This paper discusses internationalisation of the study of religion after the mid-twentieth century and some methodological implications of this development. It is shown that when the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) was established in 1950 under the auspices of UNESCO to collaborate between scholars from different…[Read more]

Several scholarly works and media reports claim that the Christian minority in Pakistan is mistreated, persecuted, and discriminated against, giving an overall impression as if Christians are alienated from the main social stream everywhere in Pakistan and that the public at large is responsible for their miseries. Noticing that most of the…[Read more]

The paper discusses how the natural environmental conditions of the Phoenician litoral in the eastern Mediterranean had shaped their culture from a very early age.

The document consists mainly of supplementary notes on points that would have taken up too much space in the edition or have occurred to me since completing it. Some of them correct errors or omissions, others take account of recently published work. There is also a list of errata, i.e. typos and other small-scale slips.

Alija Ali Izetbegović (1925-2003) is one of the outstanding Muslim thinkers in recent history who have re-conceptualized the Islamic worldview and ethos in the context of the contemporary world on the one hand and critically reflected upon the modern Western civilization, on the other. Izetbegović conceives Islam as a system representing a m…[Read more]

The classical Muslim scholarly tradition produced an assortment of literature on different religions including a considerable number of descriptive studies, a phenomenon that leaves imposing questions. Most importantly, how a pre-modern civilization was able to generate a tradition of descriptive scholarship on different religions in the absence…[Read more]

Scholars have made contesting claims about the nature and scale of works on religions by Muslim scholars before modern times. The present paper explores various primary and secondary sources, especially the classical bibliographical indexes that the scholarly tradition under scrutiny itself produced, and classifies these works into three types:…[Read more]

Late Halaf female figurines of clay/pottery from northeastern Syria (Type LH.1A; 6th millennium BCE) have close parallels in predynastic Egyptian figurines (4th millennium BCE) in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. The lack of provenance for the Egyptian statuettes – all of which were purchased – has long inhibited any comparison with the…[Read more]

The Priestly or Aaronic Blessing contained in Numbers 6:22-27 is treasured by both Jewish and Christian communities. This commentary on the text and the context of the Blessing offers no radical exegesis. It is intended simply as guide to a few of the textual and interpretive issues embodied in this brief and ostensibly simple pericope.

This course explores key themes related to the archaeology of urbanism and urban centers in the ancient Mediterranean world. The development of urban culture in the Mediterranean world and western Asia will provide an opportunity to discuss cultural interactions and the development of the framework of urban culture in the ancient Near East, while…[Read more]

Single finds are often neglected in the analysis of Bronze Age depositions, since their context is often unclear or even completely unknown. It is often assumed that single finds originally belonged to hoards, graves or settlements. But do they really belong to other contexts, or are they an autonomous context category that deserves more…[Read more]

Geomagnetic research and drillings provide new results regarding settlement organisation and population size of three small settlements from the Pre-Cucuteni and the Cucuteni A-B period of Suceava County in Romanian Bucovina. In these settlements from different stages of the Cucuteni-Tripolye complex, domestic dwellings can be distinguished from…[Read more]

Destruction is an element of human behaviour that is universally present throughout our history. But what are the driving forces behind these violent acts? Can an underlying motivation be recognised in the archaeological record? This article focuses on the destruction and mutilation of monumental architecture and figurative works, and puts them…[Read more]

Destruction is an element of human behaviour that is universally present throughout our history. But what are the driving forces behind these violent acts? Can an underlying motivation be recognised in the archaeological record? This article focuses on the destruction and mutilation of monumental architecture and figurative works, and puts them…[Read more]

Entry ‘Aristophanes: Clouds’, in: The Literary Encyclopedia (published version)

Entry ‘Aristophanes: Clouds’, in: The Literary Encyclopedia (published version)

Entry ‘Sophocles: Philoctetes’, in: The Literary Encyclopedia (published version)

Entry ‘Sophocles: Philoctetes’, in: The Literary Encyclopedia (published version)

Entry ‘Ancient Greek Theatre in Italy’ in The Literary Encyclopedia (published version)