Marion Pragt
@worldlyscribe.bsky.social
Syriac, late antiquity, manuscripts, sheep and tea.
Het bijzondere verhaal van Elio Atto die mij en vele anderen altijd hartelijk ontving in Mor Efrem www.trouw.nl/verdieping/a...
Abt Eliyo Atto ontving in zijn klooster ook ongenode gasten met open armen
De zachtaardige abt Eliyo Atto, een van de grondleggers van het Mor Ephrem-klooster in Twente, was een vriend van jongeren, een broer voor ouderen en een vaderlijke leraar.
trouw.nl
Our team at KU Leuven is organizing a Workshop on Letters & Epistolary Culture in Syriac Christianity at the Oxford Patristic Studies Conference (2–6 Aug 2027). We will be happy to receive proposals for papers by 30 June 2026 (marion.pragt@kuleuven.be). Details in the attached file.
There is a new, open access 🚨 📖 book tracing the global history of Zoroastrianism from antiquity (6th century BCE-7th century CE) to the Middle Ages—and then into modernity. My friend & top Manichaeism scholar @babelalexandria.bsky.social has a chapter as well. www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
The Zoroastrian World | Jenny Rose, Albert de Jong, Sarah Stewart | Ta
Although Zoroastrians in the contemporary world are numerically few – estimated recently at less than 150,000 across the globe – their ancient Iranian ancestors
taylorfrancis.com
Next week! With Christine Shepardson (The University of Tennessee Knoxville) and @philipforness.bsky.social (KU Leuven)!
Save the date! Thursday 4 June at 4PM CET Book in the Spotlight: Christine Shepardson: A Memory of Violence: Syriac Christianity and the Radicalization of Religious Difference in Late Antiquity (University of California Press, 2026) Respondent will be Philip Forness (KULeuven).
Next Thu 28 May, 10 AM Karolina Tomczyszyn (KULeuven) •Approved Teachers and Insignificant Rhetoricians: Literary Curation in the Letters of Jacob of Edessa, George, bishop of the Arabs, and John of Litarb• Don't forget to register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social to receive the Zoom link
Voor een gezelschap met em. hoogleraar Syrisch Gerrit Reinink zochten we Syrische boeken. Daarbij kwam deze parel tevoorschijn. Dit bandje bevat een uitgave uit 1555 van de evangeliën in het klassiek West-Syrisch. Het Serta-schrift is zo mooi dat het in een expositie over Letterkunst komt. (2/3)
..and to hearing about demonic ducks!
Next Thursday 7 May we are hosting a paper by Rachael Banes (IMAFO, ÖAW) who will be speaking about a mysterious inscription •A Fowl Demon? The "Demonic Duck" Graffito at Didyma in its wider Epigraphic Landscape• If you're not yet on our mailing list, please register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social
New special issue on paradoxography and knowledge production in Studies in Late Antiquity. Thank you @monikaamsler.bsky.social for your dedication!
If you missed this morning's paper by Larissa Ficulle Santini on fertility control in Byzantium, here is the recording! youtu.be/V4khg32-r-w
TeTra | Larisa Ficulle Santini "How to Talk about Fertility Control in Byzantium"
YouTube video by TeTra | Text and Transmission Research Seminar
youtu.be
If you missed Michael Erdman's paper last week, here is the recording! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvBg...
TeTra | Michael Erdman "Copies of a 19th c. Silk Production Manual in Ottoman and Armeno-Turkish"
YouTube video by TeTra | Text and Transmission Research Seminar
youtube.com
🧯Hot off the press: Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity (Cambridge Element) > free download until April 8! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Education in Religious Contexts of Late Antiquity
cambridge.org
Had lots of fun recording this with the St Edmund Hall (nickname: Teddy Hall) Director of Music Carlos Rodríguez Otero in the crypt of St-Peter-in-the-East. Lyrics in the info box! youtu.be/JeHQP-Avdhs
Ursulorum parvulorum convivium (Teddy Bears Picnic) in the crypt of St-Peter-in-the-East
YouTube video by Henrike Lähnemann
youtu.be
#NewPublication #OpenAccess #ChristianEast #ManuscriptStudies #BookHistory #ArabicBible “Monastic Literature in Early Islamic Palestine and Sinai: Manuscripts, Scribes, Translators, Authors, and Later Readers”, COMSt Bulletin Special Issue, ed. by Adrian C. Pirtea
Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin 11, 2025
aai.uni-hamburg.de
For the word nerds out there, the word in Akkadian for "expert in aromatics" is muraqqītu. This was the technical domain of women. As another random example, a woman named Tukulti-sha-shamê "the muraqqītu", provided oil for cultic events for a period of 8 months to a steward named Saggi'u.
Join us next Thursday 26 Feb at 10 AM CET for a paper by Maria S. Thomas (UniVie) on the manuscript production of the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem in the twelfth century! If you are not yet on our mailing list, please register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social
Postdocs were recently described as 'the disposable worker bees of academia". @elckerlieke.bsky.social and I added to the conversation. How can we better recognise the contributions of this essential part of the academic ecosystem? www.voicesyoungacademics.nl/articles/for...
Forming a hive: The importance of recognising and organising postdoctoral ‘worker bees’
A recent piece by Welmoed Visser in Ad Valvas describes the struggles of postdocs, “the disposable worker bees of academia”. As postdocs working at Leiden University, we recognise many of the concerns...
voicesyoungacademics.nl
We're thrilled to share with you the programme for the 2026 online seminar of the project! The series is curated by our colleague Maria S. Thomas (@dekayra.bsky.social). All welcome! Let us know if you'd like to add you to the email list. genaut.univie.ac.at/?page_id=671
Next week we are hosting another paper, this time by Nicolas Atas (KU Leuven) on Syriac lexica! Tune in on Thursday 5 Feb at our regular time of 10 AM CET. As always, don't forget to register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social if you're not yet on our mailing list!
Call for Papers - EABS 2026: Biblical Reception in Eastern Christian Traditions. We welcome papers on manuscripts, margins, scribes, biblical traditions, and more. Abstracts can be submitted until 31 January 2026: eabs.my.site.com/s/research-u...
Very exciting to see the new book of Leuven colleague Hanneke van der Schoor has now appeared, who uses Dead Sea Scroll evidence about the mysterious figure of Qahat to think through modern practices of editing and textual classification (brill.com/display/titl...; @dgb-relbibtheo.bsky.social).
Excited to announce this for late April! Join us by zoom, it will be online too. #lateantiquity #earlymiddleages @hebrewuniversity.bsky.social
Pasts Imperfect is back from break! This week, we focus on AI ethics and labor with @illdottore.bsky.social, Christine Johnston & Leigh Anne Lieberman. Then, ancient bees in jawbones, Roman camels in Basel, a book on temple robbery, new ancient world journals @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & much more
Pasts Imperfect (1.8.26)
This week, we are back from holiday break with a deep dive into the ethics, big business, and myth-peddling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education. Then, bees in ancient jawbones within t...
pasts-imperfect.ghost.io
Happy New Year everyone! We are starting off 2026 next Friday 9 Jan at 10 AM with a paper by Roman Gundacker (ÖAW/UniVie) on Manetho's Aegyptiaca. If you're not yet on the mailing list and interested in attending, please register w/ @andyhilkens.bsky.social
Bit of news here: genaut.univie.ac.at/?p=1595 @erc.europa.eu #ERCCoG
The results of the ERC Consolidator Grant call have been announced! 📣 349 researchers have been selected for funding. Congratulations to all! #ERCCogG! 👉 buff.ly/uu62uFV #FrontierResearch #EUfunded #HorizonEurope @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu
Today, Sid and I are attempting a recipe for “roy marmelaede” with quinces from the Antwerp Annunciates’ recipe book (first half 17th century, with some later additions - @kbrbe.bsky.social). Quite curious as to how this will go (1/?) #earlyModern #bookhistory #womenshistory #foodhistory
Exiting the theology faculty has become quite the adventure.