La venerazione di Giobbe come santo rimonta ai primi secoli dell’era cristiana, quando il personaggio veterotestamentario venne “consacrato” come exemplum patientiae, figura Christi, modello di santità per il cristiano. Il percorso cultuale di Giobbe, tuttavia, registra ulteriori sviluppi dal Medioevo fino al XX secolo, soprattutto – ma non solo – in ambito mitteleuropeo. Numerose testimonianze letterarie, iconografiche e monumentali mostrano come egli sia stato considerato patrono, fra l’altro, dei malati di lebbra e/o di sifilide, dei coltivatori di bachi da seta e dei musicisti. Se l’origine di alcuni di questi patronati è chiaramente rintracciabile nella storia biblica di Giobbe, in altri casi occorre richiamarsi alla letteratura apocrifa e alle tradizioni popolari.

This article starts evaluating the complexity of the Book Job and the various traditions related to it. The main focus is, however, on Job’s illness, which is first of all analyzed taking into account the biblical narrative. Secondly, from an hagiographic point of view, Job’s patronate of people affected by leprosy and syphilis is presented. Last but not least, some contemporary medical aknowledgements are discussed, such as the so-called “Job’s syndrome” or the conception of a “Job’s stygma” with reference to people enduring an experience of chronic pain.

This book intends to review the well-known topos of the patient Job. To achieve this goal, many aspects are explored, such as the Bible and apocryphal texts, ancient Christian commentaries, Jewish and Arabic traditions, medieval literature, iconography. The long redactional history of the book of Job is taken into consideration (Hebrew text, Greek Septuaginta version, Vulgata); the apochryphal Testamentum Iobi, a kind of midrashic text, is also studied. Ancient Christian exegesis is extensively considered, due to the fact that it played an important role in the diffusion of the topos of the patient Job. Rabbinical and Arabic texts are also taken into account, as well as medieval hagiographic tales and sacred dramas. An important section is devoted to the ancient Christian and medieval iconography of Job. While it is noteworthy to perceive the difference between the development of the character of Job and the various readings of the biblical narrative, it is also relevant to recognize the existence of a dialectical relationsihip concerning biblical themes between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Taking into account literature, iconography, hagiography and oral traditions related to Job in Late Antiquity and Middle Ages, we are allowed to speak about an extensive influence of a “biblical culture” rather than a “biblical source” stricto sensu. From this point of view, cultural crossings and contaminations between Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions appear to be really significant.

Il lavoro esamina alcune fasi della riflessione sul "corpo di Giobbe" (prima malato, poi guarito) nelle tradizioni antiche, non solo cristiane. Vengono presi in considerazione le diverse versioni del libro biblico, racconti di matrice giudaico-cristiana, araba o arabo-islamica, testi patristici. Incrociando le testimonianze rivenienti da fonti testuali e da indagini archeologiche ed etnografiche si risale all'esistenza in ambiente vicino-orientale, a partire dal IV secolo, di santuari e di pellegrinaggi collegati con la figura di Giobbe: luoghi di culto "giobbici" caratterizzati in genere da una significativa valenza terapeutica. Il personaggio biblico in questione infatti, come si evidenzia nella sezione finale dell'articolo, è stato inequivocabilmente associato nel tempo - e fino a oggi - all'idea malattia, al tema della stigmatizzazione, al concetto di liminarità.

In the Sanctuary of Saints Cosmas and Damian two wooden stautes are venerated, dating back to the 17th Century. The devotion of the twin physicians, coming from the East, arrived in Italy in the 6th Century with the Basilian monks. It is possible to connect the veneration for Cosmas and Damian in Massafra (like elsewhere) with an ancient devotion for the two Dioscures Castor and Pollux. Very interesting, from a ritual perspective, is the “Scamisciata” parade, which takes place on the 27th of September.

The Sanctuary of Saint Albertus is to be identified with the archeological ruins related to the cathedral of the ancient diocesis of Montecorvino (11th-15th Cent.). The venerated objects are some relics and a wooden statue, which are preserved in the village of Pietramontecorvino, 7 km far from the archeologial site of Montecorvino. On the 16th of May an annual pilgrimage takes place from Pietramontecorvino to the ancient cathedral, where the statue of St. Albertus is transferred by the pilgrims. A typical feature of the procession is the fact that several 20m long trunks (called “palii”) are carried along the whole route, each sustained by seven young men. The trunks are dressed with multicolored handkerchiefs donated by the women of the village.

L’articolo presenta i principali temi e problemi connessi alla Expositio super Iob ad litteram di Tommaso d’Aquino. Viene quindi indagato l’utilizzo nell’opera delle informazioni di carattere lato sensu scientifico, con particolare riguardo ai capp. 40-41 del libro di Giobbe: la sezione in cui YHWH, nel corso della sua maestosa epifania, evoca – fra gli altri animali – la figura del Leviathan. Dopo aver osservato che solo a questo punto Tommaso avverte l’esigenza di aggiungere l’auctoritas di Plinio Seniore a quella degli altri enciclopedisti antichi, tardoantichi e medievali a lui più familiari (onde costruire un discorso teologico sul diavolo, ipostatizzato dal Leviathan), l’autrice indaga il significato e le implicazioni di tale scelta dell’Aquinate.

The ancient sanctuary of St. Stephan is to be identified with some archeological ruins in the area of Fondo Giuliano, 2 km North from Vaste, in the territory of Poggiardo (Lecce). The archeological diggings started in 1980 in the area, where a little rocky church existed, dating back to the 11th Century. The church was entitled to “Saints Stephans”, owing to the presence of at least three frescoes (13th-14th Century) with the Byzantin icon of the Protomaryr. The so-called “first church” of the Vaste archeological complex, identified as a martyrium, can thus be considered a late antique Sanctuary devoted to the St. Stephan’s cult – a devotion still very popular in the territory of Salento.

The sanctuary of St. Nazarius, located 12 km far from Poggio Imperiale (Foggia), was built in 1967-70; the first rural chapel, however, dates back to the 11th Century. The “Caldoli” stream, flowing nearby, broadens here into a little thermal baisin. In year 2006 a canonical decree was issued, officially declaring the church a sanctuary. The object of veneration is a stone set in the floor of the sanctuary, where St. Nazarius is thought to have been seating, healing his wounded legs in the stream. According to the hagiographic legend, Nazarius was a 4th Century martyr. After many travels across Northeren Italy, up to Nice un Trier, he visited the Gargano – a territory strongly related to the terapeuthic sphere (see Strabo, Geographiká, IV, 284), which is of great importance for Nazarius. The feast of the Saint is celebrated july, 27-28, with a procession and a consistent flow of pilgrims.

L’episodio del battesimo di Gesù per mano di Giovanni, trasmesso sin dagli albori della tradizione cristiana introduce più di un’aporia sul piano teologico, prima fra tutte la necessità di chiarire perché il Figlio di Dio, in quanto tale libero da impurità e da peccati, si sia sottoposto a un battesimo di purificazione e di penitenza ad opera di un “precursore”. Il desiderio di comprendere i molteplici aspetti del rapporto tra Giovanni Battista e Gesù costituisce il motivo generatore di questa ricerca. A partire dalla consapevolezza che il riconoscimento di Gesù da parte di Giovanni e gli altri episodi che delineano un rapporto di subordinazione del precursore rispetto al Messia appaiano, più che eventi storicamente fondati, una ricostruzione teologica posteriore operata dai seguaci di Gesù, ha inizio un un viaggio nel tempo e nello spazio fra testi, persone, luoghi, eventi e tradizioni religiose, che arriva ad approfondire temi complessi quali il ruolo del Battista nel mandeismo.

The sanctuary of St. Rocco is located in Torrepaduli, near the little town of Ruffano (Lecce), in the diocese of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca. Devotional buildings devoted to the Saint in this territory date back to the 16th Century, when the black plague spread out. The object of veneration is a wooden statue of St. Rocco with his little dog. The Saint is celebrated on the 16th of August. In the night between august, 15 and august, 16 an enormous number of pilgrims and tourists gather in Torrepaduli, where an extraordinary performance takes place. This is the so-called “knife dance”, reserved to males, accompanied by the obsessive sound of drums, harmonicas, guitars and percussions. In the day of the feast, following an ancient tradition, a fair takes place, where animals bound to slaughterhouse are selled.

The sanctuary, once dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel , has been established in 1984 by means of a canonical decree. The object of veneration is a wooden crucifix and Christ’s face is connected with the typology of achiropita images. The crucifix was presumably carved by Vespasiano Genuino of Gallipoli (16th-17th Century). According with a 19th Century narrative, hinting at 17th Century traditions, the artist left Lecce not having completed his sculpture. He was headed to Naples, in order to send the crucifix to Barcelona. In Rutigliano, however, the animals drawing his cart refused to go further and stopped at the Capuchin cloister. One day later, the case containing Christ’s haed was opened and the haed was found miraculously connected to the body. The crucifix has been thus donated to the cloister and never removed until now. The celebrations for the Holy Crucifix, which include the famous musical fireworks, are held from September, 13 to September, 15: in those days a large number of pilgrims, including some overseas emigrants, gather in Rutigliano.

Con lo studio qui presentato prende avvio un’indagine storica sul santuario diocesano di San Michele in vertice montis a Calvanico (Salerno). Si è cercato di risalire all’origine del culto micaelico calvanicese attraverso molteplici strumenti: una disamina della bibliografia disponibile, ricognizioni autoptiche, testimonianze orali raccolte sul campo, studio di fonti archivistiche. Di particolare interesse si è rivelato l’esame di alcuni documenti secenteschi, primo fra tutti il verbale di una visita pastorale. Dal confronto fra i temi e problemi suscitati dal testo con i risultati delle indagini condotte sul campo è scaturita una riflessione sulle pratiche rituali legate al santuario in vertice montis, sulle tradizioni cultuali e sul pellegrinaggio micaelico dei Calvanicesi.

This article focuses on the relationship between sanctuaries and territory, taking into a special account both Mont Saint-Michel and the apulian sanctuary of San Michele at Gargano. Although they are linked by many similarities, Mont Saint-Michel has its own distinctive features, which are to be recognized, e.g., in the dies festus (16th october) and in the practice of children pilgrimage. Starting from the late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries), a number of children moved towards Normandy crossing the central Europe. This phaenomenon is still worth of consideration, also because it has been object of discussion even for the contemporaries.

Scheda bibliografica su un volume miscellaneo che raccoglie contributi dei più importanti specialisti di "cognitive studies" operanti in Europa e in Nord-America negli ultimi 20 anni. I contributi indagano, secondo prospettive differenti - prevalentemente di matrice darwiniana ed evolutiva - temi inerenti alle origini della religione, della cognitività umana e della cultura.

Scheda bibliografica su un volume nel quale l'Autore presenta una riflessione critica sulla teoria della secolarizzazione, tradizionalmente proposta in prospettiva eurocentrica e cristianocentrica.

This short review investigates Gianfranco Spitilli’s book. The work is the result of the Author’s ethnographic investigation, carried out from 2001 to 2008 in some Regions located in the Centre of Italy (Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio). The ethnographic investigation is, in its turn, integrated in a wider critical perspective, which speculates on the function of bovines in some feasts and celebrations devoted to certain Saints. The book, composed of a Preface (written by Giordana Charuty), an Introduction, two main Sections and a Bibliography, is enriched by interesting pictures and a DVD.

Scheda bibliografica su un volume costituito da nove saggi sul tema della "localizzazione del sacro". I saggi presentano approcci teoretici, casi di studio, emergenze archeologiche, esperienze di pellegrinaggio, studi antropologiche e ricerche afferenti al settore dei "cognitive studies" relativamente agli aspetti molteplici e complessi espressi nel rapporto del "sacro" con le persone e con i luoghi.

In this book, Assman deepens his investigation, started with Das kulturelle Gedächtnis (München 1992) and developed with Moses der Ägypter (München 2000). He deals with topics such as: the “moralization of death”, i.e. the possibility – introduced by the monotheism – of defeating the death by means of a rightouse life; the distiction, in the realm of the phenomenology of religion, between “intrasystemic” and “extrasystemic” violence; the differentiation between biblical and evolutive monotheism; the separation of Herrschaft from Heil; the canonization of sacred texts, which – so to say – overturns the logic pattern of the textual history, where the normative significance is to be found in the starting phase; the “mnemohistorical” evaluation of the most violent OT texts, interpreted as a “symbolic representation of the Israelian pagan past”.

This short review examines the proceedings of the “Biblia” seminar The origin of a separation: jews and christians in the 1st-2nd Centuries (Ostuni, february, 1-3, 2008). S. Mimouni investigates the Law, the jewish identity and the profile of the Galilean judaism in Jesus’ times; L. Troiani studies Paul and the diasporic judaism in the 1st Century; G. Rinaldi speaks about the relationship among Jews, Christians and Pagans; G. Stemberger focuses on the Birkhat ha-minim; G. Otranto deals with the dialogues (as a literary genre) between Jews and Christans in the first two Centuries. In the second section of the book, G. Jossa and M. Pesce tackle the probelm of the “parting of the ways”. Differently from Jossa and taking into account social structures, practices and conceptions, Pesce states that Jesus’ movement is to be considered internal to the judaism.