UoE: Late Antique Byzantine & Islamic Society.

Todays morning panel was excellent. Led by @YStouraitis, we heard a range of papers given by Ewan Short, Maggie Freeman and @GRLuff .

Our keynote speaker tonight is @19Averil, who discusses the concept of a Byzantine commonwealth.

.@aslishahqurbani closes the final panel with Continuity of Sunni Maliki knowledge transmission under the Shi I Fatimid caliphate in Ifriqiya (909-974). Includes some chemistry...

.@cmroughan (New York) An astronomical curriculum between Byzantine and Islamic worlds

Mathilde Sauquet (University of Oxford) Islamic Influences in Norman - Sicilian after Roger II: The decoration of a precious heritage or a Norman cultural evolution?

Elodie Powell (Indy) Inertia of the lived experience: touch, wear and the physical of the Middle Byzantine faith.

.@BlankeLouise opens the day's second panel with (Re) constructing Jerash: History, historiography and the making of the ancient city.#edilaibs19

.@FraserReed (Uni of Edinburgh) Urban Continuity in the late antique Thracia : An Archaeological Perspective of the 6th and early Centuries in Southern Europe.

Kyle Brunner ( New York) "Get off My Lawn! Dispute and proposizione of Physical Boundaries in Syriac during Early Islam"

.@TonichaUpham's (Aarhus University) "Dont all Rus' burn their women?" Meditating the Rus' conversion to Christianity in Arabic geographical accounts" is up next.

Prof. Eberhard Sauer (Uni of Edinburgh) opens with 'From the High Caucasus to the steppes of Eurasia: Frontiers in the Late Antique and Early Medieval World'

Aristo and @lucy_grig provide a rousing opening to the conference.

I feel like I’ve lived 2 thousand lives in the past 5 days (so many talks and gallery visits and lectures I am knackered) but love these moments where I get to hold 2 thousand years in my hand! A gorgeous aureus with an obverse of Vespasian at the YUAG 💰💰

This is wonderful. It always delights me that Herodotus cheerily reported tales of giant gold-digging ants, but couldn’t quite bring himself to believe in the existence of Britain.

Huzzzar for Trains!

Gladiator is a great film, but there needs to be a shout-out for HBO's Rome, which was a great #Roman screen-fest. I went through a phase of getting at least 1 screen-shot from the series into every presentation or lecture I gave. Has dropped to about 25% now, sadly.

Sam loves it. Do you?

Today is the vigil of St Cecilia, who is buried in Sta Cecilia in Trastevere. I love its c820s Parousia apse, c1290s Last Judgement by Cavallini, & Maderno’s c1500 marble sculpture of the martyr, bound for her burial- a quiet but haunting Baroque masterpiece #twitterstorians #otd

Oi oi!

A marvellous work and a wonder - I actually get a good review in The Guardian! (And from the great Terry Eagleton, no less...) #Dominion theguardian.com/books/2019/nov…