Misattributions and Forgeries in Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions Workshop, Vienna, May 16–17, 2024

The purpose of this workshop is to study misattribution of content in and forgeries of Middle Eastern manuscript cultures as intellectual history. This cross-discipline workshop aims to cover manuscripts in various languages, including, but not limited to, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian (OK, technically not the Middle East!), Hebrew, Persian, and Syriac, in addition to the ancient languages of Egypt and Mesopotamia. All time periods are of interest. 

Our worksop series not only gives speakers ample time to present (30 to 45 minutes depending on submissions), but also provides ample sessions of discussions 30 minutes long each. The purpose is to provide a space where scholars can engage with each other and learn from different disciplines. 

Proposals are to focus on the misattribution of content or forgeries aspects of the manuscript (i.e. not a study of the main literary text of the manuscript) and how that enhances our understanding of the intellectual history of manuscript production. Comparative analyses across traditions are encouraged.

A Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions (MEMaT) workshop. Conveners: Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study), George A. Kiraz (Institute for Advanced Study) and Grigory Kessel, (Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna)