How did oral and written traditions influence the transmission of sacred texts in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam? A new volume uncovers the complex interplay between spoken word and manuscript culture in the medieval Middle East: uhh.de/csmc-intersame Open access!

Announcing the J.P. Gumbert Dissertation Award 2025! 🏆 We are looking for the best PhD thesis on any aspect of manuscript studies defended between 1 Sep 2024 and 31 Dec 2025. The award includes a prize of 5,000 EUR and a fellowship at the CSMC. Apply by 6 February 2026! uhh.de/csmc-jpga-2025

To strengthen collaboration and exchange between our scholars and students in the study of Early #Chinese #manuscripts, we have ratified a Memorandum of Understanding with the renowned Research and Conservation Center for Unearthed Texts (RCCUT) at #Tsinghua University: uhh.de/csmc-rccut-mou

We are excited to announce that our cooperation with the renowned Matenadaran in Armenia has officially been extended. Together, we will keep exploring the Caucasus’s rich written heritage uhh.de/csmc-matenad...

The Tai Lü in Laos continue the craft of handmade mon paper, using local lianas to produce distinctive manuscripts. Agnieszka Helman-Ważny and Volker Grabowsky describe an ancient technique that endures despite the challenges posed by changing environments and modernisation: uhh.de/csmc-mon

We’re thrilled that @robertamazza.bsky.social is at the CSMC today! Tonight, she will give a talk on ‘Papyrology and Reparations’, addressing the regimes of violence, injustice, and inequality that papyrology has been enmeshed in since colonial times. Hybrid event, all welcome! uhh.de/csmc-mazza

The Gotha Manuscript Talks are back! Starting today, all four lectures are open to the public. Join the event here: uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/veranst... @fbgotha.bsky.social

Das interdisziplinäre wiss. DFG-Netzwerk „Wort – Wirkung – Wunder“ fragt nach den kulturellen Paradigmen, die den wortmagischen Vorstellungen (vor)moderner Gesellschaften im Hinblick auf die Macht von #Sprache & Schrift zugrunde liegen. Workshop 5.-7.11. in der Stabi: blog.sub.uni-hamburg.de?p=41047

The history of writing cannot be told without the history of erasure and rewriting. The new volume of our book series ‘Studies in Manuscript Cultures’ takes a global perspective on text obliteration and manuscript reuse. Open access @dgb-mem.bsky.social uhh.de/csmc-smc-48

Applicants welcome! We're looking for a doctoral researcher in the field of X-ray phase-contrast imaging to work on deciphering writings composed of carbon-based inks: www.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangeb...

Workshop @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social: Translation Choices in Multilingual Written Artefacts Navigating Visual & Cultural Layers (24./25.10.) "Translation practices leave traces often as intricate as elusive. In many cases, the only surviving witnesses to these practices are the #artefacts themselves."

It's been busy weeks for our mobile CT scanner ENCI and our team: at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara and the Archaeological Museum in Kayseri, they analysed not only enclosed cuneiform tablets, but also cups, golden earrings and engraved gemstones, among others! uhh.de/csmc-enci-2025

Happy to announce that we have agreed on two new Memoranda of Understanding with the National Library and Archives of Bhutan and the National Library of Peru! The latter was signed today by Peru’s Consul General in Hamburg, Sandra Pinto La Fuente, and CSMC Director Konrad Hirschler: uhh.de/csmc-mou

📜 Briefe lesen, ohne die Umschläge zu beschädigen: Das ermöglicht ein Team des Exzellenzclusters „Understanding Written Artefacts“ (@csmc-hamburg.bsky.social) mit dem weltweit ersten mobilen CT-Scanner für Kulturgüter. In Ankara werden damit nun die Keilschrifttafeln Mesopotamiens untersucht.

‘Second Hands’ and ‘Second Thoughts’ are the theme of our workshop on multilayered written artefacts of 19th- and 20th-century Austrian and German music this week – including live performances on a grand piano! Registration is still open, also for online participation: uhh.de/csmc-second-...

New open-access publication: Discover how a multidisciplinary approach helped identify and contextualise three Qurʾānic parchment fragments from the University of Münster collection, revealing their shared origins in an Umayyad Qur’an: www.nature.com/articles/s40...

Congratulations to Thomas Asselborn, Magnus Bender, Ralf Möller, and Sylvia Melzer from our ‘Data Linking’ team on winning the Best Young Research Paper Award at the FedCSIS conference in Kraków! 🥳🍾 uhh.de/csmc-fedcsis

Warum interdisziplinäre Forschung so wichtig (und erfolgreich) ist: Die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit erfordern die Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Disziplinen. Wie das in den Exzellenzclustern CLICCS und UWA an der Uni Hamburg gelingt, berichtet die @zeit.de Zum Beitrag (€):

Developed by an interdisciplinary team comprising Ancient Historians and Computer Scientists, EDAK is an innovative digital resource for the study of Greek and Latin inscriptions. The newly updated beta version now available: uhh.de/csmc-edak

One more week to apply! Join our Grad School with a full scholarship in the Scholarship Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service: uhh.de/csmc-scholar...

How did Christianity spark the rise of written Georgian culture? In our PhD Research Series, Sandro Tskhvedadze explores the evolution of Georgian Gospel lectionaries and the pivotal legacy of George the Athonite in shaping liturgical traditions: uhh.de/csmc-tskhved...

We're excited to share that the Tag Conference 2023 proceedings are out now! Featuring new research on contemporary graffiti from scholars across 14 countries, this milestone event in Hamburg built bridges between subculture and academia einestadtwirdbunt.shop/products/tag...

„3000 Jahre Aufgeschriebenes“: Heute ist dieser schöne Beitrag über uns in der Serie „orte des wissens“ auf @taz.de erschienen: taz.de/orte-des-wis...

Centuries before modern linguists, Andalusi scholar Isaac ibn Barūn laid the groundwork for comparative Semitic linguistics with his pioneering 12th-century Judaeo-Arabic grammar. Carlos Jacobo Puga Medina introduces his work in our PhD Research Series: uhh.de/csmc-medina

‘I hereby let you know that I am doing well so far’: A soldier in WWI writes a postcard to his family; the handwriting fades over the decades. In 2025, his grandson wishes to read the message. The story of an encounter in the Artefact Lab of the CSMC: uhh.de/csmc-ww1-pos...

We are currently looking for a doctoral researcher in the field of Computer Science to join our Visual Manuscript Analysis Lab! More info here: www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...

Using digital tools to bring order to the creative chaos in Rilke's notebooks: Our Visual Manuscript Analysis Lab collaborated with @dlamarbach.bsky.social to investigate 56 notebooks of one of the greatest German-language poets: uhh.de/csmc-rilke

Join us this afternoon for a talk by our current Petra Kappert Fellow Joseba Estevez (University of Hong Kong): ‘Paper Thrones, Inked Crowns: Daoist Deities and Celestial Officers of the Lanten Yao Living Manuscripts in Laos’ Hybrid event, all welcome! www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/register/lec...

‘We like lists because we don’t want to die’, said Umberto Eco. What drives our deep fascination with lists? PhD researcher Michael Hensley explores the meaning of Ethiopian and Eritrean book lists, offering glimpses into communities that would otherwise be lost: uhh.de/csmc-hensley

Lightly written and thoroughly researched: For over a decade, Cécile Michel’s ‘Mesopotamian Bulletins’ have offered fresh insights into ancient Mesopotamian high culture — and into its ongoing academic study. 11 new episodes are now available in English: uhh.de/csmc-mesopot...

Do your PhD in Manuscript Cultures with us! Our Grad School invites applications for full PhD scholarships (3 years, 1300 EUR/month + allowances) in the Scholarship Programme of the German Academic Exchange Service @daadworldwide.bsky.social Apply by 30 Sep! More info here👉 uhh.de/csmc-scholar...

From Handwriting to Woodblock Engraving: Next week, our fellow Tô Lan NGUYỄN (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) shares her latest research on ‘The Buddhist Printing Culture in Early 20th-Century Northern Vietnam’ Monday, 18 August, 4:15 pm. Hybrid lecture, all welcome! uhh.de/csmc-nguyen

In 19th-century Damascus, the library of Khālid al-Naqshabandī is a centre for scholarly exchange. Preserving it requires legal ingenuity from his heirs, until it is finally scattered worldwide. In our PhD research series, Joud Nassan Agha tells its story: uhh.de/csmc-agha

Once a hub of Ottoman culture, Süleyman Efendi’s library was scattered by conquest. In our PhD Research Series, Rawda El-Hajji traces these manuscripts, showing how they help reconstruct lost intellectual communities and reveal the fate of cultural heritage in times of conflict: uhh.de/csmc-el-hajji

Early Tamil poetry, rich with tales about journeys, patrons, and cultural exchange, reveals a vibrant blending of languages. In our PhD Research Series, Maanasa Visweswaran explores how Sanskrit influences and the use of Grantha script shaped these classical Tamil manuscripts: uhh.de/csmc-viswesw...

Heute um 18 h eröffnen wir die Ausstellung "Papyri – Ostraka – Wachstafeln. Schriftkultur im griechisch-römischen Ägypten" mit einer Führung. Die Originale eröffnen einzigartige Einblicke in das Leben der Menschen am Nil zwischen griech.-röm. Verwaltung & lok. Kultur. blog.sub.uni-hamburg.de?p=40573

In pleasant news: Our book 'Graffiti Scratched, Scrawled, Sprayed' is now available in paperback. Have a look, it's even got pictures! www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi... #graffiti📁 #art #anthropology #archaeology #epigraphy #medievalsky

We are delighted to have gained the renowned Korean Studies Institute as a partner in researching and preserving the heritage of manuscripts and printing woodblocks. We officially established our collaboration at an international conference in Andong: uhh.de/csmc-ksi

Join us today for our Thursday Lecture by Silvia Orlandi (Sapienza): In ‘Paper Epigraphy: Handwritten (Re)Sources for the Study of Ancient Inscriptions’, she explores the impact of digitised manuscripts on epigraphic research. 4:15–6:00 pm, hybrid event. All welcome! uhh.de/csmc-orlandi

New documentary out now! Around Luang Prabang is one of the world’s few regions where traditional manuscript culture still thrives. Researchers Agnieszka Helman-Wazny & Volker Grabowsky spent years capturing the voices of those keeping this legacy alive. 🎞️Watch the full film here: uhh.de/csmc-laos

Celebrating manuscript studies on both sides of the Atlantic! We're looking forward to the reception with our colleagues @sims-mss.bsky.social at the @imc-leeds.bsky.social tonight. Join us if you're there! #IMC2025 imc-leeds.confex.com/imc/2025/mee...

The MprinT project explores how Islamic religious life on the Swahili coast was transformed by print. Our Data Linking team has just launched a continuously expanding online information system providing access to key sources: uhh.de/csmc-mprint-...

Integrating archaeometry and philology to gain deeper insights into a deteriorated, multi-layered Qur’anic codex: Four of our colleagues just published this paper in the European Physical Journal Plus: link.springer.com/article/10.1... Open access!

Carian inscriptions display notable diversity, from funerary stelae and graffiti to public and votive texts. In tonight's Thursday Lecture, Ignasi-Xavier Adiego Lajara (@ub.edu) presents his current research on these enigmatic texts. 6:15 pm, hybrid event. All welcome! uhh.de/csmc-lajara

Headaches? Plagued by a Jinn? In love with your neighbour’s wife? In West African manuscript cultures, written artefacts were produced to address all kinds of life problems, as Jannis Kostelnik explains in this essay: uhh.de/csmc-kostelnik Part 2 of our PhD Research Series

Britta Frede is our guest professor of ‘Gender in Manuscript Cultures’ this summer semester. In our interview, she shares insights into her search for traces of women’s roles within Islamic scholarly culture: uhh.de/csmc-frede-i...

What untold stories lie within the very fabric of one of the world’s most famous maps? In early 2025, researchers from our Mobile Lab visited the Biblioteca Marciana to study the renowned Fra Mauro Map. A captivating short film about this project is out now. Full video: uhh.de/csmc-fra-mauro

The Berlin Traiphum might be the most spectacular surviving manuscript of its kind. Measuring 33 metres in length, it opens up a unique panorama of Buddhist cosmology. Our alumnus Peera Panarut explores it together with his colleagues at the Museum of Asian Art: uhh.de/csmc-traiphum

Colonial encounters were transformative events in the life cycle of manuscripts in Muslim societies. From 19–21 June, our workshop explores the complex legacy of these encounters, revealing both loss and new intellectual horizons. Hybrid event, all welcome! uhh.de/csmc-colonia...

He studied falling objects before Galileo, discovered Snell’s law before Snell, pioneered interpolation before Newton, invented binary before Leibniz – yet remains barely known. In our new PhD Research Series, Stefano Farinella explores the mathematical notes of Thomas Harriot: uhh.de/csmc-harriot