by Juha Pakkala
Five members of the CSTT (Katri Saarelainen, Emilia Tapiola, Izaak de Hulster, Martti Nissinen and Juha Pakkala) participated in a colloquium on Aram and Israel in Heidelberg in September 1–4, 2014. The focus of the colloquium was on cultural interaction, political borders and identity-building concerning the relationship between the Aramean realm and Israel in the 12th to 8th centuries bce. Continue reading Heidelberg Colloquium – Aram and Israel
CSTT:n johtaja Martti Nissinen ja Järki ja uskonnollinen hyväksyminen –huippuyksikön varajohtaja Virpi Mäkinen kävivät keskustelemassa teologisesta huippututkimuksesta YLE Horisontti –ohjelmassa. Lähetys on kuunneltavissa Yle Areenassa osoitteessa http://areena.yle.fi/radio/2325493.
by Hanna Tervanotko
One of the goals of CSTT is to foster dialogue between different disciplines that analyze the texts belonging to the Ancient Mediterranean and ancient Near Eastern cultural contexts. While it has been acknowledged for long that various literary traditions preserved in the Hebrew Bible have their origins in ancient Near Eastern cultures, the legacy between the ancient Jewish literary traditions and Greek traditions has not been inquired as thoroughly. The relatively small numbers of studies focusing on their cross-cultural relationship is surprising, given that for centuries the Mediterranean area belonged to the Hellenistic empire established by Alexander the Great. Hellenistic ideas left their marks in Jewish texts in different ways. Continue reading Hebrew Bible Studies and Classical Studies – Still in the Beginning of a Fruitful Relationship?
The program for the
Heidelberg Colloquium on the Subject of
Aram and Israel: Cultural Interaction, Political Borders and Construction of Identity
during the Early Iron Age (12 th –8 th Centuries BCE)
IWH Syposium, September 1-4, 2014,
co-organized by CSTT’s Izaak de Hulster, can be found here:
http://www.theologie.uni-heidelberg.de/md/theo/aktuelles/news/aram_and_israel_-_program_-_adjusted.pdf
by Miika Tucker
As a member of the Centre of Excellence, Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions, I was unfortunate to be away from Helsinki during some of the formative months of the Centre’s activities. I was, however, fortunate enough to begin my tenure as a member of the Centre while enjoying a 9-month fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For me, a post-graduate student focusing on Septuagint studies, “Jerusalem of Gold,” as the popular local song goes, became a golden opportunity to expand my knowledge and experiences in the field. The Hebrew University has a long history of producing excellent research in Septuagint studies. Continue reading Engaging Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
by Rick Bonnie and Raimo Hakola
Two members of CSTT, Raimo Hakola and Rick Bonnie, together with their Helsinki-colleague Ulla Tervahauta, are at the moment participating as team members in the archaeological excavations of Horvat Kur, a hilltop site situated north of the Sea of Galilee (Israel). Unlike previous seasons (2008, 2010–2013), this year no excavations will be conducted at the site. Instead, the research team carries out a two-week study season (June 22–July 6) in the lab at the youth hostel of Karei Deshe, where finds and architecture uncovered in previous seasons are being meticulously analyzed in preparation of the final excavation report of the synagogue. Raimo and Rick write this week in a more general manner about the excavations at Horvat Kur, and will elaborate next week in more detail on the different individual tasks carried out during this study season. Continue reading Horvat Kur 2014 (part 1): no digging, but in the lab
by Jutta Jokiranta
Several CSTT members participated in the Third Colloquium of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East (FIME), titled ”Concord, Conflict and Co-existence: Religion and Society in the Middle East and North Africa,” 5–7 June, 2014 in Turku, Finland. Continue reading CSTT Meets Contemporary Studies of the Middle East: FIME Colloquium in Turku
by Hanne von Weissenberg
Thirty members of the Centre of Excellence met for a one-day meeting in Helsinki on the 3rd June 2014. The day was an interesting, inspiring and unique combination of academic papers and discussions concerning academic career and its challenges. Continue reading “Where Excellence and Teamwork Meet” – CSTT Meeting, 3rd June 2014
by Mika S. Pajunen
The Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise 2014 (former John Templeton Award) was granted this year to ten scholars for their dissertations or the first book after it that pertained to the topic of God and Spirituality as broadly understood. This year’s award ceremony and an attached colloquium took place in the picturesque town of Heidelberg in Germany on the 23rd– 26th of May. Continue reading The Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award Ceremony and Colloquium 2014
Call for papers has closed, please see latest information on the workshop.
Host: Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions, University of Helsinki
Organisers: Saana Svärd (University of Helsinki) / Agnès Garcia-Ventura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
When and where: University of Helsinki (Finland), October 26th-28th 2014
After the workshop held in the last Rencontre Assyriologique (Ghent, July 2013) titled “Gender, Methodology and Assyriology” the organisers (Agnès Garcia-Ventura and Saana Svärd) are now pleased to announce a new workshop titled “Gender, Methodology and the Ancient Near East”.
The four keynote speakers are (in alphabetical order): Ann Guinan
(Babylonian Section, University of PA. Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology) / Stephanie Langin-Hooper (Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, Texas) / Marie Louise Stig Sørensen (University of Cambridge) / Ilona Zsolnay (University of Pennsylvania). The aim of the meeting is to discuss different methodological approaches to
gender within the framework of ancient Near Eastern studies (including archaeology, art history and text studies) and enable a fruitful dialogue between these approaches. Proposals dealing with these issues are welcome.
We encourage you to submit poster proposals instead of presentations as there are currently only a few time slots available for presentations. A specific poster session will be scheduled. Please send titles and abstracts (150-300 words) by June 10th. We will inform about acceptance of proposals (as presentations or posters) before June 20th.
Please send titles and abstracts to Saana Svärd (saana.svard@helsinki.fi) and/or Agnès Garcia-Ventura (agnes.ventura@gmail.com)
