This conference is the latest in a series dedicated to the study of the so-called Oriental cults – religious traditions of Egyptian, Anatolian, Syrian, and Iranian origin – in the Danubian and Balkan provinces during the Roman imperial period (Skopje 2013; Zagreb/Ptuj 2022).

Building on these foundations, the 2026 conference brings together archaeologists, historians, and specialists in ancient religion to examine how these cults were transmitted, adopted, and reshaped across diverse communities between the Danube and the Adriatic. Rather than viewing them as fixed or uniform phenomena, the conference approaches them as dynamic traditions whose meanings, practices, and material expressions were continuously negotiated through interaction with local cultural, social, and political contexts.

Drawing on case studies ranging from new archaeological discoveries and fresh methodological approaches to broader comparative perspectives, participants will address a range of questions: Why did certain cults flourish in some provinces while leaving little or no trace in others? How were global religious traditions reshaped to reflect local needs, identities, and practices? And what can the material remains of sanctuaries and votive objects reveal about the communities that adopted and sustained them?

Veranstalter
Nirvana Silnović (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Eduard Pollhammer (Office of the Lower Austrian Provincial Government, Department of Art and Culture, Archaeological Park Carnuntum)
Inga Vilogorac Brčić (Department of History, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb)
Aleksandra Nikoloska (Research Centre for Cultural Heritage “Cvetan Grozdanov,” Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts)