Projects
The “Profanity” of Greek Sanctuaries?
Defining the temenos as a space for divine-human interaction 600 BC-200 AD
Project Leader: Gunnel Ekroth
The main objective of the project is a critical and comprehensive investigation of the perception of ancient Greek sanctuary space, focused on the concept temenos (”that which has been cut off”), i.e. the area set aside for the worship of the gods, but which humans also used and administered. The aim is to provide a more diversified and comprehensive understanding of sanctuaries as both physical and cognitive entities, but also of how gods and humans used the space of temene and how this use can be related to Greek notions of the sacred and the profane.