Wojciech Jan Mazur
Experiences of Worshipping in the Greek Temples of the Egyptian Gods.
Biography
I completed my MA in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter (2023).
My PhD thesis ‘Experiences of Worshipping in the Greek Temples of the Egyptian Gods’ will explain why Greeks adopted the worship of Isis, Serapis, Harpokrates (the Hellenised Horus) and Anubis in the Hellenistic and Roman periods through reconstructing the experiences of temples space at the sanctuaries of Serapis in Alexandria, Delos and Marathon, the sanctuaries of Isis at Kenchreai (Corinth), Dion (Macedonia), Eretria (Euboea) and Gortyn (Crete) and the religious rituals that were performed there. Also, my thesis will address how Isis, Serapis and the associated Egyptian gods fitted into local pantheons in those places. From a local perspective, I will investigate the extent to which the Egyptian gods were Hellenised and whether they remained meaningfully Egyptian in the process.
My supervisors are Dr Marina Escolano Poveda, Dr Georgia Petridou and Dr Matthew Fitzjohn.
Research Interests
I am particularly interested in the lived experiences of ancient Greek religion and its sacred spaces; Graeco-Egyptian cultural and religious interactions; ancient mystery cults; research that bridges the gap between the study of material culture, literature and papyri; study of emotions in classical civilisation.