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Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Seminar

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.

PDF Download Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Hilary Term Schedule 2025
Schedule for Hilary Term 2025
Week 1

Week 1, 20 January 

Arjen Bakker (Cambridge):

Offering of the Lips: The Dead Sea Scrolls

and Early Jewish Prayer

Week 2

Week 2, 27 January

Marcello Fidanzio (USI):

The Great Isaiah Scroll: A Biography

Week 3*

Week 3, 34 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

Week 4, 10 February 

Bill Schniedewind (UCLA):

Essene Scribal Practice, Synagogues,

and the Proto-MT Tradition

Week 5 (two sessions)*

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, 11:0012:15

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 (two sessions)*

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

Week 7, 3 March

Charlotte Hempel (Birmingham):

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Second Temple Rural Economy

 

Week 8*

*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.

Seminars in Previous Academic Years

Download schedule for 2023-2024
Download the schedule for 2022-23
Download the schedule for 2021-22
Download the schedule for 2020-21
Download the schedule for 2019-20
Download the schedule for 2018-19
Download the schedule for 2017-18