This paper aims at discussing how one can investigate the contacts between cultures – sometimes
conflicting, sometimes contiguous – in the ancient Mediterranean area from the
perspective of History of Religions. First of all, this analysis highlights the relevance of a
historical study of realia, which are identifiable within local contexts. Then, thanks to the
competences of different disciplines, one can analyse as a value the complexity of symbolic
meanings of ritual traditions and their practices in a historical-comparative view
