In this volume, scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and late antique religion demonstrate how special attention to the ritual and rhetorical functions of space can improve modern interpretations of ancient literary, liturgical, and ritual texts. Each chapter is concerned with reconstructing the dynamic interaction between space and text. Demonstrating the pliability of the idea of space, the contributions span from Second Temple debates over Eden to Byzantine Christian hymnography. In so doing, they offer a number of answers to the seemingly simple question: What difference does space make for how modern scholars interpret ancient texts?

Contributors:Mika Ahuvia, David Frankfurter, Gil P. Klein, Alexander Kocar, Derek Krueger, AnneMarie Luijendijk, Ophir Munz-Manor, Rachel Neis, Eshbal Ratzon.