Abstract

Today, we expect that cities are secular. Yet in the premodern world, cities had a profoundly religious core, from the ziggurats at the center of Mesopotamian cities to the pyramids at the heart of ancient Mexican urban centers to the cathedrals that graced medieval European cities. The ritual architecture of cities was much larger and more impressive than any of the prior expressions of faith – like Stonehenge – that had previously been established only in the countryside and that were the scenes of seasonal pilgrimage. In cities, elaborate ritual architecture was a permanent focus of attention as an anchor of neighborhoods, and those structures were built and maintained at a time when cities were also demanding more labor investment in secular architecture such as ports and jetties, the infrastructure of formal streets and drains, and buildings ranging from courts of justice to entertainment venues such as stadiums, theaters and marketplaces. From the perspective of the ordinary person, the concept of ritual could be integrated into daily life in two ways: through the creation of communities that could sustain themselves in distinct religion-based neighborhoods, and through the development of secular habits that constituted new forms of “ritual” and social interaction.