Housing the Chosen: The Architectural Context of Mystery Groups and Religious Associations in the Ancient World by Inge Nielsen (review)

In this ambitious study, Inge Nielsen aims to collect together and analyze architectural settings used by “mystery groups” and other “religious associations” across the Mediterranean, including Jewish and Christian groups. The materials discussed range across the geographical span from Mesopotamia to Italy and cover a long period from the 8th century b.c.e. to the fourth century c.e. The strength of this work lies in its comparative approach and in the gathering of disparate archaeological materials, particularly for the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Yet such a wide-sweeping aim also results in some difficulties in terms of the depth of analysis of particular materials, and there are times when the specifics of certain groups devoted to this or that deity are somewhat obscured by broad generalizations. Nielsen’s lack of theoretical rigor in defining concepts such as “religion” and “religious associations” (despite the centrality of such concepts to the argument) and in explaining why she focusses only on certain groups engaged in “mysteries,” however, results in some arbitrary exclusions. The Ostian meeting-places of occupational guilds with patron deities (with the exception of those from Phoenicia) get left out of the picture entirely, for instance. These, too, might be considered “religious associations” if one prefers to use such etic terms.

Part One surveys the excavated remains of buildings that were (or may have been) used by groups engaged in mysteries and the worship of foreign deities. As a prelude to the focus on the Hellenistic and Roman eras, Nielsen begins by surveying earlier evidence for banqueting and for group rituals in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece and Italy (Chapters One and Two). This architectural discussion lays the groundwork for the main focus on banqueting and assembly rooms both within “public” sanctuaries (Chapter Three) and outside sanctuaries in what Nielsen considers “private” settings (Chapter Four). Unfortunately, Nielsen never clearly identifies the criteria by which she distinguishes “public” from “private” facilities, and the lines seem somewhat arbitrary at times. The value in these two chapters lies in Nielsen’s gathering together evidence for the buildings themselves and in her succinct descriptions of the architectural features, highlighting banqueting facilities.

However, Chapters Three and Four do suffer from a lack of methodological care in that, in the arrangement of the discussion, Nielsen does not carefully distinguish between cases in which we have epigraphic evidence that an ongoing association actually did gather in the described buildings (e.g. when inscriptions clearly indicate this) and cases in which it is merely a possibility that associations were involved (the majority of cases discussed, in fact). In this respect, it might have been better to attempt a discussion of banqueting facilities used by worshippers more generally, rather than claiming to focus on the lives of relatively structured associations specifically. Alternatively, Nielsen could have begun with only those buildings where inscriptions confirm use by associations before moving on to more ambiguous cases. Still, it is commendable that Nielsen takes an overall comparative approach in terms of her architectural analysis, and so both ancient synagogues and churches are included in these chapters alongside buildings for Dionysos, Isis, Cybele, Mithras, and other deities with mysteries.

In Part Two, Nielsen turns to a description of the rituals that took place within such buildings, including the mysteries of Demeter, the Samothracian deities, the Kabeiroi, Dionysos, Isis, Cybele and Mithras (Chapter Five) and the banquets of other associations of Phoenicians, Judeans and Christians (Chapter Six). These chapters helpfully introduce various aspects of the mysteries, but there could have been more connections made with Parts One and Three by explaining, for instance, how these rituals might function within the actual architectural space of the buildings themselves. Considering Nielsen’s primary focus on what she calls “mystery groups,” a more theoretical discussion of what is meant by the term would have helped, as well. In particular...