The Mediterranean Sea, understood as the “middle sea”, a meeting place and crossroads of connections and communications, has been a privileged space through which, since prehistoric times, people, goods, ideas, technologies, languages, and cultures have circulated. From the 12th century BC onwards, the Phoenicians, expert sailors and skilled merchants, exploited routes that remained active in later eras, becoming paths for commercial, historical, and cultural connections. The meta-sea (the “sea beyond the sea”, indicating a reality that multiplies beyond mere physical existence) highlights the aspect of circulation of individuals, goods, ideas, technologies, languages, and cultures in the ancient Mediterranean. At the same time, it identifies and designates a set of thematic areas covering a vast geographic space and a broad chronological span, enabling connections between regions that are very distant from one another, from East to West, from prehistoric times to the Roman era. As a crossroads of cultures and a vehicle for integration, the Mediterranean goes beyond the sea; it is the “place” of encounter, of “mediation”, and of relationships between all the civilizations facing its shores, but also the medium of material and immaterial cultural heritage.
The conference addresses the theme of circulation in connection to religion and is the occasion to observe the contribution of various civilizations in the definition of a Mediterranean identity in the religious and cultic sphere. This identity is the result of the historical layering of contacts and dynamic interactions between those crossing the sea from East to West and vice versa.
Particular attention will be given to deities, cults, sanctuaries, festivals, rituals. Religious motivations were at the root of long-distance journeys and crossings in antiquity. In some cases, moreover, literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence related to the sacred sphere provides a privileged lens for observing the creation and development of a “Mediterranean civilization”, which allows us to trace the persistence of various cultural components, phenomena of interaction, aspects of continuity, and the outcomes of transformation.
The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary nature of the conference, derived from the composition of the Scientific Committee and the diverse backgrounds of the scholars involved (Orientalists, Phoenician-Punic Archaeologists and Epigraphists, Greek and Roman Historians, Greco-Roman Epigraphists, Classical Archaeologists, and Late Antiquity scholars), enhances the possibility of delving into specialized issues, which will be addressed in the various thematic sessions. Furthermore, a special session will focus on how this circulation is represented today through museum communication experiences.
A reflection on the following thematic lines is proposed:
-Deities, cults, rites, with attention to the continuity and transformation of cults and ritual practices, as well as phenomena of assimilatio and interpretatio;
-Sanctuaries, places of worship, focusing on the locations, the characteristics of their attendance, the models, and the persistence in sacred architecture;
-Priests and cult actors, with an opening to both the political dimension of the priestly class and the role of different protagonists in both public and private spheres;
-Cult of sovereigns, in its various forms depending on the geographical context and the chronological scope of investigation (from Eastern rulers to Hellenistic kingdoms and the recovery of the Greek practice of isotheoi timai, to the stratification of the imperial cult in Roman times).
Both presentations and a poster session are planned: for all contributions (including posters), publication is expected in Open Access mode in a volume published by EUM (Edizioni Università di Macerata). The Scientific Committee will be responsible of the appointment of a keynote speaker, who will deliver the opening framework speech of the Conference, and of proposals selection. The languages of the conference are: Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German.
Proposals must be sent no later than the 30th of November 2024, to the following address: [email protected].
Scientific Committee: Simona Antolini (UniMC), Massimo Botto (CNR), Sara Ferrari (La Rotta dei Fenici), Luigi Gallo (L’Orientale), Iosif Hadjikyriakos (Ciprus Inst.), Ana Maria Niveau de Villedary y Mariñas (Univ. Cádiz), Oscar Mei (UniURB), Tatiana Pedrazzi (CNR), Roberto Perna (UniMC), Luca Peyronel (UniMI), Jessica Piccinini (UniMC), Elisabetta Todisco (UniBA), Maria Turchiano (UniFG), Giuliano Volpe (UniBA).
