Making Bodies: On Body Modification and Religious Materiality in the Hebrew Bible

Body-modification practices are well attested in the Hebrew Bible, but little understood. This discussion argues that the body can be understood as an on-going social and religious 'project,' to which various modification practices contribute. Accordingly, certain aspects of this bodily 'topography' of religion are mapped by exploring selected biblical portrayals of body modification, including cutting and adornment. The body has long been recognised by anthropologists and cultural