Aram Society

ARAM FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

(Organised by Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd, University of Oxford)

 

TUESDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 1989

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

14.00-16.30       Registration

17.00-18.30       Official opening by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hasan of Jordan

19.00-21.00       Inaugural Dinner

 

WEDNESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 1989

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd (University of Oxford)

09.30-10.05       Dr. Piotr Bienkowski (Liverpool Museum):

“The chronology of Tawilan and the ‘Dark Age’ of Edom.”

10.05-10.40       Dr. John Bartlett (University of Dublin):

“The situation between the end of the Edomite kingdom and the appearance of the Nabataeans.”

10.40-11.15       Tea/coffee

11.15-11.50       Dr. David F. Graf (University of Miami):

“The origin of the Nabataeans.”

11.50-12.25       Dr. Manfred Lindner (Naturhistorische Gesellschaft, Nurnberg):

“A unique Edomite/Nabataean archaeological site in the mountains of southern Jordan.”

12.25-13.00       Dr. Gerald Mattingly (Johnson Bible College):

“Settlement patterns on the Moabite plateau from Iron Age through the Nabataean/Roman period.”

13.00-14.30       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Mr. Michael Macdonald (Oxford University)

14.30-15.05       Dr. William Jobling (University of Sydney):

“Some new Thamudic and Nabataean inscription of the Hisma in southern Jordan.”

15.05-15.40       Dr. Philip C. Hammond (University of Utah):

                        “The rise of a provincial state: Nabatene.”

15.40-16.10       Tea/coffee

16.10-16.45       Mr. Peter Parr (University of London):

“The archaeology of the Petra town centre.”

16.45-17.10              Mr. Julian Bowsher (Museum of London):

“Early Nabataean coinage.”

 

THURSDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 1989

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Sebastian Brock (Oxford University)

09.30-10.05       Dr. Margaret Lyttleton (London):

“The sculpture found in the temenos of the Qasr al’Bint at Petra.”

10.05-10.40       Dr. Marie-Jeanne Roche (Hunter College-New York):

“Panels decorated with busts from Petra.”

10.40-11.15       Tea/Coffee

11.15-11.50       Dr. Jacqueline Dentzer-Freydy (Universsity of Paris 1 -Sorbonne):

                        “Le décor architectural du temple nabatéen de Khirbet edh-Dharih.”           

11.50-12.25       Dr. François Villeneuve (Ecole Normale Superieure):

“Problème de chronologie de la céramique nabatéenne (1er-2me ap.J.C.) à partir des fouilles de Khirbet edh-Dharih.”

12.25-13.00       Dr. David Johnson (Brigham Young University):

“Nabataean Pyriform Unguentaria: Chronology, production and use, the evidence from Petra.”

13.00-14.30       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Prof. Rifaat Ebied (Sydney University)

14.30-15.05       Dr. Khairieh Amr (Department of Antiquities - Jordan):

“The late Kiln at Zurrabah.”

15.05-15.40       Dr. Fawzi Zayadine (Department of Antiquities - Jordan):

“The Nabataean gods in the Sinai and Egypt.”

15.40-16.10:      Tea/coffee

16.10-16.45       Dr. Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University):

                        “Baalshamin dans le monde nabatéen.”

16.45-17.10       Dr. Ernest Axel Knauf (University of Heidelberg):

                        “Dušares and Shai alqaum.”

 

FRIDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 1989

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. John F. Healey (Manchester University)

09.30-10.05       Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University):

“The hydraulic and hydroagricultural installations found in southern Jordan.”

10.05-10.40       Mr. Alistair Killick & Mrs. Marie Killick (Oxford):

“The Nabataeans at Udhruh.”

10.40-11.15       Tea/Coffee

11.15-11.50       Dr. Avraham Negev (Hebrew University):

                        “The Greek papyri at Nessana (Aujah Hafir) in the Negev.”           

11.50-12.25       Mr. Karl Schmitt-Korte (Frankfurt):

“An early Christian record of the Nabataeans.”

12.25-13.00       Dr. Jean-Marie Fiey (Université St Joseph-Beirut):

“From the Nabataeans to the Nabat.”

 

13.00-14.30       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Adnan Hadidi (Department of Antiquities - Jordan)

14.30-15.05       Dr. Khalid Ismail Ali (Baghdad University):

“Etymological and semantic aspects of the root NBT.”

15.05-15.40       Dr. John F. Healey (Manchester University):

“The Nabataean contribution to the development of the Arab script.”

15.40-16.10:      Tea/coffee

16.10-16.45       Dr. Salah Hamarneh (University of Jordan):

                        “The period which followed the end of the political reign of the Nabataeans.”

16.45-17.10       Dr. Mohammad A. Abdul’Karim  (University of Baghdad):

                        “The Nabataeans in the Arab tradition.”

 

ARAM SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

(Organised by Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd, University of Oxford)

Syriac and Arab Cultures during the Abbasid Era in Iraq

 

MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 1991

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

14.00-17.30       Registration

17.30-19.00       Official opening by Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd

                        Dr. Alison Salvesen: The main projects of ARAM

19.00-21.00       Inaugural Dinner

 

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 1991

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford)

09.00-10.00       Dr. Michael Morony (University of California at Los Angeles):

“The Aramaean population in the economic life of early Islamic Iraq.”

10.00-11.00       Dr. Yousif Ishaq (Sweden):

“The Zuqnin chronicle (Ps Dionysius of Tel-Mahre) as a source of study of the political and economic situation of Northern Iraq during the Abbasid era.”

11.00-11.30       Tea/coffee

11.30-12.30       Dr. Stephanie Dalley (University of Oxford):

“Gilgamesh after the Cuneiform.”

12.30-15.00       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Jeremy Black (University of Oxford)

15.00-16.00       Dr. Richard Dumbrill (London):

“The Babylonian origins of Arab medieval music.”

16.30-16.30       Tea/coffee

16.30-17.30       Dr. Lawrence Conrad (wellcome Institute-London):

“The life of Mohammad in Syriac discussions in early Abbasid Syria.”

17.30-18.30       Dr. Wilfred Madelung  (University of Oxford):

“Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim and Christian theology.”

18.30-19.00       Mrs. Averil Makhlouf (Richmond-USA)

“Elias of Nisibis.”

19.00-20.00       Dinner

20.00-21.00       Miss. Carmela Baffioni (PhD candidate: University of Napoli):

                        “Probable influence in Ihwan al-Safa’s logical epistles.”

 

WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 1991

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd (University of Oxford)

09.00-10.00       Dr. Hans Daiber (Vrije Universiteit-Amsterdam):

“Nestorians of 9^th century: Syriac and Arabic. A survey of unexploited sources with special reference of I. of Kashkar.”

10.00-11.00       Dr. Bo Holmberg (Lund University):

“The trinitarian terminology of Israel of Kahkar.”

11.30-11.30       Tea/Coffee

11.30-12.30       Dr. Sarah Stroumsa (Hebrew Universsity of Jerusalem):

                        “The impact of Syriac tradition on early Judaeo-Arabic Bible exegesis.”     

12.30-16.30       Lunch

                        Free afternoon for shopping and visiting Oxford.

16.30-17.00       Tea/coffee

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Alison Salvesen (University of Oxford)

17.00-18.00       Dr. Johannes den Heijer (Leiden University):

“The existence of a Syriac intermediate version of Aristotle’s ‘Historia Animalium’.”

18.005-19.00     Dr. Mauro Zonta (University of Pavia-Italy):

“New evidence for the History of Aristotle’s ‘De Animalibus’ amongst Syrians and Arabs.”

19.00-20.00:      Dinner

20.00-21.00       Prof. Sidney Griffith (Catholic University of America):

                        “The Apologetic treatise of Nonnus of Nisibis.”

 

THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 1991

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Erica Hunter (Cambridge University)

09.00-10.05       Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford):

“The Syriac background of Hunayn ibn Ishaq’s translation technique.”

10.00-11.00       Dr. Gotthard Strohmaier (Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR-Berlin):

“Hunayn ibn Ishaq: an Arab scholar translating into Syriac.”

10.00-11.30       Tea/Coffee

11.30-12.30       Dr. Samir Khalil (St. Joseph University-Beirut):

                        “Le Kitab al-‘Agal de Hunayn retrouvé.”   

 

12.30-14.00       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Johannes Glenthøj (Oxford)

14.00-15.00       Dr. Henri Hugonnard-Roche (CNRS-Paris):

“Contributions syriaques aux études arabes de logique à l’époque abbaside.”

15.00-16.00       Mr. Robert Hoyland (PhD candidate: University of Oxford):

“Syriac and Arabic historical writing: an example of a cross-cultural collaboration.”

16.00-1615        End of the Conference: A short communication.

  

ARAM THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

(Organised by Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd, University of Oxford)

The Decapolis

 

MONDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 1992

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

14.00-17.30       Registration.

17.30-18.00       Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd: Welcome and introduction.

18.00-19.00       Dr. David Graf (University of Miami): Opening talk:

                        “Hellenization and the Decapolis.”

 

TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 1992

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Sebastian Brock (University of Oxford)

09.10-09.50       Dr. Martin Goodman (University of Oxford):

“The Jews in the Decapolis.”

09.50-10.30       Dr. W. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary-USA):

“Abila: A thriving city of the Decapolis.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/coffee

11.00-11.40       Dr. Robert Wenning (University of Münster):

“Nabatäer in der Dekapolis.”

11.40-12.20       Mr. Ali Ziayadeh (Birzeit University):

“Urban transformation in the Decapolis cities of Jordan.”

12.20-13.00       Dr. Thomas Weber (Johannes Gutenberg University):

“Indigenous and foreign elements in the sanctuary sculpture of the Decapolis.”

13.00-14.20       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Seán Freyne (Dublin University)

14.20-15.00       Prof. Gedeon Foerster (Hebrew University of Jerusalem):“Nysa-Scythopolis: ‘kata coelen Syrian hellenidon poleon’ as reflected in recent excavations at Bet-Shean, Israel .”

15.00-15.40       Prof. Yoram Tsafrir (Hebrew University of Jerusalem):

                        “Roman to Byzantine: Bet Shean (Scythopolis) in the 4^th-7^th centuries.”

15.40-16.10       Tea/coffee

16.10-16.50       Prof. Maurice Sartre (Francois Rabelais University):

“Canatha et Ahadra, cités de Décapole.”

16.30-17.30  Dr. Michael Fuller (St. Louis Community College-USA):

“Survey and ethnoarchaeological studies at Abila of the Decapolis..”

 

WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 1992

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. David Kennedy (University of Western Australia)

09.10-09.50       Dr. Pau Figueras (Ben-Gurion University):

“The roman worship of Athena-Allat in the Decapolis and the Negev.”

09.50-10.30       Dr. Jacques Seigne (IFAPO-Jordan):

“A l’ombre de Zeus et d’Artemis, Gerasa de la décapole.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/Coffee

11.00-11.40       Dr. Robert Houston Smith (College of Wooster-USA):

                        “Pre-Christian religions and their survivals at Pella of the Decapolis: Historical and Archaeological evidence.”           

11.40-12.20       Dr. Robert Smith (Miami University):

“A Necropolis of the Decapolis: the use of tombs and cemeteries at Abila.”

12.20-13.00       Dr. Dominique Tarrier (Yarmouk University):

“The tombs of Yasileh in comparison with the tombs of the cities of the Decapolis.”

13.00-20.00       Lunch and sightseeing tour.

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Alison Salvesen (University of Oxford)

20.00-20.50       Dr. Margaret O’Hea (University of Adelaide-Australia):

“The glass industry of the Decapolis.”

20.40-21.20       Mr. Julian Bowsher (Museum of London):

“Civic organisation within the Decapolis .”

21.20-22.00       Dr. Yzhar Hirschfield & Dr. Erez Cohen (Israel Antiquities Authority):

                        “The reconstruction of the Roman baths at Hammath Gader.”

 

THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 1992

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Joseph Patrich (University of Haifa)

09.10-09.50       Dr. Leah Di Segni (Hebrew University of Jerusalem):

“Greek inscriptions of the Bath-House in Hammath Gader.”

09.50-10.30       Dr. John D. Wineland (Miami University):

“Archaeological and numismatic evidence of Greco-Roman religious of the Decapolis with a particular emphasis on Gerasa and Abila.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/Coffee

11.00-11.40       Dr. Zeidoun Al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University):

                        “Le site de Yasileh et ses relations avec les villes de la Décapole.”           

11.40-12.20       Dr. Lawrence I. Conrad (Wellcome Institute):

“The cities of the Decapolis on the eve of the Arab conquests: some new lights from verse attributed to Hassan ibn Thabit.”

12.20-13.00       Dr. Alan Walmsley (University of Sydney):

“Vestiges of the Decapolis in north Jordan during the late antique – early Islamic transition ”

13.00-14.20       Lunch

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd (University of Oxford)

14.20-15.00       Dr. Willard Winter (Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary):

“A Byzantine Basilica at Abila.”

15.00-15.40       Dr. Karel J. Vriesen (University of Utrecht):

“The centralised church in Umm Qais.”

15.40-16.10:      Tea/coffee

16.10-16.50       Ing. Robert Guinée & Dr. Nicole Mulder (University of Utrecht):

                        “Survey of the terrace and western theatre area in Umm Qais .”

16.50-17.30       Dr. Susanne Kerner  (German Protestant Institute for Archaeology):

                        “Umm Qais: recent excavations.”

 

ARAM FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

(Organised by Dr. Shafiq Abouzayd, University of Oxford)

Cultural Interchange in the Umayyad Era

 

MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 1993

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

14.00-17.30       Registration.

17.30-17.45       Dr. Sebastian Brock (Oxford University): Welcome and introduction.

17.45-18.25       Prof. Irfan Shahid (Dumbarton Oaks-USA):

                        “The Umayyad ajnad: Byzance après Byzance.”

 

TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Patricia Crone (University of Cambridge)

09.10-09.50       Dr. Zeidoun al-Muheisen (Yarmouk University):

“The end of the Byzantine period and the beginning of the Islamic period in northern Jordan.”

09.50-10.30       Dr. Elizabeth Savage (London):

“Iraqi Christian links with an early Islamic sect.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/coffee

11.00-11.40       Dr. Michael Bates (American Numismatic Society):

“Byzantine coinage and its imitations, Arab coinage and its imitations: Arab-Byzantine coinage.”

11.40-12.20       Dr. Michael and Neathery Fuller (St Louis Community College-USA):

“Continuity and cultural interchange at Tell Tuneinir, Syria.”

12.20-13.00       Dr. Pamela Watson (British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History):

“Pictorial painting on pottery and its demise in the mid-7^th century AD: the case of the Jerash bowls.”

13.00-14.00       Lunch

                        Free afternoon for shopping, sightseeing, etc.

 

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 1993

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Jeremy Johns (University of Oxford)

09.10-09.50       Mr. W. A. Oddy (The British Museum):

“The earliest Umayyad coinage of Gerasa and Scythopolis.”

09.50-10.30       Dr. Steven Rosen (Ben-Gurion University):

“The nomadic periphery: archaeology of pastoralists in the south central Negev during Late Antiquity.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/Coffee

11.00-11.40       Dr. Claus-Peter Haase (university of Kiel-Germany):

                        “Is madinat al-Far in the Balikh region of northern Syria an Umayyad foundation?.” 

11.40-12.20       Prof. Ahmad Shboul (University of Sydney):

“Umayyad Damascus: notes on its population and culture based on Ibn ‘Asakari’s History.”

12.20-13.00       Dr. Donald Whitcomb (University of Chicago):

“Were there Amsar in Syria?”

13.00-14.20       Lunch.

 

Chairperson:    Dr. Julian Raby (University of Oxford)

14.20.-15.00      Dr. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary-USA):

“The Christian church of Abila of the Decapolis of the Yarmouk valley system in the Umayyad period.”

15.00-15.40       Mr. Claude Vibert-Guigue (Institut Français d’Archéologie du Proche-Orient):

“A French-Jordanian project for copying the painting in Quseir ‘Amra .”

15.40-16.10       Tea/Coffee

16.10-16.50       Dr. Geoffrey Khan (University of Cambridge):

                        “The pre-Islamic background of Muslim legal formularies.”

16.50-17.30              Mr. George Kiraz (University of Cambridge):

“Current academic projects on Syriac studies using computational methods.”

 

THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 1993

(Venue: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford)

 

Chairperson:    Prof. Averil Cameron (London University)

09.10-09.50       Dr. Lawrence Conrad (The Wellcome Institute-London):

“Did Walid I found the first Muslim hospital?”

09.50-10.30       Dr. Pau Figueras (Ben-GurionUniversity):

“The impact of the Islamic conquest on the Christian communities of the Third Palestine.”

10.30-11.00       Tea/Coffee

11.00-11.40       Prof. Daniel Sahas (University of Waterloo-Canada):

                        “Byzantine-Arab cultural interaction during the Umayyad era: the circle of John of Damascus.”        

11.40-12.20       Dr. Monica Blanchard (Catholic University of America):

“The Georgian version of the martyrdom of St Michael, monk of Mar Sabas monastery.”

12.20-13.00       Prof.. Sidney Griffith (Catholic University of America):