Zur Shalev - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Books by Zur Shalev
Zinguer, Ilana, Avraham Melamed, and Zur Shalev, eds. Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance : Sources and Encounters. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2011., 2011
Christian Hebraism came to its full fruition in the seventeenth century. However, interest in Je... more Christian Hebraism came to its full fruition in the seventeenth century. However, interest in Jewish and Hebraic sources had already increased during the early Renaissance, as an integral part of the renewed attention to ancient cultures, mostly Greek and Roman, as well as eastern cultures – from Egypt to India. This volume presents a selection of papers from the international conference Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance (University of Haifa, May, 2009), that trace the humanist encounter with Hebrew and Jewish sources during that period. The chapters included in this volume not only illuminate the ways in which Christian scholars encountered Hebraic sources and integrated them into their general worldview, but also present the encounters of Jewish scholars with humanist culture.
Shalev, Zur, and Charles Burnett, eds. Ptolemy's Geography in the Renaissance. London; Turin: Warburg Institute; Nino Aragno, 2011., 2011
The rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geography has long been hailed as a key moment in the emergence of R... more The rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geography has long been hailed as a key moment in the emergence of Renaissance culture, symbolizing a new rational spatiality, and preparing the way for the Age of Discovery. And yet, the process of the Geography’s introduction, integration and impact in western Europe, as the essays in this volume collectively suggest, was more complex and less predictable than has been traditionally assumed. Whereas previously Ptolemy’s maps attracted most scholarly attention, in this volume the textual tradition of the Geography – Ptolemy’s text, added prefaces, annotations and treatises – stand at the centre. Bringing together a wealth of previously unexplored sources and contexts, the essays examine the Geography as it took part in and influenced diverse areas of Renaissance culture, such as visual theory and communication, humanistic philological, historical and antiquarian practices, astrology, education and religion. The emerging Geography is perhaps less revolutionary but more satisfyingly embedded into the culture that produced and used it. This volume points to new directions for the study of the remaining questions that still hover around Ptolemy’s seminal work and for the study of early modern geography as a whole.
Papers by Zur Shalev
The contributions here respond to Gautier Dalché's call for more detailed studies on this subject... more The contributions here respond to Gautier Dalché's call for more detailed studies on this subject and present additional material on the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
![Research paper thumbnail of Zur Shalev, Oded Cohen, "Between the Holy Land and Heidelberg: 'Yihus ha-Avot' in Different Cultural Contexts," Cathedra 185 (2024): 31-52 [Hebrew] ; צור שלו, עודד כהן, "בין ארץ ישראל להיידלברג: 'יחוס האבות' במרחבים תרבותיים שונים," קתדרה 185 (2024): 31 - 52](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/116692568/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](תקציר מגילת 'יחוס האבות' היא רשימה של קברי צדיקים, רובם בארץ ישראל, המהווה מעין מדריך מאויר לעולה... more תקציר
מגילת 'יחוס האבות' היא רשימה של קברי צדיקים, רובם בארץ ישראל, המהווה מעין מדריך מאויר לעולה לרגל היהודי. המהדורה הידועה של החיבור נכתבה בשנת 1537 והועתקה בצפת על ידי אורי בן שמעון מביאלה בשנת 1564. כתב יד כמעט זהה למגילת 'יחוס האבות' הוא אגרת 'יחוס הצדיקים והחסידים' המתוארכת לשנת 1489 ולכל הפחות היה להם מקור משותף. על בסיס מהדורתו של אורי בן שמעון יצר ההבראיסט יוהן היינריך הוטינגר מהדורה לטינית-עברית שכותרתה Cippi Hebraici ושראתה אור בהיידלברג בשנת 1659 ושוב בשנת 1662.
המאמר מבקש לבחון את התפתחותו וגלגוליו של הטקסט ואת התיאור והדיון במקומות הקדושים בארץ ישראל בהקשרים דתיים, תרבותיים וגיאו-פוליטיים שונים, על ידי יהודי משלהי התקופה הממלוכית בארץ ישראל, יהודי מראשית התקופה העות'מאנית והבראיסט קלוויניסטי בן המאה ה-17. זאת תוך עמידה על דרכי מעברי הידע בין יהודים לנוצרים בעת החדשה המוקדמת ועל הממד הפולמוסי הסמוי והגלוי שבמהדורות השונות של הטקסט.
'Yihus ha-Avot' is an illustrated list of holy sites and graves, most of them in the Land of Israel, which serves as guide for the Jewish pilgrim. The better-known edition of the text was written in 1537 and copied in Safed by Uri ben Simeon of Biala in 1564. A manuscript almost identical to 'Yihus ha-Avot' is the scroll 'Yihus ha-Tzadikim ve-ha-Hasidim' from 1489. At the very least, the two texts had a common source. In 1659 and again in 1662 the Heidelberg Hebraist Johann Heinrich Hottinger published Cippi Hebraici, an annotated Latin-Hebrew edition, based on Uri’s text.
The article examines the development of the text between these phases. It compares the description of the holy places in the Land of Israel in different religious, cultural and geopolitical contexts, by a Jew from the end of the Mamluk period, a Jew from the beginning of the Ottoman period, and a 17th-century Reformed Hebraist. The discussion analyzes channels of knowledge transmission between Jews and Christians in the early modern period and the hidden and visible polemical aspects in the various editions of the text.
![Research paper thumbnail of Faith and Archaeology in the Seventeenth Century: On the Origins of Episcopacy between Asia and England [Hebrew]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/96841685/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Historia [היסטוריה], 2018
אמונה וארכאולוגיה במאה השבע-עשרה: על מוסד הבישופות בין אסיה לאנגליה, היסטוריה 42, 2018, תשע"ט, 5 ... more אמונה וארכאולוגיה במאה השבע-עשרה: על מוסד הבישופות בין אסיה לאנגליה, היסטוריה 42, 2018, תשע"ט, 5 -29.
English abstract:
As recent studies have amply demonstrated, early modern scholars and churchmen were deeply engaged with the textual and material history of the ancient, or ‘primitive’ Church. During an age of confessional strife, the search for, and the different constructions of, the origins of Christianity had serious religious and political implications. This article looks at one such case: the late seventeenth-century search for the Seven Churches of Asia, which are listed in the opening chapters of John’s Revelation. Sir Paul Rycaut (1629-1700), the Consul to the English Nation in Izmir between 1667 and 1678, and a prolific author, was the prime mover behind these learned and pious excursions. Rycaut and fellow English residents in Izmir, together with passing travelers such as George Wheler, explored and documented the ancient ruins of the Seven Churches, some of which they identified for the first time. The paper closely studies the group of publications produced by this group, mainly Rycaut's The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches (1679), in which he surveyed contemporary Christian communities under Ottoman rule, while comparing them to an ideal ancient model. These explorations reveal a unique mix of religious and antiquarian sensibilities which is best interpreted, I argue, in the context of contemporary Anglican concerns and debates. In particular, the focus on the Seven Churches was related to the question of church government and the role of episcopacy in Reformation England. Following a long exegetical tradition, supporters of an institutional episcopal church interpreted John's messages to the Seven Churches as evidence of ancient, even divinely-ordained, bishops. Moreover, I suggest that for moderate English Protestants like Rycaut and his associates, being present on-site, seeing and authenticating the landscapes of the New Testament, afforded an acceptable form of pilgrimage, away from the relics of Jerusalem and Rome.
Relief Depiction. See Heights and Depths, Mapping of: Relief Depiction Religion and Cartography. ... more Relief Depiction. See Heights and Depths, Mapping of: Relief Depiction Religion and Cartography. The common mis understand ing of the Enlightenment as the era of cartographic
Travel is commonly defined as the movement of people from one place to another. Migrations, warri... more Travel is commonly defined as the movement of people from one place to another. Migrations, warring expeditions, tourism, to give but a few examples, are all forms of travel. Historians pose a variety of questions about these movements, regarding issues such as motivations and aims, center versus periphery, the scale of distances covered, or the means of travel. Throughout most of human history major movements of individuals, groups, and whole peoples often went unrecorded, or minimally so, beginning with our species' foundational story, the "Out of Africa" theory of human dissemination. When, however, we consider the more specific nexus of travel and information, as this essay will do, a new set of definitions, both narrower and broader, is required. Narrower, in the sense that it would be more useful for our purposes to consider not just any human movement, but par tic u lar forms of travel that are meaningfully linked to information, such as travels that are recorded, by either the traveler or others, travels intended to gather specific information, or travels that provide the basis for other studies. Historians have for long mined travel accounts in order to reconstruct the geo graphi cal history of vari ous regions and past cultures, languages, and economies. We require broader definitions, too, because travel and information are related to a wide range of historical phenomena that do not necessarily require physical human movement: vicarious and spiritual travel, and travel as an organ izing conceptual form, for example. Moreover, information itself travels and is shaped by the spatiotemporal conditions of movement. The technologies of the late nineteenth century, which freed information from human movement, will not be addressed here.
Scriptures, Sacred Traditions, and Strategies of Religious Subversion: Studies in Discourse with the Work of Guy G. Stroumsa, edited by Moshe Blidstein, Serge Ruzer and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, 251-63. Tübingen., 2018
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2010
The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, written in the late twelfth century, has long been recognize... more The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, written in the late twelfth century, has long been recognized as a unique source for both Jewish and Mediterranean history. This paper attempts to shift the focus to the text and its history, and examine the process of its translation and reception in early modern Europe. I focus on the first Latin translation (Antwerp, 1575), prepared by the Spanish biblical scholar Benito Arias Montano. In his dedication and preface, Montano presents Benjamin as an eminent member of the illustrious Spanish tradition of explorers and geographers. Moreover, he sees in the Itinerary a document that may be significant for the understanding of Scripture. Montano's conceptualization allows us to understand the complexities of translation as a cultural process – the attempts to bridge linguistic, religious, and chronological barriers that separated Benjamin from his early modern readers.
Special Issues by Zur Shalev
Reviews by Zur Shalev
Zinguer, Ilana, Avraham Melamed, and Zur Shalev, eds. Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance : Sources and Encounters. Brill's Series in Jewish Studies. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2011., 2011
Christian Hebraism came to its full fruition in the seventeenth century. However, interest in Je... more Christian Hebraism came to its full fruition in the seventeenth century. However, interest in Jewish and Hebraic sources had already increased during the early Renaissance, as an integral part of the renewed attention to ancient cultures, mostly Greek and Roman, as well as eastern cultures – from Egypt to India. This volume presents a selection of papers from the international conference Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance (University of Haifa, May, 2009), that trace the humanist encounter with Hebrew and Jewish sources during that period. The chapters included in this volume not only illuminate the ways in which Christian scholars encountered Hebraic sources and integrated them into their general worldview, but also present the encounters of Jewish scholars with humanist culture.
Shalev, Zur, and Charles Burnett, eds. Ptolemy's Geography in the Renaissance. London; Turin: Warburg Institute; Nino Aragno, 2011., 2011
The rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geography has long been hailed as a key moment in the emergence of R... more The rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geography has long been hailed as a key moment in the emergence of Renaissance culture, symbolizing a new rational spatiality, and preparing the way for the Age of Discovery. And yet, the process of the Geography’s introduction, integration and impact in western Europe, as the essays in this volume collectively suggest, was more complex and less predictable than has been traditionally assumed. Whereas previously Ptolemy’s maps attracted most scholarly attention, in this volume the textual tradition of the Geography – Ptolemy’s text, added prefaces, annotations and treatises – stand at the centre. Bringing together a wealth of previously unexplored sources and contexts, the essays examine the Geography as it took part in and influenced diverse areas of Renaissance culture, such as visual theory and communication, humanistic philological, historical and antiquarian practices, astrology, education and religion. The emerging Geography is perhaps less revolutionary but more satisfyingly embedded into the culture that produced and used it. This volume points to new directions for the study of the remaining questions that still hover around Ptolemy’s seminal work and for the study of early modern geography as a whole.
The contributions here respond to Gautier Dalché's call for more detailed studies on this subject... more The contributions here respond to Gautier Dalché's call for more detailed studies on this subject and present additional material on the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
תקציר מגילת 'יחוס האבות' היא רשימה של קברי צדיקים, רובם בארץ ישראל, המהווה מעין מדריך מאויר לעולה... more תקציר
מגילת 'יחוס האבות' היא רשימה של קברי צדיקים, רובם בארץ ישראל, המהווה מעין מדריך מאויר לעולה לרגל היהודי. המהדורה הידועה של החיבור נכתבה בשנת 1537 והועתקה בצפת על ידי אורי בן שמעון מביאלה בשנת 1564. כתב יד כמעט זהה למגילת 'יחוס האבות' הוא אגרת 'יחוס הצדיקים והחסידים' המתוארכת לשנת 1489 ולכל הפחות היה להם מקור משותף. על בסיס מהדורתו של אורי בן שמעון יצר ההבראיסט יוהן היינריך הוטינגר מהדורה לטינית-עברית שכותרתה Cippi Hebraici ושראתה אור בהיידלברג בשנת 1659 ושוב בשנת 1662.
המאמר מבקש לבחון את התפתחותו וגלגוליו של הטקסט ואת התיאור והדיון במקומות הקדושים בארץ ישראל בהקשרים דתיים, תרבותיים וגיאו-פוליטיים שונים, על ידי יהודי משלהי התקופה הממלוכית בארץ ישראל, יהודי מראשית התקופה העות'מאנית והבראיסט קלוויניסטי בן המאה ה-17. זאת תוך עמידה על דרכי מעברי הידע בין יהודים לנוצרים בעת החדשה המוקדמת ועל הממד הפולמוסי הסמוי והגלוי שבמהדורות השונות של הטקסט.
'Yihus ha-Avot' is an illustrated list of holy sites and graves, most of them in the Land of Israel, which serves as guide for the Jewish pilgrim. The better-known edition of the text was written in 1537 and copied in Safed by Uri ben Simeon of Biala in 1564. A manuscript almost identical to 'Yihus ha-Avot' is the scroll 'Yihus ha-Tzadikim ve-ha-Hasidim' from 1489. At the very least, the two texts had a common source. In 1659 and again in 1662 the Heidelberg Hebraist Johann Heinrich Hottinger published Cippi Hebraici, an annotated Latin-Hebrew edition, based on Uri’s text.
The article examines the development of the text between these phases. It compares the description of the holy places in the Land of Israel in different religious, cultural and geopolitical contexts, by a Jew from the end of the Mamluk period, a Jew from the beginning of the Ottoman period, and a 17th-century Reformed Hebraist. The discussion analyzes channels of knowledge transmission between Jews and Christians in the early modern period and the hidden and visible polemical aspects in the various editions of the text.
Historia [היסטוריה], 2018
אמונה וארכאולוגיה במאה השבע-עשרה: על מוסד הבישופות בין אסיה לאנגליה, היסטוריה 42, 2018, תשע"ט, 5 ... more אמונה וארכאולוגיה במאה השבע-עשרה: על מוסד הבישופות בין אסיה לאנגליה, היסטוריה 42, 2018, תשע"ט, 5 -29.
English abstract:
As recent studies have amply demonstrated, early modern scholars and churchmen were deeply engaged with the textual and material history of the ancient, or ‘primitive’ Church. During an age of confessional strife, the search for, and the different constructions of, the origins of Christianity had serious religious and political implications. This article looks at one such case: the late seventeenth-century search for the Seven Churches of Asia, which are listed in the opening chapters of John’s Revelation. Sir Paul Rycaut (1629-1700), the Consul to the English Nation in Izmir between 1667 and 1678, and a prolific author, was the prime mover behind these learned and pious excursions. Rycaut and fellow English residents in Izmir, together with passing travelers such as George Wheler, explored and documented the ancient ruins of the Seven Churches, some of which they identified for the first time. The paper closely studies the group of publications produced by this group, mainly Rycaut's The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches (1679), in which he surveyed contemporary Christian communities under Ottoman rule, while comparing them to an ideal ancient model. These explorations reveal a unique mix of religious and antiquarian sensibilities which is best interpreted, I argue, in the context of contemporary Anglican concerns and debates. In particular, the focus on the Seven Churches was related to the question of church government and the role of episcopacy in Reformation England. Following a long exegetical tradition, supporters of an institutional episcopal church interpreted John's messages to the Seven Churches as evidence of ancient, even divinely-ordained, bishops. Moreover, I suggest that for moderate English Protestants like Rycaut and his associates, being present on-site, seeing and authenticating the landscapes of the New Testament, afforded an acceptable form of pilgrimage, away from the relics of Jerusalem and Rome.
Relief Depiction. See Heights and Depths, Mapping of: Relief Depiction Religion and Cartography. ... more Relief Depiction. See Heights and Depths, Mapping of: Relief Depiction Religion and Cartography. The common mis understand ing of the Enlightenment as the era of cartographic
Travel is commonly defined as the movement of people from one place to another. Migrations, warri... more Travel is commonly defined as the movement of people from one place to another. Migrations, warring expeditions, tourism, to give but a few examples, are all forms of travel. Historians pose a variety of questions about these movements, regarding issues such as motivations and aims, center versus periphery, the scale of distances covered, or the means of travel. Throughout most of human history major movements of individuals, groups, and whole peoples often went unrecorded, or minimally so, beginning with our species' foundational story, the "Out of Africa" theory of human dissemination. When, however, we consider the more specific nexus of travel and information, as this essay will do, a new set of definitions, both narrower and broader, is required. Narrower, in the sense that it would be more useful for our purposes to consider not just any human movement, but par tic u lar forms of travel that are meaningfully linked to information, such as travels that are recorded, by either the traveler or others, travels intended to gather specific information, or travels that provide the basis for other studies. Historians have for long mined travel accounts in order to reconstruct the geo graphi cal history of vari ous regions and past cultures, languages, and economies. We require broader definitions, too, because travel and information are related to a wide range of historical phenomena that do not necessarily require physical human movement: vicarious and spiritual travel, and travel as an organ izing conceptual form, for example. Moreover, information itself travels and is shaped by the spatiotemporal conditions of movement. The technologies of the late nineteenth century, which freed information from human movement, will not be addressed here.
Scriptures, Sacred Traditions, and Strategies of Religious Subversion: Studies in Discourse with the Work of Guy G. Stroumsa, edited by Moshe Blidstein, Serge Ruzer and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, 251-63. Tübingen., 2018
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2010
The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, written in the late twelfth century, has long been recognize... more The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, written in the late twelfth century, has long been recognized as a unique source for both Jewish and Mediterranean history. This paper attempts to shift the focus to the text and its history, and examine the process of its translation and reception in early modern Europe. I focus on the first Latin translation (Antwerp, 1575), prepared by the Spanish biblical scholar Benito Arias Montano. In his dedication and preface, Montano presents Benjamin as an eminent member of the illustrious Spanish tradition of explorers and geographers. Moreover, he sees in the Itinerary a document that may be significant for the understanding of Scripture. Montano's conceptualization allows us to understand the complexities of translation as a cultural process – the attempts to bridge linguistic, religious, and chronological barriers that separated Benjamin from his early modern readers.
![Research paper thumbnail of Review of The Marvel of Maps: Art, Cartography, and Politics in Renaissance Italy, by Francesca Fiorani (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), Zmanim 100 (2007): 178-181 [Hebrew].](https://a.academia-assets.com/images/blank-paper.jpg)
](Review of The Marvel of Maps: Art, Cartography, and Politics in Renaissance Italy, by Francesca Fiorani (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), Zmanim 100 (2007): 178-181 [Hebrew].
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2022
Browse this journal Current issue List of issues Special issues Open access articles Mo... more Browse this journal Current issue List of issues Special issues Open access articles Most read articles Most cited articles
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2021
David Jacoby (1928–2018) was one of the leading historians of Byzantium and the Mediterranean wor... more David Jacoby (1928–2018) was one of the leading historians of Byzantium and the Mediterranean world. His scholarship has deeply transformed the field of Byzantine studies and challenged the way it was perceived. Prof. Jacoby was a member of the international board of the Mediterranean Historical Review until his death, and contributed to it in numerous ways. We dedicate this issue in homage to his memory, and to the historical perspective his scholarship has defined.
Special issue: Mixed marriage, conversion, and the family: norms and realities in pre-modern Ibe... more Special issue:
Mixed marriage, conversion, and the family: norms and realities in pre-modern Iberia and the wider Mediterranean
Guest Editors:
Yonatan Glazer-Eytan & Mercedes García-Arenal
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fmhr20/35/1
Mediterranean Historical Review , 2019
The editorial team and close colleagues bid farewell to Prof. Irad Malkin, MHR co-founder and co-... more The editorial team and close colleagues bid farewell to Prof. Irad Malkin, MHR co-founder and co-editor.
The Mediterranean has been traditionally conceived as a sphere of intense movement of people, goo... more The Mediterranean has been traditionally conceived as a sphere of intense movement of people, goods, and ideas across intricate networks. In this modest exhibition we explore a few examples of this connectivity by focusing on the term Via Maris, the sea route. Most basically, the term signifies the centrality of sea-bound routes, which connected different regions throughout the history of the pre-modern Mediterranean, and allowed travellers to overcome geographical barriers and unfavourable natural conditions, as well as cultural, political, and religious boundary lines. Mobility by means of seafaring has been enduring, and functioned continuously, regardless of shifting circumstances. Of course, Mediterranean connectivity also relied on land routes, following the coasts or projecting towards the periphery. The road that ran along the shores of the Levant was such a route, and it too was titled the Via Maris, here standing for the coastal road.
The civilizations of the Levant became the creators and significant members of Mediterranean networks as soon as regional connectivity was enhanced by means of maritime routes. The inhabitants of the Levant played a part in the region’s geopolitical and cultural scene and their identity was shaped accordingly. In this interaction, one of the main defining characteristics of the Levant as a distinct part within Mediterranean connectivity was the coastal road – the Via Maris. As a strict linear axis of progress, this route served armies, merchants and delegates in their quest to connect the Levant with Asia Minor in the north and Egypt in the south. As an extended point of departure and landing, it was the Levant’s – and, by implication, the entire East’s – main agent of communication with the Mediterranean realm. Numerous sites along the Via Maris – some represented in this exhibition – present deep connections with counterparts across the sea, and demonstrate various channels of Mediterranean influence in their cults, technologies and culture.
Another aspect of Mediterranean mobility we highlight here is the role of travel. Tourists, pilgrims, explorers and diplomats have roamed the Mediterranean since antiquity until today. The travel and description of the Mediterranean, especially in the age of the printing press, was a rich and often hybrid genre. In this exhibition we display the original and rare works printed by Europeans who went to experience at first hand the Mediterranean – its sacred and classical antiquity as well as its contemporary people, their beliefs and customs. By moving within the Mediterranean and documenting it, these travelers have shaped much of our own image of the sea.
Finally, we understand Via Maris as a conceptual tool for thinking about the history of Mediterranean scholarship. In this sense, we look at movement in time rather than in space, and engage with centuries of human intellectual engagement with the Mediterranean – its geography, ethnography, religion, and intellectual output. Like the sea itself, this tradition is on the move, marked by deep currents as well as light winds. Our exhibition therefore displays not only historical objects but also the most updated research by leading scholars in the field. The new Haifa Center for Mediterranean History has chosen the Dolphin and Anchor for its logo. It first appears on Roman coins, then adopted by a learned printer in Venice, to be followed by many others. There is no better illustration for the multiple meanings of Via Maris, the theme of our mini-exhibition.
Dear Colleagues, The past weeks, since the Oct 7th attack on Israel, have been tough on many fron... more Dear Colleagues, The past weeks, since the Oct 7th attack on Israel, have been tough on many fronts, including the academic. Nevertheless, we at the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History decided to share with you our newsletter covering the 2022-23 academic year, which we prepared during the summer. Thinking about the past and the present with Mediterranean categories, we hope, may provide a model for long-term perspectives and peaceful resolutions.
The dynasties that ruled the territory that roughly corresponds to present-day Iran, which was ge... more The dynasties that ruled the territory that roughly corresponds to present-day Iran, which was generally called Persia, were always at the center of Christian Europe's diplomatic interest. Over the centuries, time after time Europe faced serious threats from the Levant, such as the Seljuks, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, just to name a few of the most prominent examples. To face them, Christian rulers turned to Iran in an attempt to make military alliances against common enemies, for instance with the Ilkhanids against the Mamluks or with Tamerlane against the Ottomans. The advent of the Safavid dynasty in 1501 gave the final impetus to this trend and considerably strengthened the relationship with Persia so that the Safavid Shah, the mythical Sophy, became a well-known figure in Catholic Europe. With the emergence of the Safavids, we may speak of a veritable "Persophilia" which had very important implications in Italy more than elsewhere, affecting not only the diplomatic and military field, but also, and perhaps above all, the cultural sphere.
This paper aims to present the findings of the first chapter of an ongoing dissertation on four E... more This paper aims to present the findings of the first chapter of an ongoing dissertation on four European pilgrims to Jerusalem; Niccolò da Poggibonsi, Felix Fabri, Leonhard Rauwolf, and Henry Maundrell: two medieval Catholics and two early modern Protestants. I compare perceptions of space, time, and the Other, as they are manifested in the four travelogues regarding several sites in Jerusalem. This presentation revolves around the phenomenon that would cause bodies buried in Aceldama to decompose in an extraordinarily rapid processexamining how pilgrims responded to Aceldama's celebrated miracle and contrasting this with possible natural explanations. It is intended to create a broader understanding and add depth to the comparative analysis in the forthcoming thesis. Overall, this example will contribute to how the pilgrims perceived their physical environment in their religious context and related themselves to intertextual traditions.
Dr. Beers will present the results of a research project carried out at the Center examining the ... more Dr. Beers will present the results of a research project carried out at the Center examining the role of Christian monasticism in the economic transformation of Palestine in the late Roman/Byzantine period. The work of Israeli scholars over the past half century has generated an exceptional body of data from survey and excavation for the monastery as an institution with economic function-from rural monastic farms in western Galilee and Samaria, to the famous communities of the Judean desert margin, to village monasteries in the Negev settlements. By bringing this data into conversation with literary sources from elsewhere in the Roman world and comparative evidence from the Nile Valley, Dr. Beers will offer a new model of monasticism as a key ally of the late Roman state in its increasing penetration of rural and marginal zones within imperial territory, and their incorporation into the state's fiscal regime.
Malta-Haifa Heritage Workshop. Malta's incredibly rich and multi-variegated historical past is m... more Malta-Haifa Heritage Workshop.
Malta's incredibly rich and multi-variegated historical past is mirrored in the diversity of its underwater heritage. A subaquatic museum waiting to be discovered. Systematic undersea archaeological surveys off the coast of the Maltese Islands have revealed a plethora of underwater archaeological sites. These range from a 2,700 year-old Phoenician Shipwreck, Roman and Early Modern Shipwrecks to dozens of aircraft crash sites, submarines, and battleships from the First and Second World Wars. This underwater cultural heritage legacy has made Malta the curator for a uniquely well-preserved cultural resource that is global and belongs to all humankind. The recognition of responsibility towards properly managing and protecting Malta's underwater cultural heritage resulted in the decision to create the Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU) within Heritage Malta. The main objectives of the UCHU are the identification and documentation of sites, the valorisation of sites, site protection, as well as public access management and public outreach. The UCHU aims to continue opening sites for public access, ensuring that the authenticity and integrity of Malta's UCH is protected, in keeping with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
For long in the shadow of ambassadors and other high-ranking diplomats, consuls and consular syst... more For long in the shadow of ambassadors and other high-ranking diplomats, consuls and consular systems have only recently become the focus of historical studies, most of them dealing with the early modern Mediterranean. More than the mere "rediscovery" of seemingly minor players in issues of international trade and cross-cultural contacts, this new interest has led to a broader reassessment of their role in both the implementation of early modern trading policies, the social and political life of foreign "nations" abroad, and the process of "bureaucratization" of Ancien Régime state institutions. France is a case in point, as the standard narrative has it that by the end of the 17th century, Colbert had turned the medieval, Marseille-operated, consular system, into a modern, state-run, and national institution. Evidence however suggests that this process was in fact more complex and nuanced than is often assumed: hence, the role of Greek reayas in some of the more remote consular posts in the Eastern Mediterranean. My talk therefore aims to investigate the recruitment policies, career strategies and administrative practices of these 'non-national' staff. I will seek to understand what prompted them to enter the French consular service (sometimes alongside that of other European powers), against the backdrop of 17th-and 18th-century policy reforms that sought to give preference to French nationals for the exercise of consular duties. At a time when consular services became part of a complex process of definition of state sovereignty, the way these multiple, allegedly exclusive loyalties were articulated, sheds new light on issues of 'foreign" and "national" in the making of the modern state.
"They were cut up into pieces in a variety of ways and fell on each other like ears of corn. Thei... more "They were cut up into pieces in a variety of ways and fell on each other like ears of corn. Their lifeblood was squeezed out of them by the lance- bearers like grapes in a winepress." These words are taken from the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates in his description of a military defeat in the twelfth century. This talk considers the work of Byzantine chroniclers and their role in the shaping of public memory of events, people, and power in the empire and its hinterlands through recorded instances of graphic violence.
Decorated ostrich eggs were traded as luxury items from the Middle East to the western Mediterran... more Decorated ostrich eggs were traded as luxury items from the Middle East to the western Mediterranean during the second and first millennia BCE. The eggs were engraved, painted, and occasionally embellished with ivory, precious metals and faience fittings. While archaeologists note their presence as unusual vessels in funerary and dedicatory contexts, little is known about how or from where they were sourced, decorated and traded. Researchers at Bristol University, Durham University, and the British Museum have established techniques to identify where the eggs originated and how they were decorated, while researchers from Bristol, Cranfield, Ghent, Leuven, and Newcastle Universities have assessed comparative methods to identify pigments. This talk shares the results of our studies, revealing the complexity of the production, trade, and economic and social values of luxury organic items between competing cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world.
The aim of this session is to share the UK’s impact agenda for research and to outline ways in wh... more The aim of this session is to share the UK’s impact agenda for research and to outline ways in which UK Arts and Humanities researchers are demonstrating the tangible benefits of their research to society.
Weeping is a way to express commitment to a community and what it holds to be sacred, but not all... more Weeping is a way to express commitment to a community and what it holds to be sacred, but not all weeping is the same, even in a single religious tradition. This talk considers pre-modern traditions of pious weeping in Muslim society, which long interacted with other traditions of weeping in the Mediterranean and its hinterlands. Specifically, we ask how we are to read references to weeping in historical texts-as responses to societal expectations or as expressions of spiritual states that one pursues in private and only then displays in public? The talk is intended to prompt conversation on the study of emotions in Islam, a subfield which is only at its beginnings.
Events 2021-22-Mediterranean Forum The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot about virtual exchan... more Events 2021-22-Mediterranean Forum The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot about virtual exchanges. All of our Mediterranean Forum lectures were converted to a hybrid format (in-person and online), which, on the bright side, has allowed for broader exposure and wider international audiences. Additionally, many lectures were recorded and are now available on the HCMH's YouTube channel. 31st March 2022. A hybrid lecture by Prof. Theo Maarten van Lint, University of Oxford, Fellow of the Fund for the Advancement of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Israeli Academy of Sciences. The lecture titled "Christian Apologetics and Muslim-Christian Interaction in Eleventh Century Armenia. The Case of Grigor Magistros Pahlawuni and Amir Ibrahim" was co-hosted by the Department of General History, University of Haifa. Available on the HCMH's YouTube channel! 26th April 2022.
Monday – 5 September 2022 Sammy and Aviva Ofer Observation Gallery (Mitzpor) 30th Floor, Eshkol T... more Monday – 5 September 2022
Sammy and Aviva Ofer Observation Gallery (Mitzpor) 30th Floor, Eshkol Tower, University of
Haifa
09:30 Registration 09:45 Greetings
Efraim Lev, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Haifa
Gil Gambash, Director of the Haifa Centre for Mediterranean History, University of Haifa
Yuval Baruch, Head of the Archaeology Division, Israel Antiquities Authority
10:00 Introduction: Food and Food Habits in the Crusader Context 1095-1291. Judith Bronstein (University of Haifa)
10:30 Coffee break
Session I: Food in Religious Context
Moderator: Gil Gambash (University of Haifa)
11:00 Feeding Monks and Nuns: Comparative Evidence from Latin and Greek Monastic
Sources.
Andrew Jotischky (Royal Holloway, University of London) 11:30 Monastic Food in Byzantium.
Béatrice Caseau (Sorbonne University, Institut Universitaire de France) 12:00 Food as Religious Practice in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary.
Nora Berend (University of Cambridge) 12:30 Discussion
13:00 Lunch break
Session II: If Pots Could Talk – Approaches to Pottery Used in Food Production Moderator: Iris Shagrir (The Open University of Israel)
14:00 Beirut Cooking Wares: A "Crusader" Success Story?
Yona Waksman (French National Center for Scientific Research, Lyon)
14:30 Ceramics and Sugar Production in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem: Cross Cultural
Influences.
Edna J. Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority and University of Haifa) 15:00 Discussion
15:30 Coffee break
Session III: Peculiarities of Regional Cuisines
Moderator: Gil Fishhof (University of Haifa)
16.00 What’s Cooking? An Overview of the Protein Diet in Arsur (Apollonia-Arsuf) and Other
Selected Sites during the 12th and 13th Centuries.
Miriam Pines (Tel Aviv University)
16:30 Surf and Turf in Crusader Chalcis: Cooking, Wining and Dining in a Greek Byzantine
City.
Joanita Vroom (Leiden University) 17:00 Discussion
18:30 Dinner at the Druze restaurant “Nura’s Kitchen”
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
Old city of Acre: Visitors Center and the Knights Halls (the Hospitaller compound)
***This day is for invited participants only***
09:00 Pick up at the hotel and drive to Acre
Session I: Markets and Metal Work in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem Moderator: Benjamin Z. Kedar (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
10:30 Food Markets in Frankish Towns.
Adrian Boas (University of Haifa)
11:00 Food and Cooking: The Metalwork from the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Joppe Gosker (Israel Antiquities Authority) 11:30 Discussion
12:00 Lunch break
Eliezer Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority)
Session II: Food and the Hospitaller Order: Following the archaeological evidence in Acre
13:30 Introduction of the Hospitaller Headquarter in Acre
14:00 Between Ideal and Reality: The Role of the Refectory of the Hospitaller Order
Judith Bronstein (University of Haifa)
14:15 What Lies Beyond our Reach: The Kitchen Tract of the Hospitaller Compound
Lisa Yehuda (University of Haifa)
14:30 Ceramic Tableware Found in the Hospitaller Headquarter
Edna J. Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority and University of Haifa)
14:45 Discussion
15:15 The Latrine of the Hospitaller Order and the Bioarcheological Finds Indicating Food
Consumption on Site.
Eliezer Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority)
15:45 Sugar Production by the Hospitaller Order: the Surprising Archeological Evidence
Edna J. Stern (Israel Antiquities Authority and University of Haifa)
16: 30 Discussion
Return to Haifa and free evening
Wednesday, 7 September 2022
Sammy and Aviva Ofer Observation Gallery (Mitzpor) 30th Floor, Eshkol Tower, University of
Haifa
Session I: Food on the Move – Foreign Scents and Flavors in Local Cuisines of the Near East and Europe
Under the auspices of The Haifa Center for Mediterranean History, University of Haifa Moderator: Miriam Frenkel (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
09:00 When East and West Meet: Food in 13th Century al-Sham. Limor Yungman (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
09:30 The Circulation of Specialized Foods in Lusignan Cyprus,1300-1460. Nicholas Coureas (Cyprus Research Centre)
10:00 Local Jewish Foodways in Medieval Egypt: Symbolic Boundaries and the Question of Domestic Cooking.
Adi Namia-Cohen (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) 10:30 Discussion
11.00 Coffee break
Session II: Food, Medicine and Charity in the Mediterranean Arab World
Under the auspices of The Haifa Center for Mediterranean History, University of Haifa
Moderator: Adrian Boas
11:30 Food as a Socio-Political Tool: Soldiers’ Payment and Religious Endowments (in Egypt and Syria in Ayyubid and Mamluk Eras)
Yehoshua Frenkel (University of Haifa)
12:00 Workshop of Medieval Medicinal Substances; Including Incenses, Perfumes, Condiments and Spices.
Efraim Lev (University of Haifa) 12:30 Discussion
13:00 Lunch break
Session III: The Kitchen as a Room in its Own Right
Moderator: Joanita Vroom (Leiden University)
14:00 Food Preparation in Late Ayyubid Jordan: Inside a Rural Kitchen at Tell Hisban
Bethany J. Walker (University of Bonn)
14:30 On a Crusade for a Kitchen – The Frankish Kitchen in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
Lisa Yehuda (University of Haifa) 15:00 Discussion
15:30 Concluding Remarks
19:00 Farewell Dinner at “Rola Levantine Kitchen”, Haifa
Dragons of Summer and Winter: Lay Traditions of Jews and Christians between South and North in Me... more Dragons of Summer and Winter: Lay Traditions of Jews and Christians between South and North in Medieval Europe
Water, an element essential to human life, has traditionally been imbued with spiritual significance. In medieval Europe, water played a central role in the liturgy, ritual, and customs of Christianity and Judaism. This talk will examine the idea that water sources were under a threat during liminal times, predominantly discussing the connections between the Jewish tekufah, when Jews feared the poisoning of their drinking water, and the Christian rituals around the eve of St. John the Baptist, when
Christians acted to protect their water sources from dragons or demonic forces. We will see that such lay traditions took on a different form in southern and northern Europe and have transformed over time.
This lecture is based on my new book, which explores seminal moments in the biography of a contes... more This lecture is based on my new book, which explores seminal moments in the biography of a contested medieval monument between ca. 500 C.E and 1600 C.E. Justinian’s triumphal column was the tallest, free-standing column of the pre-modern world was crowned by the largest metal, equestrian sculpture created anywhere in the world before 1699. The Byzantine empire’s bronze horseman towered over the heart of Constantinople, assumed new identities, spawned conflicting narratives, and acquired widespread international acclaim. Because all traces of Justinian’s column were erased from the urban fabric of Istanbul in the sixteenth century, scholars have underappreciated its astonishing agency and remarkable longevity. Its impact in visual and verbal culture was arguably among the most extensive of any Mediterranean monument. Its agency can be recovered from Byzantine, Islamic, Slavic, Crusader, and Renaissance historical accounts, medieval pilgrimages, geographic, apocalyptic and apocryphal narratives, vernacular poetry, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Italian, French, Latin, and Ottoman illustrated manuscripts, Florentine wedding chests, Venetian paintings, and Russian icons. This lecture discusses some of the evidence analyzed in the book.
Responder: Gil Fishhof
Towards a reconstructed Phoenician identity. The Phoenicians are trending again. Archaeologica... more Towards a reconstructed Phoenician identity.
The Phoenicians are trending again. Archaeological advances in the Levant and western Mediterranean, as well as interest in new pan-Mediterranean approaches, have put them in the spotlight. Yet debates still swirl about who exactly they were or whether they really were a discrete group. What makes them so elusive also makes them inevitable, as they form part of multiple disciplines and cultural histories around the Mediterranean. In this talk, I make the case for overcoming the barrier of nomenclature and sidestepping deconstructivist dead-ends so that we can focus on the positive evidence. We can reconstruct Phoenician identity in ways that work across the Mediterranean and correspond to the basic heuristic categories used by historians since antiquity. As for other groups, the Greeks especially, we need not succumb to either skepticism or rigid views of identity in order to treat the Phoenicians on an equal footing with other historical peoples as we continue to study their interactions with others and their considerable cultural impact in and outside the Levant.
נכנס יין יצא סוד Wine in Safedian Kabbalah Wine's ubiquitous presence and important role in many... more נכנס יין יצא סוד
Wine in Safedian Kabbalah
Wine's ubiquitous presence and important role in many different realms of Jewish life, combined with certain general features of the beverage per se, have made it a product of unique cultural and symbolic significance in premodern Judaism. As a result, attitudes towards wine provide a smaller-scale reflection of ideological and existential postures maintained by a Jewish individual or social group, and thus investigating said attitudes may contribute to elucidating more fundamental elements in the mentalities of the authors under scrutiny.
Analyzing how four kabbalists active in 16th-century Safed—Joseph Karo, Solomon Alqabetz, Moses Cordovero and Hayyim Vital—discussed the symbolic and practical uses of wine in their works sheds light on their respective views on the material world and how to conduct oneself in it, their understanding of evil and its origin, and their perception of the “other.” Consequently, this exercise in “kabbalistic enology” contributes to redress certain sweeping generalizations about Safedian Kabbalah in favor of a more nuanced and multifarious picture.
Facere, restituere, ornare: An analysis of building activities through inscriptions The aim of th... more Facere, restituere, ornare: An analysis of building activities through inscriptions
The aim of this presentation is to investigate the constant dialogue between epigraphic evidence, archaeological remains and written sources regarding building activities in Roman times. Inscriptions usually preserve important information for understanding society, history and relationship in the ancient world. Besides, epigraphic evidence allow to reconstruct the social, economic and, often, administrative context of the activities that led to the construction of buildings or to the modification of inhabited centres' landscape. These documents, in association with literary or technical sources and archaeological remains, lead us to the analysis of the architectural plans' various phases, from the materials' production and commerce to the renovation or reconstruction of damaged buildings or to the ruins' spoliation. This presentation will examine Roman epigraphic sources regarding (re)building activities, their funding and their historical and social contexts.
On nous voit souvent comme des érudits, tapis dans nos cabinets de travail, sombres de préférence... more On nous voit souvent comme des érudits, tapis dans nos cabinets de travail, sombres de préférence, peu enclins à quitter nos tables et papiers. Nous empruntons pourtant aussi les routes et mers, dans l'idée de gagner ces ailleurs vers lesquels nous attirent les textes que nous lisons, les menus objets qui arrivent jusqu'à nous, les lieux rêvés, nos désirs de retrouver un passé si proche et si lointain à nos yeux. Le colloque souhaite éclairer les liens entre les voyages d'antiquaires et la mise en forme de connaissances sur le passé antique et médiéval à travers ses vestiges matériels. Il s'agit ainsi d'interroger la pertinence d'une séparation entre « l'homme de cabinet » et « l'homme de terrain » et de ré échir à l'insertion du voyage dans un horizon matériel, intellectuel, mais aussi imaginaire.
בית הספר להיסטוריה והפקולטה למדעי הרוח באוניברסיטת חיפה יעניקו מלגת בתר-דוקטורט אחת למועמד/ת בעל... more בית הספר להיסטוריה והפקולטה למדעי הרוח באוניברסיטת חיפה יעניקו מלגת בתר-דוקטורט אחת למועמד/ת בעל/ת תואר דוקטור המבקשים להשתלם בשנת הלימודים תשפ"ב (2021 -2022) במחקר בתר-דוקטורט באוניברסיטת חיפה בתחום ההיסטוריה הכללית. המלגה מיועדת לאפשר לזוכה להתמסר להשתלמות בתר-הדוקטורט באוניברסיטה בתחום התעניינותו/ה המחקרית.
בית הספר להיסטוריה קורא בזאת להשתתפות בתחרות לקבלת מלגת בתר-דוקטורט אחת על סך 100,000 ₪. בנוסף לכך, לרשות המלגאי/ת יועמד תקציב מחקר על סך 5000 ₪ למימון הוצאות הנוגעות לפרסום המחקר האקדמי במהלך שנת המלגה ובכפוף לאישורו של ראש בית הספר להיסטוריה.
שאר הפרטים במסמך.
Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly, 2019
תמר הרציג וצור שלו, "'הקולות של הנשים עצמן חסרו לי': שיחה עם לינדל רופר," זמנים: רבעון היסטורי ... more תמר הרציג וצור שלו, "'הקולות של הנשים עצמן חסרו לי': שיחה עם לינדל רופר," זמנים: רבעון היסטורי 140 (2019), עמ' 102-115.
Tamar Herzig and Zur Shalev, “A Conversation with Lyndal Roper,” Zmanim: A Historical Quarterly [in Hebrew] 140 (2019), pp. 102-115.
This workshop tackles the entanglement of science and pilgrimage in the early modern era. It is a... more This workshop tackles the entanglement of science and pilgrimage in the early modern era. It is assumed that pilgrimage was one out of several vectors in the field of early modern science, knowledge and scholarship. Rather than seeing the sacred journey as diametrically opposed to curiosity and early modern travel or viewing these as reconcilable only with difficulty, this workshop is dedicated to pilgrimage as a motor of late medieval and early modern scientific innovations. Despite rather isolated studies that show the persistence of long-distance pilgrimage beyond the reformations and its connections to such innovative fields as antiquarianism and cosmography, it continues to be taken for granted that pilgrims could only be curious and innovative insofar as they were sloppy pilgrims. Besides essentialising piety, such an outlook misses the fact that Christian pilgrimage-pilgrimage to Jerusalem in particular-had since Late Antiquity involved practices that resonated perfectly with early modern science. Those practices included but were not limited to cataloguing (places, stations, heretics, plants, relics), historicizing (places and objects), measuring, collecting (relics, eulogia, artefacts) and the production of credible proofs. Indeed, the importance of autopsy and examination goes back to New Testament rhetoric ("which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched", 1 John 1:1) and was a time-honoured trope in pilgrimage accounts. Christ had sanctified the ground by his feet and blood, which meant that pilgrimages were by definition investigative. As both the terrain and the sacred text were authoritative, the translation of one into the other was a complex operation. Unsurprisingly, then, scientists (apothecaries, cosmographers, philologists, and others) were attracted to the Holy Land. There and in other faraway places the exposed practitioners of the science of pilgrimage were forced to collaborate with all kinds of religious adversaries.
Recent scholarship has challenged the still-powerful claim that long-distance pilgrimage and the ... more Recent scholarship has challenged the still-powerful claim that long-distance pilgrimage and the journey to Jerusalem dramatically declined in number and significance in the sixteenth century. This article seeks to explore the different ways in which pilgrimage was embedded in the culture of the period. We interpret pilgrimage as a field of shared cross-confessional practices, representational conventions, and contestation. The paper presents a series of interlinked case studies, based on printed sources, correspondence, family archives, and material evidence. Together they demonstrate that early modern pilgrimage perpetuated medieval practices and yet was in constant dialogue with contemporary, post-Reformation religious and intellectual trends.
Rome 26-28 June, 2024
On nous voit souvent comme des érudits, tapis dans nos cabinets de travail, sombres de préférence... more On nous voit souvent comme des érudits, tapis dans nos cabinets de travail, sombres de préférence, peu enclins à quitter nos tables et papiers. Nous empruntons pourtant aussi les routes et mers, dans l'idée de gagner ces ailleurs vers lesquels nous attirent les textes que nous lisons, les menus objets qui arrivent jusqu'à nous, les lieux rêvés, nos désirs de retrouver un passé si proche et si lointain à nos yeux. Le colloque souhaite éclairer les liens entre les voyages d'antiquaires et la mise en forme de connaissances sur le passé antique et médiéval à travers ses vestiges matériels. Il s'agit ainsi d'interroger la pertinence d'une séparation entre « l'homme de cabinet » et « l'homme de terrain » et de ré échir à l'insertion du voyage dans un horizon matériel, intellectuel, mais aussi imaginaire.