This book traces the origins of the religious system of the Peloponnese to identify the factors behind its subsequent development from the Geometric to the Classical period. Through a presentation of cult places, the deities worshipped, and the epithets used, the book explores preferences for particular deities and the reasons for this.

From generation to generation, people experience their landscapes differently. Humans depend on their natural environment: it shapes their behavior while it is often felt that deities responsible for both natural benefits and natural calamities (such as droughts, famines, floods and landslides) need to be appeased. We presume that, in many societies, lakes, rivers, rocks, mountains, caves and groves were considered sacred. Individual sites and entire landscapes are often associated with divine actions, mythical heroes and etiological myths. Throughout human history, people have also felt the need to monumentalize their sacred landscape. But this is where the similarities end as different societies had very different understandings, believes and practices. The aim of this new thematic appraisal is to scrutinize carefully our evidence and rethink our methodologies in a multi-disciplinary approach. More than 30 papers investigate diverse sacred landscapes from the Iberian peninsula and Britain in the west to China in the east. They discuss how to interpret the intricate web of ciphers and symbols in the landscape and how people might have experienced it. We see the role of performance, ritual, orality, textuality and memory in people’s sacred landscapes. A diachronic view allows us to study how landscapes were ‘rewritten’, adapted and redefined in the course of time to suit new cultural, political and religious understandings, not to mention the impact of urbanism on people’s understandings. A key question is how was the landscape manipulated, transformed and monumentalized – especially the colossal investments in monumental architecture we see in certain socio-historic contexts or the creation of an alternative humanmade, seemingly ‘non-natural’ landscape, with perfectly astronomically aligned buildings that define a cosmological order? Sacred Landscapes therefore aims to analyze the complex links between landscape, ‘religiosity’ and society, developing a dialectic framework that explores sacred landscapes across the ancient world in a dynamic, holistic, contextual and historical perspective.

This book provides proof of the existence and explains the significance of planned alignments between classical temples and oracle sites over a wide range of territory, pointing to an astrological system of planning in the ancient world. This system of symbolism may be used predictively and is supported by all relevant artifacts. Here is a unifying approach to the study of geomancy in the ancient world as a whole. Richer has found a network of significant geographic alignments, associated with the pathways of various legendary figures and gods, that are geomantic keys to many legends and texts. One of these texts is Plato's Laws in which Plato describes the layout of the ideal city. Richer found Plato's ideal city repeated around the most important oracular centers on ancient Greece. He shows how Plato's description was a later codification of a much earlier practice of dividing geography into twelve regions under the patronage of the gods of the zodiac. Several such twelve-part divisions of the Greek Territories are presented here.

This volume presentes the results of the survey and excavation of a second peak sanctuary on Minoan Kythera at Leska. An introduction to the archaeological background of the island is provided, as well as a discussion on peak sanctuaries there and in Minoan Crete. The discovery of Leska and the research conducted there are described, and a discussion of the diachronic use of the summit is presented, following analyses of the material remains (including pottery, figurines, stone vessels, stone tools, and jewelry). Detailed discussions of the active role and significance of the landscape and the cultic practices allow an in-depth analysis of the links between society and cult, and also of the ways in which the landscape and immediate surroundings at Leska were sacralised in the Middle Minoan IB to Late Minoan IB phase. The broader analysis of the sacred landscape on Kythera provides a unique ropportunity to asess Aegean religion during the Minoan period outside Crete.

Delve into the rich and diverse world of ancient art and architecture with 'The Art and Architecture of Past Civilizations: Exploring Cultural Heritage.' This comprehensive guide takes readers on a journey through the visual and structural marvels of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, the Americas, China, India, Persia, and medieval Europe. Each chapter offers an in-depth exploration of the historical context, cultural significance, and enduring legacy of these civilizations’ artistic and architectural achievements. Through detailed analysis and vivid descriptions, discover how ancient societies expressed their values, beliefs, and innovations through their creations. Perfect for history enthusiasts, students, and art lovers, this book provides a captivating glimpse into the artistic heritage that continues to inspire and influence the modern world.

"In Urban Rituals in Sacred Landscapes in Hellenistic Asia Minor, Christina G. Williamson examines the phenomenon of monumental sanctuaries in the countryside of Asia Minor that accompanied the second rise of the Greek city-state in the Hellenistic period. Moving beyond monolithic categories, Williamson provides a transdisciplinary frame of analysis that takes into account the complex local histories, landscapes, material culture, and social and political dynamics of such shrines in their transition towards becoming prestigious civic sanctuaries. This frame of analysis is applied to four case studies: the sanctuaries of Zeus Labraundos, Sinuri, Hekate at Lagina, and Zeus Panamaros. All in Karia, these well-documented shrines offer valuable insights for understanding religious strategies adopted by emerging cities as they sought to establish their position in the expanding world"--

Polybius boldly declared that 'now that all places have become accessible by land or sea, it is no longer appropriate to use poets and writers of myth as witnesses of the unknown' (4.40.2). And yet, in reality, the significance of myth did not diminish as the borders of the known world expanded. Storytelling was always an inextricable part of how the ancient Greeks understood their environment; mythic maps existed alongside new, more concrete, methods of charting the contours of the earth. Specific landscape features acted as repositories of myth and spurred their retelling; myths, in turn, shaped and gave sense to natural and built environments, and were crucial to the conceptual resonances of places both unknown and known. This volume brings together contributions from leading scholars of Greek myth, literature, history, and archaeology to examine the myriad intricate ways in which ancient Greek myth interacted with the physical and conceptual landscapes of antiquity. The diverse range of approaches and topics highlights in particular the plurality and pervasiveness of such interactions. The collection as a whole sheds new light on the central importance of storytelling in Greek conceptions of space.

Recent excavations and new theoretical approaches are changing our view of the Cyclades. This volume aims to share these recent developments with a broader, international audience. Essays have been carefully selected as representing some of the most important recent work and include significant previously-unpublished material.