CALL. 20.02.2020: [PANEL 4] Hellenistic Imperial Economies and Near-Eastern Temples Research Group:
FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 20/02/2020
FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 03-04-05-06/08/2020
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: University of Wuppertal (Wuppertal, Germany)
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Sylvie Honigman, Benedikt Eckhardt
INFO: web
CALL:
Ancient temples in the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean fulfilled administrative and economic functions, and this aspect loomed large in the interaction between Hellenistic kings and native temples. Yet, scholars tend to separate these aspects from the cultic and intellectual activities of the temple, and this tendency is even truer with regards to the Jerusalem temple, which is often considered to be an exception in two ways: its administrative and economic functions are often minimized, whereas the role of its religious aspects in the interaction with kings is emphasized, and arguably over-emphasized. The session aims to examine afresh several correlated issues: 1) First, the precise nature of the administrative and economic functions of temples in the Hellenistic East. In particular, it is relevant to ask whether and how the monetization of taxes in Hellenistic times affected the temples’ economies. 2) Second, the session will examine whether and to what extent administrative, economic, and cultic aspects were correlated in the interaction between Hellenistic kings and temples; 2) third, whether or not and to what extent the Jerusalem temple was an exception; and 3) fourth, how this correlation between economic and religious aspects comes to the fore in the literary imaginations of the temple literati in Judea and neighbouring societies. We invite papers relating to any one of these aspects. We are particularly interested in contributions that either highlight the correlation between economic and cultic aspects per se or in the relationship between kings and temples (or the absence thereof), or examine literary reverberations of these aspects (for instance, in Demotic tales; in the Maccabean revolt; in apocalyptic literatures), but contributions tackling related perspectives will be considered as well. EABS submission deadline is 20th February 2020. Submit via the EABS website: https://www.eabs.net Sylvie Honigman, Benedikt Eckhardt