Imperial Religious Politics in the Ancient Near East

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In-Person

Date: February25,2026

Location: ISAW Lecture Hall, United States

What kind of socio-political and economic changes had to occur to uproot millennia-old structures of control of religious practice by political centers and local priestly elites? What does the loss of indigenous rulership in the wake of Persian and Hellenistic-Roman conquests mean for the social and religious life of the individual in ancient Mesopotamia? What was the “social and religious capital” of early Christianity, for instance, that even family structures could break apart due to the individual’s choice to follow the claim for exclusive devotion and adherence to one God only?

Participants & Organizers

Institute for the Study of the Ancient World(Host, Organizer)

<a href="https://isaw.nyu.edu/events/etaw-broken-pots" class="small text-muted">https://isaw.nyu.edu/events/etaw-broken-pots</a>

ISAW is a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education, which aims to encourage particularly the study of the economic, religious, political and cultural connections between ancient civilizations. It offers both doctoral and postdoctoral programs, with the aim of training a new generation of scholars who will enter the global academic community and become intellectual leaders.