word, is there something that we may call 'rurification'? This conference aims to deconstruct the ideas of rural religion as mechanically reproducing urban rituals and religious hierarchies and of the rural world as a space of cultural and religious resilience against urbanity. Rural areas represented an arena for very situational processes of negotiation between, on the one hand, administrative patterns and related social configurations, and, on the other hand, processes of social conformance to the very characteristics of a local specific rural environment, of adaptation to its peculiar habitus and religious customs, possibly involving gods whose competences directly mirrored a geophysical environment made of mountains, rivers, woods, etc.

CALL FOR PAPERS The development of a theoretical framework for the understanding of the links be... more CALL FOR PAPERS

The development of a theoretical framework for the understanding of the links between religious identity and clothing depends both on a careful terminological selection and on a broad and holistic definition of the social aspects of wear. Through the use of trappings as an effective means of communication in social interaction, it is possible to activate identities based on and assigned by social structures, especially those built on kinship, economic, religious and political activities. At the same time, clothing represents for the individual an inexhaustible source of expressive creativity that can even break the " iconographic vocabulary " of a particular social group. Moreover, the specific types and properties of clothing that convey identity may change over time in response to economic, demographic, aesthetic and technological changes. A comprehensive definition of clothing includes both body modifications and complements, the properties of which have to be analyzed together with the sensory stimuli they may evoke. The XVII International Colloquium of the Association ARYS (Antiquity, Religions and Societies) is dedicated to the study of all these aspects within the framework of ancient societies and religions, from the perspective of the images either of the gods or of their devotees. Within the topic of religious clothing will be included the religious use of clothes and attributes, accessories, ornaments, body modifications such as mutilations or tattoos, hairstyles, nudity and, of course, the action itself of dressing or undressing, its conception and positive, neutral or negative consideration, or the act of assuming any of those human or divine complements, adornments, attributes or modifications of the body.

Location: V Centenario Residence (UNEX) Jarandilla de la Vera
Organization: ARYS Association
Conference End Date: Dec 14, 2018
Conference Start Date: Dec 13, 2018

Madrid is organizing an international conference titled, "SENSORIUM: Sensory Perceptions in Roman... more Madrid is organizing an international conference titled, "SENSORIUM: Sensory Perceptions in Roman Polytheism." Researchers of ancient history, religious history, archeology, anthropology, classical literature, and other related disciplines, are invited to present their research relating to the poly-sensorial practice of religion in the Roman world.

ARYS 16 (2018), 532-544., 2019

La onomástica divina en lengua griega es la temática a la que está dedicado el último libro de Ro... more La onomástica divina en lengua griega es la temática a la que está dedicado el último libro de Robert Parker, Wykeham Professor de Historia Antigua de la Universidad de Oxford hasta 2016, año de su jubilación. Un breve prefacio precede a las 178 páginas que forman el cuerpo de la obra, dividido en seis capítulos y un apartado de conclusión. Lo completan ocho apéndices que profundizan en cuestio-nes abordadas por el autor en los seis capítulos y suman 53 páginas; a estos siguen 11 páginas de bibliografía y un detallado índice temático de 12 páginas. El libro tiene su origen en tres de las seis Sather lectures de la Universidad de California Berkeley impartidas por el autor en 2013, que revisadas y ampliadas constituyen los capítulos 2 y 3 y el apéndice H. Su objeto de estudio es concretamente la interacción entre las convenciones griegas para llamar a los dioses y las propias de otras culturas que entran en contacto con la cultura helénica y adoptan su lengua en tiempos helenísticos y romanos, así como las implicaciones teológicas y cultuales de esta interacción. En otras palabras, Parker se pregunta cómo las maneras de dirigirse y referirse a los dioses en griego se Recensiones Arys, 16, 2018 [532-544] issn 1575-166x PARKER, ROBERT (2017). Greek Gods Abroad: Names, Natures, and Transformations. Sather Classical Lectures LXXII. Oakland: University of California Press. 257 pp. 40, 03 € [ISBN 978-0-5202-9394-6].

Dear Colleagues, It is a true pleasure to announce the autumn 2024 program for The Athens Greek R... more Dear Colleagues,
It is a true pleasure to announce the autumn 2024 program for The Athens Greek Religion Seminar. All welcome to the sessions, which take place at the Swedish Institute at Athens and via zoom link. More details about each seminar and its registration procedure will be available shortly on our website at www.sia.gr.