Organisation of Coexistence
The study of social organisation (i.e. forms of coexistence) in ancient societies necessarily involves the examination of laws, norms, or other regulating structures (cf. the Constructions of Norms group above). The analytical scope must, however, be extended to include such phenomena as rituals, sacred and political rules, aesthetic categories, and even forms of settlements (in which public, semi-public, and private spaces are demarcated and defined by the infrastructure of the settlement, building types, etc.). Studying the world of gods as a mirror of human society leads to a better understanding of cohabitation in ancient times. Additionally, the way(s) in which a given society discussed and reflected upon forms of coexistence (e.g. in philosophical, historical, literary, religious, legal texts and discourses) as well as the underlying historical processes must also be handled as important components of this study.
In addition to the above-mentioned subjects, the historical dynamics and worldviews which underpin them are also to be examined. Of particular interest are the impacts of different developments of community-building decisively influenced by migration out of religious and economical reasons or military conquest. Furthermore, aspects of acculturation and institutionalisation of community tasks, as well as the codification or the questioning of sacred orders concerning community coexistence shall be considered. The group’s self-awareness and its interaction with concurring communities that share a common ideology and physical landscape is important for this purpose.
An analysis of social organisation must also take into account the deconstruction or destruction of the organisation. This can include interpreting the physical destruction of objects (e.g. an ‘archaeology of destruction’) as well as the place of destruction and deconstruction in the cultural imagination (e.g. in myth and ritual, literary texts, etc.).
This focus area is particularly benefited by the location of the Graduate School in Munich, where the archaeological and historical study of ancient urban culture has a strong local tradition, as represented by such organisations as Die Kommission für die Erforschung des antiken Städtewesens at the BAdW, and the DAI clusters Lebensrealtität in der Spätantike and Innovationen (in which the Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik also takes part). These organisations and institutions foster inter alia research on urban spaces, ‘townscapes’, settlement forms, and their relation to community organisation, all of which are central to this focus group – and to ancient studies as a whole. This focus group has a unique potential for constructively combining historical and archaeological approaches and complementing them with philological and philosophical perspectives. Such a combination allows the logic of specific cultures and cultural aspects to be understood in relation to each other and to other cultures, and dissertation topics in this group might include (but are by no means limited to) innovation and revolution, or change and consistency in the organisation of coexistence.
For instance, it is particularly worthwhile to examine various ancient cities by analysing written documents concerning the organisation of labour and production in tandem with an investigation of their archaeological features and the city surroundings. The results could then be compared with studies of other cities, which would ultimately open new possibilities for understanding early ancient Near Eastern or Egyptian cities’ and how they are to be distinguished from both pre-historical settlements, as well as cities of classical antiquity.