The “Sacri lapides” project aims to study and document the processes of transformation of sacred spaces of worship, identity and memory from Pharaonic and Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt to Christian Egypt, through topographical-functional analysis and the creation of a general digital catalogue of temple structures converted into Christian places (basilicas, churches, monasteries, hermitages, sanctuaries) devoted to the production and preservation of manuscripts (libraries and scriptoria), as well as, naturally, to cultic functions. “Sacri lapides” thus represents the conceptual premise and archaeological in-depth study underpinning the ERC “PAThs” project, whose aim is to define a geography of Coptic manuscript production through the creation of a digital atlas, searchable by theme and chronology.
“Sacri lapides” is an entirely innovative project, given the lack of a comprehensive survey and systematic reflection on the phenomena of physical transformation of sacred space, since specialists of the final phase of Egyptian history and those of Late Antiquity have so far focused mainly on ideological-religious phenomena, largely excluding — save for exceptions, in any case tied to specific regional contexts — a close analysis of the archaeological contexts and physical spaces. To this end, the project team will be made up of Egyptologists and classical archaeologists.
Resources
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Project website: paths-erc.eu/sacri-lapides-aegypti
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Project space, code and documentation repository:
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Website of the Egyptology Chair at Sapienza: https://sites.google.com/uniroma1.it/cattedra-egittologia-sapienza