CSMC Newsletter

CSMC researchers Giuseppe Marotta, Alba Fedeli, Sowmeya Sathiyamani, and Claudia Colini have published an open access article in the European Physical Journal Plus, where they present a pioneering multidisciplinary approach that combines archaeometry and philology to study deteriorated, multi-layered Qur’anic manuscripts. Using a Qur’anic fragment from the Hamburg State and University Library as a case study, the team integrated advanced material analysis techniques, including digital microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, with traditional philological and palaeographic expertise. This ‘archaeometric philological approach’ allowed them to investigate the pigment composition, mechanisms of deterioration, and the complex writing system involving coloured diacritical marks and vowel-dots. 

Traditional manuscript and papermaking practices continue to thrive in the forests and villages around Luang Prabang, Laos, making the region one of the few places where such heritage endures despite pressures of globalisation. The new documentary film ‘A Fading Tradition: The Production of Manuscripts in Laos’, created by Agnieszka Helman-Wazny and Volker Grabowsky, offers rare insight into these living traditions, capturing both the techniques and stories of local practitioners who maintain centuries-old methods. Produced as part of the project on the ‘History of Paper of Ethnic Groups in Southwest China and Mainland Southeast Asia’, the film both documents and advocates for the preservation of this unique cultural heritage. The full film is available to watch on our website.

Organised by the Korean Studies Institute (KSI) and co-organised by the CSMC, the 10th International Association for Printing Woodblock (IAPW) conference held from 24 to 26 June in Andong, South Korea, brought together international scholars for presentations on topics ranging from woodblock printing to the role of AI in heritage preservation. A highlight of the event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between KSI and CSMC. This agreement, signed by KSI President Chong Jong-sup and CSMC’s honorary director Michael Friedrich, aims to strengthen research networks and foster ongoing collaboration in the study and preservation of manuscript and woodblock printing heritage. 

The MprinT project explores how the rise of print technology affected Islamic religious life and textual culture along East Africa’s Swahili coast, especially regarding the changing roles of Sufi traditions and printed texts. Led by the CSMC’s ‘Data Linking’ team in collaboration with the Center of Sustainable Research Data Management, MprinT has now launched an innovative, freely accessible information system. This resource provides researchers with detailed data, high-quality images, and geographical visualisation of manuscripts, and will continue to expand as new materials are added.

This summer, a week-long spring school on Greek Epigraphy offered young researchers the chance to engage directly with history through the study of inscriptions. Among the 20 participants of the event, which was organised by Kaja Harter-Uibopuu and Mustafa Adak from the Akdeniz University of Antalya, were Martina Dinelli, Katerina Grigoriadou, and Giorgi Kakhishvili. ‘One of the most fascinating parts of the spring school was the hands-on sessions, where we learned how to document inscriptions and do squeezes. Being surrounded by such monumental sights was truly striking’, they write in their report on the spring school, which you can find in our blog.

Once a vital hub of Ottoman culture, Süleyman Efendi’s library was dispersed across Europe as a result of conquest. Rawda El-Hajji shows how tracing these scattered manuscripts helps reconstruct lost intellectual communities and reveals the fate of cultural heritage in times of conflict.