Lilith Apostel

Dr. Lilith Apostel is a Research Associate and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES), Ruhr University Bochum. She is affiliated with the SFB 1475 'Metaphers der Religion' (Project B05) and the Graduate School of Metaphor and Religion (GSMR). Her academic background spans religious studies and prehistoric archaeology, with a focus on cognitive approaches to ancient religion.

• PhD in Prehistory and Early History, University of Cologne (2017)
• MA in Religious Studies and Prehistory and Early History, Free University of Berlin (2011)

Her research explores the cognitive and embodied dimensions of prehistoric and ancient religions, especially the interplay between sleep, dreaming, death, and consciousness. She investigates how universal human experiences shape religious concepts, particularly through metaphorical frameworks such as 'death is sleep'. Her work combines archaeological evidence, cognitive science, and textual analysis. She has conducted fieldwork in Turkey, Sudan, and Germany, contributing to her empirical understanding of ancient cultures.

The trends in her publications reveal a consistent focus on cognitive archaeology, the evolution of religious thought, and the materiality of metaphor. Her work bridges disciplines, connecting archaeology with cognitive science, religious studies, and anthropology. She examines how bodily experiences like sleep inform abstract religious ideas, especially in pre-literate societies.

Dr. Apostel is an active member of scholarly communities, including the International Association for the Study of Dreams and the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion. She has taught courses on altered states of consciousness, cognitive science of religion, and the archaeology of religion at Ruhr University Bochum.

She has been supported by prestigious fellowships, including a DAAD scholarship for research at Massey University, New Zealand, and a doctoral scholarship from the artes Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne. Her publications include a major monograph and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. She also contributes to public scholarship through platforms like L.I.S.A. and maintains an active academic profile via ORCID, Academia.edu, and her personal website.

Dr. Apostel leads and contributes to research projects on religious metaphors and consciousness, working within interdisciplinary teams at CERES. Her office is located at Universitätsstr. 90a, Bochum.