This panel presents initial results of a collaboration involving archaeologists, art historians, geographers, and mixed reality specialists including software developers and digital artists. WHERE: Governor’s Square 17 (Plaza Tower - Concourse Level) - Sheraton Downtown Jennifer Larson, Kent State University - Main Campus, Respondent (10 min) Having a Blast in the Motel of the Mysteries: A Redescriptive Archaeology (20 min) Gerhard van den Heever, University of South Africa Ryan Abromowitz, University of Michigan - Ann ArborĪrt and Sensory Experience in the Ancient World: Reanimating the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the Island of Samothrace (20 min) Touchstones of the Mystery Cults (20 min)

The Naassene Preacher and the Mysteries: A Historical Analysis (20 min) David Litwa, Australian Catholic University Sacred Rites, Cult Poetry, and Curse Tablets at Selinous (20 min) Sandra Blakely, Emory University, Presiding (5 min) This panel invites papers focused on innovations in theory and method in relation to Greek and Roman mystery cults, framing an emerging analytical horizon for rites sealed by secrecy. More detailed historical-philological studies on specific cult sites and activities have shown the different ways in which Greeks and Romans made use of such rites. Digital humanities approaches enable consideration of soundscapes and social networks comparative studies draw on ethnographic models of secrecy contextual approaches explore intersections with magic. Fresh lenses on the Christian fathers read them less as the voice of Christianity triumphant than as interlocutors in the complex processes of social, personal, and gender identities the rites enabled. New technologies for reconstructing the affective, embodied, interactive experience of these rituals open previously inaccessible frameworks for a phenomenology of the mysteries. We will have two panels at the meeting please see below for details.Ī rich range of new approaches has reinvigorated the study of Greek and Roman mystery cults.

In response to our call for papers, we are happy to announce the schedule for our session at the SBL/AAR 2022 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Motel of mysteries