CSMC Newsletter

We are delighted to invite nominations for the J. P. Gumbert Dissertation Award 2025! This award honours the best doctoral thesis in any field related to the study of manuscripts and other written artefacts, defended between 1 September 2024 and 31 December 2025. Eligible dissertations may focus on any period or region and can come from diverse disciplines such as art history, history, codicology, epigraphy, material sciences, palaeography, or philology. The winner will receive prize money of 5,000 EUR and a fellowship for a research stay at CSMC. The deadline for nominations is Friday, 6 February 2026, 12:00 pm CET (noon).

They are not just written artefacts, but objects of art. They immediately strike the eye of the beholder due to their colourful, sophisticated illuminations. And they have been integral to the spiritual landscape of both the Bon and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In the latest volume of Studies in Manuscript Cultures (SMC), Agnieszka-Helman Wazny has teamed up with a dozen CSMC colleagues to unravel the secrets of 65 such tsakali cards from the Zhangzhung Nyengyü culture. The researchers involved have applied numerous different analytical methods used at the CSMC to examine written artefacts to the objects, including multispectral analysis, small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, FTIR spectroscopy, and machine learning approaches. The result is not only enables a multidimensional understanding of the objects at hand, but is also an impressive example of how many facets of written artefacts can be revealed when we approach them with a broad arsenal of expertise and methods.

The interconnections between oral and written traditions have played a pivotal role in shaping the transmission of sacred texts among the three major religions of the Middle East: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. A new open-access volume brings together the results of the collaborative research project titled ‘The Intertwined World of the Oral and Written Transmission of Sacred Traditions in the Middle East’ (InterSaME). In particular, the volume pays close attention to the material dimensions and mechanisms of transmission, such as diacritical and vocalisation systems, codicological features, page layouts, and paratextual apparatuses like treatises and marginal notes. The researchers gained new insights into the cross-cultural exchanges and convergence of textual practices across various religious communities in the medieval Middle East.

CSMC researcher Janine Droese has joined the University of Music and Theatre Munich (HMTM) to take up the professorship in historical musicology with a focus on early music history. Since 2019, she had been pursuing a research project at the CSMC titled ‘Creating Music Albums as Originals Made of Originals’, initially as a research associate and, since 2022, as the project leader. She was also the spokesperson of the Cluster’s research field ‘Creating Originals’. Her new role will focus on music before 1750, with a special emphasis on historical performance practice and church music. We warmly congratulate Janine on this great success and wish her all the best for her personal future at the HMTM!

The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, commonly known as the Matenadaran, is an important repository of ancient manuscripts and a leading centre for the study and preservation of Armenian written heritage. The CSMC, in particular the members of the DeLiCaTe project (The Development of Literacy in the Caucasian Territories), and the Matenadaran have been working together on the preservation and study of manuscript heritage for many years. Central to this cooperation is the application of multispectral imaging techniques to reveal hidden texts in palimpsest manuscripts and the scientific analysis of inks and other writing materials undertaken by the CSMC’s Artefact Lab. The partnership has now been officially extended for five years. 

The CSMC has also signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, located in Tbilisi, Georgia, to do collaborative research on Georgia’s vast manuscript heritage. Similar to the cooperation with the Matenadaran, the partnership is driven by the DeLiCaTe project and focuses on utilising multispectral imaging techniques to uncover concealed texts within palimpsest manuscripts. Additionally, efforts are underway to apply radiocarbon dating to determine the age of undated manuscripts.

At the ‘Second International Academic Forum on Paleography and Chinese Civilization’, held at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Huang Dekuan, Head of the Research and Conservation Center for Unearthed Texts (RCCUT), and former CSMC director Michael Friedrich ratified a Memorandum of Understanding, establishing a formal framework to strengthen collaboration and exchange between the two centres’ scholars and students in the study of manuscripts and other written artefacts. A collaborative project, ‘Tsinghua University Warring States Bamboo Manuscripts: Studies and Translations’, is currently underway to produce new studies of the collection, annotated editions, and English translations. Among the participants is CSMC researcher Ondřej Škrabal, whose current research project draws on prayer and legal thought manuscripts from the Tsinghua collection.

Kaduna is one of Nigeria’s foremost educational centres, home to numerous universities, research institutes, archives, and museums. The Kaduna branch of the National Archives of Nigeria, in particular, houses rich collections of historical documents and manuscripts. Among its treasures are two Qur’anic manuscripts annotated in Old Kanembu and dating back to the 18th century. This November, Dmitry Bondarev and Maria Luisa Russo visited Kaduna to assess the current condition of the Jos Museum collection, in preparation for a new project focused on the preservation and digitisation of these manuscripts. Plans are underway to begin research on the collection’s Ajami manuscripts next year, in collaboration with colleagues from Arewa House.

Elisa Barney Smith from the Luleå University of Technology was the first computer scientist to join the CSMC as a Petra Kappert Fellow. This autumn, she joined us for a second time following her first stay in summer 2024. In an interview on our blog, she talks about the growing connection between her field and manuscript research, a development that she has been actively facilitating for more than 30 years. ‘Beyond the technical challenges, I genuinely enjoy the intellectual and cultural exchange. There’s a myth that scientists and engineers aren’t interested in history or the arts, but many of us do this work because we’re curious about culture and humanity’s past.’