@csmc-hamburg.bsky.social
At the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures and its Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts, we conduct cross-disciplinary research on handwritten artefacts from all periods and regions of the world. https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/
The new volume in our book series takes you to places of dirt, sweat, and physical labour: archives. Their material features have long been neglected by scholarship. Yet, they are crucial sites of human interaction with written artefacts.
Open access!
uhh.de/csmc-archives
Das Zuhause war schon immer ein Ort der Schrift: Schutzsprüche an Türen, Einkaufslisten, Namen oder Inschriften in Mosaiken erzählen viel über die Bewohner eines Ortes & ihren Alltag. Internat. Konferenz @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social zur Rolle von Schriftartefakten in Wohnräumen, 11.+12.12. in der Stabi
01.12.2025 09:57 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Laura Gallardo Dominguez and Malgorzata Grzelec with the Sosa family at the Bii Dauu dye production workshop.
A manuscript from don Alfonso Garcia Tellez. Photo: Malgorzata Grzelec.
Małgorzata Grzelec and Laura Gallardo Domínguez have just returned from their journey right into the heart of Mexico’s material writing culture, documenting local papermaking and dye production traditions. In our blog, they report on their trip:
uhh.de/csmc-mexico
Verifying consistency of catalogue records. Left to right: Chief Archivist of Arewa House Musa Salih Muhammad, Bashir Bature (Arewa House), Arabist of Kaduna Museum Kabiru Salisu, conservator of Kaduna Museum Lubabatu Leku Yakub, and Maria Luisa Russo.
Dmitry Bondarev examining the dated Borno Qur’an with annotations in Old Kanembu.
Update from our Ajami project: Our colleagues Dmitry Bondarev and Maria Luisa Russo recently visited Kaduna, Nigeria, to assess the current condition of the Jos Museum collection and to prepare a new project on the preservation and digitisation of these manuscripts:
uhh.de/csmc-kaduna
A tsakali manuscript in a special sample holder before being examined with an X-ray beam at DESY. Photo: Marta Mayer/DESY
They are not just written artefacts, but objects of art. Applying a broad spectrum of analytical tools, the new volume of our book series aims at providing the complete history of 65 tsakali cards from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Open acess!
uhh.de/csmc-smc-45
A photo showing the ancient ruins of Apamea
#SaveTheDate An anonymous world chronicle originally composed in 713 CE, likely by a Syriac monk from Apamea, has remained almost unknown until now. In his Gotha Manuscript Talk, Adrian Pirtea speaks about the rediscovery of the only surviving copy! Wednesday, 26 November 2025, 6:15 CET
24.11.2025 17:59 — 👍 15 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 0
Join us today for our Digital Lunch Seminar:
Leah Mascia and Stelios Aspiotis present their multi-analytical analysis of two Egyptian shabtis from @mkghamburg.bsky.social, dated between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE.
12:00 – 1:00 pm CET, on Zoom. All welcome!
uhh.de/csmc-shabtis
Elisa Barney Smith is a pioneer in the analysis of historical documents. In our interview, she discusses how the field has evolved over the past 30 years and the projects she undertook during her fellowship at the CSMC:
uhh.de/csmc-barney-...
How did oral and written traditions influence the transmission of sacred texts in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam? A new volume uncovers the complex interplay between spoken word and manuscript culture in the medieval Middle East:
uhh.de/csmc-intersame
Open access!
Announcing the J.P. Gumbert Dissertation Award 2025! 🏆
We are looking for the best PhD thesis on any aspect of manuscript studies defended between 1 Sep 2024 and 31 Dec 2025. The award includes a prize of 5,000 EUR and a fellowship at the CSMC.
Apply by 6 February 2026!
uhh.de/csmc-jpga-2025
To strengthen collaboration and exchange between our scholars and students in the study of Early #Chinese #manuscripts, we have ratified a Memorandum of Understanding with the renowned Research and Conservation Center for Unearthed Texts (RCCUT) at #Tsinghua University:
uhh.de/csmc-rccut-mou
We are excited to announce that our cooperation with the renowned Matenadaran in Armenia has officially been extended. Together, we will keep exploring the Caucasus’s rich written heritage
uhh.de/csmc-matenad...
The Tai Lü in Laos continue the craft of handmade mon paper, using local lianas to produce distinctive manuscripts. Agnieszka Helman-Ważny and Volker Grabowsky describe an ancient technique that endures despite the challenges posed by changing environments and modernisation:
uhh.de/csmc-mon
We’re thrilled that @robertamazza.bsky.social is at the CSMC today! Tonight, she will give a talk on ‘Papyrology and Reparations’, addressing the regimes of violence, injustice, and inequality that papyrology has been enmeshed in since colonial times.
Hybrid event, all welcome!
uhh.de/csmc-mazza
The Gotha Manuscript Talks are back! Starting today, all four lectures are open to the public. Join the event here:
uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/veranst...
@fbgotha.bsky.social
Das interdisziplinäre wiss. DFG-Netzwerk „Wort – Wirkung – Wunder“ fragt nach den kulturellen Paradigmen, die den wortmagischen Vorstellungen (vor)moderner Gesellschaften im Hinblick auf die Macht von #Sprache & Schrift zugrunde liegen. Workshop 5.-7.11. in der Stabi: blog.sub.uni-hamburg.de?p=41047
21.10.2025 08:21 — 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
The history of writing cannot be told without the history of erasure and rewriting. The new volume of our book series ‘Studies in Manuscript Cultures’ takes a global perspective on text obliteration and manuscript reuse.
Open access @dgb-mem.bsky.social
uhh.de/csmc-smc-48
Applicants welcome!
We're looking for a doctoral researcher in the field of X-ray phase-contrast imaging to work on deciphering writings composed of carbon-based inks:
www.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangeb...
Workshop @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social: Translation Choices in Multilingual Written Artefacts Navigating Visual & Cultural Layers (24./25.10.)
"Translation practices leave traces often as intricate as elusive. In many cases, the only surviving witnesses to these practices are the #artefacts themselves."
The ENCI team in Ankara: Philipp Pätzold, Andreas Beckert, Cécile Michel, Samaneh Ehteram, and Andreas Schropp. Image: Charles Steitler.
Enclosed cuneiform tablets at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara. Image: Andreas Schropp.
It's been busy weeks for our mobile CT scanner ENCI and our team: at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara and the Archaeological Museum in Kayseri, they analysed not only enclosed cuneiform tablets, but also cups, golden earrings and engraved gemstones, among others!
uhh.de/csmc-enci-2025
Sandra Pinto La Fuente (right) and Konrad Hirschler signing the MoU between the National Library of Peru and the CSMC
Happy to announce that we have agreed on two new Memoranda of Understanding with the National Library and Archives of Bhutan and the National Library of Peru! The latter was signed today by Peru’s Consul General in Hamburg, Sandra Pinto La Fuente, and CSMC Director Konrad Hirschler:
uhh.de/csmc-mou
📜 Briefe lesen, ohne die Umschläge zu beschädigen: Das ermöglicht ein Team des Exzellenzclusters „Understanding Written Artefacts“ (@csmc-hamburg.bsky.social) mit dem weltweit ersten mobilen CT-Scanner für Kulturgüter. In Ankara werden damit nun die Keilschrifttafeln Mesopotamiens untersucht.
08.10.2025 13:33 — 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
‘Second Hands’ and ‘Second Thoughts’ are the theme of our workshop on multilayered written artefacts of 19th- and 20th-century Austrian and German music this week – including live performances on a grand piano!
Registration is still open, also for online participation:
uhh.de/csmc-second-...
New open-access publication: Discover how a multidisciplinary approach helped identify and contextualise three Qurʾānic parchment fragments from the University of Münster collection, revealing their shared origins in an Umayyad Qur’an:
www.nature.com/articles/s40...
Congratulations to Thomas Asselborn, Magnus Bender, Ralf Möller, and Sylvia Melzer from our ‘Data Linking’ team on winning the Best Young Research Paper Award at the FedCSIS conference in Kraków! 🥳🍾
uhh.de/csmc-fedcsis
Warum interdisziplinäre Forschung so wichtig (und erfolgreich) ist:
Die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit erfordern die Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Disziplinen. Wie das in den Exzellenzclustern CLICCS und UWA an der Uni Hamburg gelingt, berichtet die @zeit.de Zum Beitrag (€):
Developed by an interdisciplinary team comprising Ancient Historians and Computer Scientists, EDAK is an innovative digital resource for the study of Greek and Latin inscriptions. The newly updated beta version now available:
uhh.de/csmc-edak
One more week to apply!
Join our Grad School with a full scholarship in the Scholarship Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service:
uhh.de/csmc-scholar...
Fresco of the Athonites Euthymius, John and George, Akhtala Monastery, Armenia. © Giorgi Gagoshidze
Studying the Khanmeti Lectionary fragments during the material analysis of the Georgian manuscript collection of Graz University Library within the DeLiCaTe project at the CSMC. © Eka Kvirkvelia
How did Christianity spark the rise of written Georgian culture? In our PhD Research Series, Sandro Tskhvedadze explores the evolution of Georgian Gospel lectionaries and the pivotal legacy of George the Athonite in shaping liturgical traditions:
uhh.de/csmc-tskhved...
We're excited to share that the Tag Conference 2023 proceedings are out now! Featuring new research on contemporary graffiti from scholars across 14 countries, this milestone event in Hamburg built bridges between subculture and academia
einestadtwirdbunt.shop/products/tag...
