Come join us in Leuven for our Summer School on translations!

BREAKING NEWS – #Tehran, June 2, 2026 #Iran Students are currently protesting in several areas across Tehran. Among the slogans being chanted: • “Students are vigilant and reject all forms of discrimination.” • “A student may die, but will never accept humiliation.” 1

an Ottoman Lord’s Prayer: a thread. so i recently found out—i can’t remember from whom, but if it was one of you please let me know!—that there is a community of Turkish-speaking Chaldean Catholics in Kirkuk, Iraq, who continue to use Ottoman Turkish as a liturgical language. 1/

ENCYCLICAL LETTER MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (Full English Text): www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

"Manuscripts ask something of us. They ask us to look more closely, to listen more carefully, and to recognize the threads that bind us across time and place." —Dr. Audrey Thorstad, director of programming at HMML. Read more: mnhum.org/learning-beyond-language

De Arabische wereld oogt complex, maar in "Een moderne geschiedenis van de Arabische wereld" toont Roel Meijer dat er wel degelijk patronen zijn aan te wijzen. Een verbluffend goed boek. Aanrader. mainzerbeobachter.com/2026/05/23/d...

Even een vraagje aan het Semitischetalenhoekje op Bluesky. Een schorpioen heet in het Arabisch een عقرب (’aqrab). Die term is ook in andere Semitsche talen te vinden, en laat zich gemakkelijk reconstrueren tot Proto-Semitisch *ʕaḳrab(um). en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconst...

Sharing an upcoming lecture organized by the Abrahamic Entanglements Project at the University of Amsterdam: “Christian-Muslim Entanglements in the Arabic Occult Sciences: A View from Within the Medieval Islamicate World” by Salam Rassi 📅 12 May 2026 🕓 16:00–17:30 📍 D1.18B Oudemanhuispoort

Latest from me: The right is rapidly abandoning its previous commitment to Christian Zionism, replacing it with a conspiratorial and nativist nationalism that has little need for the "Judeo-Christian" Cold War coalition. This doesn't mean the wars will end. newlinesmag.com/argument/the...

Women Bear the Brunt as 1.2M Iranian Workers Lose Jobs to War @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social wncri.org/2026/05/01/w...

Great project (Women in Syriac Christianity, 1500-1800) directed by Lucy Parker (Oxford), looking for a postdoctoral researcher interested in Arabic manuscripts my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

⚖️ It's a big day in Syria today, where the trial of a number of former regime officials kicks off. First on trial is Atef Najib, cousin of Assad and former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, whose story is deeply interwoven with the story of the revolution. (1)

Wonderful, never saw this before. Reminds me of a visit to Safed many years ago

older Aramaic occupies a rarefied place among reactions people might have to you knowing a historical language. any language less obscure is just another subject from school; any more so and you become unspeakably nerdy. but Aramaic is for suave exorcist- or Indiana Jones–adjacent types

M'n eerste #gierzwaluw gespot, boven centrum Nijmegen. Nu kan de #zomer echt beginnen

Mapped the IDF's newly declared "Forward Defense Zone" in south Lebanon. Its maritime boundary fully absorbs Lebanon's Qana gas field, whose exploration rights were explicitly guaranteed under the 2022 US-brokered maritime border agreement. @weatherwar

Painted panels of a triptych 19th century Ethiopia -British Museum #randomxt

Strange paragraphs to write: "In JRL Syr. 10, in the left margin of fol. 304r, aligned to the top of the column, there is a transfer-sticker representing an anthropomorphic green frog dressed as a medieval soldier with breastplate, sword, and chainmail head protection, topped by a feathered hat. 1/

The second volume of Narsai: The Homilies is now out. Congratulations to Adam Becker! More volumes are being edited. Excited to see this series get some traction! Thanks to Peeters Publishers for the beautiful production: www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?s...

Inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers where Pope Leo XIV will pray with Algeria’s small Catholic community. The basilica contains relics of both Saint Augustine and Saint Monica. Courtney Mares OSV News

Only a few more days left for the early bird discount!

Tot de vele gremia in Israël die een nationalistische agenda voeren behoort ook een flink deel van de archeologen. Hun opgravingen in het ‘beloofde land’ zijn koren op de molen van joodse kolonisten en Amerikaanse christenen. 👉 www.groene.nl/artikel/alle...

everybody talking about Avignon but I am hoping for Canossa. Would be exactly 950 years after :)

Before I became an American, I was Lebanese. Parts of my family live in Lebanon. Anyway, you don't need those bona fides to feel this way, but what is happening in Lebanon right now is a complete outrage. The people there, who mostly are just trying to carve out a living, don't deserve this.

US and Israeli forces “completely destroyed” a Tehran synagogue during Pesach. www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...

We are horrified. Over Easter weekend, about 71 people likely drowned in the Mediterranean. Yesterday, our aircraft Seabird 2 spotted an overturned wooden boat: ~15 people clinging desperately to the hull, others in the water, and some lifeless bodies.

"Father Pierre and ten other men rushed to the house to help when another shell hit, wounding Rahi and four others. They were rushed to a local hospital, but Rahi did not survive and died before reaching the hospital door." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing...

‏~ נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות

"The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land hereby confirm that the matters concerning the Holy Week and Easter celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been addressed and resolved in coordination with the relevant authorities."

Photos from Christian Palm Sunday celebrations in Daraa, southern Syria.

It should have been the first day of a wonderful conference in Baghdad today - the first time ever that the International Association of Assyriology assembled in Iraq for its annual meeting. This conference was to be the culmination of 4 years of hard work by Iraqi and international colleagues. 1/4

btw I have a student who wants to build documentation and resources for cypriot arabic, she's very determined and has already started unearthing a lot of stuff but if anyone here has contacts in the remaining community or is interested in collaborating, please drop me a dm 🐦🐦

Israeli police blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Custos Francesco Ielpo from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for Palm Sunday Mass, forcing them to turn back. The Latin Patriarchate called it a serious violation of religious freedom during Holy Week.

“for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This incident is a grave precedent,and disregard the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.”

De Israëlische politie heeft kardinaal Pizzaballa en een medewerker verboden de mis van Palmzondag te vieren in de Heilig Grafkerk in Jeruzalem. Een ongehoorde precedent, aldus de kardinaal. Het is tekenend voor de verslechterde verhoudingen tussen Israël en de RK-Kerk

Ik weet opeens een mooie naam voor de afdeling levensbeschouwing en religie voor PRO, waarin de Linker Wang en de Banning Vereniging zullen opgaan: PROfeet. www.volkskrant.nl/politiek/de-...

Candace is *the* authority on this topic- a must read

Ik hoor net dat er nog wat ruimte is om aan te schuiven bij het symposium morgen over erfgoed in/van de orthodoxe kerken in Nederland, in Museum Catherijneconvent - welkom dus! www.oosterschristendom.nl/nederland/sy...

The Russian Orthodox Church is slowly but surely gaining a foothold in Africa. Experts say Russia is using its expansion as a form of ideological soft power.

Job alert: wij zoeken een gedreven onderzoeker met passie voor Joodse geschiedenis en erfgoed voor een PhD-project naar de omgang met #Joods erfgoed in Nederland sinds 1945, binnen het NWA-project Traumascapes: werkenbij.uva.nl/vacatures/pr.... Spread the word! 🕍📢

Walid Khalidi reshaped how the history of Palestine is written - https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/walid-khalidi-reshaped-how-history-palestine-written

“The aggressions against Christians in the West Bank are multiplying,” Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem told “EWTN News Nightly.” www.ewtnnews.com/world/middle...

Yesterday morning I stepped outside on my balcony for coffee with my wife and our neighbor. The drone was as low as it has ever been. We saw it over our heads. Below, our alleyway had turned into a parking lot for displaced people’s cars. A school next door is hosting around 1500 people.

@pmcghee.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Because Jesus rose from the dead, he didn’t pink from it. 😉 The day of rosacea vestments.

En nu met @jonalendering.bsky.social getagged

Aanrader: zowel de post van Jona Lendering als het boek van Martine van den Berg verstwee.nl/jona-lenderi...

Last weeks I worked on a piece for Collecting Religion, edited by @matthew-hayes.bsky.social and @secondhandsacred.bsky.social - a great way to think about project endings and the sorting out of material and digital collections that come with it collectingreligion.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/e...

Digitization & cataloging is complete for the collection of the Armenian Church, Diocese of Aleppo: 174 manuscripts relocated from the Armenian Holy Forty Martyr’s Church in Aleppo. A rare survival from one of the most volatile centers of #Armenian Christianity. Learn more: https://bit.ly/49V9yXa