Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the
spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean
Sea

J 2018

Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea

GLOMB, Tomáš, Adam MERTEL, Zdeněk POSPÍŠIL, Zdeněk STACHOŇ, Aleš CHALUPA et. al.

Basic information

Original name

Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea

Authors

GLOMB, Tomáš (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Adam MERTEL (703 Slovakia, belonging to the institution), Zdeněk POSPÍŠIL (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Zdeněk STACHOŇ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Aleš CHALUPA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

PLOS ONE, 2018, 1932-6203

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

United States of America

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL

Impact factor

Impact factor: 2.776

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/18:00102601

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193786

UT WoS

000427931600035

Keywords in English

Isiac cults; Egyptian cults; Ancient Mediterranean; Ancient Aegean Sea; Ptolemaic Egypt; Network analysis; Geospatial Analysis; Mathematical modeling

Abstract

V originále

Early in the Ptolemaic era, Egyptian cults, particularly those of Isis and Sarapis, spread successfully to ports across the ancient Aegean Sea. Leading researchers in the field claim that the spread of these cults was influenced by multiple factors, ones that were mainly economic or political in character. However, the question of which factors had more weight or impact than others in the process of the early spread of Egyptian cults has not yet been answered in academic discussion. This could be related to the fact that the issue of the spread of religious innovations in the ancient Mediterranean has been addressed mainly by established historiographical methods such as the collection and critical analysis of archaeological and literary sources. Hypotheses and conclusions derived from these methods are, however, often unable to reflect the complexity of historical processes. A possible solution can be found in supplementing this established methodological apparatus by formalized methods, e.g. the coding of relevant datasets, statistics, geospatial modeling, and network analysis. To be able to compare the possible impacts of different factors on the spread of Egyptian cults in the Aegean Sea region, we 1) constructed a model of the ancient maritime transportation network as a platform for quantitative analysis, 2) transformed selected factors of possible influence into georeferenced parameters of the network, and 3) defined a mathematical model that allowed us to determine which parameters of the network explain the spatial dissemination of archaeological evidence connected to Egyptian cults. The results suggest that the most significant correlation is between the placement of Ptolemaic garrisons and the distribution of Egyptian temples and artefacts in the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea region. The interpretation would be that Egyptian military forces potentially played a significant role in the spread of Egyptian cults.

Links

MUNI/M/1867/2014, interní kód MU

Name: Generativní historiografie antického Středomoří: Modelování a simulace dynamiky šíření náboženských představ a forem chování (Acronym: GEHIR)

Investor: Masaryk University, INTERDISCIPLINARY - Interdisciplinary research projects

Citovat

GLOMB, Tomáš, Adam MERTEL, Zdeněk POSPÍŠIL, Zdeněk STACHOŇ and Aleš CHALUPA. Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea. PLOS ONE. 2018, vol. 13, No 3, p. 1-18. ISSN 1932-6203. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193786.

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   author = {Glomb, Tomáš and Mertel, Adam and Pospíšil, Zdeněk and Stachoň, Zdeněk and Chalupa, Aleš},
   article_number = {3},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193786},
   keywords = {Isiac cults; Egyptian cults; Ancient Mediterranean; Ancient Aegean Sea; Ptolemaic Egypt; Network analysis; Geospatial Analysis; Mathematical modeling},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1932-6203},
   journal = {PLOS ONE},
   title = {Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea},
   url = {http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193786},
   volume = {13},
   year = {2018}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1414486
AU  - Glomb, Tomáš - Mertel, Adam - Pospíšil, Zdeněk - Stachoň, Zdeněk - Chalupa, Aleš
PY  - 2018
TI  - Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea
JF  - PLOS ONE
VL  - 13
IS  - 3
SP  - 1-18
EP  - 1-18
SN  - 19326203
KW  - Isiac cults
KW  - Egyptian cults
KW  - Ancient Mediterranean
KW  - Ancient Aegean Sea
KW  - Ptolemaic Egypt
KW  - Network analysis
KW  - Geospatial Analysis
KW  - Mathematical modeling
UR  - http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193786
L2  - http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193786
N2  - Early in the Ptolemaic era, Egyptian cults, particularly those of Isis and Sarapis, spread successfully to ports across the ancient Aegean Sea. Leading researchers in the field claim that the spread of these cults was influenced by multiple factors, ones that were mainly economic or political in character. However, the question of which factors had more weight or impact than others in the process of the early spread of Egyptian cults has not yet been answered in academic discussion. This could be related to the fact that the issue of the spread of religious innovations in the ancient Mediterranean has been addressed mainly by established historiographical methods such as the collection and critical analysis of archaeological and literary sources. Hypotheses and conclusions derived from these methods are, however, often unable to reflect the complexity of historical processes. A possible solution can be found in supplementing this established methodological apparatus by formalized methods, e.g. the coding of relevant datasets, statistics, geospatial modeling, and network analysis. To be able to compare the possible impacts of different factors on the spread of Egyptian cults in the Aegean Sea region, we 1) constructed a model of the ancient maritime transportation network as a platform for quantitative analysis, 2) transformed selected factors of possible influence into georeferenced parameters of the network, and 3) defined a mathematical model that allowed us to determine which parameters of the network explain the spatial dissemination of archaeological evidence connected to Egyptian cults. The results suggest that the most significant correlation is between the placement of Ptolemaic garrisons and the distribution of Egyptian temples and artefacts in the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea region. The interpretation would be that Egyptian military forces potentially played a significant role in the spread of Egyptian cults.
ER  -

GLOMB, Tomáš, Adam MERTEL, Zdeněk POSPÍŠIL, Zdeněk STACHOŇ and Aleš CHALUPA. Ptolemaic military operations were a dominant factor in the spread of Egyptian cults across the early Hellenistic Aegean Sea. \textit{PLOS ONE}. 2018, vol.~13, No~3, p.~1-18. ISSN~1932-6203. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193786.

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