The Hypertemple in Mind : God's Voice Rebooted in the Temple Scroll1
Bloch, Natalie LU
(2025)
p.81-94
- Abstract
- This chapter presents a theory-driven reading of the opening column of the Temple Scroll in order to explore how the divine voice featured in the narrative may have sparked immersive and interactive processes that enacted temple space in the minds of its immediate audience. I combine critical space theory and theories of virtual reality (VR) applied to narrative in order to hypothesize the audiences’ immersion and interaction with the divine voice in the engagement context relevant for the immediate audience of the Temple Scroll. The spatial perspective focuses on the physical, mental, and symbolic aspects of space, whereas the VR lens enables me to pinpoint the process-based effects of experiencing these narratives within the fabric of... (More)
- This chapter presents a theory-driven reading of the opening column of the Temple Scroll in order to explore how the divine voice featured in the narrative may have sparked immersive and interactive processes that enacted temple space in the minds of its immediate audience. I combine critical space theory and theories of virtual reality (VR) applied to narrative in order to hypothesize the audiences’ immersion and interaction with the divine voice in the engagement context relevant for the immediate audience of the Temple Scroll. The spatial perspective focuses on the physical, mental, and symbolic aspects of space, whereas the VR lens enables me to pinpoint the process-based effects of experiencing these narratives within the fabric of experienced tradition. My thesis is that the Temple Scroll simulated a temple space that could be experienced virtually, akin to modern-day computer simulations that temporarily disrupt the condition of the physical reality. Inquiring about ancient temple space from the viewpoint of contemporary technologies is a way for me to explore the tension between physical reality and VRand thus shed fresh insights on how the selected temple descriptions “play out” as experiences for their ancient audiences. Arguing that the notion of immersive and interactive factors enabled the immediate audiences to experience temple space by engaging with temple descriptions, this chapter contributes to the understanding of how the symbolic system of the temple was enacted on a synchronic as well as a diachronic level in Jewish antiquity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/584c2d57-3c49-462f-889c-e911aff8a3f1
- author
- Bloch, Natalie
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology : Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem - Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem
- pages
- 14 pages
- publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105013692011
- ISBN
- 9781350505735
- 9781350505742
- DOI
- 10.5040/9781350505766.0011
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 584c2d57-3c49-462f-889c-e911aff8a3f1
- date added to LUP
- 2025-11-19 09:42:06
- date last changed
- 2026-01-01 01:18:14
@inbook{584c2d57-3c49-462f-889c-e911aff8a3f1,
abstract = {{This chapter presents a theory-driven reading of the opening column of the Temple Scroll in order to explore how the divine voice featured in the narrative may have sparked immersive and interactive processes that enacted temple space in the minds of its immediate audience. I combine critical space theory and theories of virtual reality (VR) applied to narrative in order to hypothesize the audiences’ immersion and interaction with the divine voice in the engagement context relevant for the immediate audience of the Temple Scroll. The spatial perspective focuses on the physical, mental, and symbolic aspects of space, whereas the VR lens enables me to pinpoint the process-based effects of experiencing these narratives within the fabric of experienced tradition. My thesis is that the Temple Scroll simulated a temple space that could be experienced virtually, akin to modern-day computer simulations that temporarily disrupt the condition of the physical reality. Inquiring about ancient temple space from the viewpoint of contemporary technologies is a way for me to explore the tension between physical reality and VRand thus shed fresh insights on how the selected temple descriptions “play out” as experiences for their ancient audiences. Arguing that the notion of immersive and interactive factors enabled the immediate audiences to experience temple space by engaging with temple descriptions, this chapter contributes to the understanding of how the symbolic system of the temple was enacted on a synchronic as well as a diachronic level in Jewish antiquity.}},
author = {{Bloch, Natalie}},
booktitle = {{Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology : Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem}},
isbn = {{9781350505735}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{81--94}},
publisher = {{Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.}},
title = {{The Hypertemple in Mind : God's Voice Rebooted in the Temple Scroll1}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350505766.0011}},
doi = {{10.5040/9781350505766.0011}},
year = {{2025}},
}