The lecture series focuses on ancient Greek and Roman sanctuaries. It examines how space is not simply given, but comes into being through the interplay of landscape, built structures, and human actions. Rather than viewing buildings, people, and rituals separately, it places the interaction between architecture and social life at centre stage. In doing so, it looks beyond the temples themselves and the sacrificial rites—which usually form the core of scholarly interest. Instead, it deliberately highlights lesser-known structures, the living and working areas of cult personnel, and the role of everyday operations and economic activities. Scholars from archaeology, Egyptology, history, and philology thus reveal alternative spaces within the respective sanctuaries.

30 October 2025
All Under Control? Where Temple Guards Hold Sway…
Prof Dr Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser (Göttingen)

11 December 2025
“Manhattan in the Desert”: The Greco-Roman Settlements of Tuna el-Gebel/Hermopolis Magna
Dr Mélanie Flossmann-Schütze (Munich)

15 January 2026
Beyond the Temple: New Insights into the Temenos and Territory of the Ephesian Artemision
Dr Lilli Zabrana (Vienna)

22 January 2026
Hidden Routes: Behind the Scenes of the Asklepieion of Pergamon
PD Dr Asja Müller (Kiel)

29 January 2026
Between Cult and Control: Everyday Life in Sanctuaries of Hellenistic and Imperial Greece and Asia Minor
Prof Dr Kaja Harter-Uibopuu (Hamburg)

5 February 2026
Sanctuaries in the Economic Landscape: Small Sacred Sites in the Palmyrene as Places of Economic Negotiation
Dr Katharina Rieger (Graz)

12 February 2026
Sacrum et Mercatura: Mater Magna Between Religion and Economy in Ancient Rome
Dr Asuman Lätzer-Lasar (Marburg)

Organised by: Institute of Classical Studies
This lecture series is a partner of Science Comes to Town.