Prayer and the Ancient City: Influences of Urban Space

This volume is a first attempt to investigate the impact of urban space on prayers and related religious thought and belief in ancient religions from the first to the sixth century CE. Taking its lead from the spatial turn in scholarship, methodologically it is an attempt to replace the hitherto customary focus on the forms and semantics of prayer with an urban-spatial model. This model understands prayers as performances that are embedded and embodied in urban space as well as texts producing and inspired by imaginations of space. To allow for a broader comparison, this volume covers prayers and spaces of various religions all over the ancient Mediterranean, from Roman and North African polytheisms through early Christianity to Byzantine Christianity and early Islam.