@acbm.bsky.social Just picked up my copy of Adam Bremer-McCollum’s The Pearlsong - what a beautiful edition for one of the most famous Syriac texts! Looking forward reading it.

The fact that this is how people are learning about the Assyrian Church of the East 💀 if you enjoyed this post you may be interested in my forthcoming article on Assyrians in Middle Eastern studies, stay tuned

"Tzefardea Tzedek" (Frog of Righteousness) As soon as the Portland Frog became a meme, Jewish social media blew up with jokes about the 2nd Passover plague - tzefarde'a (frogs) - and the Rabbinical commentary around it. I knew I had to make a calligraphy piece encompassing all of it. (more in alt.)

Mind-numbing how many layers of history there can be to a single manuscript page: Syriac upper text (10th c.), Armenian undertext (pre-10th c.), Arabic material used for binding (11-12th c.?), Coptic foliation in the margin (date?), modern foliation at the bottom. Image: Leiden UL Or. 14236, link ⬇️

💡 Hoe kijken politieke partijen aan tegen onderzoek, onderwijs en internationalisering? In aanloop naar de TK verkiezingen van 2025 analyseerden we met De Jonge Akademie de verkiezingsprogramma’s van alle deelnemende partijen. 👉 Bekijk het Dashboard hier: dejongeakademie.nl/publicaties/...

The essence of Jewish and Arabic music was performance. While music involved extensive skill and learning, it wasn't defined as a piece of writing but something you *did.* In the 20th century a similar divide was racialized: black Jazz artists didn't write, they improvised; whites "composed."

Net uit (x2: net gepubliceerd en uitgelezen) - aanrader!! www.singeluitgeverijen.nl/nijgh-van-di...

Podcast 🎙️| Vaak wordt de vraag gesteld of Israël tegelijk een joodse én een democratische staat kan zijn. Kritiek op het zionisme wordt tegenwoordig al snel bestempeld als antisemitisch. Martine van den Berg vertelt hoe vroegere joodse denkers over het zionisme dachten.

Our edited volume came out today - with a beautiful cover and available #OA: books.radbouduniversitypress.nl/index.php/ru... Many thanks to all who contributed to it - the editors from Radboud University Press, and of course all the authors!

This is now out in paperback and the publisher sent me copies. I've got four to give away — if you're a graduate student, early career, or contingent researcher, I'm happy to send you a copy in the US, or deliver to AIA/SCS/AAR/SBL. Just chime in here or send me a DM.

NASA images have confirmed the complete disappearance of Iran's Lake Urmia, once one of the world's largest saltwater lakes. www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/862...

Goed verhaal over de penibele situatie waarin de Armeense gemeenschap van Jeruzalem zich bevindt — ook voor hen is het afgelopen jaren steeds moeilijker geworden www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

NEW: Syria’s National Transitional Justice Authority is set to only investigate crimes committed by the Assad regime, excluding abuses by other parties. This undermines victims’ rights and any prospect for real accountability, argues Lina Ghoutouk. Read more: timep.org/2025/08/28/o...

Assaf David is a colleague, a friend, and one of the wisest people I know. Please read this interview. (non paywalled link - next post) www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Cataloging is in progress for microfilms of 30+ manuscripts of Enṭoṭṭo Māryām Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In EMML 6555, a seal of the church has crowned letters that represent the first initials of the church's founders, Emperor Menilek II (ም) and Empress Ṭāytu (ጣ): www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/...

Today, August 4, marks five years since the Beirut Port explosion shook Lebanon and upended countless lives, killing +200, injuring thousands, and displacing 300,000 from their homes. The TIMEP team reiterates its support for the people of Lebanon on this painful date.

Vanavond is het precies 5 jaar na de verwoestende havenexplosie van Beiroet. Met nabestaanden en politici sprak ik over de vraag of er in Libanon (ooit) gerechtigheid komt. "Het wachten voelt als een langzaam sterven." Hier te lezen @volkskrant.nl www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/d...

Prachtig stuk van @jjholtland.bsky.social over Ziad Rahbani, de zoon van Fairouz. 'Hij werd een rebel, een volkstribuun, een Libanese mix van Kees van Kooten en Boudewijn de Groot (‘Meneer de president, welterusten’), maar dan met de swagger en eeuwige sigaret van Serge Gainsbourg.'

Inside Syria, each side has its version of events in Suweida, and each version has its facts. Outside Syria, as in the case of Israel, the crisis was overtaken by narratives designed to exacerbate existing divisions and fracture the country. @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/argument/how...

Given Israel's Kahanist government, it was already on 7 Oct that genocide in Gaza is a real possibility. I personally did not know when the accumulation of Israeli crimes would cross that threshold. Two things could have stopped it: both failed. 1/

St. Elias #Church in the #Douaila neighborhood, in the heart of the capital, #Damascus, today.

We all knew this was coming since @helendecruz.net had been writing about her terminal illness - but it still comes as a blow. Helen, thanks for what you did for philosophy and for humans without privileges; you will be very sorely missed. ✨ dailynous.com/2025/06/20/h...

🦚📜 Did you know that the father of Church History was Palestinian? To learn more about what his story teaches us about ancient Palestine and how it relates to the present, read @chancebonar.bsky.social's new #EOPalestine post! everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2025/05/20/t...

In de categorie bijzonder leven: weet iemand wat dit is? We kwamen het tegen op het strand van Terschelling, eind vorige week. Zo’n 30-40 cm in de lengte. @hesterloeff.bsky.social ?