Zusammenfassung
Der auf Gewinnmaximierung bedachte Mensch gilt als Typus des modernen Menschen. Steht das im Widerspruch zur Religion in der Vormoderne, der ökonomisches Denken fremd war? Das Beispiel des ursprünglich ägyptischen, aber für den Export in ein neues ‚design‘ gebrachten Gottes Serapis bietet das Material, um systematisch das Verhältnis von Religion und Handel – nicht nur im Römischen Reich – zu kategorisieren. Ein Beitrag zur Religionsökonomie.
Abstract
This paper contributes to the field of economy of religion. Scholars typically characterize modern men as driven by profit maximization; the economic crisis over the last years has further plausibilized this interpretation. This creates an antagonism between pre-modern and modern men – but rightly so? Were pre-modern men unfamiliar with economical thought and theory? Did premodern men see business objectives in contradiction with their religious determination? The (originally) Egyptian god Serapis was redesigned for export. This process was inseparably connected with the cereal trade between Egypt and Rome. Serapis both served the Egyptian traders as symbol of their identity and the Romans as symbol of their secure cereal supply chain. His example provides the basis for a systematic analysis of the relationship between religion and trade, in the Roman Empire and beyond.
© 2012 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
