CSMC Newsletter

What does the materiality of written artefacts teach us about ancient history? The new volume of Studies in Manuscript Cultures (SMC) employs a cross-cultural approach to ancient written artefacts in which the material dimension takes centre stage. In eleven case studies in five sections on the ancient world, including the Near East, Egypt, the Mediterranean, China, and India, the contributors to the volume demonstrate the impact of a holistic approach that considers materiality and content alike. Like all previous volumes of SMC, The Ancient World Revisited: Material Dimensions of Written Artefacts is available open access.

In early February, researchers from the CSMC’s Mobile Lab travelled to Verona for the second time within three months to analyse valuable palimpsests. In the 18th and 19th century, these palimpsests were severely damaged by scholars who tried to make them legible by applying chemical reagents to them. ‘Palimpsests in Danger: Recovering Information from Chemically Treated Manuscripts’, an 18-month pilot study managed by the UCLA Library, the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library (EMEL), and the Fondazione Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona, invites international imaging experts to work together to recover the damaged writing.

The Gotha Manuscript Talks are back with three lectures in March and April 2024. The series of talks in Islamic Studies is a cooperation between the Gotha Research Library and the CSMC and is taking place for the sixth time. All lectures will be held online. The spring 2024 series includes talks by Alya Karame (Collège de France), Guy Barak (New York University), and Adam Sabra (University of California). The full programme is available on the website of the Gotha Research Library.

From 15-19 July 2024, participants of our summer school on ‘Hebrew Codicology’, which is dedicated to the memory of Malachi Beit-Arié (1937–2023), can learn the basics of manuscript description and Hebrew palaeography and receive exposure to an expansive vision of current debates in Hebrew manuscript research. The course will be taught by Javier del Barco, professor of Hebrew language and literature at the University of Madrid and a specialist in Hebrew codicology and palaeography. He is also a former Petra Kappert Fellow at the CSMC. Applications can be submitted until 31 March 2024.

Until 31 March 2024, students can apply for our one-year MA programme ‘Manuscript Cultures’ again. Combining modules from the humanities and the natural sciences alike, the programme is unique in Germany and open to students from a wide range of backgrounds. It conveys central topics in the field of general manuscript research combined with specific skills and promotes the independent, critical, and analytical work with manuscripts.

Since we are interested in manuscript cultures from all over the world, it is essential for us to establish numerous contacts with partners worldwide who make a decisive contribution to our research. Often, these are academic institutions like us, but we also work with museums, archives, cultural institutions, and businesses on our projects. A new interactive map on our website now enables you to take a virtual trip around the world to our partners and provides information about our collaborations.