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Background

-

Friday, December 4, 2020 - Register for live Zoom session -

-
-
16:00 CET Research Paper Discussion
-
-
-

Talking with Enemies, -

-

Writing - to Friends:

-

Timothy I and the - Construction of

-

an Eastern Christian - Response to Islam

-
-
-
-
-
-

Andrea Bellettato
- Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Hebrew University of Jerusalem

-
-
Carved stucco, Samarra, Iraq, 9th century (Pergamon - Museum, Berlin, photo by Osama - Shukir Muhammed Amin) (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
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-
-
-
-

Respondent: Rocio Daga Portillo (University of Munich [LMU])

-

Timothy I (ca. 740-823 CE/AH 122-208) was katholikos of the Church of the East - for - more than forty years between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th - century - (ca. 780-823/AH 164-208). During this time, he moved the seat of the patriarchate to - Baghdad, where he entertained close relationships with the Abbasid court. A number - of - his surviving letters, written in Syriac, attest to this. In particular, two - letter-treatises of considerable length relate encounters Timothy had with a Muslim - Aristotelian philosopher (letter 40) and with caliph Al-Mahdi himself (letter 59). -

-
-

These letters document an intense theological debate that took place between - Christians and Muslims at the court, one that used Aristotelian logic as a sort - of - shared language in order to discuss urgent religious and philosophical matters. - While scholars have paid much attention to this material, there remains to be - studied how Timothy modulated his explanations according to the intended - audience. - My paper aims to analyse how Timothy managed to express his beliefs in different - ways depending on different occasions. Far from being a faithful reflection of - the - dialogues that took place at the caliph’s court, I maintain that Timothy’s - letters - are carefully planned literary products that served a double purpose. On the one - hand, they conveyed a climate of peaceful and productive exchange with Muslim - scholars and sovereigns, but on the other, they played the crucial role of - providing - other Christians with a ready-made set of answers to some of the thorniest - questions - and objections that their Muslim counterparts could pose to them. By extending - the - view to those letters (esp. 34-6) that were aimed solely at an internal, - Christian - audience, I will show how this process of reader-oriented variation occurred and - I - will attempt to reconstruct Timothy’s preoccupations as Head of the eastern - Church. -

-

Bibliography

-

Berti, Vittorio, Vita e studi di Timoteo I, Patriarca cristiano di Baghdad. - Ricerche sull’epistolario e sulle fonti contigue. Cahiers de Studia - Iranica - 41, Chrétiens en terre d’Iran 3. Paris: Association pour l’avancement des études - iraniennes, 2009.

-

Griffith, Sidney Harrison, “Disputes with Muslims in Syriac Christian Texts: From - Patriarch John (d. 648) to Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286)”, Pages 251-273 in - Religionsgespräche im Mittelalter. Edited by Lewis, B. and Niewöhner, F.. - Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien 4. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1992.

-

id., “From Patriarch Timothy I to Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq: Philosophy and Christian - Apology - in Abbasid Times; Reason, Ethics and Public Policy”, Pages 75-98 in - Christians - and Muslims in Dialogue in the Islamic Orient of the Middle Ages. Edited - by - Tamcke, Martin. Beiruter Texte und Studien 117. Beirut: Orient-Institut / - Würzburg: - Ergon Verlag, 2007.

-

id., “The Syriac Letters of Patriarch Timothy I and the Birth of Christian Kalām - in - the Mu‘tazilite Milieu of Baghdad and Basrah in Early Islamic Times”, Pages - 103-132 - in Syriac Polemics: Studies in Honour of Gerrit Jan Reinink. Edited by - van - Bekkum, Wout Jac. and Drijvers, Jan Willem and Klugkist, Alex C.. Orientalia - Lovaniensia Analecta 170. Leuven: Peeters, 2007.

-

id., “Patriarch Timothy I and an Aristotelian at the Caliph’s Court”, Pages 38-53 - in - The Christian Heritage of Iraq: Collected Papers from the Christianity of - Iraq - I-V Seminar Days. Edited by Hunter, Erica C.D.. Gorgias Eastern - Christian - Studies 13. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009.

-

Heimgartner, Martin, “Die Disputatio des ostsyrischen Patriarchen Timotheos - (780‒823) - mit dem Kalifen al-Mahdi”, Pages 41-56 in Christians and Muslims in Dialogue - in - the Islamic Orient of the Middle Ages. Edited by Tamcke, Martin. - Beiruter - Texte und Studien 117. Beirut: Orient-Institut / Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007. -

-

id., “Trinitätslehre beim ostsyrischen Patriarchen Timotheos (780‒823) in der - Auseinandersetzung mit dem Islam”, Pages 69-80 in Christliche Gotteslehre im - Orient seit dem Aufkommen des Islams bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by - Tamcke, - Martin. Beiruter Texte und Studien 126. Beirut / Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2008. -

-

id., ed. Timotheos I., Ostsyrischer Patriarch. Disputation mit dem Kalifen - al-Mahdī. CSCO 631-632, Syr. 244-245. Louvain: Peeters, 2011.

-

id., “Der ostsyrische Patriarch Timotheos I. (780–823) und der Aristotelismus: - Die - aristotelische Logik und Dialektik als Verständigungsbasis zwischen den - Religionen”, - Pages 11-22 in Orientalische Christen und Europa: Kulturbegegnung zwischen - Interferenz, Partizipation und Antizipation. Edited by Tamcke, Martin. - Göttinger Orientforschungen, I. Reihe: Syriaca 41. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz - Verlag, - 2012.

-

Hurst, Thomas Richard, “The Syriac Letters of Timothy I (727–823): A Study in - Christian-Muslim Controversy”. Ph.D. dissertation, The Catholic University of - America, 1986.

-

Suermann, Harald, “Der nestorianische Patriarch Timotheos I. und seine - theologischen - Briefe im Kontext des Islam”, Pages 217-230 in Zu Geschichte, Theologie, - Liturgie - und Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen. Ausgewählte Vorträge des deutschen - Syrologen-Symposiums vom 2.-4. Oktober 1998 in Hermannsburg. Edited by - Tamcke, Martin and Heinz, Andreas. Studien zur orientalischen Kirchengeschichte - 9. - Münster / Hamburg / London: LIT, 2000.

-

Watt, John W., “Greek Philosophy and Syriac Culture in ‘Abbasid Iraq”, Pages - 10-37 in - The Christian Heritage of Iraq: Collected Papers from the Christianity of - Iraq - I-V Seminar Days. Edited by Hunter, Erica C.D.. Gorgias Eastern - Christian - Studies 13. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009. = Watt, John W., The - Aristotelian - Tradition in Syriac, ch. 12. London: Routledge, 2019.

-

id., “The Syriac Aristotelian Tradition and the Syro-Arabic Baghdad - Philosophers”, - Pages 7-43 in Ideas in Motion in Baghdad and Beyond: Philosophical and - Theological Exchanges between Christians and Muslims in the Third/Ninth and - Fourth/Tenth Centuries. Edited by Janos, Damien. Islamic History and - Civilization 124. Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2015.

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-
- -
-

Andrea Bellettato is currently a second-year PhD candidate in a joint - programme at - the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. - His project focusses on the reception of - Greek - Patristic sources in 8th/9th century Syriac authors who belonged to the Church - of - the East. Andrea obtained his BA in at the University of Oxford (2014) and his - MA at - the University of Padua (2018). His masters' thesis was awarded both the “Anna - DeSio” prize and the “Sacerdote Emilio Gandolfo” scholarship for “best thesis on - a - historical-religious topic”.

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- -
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-
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17:00 CET Research Paper Discussion
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-
-

Muslim Theology in

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Christian - Apologetic Texts of

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Syriac Authors

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from the 8th and 9th - Centuries

-
-
-
-
-
-

Joachim Jakob
- Catholic Diocese of Linz

-
-
Omer Unlu, "Before Rain," Mardin, - Turkey (CC-BY 2.0)
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-

Respondent: Barbara Roggema (Ruhr Universität Bochum)

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The paper analyzes theological texts by Patriarch Timothy I (letters 40 and 59) and - Nonnus of Nisibis (“The Apologetic Treatise”) written in Syriac during the 8th and - 9th - centuries. These Christian authors aimed to defend their Christian faith against - Muslim - objections against Christianity. In doing so, Timothy and Nonnus seemed to be well - aware - of the Islamic theology of their period. The paper compares Timothy’s and Nonnus’ - reasoning to defend the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Christology with - contemporary Muslim (especially Muʿtazilite) thought.

-
-

Although the textual material of the Muʿtazilite thinkers from the 8th and 9th - centuries which has come down to us is rather scanty, it is possible to identify - references to certain Muʿtazilite thinkers or to particular Muslim doctrines in - the - texts written by Timothy and Nonnus. The paper outlines these references to - contemporary Muslim thought in more detail than previous research has done. - Thus, it - demonstrates that Christians and Muslims were not just religious counterparts - during - the ʿAbbāsid period. Instead, even religious disputation texts show that its - Christian authors had an intimate knowledge of the Muslim theology of their - period - and must have been in close contact with their Muslim colleagues.

-

Selected bibliography:

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Sidney H. Griffith, The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque. Christians and - Muslims - in the World of Islam, Princeton 2008.

-

Martin Heimgartner, Die Briefe 40 und 41 des ostsyrischen Patriarchen - Timotheos - I. (CSCO 673 / 674), Louvain 2019.

-

Martin Heimgartner, Timotheos, ostsyrischer Patriarch: Disputation mit dem - Kalifen - al-Mahdī (CSCO 631 / 632), Louvain 2011.

-

Joachim Jakob, Syrisches Christentum und früher Islam. Theologische Reaktionen - in - syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. bis 9. Jahrhundert (Innsbrucker - theologische Studien 95), Innsbruck 2020 (to be published in October 2020).

-

Michael Philip Penn, Envisioning Islam. Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim - World, Philadelphia 2015.

-

Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra. - Eine - Geschichte des religiösen Denkens im frühen Islam, 6 vols., Berlin - 1991–1997.

-

Albert Van Roey, Nonnus de Nisibe: Traité apologétique (Bibliothèque du - Muséon - 21), Louvain 1948.

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-
- -
-

Joachim Jakob is an expert in the historical relations between the three - monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), especially in the Middle - East. - His research focuses mainly on Christian - textual sources written in Syriac and partly in Arabic during the medieval - period. - He has also published on the situation of Christians in the Ottoman Empire. - Joachim - studied Catholic theology (Mag.theol., 2011) as well as history (B.A., 2011; - M.A., - 2013) at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He received awards for academic - excellence (“Leistungsstipendien”) for his efforts from the University of - Salzburg’s - Catholic Theological School (2012) and from its School of Social and Cultural - Sciences (2014). Joachim completed his doctoral studies (Dr.theol., 2018) in - Salzburg with a thesis entitled “Syriac Christianity and Early Islam: - Theological - Reactions in Syriac Texts from the 7th to the 9th Centuries” (“Syrisches - Christentum - und früher Islam. Theologische Reaktionen in syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. - bis 9. - Jahrhundert”; reviewers: Prof. Dr. Dietmar W. Winkler, Salzburg, and Prof. Dr. - Herman Teule, Leuven). In 2019, Joachim received the Karl Rahner Award for - Theological Research (funded by the Karl Rahner Foundation, Munich, and granted - at - the University of Innsbruck) for his doctoral thesis. During his doctoral - studies, - his research was funded by Pro Scientia, the Cusanuswerk (scholarship body of - the - Catholic Church in Germany), and subsequently by the Austrian Academy of - Sciences. - Furthermore, Joachim spent two summers at the University of Münster (Germany) - participating in intensive language courses on Theological Arabic with Dr. - Shawqi - Talia from The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.). Since 2019, - Joachim is in charge of the pastoral care for university students and academics - in - the Catholic Diocese of Linz, Austria.

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Tuesday, December 8, 2020 Register for live Zoom session @@ -1848,237 +1536,548 @@

Fihrist

Our intent is to approach the Fihrist as a coherent totality, taking into account the - overarching structure of the text and the repeating patterns from one section to - another, and to assess its treatment of interreligious scholarly collaboration - through a systematic survey of the relevant instances. Since Ibn al-Nadīm (d. - 330/990) gathered pieces of information about a wide range of scholars, it is - very - interesting to examine the ways in which he depicts the cases of interaction – - and - sometimes conflict – between Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars. It is - particularly important when it comes to specialists of rational sciences, as it - is - well-known that certain fields such as medicine, astronomy and philosophy - involved - scholars from different religious backgrounds in Abbasid and Buyid centres of - knowledge, especially in the context of translation activities.

-

Three main lines of inquiry will guide our presentation. First, the forms, times - and - places of interreligious exchanges in the Fihrist. Then, the position of + overarching structure of the text and the repeating patterns from one section to + another, and to assess its treatment of interreligious scholarly collaboration + through a systematic survey of the relevant instances. Since Ibn al-Nadīm (d. + 330/990) gathered pieces of information about a wide range of scholars, it is + very + interesting to examine the ways in which he depicts the cases of interaction – + and + sometimes conflict – between Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars. It is + particularly important when it comes to specialists of rational sciences, as it + is + well-known that certain fields such as medicine, astronomy and philosophy + involved + scholars from different religious backgrounds in Abbasid and Buyid centres of + knowledge, especially in the context of translation activities.

+

Three main lines of inquiry will guide our presentation. First, the forms, times + and + places of interreligious exchanges in the Fihrist. Then, the position of + the + author + regarding this phenomenon: does he explicitly acknowledge it or does he merely + mention it without labelling it? Lastly, since these collaborations mainly + appear in + the context of anecdotes, how can we interpret these narratives, and use them to + improve our understanding of the social and religious dynamics of the Abbasid + scholarly milieu? Our hope is that by focusing on the general structure of this + work, we will shed a new light on the problematic of interreligious + collaboration in + the Abbasid society, as well as lay the ground for drawing parallels with Ibn + Abī + Uṣaybiʿa’s ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ in that respect.

+

+
+
+ +
+

Dr. Rémy Gareil holds a PhD in Medieval Islamic History from the Sorbonne + (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and is currently a Temporary Teaching and + Research Assistant at Lumière Lyon 2 University. He specializes in Abbasid and Buyid-era intellectual and + political + history. His research focuses on the political uses of scientific discourses, + the + construction of scholarly identities and networks, and the historical and + literary + representations of Baghdad.

+
+ + + + + +
+

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

+
+
16:00 CET Project Demo
+
+
+

The Actuarios

+

Johannes + Zacharias (14th-Cent.)

+

and His Treatise about + the Psychical Pneuma:

+

Critical Edition

+

and its + Contextualisation

+

within Transcultural + Medical History

+
+
+
+
+
+

Isabel Grimm-Stadelmann
+ Bavarian Academy of Sciences

+
+
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Cod. graec. 69, + f. 1r (BAdW/BSB + München) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
+
+
+
+
+

Being an Actuarios, Johannes Zacharias was a high-ranked physician in a transcultural + Byzantine surrounding, characterised by a highly developed hospital culture. Within + this + setting the therapeutical dialogue between Byzantine physicians and their Jewish, + Arabic + and Latin colleagues was widespread and of great importance for the continuous + evaluation of therapeutical concepts and the relevant medical literature.

+
+

The manuscripts transmitting Johannes' treatise provide interesting insights into + this process.

+
+
+ +
+

Isabel Grimm-Stadelmann (Ph.D., PD Dr. Habil.) is a researcher at the Bavarian + Academy of Sciences, where she focuses on the critical edition of the late-Byzantine + Aktuarios Ioannes Zacharias’ treatise on the psychical pneuma. She lectures regularly at LMU Munich + within + the framework of a transdisciplinary teaching cooperation. Her research focus + lies + on Byzantine medicine and its transcultural dimension. She also is co-editor of + the + series “Byzantinisches Archiv Series medica” and is a member of various + international cooperations and research groups in the field of medical + history.

+
+ +
+
+
+
+
16:30 CET Research Paper Discussion
+
+
+

Teaching and Learning +

+

by the + Book

+

at the Turning Point + Between

+

the Ayyūbid and Mamlūk + Eras

+

as a Source of + Information on

+

Methods and Scientific + Controversies

+
+
+
+
+
+

Robert Alessi
+ Centre National de la + Recherche Scientifique

+
+
John Frederick Lewis, "Arab School," Cairo, 1841–51 + (Metropolitan Museum of + Art, public domain)
+
+
+
+
+

Respondent: Nathan P. Gibson (University of Munich [LMU])

+

Islamic medicine certainly inherited a refined tradition from Greek medicine, but + also + has seen an important shift in medical training. First, the structures radically + changed: they went from an era where medicine passed on from father to son, or where + being the disciple of a master was very much like becoming part of his family—to an + era where several types of medical training coexisted: from father to son, by + teaching + oneself (viz. by reading handbooks) or by resorting to the master through classes in + hospitals or medical schools.

+
+

Obviously, the first two ways must be taken into consideration for approaching + properly how the sources spread into the Arabic world and how they were handled + by + scholars, many of them were travellers and collectors of books. Nevertheless, + the + latter, to which one must add discussions between trained physicians, gives us a + lively and vivid insight into the way Arabic medicine evolved through debates + between prominent figures.

+

In this respect, in connection with the transmission of medical art and the + handbooks, of great interest are the issues related to the religious affiliation + of + the physicians, either Christians, Jews or Muslims, at the turning point between the - author - regarding this phenomenon: does he explicitly acknowledge it or does he merely - mention it without labelling it? Lastly, since these collaborations mainly - appear in - the context of anecdotes, how can we interpret these narratives, and use them to - improve our understanding of the social and religious dynamics of the Abbasid - scholarly milieu? Our hope is that by focusing on the general structure of this - work, we will shed a new light on the problematic of interreligious - collaboration in - the Abbasid society, as well as lay the ground for drawing parallels with Ibn - Abī - Uṣaybiʿa’s ʿUyūn al-anbāʾ in that respect.

+ Ayyūbid and the Mamlūk eras (in the XIIIth century AD) between + Damascus + and Cairo, for they all did refer to Greek sources, but in different ways. On + this + account, of particular interest are the literary patterns that are used to put + on + stage these controversies as they may rely on traditions already found centuries + ago, in authors such as al-Jāḥiẓ or al-Tawḥīdī.

+

We will try to explore the most significant examples provided by Ibn Abī + Uṣaybiʿah, + some of which deal with teaching, others with research, showing active + discussions + between physicians, regardless of religion, facilitated by the sultan himself + who + provided a special place at his residence to be used as a majlis for + research. Surely, depending on whether they were Muslims, Jews or Christians, + the + social positions they held were different, but also complementary as they had + different access to the sources. Even the most prominent Muslim physicians had + to + rely on colleagues who could recall Galenic sources word for word. This point + explains to a large extent the faithfulness of the text preserved in Ibn Abī + Uṣaybiʿah to the Greek sources.

-
-

Dr. Rémy Gareil holds a PhD in Medieval Islamic History from the Sorbonne - (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and is currently a Temporary Teaching and - Research Assistant at Lumière Lyon 2 University. He specializes in Abbasid and Buyid-era intellectual and - political - history. His research focuses on the political uses of scientific discourses, - the - construction of scholarly identities and networks, and the historical and - literary - representations of Baghdad.

+

Robert Alessi is a researcher affiliated with the French Centre National de la + Recherche Scientifique (UMR 8167, Orient & Méditerranée, Paris-Sorbonne, + France). + His + area of research is Greek and Arabic medicine, particularly the transmission of + medical + knowledge and the formation of the physicians. At present, he works on a critical edition of Hippocrates' + Epidemics, Books 2, 4 and 6 which may be considered per se as a + research and teaching programme led by a master surrounded by colleagues and + disciples. He also works on Arabic sources (viz. translations and compilations + of + Greek sources, ṭabaqāt) and Arabic medicine. Finally, as a programmer, he + works in the field of digital humanities applied to Greek and Arabic classical + studies. (See for example ekdosis for + typesetting TEI xml compliant critical editions and arabluatex for complex Arabic + typesetting.

-
-

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

-
-
16:00 CET Project Demo
-
+

Friday, December 4, 2020

+
+
16:00 CET Research Paper Discussion
+
-

The Actuarios

-

Johannes - Zacharias (14th-Cent.)

-

and His Treatise about - the Psychical Pneuma:

-

Critical Edition

-

and its - Contextualisation

-

within Transcultural - Medical History

+

Talking with Enemies, +

+

Writing + to Friends:

+

Timothy I and the + Construction of

+

an Eastern Christian + Response to Islam

-
-

Isabel Grimm-Stadelmann
- Bavarian Academy of Sciences

+

Andrea Bellettato
+ Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Hebrew University of Jerusalem

-
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, Cod. graec. 69, - f. 1r (BAdW/BSB - München) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
+
Carved stucco, Samarra, Iraq, 9th century (Pergamon + Museum, Berlin, photo by Osama + Shukir Muhammed Amin) (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
-

Being an Actuarios, Johannes Zacharias was a high-ranked physician in a transcultural - Byzantine surrounding, characterised by a highly developed hospital culture. Within - this - setting the therapeutical dialogue between Byzantine physicians and their Jewish, - Arabic - and Latin colleagues was widespread and of great importance for the continuous - evaluation of therapeutical concepts and the relevant medical literature.

-
-

The manuscripts transmitting Johannes' treatise provide interesting insights into - this process.

+

Respondents: Rocio Daga Portillo (University of Munich [LMU]), Joachim Jakob + (Catholic Diocese of Linz)

+

Timothy I (ca. 740-823 CE/AH 122-208) was katholikos of the Church of the East + for + more than forty years between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th + century + (ca. 780-823/AH 164-208). During this time, he moved the seat of the patriarchate to + Baghdad, where he entertained close relationships with the Abbasid court. A number + of + his surviving letters, written in Syriac, attest to this. In particular, two + letter-treatises of considerable length relate encounters Timothy had with a Muslim + Aristotelian philosopher (letter 40) and with caliph Al-Mahdi himself (letter 59). +

+
+

These letters document an intense theological debate that took place between + Christians and Muslims at the court, one that used Aristotelian logic as a sort + of + shared language in order to discuss urgent religious and philosophical matters. + While scholars have paid much attention to this material, there remains to be + studied how Timothy modulated his explanations according to the intended + audience. + My paper aims to analyse how Timothy managed to express his beliefs in different + ways depending on different occasions. Far from being a faithful reflection of + the + dialogues that took place at the caliph’s court, I maintain that Timothy’s + letters + are carefully planned literary products that served a double purpose. On the one + hand, they conveyed a climate of peaceful and productive exchange with Muslim + scholars and sovereigns, but on the other, they played the crucial role of + providing + other Christians with a ready-made set of answers to some of the thorniest + questions + and objections that their Muslim counterparts could pose to them. By extending + the + view to those letters (esp. 34-6) that were aimed solely at an internal, + Christian + audience, I will show how this process of reader-oriented variation occurred and + I + will attempt to reconstruct Timothy’s preoccupations as Head of the eastern + Church. +

+

Bibliography

+

Berti, Vittorio, Vita e studi di Timoteo I, Patriarca cristiano di Baghdad. + Ricerche sull’epistolario e sulle fonti contigue. Cahiers de Studia + Iranica + 41, Chrétiens en terre d’Iran 3. Paris: Association pour l’avancement des études + iraniennes, 2009.

+

Griffith, Sidney Harrison, “Disputes with Muslims in Syriac Christian Texts: From + Patriarch John (d. 648) to Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286)”, Pages 251-273 in + Religionsgespräche im Mittelalter. Edited by Lewis, B. and Niewöhner, F.. + Wolfenbütteler Mittelalter-Studien 4. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1992.

+

id., “From Patriarch Timothy I to Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq: Philosophy and Christian + Apology + in Abbasid Times; Reason, Ethics and Public Policy”, Pages 75-98 in + Christians + and Muslims in Dialogue in the Islamic Orient of the Middle Ages. Edited + by + Tamcke, Martin. Beiruter Texte und Studien 117. Beirut: Orient-Institut / + Würzburg: + Ergon Verlag, 2007.

+

id., “The Syriac Letters of Patriarch Timothy I and the Birth of Christian Kalām + in + the Mu‘tazilite Milieu of Baghdad and Basrah in Early Islamic Times”, Pages + 103-132 + in Syriac Polemics: Studies in Honour of Gerrit Jan Reinink. Edited by + van + Bekkum, Wout Jac. and Drijvers, Jan Willem and Klugkist, Alex C.. Orientalia + Lovaniensia Analecta 170. Leuven: Peeters, 2007.

+

id., “Patriarch Timothy I and an Aristotelian at the Caliph’s Court”, Pages 38-53 + in + The Christian Heritage of Iraq: Collected Papers from the Christianity of + Iraq + I-V Seminar Days. Edited by Hunter, Erica C.D.. Gorgias Eastern + Christian + Studies 13. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009.

+

Heimgartner, Martin, “Die Disputatio des ostsyrischen Patriarchen Timotheos + (780‒823) + mit dem Kalifen al-Mahdi”, Pages 41-56 in Christians and Muslims in Dialogue + in + the Islamic Orient of the Middle Ages. Edited by Tamcke, Martin. + Beiruter + Texte und Studien 117. Beirut: Orient-Institut / Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2007. +

+

id., “Trinitätslehre beim ostsyrischen Patriarchen Timotheos (780‒823) in der + Auseinandersetzung mit dem Islam”, Pages 69-80 in Christliche Gotteslehre im + Orient seit dem Aufkommen des Islams bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by + Tamcke, + Martin. Beiruter Texte und Studien 126. Beirut / Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2008. +

+

id., ed. Timotheos I., Ostsyrischer Patriarch. Disputation mit dem Kalifen + al-Mahdī. CSCO 631-632, Syr. 244-245. Louvain: Peeters, 2011.

+

id., “Der ostsyrische Patriarch Timotheos I. (780–823) und der Aristotelismus: + Die + aristotelische Logik und Dialektik als Verständigungsbasis zwischen den + Religionen”, + Pages 11-22 in Orientalische Christen und Europa: Kulturbegegnung zwischen + Interferenz, Partizipation und Antizipation. Edited by Tamcke, Martin. + Göttinger Orientforschungen, I. Reihe: Syriaca 41. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz + Verlag, + 2012.

+

Hurst, Thomas Richard, “The Syriac Letters of Timothy I (727–823): A Study in + Christian-Muslim Controversy”. Ph.D. dissertation, The Catholic University of + America, 1986.

+

Suermann, Harald, “Der nestorianische Patriarch Timotheos I. und seine + theologischen + Briefe im Kontext des Islam”, Pages 217-230 in Zu Geschichte, Theologie, + Liturgie + und Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen. Ausgewählte Vorträge des deutschen + Syrologen-Symposiums vom 2.-4. Oktober 1998 in Hermannsburg. Edited by + Tamcke, Martin and Heinz, Andreas. Studien zur orientalischen Kirchengeschichte + 9. + Münster / Hamburg / London: LIT, 2000.

+

Watt, John W., “Greek Philosophy and Syriac Culture in ‘Abbasid Iraq”, Pages + 10-37 in + The Christian Heritage of Iraq: Collected Papers from the Christianity of + Iraq + I-V Seminar Days. Edited by Hunter, Erica C.D.. Gorgias Eastern + Christian + Studies 13. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009. = Watt, John W., The + Aristotelian + Tradition in Syriac, ch. 12. London: Routledge, 2019.

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id., “The Syriac Aristotelian Tradition and the Syro-Arabic Baghdad + Philosophers”, + Pages 7-43 in Ideas in Motion in Baghdad and Beyond: Philosophical and + Theological Exchanges between Christians and Muslims in the Third/Ninth and + Fourth/Tenth Centuries. Edited by Janos, Damien. Islamic History and + Civilization 124. Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2015.

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Isabel Grimm-Stadelmann (Ph.D., PD Dr. Habil.) is a researcher at the Bavarian - Academy of Sciences, where she focuses on the critical edition of the late-Byzantine - Aktuarios Ioannes Zacharias’ treatise on the psychical pneuma. She lectures regularly at LMU Munich - within - the framework of a transdisciplinary teaching cooperation. Her research focus - lies - on Byzantine medicine and its transcultural dimension. She also is co-editor of - the - series “Byzantinisches Archiv Series medica” and is a member of various - international cooperations and research groups in the field of medical - history.

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Andrea Bellettato is currently a second-year PhD candidate in a joint + programme at + the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. + His project focusses on the reception of + Greek + Patristic sources in 8th/9th century Syriac authors who belonged to the Church + of + the East. Andrea obtained his BA in at the University of Oxford (2014) and his + MA at + the University of Padua (2018). His masters' thesis was awarded both the “Anna + DeSio” prize and the “Sacerdote Emilio Gandolfo” scholarship for “best thesis on + a + historical-religious topic”.

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16:30 CET Research Paper Discussion
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17:00 CET Research Paper Discussion
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Teaching and Learning -

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by the - Book

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at the Turning Point - Between

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the Ayyūbid and Mamlūk - Eras

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as a Source of - Information on

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Methods and Scientific - Controversies

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Muslim Theology in

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Christian + Apologetic Texts of

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Syriac Authors

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from the 8th and 9th + Centuries

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Robert Alessi
- Centre National de la - Recherche Scientifique

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Joachim Jakob
+ Catholic Diocese of Linz

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John Frederick Lewis, "Arab School," Cairo, 1841–51 - (Metropolitan Museum of - Art, public domain)
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Omer Unlu, "Before Rain," Mardin, + Turkey (CC-BY 2.0)
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Respondent: Nathan P. Gibson (University of Munich [LMU])

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Islamic medicine certainly inherited a refined tradition from Greek medicine, but - also - has seen an important shift in medical training. First, the structures radically - changed: they went from an era where medicine passed on from father to son, or where - being the disciple of a master was very much like becoming part of his family—to an - era where several types of medical training coexisted: from father to son, by - teaching - oneself (viz. by reading handbooks) or by resorting to the master through classes in - hospitals or medical schools.

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Obviously, the first two ways must be taken into consideration for approaching - properly how the sources spread into the Arabic world and how they were handled - by - scholars, many of them were travellers and collectors of books. Nevertheless, - the - latter, to which one must add discussions between trained physicians, gives us a - lively and vivid insight into the way Arabic medicine evolved through debates - between prominent figures.

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In this respect, in connection with the transmission of medical art and the - handbooks, of great interest are the issues related to the religious affiliation - of - the physicians, either Christians, Jews or Muslims, at the turning point between - the - Ayyūbid and the Mamlūk eras (in the XIIIth century AD) between - Damascus - and Cairo, for they all did refer to Greek sources, but in different ways. On - this - account, of particular interest are the literary patterns that are used to put - on - stage these controversies as they may rely on traditions already found centuries - ago, in authors such as al-Jāḥiẓ or al-Tawḥīdī.

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We will try to explore the most significant examples provided by Ibn Abī - Uṣaybiʿah, - some of which deal with teaching, others with research, showing active - discussions - between physicians, regardless of religion, facilitated by the sultan himself - who - provided a special place at his residence to be used as a majlis for - research. Surely, depending on whether they were Muslims, Jews or Christians, +

Respondents: Barbara Roggema (Ruhr Universität Bochum), Andrea Bellettato + (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

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The paper analyzes theological texts by Patriarch Timothy I (letters 40 and 59) and + Nonnus of Nisibis (“The Apologetic Treatise”) written in Syriac during the 8th and + 9th + centuries. These Christian authors aimed to defend their Christian faith against + Muslim + objections against Christianity. In doing so, Timothy and Nonnus seemed to be well + aware + of the Islamic theology of their period. The paper compares Timothy’s and Nonnus’ + reasoning to defend the Christian doctrines of the Trinity and Christology with + contemporary Muslim (especially Muʿtazilite) thought.

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Although the textual material of the Muʿtazilite thinkers from the 8th and 9th + centuries which has come down to us is rather scanty, it is possible to identify + references to certain Muʿtazilite thinkers or to particular Muslim doctrines in the - social positions they held were different, but also complementary as they had - different access to the sources. Even the most prominent Muslim physicians had - to - rely on colleagues who could recall Galenic sources word for word. This point - explains to a large extent the faithfulness of the text preserved in Ibn Abī - Uṣaybiʿah to the Greek sources.

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+ texts written by Timothy and Nonnus. The paper outlines these references to + contemporary Muslim thought in more detail than previous research has done. + Thus, it + demonstrates that Christians and Muslims were not just religious counterparts + during + the ʿAbbāsid period. Instead, even religious disputation texts show that its + Christian authors had an intimate knowledge of the Muslim theology of their + period + and must have been in close contact with their Muslim colleagues.

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Selected bibliography:

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Sidney H. Griffith, The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque. Christians and + Muslims + in the World of Islam, Princeton 2008.

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Martin Heimgartner, Die Briefe 40 und 41 des ostsyrischen Patriarchen + Timotheos + I. (CSCO 673 / 674), Louvain 2019.

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Martin Heimgartner, Timotheos, ostsyrischer Patriarch: Disputation mit dem + Kalifen + al-Mahdī (CSCO 631 / 632), Louvain 2011.

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Joachim Jakob, Syrisches Christentum und früher Islam. Theologische Reaktionen + in + syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. bis 9. Jahrhundert (Innsbrucker + theologische Studien 95), Innsbruck 2020 (to be published in October 2020).

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Michael Philip Penn, Envisioning Islam. Syriac Christians and the Early Muslim + World, Philadelphia 2015.

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Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra. + Eine + Geschichte des religiösen Denkens im frühen Islam, 6 vols., Berlin + 1991–1997.

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Albert Van Roey, Nonnus de Nisibe: Traité apologétique (Bibliothèque du + Muséon + 21), Louvain 1948.

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Robert Alessi is a researcher affiliated with the French Centre National de la - Recherche Scientifique (UMR 8167, Orient & Méditerranée, Paris-Sorbonne, - France). - His - area of research is Greek and Arabic medicine, particularly the transmission of - medical - knowledge and the formation of the physicians. At present, he works on a critical edition of Hippocrates' - Epidemics, Books 2, 4 and 6 which may be considered per se as a - research and teaching programme led by a master surrounded by colleagues and - disciples. He also works on Arabic sources (viz. translations and compilations - of - Greek sources, ṭabaqāt) and Arabic medicine. Finally, as a programmer, he - works in the field of digital humanities applied to Greek and Arabic classical - studies. (See for example ekdosis for - typesetting TEI xml compliant critical editions and arabluatex for complex Arabic - typesetting.

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Joachim Jakob is an expert in the historical relations between the three + monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), especially in the Middle + East. + His research focuses mainly on Christian + textual sources written in Syriac and partly in Arabic during the medieval + period. + He has also published on the situation of Christians in the Ottoman Empire. + Joachim + studied Catholic theology (Mag.theol., 2011) as well as history (B.A., 2011; + M.A., + 2013) at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He received awards for academic + excellence (“Leistungsstipendien”) for his efforts from the University of + Salzburg’s + Catholic Theological School (2012) and from its School of Social and Cultural + Sciences (2014). Joachim completed his doctoral studies (Dr.theol., 2018) in + Salzburg with a thesis entitled “Syriac Christianity and Early Islam: + Theological + Reactions in Syriac Texts from the 7th to the 9th Centuries” (“Syrisches + Christentum + und früher Islam. Theologische Reaktionen in syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. + bis 9. + Jahrhundert”; reviewers: Prof. Dr. Dietmar W. Winkler, Salzburg, and Prof. Dr. + Herman Teule, Leuven). In 2019, Joachim received the Karl Rahner Award for + Theological Research (funded by the Karl Rahner Foundation, Munich, and granted + at + the University of Innsbruck) for his doctoral thesis. During his doctoral + studies, + his research was funded by Pro Scientia, the Cusanuswerk (scholarship body of + the + Catholic Church in Germany), and subsequently by the Austrian Academy of + Sciences. + Furthermore, Joachim spent two summers at the University of Münster (Germany) + participating in intensive language courses on Theological Arabic with Dr. + Shawqi + Talia from The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.). Since 2019, + Joachim is in charge of the pastoral care for university students and academics + in + the Catholic Diocese of Linz, Austria.

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