THE ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOOL OF ANCIENT GREEK, EGYPTOLOGY AND ORIENTAL STUDIES
Second edition
Cosmogony or the Myth about the Act of Making the World in Classical and Oriental Literatures
September 1st-7th 2021
ONLINE
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilizations, in partnership with the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Science, the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Civilizations at the University of Bucharest, and the Faculty of Social, Humanistic and Natural Sciences at the “Hyperion” University organize on the 1st-7th of September 2021 the second edition of the Annual Interdisciplinary School of Ancient Greek, Egyptology and Oriental studies. The scientific director of this event is assoc. prof. dr. Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Science). The School’s coordinators are prof. univ. dr. Renata Tatomir („Hyperion” University), assoc. prof. dr. Maria-Luiza Oancea (University of Bucharest), dr. Cătălin-Ștefan Popa and dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL).
The invited guests who will teach at this event are: assoc. Prof. dr. Joanna Popielska Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Science), prof. univ. dr. John Gee (Brigham Young University, SUA), prof. univ. dr. Alexandru Avram (Le Mans University, France), dr. Anca Dan (CNRS, Paris), dr. So Miyagawa (Kyoto University and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), dr. Giorgia Cafici (president of Centro Italiano di Egittologia "Giuseppe Botti"- CIEB), prof. univ. dr. Renata Tatomir („Hyperion” University), assoc. Prof. dr. Maria Luiza Oancea (University of Bucharest), dr. Andreea Ștefan (National Museum of History of Romania); dr. Andra Jugănaru („Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki), dr. Cătălin-Ștefan Popa, dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL). O section of this programme will be dedicated to the alumni of the first edition – MA Valentin Cocan and MA Cristian Ioan Dumitru (University of Bucharest).
True to his vocation to transmit a global understanding of the historical processes, mentalities and power representations that underpinned these civilisations’ evolution over seven millenia of challenging dynamics – essential elements for the modern identification of solutions for peaceful coexistence, collaboration and development, ISACCL supports through this event the knowledge and the transmission of the source languages and of modern methodologies by which to approach them, and also the promotion of the Classical and Oriental languages in the Romanian academic milieu.
After the previous edition of 2020, titled „Life and Death in Antiquity” (https://institutlevant.ro/en/the-annual-interdisciplinary-school-of-oriental-studies-ancient-greek-and-egyptology/), ISACCL invites to a foray into the foundational myths of mankind, such as they were transmitted by the cosmogonic writings of the first Oriental and Meditteranean civilizations. Cosmogonic myths offer a profound understanding of our world, in its full complexity, by illustrating the rapport between divinity and man, the relationship between the micro- and macrocosm, and between order and chaos; the symbols, rituals and monuments surrounding the creation of the Universe, through the lens of ancient Greek thinkers, such as Hesiod, Plato, Epictet ot Fathers of the Church.
The Ancient Egyptians left several written accounts of the genesis of the Universe and the world, wherein the erudite priests collected their understanding of how the cosmos will had arisen from the waters of eternal chaos, in the great and mythical „time before time”.
Among the topics discussed in the section of Egyptology: Creator and Cosmogonies as found in the Pyramid Texts; Cosmogonies as found in the Pyramid Texts and in the Sarcophagi Texts; the antecedents of Egyptian cosmology in the Temple of Latopolis (Esna); the function of ancient Egyptian sculpture: statues of gods and statues of men in temples and tombs – primary significations, cosmological considerations and later syncretic hermeneutics; the Egyptian elite as Roman citizens – a look into Ptolemaic portraiture of the Particulars; Ancient cosmogonic myths: the Heliopolitan and Hermopolitan myths of creation, the Hermopolitan ogdoad, the myth of creation in the Sarcophagi Texts; the Memphite myth of Craetion and Memphite theology; the myth of the creation of mankind; and a Vocabulary of ancient Egyptian cosmogonical myths.
The School’s activities will move online, to be held via Zoom, in English and Romanian, and is addressed to the students, MA and PhD students, and also to other categories of interested persons. They will receive participation diplomas.
For registration and other details please write an email to office@institutlevant.ro and raducan_ana_maria@institutlevant.ro until the 31 of August 2021.
Opening Ceremony
Emeritus Professor Emil Constantinescu, President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, President of Romania 1996-2000: ”It is a great joy, for...
