Studying the Shared Sacred Spaces of the Medieval Levant: Where Historians May Meet Anthropologists

A study of medieval cases of bi- or tri-confessional worship of the same site, bolstered by insights from anthropological observations of such present-day worship, leads to the conclusion that the term shared sacred spaces does not do justice to the phenomena under consideration. They are more adequately described by such terms as convergence, cohabitation, contested sacred place, interfaith crossover. Future studies would benefit from the evolution of an analytical vocabulary consisting of components such as: the confessional ownership of the sacred space; the religious reasons for its veneration; the direction of interfaith crossovers; the nature of the act performed by adherents of different religions; the social standing and motivation of these adherents; the existence of a developmental trajectory.

Automated summary

The study suggests that the term shared sacred spaces does not accurately describe the phenomenon of medieval bi- or tri-confessional worship, and offers alternative terms like convergence, cohabitation, contested sacred place, interfaith crossover. Future studies could benefit from analyzing components such as confessional ownership of sacred space, religious reasons for its veneration, nature of interfaith crossovers, actions performed by adherents of different religions, social standing and motivation of adherents, and developmental trajectory.