Introduction to the Bloomsbury Handbook of Material Religion in the Ancient Near east and Egypt

Crosses, mosques, churches, stupas, and religious clothes, ritual paraphernalia, and sacrificed animals are all part of a material dimension of religious practices and beliefs that cannot be disentangled from that spiritual “idea” of the embodiment of the divine that has characterized human religiosity since the first appearance of religious beliefs in prehistoric times. Thus, a material approach to religion appears as an inescapable task for scholars and students interested in the field of religious studies. It is based on these premises that this volume on Material Religion in the Ancient Near East has been conceived for the purpose of furnishing interested scholars or students with a series of contributions that investigate the fundamental importance of a material approach for studying ancient forms of religiosity enacted by ancient Near Eastern communities from prehistoric periods until late antique times.