Cross-disciplinary research on written artefacts – from all periods and regions of the world @uni-hamburg.de. Home to the Cluster of Excellence Understanding Written Artefacts. https://www.csmc.uni-hamburg.de/
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
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Muna Abubeker is our new guest professor for ‘African Manuscript Cultures’. In our interview, the specialist in Ethiopian Arabic and Ajami manuscripts talks about her unconventional path into academia and her plans to raise the international profile of her research field
The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg is often described as the end of the age of handwriting. Ondřej Škrabal, however, argues that the distinction between the handwritten and the printed is far less clear-cut. To this day, the two remain dynamically intertwined
The Manipravalam language, a blend of Tamil and Sanskrit, plays a key role in the history of South India. Still, it has hardly been studied. MIRA, an ERC project by Suganya Anandakichenin, will change this.
Tomorrow, she introduces her research in a public talk:
‘We often think in binaries: destructive vs. non-destructive, invasive vs. non-invasive. In practice, things are far more nuanced. Ethical analysis is more than choosing what sounds safest in theory.’
Archaeometrist Claudia Colini explains the CSMC’s new ‘Ethical Analysis’ unit:
One hour, one topic, multiple disciplines: The CSMC Digital Lunch Seminar Series is back! This summer, we're looking forward to four online talks on palm-leaf scripts, Tibetan book art, Rilke’s notebooks, and Japanese paper clothing. All welcome!
Details & registration here 👉 uhh.de/csmc-dlss-2026
Water for all, or an elitist monument? Our Artefact of the Month, an inscription from the ancient metropolis of Miletus, sends an ambiguous message. Classical Archaeologist Christof Berns tells its story
uhh.de/csmc-aom-37
Our Digital Lunch Seminar Series starts today! In the first session, Małgorzata Grzelec, Laura Gallardo, and Elisa Barney Smith explain 'How the Material Choice and Phenomenology of Handwriting Shaped Southeast Asian Scripts'
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm CEST, online
All welcome!
uhh.de/csmc-dlss-2026
Tonight at the CSMC: Muna Abubeker, our guest professor for African Manuscript Cultures, shares her insights into Ethiopian Arabic and Ajami manuscripts. Join us online!
uhh.de/csmc-abubeker
🕒6:15–7:45 pm CEST
💻Hybrid lecture
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Happy to announce that this open-access article just came out in ‘npj heritage science’:
With ENCI, the first mobile CT scanner for cultural heritage objects, researchers can look inside sealed cuneiform tablets without opening them.
Full article here:
Provenance research has become integral to art history and cultural heritage studies, but the provenance of written artefacts is still understudied.
From 14–16 April 2027, we'll host a conference in Hamburg to help establish this field.
The CfP and further information are now online:
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)
www.conferences.uni-hamburg.de
Over the last decades, provenance studies have become an integral aspect of art history and cultural heritage studies. Yet, the provenance of written artefacts has remained understudied, even though t...
