Comparative Approaches to Apocalyptic Literature 

In Judaism, Islam and Christianity (c. 600-c. 900) 

Online and at the University of St Andrews 5-6 June 2023 

Please note that times are in British Summer Time (BST) 

Monday 5 June 2023 

9:30-10 Registration and Coffee 

10-1 Session One: 

Welcome 

David Cook (Rice University), “Apocalypse in the History of Damascus: Ibn `Asakir (d. 1176) and the Syrian Muslim Apocalyptic Heritage” 

Gaelle Bosseman (Université de Namur), “Characteristics and Reception of Apocalyptic Literature in the Latin West (7th-9th c.): Between Inheritances and Mutations” 

Helen Spurling (University of Southampton), “Beyond Ishmael: The Sons of Qedar in Jewish Apocalyptic Traditions” 

1-2 Lunch 

2-3:30 Session Two 

Tim Greenwood (University of St Andrews), “Seventh-Century Armenian Apocalyptic Traditions in Comparative Perspective” 

Andras Kraft (Universität Wien), “Pseudo-Methodios in Sicilian Garb: Revisiting Ninth-Century Byzantine Apocalypticism” 

3:30-4 Coffee 

4-5 Plenary Session (led by Helen Spurling and James T Palmer with Alex Woolf, University of St Andrews): “How Do We Compare Apocalypses? Cultures, Contexts, and Methods” 

Tuesday 6 June 2023 

9-9:30 Coffee 

9:30-11 Session Three: 

Veronika Wieser (Universität Tübingen), “Mapping Gog and Magog in the Medieval World: New Approaches to Ethnic, Religious and Political Discourses in Apocalyptic Thought” 

Constanza Cordoni (Universität Wien), “Spatial Aspects of Apocalypticism in Jewish Traditions” 

11-11:30 Coffee 

11:30-1 Session Four: 

Sebastian Bitsch (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), “Traces of the Magi. Reflections of Zoroastrian Eschatological Motifs in the Qurʾān” 

James T Palmer (University of St Andrews), “The Political Resonances of Apocalyptic Literature in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries: Frameworks and Perspectives” 

1-2 Lunch 

2-3 Plenary Session: “Themes, Directions, and Future Plans” 

To register visit our Eventbrite site: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/comparative-approaches-to-apocalyptic-literature-c-600-c-900-tickets-628508986297 

For further queries contact Prof James T Palmer at jtp21@st-andrews.ac.uk  

Program 15th Contact Day Jewish Studies on the Low Countries
Institute of Jewish Studies – University of Antwerp
Tuesday 23 May 2023

Hof van Liere – Prentenkabinet, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen

10:15 am – 10:30 am: Registration and welcome coffee

10:30 am – 10:45 am: Welcome and opening of the contact day

Vivian Liska, Karin Hofmeester & Veerle Vanden Daelen

10:45 am – 12:15  pm: Session I: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Delft, Brazil and beyond: Jewish Culture and  Economy in Context (chair: Jessica Roitman)

José Alberto R. Silva Tavim: Between Amsterdam and Brussels: the versions of the manuscripts ‘Relações, Cantigas, Adivinhaçõens…’ from the British Library and from KBR

Erik Odegard: Brazil, Barbados and Beyond: Sephardic merchant networks in the Atlantic world, 1654-1674 

Max Farasat: A Place to Call Home: Reading Jewish Belonging and Identity in the Material Culture of Jewish Architecture in the Netherlands

12:15 pm – 1:30 pm – Lunch with book presentation by David Wertheim: Waar gaat het over als het over Joden gaat?

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Session II: The Shoah and the Local Perspective: Jewish Choices and Municipal Involvement (chair: Frédéric Crahay)

Jan Maes: How a German member of the Association of Jews in Belgium (AJB/VJB)

portrayed the head of the Sipo-SD department IV (also known as the “Gestapo”)  in Brussels as a “Righteous Rescuer”

Maarten-Jan Vos: Municipal involvement in the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands 1940-1950

2.30 pm – 2.45 pm – Coffee break

2.45 pm – 4:45 pm Session III: Jewish Migrations, Identities and Elites (chair: David Wertheim)

Joris Kok: Next Year in Antwerp: Labour migration of Jewish diamond workers to Antwerp, 1894-1940 

Sietske van der Veen: Defining ‘the Jewish Dutch Elite(s)’, 1870-1940

Channa Zaccai: The first Israelis in the Netherlands: A case study of diaspora, Jewish identity and integration

Hilde Greefs & Anne Winter: Eastern-European newcomers in Antwerp at the turn of the twentieth century: the Jewish dimension?

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm: Closing remarks

Karin Hofmeester & Veerle Vanden Daelen

 8pm: public evening lecture (in Dutch)

Over de ‘ambassadeur van de Joden’ en ‘de Heren van de Kabbalah’. Opkomst en ondergang van de Joodse zaak als Nederlands politiek instrument

David Wertheim (Menasseh ben Israel Instituut, Amsterdam)

Evening lecture in room R.013, Rodestraat 14, 2000 Antwerpen.

Contact day in English, evening lecture in Dutch – free entrance.
Registration required:  ijs@uantwerpen.be