ISAW News Blog

Book on Amheida excavations published

Roger Bagnall — 2013-06-03T14:35:00Z

Franz Steiner Verlag (Stuttgart) has published Eine Wüstenstadt. Leben und Kultur in einer ägyptischen Oase im 4. Jahrhundert n. Chr., by ISAW director Roger Bagnall. The book presents the results of the excavations at Amheida, in the Dakhla Oasis of Egypt, that started in 2004 and continue as an ISAW field project. The book results from the Häcker Lectures given at the University of Heidelberg by Bagnall in 2010 and has been updated to include excavations in 2011 and 2012.

The book can be ordered directly from the publisher, or via online booksellers like amazon.de.

NEH Funds Literary Papyri Project

Roger Bagnall — 2013-06-03T13:56:01Z

A joint program of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft has given ISAW and the University of Heidelberg a three-year grant to create a Digital Corpus of Literary Papyri (DCLP), building an infrastructure that initially focuses on Greek and Latin texts but that can accommodate other ancient literatures as well. This resource will be based on the technology used at papyri.info but extend its capabilities to deal with richer description of physical characteristics of papyrus manuscripts, more complex critical apparatus, and other distinctive features of literary papyri. Besides NYU and Heidelberg, the KU Leuven, Duke University, and other partners will contribute to the project, which will be led by ISAW Director Roger Bagnall and Rodney Ast of Heidelberg.

Job: Grants and Excavation Manager

Tom Elliott — 2013-05-31T17:54:45Z

ISAW is looking for a talented professional who has experience in financial and grant management to serve as primary financial manager on restricted funding; manage sponsored research grants and contracts and financial activity; maintain comprehensive grant records and grant opportunities; process expenditures against budgets; generate reports; and work closely with faculty, supporting international fieldwork projects. The full job opportunity posting and application instructions are posted on the New York University Careers page, posting number 20095091.

ISAW Announces Visiting Research Scholars for 2013-14

Kathryn Lawson — 2013-05-14T18:05:00Z

ISAW is pleased to announce the research scholar roster for 2013-14. In addition to working on the listed research project, each scholar will participate in ISAW seminars and present a public lecture. Please join us in welcoming them to our community this fall!

One-year Visiting Research Scholars

Matteo Compareti (PhD, Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”)
A study of the religious iconography of Iranian peoples living in China during the Sixteen Kingdoms, Northern & Southern Dynasties, and the Sui & the Tang Dynasties

Daniel Fleming (Hebrew & Judaic Studies, NYU)
‘The Land of Benjamin’ and the Development of Israel and Judah

Anna Lanaro (PhD, Johannes-Gutenburg-University, Mainz)
Beyond Hybridism: Intercultural Connectivity in the Northern Levant During the Late Bronze Age

Francesca Rochberg (Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley)
Before Nature: Science and Ancient Mesopotamia

Ian Rutherford (Classics, University of Reading)
Hittite Texts and Greek Religion: Borrowing, Hybridity, Comparison

Thelma Thomas (Institute of Fine Arts, NYU)
Dressing Souls, Making Monks: Monastic Habits of the Egyptian Desert Fathers

Liangren Zhang (School of Cultural Heritage, Northwest University, China)
Prehistoric Gansu and Xinjiang in the broad context of Eurasian and Central Asian cultural movements

Two-year Visiting Assistant Professors

Emily Hammer (PhD, Harvard University) – continuing
Dynamics of Settlement and Transhumance in Agricultural Peripheries on the Fringes of Ancient Mesopotamia

Adam Schwartz (PhD, University of Chicago)
Huayuanzhuang East I: A Complete and Annotated Translation of the Newest Corpus of 13^th Century BCE Shang Dynasty Non-Royal Oracle Bone Inscriptions

JIAAA Volume 5

Kathryn Lawson — 2013-03-05T15:27:18Z

The editors of the Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology – Judith A. Lerner, Lilla Russell-Smith and Sören Stark – are happy to announce the publication of volume 5. Published under the aegis of ISAW the journal focuses on the archaeology and art and cultural exchanges within the vast area between the Iranian world, western China, the Siberian steppes and Northwestern India. For the table of contents please visit the journal’s webpage.

Two New Publications for ISAW Research Scholar Marja Vierros

Kathryn Lawson — 2012-12-12T20:30:00Z

Marja Vierros, one of the ISAW's 2012-13 visiting research scholars, has announced two book publications this fall. The first, Bilingual Notaries in Hellenistic Egypt. A study of Greek as a second language, describes the language contact situation in Hellenistic Egypt in general and in Pathyris in particular through the analysis of contracts found in bilingual family archives dating to the second and first centuries BCE.

Her second book, Variation and Change in Greek and Latin, co-edited with Martti Leiwo and Hilla Halla-aho, deals with different fractions of Greek and Latin, from the 4th century BCE to the 6th century CE and studies, both conceptually and practically, variation within these fractions using data taken from papyri, inscriptions, graffiti, and texts from manuscripts.

Encyclopedia of Ancient History published

Roger Bagnall — 2012-12-05T01:34:44Z

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, with over 5000 articles in 12 volumes (plus an index volume), has been published by Wiley-Blackwell. The online version is to become available shortly at Wiley Online Library. The General Editors include ISAW Director Roger Bagnall and former visiting research scholar Sabine Huebner. The more than 1800 authors include ISAW faculty Alexander Jones and Beate Pongratz-Leisten; affiliated faculty Raffaella Cribiore, Barbara Kowalzig, Andrew Monson, Michael Peachin, and Helmut Reimitz; Senior Fellows Piotr Michalowski, Jack Sasson, and John Steele; doctoral student Zoe Misiewicz; former visiting research scholars Günter Dreyer, Jinyu Liu, Rachel Mairs, Annalisa Marzano, Maya Muratov, Mathieu Ossendrijver, Anne Porter, Giovanni Ruffini, and Karen Sonik; research associate Yehudah Cohn; and former staff member Anna Boozer, along with a number of lecturers and visitors.

Reminder: Applications for Visiting Research Scholar Program Due Dec. 2

Kathryn Lawson — 2012-11-12T21:30:58Z

Each year the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, makes about 9 appointments of visiting research scholars. ISAW's scope embraces research and graduate education in the history, archaeology, and culture of the entire Old World from late prehistoric times to the eighth century AD, including Asia and Africa. Projects of a theoretical or comparative nature relevant to this domain are also welcome. Academic visitors at ISAW should be individuals of scholarly distinction or promise in any relevant field of ancient studies who will benefit from the stimulation of working in an environment with colleagues in other disciplines. Applicants with a history of interdisciplinary exchange are particularly welcome. Scholars are expected to be in residence at the Institute during the period for which they are appointed and to take part in the intellectual life of the community.

For details about the categories of scholars, the financial support, and the application, please visit http://isaw.nyu.edu/academics/visiting-scholars. The application deadline for 2013/14 appointments is December 2, 2012. New York University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

ISAW is Up and Running

Tom Elliott — 2012-11-06T14:21:20Z

ISAW's facilities on 84th St. in Manhattan were spared any damage from Hurricane Sandy. We are open regular hours and all public events and exhibitions are proceeding as scheduled.

ISAW Open Wednesday: Limited Services

Tom Elliott — 2012-10-30T21:31:01Z

On Wednesday, 31 October 2012, ISAW will be open regular hours for faculty, staff, scholars, and students, and for members of the public wishing to visit the "Echoes of the Past" exhibition. The library will not be open. When and if we are able to reschedule events that were canceled earlier this week because of hurricane Sandy, additional notices will be posted.

ISAW Closed Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Tom Elliott — 2012-10-29T17:34:01Z

Due to the protracted weather threat presented by Hurricane Sandy and the associated shutdown of all New York area public transportation, ISAW facilities will remain closed on Tuesday, 30 October 2012 and all public events are canceled.

ISAW students, staff, and faculty are urged to monitor the weather situation closely and to remain alert for further communications from ISAW, NYU, and community leaders.

ISAW Closed Monday, 29 October 2012

Tom Elliott — 2012-10-28T15:57:10Z

Because of expected weather conditions and public transportation shutdowns, ISAW will be closed Monday 29 October 2012. All seminars and public events that day are canceled.

Bagnall receives Festschrift

Roger Bagnall — 2012-10-18T14:01:46Z

ISAW Director Roger Bagnall was presented with Papyrological Texts in Honor of Roger S. Bagnall at a surprise champagne reception held at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris on October 16, with colleagues from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK present to celebrate. The book will appear later this fall as American Studies in Papyrology, volume 53. It contains papyri and ostraca in various ancient languages edited by fifty papyrologists from Europe and North America.

Newsletter 7 Now Available

wls3@nyu.edu — 2012-10-17T16:12:30Z

The Fall 2012 issue of ISAW’s newsletter is now available. Issue 7 includes alumni news, an exploration of our Echoes of the Past exhibition, research updates from the ISAW community, and event listings for Fall 2012 and beyond. To download an electronic copy of the newsletter, click here.

Pleiades/Pelagios Collaboration Featured at Smithsonian.com

Tom Elliott — 2012-10-04T19:00:01Z

Smithsonian.com has just published a short article on recent collaborative work to enhance online mapping of ancient sites and online linking of related archaeological, photographic, textual, numismatic, and museological resources. It highlights the role of the multi-institutional Pelagios project (for which our Pleiades project provides the geographic data) in creating a free, online base map for the ancient world and in joining together the contents of over 15 (and growing) important websites for antiquity.

In coming months, you can expect more exciting developments in the area of online ancient geography from the ISAW Digital Programs team and our extramural partners, including Pelagios, UNC's Ancient World Mapping Center, Harvard's Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilization, Tuft's Perseus Digital Library, the Alexandria Archive Institute, Johan Åhlfeldt's Regnum Francorum Online, the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, and the British Museum.