Welcome at the Centre for Eastern Mediterranean History and Culture (GKM)
The Centre for Eastern Mediterranean History and Culture (GKM) brings together all ancient studies at the University of Münster. Among the disciplines involved, the multitude of ancient philologies, archaeologies as well as Christian and Islamic theology and Jewish studies are particularly noteworthy.
The GKM is the backbone of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", which is now in its third funding phase.
With the interdisciplinary Master's programme "Ancient Cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean (AKOEM)" and the graduate school "Münster School of Ancient Cultures (MSAC)", the network is also activated for academic education.
In episode 30 of our podcast project, Assyriologist Alexander Johannes Edmonds presents his recently published dissertation "Triumph and Betrayal. Assyria's Path to Empire, 935-745 BC". He presents his reconstruction of the early Neo-Assyrian period and describes the role played by internal conflicts, competing visions of the future and newly discovered kings.
NEWS I Summer Semester 2025
Upcoming events summer semester 2025
In the summer semester, the seminars and institutes networked in the GKM will once again offer lecture series with speakers from Münster and abroad.
The special exhibition ‘Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from Antiquity to the Present’ by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster showed from 25 October 2024 to 26 February 2025 how religious practices and traditions shape and influence the human body. Around 7,000 visitors came to the Archaeological Museum and Bible Museum. Numerous members of the GKM were involved in the exhibition. A catalogue of the exhibition has been published.
In the current ‘QS World University Ranking 2025’, the University of Münster once again achieved good rankings. It is listed in four subject groups and has achieved a ranking in 23 subjects. Important for the GKM: the University of Münster is ranked 24th internationally in Theology & Religious Studies, and 3rd nationwide! And the subjects ‘Classics and Ancient History’ also perform well again in the ranking group 51 to 150.
In this episode, Pina and Christoph present the treasures curated by Dr. Jan Graefe at the Bible Museum of the University of Münster and the challenges he faces in doing so.
He explains how the museum manages to balance the Bible as both a religious and a scientific object, why the Institute for New Testament Textual Research is closely connected to the museum, and what it means for the exhibition that only one page of a Bible can be displayed in a showcase at a time.
The international workshop ‘Language Contact and Cultural Translation between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean’ will take place at the University of Münster on 10 and 11 February.
Researchers from Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, South Asian Studies, Jewish Studies and History will discuss the exchange of languages, knowledge and material culture between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.
From March 31 to April 3, 2025, this year's Spring School will focus on the topic "Digital Manuscript?!" through lectures and workshops. Participants will be introduced to working with TEI. An excursion will include a visit to the Technical Center of the State Archive of North Rhine-Westphalia.
From 15 to 17 January, the workshop ‘Empire in Translation: Perso-Arabic Knowledge and the Making of Early Modern Ottoman Civilisation’ organised by TRANSLAPT will take place at the University of Münster.
In this episode, Pina Klemme and Christoph Müller discuss how the museum is embedded in research, teaching and transfer at the university. Their guests are Helge Nieswandt, long-time curator of the Archaeological Museum at the University of Münster, and Saskia Erhardt, curator of the current special exhibition ‘Body.Cult.Religion’.
The question of the provenance of an object has also been a focus of research at the Archaeological Museum in recent years. Do exhibits here actually belong to someone else? And how do the museum team and the university deal with this?
The ‘Corpus Musicae Ottomanicae (CMO)’ project at the University of Münster has received funding of around two and a half million euros from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to continue recording and researching music manuscripts from Turkey and other regions of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. The high quality of the edition project and its model character for digital musicology were lauded
Prof Dr Michael Seewald, spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’, has been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2025 by the DFG for his outstanding academic achievements. The theologian has significantly shaped debates on reform, religious change and tradition in recent years. At 2.5 million euros, the Leibniz Prize is the most highly endowed German research prize.
We congratulate him on this success.
Jews, Christians and Muslims are often referred to as the ‘children of Abraham’. In this year's Franz Delitzsch Lecture on Monday, 2 December at 6 p.m., Prof. Dr Wolfgang Kraus (Saarland University) will ask whether this designation is at all appropriate to show the relationship between Jews and Christians.
Venue: H2 (Schlossplatz 46, Münster)
How did people in ancient times deal with food insecurity? And how is food security related to social cohesion and resilience? As part of our lecture series, Dr SILVIA POLLA (Berlin) will speak on Monday, 9 December at 6.15 p.m. on the topic ‘Potential and limits of a molecular approach in the archaeology of Mediterranean food systems’. Cordial invitation - participation in presence or via Zoom possible!
Visitors to the Archaeological Museum at the University of Münster can now travel virtually to Doliche with VR glasses and take a tour of the church excavated there. The Asia Minor Research Centre has been working in Doliche, a city in ancient northern Syria that is now located in south-eastern Turkey, for 27 years. The University Society has funded the VR station, which brings archaeological research to life, as a flagship project.
A collector donated a Roman portrait head to the Museum of the University of Münster at the end of the 1980s. However, it remains unclear how it ended up on the art market. The Rector of the University of Münster, Johannes Wessels, has now returned the almost 2000-year-old object to the Greek state for ethical reasons. From now on, the bust will be exhibited in the Museum of Thessaloniki. In this way, the University of Münster also wants to raise awareness of stolen artefacts, a controversial debate at present.
NEWS I October 2024
NEWS I October 2024
The 2024 fieldwork campaigns of the Münster archaeologists
Prof. Dr Dr h.c. mult. Barbara Aland passed away on 10 November. She was Director of the Institute for New Testament Textual Research and the associated Bible Museum at the University of Münster from 1983-2004. She made a significant contribution to the worldwide recognition of New Testament textual research in Münster and received several international awards.
Prof. Dr Dr Martin Krause passed away on 1 November 2024 at the age of 94. From 1971-1996, Martin Krause was the first professor of Coptology at the University of Münster and thus the first professor worldwide. Through his passionate commitment and generous support within the framework of the foundation he established together with his wife in 1992, he had a lasting influence on resarch in Coptology.
"Body modifications" - that's quite an unusual topic that Lukas Kerk is investigating in his doctoral project.
In this episode, Kim and Pina introduce the guest from prehistory and early history and take a look at a subject that covers around 99% of human history and uses figurative rather than written sources. And they explore the question of whether Ötzi's tattoos really had a medical purpose.
On Tuesday, 22 October, at 6.15 p.m. in the Studiobühne (Domplatz 23), Prof. Dr Miguel John Versluys will speak on the topic of ‘Change in Afro-Eurasia in the final centuries BCE’. The 2024 Humboldt Research Award winner will continue his research at the Asia Minor Research Centre over the next few months. During his stay at the University of Münster, he will enrich the ‘Global Antiquities’ focus at the GKM.
The 'Ancient Sudan' research center at the University of Münster is organizing the 13th 'International Conference for Meroitic Studies' from September 9 to 13. The focus will be on archaeological, historical, and philological research on ancient Sudan, particularly the Kingdom of Meroe (9th century BC to 4th century AD). In light of the current civil war in Sudan, a large discussion round on the topic of protecting cultural heritage is also planned.
The DFG will fund Dr Daria Elagina with around 1.3 million euros over the next six years as part of the Emmy Noether Programme. This will enable the philologist to set up her own research group at the Institute of Egyptology and Coptology. She is currently still conducting research at the Asia-Africa Institute in Hamburg and will move to Münster in January.
We congratulate her on this success!
From 26 to 28 September, an international conference here in Münster will take a look at the current upheavals and developments (including ‘crisis’, ‘paradigm shift’, ‘next quest’) surrounding the topos of the so-called historical Jesus. Registration is possible until 13 September 2024 at innovation@uni-muenster.de
The emergence and development of Jewish apocalypticism cannot be explained solely from the Hebrew Bible or Israelite traditions but reflects wider transcultural processes in antiquity. These will be examined at the conference ‘Jewish Apocalypticism in the Ancient Word. Transcultural Perspectives’. Registration is possible until 13 September by sending an email to Florian.Neitmann@uni-muenster.de.
The role of the Pentateuch in the development of prophetic literature is the focus of an international conference of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’, which will take place from 1 to 3 October in Münster. The focus will be on the books of Isaiah, Jermiah and Ezekiel as well as the Book of the Twelve Prophets. Registration until 13 September by e-mail to Lars Maskow: l.maskow@uni-muenster.de
The late Egyptologist Jan Assmann (1938-2024) was commemorated with a memorial service at the University of Münster. The event was organised by the Centre for the History and Culture of the Eastern Mediterranean (GKM), the Faculty of Protestant Theology, the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Institute of Egyptology. In a memorial lecture, Prof. Dr Dr U. Schipper (Berlin) highlighted the work of the Egyptologist, theologian and cultural scientist Assmann with wonderful photo memories. This was followed by a convivial get-together and lively discussions, just as Jan Assmann would have wished.
How much does the idea of death and an imminent judgement of the dead influence religious, political and social action? And what role does the use and dissemination of a particularly popular ancient text - The Testament of Abraham - play in this? These questions are the focus of the international conference "Abraham im Alltag I Adapting Abraham", organised by the Coptologist Prof. Dr. GESA SCHENKE. Time: 11 July and 12 July 2024 Venue: JO 101, Johannisstraße 4, Münster Program and further information
This year, a Papyrological Autumn School will once again take place in Münster from 7 to 11 October.
The aim of this 5-day course is to introduce participants to the independent reading, transcription and annotation of Greek documents preserved on papyrus using illustrations.
Applications should be sent to Prof. Dr Patrick Sänger by 31 July with a short letter of motivation and CV.
The late Egyptologist and Blumenberg professor Jan Assmann (1938-2024) will be remembered at a memorial service at the University of Münster. The Centre for the History and Culture of the Eastern Mediterranean (GKM), the Faculty of Protestant Theology, the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Institute of Egyptology and Coptology invite you to the event. read more
Monday, 8 July, 6.15 pm
Venue: JO 1, Johannisstraße 4, Münster
The Research Centre for Letters invites you to the opening of the EPISTULA series.
Prof Dr Volker Henning Drecoll from Tübingen will give the keynote lecture on the topic: "What makes a letter a letter? Reflections on the basis of Augustine's epistolary corpus".
The book presentation followed by a reception (sponsored by de Gruyter) will take place on Thursday, 11 July, 18-20h.
Location: ETH 102, Universitätsstr
We congratulate Georg Neumann on the publication of his dissertation entitled "Kulturkontakte und Kulturentwicklungen in Lorestān (West-Iran) im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr." (Cultural contacts and cultural developments in Lorestān (West-Iran) in the 3rd millennium BC) The volume deals comprehensively with the cultural developments in the mountainous region of Lorestān. The first complete examination of this region makes contact zones and networks visible and illustrates how Lorestān controlled routes from the Mesopotamian lowlands to the Iranian highlands in the network of the (later) Silk Road.
Doctoral students from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" presented their projects at the Graduate School afternoon. In his lecture, Jonas Schüren (Ancient History) shed light on the relationship between urbanisation and religion in the ancient metropolis of Ephesus. Jens Fischer (Arabic and Islamic Studies) presented the role of poetry as a medium of political communication in the Middle East.
What role did impairments and abilities play in the ancient world? Students Ann-Kathrin Hönerloh and Lukas Duisen explored this question in a discussion with PD Dr. Chiara Thumiger (Kiel). The discussion took place as part of the "Diversity Dialogues in Classical Studies" series, which is offered annually by the Ancient History and Classical Archaeology Department on Diversity Day.
Sabine Ladstätter, the former director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and excavation director of Ephesus, passed away on June 3. She was particularly associated with the Asia Minor Research Center through her work on the pottery of the Jupiter Dolichenus sanctuary. She was an important cooperation partner for the Department of Ancient History and many members of staff were also personally connected to her.
On 400 pages, teachers and students from the University of Münster present their favorite pieces from the Archaeological Museum. The pieces were selected by the editors Prof. Achim Lichtenberger (Director of the Museum) and Dr. Helge Nieswandt (Curator).
The exhibition "Legendary! Famous horses from mythology, history and popular culture" at the Westphalian Horse Museum in Münster, the winged Pegasus is of course not to be missed. Dr. Helge Nieswandt presents several exhibits. The exhibition can be seen until September 29.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts (AWK) has accepted art historian Prof. Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel as a new member due to her excellent research. She teaches and researches at the Institute for Jewish Studies and primarily investigates the development of Hebrew manuscripts since the Middle Ages.
NEWS I Sommersemester 2024 | NEWS I Summer Term 2024
On SATURDAY, 4 MAY, the Fürstenberghaus (Domplatz 20-22) will become a showroom for archaeology from 10 am to 5 pm.
Anyone interested in the latest research findings is sure to find what they are looking for in our lecture programme and poster exhibition. If you are tempted by the treasures of bygone times, you should join one of the guided tours through the Archaeological Museum! Or you can try out modern methods for yourself at one of the activity stands and immerse yourself in past worlds with VR glasses.
We are particularly looking forward to welcoming prospective students and will be offering advice on our Bachelor's and Master's programmes on this day.
The renowned Egyptologist, religious and cultural scholar Jan Assmann has died. Assmann spent decades researching the relationship between religion and politics from ancient cultures to modern societies. His work on understanding the concept of Maat as one of the fundamental ancient Egyptian concepts of world order, his critical interpretation of the emergence of Israeli monotheism and the theory of cultural memory developed together with his wife Aleida Assmann have had a significant influence on research.
Jan Assmann was closely associated with the University of Münster: The Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Münster awarded Jan Assmann an honorary doctorate in theology in 1998. In the winter semester 2020/21, he was Hans Blumenberg Visiting Professor at the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics. At the research network, he dealt with the effects of digitalization on his concept of cultural memory.
University Society sponsors VR station on the basilica in Doliche
The University Society (Universitätsgesellschaft) has recognized the project "A new early Christian cult building of ancient northern Syria and its mosaics - The Basilica in Doliche" as a lighthouse project and is also funding this idea. The Asia Minor Research Center will use the funds to set up a virtual reality station in the Archaeological Museum in collaboration with the University of Münster's Web and Design Unit, which will enable visitors to virtually view the excavated parts of the church and the restored mosaic floors.
From 19 January to 26 February, visitors to the Archaeological Museum can take a virtual tour of the Jerusalem Temple. A VR station developed by a team from the University of Tübingen will be set up. Visitors can experience as an avatar how money was handled in the sanctuary at the time of Jesus: from exchanging money at the money changers' tables and paying temple taxes to buying doves as sacrificial animals.
Byzantium - a Greek melting pot?
Greek-Hellenistic cultures, Roman traditions, oriental influences and Christian faith characterise Byzantium. It is precisely this - sometimes explosive - mixture that makes Byzantine studies so exciting as a science.
In this podcast episode, Natalie and Felix ask Michael Grünbart, Professor of Byzantine Studies at the University of Münster, critical questions.
Climate change is not a new phenomenon: in 7,500 BC, almost all Neolithic villages in the Jordan Valley were abandoned. The inhabitants migrated en masse to the highlands, where they founded settlements of unprecedented size. A new hunting strategy made it possible - despite droughts - to support a previously unattained population size. Prof. Dr. GARY ROLLEFSON will report on the excavations in Wisad Pools and Wadi al-Qattafi on Monday, January 22 at 6 p.m. c.t.
Since 2019, a team from Heidelberg University has been researching the palaces of the late Neo-Assyrian capital Nineveh among the ruins of the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. After troops of the so-called Islamic State (IS) conquered the northern Iraqi city in the summer of 2014, they blew up the famous mosque containing the tomb of the Prophet Jonah. Prof. Dr. PETER MIGLUS will report on the excavations in the city destroyed by the war in his lecture on Monday, January 15 at 6 p.m. c.t.
This winter semester, the "Archaeology/Diagonal Network" is organising a public lecture series entitled "Archaeology at the Limit". On six dates, archaeologists from Germany and abroad will provide lively insights into the special challenges of excavations in inaccessible regions. The series of events will open on 20 November with a lecture by Marburg archaeologist Prof. Dr Winfried Held on the topic of "Underwater. History, topics and methods of maritime and nautical archaeology".
The body has always been part of the practices and ideas of religions worldwide. People express religious ideas through the body. At the conference "Body Images and Body Practices in the Religions" of the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics, which takes place from 13-15 November in Münster, case studies ranging from ancient Egyptian rituals to magical practices of the early modern period will be discussed. Prof Dr CHRISTOPH MARKSCHIES, President of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, will give the keynote lecture on "God and the Body".
The Münster School of Ancient Cultures (MSAC) has launched its blog MSACult. The first reports have been posted. Information on the topics of events, on tour and funding opportunities will be added continuously from now on
From a handwritten manuscript to digital edition in one week? So ask the students in their concluding blog post. Indeed, the Spring School provided a multi-faceted insight into the research world of manuscripts and an ambitious introduction to the steps involved in creating a digital edition. It was an experiment that was implemented by many experts and so successful that a continuation is being sought.
Two researchers will speak on Thursday, April 27 at 6 p.m. c.t. at the invitation of the Forschungsstelle Papyrologie and the Forschungsstelle Brief on one topic. Prof. Dr. Peter Arzt-Grabner (Salzburg) & PD Dr. Hans Förster (Vienna) will shed light on the topic "Papyrological Research on the Pauline Epistles using Paul's Letter to the Romans as an example".
Location: ETH 302, Universitätsstraße 13-17
The photos of the severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on 6 February are shocking. The extent of the devastation can still not be seen after a good two months. Thousands of people have lost their lives. In view of the acute humanitarian catastrophe, questions of cultural property protection have so far taken a back seat. It is already clear that the tremors have caused considerable damage to numerous ancient and medieval monuments. With the project "Cultural Heritage in Danger", researchers from the Asia Minor Research Centre want to support the local authorities in documenting the condition of the cultural monuments in the province of Adıyaman.
The project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, will start at the beginning of June and run for seven months.
For the second time, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is supporting the long-term project to edit the complete works of Ibn Nubatah al-Misri (1287-1366). At the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Arabists led by Leibniz Prize winner Prof. Dr. Thomas Bauer and Prof. Dr. Syrinx von Hees have been working on the edition since 2020. The DFG is now funding the project again with around 1.7 million euros.
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new research group from the humanities. The aim of the group "Xenocracy on the Ground. Administration and Cultural Interdependence in the Pre-Modern Era" is to provide a perspective on the much-discussed phenomenon of foreign rule that is tailored to the pre-modern era. The DFG is funding the project for the next four years with approximately 2.5 million euros. From the GKM, Prof. Dr. Hans Beck, Prof. Dr. Patrick Sänger and Prof. Dr. Gesa Schenke are involved.
In the current "QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023", Classics and Ancient History once again achieved a good ranking. In the subject "Classics and Ancient History", the University of Münster is ranked 51 to 90 and thus among the world's best 100 universities. The ranking is based primarily on reputation surveys among academics and employers and takes into account citations of publications.
Since 1997, the WWU research centre Asia Minor has been investigating the remains of the ancient city of Doliche near the Turkish metropolis of Gaziantep. The excavation area of the research project and the excavation house, are located only a few kilometres away from the epicentre of the severe earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria on Monday (6.2.2023). Sophie Pieper spoke with project leader Prof. Dr. Engelbert Winter and excavation director Prof. Dr. Michael Blömer about the situation on site ... read more [de]
The Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz has accepted the Egyptologist Prof. Dr Angelika Lohwasser as a new full member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class.
In the current ZIN blog post, archaeologist Achim Lichtenberger presents conditions for resilience in cities and shows how helpful a look at history is for this. Since 2011, an international team led by the universities of Aarhus and Münster has been investigating the ancient city of Gerasa (Jordan), which met its end in 749 AD - after a long period of resilience - due to an earthquake
The combined analysis of animal and plant remains as well as literary evidence is leading to more precise dating of archaeological finds. "We can now often determine not only the year, but also the season," says archaeologist Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger, who is currently digging with his team at Tell Iztabba (Israel)
At the Archaeological Museum of the University of Münster, virtual copies are created with the help of a 3D scanner. The scanned objects can be used by experts all over the world. The first vessels, coins, casts and stone fragments have already been recorded. They can now be digitally rotated as desired and viewed from all sides, thus providing far more information than the originals. An EMU image film provides an insight into the newly equipped 3D laboratory of the Archaeological Museum.
The 3D laboratory is located on the ground floor of the Archaeological Museum. Interested visitors can watch the students at work through a glass pane.
Have fun watching the film ... or just come and visit the 3D lab at Münster-Domplatz in person.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The global world is changing rapidly and constantly. The high level of dynamism is a challenge that needs to be overcome. Armed conflicts, human rights violations and environmental pollution are only three of the social problems for which solutions are needed. The "small subjects" in the humanities make a contribution to this.
In the special exhibition "WeltWeit Unverzichtbar. Kleine Fächer für große Themen", the Archaeological Museum of Münster University showed from January to March 2020 how global phenomena can be better understood. In the meantime, this special exhibition has become a digital exhibition that is continuously being expanded.
In 2021, the HRK and the BMBF invite you to a digital theme week Small Subjects, which will take place from 8 to 11 March. Its aim is to discuss the situation of small subjects and their development perspectives in the German and European science system with a broad professional public.
Documentation and analysis kits, multimedia reports and online learning platforms: Digital Humanities is a highly dynamic field of research for the Classical Studies that combines the cognitive interests of the humanities and cultural studies with the data-processing methods of computer science.
Digital working methods and techniques can considerably simplify and accelerate scientific work. This makes completely new questions possible. Digital technologies are playing a steadily growing role in archaeology in particular, and are being used in projects at the University of Münster.
The digitisation of texts, the creation of complex digital editions and the production of corpora that can be analysed by machine are a basis for future-oriented research in the text sciences. Digital technology supports processes that previously had to be carried out in laborious manual work. Digitisation offers new possibilities for the presentation and publication of material, making research results more accessible, especially to the public.
These developments in research and teaching in Classics at the University of Münster aim to give students an understanding of digitality that will enable them to act in relation to new technologies and the associated changes in the humanities disciplines.
