Shared holy places and their impact on religious identity in Late Antiquity: The case of Mamre

Abstract

Multi-religious places of worship are a continuous phenomenon of the history of religions from antiquity to the present day, despite all concrete differences. Analysing an example from late antiquity, Mamre in Palestine, this article discusses and refines the theoretical concept of “spiritual convergance” developed by Benjamin Z. Kedar. By applying differentiated analysis criteria recommended by Dorothea Weltecke, it also examines the influence of economic interests, political power, concepts of purity and aspects of time. The thesis is put forward that not only the peripheral location but also the duration limited to one festival a year favoured the side-by-side cult at Mamre. The time limit prevented the religious identity of the groups involved from being called into question in the long term. This enabled the religious authorities to tolerate coexistence — especially as this was for the economic benefit of the region and thus of all religious groups.