The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations

Two universities, four non-university research institutions in Berlin, one project: The excellence cluster entitled “Topoi – The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations” pools the strengths present in Berlin in the study of the ancient world.

The researchers within the cluster are studying the systematic connection between space and knowledge structures in the cultures of the Near East and Mediterranean, from early civilizations to late antiquity and the early medieval period. The topics addressed range from the reconstruction of ancient landscapes through archaeology and earth sciences to the organization of spaces within a historical perspective and describing them with images and text and beyond, to the scientific construction of spaces within ancient philosophy and mathematics.

The proposal, which was submitted jointly by Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is the product of cooperation among all of the institutions in Berlin that study antiquity: There is no other city in Germany where the cultures of the ancient world are as big a presence as they are in Berlin. Museum Island is home to the Pergamon Altar and the Babylonian Ishtar Gate with its reconstructed Processional Way, along with a number of other celebrated monuments. Berlin is also home to the headquarters of the German Archaeological Institute, which engages in research and excavations and provides funding for archaeological work in the countries of the ancient world. Scholars at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie (Academy of Sciences of the States of Berlin and Brandenburg) edit ancient inscriptions and texts and interpret them from various perspectives. The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science studies knowledge systems used in the ancient world. And last but not least, Berlin is also a hub of university teaching and research on the cultures of the ancient world: Together, Freie Universität and Humboldt-Universität offer an unmatched breadth of disciplines having to do with the cultures of the ancient world, including Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, various fields of archaeology, classical languages and literatures, history, and philosophy. These areas of focus and strength in research activities and the capital invested toward research have now been pooled within this excellence cluster.

Further information:

TOPOI