About this book:

*Mapping the Divine: Sacred Spaces and the Global History of Religion* explores the evolution of spiritual landscapes from prehistoric caves to the digital age. The book argues that sacred sites—including temples, cathedrals, mosques, and groves—are not merely passive backdrops for ritual but active "spatial practices" that organize labor, authorize political power, and facilitate economic exchange. By treating buildings as "arguments in stone," the text traces how humanity has transitioned from recognizing holiness in natural features like mountains and springs to constructing monumental "temple-states" in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and eventually to the integrated civic sanctuaries of the Greek *polis* and the sprawling imperial cults of Rome and Mauryan India.

The narrative follows the development of major world religions through their architectural footprints, such as the spread of Buddhist monastic networks and stupas, the emergence of the mosque as a focal point for Islamic urbanism and trade, and the transformation of the Christian basilica into the soaring Gothic cathedrals of medieval Europe. The book also examines the "monastery as a machine," highlighting how these self-sustaining enclaves drove agricultural innovation and early finance. It moves beyond the Western canon to explore the sacred kingship of the Niger and Kongo kingdoms and the "sea roads" and stone *marae* of Polynesian navigators, illustrating how different cultures map their cosmologies onto their unique environments.

A significant portion of the work addresses the disruptions and adaptations of sacred space caused by global movements. It analyzes the "colonial grid" imposed during eras of conquest, the resilient "portable sanctuaries" of the Jewish diaspora, and the impact of the Industrial Revolution on urban devotions. The book details how pilgrimage routes like the Camino de Santiago and the Hajj created vast international economies, and how modern nation-states have repurposed ancient religious heritage as secular symbols of national identity. Throughout these transitions, the text emphasizes the sensory nature of worship, where sound, smell, and spectacle animate the built environment.

In its concluding chapters, the book examines the contemporary "mapping of the divine" through the lenses of migration and technology. It describes how diaspora communities re-establish spiritual anchors in foreign suburbs through transnational shrines, maintaining ties to their homelands via remittances and digital media. Finally, it explores the frontier of "digital pilgrimage," where virtual reality, live-streaming, and social media create new, fluid interfaces for religious experience. Ultimately, the book reveals that while the forms of sacred space change—from megalithic routes to satellite-linked screens—the human impulse to ground the transcendent in specific places remains a fundamental driver of global history.

What You'll Find Inside:

• Sacred spaces are dynamic spatial practices that shape belief, power, and community organization from prehistoric caves to digital pilgrimage.
• Temples, churches, mosques, and shrines functioned as economic and political centers, integrating ritual with trade, labor, and state authority.
• Landscapes of devotion are continually reshaped through conversion, syncretism, pilgrimage, and reform, leaving palimpsests of multiple traditions.
• The materiality of sacred sites—orientation, architecture, sensory experience—encodes cosmologies, social hierarchies, and ritual technology.
• Mapping the divine reveals networks of exchange: pilgrimage roads, trade routes, monastic networks, and digital infrastructures connect local devotion to global systems.

Who's It For:

This book is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in religious studies, anthropology, history, architecture, and geography, as well as scholars interested in the spatial dimensions of culture and power. It will also appeal to heritage professionals, urban planners, and general readers seeking a richly illustrated, comparative understanding of how sacred places have shaped human societies across time and space.