The monograph deals with various aspects, but especially symbolic, anthropological and religious aspects, of ancient fortifications and gates in the Near East, especially in the bioblitical texts of the Old Testament. This study is unique not only in the Czech Republic but also in the world context, as it does not focus primarily on the archaeological or architectural aspects of ancient Near Eastern fortifications, but pays attention to their significance as a visible expression of the transition between different spiritual levels. A special section is devoted to the problem of continuity, i.e. the question of the extent to which the patterns of thought projected into the structures of fortification are still relevant in subsequent epochs, in the Middle Ages and the modern period up to the present day, and to artistic expressions in which the ancient symbolism of defence and transition appears, albeit in a new form, but in an archetypal sense.
Czech edition