Sacred Song in the Late Antique and Byzantine East: Comparative Explorations
A Workshop Conferene at Brown University
May 3-6, 2015
The eastern Mediterranean in the first centuries of the Common Era was a formative time and place for Jews and Christians. Among the lasting legacies was a flourishing of sacred poetry across the languages of these religions. New poetic genres appeared during late antiquity in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, and Aramaic, blossoming throughout the Byzantine era. Comparative study of these poetic expressions and their performative traditions is shedding new light on the interactions between Jews and Christians, as religious leaders, choirs, and congregations chanted and sang amidst shared civic landscapes. This workshop conference brings together scholars of Hebrew and Aramaic piyyutim, the Greek kontakion andkanon, and Syriac madroshe and mimre in comparative discussion, seeking new avenues of inquiry and charting new ground for social, religious, and literary history.
You may view the event program by clicking here.