April 2024
Thursday Lecture: Dario Calomino and Giorgia Cafici
The Roman Emperor Seen from Egypt
Interpreting Imperial Images on Roman Provincial Coinage and Sculpture
"RESP: The Roman Emperor Seen from the Provinces" is a research project funded by the ERC under the Horizon 2020 Programme and hosted by the University of Verona in 2021-2026. The project investigates how Roman emperors were represented on different visual media in the provinces, from...
Workshop: Manuscripts with Sample Letters in Late Medieval Eurasia
Letter-writing manuals were prevalent throughout late medieval Eurasia. They were called munshaʾāt in Arabic and Persian, shuyi in Chinese or the summa dictandi in the Latin West. Many include sample letters, or standard phrases adapted for specific contexts or recipients.
Such manuscripts have been studied by specialists within their respective areas, but rarely in comparison with similar...
Thursday Lecture: Emad Sheikh al-Hokamaee
Avoiding Perfection Tracing the Origins and Evolution of an Iranian Scribal Tradition
Emad Sheikh al-Hokamaee (University of Tehran)
A significant characteristic of documents from Islamic Iran is the intentional removal of the right bottom corner. It is the result of a deliberate scribal practice to avoid a perfect four-square shape (Arabic/Persian: tarbīʿ). This practice had been noted by some...
Workshop: Woodblock Printing
Woodblock printing (relief printing) belongs to manuscript culture. The earliest extant specimens have been found in China and are dated to the late seventh century, the technique soon spread to other regions in East and Central Asia and was used for ephemeral as well as literary texts such as Buddhist sutras or the Confucian canon. In the tenth century, woodblock printing was attested in Egypt...
May 2024
Workshop: The Calligraphy of Tagging
Tagging used to be underground knowledge. Mastering its secrets traditionally involved working one’s way into the ‘prestige economy’ of the graffiti scene to access its mentor-apprentice structure. With the advance of the Internet, access to these secrets has become less exclusive. Still, like in so many calligraphic traditions, the most genuine way to learn about tagging is to try it out hands-on...
Thursday Lecture: Ralph Bodenstein
Medieval Arabic Graffiti in a Coptic Monastery
Tracing Muslim and Christian Visitors in Dayr Anba Hadra (Aswan)
Ralph Bodenstein (German Archaeological Institute Kairo)
Since 2014, a multidisciplinary research project is being conducted at the Monastery of Anba Hadra (better known as the Monastery of St. Simeon) on the west bank of the Nile at Aswan in Upper Egypt. In a cooperation between the...