Dear all,
It is my pleasure to announce the next Ancient World Seminar on *15 March
2022 at the Harmony building, room **1313.0338**. *Afterwards, there will
be free drinks for anyone interested for which no registration is required.
The online environment can be accessed from 16.00 onwards via the following
link: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/942e358673e04ee995230dfb42d25b96.
During the lecture, please turn off your microphone and camera. After the
lecture, there will be time for your remarks and questions. If you wish to
contribute to this discussion, use the 'raise hand' button or type the
question in the chat. The moderator will give you time to ask your question
which can be done 'live' by turning on your audio and video.
*On the 15th of March 2022, *16.15-17.30*, prof. **Lucinda Dirven *(Radboud
University/ University of Amsterdam) will give a lecture on:
*'**Religious lives in the Arsacid Empire. Unity in Diversity**'*
*Abstract*
The Arsacids, who ruled over large parts of the Near East from 250 BC to
224 AD, were Zoroastrians. The common opinion is that they did not use
their religion for political purposes. Consequently, it is argued that the
Arsacids hardly influenced the varied religious lives of people outside of
Iran. In this paper, I will argue that this does not apply to the Arsacid
dynastic cult, which was adopted by important noble families and vassal
kings in the Arsacid Empire and beyond. An illustrative example can be
found in the city of Hatra (Northern Iraq), where this Arsacid cult was
incorporated into a predominantly Aramaic religious culture.
*About the speaker*
Lucinda Dirven is professor by special appointment of antique religions at
Radboud University, Nijmegen since 2020. She studied art history and
theology (history of religions and comparative religion) at the University
of Leiden, where she obtained her PhD that was published in 1999 as The
Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos. A Case Study of Religious Interaction (Brill
Publishers). After this she worked at the departments of archaeology and
(ancient) history at the universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam. Ever since
her PhD, her research has concentrated on the Roman and Parthian Near East
(especially Dura, Hatra and Palmyra) on the one hand and the religious
influences of these regions on the Roman West on the other hand. Currently,
she is finishing a catalogue on the sculptures from Hatra and is preparing
the final report on the mithraeum of Dura-Europos, together with Matthew
McCartey (University of British Columbia).
--
Lidewijde de Jong (on behalf of Evelien de Graaf and the CRASIS team)
CRASIS is the Groningen institute for Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture,
Religion and Society of the Ancient World. Follow CRASIS on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/rug.crasis> or find out more about us on
www.rug.nl/crasis.
