Historisches Seminar - Byzantine Studies

The study of the urban history and topography of the Italian quarters in Frankish Tyre is presented through detailed analysis of medieval texts, charters and inventories. The thirteenth-century report and inventory by the Venetian official Marsilio Zorzi is given particular attention due to its elaborated descriptions of several parts of the city. This is the first attempt to map Frankish Tyre and study its commercial quarters. The reconstruction of each quarter is followed by a discussion of the role played by the commune in the Frankish city and its contribution to it. It is demonstrated that the Venetian, Genoese and Pisan communes contributed significantly to the urban design of the city, incorporating the existing markets, bakeries and bath-houses, adding others and supplementing them with new churches and loggias.

The article considers the problem of monastic and scholarly ideals in the world view of the 13th c. Byzantine theologian Nikephoros Blemmydes as reflected in his so called Autobiography. It is maintained that Blemmydes managed to combine both kinds of ideals throughout his life without feeling any kind of contradiction in such a position — on the contrary, both consisted for him an indivisible unity. The statement is based on the close reading of the Autobiography’s text, which is also put in the context of Blemmydes biography and writing activity as a whole. Two trends in the investigation of the question are detected and discussed: maintaining a confl ict, outer or inner, in Blemmydes’ views (Misch, Angold), or considering them quite harmonious (Munitiz, Zhavoronkov, Bychkov, Stavrou). Thus Blemmydes’ self-identification as a scholar-monk is asserted, as well as his belief that such a combination is in fact natural for monastic life in general.

ИСТОРИЯ ДРЕВНЕЙ И НОВОЙ СЛОВЕСНОСТИ знает примеры, когда в одном семействе больше одного писателя: скажем, сын Софокла Иофон сочинял трагедии, пусть о них почти ничего не известно, философ Сенека был сыном ритора Сенеки, а еще отец и сын Дюма, дядя и племянник Пушкины… -но уже три сестры Бронте являют собой приметное исключение, потому что их три. Еще приметнее семейство Филостратов, которых четверо: самый старший (Филострат, сын Вера), его предположительный сын (Флавий Филострат), зять сына (Филострат Лемносский, из той же семьи) и внук сына (Филострат Младший). Все они жили во II-III вв., в эпоху Второй софистики, и сами были участниками этого культурного движения римских греков, а осталось от них, если считать в полноформатных «литпамятниках», тома четыре, причем не фрагменты, а цельные и оригинальные произведения. Казалось бы, такое вот семейное собрание сочинений, сразу компактное и разнообразное, должно привлекать издателей, однако же оно было издано (с латинской параллелью) лишь раз, Годфридом Олеарием 1 , так что через триста лет мы решили возобновить проект Philostratorum quae supersunt omnia, теперь уже по-русски, -перевести и опубликовать (разумеется, с положенным такому изданию аппаратом) полное собрание сочинений всех Филостратов, а в свет выпускать по мере готовности, книжку за книжкой.

Kirill Maksimovieh demonstrate, the translation technique of Slavonic law books in its prag matie dimension reflects a great number of ideological, social anel cultu ral conditions, which ma)' b e of interest for historians as weil as for philo logists anellinguists. In m)' opinion, only a complex approach to this mat ter ma)' yield encouraging r esults in this fielel of Ryzantine and Slavic interelisciplinary stuelies.

A major issue of contention in modern societies, captivity attracts much public interest around the world as well as in the Middle East. Captives, hostages and kidnapped people stand at the core of long-term debates concerning public responsibility to individual citizens and soldiers and the limits of such commitment. From the individual’s point of view, the discussion on responsibility necessitates rethinking the self in relation to the surroundings, and ultimately asks how much one is willing to sacrifice for the benefit of others. The history of captivity that emerges from the papers in this volume presents important political and cultural transformations in attitude toward captives in historical societies, which have implications on the way we approach them today.  In light of the centrality of the topic it is surprising that the subject of captivity, with its moral and political implications, has not attracted more scholarly attention, especially in the Israeli-Palestinian context where the exchange of captives and prisoners plays such a major role in the political and diplomatic domains.
Located at the nexus of military and diplomatic spheres, captives can be exploited as an excuse to go to battle or can bring wars to an end. Negotiations over the exchange of captives, including hostages and prisoners, involve serious dilemmas regarding the legitimacy of negotiations and what is regarded as a reasonable price.  They are always accompanied by fears of setting dangerous precedents.  None of these dilemmas are unprecedented in history, yet the reader is challenged by the wider implications of political and moral decisions. The historical insights in the respective articles encourage us to rethink and reformulate our own opinions and worldview.
This interdisciplinary volume contains papers which present a series of major milestones in the history of captivity from ancient history through the Middle Ages to contemporary times in Israel, Palestine and other parts of the Middle East. The historical papers are followed by thematic discussions on various issues including captives in international law, and social and psychological transformations in Israeli society. The volume closes with two papers on Hebrew literature.

This report is a revision of a former report, first written in 2007, about the state of the historical collections in the city. It follows some of the great projects that have been carried out across the city over the past 10 years (including other surveys). It provides links to online collections and includes some recommendations for follow up projects.

From the moment it was first introduced into the Arab community in the Holy Land, Communism had been associated with the Christian community, more specifically the Greek Orthodox (or Rum Orthodox) denomination. A large proportion of the Arab leadership of the Communist Party in Israel until the 1980s originated from this Orthodox background and the question discussed in this article is what links Communism, an ideology famous for its atheist tenet, with a particular Christian community? The discussion begins with the history of the Orthodox community during the Ottoman and British Mandate periods. It examines the historical, religious and political circumstances that first created the overlap between Orthodoxy and Communism. It then turns to examine the particular circumstances in the history of Israel that helped sustain and deepen this complex religious-political situation.
Download: (The first 50 copies can be downloaded for free)
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XDPI9GSD7pQ7yJW7QT3J/full