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Jews and Christians in the Sasanian Empire
| Location: | Germany |
| Workshop Date: | 2010-03-17 (Archive) |
| Date Submitted: |
2010-03-10 |
| Announcement ID: |
174721 |
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“BETWEEN CONTACT AND CONTRAST"
JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN THE SASANIAN EMPIRE
17-18 March, 2010
Ruhr University, Bochum
This workshop explores the contacts between Persian Christianity and Babylonian Jewry in the Sasanian Era, aiming to promote greater cooperation between these fields, and further interest in the value of comparison between these two ancient communities.
In Sasanian Babylonia Jews and Christians shared both geographical space and a biblical lexicon. Both communities could refer to themselves as the “captivity”, seek out the biblical geography of the region, and perceive of their rulers as either “a second Cyrus” or as Nebuchadnezzar. They both also had to reckon with similar issues, be it an uncertain relationship with Zoroastrianism, interreligious and intercultural influences, or their relationship with the “west”: Palestine for the Jews; the Roman Empire - and particularly Antioch, for the Christians. Each inherited a canonical literary corpus from its western counterpart, but then proceeded towards a sense of independence and creativity, asserting equality, and even superiority. Each religious community indeed responded to the vicissitudes of the period, and in the course of the centuries of Sasanian rule, carved a unique and distinctive path, creating an extensive religious literature. This workshop, viewing the rich potential for comparison, seeks to probe the processes and dynamics of religious contact and exchange in the Sasanian empire.
Wednesday, 17th March
14.00 Welcome VOLKHARD KRECH, IKGF Director
14.15 Introduction GEOFFREY HERMAN (Bochum)
Chair: PETER WICK (Bochum)
14.30 Jewish and Christian contacts in Mesopotamia: the case of the magic bowls
SHAUL SHAKED (Jerusalem)
15.20 COFFEE BREAK
15.40 Syriac vs. Hebrew: The superiority of one´s own language as Identity marker and the hermeneutic principle in rabbinic and Syriac-Christian exegesis
ANETTE ADELMANN (Frankfurt am Main)
16.30 Another "split Diaspora"? How knowledgeable (or ignorant) were Babylonian Jews about Roman Palestine and its Jews?
ISAIAH GAFNI (Jerusalem)
17.20 Private Viewing of the Antiquities Collection of Mr. Klaus Grigo, Bochum
19.00 SUPPER
Thursday, 18th March, 2010
Chair: GÖRGE HASSELHOFF (Bochum)
9.00 The Last Years of Yazdgird I and the Christians
GEOFFREY HERMAN (Bochum)
9.50 Antizoroastrische Polemik in den syro-persischen Märtyrerakten
PETER BRUNS (Bamberg)
10.40-11.10 COFFEE BREAK
11.10 The Cologne Mani Codex and the Life of Zarathushtra
AB DE JONG (Leiden)
12.00 Christians and Iranian jurisprudence: legal pluralism in sasanian society
RICHARD PAYNE (Cambridge)
12.50-14.00 LUNCH
14.00 Syriac Christianity and Persian culture in the sixth century: the case of the "Cave of Treasures"
SERGEY MINOV (Jerusalem)
15.00 How to convert a Persian and teach him the Holy Scriptures: a Zoroastrian proselyte in rabbinic and syriac Christian narratives
REUVEN KIPERWASSER (Jerusalem)
16.00 Summary and Conclusions: GEOFFREY HERMAN (Bochum)
16. 30 Close
Conference Organisation
Dr. Geoffrey Herman
International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe”
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
SH 1/175; Universitätsstrasse 150
D-44780 Bochum
Tel: +49 (0)234-3222981
Email: geoffrey.herman@rub.de
www.ikgf-religions.de
Fees
Attendance at the workshop is free of charge.
Registration
Attendance is possible without registration. Those interested in attending are encouraged in inform me by email.
Directions
By plane or train:
From Düsseldorf/Köln-Bonn/Frankfurt Airport by train to Bochum Hauptbahnhof (Central Station). At Bochum Hauptbahnhof take the U35 (underground/subway) in the direction of Hustadt. (Ticket needed: Preisstufe A). Get off at “Ruhr-Universität”. At the exit to the station turn right and walk about 200 m. Enter the Studierendenhaus (SH) building on your right (under sign for “Kulturcafé”). Go up one flight of stairs and follow signs to IKGF, Dynamics in the History of Religions.
By car:
Motorway A 43, interchange »Bochum-Witten«, exit at »Bochum-Querenburg/Universität« (exit no. 19). Universitätsstraße direction Universität/Zentrum, exit at »Uni - Mitte«, about 2 km. Free parking is sign posted.
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