The Animated Temple and Its Agency in the Urban Life of the City in Ancient Mesopotamia Beate Pongratz-Leisten, NYU, ISAW
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: In ancient Mesopotamia, the functions of the temple were manifold. It could operate as an administrative center, as a center of learning, as a place of jurisdiction, as a center for healing, and as an economic institution, as indicated in both textual and archaeological sources. All these functions involved numerous and diverse personnel and generated interaction with the surrounding world, thereby turning the temple into the center of urban life. Because the temple fulfilled all these functions in addition to housing the divinity, it acquired agency in its own right. Thus, temple, city, and divinity could merge into concerted action. It is this aspect of the temple that lies at the center of the following considerations.
Source: Religions
DOI: 10.3390/rel12080638
Author: Beate Pongratz-Leisten
Institution: New York University
Language: English
Topic: Ancient Near East History
Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,296
OpenAlex ID: W3194565980