University / institution contact details
Position: Post Doctoral Researcher/Research AssociateDepartment of History and Art History (Faculteit Geesteswetenschappen), Universiteit Utrecht (University of Utrecht)
Dep. Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis (Department of History and Art History)
Drift 10
Utrecht
3512 BS
Netherlands
Teaches (T) and/or researches (R) in:
2. History of the Jewish People: R
11: Late Antiquity: R
12: Medieval: R
13: Early Modern: R
17: Archaeology: R
18: Epigraphy: R
3. Religion and Religious Movements: R
31: Comparative Religion: R
32: Liturgy and prayer: R
4. Jewish Thought and Philosophy: R
36: Jewish Mysticism: R
5. Rabbinic Literature: R
39: Medieval: R
6. Literature (other than Biblical and Rabbinic): R
43: Medieval (including scientific, poetry, Genizah studies): R
44: Early modern (including scientific, poetry): R
9. Contemporary Studies: R
67: Anthropology, Ethnography and Folklore: R
71: Interfaith studies (including Jewish-Christian relations, Jewish-Muslim relations): R
74: Gender studies (including Women in Judaism, Feminism): R
11. Digital Humanities: R
86: Digital humanities: R
Other subjects:
Jewish magic (late-antique and medieval): Research
Jewish diasporic identity: Research
Description
Ortal-Paz Saar researches religious studies and Jewish cultural history. She is particularly interested in portraying the interaction between different religious traditions. Previously focusing on ancient and medieval magic and rituals, she is currently undertaking a new project at Utrecht University, on The Renaissance of Hebrew among the Jews of the Western Diaspora. This research is part of a larger project conducted by Prof. Leonard Rutgers, titled Reconfiguring Diaspora: The Transformation of the Jewish Diaspora in Antiquity.
Following the completion of her doctorate, Ortal-Paz pursued a research project at Cambridge University, examining manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah; she has worked on a British-Israeli academic exchange project (BIRAX), composing a prosopographic database of Babylonian incantation bowls; and was part of an international team that catalogued the Berlin Vorderasiatisches Museum collection of incantation bowls. In 2012-2013 she was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where she explored the relationships between different religious groups in late-antique Mesopotamia. Her first book, titled Jewish Love Magic: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, is forthcoming from Brill. She is concomitantly working with Siam Bhayro of the University of Exeter on editing a Handbook of Jewish Magic.