Research at the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics"
In the video series "Research at the Cluster of Excellence 'Religion and Politics'", researchers discuss their work at the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics".
Coptologist Gesa Schenke on her research into the two oldest known manuscripts of the “Testament of Abraham”
In the video series "Research at the Cluster of Excellence 'Religion and Politics'", Coptologist Gesa Schenke talks about her academic work on the two oldest known manuscripts of the Jewish-Christian Testament of Abraham, which date from the 4th and 10th centuries AD. In it, Abraham recounts his journey to heaven and provides insights into what awaits people after their death.
In her research project, Gesa Schenke is working on the edition of these two manuscripts, which are preserved in the Coptic language.
Icons – a symbol of Russian identity between tradition, religion and politics
In the video series "Research at the Cluster of Excellence 'Religion and Politics'", Slavic scholar Irina Wutsdorff talks about her academic work on references to traditional icon painting in 19th and 20th century Russian art and literature. Icons were originally cult and saint images of the Eastern Churches. However, they were elevated to symbols of this very tradition by the so-called Slavophiles, followers of a Russian philosophical-political ideology in the 19th century that emphasised Russia's independence from Western Europe. Thus, icons differed from the Western European and Western Church pictorial tradition.
In their research project "Between Religious Tradition and Aesthetic Innovation: The A-Mimetic Nature of Icons in Russian Art and Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries" Slavic scholars Irina Wutsdorff and Daniela Amodio examine the tension surrounding references to the icon tradition. Read more
Cultural memories of pre-Christian Nordic paganism from the Middle Ages to the present day
Scandinavian scholars Roland Scheel and Simon Hauke discuss their academic work in the video series “Research at the Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’”. In the research project “Paganisations: Remembered Paganism as an Element of Scandinavian and European Identities”, they examine how today's image of the “pagan Viking Age” emerged in the Middle Ages and developed over time. Read more
Mountain settlements in Edom – New perspectives on an Iron Age tribal kingdom
In the video series "Research at the Cluster of Excellence 'Religion and Politics'", archaeologist Katharina Schmidt talks about her scientific work on the mountain settlements in the Iron Age kingdom of Edom (ca. 700–500 BC), which was located in what is now southern Jordan. Due to their remote location and poor water supply, the mountain settlements of Edom are now mostly interpreted as temporary refuges for pastoral peoples. However, recent investigations as part of a survey project that examined twelve of these settlements in more detail suggest that they were permanent, agriculturally self-sufficient settlements that were sustainably farmed over generations. In the project "Mountain-top sites in Edom: Disentangling politics, religion and economy in an Iron Age tribal kingdom", Katharina Schmidt examines the religious, political and economic entanglements and disentanglements that the mountain settlements had with the rest of Edom. Read more