EXC 212 B2-6 - Political-Religious Interdependence in Sacred Spaces. Epigraphic Texts in the Context of Ancient Greek Sanctuaries

Basic data for this project

Description

In addition to the monumental and architectural remains, not only the literary tradition, but also and above all an opulent wealth of inscriptions permits insight into the functional diversity of ancient Greek sacred sites. Research interest usually gives priority to the dedicatory inscriptions and to the administrative documents that are directly related to the sanctuary (temple inventories, building and invoice inscriptions, etc.). However, sanctuaries also served as a location for epigraphic documents that had a very limited relation to the respective place of worship. This textual evidence alone is the research project’s object of investigation. The focus will not lie on the historical evaluation of individual documents, which has mostly already been done in any case, but on a systematic genre-specific analysis of the practice of erecting. Asking for the reasons for “locating” these – in the main precisely non-religious – texts in sanctuaries will open up access to very specific structures of conditions of politics and religion which are suitable for a far more detailed understanding of the particular dialectics between these two areas in ancient Greece.