New Perspectives and Contexts in the Study of Islamic Origins / 8th Nangeroni Meeting (2017 Florence), conference

Guillaume Dye, Free University of Brussels (ULB)

Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Early Islam (2017) is the topic of the 8th conference in the series of Nangeroni Meetings, and the second conference of the Early Islamic Studies Seminar, organized by the Enoch Seminar in Florence, Italy (June 2017).

< 1st (Milan 2012) -- 2nd (Israel 2014) -- 3rd (Rome 2014) -- 4th (Milan 2015) -- 5th (Naples 2015) -- 6th (Camaldoli 2016) -- 7th (Rome 2016) -- 8th (Florence 2017) >

8th Nangeroni Meeting (Florence, Italy; June 12-16, 2017)

Chairs: Guillaume Dye (Free University of Brussels [ULB], Belgium, EU), Tommaso Tesei (The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Polonsky Academy), Gabriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA / Enoch Seminar)

Secretary: Jason Zurawski (University of Groningen / Enoch Seminar)

Preliminary Information

When: June 12-16, 2017

Accommodations:

Demidoff Country Resort

Via della Lupaia, 1556 - 50036 Pratolino Firenze

T. +39 055 505641 - F. +39 055 409780

http://www.anghelhotels.it/Hotel-Demidoff/it/

Purpose: The meeting aims at examining afresh formative Islam in its the late-antique context. The pre-circulating papers shall be presented briefly (5 min.) before being discussed by the participants (respondents will be allowed 10 min. to respond before the general discussion begins).

Paper Submission: All papers should be submitted by May 15, 2017. This will allow respondents and other participants enough time to prepare their responses and critical comments.

Paper Length: Major papers should be 6,000 words maximum; short papers, 3,000 words maximum.

Prospective Publication: A volume will be published with a selection of the papers offered atf the conference, which overall purpose is to contribute to the renewed study of Islamic origins in close dialogue with scholars working on the late-antique Near East, Second Temple Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Sassanian Iran.

Participation in the Early Islamic Studies Seminar is by invitation only.

Should you like to present a short paper, please send to the chair of the conference, Guillaume Dye (gdye@noos.fr), by May 2017.

Accommodations

We have secured a lovely place in Florence, Italy for our accommodations. Four nights lodging and all breakfasts and lunches are included in the cost, paid directly in Florence:

• €0 – Authors of Major Papers
• €200 – Major Paper Respondents
• €300 – Everyone else
• €200 – Guests (children under 14, staying in the same room, are free)

Registration

Participation in the 8th Nangeroni Meeting is by invitation only. If you have already secured your participation, please fill out the official online registration form and pay your registration fee by March 31, 2017.

The registration fee is based on the number of Enoch Seminars/Nangeroni Meetings you have attended in the past:

• $125 – Newcomers
• $110 – Attended 1 Enoch Seminar
• $100 – Attended 2 Enoch Seminars
• $90 – Attended 3 Enoch Seminars
• $75 – Attended 4 or 5 Enoch Seminars + all emeriti
• $0 – Attended 6 or more Enoch Seminars or Nangeroni Meetings

This registration fee is a donation to our sponsor, the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies, and it is tax-deductible for U.S. residents. The registration fee is refundable (minus a $50 administrative processing fee) 30 days prior to the start of the Seminar (i.e. by May 15, 2015) if for some reason you are unable to attend.

Provisional Schedule

New Perspectives and Contexts in the Studies of Islamic Origins 12-16 June 2017Florence

Chair: Guillaume Dye & Tommaso Tesei

Co-Chair: Gabriele Boccaccini

Day 1 (Monday June 12th)

8:00-15:00 – Arrivals and Lunch

17:00 – Opening Session and Welcome

17:45 – 19:30. Session 1: Bible and Qur’ān

• Gabriel Reynolds, “Biblical Turns of Phrases in the Qur’ān”. Respondent: Isaac Oliver

20:00 – Dinner

Day 2 (Tuesday June 13rd)

09:00 – 10:15. Short Papers: Piety and Society in Early Islam Chair:

• Mette Bjerregaard Mortensen, “The Concept of Muhājirūn – and Its Potential Significance for the Piety of the Seventh Century Qur’ānic Movement”
• Philip Wood, “Communalism and social boundaries in the canons of Dionysius of Tel-Mahre and his predecessors”
• Christian C. Saehner, “What can Zoroastrian Sources Tell us about Early Islamic History?”

10:45 – 12:30. Session 2: Origins of Qur’anic Militancy

• Tommaso Tesei, “Heraclius’ War Propaganda and the Origins of the Qur’ānic Concept of Fighting Martyrdom”. Respondent: Christian Sahner

13:00 – Lunch

14:30 – 16:15. Session 3:

• Boaz Shoshan, “The Sāsānian Conquest of Ḥimyar Reconsidered”. Respondent: Michael Bonner

16:45 – 18:00. Reading Sessions

• a) David S. Powers, “The raid of Usāma b. Ziyad (Wāqidī, Kitāb al-Maghāzī, 3:1117-1128)”
• b) Tommaso Tesei & Guillaume Dye, “The Qur’anic She-Camel”

Day 3 (Wednesday June 14th)

8:00: Meeting at the Hotel and transfer by bus to the Synagogue of Florence

9:00 – 10:15: Short Papers: The Qur’ān as a Literary-Polemical Document Chair:

• Guillaume Dye, “Mapping the Sources of the Qur’anic Jesus”
• Paul Neuenkirchen, “Eschatology and Creeds – Reading the Qur’ān as Homily”
• Thomas Hoffmann,

10:30 – 12:15: Session 4: Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins

• Aaron Hughes, The Current Status and Problems of Islamic Origins." Respondent: Guillaume Dye

12:15-13:15: Visit of the Synagogue and Jewish Museum.

13:15 – Lunch

15:00 – 17:00 (optional): Meeting on Women in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Syracuse University, Florence, organized by COREIS.

• Debora Spini (NY University of Florence)
• Francesca Maria Corrao (LUISS Guido Carli University)
• Marisa Trythall (Georgetown University)

17:00: Meeting at Syracuse University, City Tour in bus and transfer to the Faculty of Theology

18:00 (optional): Lecture by Michael Bonner at the Faculty of Theology. Organized by the

19:45: Reception for our group at the Faculty of Theology; Dinner 21:00: Transfer by bus to the hotel

Day 4 (Thursday June 15th)

09:00 – 10:15. Short Papers: Early Islam and Jewish Traditions Chair:

• Annette Yoshiko Reed, “Enoch between Late Antiquity and Islam”
• Isaac Oliver, “Hanging by a Rabbinic Thread: The Qur’anic Construction of the Ideal Jew in Surat Al-Baqarah”
• Julian Stinchcomb, “The Queen of Shebah in the Qur’ān and Late Antique Midrash”

10:45 – 12:30. Session 5:

• Marcus Milwright, “Shock of the New? Writing and the Propagation of Religious Ideology in the First Century of Islam”. Respondent: Manfred Kropp

13:00 – Lunch

14:30 – 16:15. Short Papers: Living in a Material World Chair:

• Gilles Courtieu, “Why Hārūt, why Mārūt, why Hārūt and Mārūt?”
• Alba Fedeli,
• Robert Kerr, “التحريف الإسلامي. Forging ahead into the Islamic Past”
• Arianna D’Ottone, “Arabic Glasses (coin weights, jetons and vessels stamps) from Umayyad Syria”

18:00: Transfer by bus to Bivigliano - Dinner

Day 5 (Friday June 16th)

09:00 – 10:45. Session 6: Eschatology and Empire

• Stephen Shoemaker, The Portents of the Hour: Eschatology and Empire in the Early Islamic Tradition". Respondent: Tommaso Tesei

11:15 – 12:00: Closing Plenary SessionEarly Islamic Studies Seminar / 8th Nangeroni Meeting

Participants

1. Domenico Agostini
2. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
3. Mehdi Aziez
4. Meete Bjerregaard Mortensen
5. Gabriele Boccaccini
6. Michael Bonner
7. David Cook
8. Gilles Courtieu
9. Ariana D'Ottone
10. Muriel Debié
11. Guillaume Dye
12. Alba Fedeli
13. Ekaterina Gushina
14. Asma Hilali
15. Thomas Hoffmann
16. Aaron Hughes
17. Manfred Kropp
18. Marie Legendre
19. Marcus Milwright
20. Paul Neuenkirchen
21. Isaac Oliver
22. David Powers
23. Annette Reed
24. Gabriel Reynolds
25. Christian Sahner
26. Stephen Shoemaker
27. Boaz Shoshan
28. Dwight Swanson
29. Tommaso Tesei
30. Philip Wood
31. Jason Zurawski

Getting to the Site

Demidoff Country Resort

Via della Lupaia, 1556 - 50036 Pratolino Firenze

T. +39 055 505641 - F. +39 055 409780

http://www.anghelhotels.it/Hotel-Demidoff/it/

The hotel is 15-20 km from the Florence airport or from the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence. Taxi from either place is the preferred means of travel. We will list your arrival times below if you would like to arrange together to share taxis.

Taxi Sharing

Arrival times at Florence (Peretola) airport will be listed here. If you would like to arrange shared taxis to the conference site, please be in contact with those arriving around the same time as you.

• Sunday, June 11

16:00 Manfred Kropp (Santa Maria Novella)

17:00 David Powers (Santa Maria Novella)

18:30 Mette Bjerregaard Mortensen (Flight LH316)

19:30 Gabriel Said Reynolds (Peretola)

• Monday, June 12

12:20 Dwight Swanson (Flight LH9438)