Documentality: New Approaches to Written Documents in Imperial Life and Literature
Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2016
Stanford Humanitites Center, Boardroom
424 Santa Teresa Street
Stanford, California 94305
Program (pdf).
For questions or to register for the conference as a guest, contact: documentality2016@gmail.com.
Documentality is sponsored by the France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Stanford Department of Classics.
Beyond the Book Speakers Series at the University of Michigan presents: "East-West, No Bible is Best": A new picture of ancient Mediterranean Judaism in which the Bible was not the center of Jewish religious life.
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016: 11:30am-1:30pm.
Location: Institute for the Humanities Common Room, Room 1022 South Thayer Building, 202 S Thayer (University of Michigan at Ann Arbor). Flyer for event.
Nicola Denzey Lewis, Brown University, "Reconsidering the Jews of Ancient Rome"
Abstract: At least since the pioneering work of Harry Leon, Rome’s Jewish catacombs have been used as a data set to recover the contours of the city’s Jewish community in the Late Empire. The subsequent work by scholars including Tessa Rajak, Leonard Rutgers, and David Noy, reinforce the notion of a shared Jewish identity that constellated through Roman Jews’ use of particular symbols such as the menorah, their references to local synagogues, and their preference for separate burial grounds from pagans and Christians. However, a close analysis of the Jewish catacombs reveal that they are not as they at first appear; in fact, they are a creation or invention born of early modern understandings of Judaism. I argue that the nature and type of “community identity” that we can find in Jewish material culture and archaeology challenges the model of “normative” late antique Judaism and leads us into a very different (and virtually unrecognizable) Roman Jewish community that existed well “Beyond the Bible.”
About the Speaker: Nicola Denzey Lewis is currently Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University and an International Catacomb Society Director. A social and cultural historian who specializes in the religious environment(s) of Rome from the second through the fifth century, Denzey Lewis is currently at work on her fifth book, The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome. Denzey Lewis spent 2015-2016 at Princeton University as an ACLS fellow and continues this year at Brown as a 2016 2017 NEH recipient.
Michael Legaspi, Penn State, "Aristobulus and the Hellenistic Argument for Judaism as Philosophical Piety"
Abstract: Fragmentary writings from the decades immediately following the conquests of Alexander shed valuable light on Greek perceptions of the Jewish people. Theophrastus, the famed student of Aristotle, praised the Jews as a “nation of philosophers.” Others from roughly the same time period (for example, Clearchus, Megasthenes, Hecataeus) joined him in describing the Jews favorably, as a group distinguished for its wisdom. Corresponding to this outsiders’ view were various attempts by Jewish authors in the Hellenistic period to commend Judaism to educated Greeks in precisely this way. The Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Aristobulus, who flourished in the middle of the second century BCE, is among the earliest examples of an elite, educated Jew attempting to ‘modernize’ Jewish belief in this way. A close analysis of Aristobulean fragments suggests an attempt not merely to coordinate the Bible to Greek paideia but rather to articulate a common philosophical source for both. In this way, Aristobulus goes ‘beyond the Bible’ in identifying the ancestral way of life with a philosophically eclectic form of piety.
About the Speaker: Michael Legaspi is an associate professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies at Penn State (University Park), where he teaches courses in biblical studies, ethics, and the historical backgrounds of Judaism and Christianity. He earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University in 2006, writing his dissertation on biblical criticism in the German Enlightenment. This formed the basis for his 2010 book entitled The Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxford University Press). He has also written on topics in biblical studies, theology, and the study of the Bible in early modern Europe. At the moment, he is working on a book-length study on the concept of wisdom in biblical and classical traditions.
Respondent: Celia Schultz, Professor of Classical Studies, University of Michigan.
This session is cosponsored by the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, the Eisenberg Institute for
Historical Studies, the American Academy of Jewish Research, the American Academy of
Religion, the LSA Dean’s Office, UMOR Small Grants to Support Major Conferences, and the
Rackham Dean’s Strategic Initiative Fund.
If you have any questions or you would like to receive the rest of the 2016-2017 calendar for the Beyond the Book speaker series, contact Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg (rwollenb@umich.edu).
The ICS seasonal update, Luminaria, has been sent to members. If you have not received your copy, please contact membership@catacombsociety.org.
Karen Audette's award-winning documentary, The Nike Chariot Earring", relates a crime story stranger than fiction, and with a happy ending! All thanks to Florence Z. Wolsky, International Catacomb Society co-founder and longtime staff member of the Department of the Art of the Ancient World at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, who would never let a treasure of Classical Greece fall into the hands of modern day barbarians. Her determined sleuthing is the focus of Audette's account of the theft and recovery of "the most valuable object ever taken from an American museum" up to that time, in 1963.
There will be a showing of "The Nike Chariot Earring" at the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival on Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m. at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. For tickets, please visit the site, http://www.massiff.org/. For the Nike Chariot earring, visit the Museum of Fine Arts - thanks to Florence, it's still there!
A Times of Israel article of July 15, 2016 by Italian correspondent Rossella Tercatin quotes at length International Catacomb Society Executive Director Jessica Dello Russo about structural and artistic features inside of the Jewish Catacombs of the Vigna Randanini in Rome.
The Times of Israel article also includes observations on the Vigna Randanini site by retired laborer for the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra (PCAS), Alberto Marcocci, who is rightly identified as the individual who knows the site best, thanks to over forty years of employment as a catacomb excavator and restorer and twenty in his present position as custodian of the Jewish catacomb site. As one of the PCAS's chief diggers, Marcocci often accompanied scholars and other visitors to the Christian and Jewish catacombs (the latter under Vatican jurisdiction until 1986), including ICS founder Estelle Shohet Brettman, who took much pleasure in the subterranean visits with her "Diogenes". Images of Marcocci and Brettman are here.
The link to the Times of Israel article on the Jewish Catacombs of Rome is here.
Photo: Alberto Marcocci, Jessica Dello Russo, Suor Maria Francesca Antongiovanni of the Catacombs of Priscilla, New Liturgical Movement editor Gregory Di Pippo, and other visitors to the Vigna Randanini catacomb.
"It is with sadness that I am writing on behalf of the Executive Board of the International Catacomb Society that Estelle Brettman passed away on June 24, 1991.
Last fall, Estelle had an operation, but seemed to be recovering from it fairly well. A few weeks ago, she suddenly became very ill, and entered the hospital. Her husband Richard, who had been in the hospital for several months, died seven days after Estelle was hospitalized.
All of us who have known Estelle, know well her courage, her strong will, and her commitment to carrying out the tasks she set for herself. The weeks of Dick's last illness were extremely difficult for her. She spent inordinate amounts of strength and spirit looking out for him, and, although I don't think anyone was aware of it, I believe she began to sense that her own time was growing short. Around the middle of May, she spoke of her concerns and of the need to make arrangements for the future of the ICS and to insure that her book would be finished.
By last spring (1991), Estelle had been ill for a while, but, characteristically, paying as little attention to her own needs as possible. (Husband) Dick's condition had gotten much worse, and Estelle was desperately fighting for his life. Characteristically, she had totally denied and ignored her own suffering, until she suddenly and totally collapsed.
Unfortunately, what none of us were aware of was how sick she herself was. Dick died on May 30, 1991, and Estelle was gone on June 24. Since then, we at the International Catacomb Society have been trying to carry on her work as well as we can. You will understand me when I say that Estelle was the ICS, and things will never be the same without her, but we are clear about what her vision was, and are dedicated to doing our best to follow it.
We are asking ICS members and friends of Estelle for anecdotes or stories about here - any observations or comments that will strike chords with those of us who knew her, and fill out the picture of her for those who did not get the chance to know her.
Estelle's personality was so vivid that in some ways, for us, she has not really gone. She also will have a living memorial in the work she started, and the scholarly projects that we hope will result from her foresight.
It was also Estelle's hope (and she made provision for it) that the ICS would continue to exist as an autonomous organization.
That Estelle was an extraordinary person we do not need to tell you. The ICS, her exhibition, her book, and what they have and will accomplish in bringing people together to recognize and celebrate their shared humanity, will be her memorial.
- Florence Z. Wolsky, Secretary, International Catacomb Society, May 15, 1992
Photographs of the Brettman family grave in the Beth El Cemetery (Crawford Street Section), West Roxbury, MA.
(Below are intimate portraits of Estelle Shohet Brettman by close friends and associates written not long after her death on June 24, 1991. In a genuine and spontaneous manner, they provide insight into the unprecedented success of her campaign to raise international awareness of the artistic and anthropological significance of the Jewish and Christian catacombs of Rome.)
Pictured: artist David Renka's preliminary sketches for an International Catacomb Society medal.
"Estelle Shohet Brettman was fearless in the wide sweep of her beliefs and dream, and even if might have individually thought from time to tome that "this" or "that" "couldn't be done" when we were with her, she was aways off and running and actually "doing it"! I know she attracted so many different people to the International Catacomb Society for so many different reasons, not because she was a perfect person or leader, but because she was such a talented and committed human being. I loved Estelle for all the verve and optimism and incredible energy she brought to the ICS. She was just an incredible optimist and a big thinker. Her sudden and painful death in mid-1991 was a terrible personal loss to those of us who admired her so much.
Estelle's bequest to us - of her book, her notes, her slides, photographs, and collections, and many other tangible assets and, above all, that intangible but still indomitable Spirit that lives on in or memories, also includes a great, grave charge and challenge to us to be as wise and as courageous and as creative as Estelle was in our stewardship of the advancement and fulfillment of her wishes and vision for the ICS."
- Allen Swartz, International Catacomb Society Treasurer, September 23, 1998
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"Thank you for your kindness in letting me know about Estelle. ... All of us who had the pleasure of working with Estelle during the preparation of her show were stunned by the news of her death. It was rather like being told that a river had quit flowing... you just can't believe it.
Having known her for only a short period it would be unseemly for me to tell you, an old friend, what she was like. Just let me say that we all lost not only a gracious person, but a fun one who though at times was capable of driving me up the wall, never did so through malice or pettiness but because of a sincere and laudable desire that what was done be well done."
-David M. Renka, March 22, 1994
Photograph of m
embers of ICS, including officers Estelle Shohet Brettman, Allen Swartz, Dick Brettman, and Florence Wolsky.
(To honor the memory of ICS founder and longtime executive director, Estelle Shohet Brettman, who died a quarter century ago in Boston on June 24, 1991, the ICS is releasing archival materials that testify to Brettman's life and legacy to the society that she endowed in perpetuity. Many of these testimonials are of longtime ICS board members, who worked long and hard with Brettman on the ICS's earliest endeavors. Their words, in honor of Brettman, beautifully express the sincerity and authenticity of her vision. We feel her vividly present through them, enough to make this tribute bittersweet. Below is the first of the series, a transcript of the introduction to the inaugural lecture in 2000 of the permanently-endowed Estelle Shohet Brettman Memorial Lecture Series at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, which was delivered by Prof. Thomas F. Mathews on 'A Clash of Gods: Christian versus Pagan Icons”" .
Photo: Estelle Shohet Brettman at the Hotel Zagarella, near Palermo, on January 7, 1978, shortly after her excursion to the necropolis of Palazzuolo Acreide and discovery of what she identified as a menorah incised into a stone. This incident, as noted below, inspired Brettman to try and track down other signs of Judaism in Greco-Roman sites).
Inauguration of the Estelle Shohet Brettman Lecture Series at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, December 3, 2000 (introduction):
"Thank you all for coming to help us celebrate the inauguration of the Estelle Shohet Brettman Memorial Lecture Series at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Many of you knew Estelle Brettman quite well: many others, I'd guess, not at all. May I take just a few minutes to tell you a bit about Estelle and how the International Catacomb Society, the ICS, came to be?
Estelle was exposed early to the art and archaeology of ancient civilizations. Her high school years were spent at Girls' Latin School in Boston, which was then in the building across from the little park next to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She endured a real old-fashioned Classical education there. A large plaster cast of Athena dominated the main entranceway, and the Parthenon frieze ran around the top of the Assembly Hall. Latin was inescapable, as was Ancient History, presided over by the terrifying Miss Green. But the best part of the school's being there was having the Museum of Fine Arts nearby, with a court filled with plaster cases of gods and goddesses, the models for art students and a glimpse of the idea for impressionable adolescents.
There was another influence in Estelle's life. She wrote of her grandfather, a revered rabbi, known as the wise man in his town, and her father, a physician learned in both the Talmud and the Bible, and who devoted his spare time to writing a book called Kinships, based on the belief that "fundamental ties unite all men."
At Radcliffe College, she strayed into science and worked for a while as a fish biologist. But her interest in art took over. She became fascinated by ancient carved gem stones and their iconography. She had begun to collect and sell antique jewelry, which gave her a wonderful reason for combing Europe and North Africa in search of unusual and interesting pieces. She loved being in italy, and spent as much time as she could in exploring archaeological sites. She wrote of the event, in 1978, that, she said, gave a new direction to her life.
"Exploring a remote Hellenistic to Byzantine cemetery in Sicily (at Palazzuolo Acreide), I stumbled over, and dislodged, a large rock. On the underside of the rock, I saw a crude graffito of a menorah, the quintessential symbol of Judaism. I had explored catacombs in Rome and Israel but this was the first time I had ever seen a Jewish symbol in such an unlikely place... I wondered how many other artifacts bearing such symbols might remain undiscovered in unexpected places..."
Further studies of the art and inscriptions of the catacombs reinforced her perceptions of common sources in the ancient world, and the pervasive interchange of influences in Greco Roman society.
Estelle Brettman saw the catacombs, which, over the centuries, had suffered natural damage, periodic neglect, and vandalism, as a precious archive that should be preserved and that has much even to teach the modern world about our common humanity.
She started the International Catacomb Society to draw attention to the value and fragility of these structures, that were mostly mysterious, misunderstood relics suitable only as settings for spooky movies. Her first exhibition at the Boston Public Library was a revelation for many of the visitors. They were surprised by the beauty of the underground cemeteries, they were struck by the immediacy of the messages in certain inscriptions. Most people did not know that there were Jewish catacombs as well as Christian; how very similar they were to one another and how much the two religions shared.
On behalf of a cause she believed in, Estelle was relentless. She would approach anyone to seek help. This Jewish lady from Boston's Beacon Hill found wonderful friends in the Vatican and Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra in Rome. Invited to mount an exhibit in the Castel Sant'Angelo, she received unbelievable help from members of the Vatican staff.
It is gratifying to have this lecture series established here. Estelle loved the Museum of Fine aRts and was a devoted Educational Aide, Gallery Instructor, and lecturer here. She would have appreciated Prof. Mathews' topic of today; she was a great believer in the possibility that even conflict can be influential."
-Florence Z. Wolsky, Secretary, International Catacomb Society
"Each one of us can be a bridge of encounter between diverse cultures and religions, a way to rediscover our common humanity."
Twenty-five years ago today, on June 6, 1991, Estelle Shohet Brettman, founder and long-time executive director of the International Catacomb Society, composed a last testament that would permit the society's existence through the present time. While time and technology have modified some of her ideas for future projects, the ICS's survival against great odds is a testimony in of itself to Brettman's vision and a continued - and ever-growing - interest in and appreciation of diversity among peoples, ancient and modern, Gentile or Jew.
We thank you for your generous support of the ICS mission, and assure you that our door will always remain as wide open as Brettman herself left it. That way, the future will have no trouble coming in!
The 2016 Annual Conference of the North American Patristics Society (NAPS) features a number of presentations by International Catacomb Society Directors, current members, and previous scholarship recipients. The conference is scheduled for May 26-28, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Click here for the final program, including workshops and special events.
As stated on its website: "The North American Patristics Society is a scholarly organization dedicated to the study of the history, literature, and theology of ancient Christianity. Founded in 1970, the Society welcomes a diversity of disciplinary and methodological approaches and invites the participation of scholars at all stages of their careers; NAPS boasts a large and active graduate student membership." In addition to its annual conference, NAPS publishes The Journal of Early Christian Studies, disseminating scholarly works on Christianity in the Late Roman and Early Medieval-Byzantine periods.
NAPS also offers grants and awards to students and academics, including dissertation fellowships and early-career awards. Click here for NAPS funding opportunities.