Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity

k, as y'all know, tomorrow is the official drop date for _smoke & mirrors_!

i couldn't have written that one alone, so over the next 2-3 days, i'll post about the work that helped shape it. heads up that i won't get to all - or many, even. but it matters to me to acknowledge collaboration here. 1/

Monday November 24th at 5 pm Marriott Copley Place, Suffolk (3rd floor) Session ID A24-427 with panelists Zsuzsanna Gulacsi, Charles Haberl, James McGrath, and Syed Zaidi.

Don't miss this session at AAR/SBL where we'll be talking about recent (and in one case forthcoming) books about Mandaeism by Jorunn Buckley, Edmondo Lupieri, and Sandra van Rompaey! #AARSBL25

Exhibition of 15 Syriac manuscripts at KU Leuven on Thursday 11 September 2025 at 4 PM at the Maurits Sabbe Library in Leuven: "Treasures from the East: Syriac Manuscripts in the Collection of the Maurits Sabbe Library"
Registration: bib.kuleuven.be/msb/over/nie...

Carpet page with a cross, in a manuscript containing the Syriac Túrgāme by ʻAbdíšoʻ bar Bríkā. (DAACE 00001, fol. 49r)

Digitization & cataloging are complete for three #Syriac #manuscripts in the collection of the Diocese of Adiabene of the Ancient Church of the East in Erbil, Iraq. One colophon testifies to the scribe's recent escape from the Sayfo genocide during WWI.

Learn more: hmml.org/collections/...

Website of the Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions. The text reads: " Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions L*CeSAR is a network that aims to foster academic exchange among researchers working on ancient religions in Leiden and beyond. The Center seeks to become a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together scholars from Leiden University and other Dutch universities, and offering a platform for scholarly dialogue and the dissemination of knowledge." At the bottom, two clickable buttons read "Who are we?" and "What we do?". At the top, the horizontal menu reads "Home", "About us", "Activities" and "Contact Us"

Exciting news! @unileiden.bsky.social now has its very own Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions (L*CeSAR), run by my wonderful colleagues Kim Beerden and Rafał Matuszewski. Working on ancient religion, and looking to connect? Check out the website: ancientreligions.lucdh.nl

The Society's Committee on Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession (CUREMP) is in search for 2025 Outstanding Mentors. Nominations are due 30 July 2025. Nominate Now! buff.ly/IbnVy04

2025 International Meeting Uppsala The International Meeting is held annually outside North America. It provides a unique forum for international scholars who are unable to attend the N

Registration is open for the SBL International Meeting! Register today.

Real and Imagined Boundaries in Late Antiquity (4th-9th century) | Mary Jaharis Center

Attend: Real and Imagined Boundaries in Late Antiquity (4th-9th century), First International Post-Graduate Conference of the Ghent Centre for Late Antiquity, Ghent University, April 28–30, 2025 maryjahariscenter.org/blog/real-an...

Research Associate (Post-doctoral Researcher) in Syriac Studies, University of Munich | Mary Jaharis Center

Job posting: Research Associate (Post-doctoral Researcher) in Syriac Studies, University of Munich. Applications due May 15, 2025 maryjahariscenter.org/blog/researc...

Gender Violence in Late Antiquity by Jennifer Barry - Hardcover Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

Gender Violence in Late Antiquity is now available for pre-order! @ucpress.bsky.social www.ucpress.edu/books/gender...

The Trump administration’s attacks on scientific funding, restrictions on Federal scientist activities, and indiscriminate firing have caused chaos, panic, and harm. We need *specific* examples of harms caused by these policies to include in an open letter. Grants cut, projects cancelled, jobs lost. Feel free to send news stories, blog posts, or social media posts that mention these, as well as original contributions. Please send to WhySharksMatter @ gmail or DM me

Science (and science policy, and conservation) friends, I need your help!

We are collecting *specific, clear* examples of harms caused by the Trump administration's attacks on science, to be included in an open letter.

Can be links to news stories/social media posts. 🧪🦑🌎 #SciComm #SciPol

Winter Lecture Series: The Holy Land at HMML, with Dr. Jan Vandeburie. January 22, 2025, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. (CT). Visit HMML.org to RSVP for this free, virtual event.

Register now for “The Holy Land at HMML,” with special guest Dr. Jan Vandeburie, on January 22 at 11 am (CT).

This event is part of a four-part Winter Lecture Series and is free, virtual, and open to all. Registration is required.

Learn more: hmml.org/events

TAU researchers discover second-century BCE fortress at Ashdod-Yam Excavations at Ashdod-Yam reveal a second-century BCE fortress destroyed in conflict, the Institute of Archeology at Tel Aviv University reported.

TAU researchers discover second-century BCE fortress at Ashdod-Yam

www.jpost.com/archaeology/...

Recent Studies on Persian-Greek Relations

Kühne, Sebastian. 2024. Kommunikation, Konsens und Konflikt: neuere Untersuchungen zu den persisch-griechischen Beziehungen (Oriens et occidens 43). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. Sebastian Kühne addresses selected aspects of the political interactions…

A Syriac Poem on Wine “Who doesn’t love a good glass of wine? White, red, or something in between, authors throughout history...”

"...it is you who gives and makes abundance."

An excerpt from a Syriac poem on wine, versions of which appear manuscripts from both West Syriac & East Syriac traditions.

A story from the archive, by Dr. James Walters (@jedwardwalters.bsky.social): hmml.org/stories/series-food-a-syriac-poem-on-wine

To celebrate both @younan.bsky.social's publication here and me crossing the 2k follower mark, let's have a thread about Narsai and some exciting new resources that have come out recently or are coming out soon.

Cover of the volume

Inside page

Very exciting to see this in print - it’s real! #aarsbl2024 #narsai #syriac

Please add Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity!

I started a list for Syriac Studies - please reply to be added!

go.bsky.app/9sUvunP

We are delighted that Monika Amsler (@monikaamsler.bsky.social) will be speaking at our invitation on 3 December as part of the lecture series "Basiswissen Islam" on information management by authors of encyclopaedic works in late antiquity. If you are in Munich, come along!

Page 1 of an academic call for papers. White text on blue, with a blue grid in the background and white line drawing of elements of classical architecture, intended to look like blueprints. The text is also available at https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/technical-and-professional-knowledge-late-antiquity-society-late-antiquity

Page 2 of an academic call for papers. White text on blue, with a blue grid in the background and white line drawing of elements of classical architecture, intended to look like blueprints. The text is also available at https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/technical-and-professional-knowledge-late-antiquity-society-late-antiquity

#Classics and #LateAntiquity scholars, I am organizing the Society for Late Antiquity’s paper session at the 2026 SCS annual meeting. The abstract deadline is 2/14/24. See the CFP for details.

Full CFP below (feel free to share) and also at classicalstudies.org/annual-meeti...

#AncientSky 🏺

AJS is coming up next week! Swing by this Tuesday session featuring papers engaging the recent book by Simcha Gross, Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity. Zoom room 06.

Front Cover: Cover art: Early Byzantine ivory with a gathering in front of a city gate, Louvre inv. OA 3317 (Jean-Gilles Berizzi 2002, see the contribution by P. Niewöhner in this issue). The city gate is flanked by rows of oval shields that are displayed above eye level, seven on each side of the gateway.

New issue of Journal of Late Antiquity Vol. 17, No. 2 (2024) muse.jhu.edu/issue/53367 @projectmuse.bsky.social @hopkinspress.bsky.social