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CP15a


Technologies as Vehicle of Religious Ideas between East and West 
Convenors:
Fabio Guidetti (Università di Pisa)
Chiara Tommasi (Università di Pisa)
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Format:
Panel
Location:
Beta room
Sessions:
Tuesday 5 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Vilnius

Short Abstract:

The panel investigates the role of tools and technological innovations for the cross-cultural transfer and dissemination of religious ideas, focusing on different historical and cultural contexts in the wider Eurasian area between antiquity and the early modern period, up to contemporary times.

Long Abstract:

The role of technologies in the cross-cultural transfer and dissemination of ideas is a key topic in the history of science, but has been generally neglected by historians of religions so far. This panel aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between technologies and religious ideas in different historical and cultural contexts in the wider Eurasian area between antiquity and the early modern period. The topics investigated by the presenters include Greek astronomical instruments (Guidetti), Indian writing techniques (Fregosi), Roman divination and interpretation of prodigies (Lietz), Egyptian time-reckoning devices (Barbagli), Byzantine liturgical furnishings (Andriollo), Chinese alchemical processes (Tommasi), as well as case studies from Central Asia (Ferrari). A final paper (Menon) approaches the question of digital religion in contemporary society and the ethical question raised by new media. The presentations will show how tools, techniques, and technological innovations interacted with religious ideas, contributing to their dissemination in a variety of contexts, geographically distant but closely interconnected.

Accepted papers:

Session 1 Tuesday 5 September, 2023, -