Papers by Hannah Smagh
Louteria
The Molyvoti, Thrace, Archaeological Project 1: The Landscape, Architecture, and Material Culture. Hesperia Supplements 54, 2025
Discussion and catalog of the louteria, large water basins for bathing and ritual purification, f... more Discussion and catalog of the louteria, large water basins for bathing and ritual purification, found during the 2013-2015 excavations of the House of the Gorgon at the city of Stryme on the Molyvoti Peninsula in Northern Greece.
In Second Use: An Archaeological and Anthropological Survey of Recycling and Reuse in the Greek World. AURA Supplements 13, 2025
Greek domestic ritual largely relied on the portable and multi-functional objects to create tempo... more Greek domestic ritual largely relied on the portable and multi-functional objects to create temporary sacred spaces within the house. The ritual of egainio, however, created permanent sacred spaces that became part of the fabric of the house. This foundation ritual was performed during a building’s construction or renovation, when numerous vessels were deposited with sacrificial detritus in a pit and then burned in situ before being buried underneath a new floor. These rituals resulted in the removal of these vessels from circulation within the household. Foundation rituals in Greek domestic contexts, where they are essential to understanding the full picture of domestic religion, are understudied, addressed mainly in archaeological reports (a notable exception is Rotroff 2013). This paper examines foundation deposits associated with houses in dialogue with their architectural environs, to analyze the effect these deposits have on the formation and experience of domestic space. The burial of these foundation deposits permanently but invisibly altered the character of
the household’s space, imbuing it with sacred significance. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
Dissertation, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University
Appendix. The Destruction and Survival of Cities: Northern Greece and Thrace
The Destruction of Cities in the Ancient Greek World: Integrating the Archaeological and Literary Evidence, edited by S. Fachard and E. M. Harris, 2021
https://www.cambridge.org/fachard-harris-appendix
Tool development for digital reconstruction: A framework for a database of historic Roman construction materials
Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2019
Book Reviews by Hannah Smagh
BMCR, 2025
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.04.19/
Review of T. Galoppin, E. Guillon, A. Lätzer-Lasar, S. Lebreton, M. Luaces, F. Porzia, E. Rubens Urciuoli, J. Rüpke, and C. Bonnet 2022. Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean: Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries. Berlin: De Gruyter. BMCR, 2024
Conference Presentations by Hannah Smagh
THAUMA: Praxis de lo Sagrado y lo profane en el Medterráneo antiguo, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain, October 3-4, 2024
In models of Greek religion, household religion has been described as polis religion in miniature... more In models of Greek religion, household religion has been described as polis religion in miniature or has had its existence disavowed altogether. Recently, these models have been critiqued for their failure to account for the agency of the household and the individual as well as religious activity that falls outside the purview of the polis, such as magic. In contrast with the picture painted by major models, household rituals were not simply civic rituals in miniature but addressed needs specific to the members of the oikos. These needs were also reflected in the nature of sacred spaces within the house. This paper explores the means by which domestic sacred spaces were constructed and how these spaces interfaced with the social relationships within the household and between the household and society. I adopt a spatial approach to analyze the effects of portable objects, such as miniature altars and vessels, to study how the practice of religion affected the physical and social landscape of the household. Their miniature scale distinguished them from other quotidian objects, creating a distance between the gods and humans and imbuing the object with an aura of wonder. I argue that these objects were engaged in sacred place-making within private spaces, but in different ways. Rituals using portable altars generated a liminal space for divine presence and anchored the performance of ritual in physical space, temporarily creating a sacred space for the duration of the ritual. Their portability allowed for a flexibility of votive practice that is consistent with the emphasis placed on spatial versatility in private architecture. In contrast, the foundation ritual of egainio created a permanent ritual deposit within the fabric of the house. This ritual was performed during a building’s construction or renovation, when numerous vessels, figurines, and miniature vessels were burned in situ in a pit next to a wall before being buried with other sacrificial detritus underneath a new floor. Their burial permanently but invisibly altered the character of the household’s space and created ritual nodes within the fabric of the house. They tied the worship of the gods to specific nodes within the architecture of the home, imbuing it with sacred significance while not impeding daily activities. Altogether, these objects activated the potential for sacrality inherent in household space and created the liminal space in which the divine could be contacted. The lived experience of these objects gave practitioners the opportunity to negotiate relationships among themselves, the gods, and society. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
Private Material Religion across Cultures, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London, London, UK, June 6-7, 2024
Recent scholarship has argued that most sacred spaces in the Classical Greek house were created t... more Recent scholarship has argued that most sacred spaces in the Classical Greek house were created temporarily though ritual performance. These performances often relied on multi-functional features like hearths that would revert to practical function upon the completion of a ritual or miniature objects that could be stored away, such as portable altars that are commonly found as part of domestic ritual paraphernalia throughout the Greek world. In just over a dozen houses from the late 5th and early 4th centuries BCE, however, permanent sacred spaces were monumentalized through the construction of stone altars in the house’s courtyard. This paper argues that these permanent altars had a social function beyond their role in the performance of domestic ritual. The built altar came at a cost to the flexibility of the courtyard space, possibly impairing the productive potential of the space and characterizing the space as a religious one in a very permanent way. These altars are visually prominent, situated on important axes of movement and sight within the house between its entrance, the andron, and storage rooms. They also evoke monumental altars with carved pediments and molded bases, claiming religious authority through the quotation of public architecture. Based on literary evidence, the courtyard altar has been associated with Zeus Herkeios, “of the courtyard.” The worship of Zeus Herkeios crosses the boundary between private and public religion; the god is associated not only with notions of household security and family identity but also civic identity. His rituals were part of ta hiera, the sacred things that were the duty and privilege of citizens. The courtyard altar operated within a framework of display designed to communicate the homeowner’s membership in the polis, reminding the household and its guests of the family’s participation in ta hiera in their home.
AIA/SCS Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL January 4-7, 2024
The consecration of sacred space was accompanied by ritual performance that often left behind mat... more The consecration of sacred space was accompanied by ritual performance that often left behind material evidence identified by archaeologists as ritual foundation deposits. The foundation ritual was performed during a building’s construction or renovation, when numerous vessels, figurines, and miniature vessels were burned in situ in a pit next to a wall before being buried with other sacrificial detritus underneath a new floor. Such deposits are attested across Europe and the Mediterranean and have been found in both sacred and public buildings in Greece. Foundation deposits also occur in domestic contexts, where they are essential to understanding the full picture of domestic religion despite a general lack of scholarly attention. Intriguingly, the domestic deposits do not differ significantly in composition from those in sacred contexts within the same geographic region, suggesting an underlying similarity in ritual practice. This paper explores the ritual agency of the household and the relationship between public and private religion through the comparison of building deposits from sacred, public, and domestic buildings in case studies from regions such as Attica and the Corinthia. Although traditional models for understanding Greek religion position the polis as the structuring authority behind religious practice as all levels of society, archaeological evidence shows that the domestic ritual landscape privileged different concerns than the city-state and complemented civic religion rather than duplicated it. By studying the similar practices of foundation rituals in different contexts, this paper will illuminate the connections between public and private cult and their effects on the religious landscape of Ancient Greece.
AIA/SCS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 5-8, 2023
Scholars have argued that most sacred spaces in the Greek house were created temporarily through ... more Scholars have argued that most sacred spaces in the Greek house were created temporarily through the performance of religious rituals. The foundation ritual of egainio, however, created a permanent ritual deposit within the fabric of the house. This ritual was performed during a building’s construction or renovation, when numerous vessels, figurines, and miniature vessels were burned in situ in a pit next to a wall before being buried with other sacrificial detritus underneath a new floor. Although practiced across the Greek world, egainio has borne far less scrutiny than its Near Eastern counterpart, being the subject of only a few major studies within the past thirty years (such as Müller-Zeis 1994, Weikart 2002, Hunt 2006, and Rotroff 2013). Foundation deposits in domestic contexts, where they are essential to understanding the full picture of domestic religion, are even more understudied. In order to analyze the effect these deposits have on the formation and experience of domestic space, this paper examines foundation deposits in dialogue with their architectural environs. I argue that the burial of foundation deposits permanently but invisibly altered the character of the household’s space and created ritual nodes within the fabric of the house. These deposits tied the worship of the gods to specific nodes within the architecture of the home, imbuing it with sacred significance while not impeding daily activities. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
The Northern Peloponnese From East to West: New Research By Young Scholars, Austrian Archaeological Institute, Athens, Greece, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2022
The miniature altar forms a distinctive element of religious paraphernalia. Scholars have argued ... more The miniature altar forms a distinctive element of religious paraphernalia. Scholars have argued that the form originated in Ancient Corinth, where over one hundred terracotta miniature altars have been excavated from both public and private contexts. Examining the altars as a corpus for the first time, this new study situates the manufacture of the altars within the Corinthian coroplastic industry and builds on earlier scholarship to establish a formal typology. It then examines the role of miniature altars in religious practice at Corinth through an analysis of their spatial distribution across the site. At least one-third of the altars can be associated with Classical buildings underneath the South Stoa, which may have served domestic and civic functions. The use of these altars within these multi-functional spaces challenges our conception of the boundaries between public and private religion. Together with their portability, the miniature scale of the altars allowed for a flexibility of votive practice consistent with the emphasis placed on spatial versatility in private architecture. This paper argues that miniature altars were engaged in sacred place-making and created a miniature divine landscape within these spaces.
‘As If’ In Ancient Religions, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, July 20-22, 2022
The propensity to make-believe was crucial to the practice of domestic religion in Classical Gree... more The propensity to make-believe was crucial to the practice of domestic religion in Classical Greece. Although the gods had a significant presence in the oikos, the household rarely had fixed sacred spaces nor did it possess the cult statues common in public sanctuaries. Instead, I argue that household religion depended on the performance of ritual to make it seem “as if” the gods were present. These rituals gave the household the tools to negotiate relationships among its members and between the oikos and the outside world, maintaining both the relationship between the household and the gods and that between the gods and the polis. Domestic rituals relied on the material aniconism, as defined by Gaifman, that was embodied in ritual paraphernalia, like miniature altars, and indicators of divine presence, such as the sema of Zeus Ktesios made from a miniature jar and wool. This paper argues that, through the performance of ritual, these objects bridged the physical reality of the household and the imagined world of the divine with which it was invisibly intertwined. Using literary evidence, such as the episode in Aristophanes’ Peace in which Trygaios erects an altar for Peace outside his home, and archaeological evidence from sites such as Corinth, Olynthos, and New Halos, where miniature altars and other domestic cult assemblages have been found, I analyze the role of these objects in ritual performance and argue that they served as ritual focal points, giving the performers a concrete anchor to which they could tether their imagined gods. These objects activated the potential for sacrality inherent in household space and created the liminal space in which the divine could be contacted. The lived experience of these artifacts gave practitioners the opportunity to negotiate reality and make-believe, constructing a visual and physical connection between the mundane and divine worlds.
Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, 2022
The miniature altar forms a distinctive element of religious paraphernalia. Usually made from ter... more The miniature altar forms a distinctive element of religious paraphernalia. Usually made from terra-cotta, miniature altars are found across the Greek world. Scholars have argued that the tradition of these altars originated in Corinth. Over 100 miniature altars have been excavated in ancient Corinth from both public and private contexts, but they have received limited scholarly consideration. This paper presents the results of a new study of the Corinthian miniature altars, examined together as a corpus for the first time. Through an analysis of the spatial distribution of the altars across the site, one-third of the altars can be associated with the classical buildings under the South Stoa, which may have served both civic and domestic functions. I argue that these objects were engaged in sacred place-making within private spaces. This study recontextualizes the altars in their assemblages and suggests that their miniature scale distinguished them from other quotidian objects. Others have posited that miniaturization created a distance between the gods and humans and gave the object an aura of wonder. I suggest that the use of such an altar generated a liminal space for divine presence. As vehicles for offerings, miniature altars anchored the performance of ritual in physical space, temporarily creating a sacred space for the duration of the ritual. Furthermore, their portability allowed for a flexibility of votive practice that is consistent with the emphasis placed on spatial versatility in private architecture. Taken together, the use of these altars within these putative civic spaces challenges our conception of the boundaries between public and private religion. I argue that miniature altars, alongside other small objects such as miniature vessels and figurines, created a miniature divine landscape within the building. Their scale and portability made, in effect, the entire building a sacred place.
In Second Use: An Archaeological and Anthropological Survey of Recycling and Reuse in the Greek World, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, September 25-26, 2021
Classical Greek domestic ritual relied heavily on the use of multi-functional objects. The same c... more Classical Greek domestic ritual relied heavily on the use of multi-functional objects. The same cup could be used for drinking and to perform a libation; a louterion for daily bathing or ritual purification. These objects circulated throughout the house, oscillating fluidly between ritual and mundane functions. Most rituals in the house created a temporary sacred space, experienced only during the ritual performance. The ritual of egainio, however, permanently but invisibly affected the space of the household. This foundation ritual was performed during a building’s construction or renovation when numerous vessels were deposited along with sacrificial detritus in a pit next to a wall and then sometimes burned in situ before being buried underneath a new floor. These rituals resulted in the removal of these vessels from circulation within the household, the cups no longer used for drinking, the miniature vessels never to take part in another ritual. The Greek ritual has borne far less scrutiny than its Near Eastern counterpart, being the subject of only three dissertations within the past thirty years (Müller-Zeis 1994, Weikart 2002, Hunt 2006). Foundation rituals in a domestic context, where they are essential to understanding the full picture of domestic religion, are even more understudied, addressed mainly in archaeological reports (a notable exception is Rotroff 2013). This paper examines foundation deposits associated with houses in dialogue with their architectural environs to analyze the effect these deposits have on the formation and experience of domestic space. The burial of these foundation deposits permanently but invisibly altered the character of the household’s space, imbuing it with sacred significance while not impeding daily activities. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, 2021
The versatility of space was highly prized in Greek houses of the Classical period (Jameson). Fur... more The versatility of space was highly prized in Greek houses of the Classical period (Jameson). Furniture was movable, and domestic activities migrated to different parts of the house according to the seasons. Domestic rituals, too, were usually transitory. Ritual space in the house was defined by action, with small portable altars and vessels, rather than architecture (Morgan). However, a dozen houses from the late 5th and early 4th centuries B.C.E. have evidence for permanent built altars in their courtyards. This paper argues that these permanent altars had a definite social function beyond their role in the performance of domestic ritual. The built altar came at a cost to the flexibility of the courtyard space, possibly impairing the productive potential of the space and characterizing the space in a very permanent way as having a religious dimension. These altars are visually prominent, situated on important axes of movement and sight within the house between its entrance, the andron, and storage rooms. They also evoke monumental altars with carved pediments and molded bases, claiming religious authority through the quotation of public architecture. Based on literary evidence, the courtyard altar has been associated with Zeus Herkeios, “of the courtyard.” The worship of Zeus Herkeios is coupled with notions of security and family identity as well as civic identity. His rituals were part of ta hiera, the sacred things that were the duty and privilege of citizens. The built courtyard altar operated within a framework of display designed to communicate the homeowner’s social belonging in the polis, reminding the household and its guests of the family’s participation in ta hiera, the rituals critical to civic identity, in their home.
Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle South and West, 2021
Ranging in size between a coffee mug and a shoebox, the terracotta miniature altar forms a distin... more Ranging in size between a coffee mug and a shoebox, the terracotta miniature altar forms a distinctive element of religious paraphernalia, particularly in domestic contexts. Despite literary implications for the presence of built altars in household courtyards, such altars are rare in the archaeological record. In comparison, miniature altars are relatively common objects, having been excavated at several sites across the Greek world, and found in abundance at Ancient Corinth in both public and private contexts. The excavated areas of the city have produced a total of 112 examples, not including the bench altars of the stele shrines in the Potter’s Quarter (Williams 1981). However, these altars have received limited consideration in archaeological publications; Oscar Broneer devotes the most attention to the altars excavated before 1950 in two articles (Broneer 1947 and 1950), a few have been published in excavation volumes (Stillwell 1952 and Davidson 1952), and Charles Williams dedicates four ages to the altars in his report on the 1978 excavation season (Williams 1979). Corinth is an important locale for the study of miniature altars, not in small part because most found at the site were manufactured locally. Their appearance imitates monumental altar forms with architectural moldings; few have figural imagery, with the exception of several altars that bear a relief of a man riding a horse, apparently all from similar, if not the same, molds. A similar altar with a horse and rider in relief was found on the South Hill at Olynthus (Robinson 1931, no. 339, Pl. 33-34). The first aim of this paper is to establish a typology of miniature altars from Corinth and evaluate their connections to certain local cults as well as the production of altars from elsewhere in the Greek world.
Building on this typology, the second aim of this paper is to examine the role of
miniature altars in religious practice at Corinth, comparing the altars from contexts near the Temple of Apollo with those associated with Classical Buildings I-IV under the South Stoa in the area of the later Roman forum. Informed by recent studies of miniature vessels (ex. Pemberton 2020), this paper argues that miniature altars played a special role in domestic religious ritual. Their diminutive scale allowed for their users to move them about as needed, in accordance with the prevailing value placed on the flexibility of domestic space (Jameson 1990). In keeping with this flexibility, sacred space in the house, like the women’s quarters (the gynaikonitis), has been shown to be defined by behaviors rather than physical markers (Morgan 2007). Used for liquid, vegetal, and burnt offerings, the miniature altar served as an attention-focusing device for the behaviors involved in domestic ritual, providing a vehicle for the offering as well as acting as an aniconic sign for the divine. The altars are also often found in multiples along with other ritual paraphernalia. For instance, a sealed deposit of fourth century BCE domestic debris from Building IV contained seven miniature altars, an incense burner, and over seventy-three miniature vessels. By examining the find assemblages, imagery, and scale of these altars, a picture of domestic religion emerges that illuminates how ritual space was established materially within the house, leading to reconsiderations of how sacred space is defined both at home and in the Greek world at large.
CFP by Hannah Smagh
In recent years, the application of new theoretical approaches has reinvigorated the field of anc... more In recent years, the application of new theoretical approaches has reinvigorated the field of ancient Greek religion. Drawing from interdisciplinary developments in fields such as cognitive science, psychology, and anthropology and first applied in the study of Roman religion (ex. Rüpke 2016; Albrecht et al. 2018; Rüpke et al. 2020), these innovative approaches privilege the recovery of material, sensory, and embodied religious experiences in the ancient world and have enabled the reorientation of research agendas from the role of religion in society to the ways in which religion may have been experienced by an individual. While still acknowledging that major aspects of religious life in ancient Greece were structured by civic institutions, sanctuaries, and festivals (cf. Sourvinou-Inwood 1990; 2000; Parker 2011; Shear 2021), adopting a “lived religion” framework refocuses attention on the ways which individuals navigated religious experiences and beliefs in their everyday lives (cf. Kindt 2015, Larson 2016, Rask 2023). Through applying material evidence to reconstruct embodied sensory experiences, this approach makes it possible to consider how religious experiences factored into the lives of individuals in periods, regions, and social strata for which robust textual or historical evidence may be lacking.
In light of these developments, this panel seeks to explore modes of religious expression and experience in ancient Greece that existed beyond the parameters of communal, civic life, as well as the diverse ways in which these individual experiences and beliefs may have interfaced with overarching societal institutions and beliefs (e.g., “polis religion”). We invite papers of 15-20 minutes that address questions of this nature in the Greek world broadly defined in all periods between the Late Bronze Age and Late Antiquity (c. 600 CE) through the application of material, textual, and/or embodied evidence.
Areas of inquiry may include (but are not limited to):
• Votive dedications
• Domestic rituals
• “Magical,” “occult,” and “folk” practices
• Funerary rituals
• Tomb cults and ancestor worship
• Mystery cults
• Pilgrimages and/or oracular consultations
• Healing practices and medicine
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words (excluding bibliography) and should be submitted to organizers Hannah Smagh ([email protected]) and Sarah Norvell ([email protected]) by 3 March 2025. Please ensure that the subject of your email reads “AIA/SCS 2026: Greek Religion”. The text of your abstract should follow AIA guidelines, found at the following link: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/professionals/annual-meeting/call-for-papers/.
Please note that authors submitting abstracts must be AIA or SCS members in good standing and will need to register for the 2026 Annual Meeting. Accepted papers will be notified in early March, with enough time for those abstracts that are not included in the colloquium proposal to be submitted as individual abstracts for participation in either the AIA or SCS annual meetings. Should you have any questions, please contact the organizers.
Works Cited
Albrecht, J., C. Degelmann, V. Gasparini, R. Gordon, M. Patzelt, G. Petridou, R. Raja, et al. 2018. “Religion in the Making: The Lived Ancient Religion Approach.” Religion 48 (4):568–93.
Kindt, J. 2015. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” JHS 135:35–50.
Larson, J. 2016. Understanding Greek Religion: A Cognitive Approach. Understanding the ancient world. New York: Routledge.
Parker, R. 2011. On Greek Religion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Rask, K.A. 2023. Personal Experience and Materiality in Greek Religion. New York: Routledge.
Rüpke, J. 2016. On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome. London: Cornell University Press.
Rüpke, J., V. Gasparini, M. Patzelt, R. Raja, A.-K. Rieger, and E. Urciuoli, eds. 2020. Lived Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Erfurt: De Gruyter.
Shear, J.L. 2021. Serving Athena: The Festival of the Panathenaia and the Construction of Athenian Identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 1990. “What Is Polis Religion?” In The Greek City: From Homer to Alexander, edited by O. Murray and S.R.F. Price, 295–322. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 2000. “Further Aspects of Polis Religion.” In Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, edited by R. Buxton, 38–55. New York: Oxford University Press.
Seminar series by Hannah Smagh
In models of Greek religion, household religion has been described as polis religion in miniature... more In models of Greek religion, household religion has been described as polis religion in miniature or has had its existence disavowed altogether. Recently, these models have been critiqued for their failure to account for the agency of the household and the individual as well as religious activity that falls outside the purview of the polis, such as magic. In contrast with the picture painted by major models, household rituals were not simply civic rituals in miniature but addressed needs specific to the members of the oikos. These needs were also reflected in the nature of sacred spaces within the house. This talk explores the means by which domestic sacred spaces were constructed and how these spaces interfaced with the social relationships within the household and between the household and society.
I adopt a spatial approach to analyze the effects of portable objects, such as miniature altars and vessels, and architectural features, such as built altars, to study how the practice of religion affected the physical and social landscape of the household. Their miniature scale distinguished them from other quotidian objects, creating a distance between the gods and humans and imbuing the object with an aura of wonder. I argue that these objects were engaged in sacred place-making within private spaces, but in different ways. Rituals using portable altars generated a liminal space for divine presence and anchored the performance of ritual in physical space, temporarily creating a sacred space for the duration of the ritual. Their portability allowed for a flexibility of votive practice that is consistent with the emphasis placed on spatial versatility in private architecture. In contrast, the foundation ritual of egainio created a permanent ritual deposit within the fabric of the house. Their burial permanently but invisibly altered the character of the household’s space. They tied the worship of the gods to specific nodes within the architecture of the home, imbuing it with sacred significance while not impeding daily activities. Together, these objects activated the potential for sacrality inherent in household space and created the liminal space in which the divine could be contacted.
Alternatively, some houses in the archaeological record have evidence for built stone altars in their courtyards. I argue that that the monumentalization of a permanent ritual space was a method of social display, demonstrating the homeowner’s membership in the religious community of the polis. The lived experience of these spaces gave practitioners the opportunity to negotiate relationships among themselves, the gods, and society. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
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Papers by Hannah Smagh
the household’s space, imbuing it with sacred significance. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.
Book Reviews by Hannah Smagh
Conference Presentations by Hannah Smagh
Building on this typology, the second aim of this paper is to examine the role of
miniature altars in religious practice at Corinth, comparing the altars from contexts near the Temple of Apollo with those associated with Classical Buildings I-IV under the South Stoa in the area of the later Roman forum. Informed by recent studies of miniature vessels (ex. Pemberton 2020), this paper argues that miniature altars played a special role in domestic religious ritual. Their diminutive scale allowed for their users to move them about as needed, in accordance with the prevailing value placed on the flexibility of domestic space (Jameson 1990). In keeping with this flexibility, sacred space in the house, like the women’s quarters (the gynaikonitis), has been shown to be defined by behaviors rather than physical markers (Morgan 2007). Used for liquid, vegetal, and burnt offerings, the miniature altar served as an attention-focusing device for the behaviors involved in domestic ritual, providing a vehicle for the offering as well as acting as an aniconic sign for the divine. The altars are also often found in multiples along with other ritual paraphernalia. For instance, a sealed deposit of fourth century BCE domestic debris from Building IV contained seven miniature altars, an incense burner, and over seventy-three miniature vessels. By examining the find assemblages, imagery, and scale of these altars, a picture of domestic religion emerges that illuminates how ritual space was established materially within the house, leading to reconsiderations of how sacred space is defined both at home and in the Greek world at large.
CFP by Hannah Smagh
In light of these developments, this panel seeks to explore modes of religious expression and experience in ancient Greece that existed beyond the parameters of communal, civic life, as well as the diverse ways in which these individual experiences and beliefs may have interfaced with overarching societal institutions and beliefs (e.g., “polis religion”). We invite papers of 15-20 minutes that address questions of this nature in the Greek world broadly defined in all periods between the Late Bronze Age and Late Antiquity (c. 600 CE) through the application of material, textual, and/or embodied evidence.
Areas of inquiry may include (but are not limited to):
• Votive dedications
• Domestic rituals
• “Magical,” “occult,” and “folk” practices
• Funerary rituals
• Tomb cults and ancestor worship
• Mystery cults
• Pilgrimages and/or oracular consultations
• Healing practices and medicine
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words (excluding bibliography) and should be submitted to organizers Hannah Smagh ([email protected]) and Sarah Norvell ([email protected]) by 3 March 2025. Please ensure that the subject of your email reads “AIA/SCS 2026: Greek Religion”. The text of your abstract should follow AIA guidelines, found at the following link: https://www.archaeological.org/programs/professionals/annual-meeting/call-for-papers/.
Please note that authors submitting abstracts must be AIA or SCS members in good standing and will need to register for the 2026 Annual Meeting. Accepted papers will be notified in early March, with enough time for those abstracts that are not included in the colloquium proposal to be submitted as individual abstracts for participation in either the AIA or SCS annual meetings. Should you have any questions, please contact the organizers.
Works Cited
Albrecht, J., C. Degelmann, V. Gasparini, R. Gordon, M. Patzelt, G. Petridou, R. Raja, et al. 2018. “Religion in the Making: The Lived Ancient Religion Approach.” Religion 48 (4):568–93.
Kindt, J. 2015. “Personal Religion: A Productive Category for the Study of Ancient Greek Religion?” JHS 135:35–50.
Larson, J. 2016. Understanding Greek Religion: A Cognitive Approach. Understanding the ancient world. New York: Routledge.
Parker, R. 2011. On Greek Religion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Rask, K.A. 2023. Personal Experience and Materiality in Greek Religion. New York: Routledge.
Rüpke, J. 2016. On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome. London: Cornell University Press.
Rüpke, J., V. Gasparini, M. Patzelt, R. Raja, A.-K. Rieger, and E. Urciuoli, eds. 2020. Lived Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Erfurt: De Gruyter.
Shear, J.L. 2021. Serving Athena: The Festival of the Panathenaia and the Construction of Athenian Identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 1990. “What Is Polis Religion?” In The Greek City: From Homer to Alexander, edited by O. Murray and S.R.F. Price, 295–322. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 2000. “Further Aspects of Polis Religion.” In Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, edited by R. Buxton, 38–55. New York: Oxford University Press.
Seminar series by Hannah Smagh
I adopt a spatial approach to analyze the effects of portable objects, such as miniature altars and vessels, and architectural features, such as built altars, to study how the practice of religion affected the physical and social landscape of the household. Their miniature scale distinguished them from other quotidian objects, creating a distance between the gods and humans and imbuing the object with an aura of wonder. I argue that these objects were engaged in sacred place-making within private spaces, but in different ways. Rituals using portable altars generated a liminal space for divine presence and anchored the performance of ritual in physical space, temporarily creating a sacred space for the duration of the ritual. Their portability allowed for a flexibility of votive practice that is consistent with the emphasis placed on spatial versatility in private architecture. In contrast, the foundation ritual of egainio created a permanent ritual deposit within the fabric of the house. Their burial permanently but invisibly altered the character of the household’s space. They tied the worship of the gods to specific nodes within the architecture of the home, imbuing it with sacred significance while not impeding daily activities. Together, these objects activated the potential for sacrality inherent in household space and created the liminal space in which the divine could be contacted.
Alternatively, some houses in the archaeological record have evidence for built stone altars in their courtyards. I argue that that the monumentalization of a permanent ritual space was a method of social display, demonstrating the homeowner’s membership in the religious community of the polis. The lived experience of these spaces gave practitioners the opportunity to negotiate relationships among themselves, the gods, and society. These practices blurred the boundaries of sacred and profane within the house, encouraging a reevaluation of the terms as they apply to the Greek house and sacred space in the Greek world writ large.