Religion(s) in Seals

Old and New Challenges

Bibliographic Data

ID4587440
AuthorsFabio Porzia (0000-0003-1031-2692, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume87
Issue1
Pages4-13
Publication date2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNear Eastern Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1094-2076 • E-ISSN: 1557-5594
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/727583
OpenAlexW4391939566
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited9

Although seals are very mobile items and often reused, and although they can be regarded as mass media products given their large distribution in time, space, and different social classes, they are often used by scholars as a tool to map political, cultural, and religious borders. This contribution aims at reassessing the validity of using religious iconography on seals from the first-millennium BCE southern Levant for the study of ancient religion(s) from three aspects: that religion is thematized beyond ethnic borders; that religious motifs are studied beyond the quest of their origin; and that divine images are studied beyond the compulsion to provide them with proper names. Introducing the notion of adaption as a short form for adoption and adaptation, this article supports a more nuanced understanding of seal iconography in terms of shared cultural infrastructure and a common cultural landscape

Forensic engineering · Engineering · History · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology

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