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Habilitation Project: Imaginary Gods - The Graeco-Egyptian Cults in Athens

Egyptian temple, Brexisa, Attika

Dr. Sabine Neumann

The aim of my habilitation thesis is to understand the cults of the Graeco-Egyptian gods, i.e. primarily Isis, Sarapis, Anubis and Harpocrates, as well as other deities appearing in conjunction with them, in the Athenian context (late classical to advanced Roman imperial period). For the first time, I analyse the cults integrally in the context of the Attic religious landscape and ask about the many possible meanings that the cults could take on in the local context of Athens at different times.

Ägyptisches Heiligtum, Delos, Sarapeion C

In my work, I analyse how ancient actors selected, appropriated and translated the Graeco-Egyptian gods and their cults, and how they made them accessible in local contexts by emphasising certain facets and aspects. In order to overcome a dichotomy of 'own' and 'foreign' - or in this case of 'Greek' and 'Egyptian' - I analyse the cults using the concept of the social imaginary. This is based on the theory of the same name by Cornelius Castoriadis and has been further developed in various academic disciplines. By examining the cults of the Graeco-Egyptian gods as a social imaginary, I want to look beyond one-sided notions of cultural adoption and analyse the cults in their processuality. In this context, the imaginary is not placed in opposition to reality or thought of as secondary to it. Rather, it is presented as an independent and constitutive part of social reality and understood in the sense of Castoriadis as the production of the social, because only this perspective allows us to examine dynamic processes of the transformation of individual and collective ideas into social realities.

This new research perspective gives rise to the following research questions: What negotiation processes between the actors involved can be observed with regard to the foundation of the sanctuaries? How were the cults institutionalised in Athens at different times? Which deities with which epics, religious facets and specific powers were worshipped in Athens? Where were the individual sanctuaries located, with which other deities did the Graeco-Egyptian gods share the temenos and the altar, and what does this in turn tell us about the specific characteristics of their cult? How were 'Greek' and 'Egyptian' rites reconciled in the cult of the Graeco-Egyptian gods? What imaginary dimensions were added to the conceptions of the gods and their cults in the Roman imperial period?

Output

Publications:

• Monograph: "Imaginäre Götter: Die graeco-ägyptischen Kulte in Athen", (Habilitation thesis, in preparation)
• S. Neumann, "Female agency in the cults of the Greco-Egyptian deities in Hellenistic Athens", in: A. Lätzer-Lasar – S. Neumann – J. Steinhauer (Eds.), Beneath the surface: Re-negotiating gendered agency, Religion and Gender, peer-reviewed Special Issue, Brill Verlag (in print)
• S. Neumann, "Spatializing ‘Divine Newcomers’ in Athens", in: N. Belayche – C. Bonnet (Eds.), Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries, Proceedings of the International Conference 10-12.02.2021, University of Toulouse, France, peer-reviewed, De Gruyter Open Access (in print)

Lectures:

• "Imagination des Göttlichen - Die Kulte für Isis und Sarapis in Athen", University of Tübingen, lecture invitation, 21.12.2022
• "Imaginary Gods – The Cults of the Greco-Egyptian Deities in Athens", The Swedish Institute at Athens, The Athens Greek Religion Seminar, lecture invitation, 17.05.2022
• "Die Kulte der graeco-ägyptischen Götter in Athen und Attika", University of Regensburg, lecture invitation, 19.05.2021
• "Spatializing ‘Divine Newcomers’ in Athens", University of Toulouse, France, International Conference, Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries, Sektion “Urban” religions, 10-12.02.2021
• "Ägypten in Griechenland. Neues zum Kult der Isis in Athen und Attika", Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, lecture invitation, 09.12.2019
• "Integration nichtgriechischer Götter – Der Kult der Isis in Athen", Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, lecture invitation, 28.11.2019
• "Heiligtümer und Kulte der graeco-ägyptischen Götter in Athen", Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, lecture invitation, 12.11.2019
• "Women’s agency in cults for non-Greek deities in ancient Athens", Tartu, Estland, International Conference, 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR), Religion – Continuations and Disruptions, 25.-29.06.2019