Ancient Near East, Semitics & Judaica at SOAS: a selection of new titles received April & May 2016

By Mary Fisk|May 25, 2016|Africa, Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Anthropology and Sociology, Art and Archaeology, Films and Sound Recordings, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Philosophy, Politics and International Relations, Religions|0 comments

This is a selective list of new books received on topics relating to the Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica during April and May 2016. Please note that some of these titles may be shelved in the Art and Archaeology section (Level D) and that this section also includes books on modern Israeli / Palestinian studies (Level B) Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations Iconography of “Neo-Hittite” seals / by Agata Kubala

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Study of Religions & Philosophy at SOAS: a selection of new titles received April & May 2016

By Mary Fisk|May 25, 2016|Africa, Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, China and Inner Asia, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Philosophy, Religions, South Asia|0 comments

This is a selective list of titles received on themes relating to the study of religions and philosophy during April and May 2016. Click on the hyperlink to go through to the entry on the SOAS Library catalogue RELIGIONS Comparative and thematic Subverting global myths: theology and the public issues shaping our world / Vinoth Ramachandra – https://library.soas.ac.uk/Record/10013191 Sociology of religion, morals (philosophy), ethics (philosophy) Death, ritual and belief: the

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British Library’s Hebrew manuscripts project blog launched today

By Mary Fisk|April 20, 2016|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Archival collections, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Religions|0 comments

  (image from http://www.bl.uk/hebrew-manuscripts/articles/shedding-new-light-on-marginalia-mysteries) – free from copyright restrictions The British Library’s Hebrew Manuscripts Project official blog has been launched today. The blog showcases over 1000 years of Jewish culture and social life from across the world – from the Middle East to China, and from North Africa to Europe – with a key collection of digitized manuscripts in Hebrew from the British Library’s own collections accompanied by expert commentary and

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Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica collections: March additions

By Mary Fisk|March 31, 2016|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, History, Linguistics, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Politics and International Relations, Religions|0 comments

This is a selection of titles (print and electronic) added to the Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica collections during March 2016. Click on the hyperlink to go through to the Library catalogue record for each item Please note that this subject division also includes books on contemporary Israel and Palestine Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations Mon dieu qu’ai-je fait? : Les diĝir-šà-dab-ba et la piété privée en Mésopotamie / Margaret

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Trial access to Index of References Dealing with Talmudic Literature

By Mary Fisk|February 18, 2016|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Religions|0 comments

SOAS has trial access to the Saul Lieberman Institute of Talmudic Research’s bibliographical database  Index of References Dealing with Talmudic Literature for four months until 17th June 2016 The Institute is part of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America The resource ” lists bibliographical references for passages in rabbinic literature and related subjects and connects them to the location within rabbinic literature to which they are related. The latest version makes use

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Archaeology and religion: two book reviews

By Mary Fisk|February 8, 2016|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Anthropology and Sociology, Art and Archaeology, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Religions|0 comments

Two books recently acquired by SOAS Library have been reviewed online: Defining the Sacred: Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Near East / edited by Nicola Laneri (Oxford: Oxbow, 2015) Reviewed by Aren M. Maeir (Bar-Ilan University) in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review An “excellent”  collection of studies “dealing with various cultures, finds, issues and periods, ranging from the early Neolithic period until the Iron Age“. Regions studied include ancient

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Digitized Hebrew manuscripts from the Library of Congress

By Mary Fisk|December 9, 2015|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Archival collections, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Religions|0 comments

The Hebraic manuscripts section of the Library of Congress houses over 220  manuscripts, mostly in Hebrew, but including other related languages such as Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian. These date from the 11th to the 20th centuries and come from Jewish communities across the world. They cover an eclectic range of subjects. Fifty texts have currently been added to the website. Content is indexed by language, name, subject, place and by

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Open Access (free) Monograph Series: Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS)

By David Pearson|October 2, 2015|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica, Religions|0 comments

Oriental Institute Seminars (OIS) The Oriental Institute yearly appoints a Postdoctoral Fellow for a twenty-four month (non-renewable) appointment. Postdoctoral Fellows are selected from an international pool of applicants, based on their proposals to organize a two-day conference at the Oriental Institute. The conferences address important theoretical or methodological issues in the field of ancient studies — archaeological, text-based, and/or art historical avenues of research. The Oriental Institute encourages cross-disciplinary proposals that deal

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New resource for Syriac studies on the web (syri.ac)

By Mary Fisk|August 13, 2015|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, History, Religions|0 comments

A section of British Library Add. MS. 14,425, a copy of the Peshitta, which is the Syriac translation of the Bible. The scribe of this manuscript added that it was written at Amida in AD 464. This excerpt contains the text of Exodus 13:14-16. (via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peshitta464.jpg) syri.ac : an annotated bibliography of Syriac resources online (hosted by the University of Oklahoma) has been developed from Resources for Syriac studies

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Two SOAS Library Book Reviews

By Mary Fisk|August 6, 2015|Ancient Near East, Semitics and Judaica, Art and Archaeology, History, Middle East, Central Asia & Islamica|0 comments

A couple of  reviews for books recently acquired by SOAS Library … 1.Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present and Collective Violence against the Armenians, 1789-2009 by Fatma Müge Göçek. Reviewed by Dr. Joanne Laycock(Sheffield Hallam University) in the Institute of Historical Research’s Reviews in History This book “is representative of the growing engagement of historians of this region and period with an expanding range of source material and a willingness

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