Cult Places Research Articles

Fra huskult til basilika

It is still an astonishing fact that no material remains of early Christian churches have been found antedating the building in Dura-Europos at the Euphrat River in present day Iraq. It was a usual private dwelling house that in 241 was rebuilt and transformed into a Christian cult place. This building, however, in no way resembled the magnificent Christian basilicas that were built from the time of Constantine the Great (ruling 306/324-337), and only the baptistery in the rebuilt houses proves that it actually was a Christian building. In the present article I briefly scetch the history of the development of the Christian cult building from the private meeting places at the time of the New Testament to the Constantinian basilicas. The main purpose, however, is to discuss the character of the Christian cult house in relation to a number of related earlier and contemporary types of buildings such as the classical Hellenistic-Roman temples, the Jewish synagogue and a number of Graeco-Roman buildings that can be reagrded as historical forerunners of the Christian church building: the Greek counsel hall (bouleutêrion), the hall of initiation (e.g. Eleusis), the lecture hall (such as gymnasium and stoa), the Greek and Near Eastern cult theatres, the roman basilica and the Roman mithraeum. From the beginning, obviously, the Christian cult building was a meeting house like the Greek counsel hall, the roman basilica and the Jewish synagogue. But it was also a dining room, and, at least from 241, with thebatistery in Dura-Europos, it also became a hall of initiation. Thus, the Christian cult building developed by uniting a number of eatlier types of buildings, secular and sacred, and from the time of Constantine, the Christian basilica united the secular Greek meeting house, which was continued and further developed in the Jewish synagogue, the Greek hall of initiation, and the classical Graeco-Roman Temple.

Los antecedentes peninsulares de la arquitectura y funcionalidad de los edificios de Cancho Roano. Algunas cuestiones sobre su origen y evolución

The recent interpretation of Cancho Roano as a native sanctuary of eastern characteristics leads us to look for its architectural and functional antecedents in several peninsular buildings interpreted as places of cult or prestige constructions from the seventh century BC on in Tartessian and Iberian settlements. In this research, we are centring the analysis on the buildings from the Lower Guadalquivir, the mouth of Segura river, Castulo, and the mouth of Sado river and the Bajo Alentejo, both in Portugal. The comparative analysis of these building permitted us to conclude that the Lower Guadalquivir buildings, interpreted recently as semitic sanctuaries, ar the closest to Cancho Roano.

Los primeros templos cristianos en el área maya: Yucatán y Belice, 1545-1585

The study of early religious buildings brings a way of approach to material reality of maya indigenous communities that suffered the impact of a new faith, through the distribution of sacred space and different building techniques. At Its own rhythms, maya communities generated new architectural forms by the combination of local tradition, the new cult guide lines and, specially, material and human availability to create these new places of collective cult. The purpose of this study is to analyze the different variants, viewing them as a proof of the cultural capacity of syncretism developed in this region during the first years of Hispanic rule.

Le sanctuaire de Mars Mullo chez les Aulerques Cénomans (Allonnes, Sarthe) Ve s. av. J.-C. -IVe s. apr. J.-C. Etat des recherches actuelles

Since the excavations by P. Térouanne the sanctuary at Allonnes, close to Le Mans in the Sarthe valley, has been known for its Latenian material, its dedications to Mars Mullo, inscriptions mentioning the Cenomani Aulerci, and its sculptures. Planned excavations initiated in 1994 have resumed the study of the Celtic remains (with material going back to the 5th century BC), of the temple from the High Empire, and of the sanctuary built in the 2nd century AD and still frequented in the 4th. The exceptional discovery of the builder's yard of the temple with a round cella on a podium allows to date the different construction stages of this monumental cult complex. The abandoned blocks in the stonecutters' workshop and the metal workshop show in greater detail the work and organization of labourers and craftsmen. This sanctuary in Gallia Lugdunensis, dedicated to a regional god in association with the imperial cult, adopted the same characteristics as the monuments in the Southwest of Gauls. Study of the material (Celtic weapons, inscriptions, coins, fauna, sculpture) demonstrate the wealth of this monument, which was erected near the capital of the civitas of the Aulerci Cenomani to become one of their main cult places.

La France de l'Ouest (Bretagne, Pays de la Loire)

Cult places and practices of Western Gaul are mentioned by some Classical writers (Diodorus, Strabo. ..). In this area, archaeological investigations have brought to light very few monumental shrines, but a great number of religious activities of various kinds. In another hand, among Gallo-Roman sanctuaries with earlier occupation levels, some reveal a continuity of the religious function between the Iron Age and Roman period. In funerary contexts, religious manifestations are represented by offerings or by architectural remains ; numerous standing stones, recorded in Western Gaul, can be considered as commemorative monuments, like anthropomorphic sculptures. The last ones are generally found in settlements where cult enclosures and ritual deposits are also attested. Lastly, coin offerings and objects deposits in watery contexts are other testimonies of these numerous cult and ritual practices in the Armorican Massif and its margins.

The religions of ancient Israel: a synthesis of parallactic approaches

The Religions of Ancient Israel: A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches, by Ziony Zevit. London/New York: Continuum, 2001. Pp. xxii + 821. $69.95 (paper). ISBN 0826463398. This substantial volume offers an account of religion during Iron Age, up 586 B.C.E., based on a thorough presentation of evidence. Rather than a history of religion on order of well-known works by Yehezkel Kaufmann, Helmer Ringgren, and Rainer Albertz or a focused comparative textual treatment like studies of Frank Moore Cross or Mark S. Smith, Zevit intentionally seeks offer something different. In so doing, he responds what he views as a scholarly propensity toward theoretically driven scholarship that is unduly influenced by understandings of religion operative in our contemporary setting, a propensity that, according Zevit, results in presentations of the alleged contents of Israel's belief (as reflected in Bible) (xiii). As a correction, Zevit takes a phenomenological approach with two aims: (1) describe religion based on an integration of biblical, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence; (2) to synthesize these within structure of an and ethos involving kin, tribes, land, traditional ways and places of worship, and a national deity (xiv). Chapter 1 locates Zevit's study philosophically and methodologically within humanities and social sciences broadly considered and more specifically within scholarly fields of religion and history. In short, Zevit approaches matter within a modernist paradigm that includes an awareness of limits of human knowledge about past, inevitable role of subjectivity in historians task, and constructed and complex nature of knowledge. Early in this discussion, Zevit offers following definition of his subject: Israelite religions are varied, symbolic expressions of, and appropriate responses to, deities and powers that groups or communities deliberately affirmed as being of unrestricted value them within their worldview (15). Apart from final chapter, rest of book is organized largely by evidence categories. In ch. 2, Of Cult Places and of Israelites, Zevit challenges currently prevailing view in archaeology of Syria-Palestine that Iron Age Israelites in large part descended from preceding Late Bronze Age Canaanite population. Arguing from same settlement data and ceramic evidence, Zevit concludes, alternatively, that Israelites entered land during Iron I as a population of distinct ethnicity. One logical and procedural consequence for remainder of Zevit's study is a relative lack of attention comparative textual religious evidence from Late Bronze Age, especially from Ugarit-evidence that is regularly invoked in discussions of religion. In ch. 3, Architecture Parlante: Cult Places, Zevit draws on excavation reports and other published discussion of archaeological sites give an overview of architectural evidence for religious activity. This chapter deals with organization of space in various cult places, temples, caves, cultic corners, and shrines. Zevit's survey begins with four sites that are identified as non-Israelite (Philistine, Edomite, and Aramean) but that-because they are located in close proximity territory-offer some of most reliable evidence for cultic space and thus allow one establish a relatively objective methodological approach and typology for discussion of sites. From there he goes on make an overview of range of identified cultic spaces at various sites. Although data are too sparse and fragmentary allow for a comprehensive picture, Zevit contends that heterogeneity of remains supports conclusion that there was no single, centralized authority controlling organization of cultic space for Iron Age Israel. …

Les miracles de Pierre de Luxembourg (1387-1390)

The Miracles of Pierre of Luxemburg (1387-1390). Pierre of Luxemburg died at a very young age, on July 2nd, 1387. He was immediately the subject of a very fervent cult, which grew and spread rapidly. Two sources mention those events : the young cardinal’s canonization trial, which took place in 1390, and a collection of miracles, from July to December 1387. The present paper first specifies the content of both sources, showing the connections between them. Then, the early stages of the cult are presented through the book of miracles of 1387. The latter deals with the place of cult at its beginnings, the agents of the cult and its organisation during the first two months. Lastly, the comparison between the two sources enables the analysis of the putting together of the canonization trial from the book of miracles, this is a crucial issue since the trial, once over, was used as a basis for the subsequent cult.

Twilight of the Sun-God

In the middle of the third millennium, the ruling Akkadian elite introduced new traditions into Sumer which resulted, among other things, in a wide-ranging harmonization of their own gods with those of the Sumerian pantheon. A complete Sumerian-Akkadian syncretism, however, did not apply for all deities. During the reign of the Akkadian kings, a shift in influence between two important deities of the Sumerian pantheon occurred as the moon-god Nanna/Suen rose to prominence, displacing the sun-god Utu/Šamaš. Discovering when this shift took place is difficult to pinpoint because Sargonic Sumerian religion is poorly documented. Also, convincing archival data are only available from the time of Naram-Suen.In the following I will argue, with examples taken from official art, that this shift most likely happened during the reign of Naram-Suen, when a new imperial ideology is discernible from visual imagery, showing the king assuming the role of the sun-god. Utilizing Ur III textual sources I will also demonstrate that the three gods shown on the seal drawn as Fig. I are depicted with their cult places: Enki/Ea in the Abzu, Utu/Šamaš in the fields, probably in an open-air shrine, and Nanna/Suen on the ziggurat, signifying — contrary to mainstream scholarly opinion — that ziggurats already existed in Sumer prior to the Ur III period.

<i>Lucus Feroniae Emeritensis</i>

The recently published fifty votive inscriptions of Sta. Lucia de Alcuescar (Caceres), of which fifteen are dedicated to Ataecina, allows us to propose the identification of the site with the lucus Feroniae quoted by the literary texts in territorium Emeritense , doubtless an interpretatio Romana of the local divinity temenos. Besides those altars dedicated to Ataecina there is an important number dedicated to an innominated divinity dea domina sancta and still others altars which are anepigraphics, possible testimonies of different cult formulations to the same divinity. The sanctuary, in the frontier between five different peoples and by the iter ab Emerita Asturicam , had to play an important role as an extraurban place of cult. Its captation by the Romans while the Emeritan deductio possibly implied the introduction of the divinity as adoptiva dea , whose representation can be recognised in the Emeritan coinage and in a sculpture of the Merida museum.

Sacrifices et repas publics dans le sanctuaire de Poséidon à Ténos : les analyses archéozoologiques

From groups of bones discovered in the sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite at Tinos, there is evidence of certain aspects of bloody rituals in this great Cycladic religious centre. The bones studied came from levels corresponding to the period of greatest fréquentation of the cult place, between the 3rd and 2nd century B.C. The results of archaeozoological analysis help to reconstruct with greater accuracy the procedures of the sacrifices and rituals known from texts. In addition to details about the rituals performed, the study of the bones offers general information on the choice of species and more specialised information on the age of slaughter, the size of the animals sacrificed, the method of slaughter, the methods of dressing the carcasses, the selection and cutting up of the haunches as well as the parts eaten or consecrated to the two principal Tinos divinities.

Two popular cult sites of ancient Palestine

Although cult places have been the focus of research from the earliest beginning of archaeology in Palestine, not much attention has been given to the sites discussed here: Cave I in Jerusalem and the ‘Israelite shrine” ? 207 in Samaria. In both cases a large amount of pottery, many figurines and some cultic equipment was discovered, which finds are presented and discussed. The suggestion is then offered that these places were indeed popular cult sites.

Patriarchal religion as portrayed in Genesis 12-50: comparison with ancient Near Eastern and later Israelite regions

Although Wellhausen had already rejected the historicity of the patriarchs, and with it their religion, and argued that the patriarchal traditions were retrojections of the Monarchical period reflecting the time that the stories arose in Israel, Albrecht Alt made a to definitive beginning to the study of patriarchal religion with his essay, 'Der Gott der Vifter, in which he argued both for a patriarchal religion distinct from Mosaic religion and for the possibility of its originating during or just before the settlement of Israelite clans in Canaan. While many since Wellhausen have continued to reject the historicity of the patriarchs, a number of scholars, in the light of Ugaritic and other archaeological discoveries, have followed Alt in arguing for a distinct patriarchal religion before exodus and before Moses. However, the study of patriarchal religion has chiefly been confined either to the different divine names or to the social and legal practices attested in Genesis.The result of this is that the patriarchal religious and cultic practices frequently attested in Genesis have hardly been focused upon, except by a few scholars who have touched upon them only in passing. The present thesis takes its departure both from the scholarly consensus and from the Hebrew Bible's own testimony that patriarchal religion was distinct from Mosaic religion. In the present thesis, this distinction is chiefly sought in patriarchal worship and cultic practices, such as altars, prayer, pillars, tithes, vows and ritual purity. These aspects are studied in the light of both second millennium ancient Near Eastern and Israelite parallels. This is legitimate since patriarchal religion is portrayed as pre-Mosaic, and since the narrators are Israelites with a Yahwistic ethos. Our findings have been that the patriarchs shared elements in common with both the ANE and Israel only in regard to the concept of their worship and cultic practices. However, the manner of their cultic activity bore no comparison to that of the ANE or Israel, in that the patriarchs themselves built altars and made sacrifices, conducted prayer, raised pillars and offered worship, all without the aid of an established cult or priests. Further, they did these things in an informal and family setting wherever they moved or happened to camp. Neither were the patriarchal religious activities of tithing, vowing or purifying performed at a cult place. While Jacob himself was the sole officiant of the ritual purification of his family at Bethel, Abraham's tithe was voluntary and secular, and Jacob's religious tithes and vows were unpaid probably due to the absence of any cult or the priests who would be expected to appropriate them. Thus, patriarchal religion was distinct from both the ancient Near Eastern and Israelite religions, and compatible only with the lifestyle portrayed in Genesis.

Los santuarios ibéricos. Apuntes para el desarrollo de una Arqueología del Culto

The key features of the main cult places in the Iberian Culture are studied, with a special focus on their location and relationship with the area. Several features shared by some of the sanctuaries, such as their religious, economic and political role, are commented on.

Sinagoga e iglesia primitiva: arquitectura e institución

The influence of Judaism on early Christianity has been studied in its different aspects. The author focuses on the new archaeological evidence provided by the recent excavations of ancient synagogues. He also analyses the archaeological remains of the Christian cult places before Constantin as well as the results of the latest studies on religion sociology applied to early Christianity. The increase as well as the variety in the new evidence concerning the ancient synagogues and the 'church-­houses' precludes from admitting a direct connection -and even less a dependence- ­of the Christian building with the Jewish one. On the other side, from 3rd century onwards, in all probability the Christian basilica followed the pattern of the Roman type.

Spaced-Out Sanctuaries: the Ritual Landscape of Roman Greece

Effects of the Roman conquest of Greece have been little studied, in favour of emphasising the ‘reverse imperialism’ of Greece’s cultural conquest of Rome. Such a perspective masks the undoubted impact felt throughout Greek society at the time of its incorporation and assimilation into a wider imperial system. This paper examines the Greek response to their altered political and economic state through the evidence of ritual geography, specifically changes in the location and ditribution of cult places in the landscape. Several patterns are discerned, each of which reveals in its own way the redistribution of social power in Greece under Roman rule.

Rural Ritual in Bronze Age Crete: The Peak Sanctuary at Atsipadhes

The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.

A Finnic holy word and its subsequent history

This article concentrates on a specific ancient holy word in Finnish and its subsequent development, hiisi. In the Finnish language region hiisi appears as an element in place names in over 230 villages established by the end of the thirteenth century, and at least a majority of these must have existed since prehistoric times. In Finland as well as in Estonia it is possible to demonstrate an earlier sacral function in places which contain hiisi as a component of their name, partly with the help of archeological discoveries, and partly with the help of oral folk tradition. It is particularly among the earliest settlement areas of Southwest Finland, Satakunta and Häme that hiisi features in the names of sacrificial sites or trees, in other words in the same areas where it features in the names of burial grounds. Names in which the hiisi element precedes a word meaning a lake, pond, or other water formation, occur particularly in the eastern Finnish dialect regions, as well as in the regions of Karelian, Olonets, Lydian, and Vepsian. In addition to its factual meaning of cult place, the Finnish word hiisi has come to denote a supernatural entity both in terms of its reference to a place and in terms of its reference to a being.

The Social Context of Cult Practices in Pre-Roman Lucania

The period of the late fifth to early third century B. C. in the Italic hinterland of Magna Graecia is marked by a number of important economic, social, and political transformations which have now been archaeologically documented. Increased knowledge of settlements now allows us to place the cultic activity established at Lucanian sites within a clearer architectural and societal context. Three types of indigenous cult places exist. Two are extramural, serve large population groups, and developed in the second half of the fourth century B. C. The third type, the focus of this paper, is the ceremonial area with a cultic association found in major residential complexes within fifth- and fourth-century nucleated or fortified settlements and is to be seen in connection with a monumentalizing trend in domestic architecture. The best example of this type of cult place has been found at the western Lucanian site of Roccagloriosa, discussed here in detail. Relevant analogies are found with neighboring Italic sites and with similar but earlier developments in both Archaic Etruria and early Rome for which much better textual and archaeological documentation exists.

A Cypriot model for prehistoric ritual

Prehistoric figurines and building models are rarely discovered in clearly defined, non-funerary contexts in the Near East and eastern Mediterranean regions. When they are found in association in a cache of over 50 objects it is a notable archaeological event. Here Dr Edgar Peltenburg, Director of the Lemba Archaeological Project, Cyprus, argues that the cache provides important new light on the evolution of cult places in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Cult Places of the Aegean

The Cult Places of the Aegean