Laneri - Defining the sacred : approaches to the archaeology of religion in the Near East

In memory of
Tino and Sheila

Published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by
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Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2015

Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-679-0
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-683-7
Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-684-4
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Defining the sacred : approaches to the archaeology of religion in the Near East / edited by Nicola Laneri.
-- 1st [edition].
1 online resource.
Includes bibliographical references.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-78297-849-7 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-850-3 (prc) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-851-0 ( pdf)
-- ISBN 978-1-78297-679-0 1. Middle East--Religion. 2. Archaeology and religion--Middle East. 3.
Excavations (Archaeology)--Middle East. 4. Middle East--Antiquities. I. Laneri, Nicola, editor.
BL1060
200.9394--dc23

2015009796

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Front cover: Arms, hands and elements of clothing reveal the anthropomorphic character of Gbekli Tepes pillars (Pillar 31 in the centre of Enclosure D) (photo: N. Becker, DAI).

CONTENTS

Nicola Laneri

PART I
SACRED NATURE

Nadezhda Dubova

Laerke Recht

Steve A. Rosen

Ann Andersson

Pascal Butterlin

PART II
HOUSING THE GOD

Olivier Dietrich and Jens Notroff

Beth Alpert Nakhai

Stefano Valentini

Stefania Mazzoni

Amalia Catagnoti

Licia Romano

PART III
THE MATERIALISATION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Trevor Watkins

Milena Gosic and Isaac Gilead

Laura Battini

Daniel Snell

CONTRIBUTORS

ANN ANDERSSON

Department of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies,

University of Copenhagen,

Karen Blixens vej 4, building 10, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark

LAURA BATTINI

CNRS, University of Lyon,

Maison de lOrient, UMR 5133 Archorient- 7,

rue Raulin F- 69365 LYON Cedex 07 France

PASCAL BUTTERLIN

University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne,

Institut dArt et dArchologie

3 rue Michelet, 75006 Paris

AMALIA CATAGNOTI

Dipartimento di Storia, Archeologia, Geografia, Arte e Spettacolo (S.A.G.A.S.),

Universit di Firenze, Via San Gallo 10, 50129 Firenze, Italy

OLIVER DIETRICH

Deutsches Archologisches Institut

Orient-Abteilung, Podbielskiallee 69-71

14195 Berlin, Germany

NADEZHDA DUBOVA

Anthropology of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)

Institute of Ethnology and Anthropoly

RAS Leninski prospect 32A,

119991, Moscow, Russia

ISAAC GILEAD

Archaeological Division,

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB. 653,

Beer Sheva, 410501, Israel

MILENA GOI

Archaeological Division,

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB. 653,

Beer Sheva, 8410501, Israel

NICOLA LANERI

Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche,

University of Catania, Piazza Dante 32,

95100, Catania, Italy

STEFANIA MAZZONI

Dipartimento di Storia, Archeologia, Geografia, Arte e Spettacolo (S.A.G.A.S.),

Universit di Firenze, Via San Gallo 10, 50129 Firenze, Italy

BETH ALPERT NAKHAI

Arizona Centre for Judaic Studies,

The University of Arizona, 845 N. Park Ave, Suite 420,

Tucson, AZ 85721-0158, USA

JENS NOTROFF

Deutsches Archologisches Institut,

Orient-Abteilung, Podbielskiallee 6971,

14195 Berlin, Germany

LAERKE RECHT

International Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies,

1028 18th Street, #4,

Santa Monica CA 90403, USA

LICIA ROMANO

University of Rome La Sapienza,

Dipartimento di Scienze dellAntichit

Ex Vetrerie Sciarra, Studio 121

Via dei Volsci, 122, 00185 Roma (Italia)

STEVEN A. ROSEN

Archaeological Division,

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB 653,

Beer Sheva 84105, Israel

DANIEL SNELL

University of Oklahoma, Department of History

455 West Lindsey Street, DAHT 403A Norman,

OK 73019-2004

STEFANO VALENTINI

CAMNES (Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies),

Via del Giglio 15, 50123 Firenze, Italy

TREVOR WATKINS

University of Edinburgh,

School of History, Classics and Archaeology,

William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School,

Teviot Place, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9AG

United Kingdom

PREFACE

Nicola Laneri

This volume represents the partial outcome of a workshop organized by the author at the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East held in Warsaw in 2012, and my warmest acknowledgments goes to all the organizers, especially Piotr Bielinski and Zuzanna Wygnanska. In order to broaden the chronological and geographical topics covered at the initial workshop and to make the whole volume more coherent, a few other contributions have been included along the way. I would also like to dedicate this volume to the memory of three authors (Jean Daniel Forest, Sharon Zuckerman and Klaus Schmidt) who were invited to participate in the workshop as leading figures in the investigation of ancient religions in the ancient Near East and have since passed away. In particular, the front cover of the volume appears in honour of the great work done by Klaus Schmidt at Gbekli Tepe.

I would also like to thank Oxbow Books and its editorial board (Julie Gardiner, Clare Litt, Lizzie Holiday, and Samantha McLeod) for their great work of assembling the volume, the Fuller Theological Seminar of Pasadena and Christopher Hays for having hosted me as visiting scholar and allowed me to use their facilities while working on the introduction to the volume as well as Ernestine Elster and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati for their support in allowing me to use the UCLA library.

Also, I would like to thank Sharon Steadman for her suggestions and my wife Karen for her support.

Introduction: Investigating archaeological approaches to the study of religious practices and beliefs

Nicola Laneri

The unfalsifiable supported by the undeniable yields the unquestionable, which transforms the dubious, the arbitrary, and the conventional into the apparently correct, the necessary, and the natural. This is the heart of religion and the foundation on which stand the rules, understandings, and institutions constituting human communities (Rappaport 1994, 342).

Introduction

Introducing a volume dedicated to the study of ancient religious practices and beliefs can be a difficult task because it needs to briefly introduce the reader to religion (i.e. how it functioned, what was is structure, how it has been studied so far, in which directions archaeological approaches can lead to its investigation with) without being repetitive, but, at the same time, trying to summarise all the previous studies on this immense topic.