Dear all,
I would like to remind you that the first Ancient World Seminar of this
year takes place *tomorrow the 27th at the Courtroom, **Oude
Boteringestraat 38. *
*Tomorrow *at 16:15-17.30, dr *Judith Newman *(University of Toronto) will
give a lecture on:
"Time, Text, and Ancestors: A New Perspective on Engaging Israel's Past".
*Abstract:*
A central premise of historical criticism in biblical studies is that the
sources that make up texts can be identified and plotted against a single
timeline whether this results in a “history of Israel’s literature,” a
“Israelite history” or a “history of Israel’s religion.” In this legacy of
nineteenth-century European historicism, history and time are conceived as
singular, monolithic, and linear. More recent work by ethnohistorians,
cultural memory theorists, and others has challenged this singularity by
identifying multiple emic temporalities operative in the world, yet the
results have not permeated the work of traditional biblical scholarship. If
we take this temporal multiplicity seriously, we can see various pasts and
futures embedded in the texts now known as the Pentateuch that reach beyond
its framework and the canon itself. This perspective also sheds new light
on integrating “later” so-called “reworked Pentateuch” texts from Qumran,
as well as “apocrypha” and “pseudepigrapha” into our understanding of the
literary world of Israel. Some cultural memories around the figure of Jacob
can illustrate this new perspective of chastened historiography that moves
beyond a single story of the past, present, and future.
*About the speaker:*
Judith H. Newman is Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the
University of Toronto. She specializes in the Hebrew Bible as well as
Jewish literature of the Second Temple period. Her current research
interests are in the ritual performance of texts particularly as this
intersects with the formation of communities in early Judaism and
Christianity. She is also interested in the development of scripture, early
biblical interpretation, as well as method in the study of the Bible and
early Judaism and Christianity. Emerging projects include work on
literature of the Hasmonean period, particularly the book of Judith; and a
study of time, temporality, and liturgy.
*CRASIS Thesis Prize*
The second CRASIS Bachelor’s Thesis Prize will be awarded before the
lecture.
*Workshop Wednesday 28th September*
On Wednesday 28th September (*14.00–15.30*), Judith Newman will give a
workshop on "Time and Testamentary Blessing" in which she will illustrate
some of the concepts and theories from her Ancient World Seminar with
primary texts from the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The workshop
will take place at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (Oude
Boteringestraat 38, Groningen) in *room 253*. All are welcome. Please
register with this link
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1SYZdDlFpinCxh5C_q_eGUMSk5OHUvETBYJE6EpreHIyPbg/viewform?usp=sf_link>.
This
event is co-organised by CRASIS, the Centre for Early Jewish Hermeneutics
and the Qumran Institute in Groningen.
*Following program first semester*
The following AWS are scheduled for the first semester:
*18 October:* Doralice Fabiano (University of Milan), "Shy goddesses: Some
thoughts on the association between nymphs and caves in ancient Greek
religion."
*8 November: *Astrid van Oyen (Radboud University), "Roman failure:
inequality in practice at Podere Marzuolo."
*13 December: *Speaker TBA
*17 January: *Bram van der Velde (University of Groningen), "A new Columbus
Epic".
*20-21 February: *Masterclass and Annual Meeting: Esther Eidinow
(University of Bristol), "Sensing, Making, Relating: Ontologies of the
Divine."
We look forward to seeing you all on 27 September.
--
Sylvia Buiter
ReMa-student Classical, Medieval and Early Modern studies.
on behalf of the CRASIS team
University of Groningen
CRASIS is the Groningen institute for Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture,
Religion and Society of the Ancient World. Follow CRASIS on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/rug.crasis> or find out more about us on
www.rug.nl/crasis.
