The Academy of Finland has recently announced the funding decisions for research projects and has granted the ‘Semantic Domains in Akkadian texts‘ funding for four years! Our congratulations to all the researchers involved in this exciting project!
The project is given funding from Sept. 2016 to Aug. 2020 and is directed by Krister Lindén (language technology, Doc.) and its members are Heidi Jauhiainen (Egyptology, PhD; language technology, MA) and Tommi Jauhiainen (language technology, MA), as well as CSTT member Saana Svärd (Assyriology, Doc.).
The Semantic domains in Akkadian texts-project aims at generating contextual semantic domains for Akkadian lexemes using state-of-the-art methods from language technology. For Assyriology, the project will enable cultural understanding of concepts in ancient Mesopotamia in a totally new way. For language technology, dealing with difficult remains of cuneiform texts will provide an opportunity to develop methods that are useful for the analysis of other extinct languages as well as small and fragmented corpora. The main source of Akkadian texts for the project is the Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (Oracc), but we will make use of all relevant corpora available to us. The diachronic perspective is important as the 2500 years of written Akkadian yield significant opportunities for modeling linguistic and cultural change.
CSTT’s input is valuable in that it provides insights regarding the methodologies used in connection with the semantic domains of the Hebrew Bible.
Kings and Power: Exploring Jewish Texts in their Hellenistic Context A CSTT Workshop in Helsinki, December 3-4, 2016
The Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence “Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions” aims at a more comprehensive understanding of the emergence and influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and other ancient Jewish literature within the multicultural milieu of the ancient eastern Mediterranean region. It provides an interdisciplinary approach to cultural, societal, ideological, and material changes in the period when the sacred writings of Judaism were created, transmitted, and continuously transformed. The researchers of the CSTT examine ancient Jewish texts from the point of view of archaeology, sociology, and history of religion, to mention but some of the most influential methodological frameworks. Continue reading CFP: “Kings and Power: Exploring Jewish Texts in their Hellenistic Context” (Helsinki, 3-4 Dec. 2016)→
The experience of involuntary labor is widespread in human history. For reasons varying from slavery to economic imperatives, humans are often compelled to work. The impacts of the various imperial systems that have resorted to compulsion have been extensively studied by sociologists. Despite scholarly acknowledgments that the Persians also continued previous Ancient Near Eastern policies of using forced migration and forced labor, surprisingly it has received little to no sustained discussion. Continue reading When the Set Task is Imperial: Judaeans under Persian Forced Labor→
The program for the conference “The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine: Current Issues and Emerging Trends” is now available. The conference will be held from Wednesday 21 September to Saturday 24 September 2016 and includes speakers from Finland, Norway, Russia, the Netherlands, United States, Canada, Israel and Slovakia.Continue reading Conference program: “The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine” (Helsinki, Sept 21-24, 2016)→
Three members of the CSTT’s Team 4 – Jutta Jokiranta, Elisa Uusimäki, and Sami Yli-Karjanmaa – travelled to Ireland in the beginning of May in order to foster the co-operation between biblical scholars working at the University of Helsinki and Trinity College of Dublin. Landing to the greenness of Dublin on a sunny day was a most beautiful start for our visit, and the next days of academic activities and college life fulfilled our expectations. Continue reading A Workshop on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism at Trinity College Dublin→
Akatemiatutkija Jutta Jokiranta (tiimin 4 johtaja) osallistui Ryttylän Kansanlähetysopistolla järjestettyyn paneelikeskusteluun, jonka otsikko oli ”Raamattu – inspiroitu ja erehtymätön?” Keskusteluun osallistuivat myös Matti Kankaanniemi, joka on väitellyt historiallisesta Jeesus-tutkimuksesta Åbo Akademissa ja opettaa helluntaiseurakuntien Iso Kirja -opistolla sekä Juha Ahvio, joka on dogmatiikan dosentti Helsingin yliopistossa ja Patmos-lähetyssäätiön tutkimusjohtaja. Continue reading Mitä väitteillä Raamatun jumalallisuudesta tarkoitetaan? Katso paneelikeskustelu→
The Groningen–Leuven network of the Dead Sea Scrolls was established in 2012 as an open and informal forum primarily for the scholars of the universities of Groningen and Leuven, to get together frequently to discuss their ongoing work and current developments in the field of the Qumran studies. Soon after the first meeting the gatherings also attracted other colleagues’ attention and we have been happy to welcome numerous visitors. This year, for the first time, we published a call for papers, and about 30 people from all over the world joined to explore the theme of our meeting, “Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenism.” Continue reading From Sectarianism to Expression of Broader Hellenistic Culture: Some Notes from the Fifth Groningen-Leuven Meeting on the Dead Sea Scrolls→
CSTT gathered to its third Annual Meeting in Saariselkä, 7-10 April 2016, titled “Change‽”. Before the meeting, participants were asked to pair up with a member from another team and reflect on their research concerning their understanding of change, the levels on which they study change, reasons for change, possibilities to distinguish change from diversity, and changes in scholarship that influence their perception and use of the source materials. This communication task gave an impetus to think of change in terms of agency and how those agencies relate to power and ideology, practice and action, language and symbolism, and production of material culture and media by which all performance, interpretation and politics takes place. The exercise demonstrated how central the communication between the study of material culture and textual studies is in CSTT and how CSTT aims at constructing the bigger picture in this cooperation and interdisciplinary endeavour. Continue reading CSTT Annual Meeting 2016: How about changing scholarship?→
The Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki
