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Welfare and Hosting buildings in the “Holy Land” between the 4th and the 7th c. AD

Project description

On the footsteps of ancient welfare

Written sources from late antiquity (between the 4th and 7th centuries) reveal the existence of many welfare buildings, especially in the countryside of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Located in and around cities and along the roads, they were funded by the Church, an emperor or rich believers with the hope of redeeming their sins by serving the poor, elderly or travellers. Until today, however, little is known about these buildings and their significance. The EU-funded HOLYHOST project will conduct a diachronic, interdisciplinary and multi-perspective study on the important phenomena of welfare, hospitality, attitude towards poverty and social exclusion. It will address the welfare issue through the archaeological and architectural survey and study of ancient welfare and hosting establishments’ remains, in the Holy Land (Jordan and Palestine) and surrounding areas.

Objective

Between the 4th and the 7th century AD, many hospices dedicated to the poor, elderly, strangers and travelers were built in the countryside, along roads, around and inside cities. They were commissioned by the Church, rich pious men and women concerned by the redeem of their sins, as well as emperors who saw this as a guarantee of social stability. Welfare is thus an important phenomena of Late Antiquity, abundantly mentioned by ancient literary sources and inscriptions, particularly in the eastern part of the Empire. However, the buildings that provided shelter and care to the needy have not yet received sufficient attention from archaeologists. Except for buildings which were identified by their inventors as hostels dedicated to pilgrims, they are still invisible in the field.
The aim of the HOLYHOST research project is to bring this social history’s main topic on the field of archaeology. It will address the welfare issue through the archaeological and architectural survey and study of Ancient welfare and hosting establishments’ remains, in the Holy Land (Palestine and Jordan) and around. This work will contribute to a better understanding of the practices linked to hospitality, welfare, accommodation and care in Antiquity. Moreover, such establishments served as models for medieval and modern Islamic, Jewish and Christian waqf institutions (religious endowment), and welfare continues to be highly relevant nowadays, through issues still at the heart of contemporary challenges debated in Europe: poverty, social exclusion, migrant crisis, principle of reception and hospitality. This interdisciplinary and diachronic research project will thus offer many new research perspectives, in terms of history of architecture, evolution of care practices, social and political regulations.

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Topic(s)

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITE PARIS I PANTHEON-SORBONNE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 196 707,84
Address
Place du Pantheon 12
75231 Paris
France

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 196 707,84
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