Tag Archives: ByzNiz

Byz-Niz (Vol. 9, issue 1)

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Symposia, Conferences

The 36th S.P.B.S. Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, ‘Was Byzantium Orthodox?’

Durham, 23-25 March 2002

The subject is to be ‘Was Byzantium Orthodox?’ and will explore why the Byzantine Empire set such store by Orthodoxy, how this was defined, by whom, how it was expressed, both in terms of doctrine, and in terms of liturgy and art, and the implications of this concern/process for those who lived in Byzantine society and those whom the Byzantines encountered.

Three areas in particular will be explored: ‘Orthodoxy as Imperial Policy’, ‘Orthodoxy and the Other’, and ‘Orthodoxy in Liturgy and Art’. The complete programme has yet to be finalized, and the Symposiarch, Prof Andrew Louth (andrew.louth@durham.ac.uk, or at the Department of Theology, Abbey House, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RS), welcomes suggestions both for lectures and communications.

The Seventh Annual UCLA Graduate Late Antiquity Conference

Los Angeles, 6 April 2002

This conference is intended to bring together scholars of diverse interests to present and discuss a range of issues surrounding the transformation of the Classical world into the Latin Medieval West, Byzantium and the Islamic world. The conference serves as a wonderful opportunity to gain feedback from peers in a wide variety of fields. Additionally, it is our hope that the conference will provide the chance for graduate students to gain experience presenting professional papers.

Presenters are invited to expand upon the notion of “Late Antique.” Students of Archaeology, Art History, Classics, History, Near Eastern Studies, Religious Studies and related fields are strongly encouraged to submit abstracts.

E-mail: sjm1@ucla.edu (Scott McDonough)

Mail Address:
Seventh Annual Graduate Late Antiquity Conference
c/o The UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Box 951485
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1485
USA

Website: http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~sjm1/lateantiquity

Realities in the Arts of the Medieval Mediterranean, 800-1500

Dumbarton Oaks, 26-28 April 2002

The Early Christian Book

Washington D.C., 6-9 June 2002

The Catholic University of America, presented by the Center for the Study of Early Christianity.

http://arts-sciences.cua.edu/ecs/intro.html

Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church

Melbourne, Australia, 10th -13th July 2002

A conference exploring the development of christianity in the ancient world presented by the Centre for Early Christian Studies, Australian Catholic University, St. Patrick’s Campus, Melbourne, Australia

http://www.acu.edu.au/Earlychr/

Follow the links through “Conferences” and then click on the icon for “Liturgy and Life”. Access to registration forms and all other information concerning the conference can be found there.

E-mail: prayerspirit@patrick.acu.edu.au
Prayer and Spirituality Conference Convenor
c/o Centre for Early Christian Studies
Australian Catholic University, St. Patrick’s Campus
Locked Bag 4115,
Fitzroy 3065, Victoria
AUSTRALIA

Telephone: + 61 3 9953 3141; Fax: + 61 3 9953 3765

Medicine and inter-cultural exchanges: Byzantium, the Arabic World, the Ottoman Empire

Istanbul, Turkey, 1 – 6 September 2002

Congress of the International Society for the History of Medicine. Its main topics will be, among others, “Medieval medicine”, “Medicine in the Near East through history” and “The relation between Turkish medicine and the medicine of Eastern and Western Worlds”.

Information: atouwaide@hotmail.com

2006: International Congress of Byzantine Studies

Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (U.K.): http://www.byzantium.ac.uk/

The 2006 International Congress of Byzantine Studies will be held in the United Kingdom. Preparations are already underway. The organisation of the Congress will be coordinated by Professor Anthony Bryer of the University of Birmingham.

Nieuw Instituut voor samenwerking / New Institute for cooperation

AHRB Centre for Byzantine Cultural History

Director M.E. Mullett
Associate Directors Mr James Crow, Dr Liz James
Assistant Director Dr R.H. Jordan

This new centre is designed to bring together textual scholars with art historians and archaeologists to develop a new generation of scholars who will write the new cultural history of Byzantium. The aim is to unite the strengths of three universities, the expertise of Sussex in art history, the long tradition of Byzantine archaeology at Newcastle, and the literary interests of Belfast to enable resources to be maximised for the benefit of the subject. The Centre will be housed in the new institute of Byzantine Studies at QUB, a free-standing unit of the Faculty of Humanities.

The centre is project-based, bringing together resources to enhance the Evergetis and Networks Projects (Belfast) and the Constantinople Project (Newcastle) and enabling the Colour project (Sussex) and the Skylitzes project (with Melbourne). The Gender project will run during the life of the AHRB Centre. There will be one conference, one colloquium and two day schools per year, the publications of the projects, a journal, and a general Byzantine World book for Routledge. We look forward to welcoming the SPBS to the Spring Symposium in 2005. We welcome undergraduate, MA and research students and new collaborations; we hope to be able to facilitate new interactions with other centres in UK and on the island of Ireland.

Inquiries to M. E. Mullett: m.mullett@qub.ac.uk

Byz-Niz Volume 8, issue 2 (spring 2001)

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Interesting websites

Byzantium: history & coins

http://www.wegm.com/coins/byzantine/index.htm

Contains many images and short explanations on coins and emperors/empresses from the Byzantine area, with extra focuses on Venice, medieval Serbia, Trebizond, frescoes and Ottoman coins.

Hymns from the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Christian Church

hosted by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of America.

http://www.goarch.org/access/byzantinemusic/

Contains online music and live liturgy.

Tentoonstellingen/Exhibitions

Armenia 1700 years: the Catharijneconvent in Utrecht will show an exposition about Armenian religious art in the Middle Ages from 1st of November 2001. The Lakenhal in Leiden will show an exposition on Armenian modern art, date unknown.

Symposia/Conferences

Der Deutsche Orientalistentag

Der Deutsche Orientalistentag tagt im Barberg zur Zeit vom 26.-30. März 2001. In der Sektion: Christlicher Orient und Byzanz wurden folgende Vorträge gemeldet.

  • Wilhelm Baum: Die sogenannten Thomas-Christen und der Seeweg nach Indien
  • Peter Bruns: Zur Kirchengeschichte des Johannes von Ephesus
  • Bogdan Burtea: Farbsymbolik zwischen Legende und moderner Geschichtsschreibung
  • Michel Van Esbroeck: Die Quelle der Himmelfahrt Muhammeds im Tempel Jerusalems
  • Harald Gropp: Orientalistik und Mathematik(geschichte) – zum Beispiel der Bamberger Jesuit Christoph Clavius
  • Ergün Lafli: Spätantike Terrakotta-Unguentarien aus Kleinasien
  • Christian Lange: War Severos von Antiochien ein Monophysith? Gedanken zur sprachlichen Einordnung nach-Chalkedonischer Christologie
  • Clemens Leonhard: Surat Ktab – Beobachtungen zum Rituale des Theodor von Mopsuestia
  • Michael Marx: Die Tschingis Khan-Legende im Bericht des päpstlichen Gesandten Plano Carpini (1247): eine Parabel auf das mongolische Reich mit syrischem und arabisch-persischem Quellenhintergrund
  • Jannis Niehoff-Panagiotidis: Kalila wa-Dimna in Byzanz
  • Pedro Bádenas dela Peña: Attitudes idéologiques des Byzantins face à la conquète ottomane
  • Andrea Barbara Schmidt: Unbekannte syrische Handschriften in Deir Surian (Ägypten). Ein Bericht über die laufende Kampagne zur Erschließung des alten Handschriftenfunds (mit Dias)
  • Wolfgang Christian Schneider: Der cherubinische Einzug des Kaisers in die Hagia Sophia (Arbeitstitel)
  • Rudolf Stichel: Die Sergios- und Bakchos-Kirche in Konstantinopel: neue Beobachtungen
  • Dorothea Weltecke: Moses aus Mardin und Andreas Masius

Bron/Source: http://www.suryoyo-online.org/ (G. Rabo)

27th annual Byzantine Studies Conference

27th annual Byzantine Studies Conference, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana: 8-11 November 2001. Information on papers: Robert Allison, Program Chair, tel. 001 207 786 6307, e-mail: rallison@bates.edu.

Published in print in Golden Horn Volume 8, issue 2 (spring 2001)

Byzniz Vol. 8, issue 1 (Summer-fall 2000)

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Gouden Hoorn 8,1: Byz-Niz

Conferenties/Conferences

2000

8-10 December. “Ancient Studies & New Technology: The World Wide Web and Scholarly Research, Communication, and Publication in Ancient, Byzantine, and Medieval Studies”. Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Conveners: Michael DiMaio, Ralph Mathisen, Thomas Martin.

2001

8-11 March. Fourth Conference on Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity. “Travel, Communication and Geography in Late Antiquity”. To be held at the Downtown Centre of San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA. Enquiries re program to Prof. Linda Ellis: ellisl@sfsu.edu; all other enquiries to Prof. Frank Kidner: fkidner@sfsu.edu.

28 March-2 April. Byzantine Spring Symposium. Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, Exeter College, Oxford. Theme: “Rhetoric”. Convenor: Elizabeth Jeffreys. Call for papers to be announced shortly.

30 March-1 April. “Conference on Byzantine Monasticisms”. Faculty of Theology, University of St Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada. An interdisciplinary conference on the varieties of ascetical life in the Byzantine empire (6th-13th century), with emphasis on the current state of scholarly research and areas in needs of further study. For registration and other details see the faculty web site: http://www.utoronto.ca/stmikes/theology

20-22 April. “Byzantium and the West”. Twelfth Conference of the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, University of Western Australia. Conf. Organiser: John Melville-Jones. Deadline for submission of Abstracts: 29 January 20001. For registration details check the web site (late November): http://www.mcauley.acu.edu.au/AABS/.

4-7 May. Dumbarton Oaks Symposium: “Late Byzantine Thessalonike”. Check out the web site for details: http://www.doaks.org

Tentoonstellingen/Exhibitions

The Mother of God: Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, Benaki Musum, Athens, 15th october 2000 – 15th january 2001. This will be the high point in the celebrations of the anniversary of the Birth of Christ. Exhibited works of art in all media, dating from the 6th to the 15th centuries are included.

Tijdschriften/Journals

New Byzantine Web Journal

Settegiorni, appearing quarterly, containing articles about art, culture, religion, litterature and other subjects concerning the ‘Second Rome’.
Antonio Matasso, director of Settegiorni.

http://www.settegiorni.8m.com

Neue Zeitschrift Göttingen

Ein Bericht von: Alexander Sideras und Brita Bayer (Herausgeber) Holger Gutschmidt und Carsten Peust (Verleger):

Wir freuen uns, Ihnen hiermit die neue Zeitschrift Göttinger Beiträge zur Byzantinischen und Neugriechischen Philologie (GBBNP) ankündigen zu dürfen. Eine wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift, die auf die Philologie der byzantinischen und neugriechischen Zeit spezialisiert ist, fehlte bislang. Diese Lücke sollen die Göttinger Beiträge zur Byzantinischen und Neugriechischen Philologie füllen, die im

Peust & Gutschmidt Verlag, Göttingen, erscheinen werden. Dabei sollen beide Teilbereiche, die byzantinische und neugriechische Sprachwissenschaft sowie die byzantinische und neugriechische Literaturwissenschaft, gleichermassen berücksichtigt werden.

More information about lay out of articles for can be received at:

Seminar fuer Klassische Philologie
Georg-August-Universitaet Göttingen
Humboldtallee 19, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Phone: +49 551 394745
Email: bbayer1@gwdg.de
URL: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/byzantinistik-neograezistik

New online tool Italian Medieval period

We introduce a new site that will become a new research tool for the study of the medieval period in Italy: Rassegna storica on line. This web site is part of a larger project that the editor of Medioevo Italiano has been developing for some time now.

Medioevo Italiano and its daughter project are electronic ‘magic boxes’, where scholars may send their articles, reviews or opinions about Italian history in the Middle Ages and beyond. Accepted contributions will be published ‘on line’ or in electronic format as CD-ROMS.

Rassegna storica on line is a biannual journal. Articles and contributions that are submitted to the editor in the first part of the year will be published in the spring issue, while the others will appear in autumn. At present we will publish contributions individually, but at the end of the semester we will publish a revised and corrected volume.

http://www.medioevoitaliano.org

Angelo Gambella
Dir.Ed. Rassegna storica online
rso@medioevoitaliano.org
fax: +39.06.23319240

Hugoye

The July 2000 issue of Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is available at http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye. The issue contains 4 papers delivered at the special conference on Michael the Syrian, held at Maarat Saydnaya, the headquarters of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Damascus.

Provinciae Byzantinae anno 2000

Op 24 april 2000 werd de 85ste gedenkdag gevierd van de Armeense Genocide van 1915. Twee miljoen Armeense burgers werden toen door de Ottomaanse overheid systematisch vermoord. Tot op heden wordt deze volkerenmoord door de Turkse regering ontkend. Dit jaar bezocht de Israelische minister van onderwijs, Yossi Sarid, de gedenkdag in Jerusalem, waarbij hij zijn aanwezigheid onderstreepte door te verklaren dat hij ernaar streefde om de Armeense Genocide in de geschiedenislessen op scholen in Israel op te nemen, hetgeen voorheen gedwarsboomd werd door het Israelische ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, dat repercussies vreest van de Turkse regering.

(Via suryoyo online, http://f16.parsimony.net/forum26093/messages/1705.htm)

Op 19 oktober heeft de senaat van de Verenigde Staten een resolutie verworpen om de genocide op Armeniërs te veroordelen op strategische gronden:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) issued a statement this evening pulling the Armenian Genocide resolution (HR 596) from the agenda of the House of Representatives for the remainder of the 106th Congress, thus killing the resolution.

In his statement, the Speaker cited “national security concerns” brought forth by President Clinton relating to the ongoing Middle East Peace process.

“I have asked the Majoirty Leader to take H.Res. 596 off the schedule for the remainder of the 106th Congress,” said Hasterst in the statement.

Both Speaker Hastert and President Clinton failed to use the word Genocide when characterizing the 1915 systematic and planned murder of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

For updates on this and other breaking news, please visit our website at http://www.asbarez.com.

(From: Asbarez daily, 19-10-2000)

De Volkskrant en Metro berichtten op 9-11-2000 dat de Franse Senaat en Assemblée de genocide erkend hebben. De Assemblée moet nogmaals stemmen.

Ontvangen

Salsus Books Catalogue 37: Liturgy, Biblical Studies, Theology, Patristics, Church History. See also: http://www.books93.freeserve.co.uk/

Newsletter, Society for Armenian Studies, vol. 24, no. 2 (56), Spring 2000.

Overleden – Deceased

Marie-Hélène Congourdeau reported this to a Byzantium discussionlist, via bit.listserv.hellas:

Highly acclaimed Byzantinist Nikos Economides, president of the Hellenic Institute of Culture, died in hospital on Wednesday at the age of 66 due to an inflammation of the lungs. Economides was a professor at Athens University and until recently director of the Byzantine Studies Institute at the National Institute for Research (EIE).

Born in 1934, Economides studied history and archaeology at Athens University and did post-graduate studies in Paris, where he received his doctorate in 1961. After working as a researcher at the Byzantine Studies Centre in Athens until 1969, he accepted a post teaching Byzantine history at Montreal University in Canada, where he stayed until 1989. During that time, as well as having a distinguished academic career, he was also highly active in opposing the 1967-1974 junta in Greece.

In 1987 he was elected professor of Byzantine history at Athens University’s department of history and archaeology. In 1995 he was appointed director of the EIE’s Byzantine Studies Centre for five years, while in May 1997 he was elected vice-president and acting president of the EIE’s board of directors.

A highly regarded researcher and teacher, Economides’ work on Byzantium had been published in the most respected periodicals in his field and he had received many international distinctions. He had acted as visiting teacher at many universities and research institutes, including Washington’s famous Dumbarton-Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, where he was a consultant on Byzantine seals.

Byz-Niz Volume 7 issue 2 (Winter 1999-2000)

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Internet

The Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology at the University of Göttingen set up a mailinglist for Byzantine Philology as a forum for all areas of research in Byzantine Philology. The mailinglist shall provide the opportunity to discuss questions and problems. Research papers and reports, short reviews of recently publisheed books as well as announcements of conferences are also welcome. Students of Byzantine Philology are encouraged to take part in the mailinglist. The mailinglist is unmoderated. If you want to subscribe to the list, send an email to: listproc@gwdg.decontaining only the following line:

subscribe Byzantinistik [first name] [last name]

The e-mail should not contain a subject or further lines such as signatures or address lines.

Kloosters, kerken/Monasteries, churches

Byzantine churches and monasteries a casualty of Kosovo

From/uit: AABS 39, Nov. 1999

The following item has been supplied by the Serbian community in New South Wales. For further information contact Aleksander Pavkovic (apavkovi@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au) or Mrs Ranka Rajanovic (rankaraj@hotmail.com). More detailed information is available through the following Web Sites:

http://www.decani.yunet.com/destruction.html

http://www.kosovo.com

The province of Kosovo is home to some 1600 Byzantine medieval monuments, and it represents one of the highest concentrations of cultural and historical monuments in the world. Out of 1400 churches and monasteries, many date back to the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. Most of these monuments and holy shrines survived the wars fought in the region over past centuries, but are now in danger of falling victim to the current geopolitical conflict. Among the endangered medieval monasteries in Kosovo are even ones of exceptional cultural significance:

  • Decani Monastery, nominated for the World Heritage List, built in 1327, its frescoes almost completely preserved and containing over 1000 individual figures and scenes representing the largest existing sources of data on Byzantine iconography. The Decani Treasury is the richest in Serbia with about 60 icons from the fourteenth century.
  • Gracanica Monastery, nominated for the World Heritage List, built in the second decade of the fourteenth century, belongs among the finest architectural achievements of the epoch, with paintings completed in 1321, and with an outstanding collection of icons from the fourteenth century.
  • The Patriarchate of Pecs, the complex of the Pecs’ churches, built in the third part of the thirteenth century, with frescoes painted from 1260 onwards. An entire history of the styles of medieval wall painting can be seen on the walls of the Pecs churches.
  • Ljeviska Mother of God, a five-dome church built in 1306, with very damaged paintings which are considered among the most successful fresco assemblages from the time of the Byzantine dynasty of the Palaeologus, painted by master painter Astrapa from Salonika around 1310-1313, with the famous fresco of Virgin with Christ, fourteenth century.

Between June and September 1999 over seventy monasteries and churches have been plundered and destroyed as a result of retaliatory attacks, and many more damaged. Among them are:

  • The Medieval Holy Trinity Monastery, Musutiste, fourteenth century, looted, and completely destroyed.
  • St. Cosma and Damian Monastery, Zociste, fourteenth century, looted, vandalized, and recently destroyed.
  • The Dormition of Mother of God church in Musutiste, 1315, completely destroyed.
  • St. Archangel Gabriel’s Monastery, Binac, fourteenth century, almost completely destroyed.
  • Devic Monastery of St. Joanikije, from 1440, looted and vandalized.
  • Holy Archangels Monastery, fourteenth century, in Gornje Nerodimlje, destroyed.

Tentoonstellingen/Exhibitions

Allard Pierson Museum: Muziek in het klassieke Griekenland.

“Het Leven van Jesus”, Russische ikonen van Wasili Wasin, t/m 18 maart in de expositieruimte van de kaarsenmakerij van de Abdij van Egmond, Vennewatersweg 27, 1935 AR Egmond-Binnen.

Boeken/Books

Karel C. Innemée, Robin Lutz. Koptische kloosters. Gods levende dodenMooi fotoboek met teksten die de geschiedenis van het Koptische monnikendom beschrijven van he begin tot het heden. Baarn: De Fontein,1999. 102 pp., ill., lit. opg.
ISBN 90-261-1381-1.

Hans Hollerweger, English transl. and inroduction: Andrew Palmer, introduction: Sebastian Brock, Turkish tanslation: Sevil Gülçer. Tur Abdin. Lebendiges Kulturerbe. Living Cultural Heritage. Canli Kültür Mirasi. 1999. 367 pp., ill., reg.
ISBN 3-9501039-0-2
Dit kleurrijk geïllustreerde boek is het eerste fotoboek over Tur Abdin, de bergstreek waar het Syrische Christendom zeer vroeg al tot bloei kwam, en waar het nog steeds, zij het onder zeer moeilijke omstandigheden, voortleeft. Jammer dat er geen detailkaart van de streek in staat.

Te bestellen via:
Freunde des Tur Abdin
Bethlehemstrasse 20,
A-4020 Linz, Oostenrijk
fax +43 732 773578
email fturabdin@magnet.at

Conferences

Travel in the Byzantine World: the 34th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. 1-4 April 2000, The University of Birmingham, UK.

XXe Congres International des Etudes Byzantines, Paris (Sorbonne and Collège de France). Proposed plenary sessions and round tables: Recherches sur le droit byzantin: un bilan; Les Occidentaux dans les villes de province de l’Empire byzantin; Les villages dans l’Empire byzantine, Ve-XIVe s.; Permanences et changements dans l’occupation du sol: densites, modalites et extension/regression; Byzance entre Occident chrétien et monde musulman. Les relations artistiques; La peripherie dans le temps et l’espace; Alterite religieuse et identite culturelle: les chrétientés orientales non grecques; Reliques de la Passion (the indirect relics of Christ); La petition à Byzance; l’Italie byzantine; Lire et ecrire a Byzance; La Lettre diplomatique; Philosophie et sciences a Byzance; Theologiens et méthodes theologiques a Byzance; Byzance et son histoire en l’an 2000.

Date: 19-25 August 2000.

Ontvangen/Received

Dionysius xvii, dec. 1999 (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada) ISSN 0705-1085.

Nieuwsbrief van de Interdisciplinaire Werkgroep voor de Studie van het Oosters Christendom, vii, december 1999 (Nijmegen, Leiden).

Newsletter. Society for Armenian Studies, vol. xxiii, no. 3 (54), fall 1999.

Salsus Books, catalogue 35: Liturgy, Biblical Studies, Theology, Church History, etc. (http://www.books93.freeserve.co.uk)

Byzantinologe wint De la Courtprijs

De Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) heeft de De la Courtprijs 1999 toegekend aan dr. Krijnie N. Ciggaar voor haar studie Western Travellers to Constantinople. The West and Byzantium 962-1204. De De la Courtprijs is bestemd voor wetenschappelijk werk op het gebied van alfa- en gammawetenschappen dat onbezoldigd is verricht.

Byz-Niz – Volume 7, issue 1 (summer 1999)

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Volume 7, issue 1 (summer 1999)

Byz-Niz

Conferenties, Symposia

25th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

25th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, U.S.A., 4-7 November 1999. Enquiries: Prof. Kathleen Corrigan (kathleen.corrigan[@]dartmouth.edu) or George Majeska (gm5[@]umail.umd.edu),theme: 25 years of the Byzantine Studies Conference.

The Eighth International Congress for Syriac Studies

The University of Sydney, Department of Semitic Studies:The Eighth International Congress for Syriac Studies (Monday 26 June – Friday 30th June 2000), also: The Sixth International Conference on Christian Arabic Studies (Sunday 2nd July – Wednesday 5th July 2000).

For further info:

Prof. R.Y. Ebeid
Dept. of Semitic Studies
The University of Sydney
Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
E-mail: rifaat.ebeid[@]semitic.usyd.edu.au
tel. +61 2 9351 3530 fax. +61 2 9351 6684

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World

Interdisciplinary symposium on Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World: March 3-5, 2000, University of Washington-Seattle

A desire to tap into the divine (or demonic) powers of the cosmos, especially those powers linked to the heavens, pervades the history of religion in the ancient and late antique world. This symposium examines the manifold techniques and traditions — both sanctioned and unsanctioned, individual and communal — by which men and women in the ancient and late antique world sought to gain access to that power. To explore this topic, we have invited a group of speakers whose expertise ranges from ancient Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology to the Christian magical papyri of early Islamic Egypt.

Jonathan Z. Smith of the University of Chicago will deliver the key-note address for the colloquium.

For more information about the symposium, please see our web site at:

http://weber.u.washington.edu/~snoegel/stars.html [link may no longer work!]

Please write: Scott Noegel (snoegel[@]u.washington.edu, or Joel Walker (jwalker[@]u.washington.edu). Please send any inquiries via regular US mail to:

Dr. Scott Noegel
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization
Box 353120
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
U.S.A.

Kerknieuws/Church news

In Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales, a church of the Byelorussian Autocephalous Church by the name of the Church of the Holy Protection (Eglwys yr Amddiffyniad Sanctaidd) has recently bought a church building which formerly belonged to the Anglican Church. This branch of the Orthodox Church in Wales, which has its own Liturgy in Welsh, has existed for several years, but a major renovation will give to this part of the world a new church.

The Church of the Holy Protection has published some fine postcards of icons painted there, and a cassette with the Divine Liturgy in Welsh. Address:

11, Manod Road,
Blaenau Ffestiniog,
Gwynedd LL41 4DE
North Wales

Ontvangen/Received

Dionysius n.s. Vol. 16 (1998), ISSN 0705-1085

Salsus Books Catalogue 34, containing Liturgy, Biblical Studies, Theology, Church History. Salsus Books, 193 Court Oak Road, Harborne, Birmingham B17 9AD: postal business only. Fax ++44 121 426 4096.

Peregrina Publishing Co.: Spring 1999 Catalogue, containing translated Lives of Medieval female saints. Address: 17 Woodside Avenue, Toronto, Canada, M6P 1L6

Byzantine Studies in Australia Newsletter, May 1999 (electronic version); ISSN 0155-042x; information: wmayer[@]arts.adelaide.edu.au

Berichten

Entdeckung neuer syrischer Handschriften im Tur ‘Abdin

Nach Informationen des türkisches Fernsehens wurden neue syrische Handschriften im Tur Abdin entdeckt in November 1998.

Bei der Razzia nach PKK-Kämpfern im Bochtan-Gebirge hatte das türkische Militär zufällig mehrere syrische Handschriften entdeckt. Der Ort des Handschriften-schatzes ist das früher von Syrern bewohnte und jetzt verlassene Dorf Dera, oberhalb von Gozarto (türk. Cizre). Allerdings ist noch nicht bekannt, ob es sich um das Obere oder das Untere Dera händelt.

Die gefundenen syrischen Handschriften waren in einem syrischen Kirchengebäude versteckt, möglicherweise um Plünderung und Raub zu verhindern.

Mehr ist über den genauen Inhalt der Handschriften nicht bekannt. Nach den türkischen TV-Nachrichten ging es um “syrische” und “hebräische” Texte. Eine von den vor der Kamera gezeigten Handschriften war im ostsyrischen “Madenhoyo”-Schrifttyp, welchen die Ostsyrer (“Nestorianer”) verwenden. Bei den Texten, die die türkischen Journalisten als “hebräische Handschriften” bezeichneten, dürfte es sich eher um den “Estrangelo”-Schriftyp handeln. Estrangelo und Hebräisch können für Nicht-Syrischkenner sehr ähnlich erscheinen.

Wann und warum diese Handschriften versteckt wurden, darüber kann man nur spekulieren. Es ist jedoch eine Reihe von ähnlichen Fällen im Tur ‘Abdin und der Umgebung bekannt: während des Massakers durch die Türken am Ende des letzten und am Anfang dieses Jahrhunderts versteckten die Syrer ihre Schätze – vor allem syrische Handschriften – vor Plünderung, Raub oder Vernichtung in den Kirchen, in Ruinen oder einfach in den Bergen.

(Gabriel Rabo, 3 December 1998)

see also: http://www.gwdg.de/~grabo/news/handschriften.html [link may no longer work]

Istanbul Mayor Hosts Meeting with Religious Minority Leaders

January 29, 1999

Mayor Ali Mufit Gurtuna held an unprecedented breakfast meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, January 28, 1999, with religious leaders of the Greek, Armenian, Jewish minorities and the heads of Catholic and Syrian Orthodox churches. The breakfast meeting, held in honor of the religious leaders, was held at the Malta Kiosk in Yildiz Park. “If we look at differences as nature’s mosaic, we will see a great deal,” Gurtuna told the religious leaders. Participating at the meeting were Orthodox Church Patriarch Bartholomew, the head of Turkey’s 4,000-member Greek community, Armenian Church Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, head of the 60,000-strong Armenian Gregorian community in Turkey, Isak Haleva, acting chief rabbi of the 25,000-member Jewish community; Yusuf Cetin, Patriarchal Vicar of the Syrian Orthodox Church and bishop of 15,000 Syrian Orthodox Turks, and Lui Pelatra, head of the holy synod of Catholic communities of Turkey. The country has about 40,000 Catholics of Roman, Greek, Armenian, Syrian and Chaldean rites, which are in union with the Vatican. Patriarch Bartholomew said the meeting was unprecedented. “In truth, we are unaccustomed to such kinds of gestures,” the Orthodox Church prelate said.

From: Syrian Orthodox Resources

Byz-Niz Volume 6, issue 2 (winter 1998-1999)

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Volume 6, issue 2 (winter 1998-1999)

Byz-Niz
Berichten uit de O.B.O.-burelen

Websites

http://members.tripod.com/~Groznijat/pb_others.html

has some new material up on the medieval Volga Bulgars or Tatars of Tatarstan as their come lately ethnogenosis designation now stands – The decline of the Khazar state. etc.

Adrienne DeAngelis schrijft:

“I run a Web site called “Resources in Art History for Graduate Students”, located at:

http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~acd

This lists fellowships, grants, symposia, calls for papers, and other opportunities for graduate students in the general area of art history. I am always looking for new and updated listings, especially in the areas of fellowships, symposia, support for research abroad.”

There is a BBC report, with images and video, of the recent Byzantine Palace site unearthed in Istanbul. Go to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_151000/151554.stm

Discussion lists

“AgoraClass : A discussion list about Greek and Roman world, for a very wide public. Teachers and students, of high-school or universities, as well as anyone interested in classical antiquity, are welcome. No geographical limits, but preferably French-speaking communications. In short, this discussion list aims to be an Agora, i.e. a meeting place for people who does not consider Roman and Greek worlds as dead and out-of-date.”

http://pot-pourri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/agcl/default.htm

Conferenties, Symposia

The third conference of Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity, “Urban and Rural in Late Antiquity” [ca. 200 – 600], will be held at Emory University, Atlanta, 11 – 14 March 1999.

Contact Prof. Thomas S. Burns, send e-mail:

histsb@learnlink.emory.edu, Department of History, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.

The XXXIII Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies “Eastern approaches to Byzantium”, 27-29 March, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

Symposiarch: Dr Anthony Eastmond, Dept. of Art History

e-mail: a.d.eastmond@warwick.ac.uk

19, 20 mei 1999

De vakgroep Grieks en Latijn en het Griekenlandcentrum van de Rijksuniversiteit Gent organiseren in samenwerking met collega’s van de afdeling Oude Geschiedenis van de K.U. Leuven en Nieuwgrieks en Byzantinologie van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen een interdisciplinair colloquium over ‘de Griekse stad’.

A colloquium is held on 19th and 20th May 1999 in Gent (B.) on ‘the Greek city’, organised by R.U. Gent, K.U. Leuven and R.U. Groningen.

Inlichtingen/information:

Dr Kristoffel Demoen, Vakgroep Grieks en Latijn, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Gent, Tel. +32 92644028, fax +32 92644164, e-mail: kristoffel.demoen@rug.ac.be

Second Graduate Students’ Day, University of Oxford, 8 May 1999.

Information: Anne McCabe, Christ Chruch, Oxford OX1 1DP.

Dumbarton Oaks Symposium, 30 April-2 May, Washington D.C., “Byzantine Eschatology: views on the Last Things”, contact: Byzantine@doaks.org

“Neither woman nor man”: Eunuchs in Antiquity and beyond, Cardiff, Wales, July 1999, information: Dr Shaun Tougher, School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University, PO Box 909, Cardiff, CF1 3XU, Wales; e-mail: TougherSF@cardiff.ac.uk

http://www.cf.ac.uk/uwcc/hisar/people/sft/sft.html

“Orthodoxy and Unorthodoxies”: the 11th Conference of the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney. Papers, information: Dr Andrew Gillett, School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; e-mail: agillett@ocs1.ocs.mq.edu.au

13th International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, 16-21 Augustus’99. Prof. R.W. Thomson, The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane, Oxford, OX1 2LE, England.

Journals

Archaeologia Bulgarica

Archaeologia Bulgarica is a new review of archaeology. It is published thrice a year.

It presents a publishing forum for research in archaeology in the widest sense of the word. There are no restrictions for time and territory but Southeastern Europe is the accent.

Objective: interdisciplinary research of archaeology.
Contents: articles, reviews and news.
Languages: English, German and French.

5th issue (1998/2) has just been struck off.

Further info at:

http://www.techno-link.com/clients/lvagalin/index.html

Copyright 1997 by NOUS Publishers Ltd, 1330 Sofia, P.O.B. 55, fax: +359 2/963 01 41

ISSN 1310-9537

Editor: L.F. Vagalinski Ph.D. (Institute of Archaeology at Sofia), lvagalin@mail.techno-link.com

Hugoye

The January 1999 (Vol 2, No 1) issue of “Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies” is published now and can be accessed at:

http://www.acad.cua.edu/syrcom/Hugoye

Mirror site:

http://www.leidenuniv.nl/gg/peshitta/syrcom/Hugoye/

This is the second of two special issues on the “Influence of St. Ephrem the Syrian”, named after a conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, during which most of the papers of this issue were read. The current issue features 8 articles on the subject in addition to four book reviews, three conference reports and five conference announcements.

For the very first time, this issue contains audio material (see paper by Ibrahim and Kiraz).

If you would like to receive further notifications when a new issue is published, please register your email at the address:

http://www.acad.cua.edu/syrcom/Hugoye/VolInd.html

For information on submitting articles, please see under ‘Submission’ on the site.

George Anton Kiraz, Ph.D., Hugoye, General Editor

Het Christelijk Oosten

Het tijdschrift Het Christelijk Oosten bestaat 50 jaar. Begonnen onder de titel “Het Christelijk oosten en hereniging” door de paters assumptionisten, ontwikkelde het blad zich tot een tijdschrift dat de oecumene met de oosterse en oriëntaalse kerken benadrukt, en streeft naar interreligieuze dialoog. In 1964 werd dan ook “en hereniging” geschrapt.

Tegenwoordig wordt Het Christelijk Oosten uitgegeven door het Instituut voor Byzantijnse en Oecumenische Studies in Nijmegen (Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT Nijmegen, tel. 024 3615603). De redactie bestaat uit A. Davids (hoofdredacteur), B. Groen en H. Teule (redactieleden), en V. van Aalst en S. Snepvangers, secretariaat.

Het Christelijk Oosten verschijnt in een dubbelnummer, dat in mei en november verschijnt. In ieder nummer wordt een kroniek gepubliceerd met nieuws van de oosterse kerken. In nummer 1-2 van 1998 worden onder andere de Oekraïne, Jeruzalem en Noord-Irak behandeld. Verder staan er artikelen in over de Chaldeeuwse gemeenschap in Istanboel, Nationalisme in de oosterse orthodoxie, Theodorus van Mopsuestia, kerk in Rusland en de Oekraïne en de icoon van de Intocht in Jerusalem.

Het Christelijk Oosten wordt uitgegeven door Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven, België, en kost fl. 75,- per jaar (of fl. 40,- voor studenten). ISSN 0009-5141.

Klooster-nieuws

Valaam-klooster in Rusland heeft dringend financiële hulp nodig

De krisis met de roebel heeft ook het sinds acht jaar herstichtte klooster Valaam getroffen. De financiële inkomsten waren door de ineenstorting van de Russische bank niet genoeg om al de voedselvooraden voor de winter in te slaan.

Er wonen ruim 200 monniken en 300 van het klooster afhankelijke bewoners van het eiland waarop het klooster 1000 jaar geleden gevestigd is. In de winter, die van november tot april duurt, kan er alleen door middel van een helicopter of vrachtwagens (waarvan er al vele verloren gingen) voedsel gebracht worden.

Metropoliet Leo van de Fins-Orthodoxe kerk heeft een fonds opgezet om voedseltransporten vanuit het nabijgelegen Finland te betalen. Het banknummer van het Valaam-fonds is:

Handelsbanken 3131305704010 PL 272 00121 Helsinki.

Deir Mar Musa, Nebek in Syrië

Vader Paolo heeft de opdracht gekregen van de Société de Jésus, op verzoek van de plaatselijke bisschop, om het klooster van Sint Mozes officieel te stichten. Dit oude klooster dat in de jaren ’80 nieuw leven is ingeblazen door samenwerking tussen Italiaanse geestelijken en plaatselijke bevolking, had nog geen ‘officiële’ status. Daar wordt nu aan gewerkt. Ook is ten oosten van het klooster een bron gegraven (350 meter diep) zodat de cisternen en reservoirs, alsmede de plantages van amandelbomen van water kunnen worden voorzien.

In het voorjaar van 1998, de dinsdag na Pasen, heeft zuster Elena Bologenesi de eeuwige gelofte afgelegd. Zij is de eerste zuster in de gemeenschap van Mar Musa om de eeuwige gelofte af te leggen, terwijl de levenswijze van dit klooster nog verre is van kerkelijke goedkeuring.

Tentoonstellingen/Exhibitions

Ethiopië

In het Tropenmuseum, Linnaeusstraat 2 te Amsterdam, is tot 16 augustus 1999 de expositie Ethiopië – de erfenis van een keizerrijk te zien. De aankondiging accentueert de continuteit van keizerlijk bestuur over dit land sinds de tijd van Salomo; hierop is op historische gronden wel wat af te dingen, maar in ieder geval is het met de monarchie (voorgoed?) afgelopen in dit land sinds 1974. Speciale aandacht voor de materiële cultuur binnen de christelijke, islamitische en zoals men het zelf noemt “Afrikaanse” tradities (islam en christendom zijn dus niet Afrikaans volgens de afdeling publiciteit van het Tropenmuseum). Verslag elders in dit nummer.

Ikonenmuseum

17 juli 1998 is in Den Haag het Odigia Ikonen Museum geopend, een permanente expositie van vooral Russische ikonen, waarin de Nowgorod-stijl het meest vertegenwoordigd is. Helaas wordt in de desbetreffende verslaggeving niet vermeld hoe in het algemeen “sinds de val van de Muur” zo vaak tentoongestelde ikonen eigenlijk buiten het land van herkomst zijn geraakt. Dit museum heeft een vaste kern van 47 door particuliere verzamelaars ter beschikking gestelde ikonen, en een zaal met in bruikleen gegeven stukken. Adres: Molenstraat 6, Den Haag, open: dinsdag t/m zondag 10.00 – 16.00 uur.

In dit verband kunnen wij de Stichting tot Behoud van Ikonen in het Midden-Oosten noemen, die in ieder geval het “particuliere verzamelen” niet bevordert. Deze wil conservering en behoud bevorderen op de plaatsen waar de ikonen thuis zijn en horen: kloosters en kerken, die echter de financiële middelen ontberen. Bankrekeningnr. van de Stichting: 456718370, adres: Postbus 1004, 1398 ZJ Muiden.

Berichten

Nieuw beeld van Constantijn de Grote

In York is afgelopen zomer een nieuw standbeeld van keizer Constantijn onthuld. Het staat aan de zuidelijke ingang van York Minster, dichtbij de plaats waar hij in 306 tot keizer van het Romeinse Rijk werd uitgeroepen. Het beeld is vervaardigd door Philip Jackson, en is ongeveer anderhalve meter hoog.

Ontvangen/received

Society for Armenian Studies Newsletter, Vol. XXII, No.3 (51), Fall 1998.

Greek CatWelfare Society (UK), 9 Woodfield Crescent, London W5 1PD, England. Founded by Christine Morison in 1991 to help stray cats in Greece.

Symposium – quarterly journal by Hellenic students. Vol.1. The Hellenic House, 257A Hinckley Road, Western Park, Leicester LE3 0TH, England.

http://www.symposiumonline.net

Comment: Quite a difference with Dutch magazine Lychnari! Well, they may be excused by the fact that there are so many Hellenic students in Britain… Articles seem to be placed in the order of receiving, so actually – no order for the reader, which makes the journal a surprising read indeed!

A call to subscribe to ‘Greek-o-file’, a quarterly publication for ‘Greekophiles’, which we actually have not seen yet. Address: 4 Harvey Road, Langley, Berks SL3 8JB, England. E-mail: Greekofile@aol.com

Kopten, christelijke cultuur in Egypte, ed. Robert Linsingh Scheurleer … [et al.]. Amsterdam, 1998. (Mededelingenblad Vereniging van Vrienden Allard Pierson Museum, nrs. 73-73). De catalogus behorende bij de tentoonstelling over Kopten die in het Allard Pierson Museum gehouden is in 1998-1999.