“Material Religion” in Private Contexts: Objects, Spaces, and Practices of Private Worship in Greece from the Classical to the Roman Era

International Workshop

2026-02-24

All welcome to the workshop 

“Material Religion” in Private Contexts:
Objects, Spaces, and Practices of Private Worship in Greece from the Classical to the Roman Era.

The workshop takes place on Monday, 16 and Tuesday, 17 March, 2026, in a hy­brid for­mat with live pres­ence at the Swedish In­sti­tute at Athens, Mit­seon 9, and on­line via Zoom.

It is co-organized by Hannah Smagh (Pennsylvania State University) and Beatriz Pañeda Murcia (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia).

Funding Entity: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Program

Monday, 16 March 2026

09:00 – 09:30
Reception

09:30 – 10:00 
Introduction
Hannah Smagh & Beatriz Pañeda Murcia

10:00 – 10:40
From Courtyard to Corner: Ritual Spaces and the Materiality of Greek Domestic Religion
Hannah Smagh, The Pennsylvania State University

10:40 – 11:20
Terracottas from the Archaic-Classical Settlement at Philia and the Use of Terracottas in Household Shrines in Ancient Thessaly
Stelios Ieremias, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture

11:20 – 11:40
Coffee break

11:40 – 12:20
Terracottas in the Neighborhood: Interactions at Classical Corinthian Shrines
Theodora Kopestonsky, University of Tennessee Knoxville

12:20 – 13:00
Domestic Religion, Migration, and Home-Making in Hellenistic Corinth
Beatriz Pañeda Murcia, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

13:00 – 14:45
Lunch

14:45 – 15:25
Glocalizing Domestic “Magic”: Individual, Household, and Empire in an Amulet from Roman Dion
Caitlín E. Barrett, Cornell University

15:25 – 16:05
“Mysterization” in Roman Cyrene and Crete: A Mode of Religious Competition in Private Contexts
Pablo Rodríguez Valdés, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

16:05 – 16:45
General discussion

17:00 – 18:30
Glass offered for speakers and audience at the SIA

20:00
Dinner for speakers

Tuesday, 17 March 2026

09:30 – 10:10
Greek Religious Texts and How to Use Them
Katie Rask, The Ohio State University

10:10 – 10:50
Beyond Lead: The Materiality of Language in Classical Sicilian Curse Tablets
Sofia Bianchi Mancini, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt

10:50 – 11:10
Coffee break

11:10 – 11:50
Moulding Religion in Private Spaces. An Attempt of Reassessing the Function of the Impressed Terracotta Discs from Magna Graecia
Ginevra Benedetti, Università degli Studi di Siena
Davide Caruso, Scuola Archeologica Italiana Atene
Valentino Gasparini, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

11:50 – 12:30
General discussion

12:30 – 13:00
Conclusions
Jenny Wallensten, Director of the Swedish Institute at Athens

13:00
Lunch

15:00
Visit to the Acropolis Museum

Warmly welcome!

Attached files: Poster, Program

Sign up to participate

Printed: 2026-02-24
From the web page: Swedish Institute at Athens
https://www.sia.gr/en/sx_PrintPage.php?export=print&tid=1267