Tag Archives: Featured

New book: Spaces in Late Antiquity (Routledge, 2016)

We’re h9781472450166appy to announce that the edited volume Spaces in Late Antiquity: Cultural, Theological and Archaeological Perspectives” (ed. Juliette Day, Raimo Hakola, Maijastina Kahlos, and Ulla Tervahauta; London: Routledge, 2016) has been published and can now be ordered through Routledge’s website.

Here is the book’s blurb: “Places and spaces are key factors in how individuals and groups construct their identities. Identity theories have emphasised that the construction of an identity does not follow abstract and universal processes but is also deeply rooted in specific historical, cultural, social and material environments. The essays in this volume explore how various groups in Late Antiquity rooted their identity in special places that were imbued with meanings derived from history and tradition. In Part I, essays explore the tension between the Classical heritage in public, especially urban spaces, in the form of ancient artwork and civic celebrations and the Church’s appropriation of that space through doctrinal disputes and rival public performances. Parts II and III investigate how particular locations expressed, and formed, the theological and social identities of Christian and Jewish groups by bringing together fresh insights from the archaeological and textual evidence. Together the essays here demonstrate how the use and interpretation of shared spaces contributed to the self-identity of specific groups in Late Antiquity and in so doing issued challenges, and caused conflict, with other social and religious groups.”

The book is edited by CSTT-member Raimo Hakola and other researchers from Helsinki’s Faculty of Theology, and includes two essays by CSTT-members: Raimo Hakola (“Galilean Jews and Christians in Context: Spaces Shared and Contested in the Eastern Galilee in Late Antiquity“) and Rick Bonnie (“Thrown into Limekilns: The Reuse of Statuary and Architecture in Galilee from Late Antiquity onwards“).

For more information on how to order the book, please visit Routledge’s website.

CFP: Soisalon-Soininen Symposium on the Septuagint (Helsinki, June 2017)

We are organizing a centennial symposium — Soisalon-Soininen Symposium on the Septuagint — in celebration of the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of our esteemed teacher Professor Ilmari Soisalon-Soininen on 4th June, 2017. Professor Ilmari Soisalon-Soininen did pioneering research on the Septuagint syntax, applying what we call the translation technical method, and was the founding father of Septuagint studies in Finland. The symposium is organised by the courtesy of the Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions (CSTT) funded by the Academy of Finland. The symposium will take place 1-3 June 2017 at the University of Helsinki. The actual symposium will be followed by a small anniversary party on Sunday 4 June at noon.

Keynote speakers are:

JAN JOOSTEN, “Grammar and Style in the Septuagint: On Some Remarkable Uses of Preverbs.”

JAMES K. AITKEN, “Standard Language and the Place of the Septuagint within Koine.”

SILVIA LURAGHI and CHIARA ZANCHI, “New Meanings and Constructions of Prepositions in the Septuagint: a Comparison with Classical and New Testament Greek.”

JOHN A.L. LEE, “Back to the Question of Greek Idiom.”

THEO VAN DER LOUW, “The Dynamics of Segmentation in the Greek Pentateuch.”

RAIJA SOLLAMO, “The Usage of the Article with Nouns Defined by a Nominal Genitive.”

ANNELI AEJMELAEUS, “Translation Technique and the Recensions.”

SEPPO SIPILÄ, “Soisalon-Soininen meets Grice: The Cooperational Principle and the Septuagint Syntax.”

ANSSI VOITILA, “Middle Voice as Depiction of Subject’s Dominion in the Greek Pentateuch.”

We invite proposals for papers to be presented during this symposium. Slots of papers will be 30 minutes (20 minutes presentation, and 10 minutes discussion). The papers should relate to Septuagint syntax, Ilmari Soisalon-Soininen’s research on the topic and / or the Septuagint language as part of the broader development of the Greek language. We ask you to submit your paper proposals with the title and a short abstract not later than 31st October 2016. The papers accepted for presentation will be announced before the end of the year. The symposium webpage (https://blogs.helsinki.fi/soisalon-soininen-centennial) is now opened.

Paper proposals as well as inquiries concerning the symposium should be sent to Anssi Voitila by e-mail to anssi.voitila@uef.fi.

Best regards,
Raija Sollamo, Anneli Aejmelaeus, Seppo Sipilä and Anssi Voitila

Continue reading CFP: Soisalon-Soininen Symposium on the Septuagint (Helsinki, June 2017)

Collaboration is the Key for Preparing a Critical Septuagint Edition: An Interview with Tuukka Kauhanen

(for a Finnish version of this interview, please click here)

The research of changes in ancient texts can be compared to diagnostics. The differences observed in manuscripts are symptoms of conditions or diseases. By observing these symptoms one can reach the causes and find a cure, that is, an answer for the question: what has happened to the text? Continue reading Collaboration is the Key for Preparing a Critical Septuagint Edition: An Interview with Tuukka Kauhanen

Septuagintan Kriittinen Editio Syntyy Yhteistyössä: Haastattelussa Tuukka Kauhanen

(for an English version of this interview, please click here)

Muinaisten tekstien muutosten tutkimusta voi verrata diagnostiikkaan. Käsikirjoituksissa havaitut erot ovat oireita ja merkkejä tiloista tai sairauksista. Oireita tarkkailemalla voi päästä käsiksi erojen syihin ja löytää hoitokeinon eli vastauksen kysymykseen: mitä tekstille on tapahtunut? Continue reading Septuagintan Kriittinen Editio Syntyy Yhteistyössä: Haastattelussa Tuukka Kauhanen

Academy of Finland grants a 4-year project funding to the ‘Semantic domains in Akkadian texts’-project

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.

CFP: “Kings and Power: Exploring Jewish Texts in their Hellenistic Context” (Helsinki, 3-4 Dec. 2016)

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)

When the Set Task is Imperial: Judaeans under Persian Forced Labor

By Jason Silverman

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

Conference program: “The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine” (Helsinki, Sept 21-24, 2016)

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)

A Workshop on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism at Trinity College Dublin

Text: Elisa Uusimäki and Sami Yli-Karjanmaa
Photos: Jutta Jokiranta

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