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. In addition to the focus on religion, our members receive substantial third-party funding for archaeological field research projects and in the field of textual research.
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.
We are ...
- ... an interdisciplinary research platform involving four departments
- ... a teaching network for the Master “Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKOEM)”
- ... a teaching network for the Münster School of Ancient Cultures doctoral program
- ... ein Lehrnetzwerk für das Zertifikat "Hebräisch"
- ... Editor of the podcast “News from the Old World”
- ... Netzwerk "Archäologie Diagonal" [de]
- ... Partner in international cooperation
- ... an association currently comprising 183 members
We are a Ulysseus partner
Call for Interest
We are planning a workshop for young researchers at the GKM for the 2026 summer semester entitled “Space and Spatiality as a Prism in the Study of the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Region.”
What research opportunities do “space and spatiality” offer, and what current theoretical debates are associated with them?
Many of us deal with the topic of “space” in very different ways—archaeologically, historically, theologically, philologically, for example. We would therefore be delighted if some of you would contribute to the workshop. The aim is to bring ongoing projects and research work into an interdisciplinary discourse.
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Public Lecture
Conflicts and disputes threaten human coexistence not only today—their traces reach deep into the past. Archaeological finds and findings prove that violence and war have always been part of human history. The public lecture series with invited guests focuses on the archaeology of conflicts, including the analysis of battlefields and the looting that accompanies wars. The topic is not only relevant across cultures, but also contributes to the theory of collective human violence.
Location: hybrid (F2 in the Fürstenberghaus, Domplatz 20-22 and via Zoom)
Start: Monday, October 27 at 6:15 p.m.
Master's program "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKOEM)"
The application procedure for the winter semester 2025/26 for our two-year interdisciplinary Master's degree program “Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKOEM)” has been completed.
Admitted applicants must confirm their acceptance in the online portal.
The orientation interviews will take place on October 21 from 6 pm. You will receive a personal invitation.
You are welcome to contact our program director during the summer to plan your first semester.
NEWS
The fieldwork campaigns of the Münster archaeologists
We regularly report on our archaeological field research projects in Turkey, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Armenia, Iraq, and Sudan. Currently (July–September 2025), a team is in Doliche (Turkey). This year's campaigns in Iraq (February–April 2025) and Jordan (March–May 2025) have been completed. The campaign in Armenia will start in September 2025.
We will post the latest reports here starting in September.
Upcoming events winter semester 2025
In the winter semester, the seminars and institutes networked in the GKM will once again offer lecture series with speakers from Münster and abroad.
You are cordially invited!
War in the Ancient World
Prof. Dr. Hans Neumann, a long-standing member of the GKM Executive Board, was admitted to the Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin on June 26, 2025. Congratulations!.
Workshop on the Jewish diaspora in Egypt with Prof. Noah Hacham
Diversity Dialogues in Classical Studies 2025
Digital Manuscripts?!
Exhibition was great success
QS World University Ranking 2025
Blog MSACult launched
Spring School: New tools for old manuscripts fascinate students
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)
Small Disciplines - Great Potentials
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", we showed in the Archaeological Museum of Münster University showed how global phenomena can be better understood. In the meantime, this special exhibition has become a digital exhibition that is continuously being expanded.
Digitisation in the Ancient Studies Subjects
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 University of Münster 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.