Connected Histories of Ethiopic and Syriac

We are thrilled to announce the project BeInf! @ERC_Research @unihh BeInf explores the connected histories of Ethiopic and Syriac Christianity! Please follow us here for updates and announcements. For more info, see aai.uni-hamburg.de/beinf

We are excited to share a new article, co-authored by Thelma Thomas and BeInf PI Aaron Butts, on a Syriac NT manuscript and its textiles. The article exemplifies the methodological approach of BeInf that challenges disciplinary silos. Read here: doi.org/10.1515/978368…

Now available on YouTube: a lecture on “Ezana of Aksum: The First Christian African King” given at the University of Toronto (@UofTNMC ) by BeInf Project PI Aaron Butts youtube.com/watch?v=nR8NO_…

🎉🎉 BeInf is thrilled to announce that Dirbwork Bitsu Kassa (@DBitsu) has joined the project 🎉🎉 Warmest welcome to Dirbwork! We look forward to collaborating! aai.uni-hamburg.de/beinf/04-team/…

BeInf team member Sophia Dege-Müller's new book on the Aksimaros (the Ge'ez translation of the Hexaemeron by Pseudo-Epiphanius of Salamis) is now available open access! Happy reading!!! harrassowitz-verlag.de/ddo/artikel/89…

Great episode of Byzantium & Friends w/Aaron Butts! While centering on Aksum, it engages key questions in the study of ancient empires, such as how to historicize religious imagery in imperial self-presentation, & the proxy war model (e.g. Bowersock) open.spotify.com/episode/4gkPVI…

BeInf PI Aaron Butts appears in the podcast “Byzantium & Friends,” hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, in an episode on “Ezana of Aksum: The First Christian African King.” podbean.com/ew/pb-m99d6-19…

Congratulations to BeInf team member Sophia Dege-Müller on the publication of her book!

Congratulations also to Dan Batovici for his ERC Consolidator grant! A most interesting project on ancient practices of authorship!

Congratulations to colleagues at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures on their ERC Consolidator grants! Great to have new projects on India and the Silk Road here at the University of Hamburg!

Don’t forget to register for a hybrid (zoom) lecture by Aaron Butts on Ezana’s adoption of Christianity, tomorrow, December 2, at the University of Toronto. nmc.utoronto.ca/events/nmc-lec…

BeInf Project PI Aaron Butts delivers a lecture on “Ezana of Aksum: The First Christian African King” at the University of Toronto on December 2. It is a hybrid event (zoom): registration is necessary. nmc.utoronto.ca/events/nmc-lec…

Yet another new volume in the series Supplement to Aethiopica!

@MadUncleDeeJay Arabic language written in the Syriac script

@BeInfProject What's Garshuni?

We are excited to share a new BeInf article, on Syriac and Garshuni graffiti at the Monastery of Macarius in the Wadi al-Natrun (Egypt). Available open access! In a future thread, we will explain how the article relates to the connected histories of Ethiopic and Syriac Christians

Here is a link: brill.com/view/journals/… Pdf: brill.com/downloadpdf/vi…

Check out this important new volume!

Check out the fascinating PhD project of @hensley_mi -- a friend of BeInf -- on Ethiopian and Eritrean book lists and how they can be used to reconstruct medieval libraries in the Horn of Africa

Check out this exciting new article by BeInf team member Sophia Dege-Müller @SophiaDeMue - together with @MinasMonier - that deals with the Ethiopic reception of a Christian Arabic text

BeInf sends huge congratulations 🎉 to Verena Krebs (@KrebsVerena), who was recently appointed Professor for Medieval History at Ruhr University Bochum. Her research is yet another great example of the type of connected approach for which BeInf advocates. news.rub.de/leute/2025-07-…

A critical edition and English translation of the surviving Greek, Ethiopic, and Latin witnesses to Jannes and Jambres is in preparation by Ted Erho and Ben Henry.

The full text of Jannes and Jambres emerged recently in the form of a complete copy of its late-antique Ethiopic translation made from the Greek original. A summary of the entire tale has recently appeared in volume 2 of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures.

Two new important publications by BeInf team member Ted Erho - one together with Ben Henry - on Jannes and Jambres: eerdmans.com/9780802884411/…