Welcome at the Centre for Eastern Mediterranean History and Culture (GKM)
The Centre for Eastern Mediterranean History and Culture (GKM) brings together all ancient studies at the University of Münster. Among the disciplines involved, the multitude of ancient philologies, archaeologies as well as Christian and Islamic theology and Jewish studies are particularly noteworthy.
The GKM is the backbone of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", which is now in its third funding phase.
With the interdisciplinary Master's programme "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKOEM)" and the graduate school "Münster School of Ancient Cultures (MSAC)", the network is also activated for academic education.
NEWS I Sommersemester 2024 | NEWS I Summer Term 2024
On SATURDAY, 4 MAY, the Fürstenberghaus (Domplatz 20-22) will become a showroom for archaeology from 10 am to 5 pm.
Anyone interested in the latest research findings is sure to find what they are looking for in our lecture programme and poster exhibition. If you are tempted by the treasures of bygone times, you should join one of the guided tours through the Archaeological Museum! Or you can try out modern methods for yourself at one of the activity stands and immerse yourself in past worlds with VR glasses.
We are particularly looking forward to welcoming prospective students and will be offering advice on our Bachelor's and Master's programmes on this day.
On Thursday, 2 May 2024, at 6 p.m. c.t., Prof. Dr Andreas Schachner (DAI Istanbul) will speak on the topic:
"A new look at Hattuša: the development of the Bronze Age settlement in Boğazköy".
The lecture will take place in RS2 (courtyard building), Rosenstraße 9.
On Thursday, 28 May 2024, at 2 p.m. c.t., OLIVER HENSE (University of Tübingen) will speak on the topic:
"The Middle Assyrian pottery of the Selevani Plain, Autonomous Region of Kurdistan (Iraq)".
The lecture will take place in RS2 (courtyard building), Rosenstraße 9.
Podcast episode with "Archaeology/Diagonal"
We introduce the network that is the organizer behind the Münster Archaeology Day. And we give you a foretaste of this event:
Diversity of archaeological research in Münster - Museums as showcases for science - Virtual spaces and 3D lab - Creative promotion of young talent.
NEWS I Sommersemester 2024
Upcoming events summer semester 2024
In the summer semester, the seminars and institutes networked in the GKM will once again offer lecture series with speakers from Münster and abroad.
The renowned Egyptologist, religious and cultural scholar Jan Assmann has died. Assmann spent decades researching the relationship between religion and politics from ancient cultures to modern societies. His work on understanding the concept of Maat as one of the fundamental ancient Egyptian concepts of world order, his critical interpretation of the emergence of Israeli monotheism and the theory of cultural memory developed together with his wife Aleida Assmann have had a significant influence on research.
Jan Assmann was closely associated with the University of Münster: The Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Münster awarded Jan Assmann an honorary doctorate in theology in 1998. In the winter semester 2020/21, he was Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professor at the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics. At the research network, he dealt with the effects of digitalization on his concept of cultural memory.
University Society sponsors VR station on the basilica in Doliche
The University Society (Universitätsgesellschaft) has recognized the project "A new early Christian cult building of ancient northern Syria and its mosaics - The Basilica in Doliche" as a lighthouse project and is also funding this idea. The Asia Minor Research Center will use the funds to set up a virtual reality station in the Archaeological Museum in collaboration with the University of Münster's Web and Design Unit, which will enable visitors to virtually view the excavated parts of the church and the restored mosaic floors.
From 19 January to 26 February, visitors to the Archaeological Museum can take a virtual tour of the Jerusalem Temple. A VR station developed by a team from the University of Tübingen will be set up. Visitors can experience as an avatar how money was handled in the sanctuary at the time of Jesus: from exchanging money at the money changers' tables and paying temple taxes to buying doves as sacrificial animals.
Byzantium - a Greek melting pot?
Greek-Hellenistic cultures, Roman traditions, oriental influences and Christian faith characterise Byzantium. It is precisely this - sometimes explosive - mixture that makes Byzantine studies so exciting as a science.
In this podcast episode, Natalie and Felix ask Michael Grünbart, Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Münster, critical questions.
Climate change is not a new phenomenon: in 7,500 BC, almost all Neolithic villages in the Jordan Valley were abandoned. The inhabitants migrated en masse to the highlands, where they founded settlements of unprecedented size. A new hunting strategy made it possible - despite droughts - to support a previously unattained population size. Prof. Dr. GARY ROLLEFSON will report on the excavations in Wisad Pools and Wadi al-Qattafi on Monday, January 22 at 6 p.m. c.t.
"The digital apocalypse" - this is not another doomsday scenario, but the aim of a project on the 4th Book of Ezra, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic scripture.
Lutz Doering and Florian Neitman will present how their project is creating a digital edition that provides vivid access to this complex surviving scripture. And how a global research community can use it to exchange and network its ideas.
Time: Tuesday, 16 January, 6 p.m. c.t.
Place: JO 1, Johannisstraße 4, 48143 Münster
Since 2019, a team from Heidelberg University has been researching the palaces of the late Neo-Assyrian capital Nineveh among the ruins of the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. After troops of the so-called Islamic State (IS) conquered the northern Iraqi city in the summer of 2014, they blew up the famous mosque containing the tomb of the Prophet Jonah. Prof. Dr. PETER MIGLUS will report on the excavations in the city destroyed by the war in his lecture on Monday, January 15 at 6 p.m. c.t.
What are garden gnomes doing in an archaeological exhibition?
In this episode, Lisa Mentzl and Stefan Leenen are guests of Lotta and Felix. They work for the LWL Museum of Archaeology and Culture in Herne. Together they form the curatorial team for the current special exhibition "Modern Times - Archaeological finds of modern times and their stories".
During this year's field research campaign, the team led by Prof Dr Michael Blömer and Prof Dr Engelbert Winter from the Asia Minor Research Centre has once again made a significant discovery. In the ancient city of Doliche - located in south-east Turkey - the city archives were uncovered. In addition, more than 2,000 seal impressions, which were used to seal documents, were recovered. Although there were archives for storing documents in every city, only a handful of archive buildings from the Roman Empire have been identified to date.
On 24 and 25 November at the LWL Museum of Archaeology and Culture (Herne)
The last weekend in November at the LWL Museum of Archaeology and Culture in Herne is all about games. Anna Falke and Lukas Boch ("BoardGame Historian") have organised this event in cooperation with the Antiquities Commission for Westphalia, the Ruhr University Bochum and the Herne Games Centre to raise awareness of archaeological themes in popular culture and highlight the board game as a cultural asset. The gaming fun is accompanied by an extensive lecture programme.
The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which is always celebrated in December, is the focus of a public lecture at the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum at the University of Münster. This year's Franz Delitzsch Lecture entitled "Hanukkah - the modern rebirth of an ancient Jewish festival" will take place on 27 November (Monday) from 18:15 in lecture theatre H2 at Schlossplatz 46. The speaker, Rabbi Yehoyada Amir, Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, is regarded as a formative figure in Israeli Reform Judaism. In his lecture, he will explore the question of what light Hanukkah sheds on the darkness of our days. The event is open to the public and interested parties are welcome.
This year's "Griechenland-Seminar" ch will take place on Saturday, 25 November from 12.30 pm in the Liudgerhaus (Überwasserkirchplatz 3) under the title "Monsters and fantasy worlds".
Monstrous and extraordinary figures appear in Greek visual and textual worlds from antiquity to modern times. They leave a lasting impression, but also arouse amazement and horror. The seminar will discuss various aspects of the fantastic and the monstrous from philological, historical, ethnological, art-historical and scientific perspectives
This winter semester, the "Archaeology/Diagonal Network" is organising a public lecture series entitled "Archaeology at the Limit". On six dates, archaeologists from Germany and abroad will provide lively insights into the special challenges of excavations in inaccessible regions. The series of events will open on 20 November with a lecture by Marburg archaeologist Prof. Dr Winfried Held on the topic of "Underwater. History, topics and methods of maritime and nautical archaeology".
The body has always been part of the practices and ideas of religions worldwide. People express religious ideas through the body. At the conference "Body Images and Body Practices in the Religions" of the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics, which takes place from 13-15 November in Münster, case studies ranging from ancient Egyptian rituals to magical practices of the early modern period will be discussed. Prof Dr CHRISTOPH MARKSCHIES, President of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, will give the keynote lecture on "God and the Body".
On Friday, 17 November at 5 p.m. c.t., the DFG-funded research group "Xenocracy in situ. Administrative and cultural entanglement in the pre-modern era" will be officially opened. Prof Dr Markus Koller (Bochum) will give the keynote speech in lecture theatre F5.
We are offering an information evening via Zoom for anyone interested in our Master's degree programme "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKEOM)". We will present the programme with its special features, its variety of subjects and the possibilities for individual specialisation. Students and alumni will talk about their experiences and there will be time for questions.
Time: Thursday, 16 November at 6.15 pm
Meeting ID: 622 9492 0932 // Password: 191263
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Centre for Christian Image Theory, Theological Aesthetics and Image Didactics (ACHRIBI) and the 5th anniversary of bildtheologie e. V., Dr Johannes Rauchenberger (Graz/Vienna) will give a guest lecture in the Dominican Church. The expert will speak on the topic "Is art religion? On the debate about the role of art in a sacred setting using Gerhard Richter's Two Grey Double Mirrors for a Pendulum in the former Dominican Church in Münster".
ChatGTP and AI are on everyone's lips and are increasingly influencing the everyday work of students and scientists. The possibilities of these tools are inspiring. At the same time, however, many are critical of algorithm-based systems or resign themselves to the jungle of tools. The opportunities, risks and limitations of AI, especially for the "small subjects", will be examined in an event with Prof. Dr. Jan-Martin Geiger, Junior Professor for Innovation and Transfer of Digital Teaching. Suggestions and expectations can be communicated in advance.
Time: Wednesday, 25 October, 6-8 p.m.
Dr. Katharina Schmidt has been appointed junior professor for the subject "Biblical Archaeology" at the Faculty of Protestant Theology. This semester she is offering the lecture "Introduction to Biblical Archaeology" and the advanced seminar "Archaeology in the Kingdom of Ammon: Preparation for the Excavation at the Citadel of Amman". The broad archaeological spectrum of the GKM is thus once again expanded.
We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Katharina Schmidt and look forward to working with her.
Octobre 2023 I Exhibition in the Archaeological Museum
Austrian artist Oliver Laric is taking a radically public approach to art by scanning selected archaeological finds, reproducing them with 3-D printers and making the data available to anyone on the internet free of charge. His resulting artwork "Reclining Pan" will be on display at the Archaeological Museum from 4 to 30 October 2023. The special exhibition was organised by the Kolleg research group "Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Transformation".
Translation processes in the Islamic world during the early modern period have hardly been researched so far. The new Emmy Noether junior research group TRANSLAPT (Translation: Arabic-Persian-Turkish), headed by Prof. Dr. Philipp Bockolt, aims to close this research gap in the coming years. You are cordially invited to the opening event on 19 October in the building of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" (lecture hall JO 1).
Our cooperation partner, the German Protestant Institute of Antiquities of the Holy Land, is celebrating its 125th anniversary of foundation this year. To mark the occasion, the DEI is organising a scientific conference in Jerusalem from 16 to 19 October 2023, and a diverse programme has been put together. Latest news from 08 October: The anniversary event has been postponed due to the current situation in Israel.
Now, during the lecture-free period, the excavations in Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Iraq and Turkey will continue.
Students will also go along again this summer and expand their knowledge through practical experience. And the mobile 3D scanner will also be in the luggage.
We will present the projects and expectations in our report "Field Research 2023" from the beginning of September.
The Münster School of Ancient Cultures (MSAC) has launched its blog MSACult. The first reports have been posted. Information on the topics of events, on tour and funding opportunities will be added continuously from now on
From a handwritten manuscript to digital edition in one week? So ask the students in their concluding blog post. Indeed, the Spring School provided a multi-faceted insight into the research world of manuscripts and an ambitious introduction to the steps involved in creating a digital edition. It was an experiment that was implemented by many experts and so successful that a continuation is being sought.
Info Event Master "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean"
We cordially invite you to an information evening of the Master's programme "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean ". During this event, the special features of the programme will be presented: interdisciplinary offer, individual focus, close supervision, internships and projects. Interested parties will have the opportunity to ask questions to students, alumni and the study coordinator. The focus will be on personal exchange, so that a hop-on and hop-off is possible at the event.
Time: Tuesday, 6 June, from 6.15 p.m.
Location: F 043, Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22, Münster
In Sudan, the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces are fighting for power. Archaeologist Prof. Dr. Angelika Lohwasser has been working on a field research project in northern Sudan since 2009. Most recently, she and her team were on the ground for two months in February. In this interview, Angelika Lohwasser reports on the consequences of the conflict for her work.
The photos of the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on 6 February are shocking. The extent of the devastation can still not be seen after a good two months. Thousands of people have lost their lives. In view of the acute humanitarian catastrophe, questions of cultural property protection have so far taken a back seat. It is already clear that the tremors have caused considerable damage to numerous ancient and medieval monuments. With the project "Cultural Heritage in Danger", researchers from the Asia Minor Research Centre want to support the local authorities in documenting the condition of the cultural monuments in the province of Adıyaman.
The project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, will start at the beginning of June and run for seven months.
Two researchers will speak on Thursday, April 27 at 6 p.m. c.t. at the invitation of the Forschungsstelle Papyrologie and the Forschungsstelle Brief on one topic. Prof. Dr. Peter Arzt-Grabner (Salzburg) & PD Dr. Hans Förster (Vienna) will shed light on the topic "Papyrological Research on the Pauline Epistles using Paul's Letter to the Romans as an example".
Location: ETH 302, Universitätsstraße 13-17
For the second time, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is supporting the long-term project to edit the complete works of Ibn Nubatah al-Misri (1287-1366). At the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Arabists led by Leibniz Prize winner Prof. Dr. Thomas Bauer and Prof. Dr. Syrinx von Hees have been working on the edition since 2020. The DFG is now funding the project again with around 1.7 million euros.
One year of "News from the Old World"! For the anniversary episode of our podcast, we brought together (almost) the entire team: Natalie, Franzi, Lotta, Emre and Felix reflect on the creation and production of the podcast. From technical difficulties to the choice of interviewees to experiences abroad, our team looks back on the last year and gives a little insight behind the recordings.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new research group from the humanities. The aim of the group "Xenocracy on the Ground. Administration and Cultural Interdependence in the Pre-Modern Era" is to provide a perspective on the much-discussed phenomenon of foreign rule that is tailored to the pre-modern era. The DFG is funding the project for the next four years with approximately 2.5 million euros. From the GKM, Prof. Dr. Hans Beck, Prof. Dr. Patrick Sänger and Prof. Dr. Gesa Schenke are involved.
In the current "QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023", Classics and Ancient History once again achieved a good ranking. In the subject "Classics and Ancient History", the University of Münster is ranked 51 to 90 and thus among the world's best 100 universities. The ranking is based primarily on reputation surveys among academics and employers and takes into account citations of publications.
Egyptologist Prof. Dr Angelika Lohwasser talks about the opening of Tutankhamun's burial chamber 100 years ago: a century-old find that still poses many riddles, and a myth associated with it that still fascinates today. The conversation is also about the subject of Egyptology in general and about studying Egyptology.
In view of more than 1000 poleis, can a uniform Greek law be assumed at all?
On 23 and 24 February 2023, an international symposium will explore this question and analyse the tension between local law and legal unity in ancient Greece.
Since 1997, the WWU research centre Asia Minor has been investigating the remains of the ancient city of Doliche near the Turkish metropolis of Gaziantep. The excavation area of the research project and the excavation house, are located only a few kilometres away from the epicentre of the severe earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria on Monday (6.2.2023). Sophie Pieper spoke with project leader Prof. Dr. Engelbert Winter and excavation director Prof. Dr. Michael Blömer about the situation on site ... read more [de]
Professor Lutz Doering elected as new GKM spokesperson
A new board was elected at the general meeting on 2 February. Subsequently, the board elected Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering as spokesperson of the GKM without any dissenting votes.
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Achenbach left the board at his own request after 13 years. He had shaped the research and teaching network as spokesperson since 2009. He was bid farewell with heartfelt words of thanks, a big round of applause and a short review of the history of the GKM.
From 27 to 31 March 2023, the GKM will organise the Spring School "Manuscript Cultures. Interdisciplinary. Digital."
We will approach historical manuscripts in two ways: on the one hand, in terms of content via the topics of power, ritual and space; on the other hand, methodically by learning and applying methods of the Digital Humanities. Together with the participants, we will edit a previously unpublished chronicle of the Vinneberg monastery.
During the one-day excursion to the University of Hamburg, we will be guided through the laboratories of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures and can experience how the humanities and natural sciences work hand in hand.
We are offering 20 places for students, doctoral candidates and staff of the WWU. In the meantime, all places are fully booked.
The Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz has accepted the Egyptologist Prof. Dr Angelika Lohwasser as a new full member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class.
In the current ZIN blog post, archaeologist Achim Lichtenberger presents conditions for resilience in cities and shows how helpful a look at history is for this. Since 2011, an international team led by the universities of Aarhus and Münster has been investigating the ancient city of Gerasa (Jordan), which met its end in 749 AD - after a long period of resilience - due to an earthquake
The combined analysis of animal and plant remains as well as literary evidence is leading to more precise dating of archaeological finds. "We can now often determine not only the year, but also the season," says archaeologist Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger, who is currently digging with his team at Tell Iztabba (Israel)
How does ... Digital Humanities? In the lecture series "Introduction to the Digital Humanities" of the Cluster of Excellence, experts from various disciplines addressed this question in the summer semester of 2022. In addition to methods, tools and projects, the responsible use of research data was also addressed.
The videos are posted on the Cluster of Excellence website and can be viewed here.
Who decides what is tradition and what is handed down? Which factors are decisive in the struggle for interpretive sovereignty? This was discussed on 24 May 2022 by the historians Peter Funke (Ancient History), Wolfram Drews (Medieval History) and Hubert Wolf (Church History) in the discussion series "Traditions and Competition" of the Cluster of Excellence. Their introductory statements and a complete recording of the talk can be viewed here [de].
At the Archaeological Museum of the University of Münster, virtual copies are created with the help of a 3D scanner. The scanned objects can be used by experts all over the world. The first vessels, coins, casts and stone fragments have already been recorded. They can now be digitally rotated as desired and viewed from all sides, thus providing far more information than the originals. An EMU image film provides an insight into the newly equipped 3D laboratory of the Archaeological Museum.
The 3D laboratory is located on the ground floor of the Archaeological Museum. Interested visitors can watch the students at work through a glass pane.
Have fun watching the film ... or just come and visit the 3D lab at Münster-Domplatz in person.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
NEWS: August 2021
tudents bring ancient rooms to life with VR glasses
3D technology has become increasingly popular for archaeology in recent years. In order to introduce our students to this development, the course "Modelling of Virtual Reconstructions in Archaeology" was already started in the winter semester 2020/21 on the initiative of Professor Kreppner. First, the theories and methods of scientific archaeological reconstruction were taught. Then Sebastian Hageneuer from the University of Cologne introduced the use of the modelling software Cinema 4D. The second part of the seminar took place in the form of group projects in which the participants developed and implemented their own ideas. At the beginning of August, the results could be experienced. In the Senate Hall of the University, the students used VR glasses to immerse themselves in the objects and rooms they had virtually reconstructed. They were thrilled to experience antiquity in this way.
NEWS: Juni 2021
Environmental pollution already in antiquity
Archaeological finds from the ancient city of Gerasa prove heavy metals in the ground
According to recent research, environmental pollution is not a modern phenomenon. Even in ancient times, people suffered from lead poisoning, for example. The Romans used the heavy metal on a large scale as a material for water pipes and sometimes even to sweeten wine. Archaeologists and geologists from the universities of Münster, Aarhus, St. Andrews and Stirling have now discovered that many small amounts of the pollutant had already accumulated in the soil around medium-sized ancient cities over centuries. Although the environmental destruction did not yet occur on the same global scale as today, contaminated soil and polluted drinking water made people ill even back then.
Since 2011, a German-Danish team of the "Jerash Northwest Quarter Project" led by Achim Lichtenberger from Münster and Prof. Dr. Rubina Raja from Aarhus has been conducting research in the ancient city of Gerasa in what is now Jordan. Again and again, the researchers were amazed at the heavy metal contamination of the soil, because lead pipes were very rarely discovered in Gerasa, nor was there any metal industry or mining there. What is new in the archaeological research is that craft and everyday activities were taken into consideration, i.e. the smallest polluters. Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger from the Institute of Classical Archaeology puts it in a nutshell: "The principle that small flocks make a mess was already valid back then. A study now shows that everyday activities such as the production and use of metal objects were responsible for the high levels of heavy metal pollution. It was not individual large-scale producers that caused this pollution, but numerous small-scale activities due to high population density and urbanisation.
"The contamination pathways reflect long-term man-made pollution at local and regional scales since Roman times," emphasise the authors of the study, which was published in June in the international online journal of the Public Library of Science "PLOS ONE". They call for the everyday urban use and reuse of heavy metal sources to be taken into account in future historical studies.
The global world is changing rapidly and constantly. The high level of dynamism is a challenge that needs to be overcome. Armed conflicts, human rights violations and environmental pollution are only three of the social problems for which solutions are needed. The "small subjects" in the humanities make a contribution to this.
In the special exhibition "WeltWeit Unverzichtbar. Kleine Fächer für große Themen", the Archaeological Museum of Münster University showed from January to March 2020 how global phenomena can be better understood. In the meantime, this special exhibition has become a digital exhibition that is continuously being expanded.
In 2021, the HRK and the BMBF invite you to a digital theme week Small Subjects, which will take place from 8 to 11 March. Its aim is to discuss the situation of small subjects and their development perspectives in the German and European science system with a broad professional public.
Documentation and analysis kits, multimedia reports and online learning platforms: Digital Humanities is a highly dynamic field of research for the Classical Studies that combines the cognitive interests of the humanities and cultural studies with the data-processing methods of computer science.
Digital working methods and techniques can considerably simplify and accelerate scientific work. This makes completely new questions possible. Digital technologies are playing a steadily growing role in archaeology in particular, and are being used in projects at the University of Münster.
The digitisation of texts, the creation of complex digital editions and the production of corpora that can be analysed by machine are a basis for future-oriented research in the text sciences. Digital technology supports processes that previously had to be carried out in laborious manual work. Digitisation offers new possibilities for the presentation and publication of material, making research results more accessible, especially to the public.
These developments in research and teaching in Classics at the WWU aim to give students an understanding of digitality that will enable them to act in relation to new technologies and the associated changes in the humanities disciplines.
