The Transmission of Knowledge in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Sun, 26/04/2026

The conference will be held on Zoom. The link to the meeting will be sent to the participants 2 days prior to the meeting.

 

This workshop examines how knowledge was transmitted in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, asking how texts, ideas, and practices moved across time, places, and communities. Through a range of case studies, participants will explore the roles of authors, readers, translators, scribes, and institutions in shaping intellectual traditions, and consider how historical, social, and religious contexts influenced the ways knowledge was received and reused. By viewing transmission as an active and creative process, the workshop offers fresh perspectives on intellectual exchange between the fourth and the tenth centuries

Organizers:

Sabrina Inowlocki, University of Haifa

Mor Hagbi, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 

The Transmission of Knowledge in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Online Workshop via Zoom — April 26, 2026

09:00 – 09:15 | Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Yitzhak Hen (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Director of IIAS

Sabrina Inowlocki (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Mor Hagbi (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

09:15 – 10:00 | Plenary: Josh Timmermann (University of British Columbia)

(Flavius) Josephus as a (Jewish) Father of the (Catholic) Church in the (Latin) Early Middle Ages? Qualitative Considerations in Light of Quantitative Data

10:00 – 10:30 | Yaniv Fox (Bar Ilan University)

Transmitting the Ineffable: Gregory I and the Problem of Exegetical Knowledge Transfer

10:30 – 11:00 | Yakir Paz (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Translation of Bones and Transmission of Knowledge: Finding Joseph’s Coffin in Jewish, Samaritan and Christian Sources

11:00 – 11:15 — Break

11:15 – 11:45 | Mor Hagbi (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Augustine’s Anti-Apocalyptic Theology: Between Adaptation and Rejection

11:45 – 12:15 | Graham Barrett (Durham University)

The Literacy of Imperfect Knowledge: Text and Transmission in Late Antiquity

12:15 – 12:45 | Josh Werrett (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

The Transmission of Alchemical Literature in the Early Byzantine Era

12:45 – 13:45 — Lunch Break Connection remains open for informal conversation

13:45 – 14:15 | Scott Bruce (Fordham University)

A Patriarch’s Purchase: The Transmission and Reception of the Writings of Gregory of Nazianzus in the Early Medieval West

14:15 – 14:45 | Laetitia Ciccolini (CNRS / Sorbonne, Paris)

Optimising the Use of a Handbook: The Structuring of Augustine’s Enchiridion in Late Antique and Medieval Manuscripts

14:45 – 15:15 | Closing Remarks and General Discussion

Yitzhak Hen (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)