Week 1, 20 January
Arjen Bakker (Cambridge):
Offering of the Lips: The Dead Sea Scrolls
and Early Jewish Prayer
This seminar, co-sponsored by the Faculty of Theology and Religion, is the flagship seminar of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament subject area in Oxford. The theme of the seminar this term is ‘New Research in the Dead Sea Scrolls’. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Seminar runs each term and hosts an international array of scholars in the field of Biblical Studies. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Seminar is attended by a variety of faculties across the University of Oxford. Students and faculty participate in the discussion in the formal sessions as well as in more informal discussions each week after the seminars. We create the conditions for students to engage with visiting scholars, and to relate their research to larger research topics across the field. It is essential for our postgraduate community to engage with different methodologies and ways of thinking about the texts they study. Moreover, the students come to engage with scholars from across the UK and the world.
Conveners:
Convened by Hindy Najman
In Hilary Term 2025, The Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament Seminar will run on Mondays 2:30 pm – 16:00 pm unless stated otherwise.*
Please direct any enquiries to ocsb@oriel.ox.ac.uk.
Week 1, 20 January
Arjen Bakker (Cambridge):
Offering of the Lips: The Dead Sea Scrolls
and Early Jewish Prayer
Week 2, 27 January
Marcello Fidanzio (USI):
The Great Isaiah Scroll: A Biography
Week 3, 3–4 February (Monday & Tuesday)*
Judaism in Antiquity: New Sources, New Perspectives
A joint TAU – Oxford workshop
Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College
See OCSB website for full schedule of speakers
Week 4, 10 February
Bill Schniedewind (UCLA):
Essene Scribal Practice, Synagogues,
and the Proto-MT Tradition
Week 5, Monday, 17 February
Noam Mizrahi (Hebrew University):
A Case of Identity: Text, Language, and Interpretation of Isaiah as Witnessed by 4QIsa-g (4Q61)
*Wednesday 19 February, 11:00–12:15
Jakob Wöhrle (Tübingen):
“There was no Human to till the Ground”: The Formation and the Religious Historical Background of the Non-Priestly Creation Account Genesis 2-3
Week 6, 24 February
Mladen Popović (Groningen) and Maruf Dhali (Groningen):
Using Sciences and Humanities to Study the Materiality of the Dead Sea Scrolls
*Tuesday, 25 February
Knapp Lecture:
Mladen Popović (Groningen) and Maruf Dhali (Groningen):
Combining AI, the Sciences and the Humanities to Innovate the Study of Ancient Handwritten Manuscripts
17:00–19:00, Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College
Followed by reception in the Harris Seminar Room
Please see this link to the event page on the OCSB website for further details and information about online attendance: Knapp Lecture: Combining AI, the Sciences and the Humanities to Innovate the Study of Ancient Handwritten Manuscripts
Week 7, 3 March
Charlotte Hempel (Birmingham):
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Second Temple Rural Economy
*Week 8, 10 March
Workshop on the Dead Sea Scrolls
Organised by Sarah Wisialowski (Oriel) and Wenyue Qiang (St Cross)
Schedule and list of speakers TBD. See the OCSB website for further updates.