The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Uncovering the Hidden Text by Means of Technology, Codicology and Philology
| Dates: | 6 December 2016 |
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| Times: | 12:00 - 13:00 |
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| What is it: | Forum |
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| Organiser: | John Rylands Research Institute |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Dr Naima Afif , Dr Natalia Smelova |
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This talk will present the progress and interim results of the Syriac Galen Palimpsest (SGP) Project implemented at the University of Manchester since September 2015. The SGP is a bound manuscript kept in a private collection in the US. It currently consists of 226 parchment leaves and is a palimpsest throughout, i.e. contains traces of undertext washed off to allow writing the overtext above it. Both texts are written in Syriac, the overtext is an example of a Melkite (Rum Orthodox) liturgical book, while the undertext is a Syriac translation of Galen’s treatise “On simple drugs” produced in the 6th century by a West Syrian scholar Sergius of Resh ‘Aina. Natalia and Naima will discuss the problems, which scholars encounter when approaching this type of material, the typical methodology and the benefits of using advanced imaging techniques, which allow substantial improvement to the readability of the undertext.
Speakers
Dr Naima Afif
Role: Postdoctoral researcher
Organisation: University of Manchester
Biography: Naima Afif obtained her PhD in Oriental Studies from the Université catholique de Louvain in 2015. She is currently Research Associate at The University of Manchester and member of the “The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Galen’s On Simple Drugs and the Recovery of Lost Texts through Sophisticated Imaging Techniques” project. Since 2015, she has been acting as a scientific collaborator at the Oriental Institute of Louvain (CIOL) and she is preparing a critical edition of Discourses of Gregory of Nazianzus in Syriac. Her research activities also concern the translations of the Quran into Hebrew as well as the Bible into Berber.
Dr Natalia Smelova
Role: Postdoctoral researcher
Organisation: University of Manchester
Biography: Currently working on the Syriac Galen Palimpsest project, Natalia holds a BA in Medieval Studies from St Petersburg State University and a PhD in Syriac Studies from the Russian Academy of Sciences. She held research fellowships at the French School in Rome, the Warburg Institute and the John Rylands Research Institute. Her research is focused on various aspects of the study of Syriac manuscripts, including textual studies and codicology, with a particular interest in Melkite and West Syrian traditions.
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
The Christie Room
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
150 Deansgate
Manchester
Gtr Manchester
