Universität Wien

090087 VO Monastic Archaeology: the spread of monasteries in the provinces of Palaestina and Arabia (2018W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 9 - Altertumswissenschaften

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Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

Language: English

Examination dates

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Wednesday 10.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 17.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 24.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 31.10. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 07.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 14.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 21.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 28.11. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 05.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 12.12. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 09.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG
Wednesday 16.01. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum d. Inst. f. Klassische Archäologie Franz-Klein-Gasse 1.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

From the second half of the fourth century AD the monastic movement spread in the Byzantine East. Alongside the numerous hermitages, the first coenobitic communities, in which groups of monks dwelled together, rose in the Desert of Judah. The monasteries grew in the desert landscape and shaped the territory.
The aim of the lecture is to provide an overview of Eastern monasticism with a focus on the provinces of Palaestina and Arabia. Monasticism will be presented in its hermitic and coenobitic forms. The monastic complexes will be investigated according to the archaeological and architectural elements. After a general introduction of the structure of the monasteries and their architectural components, the main typologies (Hermitages, Laurae and Coenobia) will be analysed with a reference to their contemporary Egyptian context. Attention will be paid to the study of the monastic daily life with its economic aspects through the results of latest archaeological and topographical researches. Therefore, not only the spiritual aspects will be presented, but also the production facilities of the monasteries, their relationship with the landscape, the phenomenon of pilgrimage and the structures for the accommodation of the Christian devotees.

Assessment and permitted materials

Written Exam

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Knowledge of the main monasteries in the provinces of Palestine and Arabia and their architectural elements. Basic topographic and chronological contextualization of monasticism in the territories under examination.

Examination topics

Lecture notes, selected readings, power points.
The articles will be uploaded on Moodle

Reading list

J. Ashkenazi – M. Aviam, Monasteries, Monks, and Villages in Western Galilee in Late Antiquity, Journal of Late Antiquity, 5.2, 2013, pp. 269-297.
D.J. Chitty, The Desert a City. An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire, 1966, Oxford.
B. Hamarneh, Monasteries in Rural Context in Byzantine Arabia and Palaestina Tertia: A Reassessment, in L. D. Chrupcała, (ed.), Christ is Here! Studies in Biblical and Christian Archaeology in Memory of Fr Michele Piccirillo ofm., 2012, pp. 275-296.
Y. Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert Monasteries in the Byzantine Period, New Haven-London, 1992
J. Patrich, Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism: A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries, Washington, D.C. 1995.
M. Piccirillo, The monastic presence, in M. Piccirillo - E. Alliata (eds.), Mount Nebo: new archaeological excavations 1967-1997, Jerusalem, 1998, pp. 193-219.
K.D. Politis, Early Byzantine Monasticism in Southern Jordan, SHAJ, 7 2001, pp. 585-589.
C. Rapp, Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual, New York, 2016, pp. 88-156.
D. Reynolds, Monasticism in early Islamic Palestine: contours of debate, in R. Hoyland (ed.), The late antique world of early Islam: Muslims among Christians and Jews in the East Mediterranean, London, 2015, pp. 339-391.
I. Taxel, Rural Monasticism at the Foothills of Southern Samaria and Judaea in the Byzantine Period: Asceticism, Agriculture and Pilgrimage, Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society, 26, 2008, pp. 57-73.
M. Whiting, Monastery Hostels in Late Antique Syria, Palestine and Transjordan, in Z. T. Fiema - J. Frösén - M. Holappa (eds.), Petra – The Mountain of Aaron II: The Nabataean Sanctuary and the Byzantine Monastery, Helsinki 2016, pp.108-113.

Association in the course directory

Anrechenbar für: frühchristliche Arch.
im BA: WM früh, APM früh, gr. u. kl. Vertiefung;
im MA: SM A, SM B;
im EC-Vertiefung;

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:31