Source in the Spotlight
Solomon Spearing a Female Demon on Late Antique Amulets: Shared Traditions and Therapeutic Practices in the Eastern Mediterranean
Among the amulets widespread in the late antique Mediterranean, those depicting Solomon riding horseback and spearing a female demon were particularly popular. Their features show how co-produced apotropaic traditions resulted in the imputation of real-world efficacy to such artifacts.
Latest Case Study
Religious Markers on the Graves: Co-produced Displays of Religious Affiliation in Late Antique Cemeteries
From the 3rd century CE, new religious images emerged, arguably in line with the growing rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. One of the places where these new visual vocabularies could be used was in cemeteries, and in particular in the catacombs.
Event: Open Zoom Seminar
Open Seminar with Rebecca Wollenberg (Michigan)
Event: International Conference
Conference: Co-produced Rituals between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Uncovering a Common Late Antique and Early Medieval Religious Culture
Organized by Caroline Bridel and Maureen Attali
Historical and anthropological studies often point out what they consider to be ritual similarities between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The study of both literary and material data suggests that many of those rituals originated from or developed upon practices performed by all inhabitants of the Roman and/or Sassanian empires. This workshop proposes to investigate the formation processes and early development and contexts of so-called Abrahamic rituals through the notion of religious co-production.
Click this link for the Call for Papers. Proposals are due by July 15, 2024.
Latest Publication
Co-produced Religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Harvard Theological Review 118 (2025), 159-180.
About
Who we are
The project is coordinated by Katharina Heyden, Professor for Ancient History of Christianity and Interreligious Encounters at the University of Bern (Switzerland), and David Nirenberg, Leon Levy Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (U.S.), and includes a network of collaborators across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.