CULTURE AND RELIGIONS OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
Oxford-Princeton research partnership
Ethnicity and Religious Identity |Centre and Region |Regional Dynamics |Talking with Gods |Faith in Religions | Syriain Antiquity |Priesthoods in The Ancient World | Society,Wealth and the Divine |
Purity and Pollution | The Ways that never Parted |
Participants
The broad sweep of the culture and religions in the Eastern Mediterranean
world is an extraordinarily verdant area of research. It involves the
formation of Greek identity, the confidence and self-reflexivity of
the Classical period, the expansion of the area of Greek culture in
the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and the transmission and transformation
of Greek culture through the Byzantine period up to the present day.
Within the general sphere of culture, the religious histories of this
region are currently of major interest: archaic and classical Greek
religion; civic religions in the Greek East; interactions with Judaism;
the development of eastern Christianity; the rise of Islam. Some of
the most exciting work in the humanities is currently taking place in
this field.
The disciplines involved are very varied: classical literature; Greek
history, with its supporting disciplines of epigraphy and papyrology;
archaeology, involving both field archaeology and art history; Byzantine
studies; Syriac studies; Jewish studies; religious studies; medieval
and modern Greek; Islamic studies. The disciplines, though diverse,
centre on a coherent subject area, and their interrelationships and
interactions are enormously fruitful.
There are three central elements for this cooperation between the two
universities: graduate scholarships and exchanges; faculty exchanges;
and special projects.
September 2012 –January 2013: ‘Ethnicity and Religious Identity in the Ancient World’
In Autumn 2012, parallel sessions will be held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Oxford in January 2013.
Oxford Programme (Beate Dignas, Robert Parker, Nicholas Purcell, Guy Stroumsa)
Speakers (some dates and titles not yet available):
Lindsay Allen, Markus Bockmuehl, Lindsay Driediger-Murphy, Jonathan Kirkpatrick, Fergus Millar, Teresa Morgan, Nicholas Purcell, Jo Quinn
Week 1 (October 9th): Lindsay Driediger-Murphy, tba
Week 2 (October 16th): Lindsay Allen, tba
Week 3 (October 23rd): Nicholas Purcell, 'Ethnos, polis and sanctuary in the long history of Campania'
Week 4 (October 30th): Jo Quinn, 'The Culture of the Tophets: A Punic World in the Central Mediterranean?'
Week 5 (November 6th): Markus Bockmuehl, ‘Strangers at Home: Bethsaida as a Case Study of Jewish Diaspora Within Roman Palestine.’
Week 6 (November 13th): Teresa Morgan, ‘Josephus on trust in relations between Jews and Others’
Week 7 (November 20th): Jonathan Kirkpatrick, tba
Week 8 (November 27th): Fergus Millar, ‘Finding a Forefather: From Pagan Saracens to Muslim Arabs?’
September 2009 – January 2010: ‘CENTRE AND REGION IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN'
In Autumn 2009, parallel sessions will be held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Princeton in January 2010.
Oxford Programme (Jonathan Prag and Alfonso Moreno):
Week 1 (October 13th) Jonathan Prag (Oxford) : Epigraphic habits in the hellenistic western Mediterranean
Week 2 (October 20th) Alex Mullen (Cambridge) : 'La Provence grecque': regional identities and language in Southern Gaul
Week 3 (October 27th) Alfonso Moreno (Oxford) : Hieron and Pontic-Aegean Networks
Week 5 (November 10th) Rebecca Sweetman (St. Andrews) : Crete: Hellenistic seclusion to Roman network hub
Week 6 (November 17th) Vincent Gabrielsen (Copenhagen) : Economic Dynamism and Aegean Aristocracies: Hellenistic Rhodes and its network
Week 7 (November 24th) Alicia Jiménez (Madrid): Roman Coins in a Provincial Context: the Republican army and the camps at Numantia (Soria, Spain)
Week 8 (December 1st) Lorenzo Campagna (Messina): Exploring social and cultural changes in the communities of provincia Sicilia: new perspectives from the study of urban landscapes
September 2008 –January 2009: ‘REGIONAL DYNAMICS IN THE AGE OF THE POLIS’
In Autumn 2008, parallel sessions were held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Oxford in January 2009.
Oxford Programme (Rosalind Thomas and Alfonso Moreno)
Week 1 (October 14th) Nicholas Purcell: Practical Regionalism
Week 2 (October 21st) Andreas Willi, Creating Sicily: language, literature and the formation of a colonial region.
Week 3 (October 28th) Thomas Kiely, Between Palace and Polis? Ancient Constructions of the Iron Age Kingdoms of Cyprus (9th – 4th centuries B.C.)
Week 4 (November 4th) Ian Rutherford, Regional Dynamics and Pilgrimage: the case of Hellenistic Samothrace.
Week 5 (November 11th) Maria Pretzler, Symmachy and Ethnos: Regionalism in the Peloponnese.
Week 6 (November 18th) Catherine Draycott, Hellespontine Phrygia: attempts to define a region.
Week 7 (November 25th) Emily Mackil, From Fragmentation to Flourishing: Regional Economies and the Greek Koinon.
Week 8 (December 2nd) Kostas Vlassopoulos, Regional perspectives and the Writing of Greek History.
September 2007 – January 2008: ‘TALKING WITH GODS'
In autumn 2007 parallel seminars were held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Princeton in
January 2008.
Oxford Programme (Teresa Morgan and Markus Bockmuehl):
Week 1 (9 Oct) Nicole Belayche (Paris): Talking to the gods: from pagan to Christian.
Week 2 (16 Oct) Angelos Chaniotis (Oxford): Acclamations as a form of religious communication.
Week 3 (23 Oct) Beate Dignas (Oxford): Talking about talking to the gods: Tisamenos, Herodotus and Simonides.
Week 4 (30 Oct) Susan Gillingham (Oxford): Talking to God in psalms.
Week 5 (6 Nov) Sebastian Brock (Oxford): Divine acclamations in Syriac.
Week 6 (13 Nov) Mary Beard (Cambridge): Cicero, de haruspicum responso.
Week 7 (20 Nov) John North (London): Divine threats and human responses
September 2006 – January 2007: ‘FAITH IN RELIGIONS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD’
In autumn 2006 parallel seminars were held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Oxford in January 2007.
Oxford Programme (Teresa Morgan (Oxford) and Barbara Kowalzig (Royal Holloway)):
Week 1 (Oct. 10th) Teresa Morgan (Oxford): Looking for Faith in Greek and Roman Religion.
Week 2 (Oct. 17th) Catherine Bell (UC Santa Clara): Anthropology and the Study of Greek Religion.
Week 3 (Oct. 24th) John Barton (Oxford): Faith in the Hebrew Bible.
Week 4 (Oct. 31st) Nicholas Purcell (Oxford): Thinking about Thinking Gods.
Week 5 (Nov. 7th) Nicole Belayche (Paris): Faith and the Evolution of Religiosity in the Greek World.
Week 6 (Nov. 14th) Robert Parker, Martin Goodman, Barbara Kowalzig, Teresa Morgan. Panel: Problems of Faith.
Week 7 (Nov. 23rd) Martin Goodman (Oxford): Faith and Works in Late Antique Judaism.
Week 8 (Nov. 30th) Judith Lieu (KCL): Belief, faith or trust? Pisteuein in the Gospel of John.
September 2005-January 2006: 'SYRIA
IN ANTIQUITY: LOOKING EAST OR LOOKING
WEST?'
In autumn 2005 parallel seminars were held in the two universities, with a graduate workshop in Princeton in January 2006.
Oxford Programme:
Week 1 (October 11): Peter Brown
(Princeton): 'Work, alms and
the afterlife in late antiquity:
Manichees and begging monks between
Syria and Egypt'
Week 2 (October 18): Marc van
de Mieroop (Columbia and Oxford):
'Syria down to Alexander'
Week 3 (October 25): Fergus Millar
(Oriental Institute): 'Syria from
Alexander
to Islam: the issues'
Week 4 (November 1): Zena Kamash
(Magdalen): 'Water supply, cultural
contact and the economy: evidence
from Roman and Byzantine Syria'
Week 5 (November 8): Kevin Butcher
(American University Beirut): 'Syria
in
the Roman period: material culture
and identity'
Week 6 (November 15): David Taylor
(Oriental Institute): 'Christianity
to
700: the literary evidence'
Week 7 (November 22): Marlia Mango
(St John's) : 'Christianity to
700:
the
archaeological evidence'
Week 8 (November 29): Petra Sijpesteijn
(Christ Church): 'Syria and the
beginings of Islam'.
September
2004-January 2005: 'Priesthoods
in the Ancient World'.
In autumn 2004 parallel seminars
in the two universities were held,
with a workshop in Oxford in January
2004.
Oxford programme:
The overall aim of the series
of seminars is to explore the definitions
and roles of priesthoods in the
ancient world. Definition of terms
needs to be thought about, but
primarily in relation to the difference
that different terminology makes
to the discussion. It used to be
claimed that the Greek priesthoods
were pretty amateurish (almost
like magistracies), unlike Christian
priests. It has become clear that
this contrast is inadequate in
terms of Greek priests. There are
therefore issues of professionalism
and authority to explore (what
kind of authority dies the priest
have, religious? political? What
difference does the duration of
the office make?) There are also
issues of gender, self-representation
of priests, and the interaction
of religious traditions. What is
the role of priests in Second Temple
Judaism? In the pre-Constantinian
period, can one talk of Christian
priests? How do Christian views
relate both to the pagan and the
Jewish traditions (past and present)?
1 (12 Oct.). Jonathan Kirkpatrick
(Oxford), 'Introduction'; Co-chair:
Joseph Streeter
2 (19 Oct.). Scott Scullion (Oxford), 'Bacchic
priesthoods'; Co-chair: Annelies Cazemier
3 (26 Oct.). Ted Kaizer (Oxford), 'Priesthood
in the Levant, 63 BC - AD 284: Indigenous,
Greek and Roman'; Co-chair: Jan-Matthieu
Carbon
4 (2 Nov.). Mark Edwards (Oxford), 'Was
there a Christian priesthood before Constantine?';
Co-chair: Daniel Schwartz
5 (9 Nov) Philip Alexander (Manchester),
'Jewish priests after 70'; Co-chair: Enid
Rubenstein
6 (16 Nov.). John Baines (Oxford), 'A high-priestly
couple in Ptolemaic Egypt'; Co-chair: Shizu
Okada
7 (23 Nov.). John North (London), 'Priests
and law in Republican Rome'; Co-chair:
Zehavi Husser
8 (30 Nov.) Simon Price (Oxford), 'Concluding
Discussion'; Co-chair: David Michelson.
Princeton programme:
Fernandez, Damian, "Bishops and
Tax Collectors in sixth century
Spain"
Gambash, Gil, "Eastern priestly power in
face of Macedonian invasion"
Gandy, Meghan, "Vestal Virgins during the
Roman Republic"
Jackson, Adam, "Pretenders to the Priesthood:
Titus in the Temple"
Kessler, Elizabeth, "Priesthoods in Archaic
Athens"
Ljung, Emma, "Scipio Africanus in relation
to Jupiter: the personal nature of Roman
religion"
Papayiannis, Joanna, "The Role of Religious
Figures in Greek colonization: Politics
and Piety"
Vidas, Moulie, "A reconsideration of the
Nazirite Law in Numbers 6".
September
2003-January 2004: 'Society, Wealth
and the Divine: Benefactors in
Ancient Cities'.
In autumn 2003 parallel seminars
were held in the two universities,
with a workshop in Princeton in
January 2004.
Oxford programme
[1: 13 Oct. Prof. G. Rogers (Wellesley
College), Money and mysteries in
Ephesos. Respondent: Annelies Cazemier.
Cancelled due to illness]
2: 20 Oct. Prof. J. K. Davies (Liverpool)
The impious Phokians as economic facilitators.
Respondent: Jez Stanley.
3: 27 Oct. Dr T. Kaizer (Corpus Christi
College, Oxford), Who paid for temples
in the Roman East? Respondent: Ji-Eun Lee.
4: 3 Nov. Dr J. Elsner (Corpus Christi
College, Oxford) Public patrons, private
patrons and the imagery of religion. Respondent:
Joseph Streeter.
5: 10 Nov. Prof. J. Magness (University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), A Sixth-Century
Date for the Sardis Synagogue? Respondent:
HelenAnn Hartley.
6: 17 Nov. Prof. F. G. B. Millar (Oriental
Institute, Oxford) Benefactors and donors
in synagogues and churches. Respondent:
Georgios Deligiannakis.
7: 24 Nov. Dr B. Dignas (University of
Michigan) Benefitting benefactors: Greek
priests and euergetism. Respondent: Annelies
Cazemier.
8: 1 Dec. Prof. P. Debord (Université Michel
de Montaigne-Bordeaux III), Sanctuaires
et évergétisme (principalement
en anatolie occidentale). Respondent: Peter
Thonemann.
Princeton programme:
Sept. 12: Introduction
Sept. 19: Benefaction and Euergetism: history
of scholarship, definitions, anthropological
roots of euergetism (Fernandez)
Sept. 26: The first stages of the euergetic
institution: foreigners and athlets in
the archaic polis (Andrioti)
Oct. 3: A neglected aspect of the archaic
community: the generosity of aristocrats
(Belis)
Oct. 10: Tyrants as benefactors: the phenomenon
of archaic tyranny from a new perspective
(Avlamis)
Oct. 17: Athletes, generals and stateman
in the classical polis (Robinson)
Oct. 24: Liturgies and benefactions of
citizens in the fifth-century: the Athenian
'Sonderweg' (Avlamis, Andrioti, Belis)
Nov. 7: Contradictions between democracy
and economy in forth century Athens: Liturgies
and the emergence of civic euergetism (Gardner)
Nov 14: The triumph of euergetism, and
the differences between Early and Late
Hellenistic benefactors (Downs)
Nov. 21: New forms of interaction: Kings,
cities and euergetism in the Hellenistic
Age (Robinson, Gardner)
Dec. 5: "L'âge d'or de l'évergétisme":
benefactions and honors in the Eastern
Roman Empire (Caldwell)
September
2002-January 2003: Purity and Pollution
in Ancient Religions
Parallel seminars were held in
Oxford and Princeton in the autumn
of 2002, and a joint workshop was
held in Oxford in January 2003.
One of the participants, Jonathan
Kirkpatrick, has written a draft
article inspired by the issues
raised, and would welcome comments
on the draft from fellow participants.
Please email him with any reactions
you may have:
jonathan.kirkpatrick@balliol.ox.ac.uk
January 2002: The Ways that Never Parted:
Jews and Christians in Late
Antiquity and Early Middle Ages - a joint symposium at Princeton.
For more details see http://www.princeton.edu/~religion/ways/
Participants
© C@O 2012: Classics at Oxford, Faculty of Classics. Webmaster. Last updated:
October 8, 2012.
Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 St Giles', Oxford, OX1 3LU.
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