The Summer 2022 Mediterranean Seminar Workshop
Tuesday & Wednesday, 28 & 29 June 2022
University of Haifa
“Purity, Pollution, Purification and Defilement in the Premodern Mediterranean”
Purity and purification were key to social formation and transformation in the premodern world. Religious precepts and cultural tenets of purity and pollution defined identities and contours of communities. They charted the boundaries between the licit and the illicit, between the sacred and the profane and between the saved and the damned. As these ideas and beliefs were embodied in practices they also shaped the daily routines of women and men, determining their calendars and life cycles. In the Mediterranean, in particular, concepts of purity and defilement developed through an ongoing engagement of theology, polemic, ritualization and social realities. The three Abrahamic religions as well as numerous pagan, local and heterodox cults, harbored both internal and external discussions over the meaning of purity and the practices required for obtaining and observing it. Our workshop seeks to bring together scholars who study ideas and practices related to purity in the premodern Mediterranean in order to bring to the fore these internal and external dynamics. We welcome contributions from scholars in the disciplines of history, archeology, theology and religious law, literature and the arts, working on a range of issues including gender, medicine, ritual, and social dynamics.
Registration & Information
This is an in-person event only held at the University of Haifa; there is no virtual or zoom option.
Open to registered attendees. Register here prior to 17 June.
Registration is only through the form; be sure to sign in to Google, contact your IT support if you have difficulties. No late registration will be allowed.
For information, see www.mediterraneanseminar.org or email mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org for general information and Naama Cohen-Hanegbi or Moshe Blidstein for local information.
Program & Papers
Tuesday 28 June
Location: Room 206, the Hecht Arts Center, University of Haifa
10:00—10:30 Coffee and Registration
10:30—10:45 Opening Remarks
• Zur Shalev (Director: Haifa Centre for Mediterranean History)
• Naama Cohen-Hanegbi (History, Tel Aviv University)
• Moshe Blidstein (History, University of Haifa)
• Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
• Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State)
• The Participants
10:45-12:00 Workshop Paper #1
“Sacred Spaces and the Purification of the Soul: Ritual Ablutions in the Mediterranean”
• Federica Broilo (Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino)
Respondent: Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State)
Moderator: Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
12:15–1:30 Workshop Paper #2
“Blood Purity and the Biology of Difference in Late-Medieval Spain”
Ana M. Gómez-Bravo (Spanish and Portuguese, University of Washington)
Respondent: Yossi Yisraeli (Jewish History: Bar-Ilan University)
Moderator: Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State)
1:30—3:00 Lunch (for speakers and registered participants)
3:00-4:15 Workshop Paper #3
“Ritual Purity as Jewish Self-Definition in the Diaspora”
Friederike Schöpf (Jewish Studies, Frankfurt am Main)
Respondent: Conrad Leyser (History: University of Oxford)
Moderator: Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
4:30–5:45 Keynote Presentation:
“Ritual Purity and Satanic Defilement: Basic Notions from the Bible to the Qur’an”
• Holger Zellentin (Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Tübingen)
• Moderator: Moshe Blidstein (History, University of Haifa)
6:00—7:00 Reception & Dinner (followed by bus back to hotel)
Wednesday 29 June 2022
Location: Room 206, the Hecht Arts Center, University of Haifa
9:45—10:15 Coffee and Registration
10:15–11:30 Keynote Presentation
“Jewish corpse impurity and the “work of the dead” in medieval Egypt”
• Eve Krakowski (Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University)
• Moderator: Neta B. Bodner (Literature, Language and the Arts, Open University of Israel)
11:30—11:45 Coffee
11:45–1:00 Round Table 1
“How do interreligious interactions shape or alter discourses of purity and pollution?”
• Moderator: Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
Neta B. Bodner (Literature, Language and the Arts, Open University of Israel) “How do inter-religious interactions shape or alter discourses of purity and pollution”
Nathan Ron (History, University of Haifa) “No Purification Without Hatred”
Rebecca Wartell (Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder) “Fire, Water, and the Inquisition in Ancona, 1556”
David Williams (Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Saint Katherine) “The Holy Light as a signifier of purity”
Yaniv Fox (History, Bar Ilan University) “Purity and Corruption in Justus of Urgell’s Commentary on The Song Of Songs”
1:00–2:30 Lunch
2:30—3:45 Round Table 2
“In what ways do ideas about purity and filth correspond with notions of well-being, physical health or spiritual health?”
• Moderator: Heather Badamo (History of Art and Architecture, University of California Santa Barbara)
Sam Cohen (History, Sonoma State University) “Heresiology and the Language of Disease in Late Antiquity”
Sara McDougall (History, City University of New York) “Punishment, Gender, and Spiritual Cleansing in Synodal Statutes (13th-Century France)”
Feray Coskun (Humanities and Social Sciences, Ozyegin University) “The role of non-Muslim elements in making an early Islamic shrine in Ottoman Istanbul”
Sarah Whitear (Theology, KU Leuven) “Menstrual Impurity and Spiritual Health in Early Christian Writings“
Rami Tannous (Associate Scholar - The Haifa Center for Mediterranean History) “Mary’s Menstrual Purity in the Protoevangelium of James”
Yizhak Feder (Biblical Studies, University of Haifa) “Using the Body to Make Sense of the Physiological and Social Implications of Pollution”
4:00—5:15 Round Table 3
“Purity and practice: how do discourses of purity intersect with economic and social realities?”
• Moderator: Naama Cohen-Hanegbi (History, Tel Aviv University)
Mark Hoover (Protestant Theology, University of Tübingen) “Washing after Sexual Pollution and the Punitive Law Discourse in Late Antique Christianity”
Hila Brokman (Tel Aviv University) “Words That Can Kill: The Case of Ino [Herodotus 7.197]”
Matan Orian (Tel Aviv University) “Purity vs. Reality: Two Adjustment Technics from the Second Temple Period”
Felipe E. Rojas (English and Modern Languages, West Liberty University) “La mejor espigadera and Theatrical Alterations of Biblical Purity”
Arsany Paul (Liturgical Studies: University of Notre Dame) “Purity and Practice: How do discourses of purity intersect with economic and social realities?”
Núria Silleras-Fernández (Spanish and Portuguese, University of Colorado Boulder) “The Dangers of Discourse: Interreligious Interactions, Grief, and Expulsions in Fifteenth Century Iberia”
5:15—5:30 Concluding Remarks
• Naama Cohen-Hanegbi (History, Tel Aviv University)
• Moshe Blidstein (History, University of Haifa)
• Brian A. Catlos (Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder)
• Fred Astren (Jewish Studies, San Francisco State)
• The Participants
5:30 Bus to restaurant
6:00—8:00 Dinner: Rola Restaurant, Haifa Port (followed by bus to hotel)
Participants:
• Ilil Baum (The Martin Buber Society of Fellows, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
• Shiri Birenboim (School of Historical Studies, Tel Aviv University)
• Yoav Levinson-Sela (Department of History, Tel-Aviv University)
• Galina Rabinovich (Department of General History, The University of Haifa)
• Nitzan Raveh (Department of History, Tel-Aviv University)
Practica
COVID:
A negative PCR test is no longer required for foreign visitors, but an entry form must be completed with 10 days prior to your visit. See the official site (https://corona.health.gov.il/en/abroad/arriving-by-air/) for updates and the entry form.
Accommodation:
Participants are lodged at Haifa BayVew Hotel, HaNassi Blvd 101, Haifa, +972- 48354311
Attendees should arrange their own accommodation.
Arrival:
On weekdays (i.e., Sunday morning until Friday) between 5:30 AM – 21:30 PM:
There is a direct train from Ben Gurion to Haifa on weekdays every half hour (NIS 34.50, ~70 minutes). Get off at Haifa Hof Hakarmel station and take a taxi from outside the station to the hotel (NIS 30-40, ~15 minutes).
On weekends (i.e., Friday evening to Saturday evening) or 21:30 PM to 5:30 AM:
There are shared taxis (sherut taxis) available 24/7 from Ben Gurion airport to Haifa. They take several passangers and let each off at their destination, so sometimes the route is not quite direct. (NIS 70-80, 60-80 minutes)
If you are planning to use public transportation while in Israel, it is most convenient to purchase a “Rav-Kav” card, which you can load with credit for travel in any public transportation, or with passes (e.g., a daily pass for the whole country for NIS 58.50, or for specific areas). The card can be purchased at the airport, at the reception hall near exit gate 1, but only Sun-Thu 8:00-18:00, or at the Hof Hakarmel rail station, Sun-Thu 7:00-19:00
To find optimal public transportation routes, Google maps and Moovit apps are conveient. for example, here is the route from Ben Gurion airport to the hotel on Google maps.
Sponsors, Organization & Support:
This workshop is organized by Naama Cohen-Hanegbi (History, Tel Aviv University), Moshe Blidstein (History, University of Haifa), Sharon Kinoshita (University of California Santa Cruz), and Brian A. Catlos (University of Colorado Boulder).
Hosted and sponsored by the Haifa Centre for Mediterranean History, the University of Haifa International School, The Morris E. Curiel Institute for European Studies of Tel Aviv University, the CU Mediterranean Studies Group, and the Mediterranean Seminar. [download the poster]