Space and knowledge
Topoi – The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations
In this Cluster, experts from archaeology, history,
philology, theology and philosophy, among other
disciplines, are investigating the systematic contexts
of space and knowledge in the civilisations of
the Near and Middle East, and the Mediterranean
and Black Sea region over a time span ranging from
6000 BC to 500 AD.
Topoi is divided into five core research areas that
interpret the term “space” very broadly indeed. It
extends from internal spaces in people to politicalsocial
and imaginary spaces in epics to the consideration
of cosmic spaces. Antiquity is of particular
interest because this is when the fundamental techniques
were developed as an answer to changes of
space. Examples include the invention of the wheel
and the development of new settlement areas in
response to natural disasters.
The participating institutions include:
* Freie Universität Berlin (host institution)
* Humboldt University Berlin (host institution)
* Berlin Institute of Technologie
* FHTW Berlin - University of Applied Sciences
* Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and
Humanities
* German Archaeological Institute, Berlin
* Leibniz Institute for Applied Geosciences,
Hannover
* Max Planck Institute for the History of Science,
Berlin
* The State Museums of Berlin – Prussian Cultural
Heritage Foundation
* State Library, Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin



