Available for free download (or hard copy purchase) from UCL Press: www.uclpress.co.uk/products/2... more Available for free download (or hard copy purchase) from UCL Press: www.uclpress.co.uk/products/233080
Bi-/Multi-lingualism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching
R. Mairs and R. Smith eds... more Bi-/Multi-lingualism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching
Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions Part I: Greek, Bilingual, and Trilingual Inscriptions from Egypt... more Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions Part I: Greek, Bilingual, and Trilingual Inscriptions from Egypt. Volume 1. Alexandria and the Delta (Nos. 1–206)
A. K. Bowman, C. V. Crowther, S. Hornblower, R. Mairs and K. Savvopoulos eds.
Mairs, Rachel (2023) "‘Brief Conversations for Pilgrims’: Rasputin, Russian-speaking travellers a... more Mairs, Rachel (2023) "‘Brief Conversations for Pilgrims’: Rasputin, Russian-speaking travellers and the pilgrim experience in Jerusalem in 1911-1912," Language & History 67, 22-42.
In 1911, Grigorii Rasputin undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. That same year, the Katanov brothers published a quadrilingual phrasebook in Jerusalem-in Russian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic-designed for Russian pilgrims. The Russian pilgrim market was a very different one to the western tourist and pilgrim market typically catered to by phrasebook and guidebook authors in Palestine. Russian pilgrims tended to be poorer, of lower socioeconomic status, to travel in large groups, and to have limited contact with people and places in Palestine outside the churches and religious sites which were their goal-all of which made their linguistic needs very different. Using Rasputin's own account of his pilgrimage, the Katanov brothers' phrasebook and another contemporary account by English journalist Stephan Graham, this paper explores the Russian pilgrim experience in Jerusalem and how it contrasted with that of the elite western tourists who are most prominent in our written sources.
At Sehwan in Sindh in 1845, the British soldier and Orientalist Richard Francis Burton planted a ... more At Sehwan in Sindh in 1845, the British soldier and Orientalist Richard Francis Burton planted a fake ancient jar for an antiquarian to discover. Burton's prank was designed to poke fun at British associations of Sehwan with Alexander the Great. This article examines the incident, Burton's motivations, and the broader question of British colonial fixation on Alexander's campaigns in Sindh. Mairs, Rachel (2023) "Legacies of Alexander in Colonial Sindh: Richard Francis Burton and a ‘Greek Pot’ at Sehwan," Journal of Sindhi Studies 3, 1-22.
The Nile Delta: Histories from Antiquity to the Modern Period, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Just Passing Through? The Nile Delta, Colonial Modernity and the Egyptian T... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Just Passing Through? The Nile Delta, Colonial Modernity and the Egyptian Tourist Economy (c. 1870-1914)," in Katherine Blouin (eds.), The Nile Delta: Histories from Antiquity to the Modern Period, 569-. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Persian Cultures of Power and the Entanglement of the Afro-Eurasian World, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Trilingual Inscriptions: Translating Language and Culture," in Matthew P. C... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Trilingual Inscriptions: Translating Language and Culture," in Matthew P. Canepa (eds.), Persian Cultures of Power and the Entanglement of the Afro-Eurasian World, 46-53. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.
Handbook of Classics and Postcolonial Theory, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "“The Ancient Romans conquered all Syria and Egypt”: Encounters between Arab... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "“The Ancient Romans conquered all Syria and Egypt”: Encounters between Arabic and the Classics in the Nineteenth Century," in Ben Akrigg and Katherine Blouin (eds.), Handbook of Classics and Postcolonial Theory, 607-630.
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "James Sanua (Ya‘qūb b. Rafā’īl Ṣanū‘) as Language Teacher," Al-‘Arabiyya 57... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "James Sanua (Ya‘qūb b. Rafā’īl Ṣanū‘) as Language Teacher," Al-‘Arabiyya 57, 59-76.
It has become a truism that it is impossible to reconstruct a narrative history of Central Asia i... more It has become a truism that it is impossible to reconstruct a narrative history of Central Asia in the period after Alexander. Scant literary or epigraphic sources, and the pitfalls of reconstructing dynastic histories from coins, make scholars wary of writing 'history' in the traditional academic sense. It may therefore come as a surprise that Hellenistic-period Central Asia has emerged as the setting for a number of historical novels. This paper aims to deconstruct the research process that lies behind the crafting of narrative in several such pieces. It will identify the primary sources and works of scholarship used by authors, and explore how these have been used to construct visions of Hellenistic Central Asia which reflect not just on the ancient record, but on the modern authors' political and social context. The works discussed will include Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King (on Alexander and his routes in Afghanistan), Teodor Parnicki's (1955) Koniec Zgody Narodów/The End of the Concord of Nations (which explores the resonances of cultural encounter in Hellenistic Central Asia for the postWar world), and Gillian Bradshaw's (1990) Horses of Heaven (which uses a hypothetical Graeco-Bactrian alliance with Ferghana as the backdrop for historical romance).
Maritime and overland routes The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes, su... more Maritime and overland routes The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes, such as the Arattii, the Arachosii, the Gandaraei and the people of Poclais, in which is Bucephalus Alexandria. Above these is the very warlike nation of the Bactrians, who are under their own king. And Alexander, setting out from these parts, penetrated to the Ganges, leaving aside Damirica and the southern part of India; and to the present day ancient drachma are current in Barygaza, coming from this country, bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, Apollodotus and Menander (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 47; English transl., Casson 1989).
This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the feld of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies,... more This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the feld of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies, mixing theoretical and historical surveys with critical and thoughtprovoking case studies in archaeology, history, literature and art. The chapters from this international group of experts showcase innovative methodologies, such as archaeological GIS, as well as providing accessible explanations of specialist techniques such as die studies of coins, and important theoretical perspectives, including postcolonial approaches to the Greeks in India. Chapters cover the region's archaeology, written and numismatic sources, and a history of scholarship on the subject, as well as culture, identity and interactions with neighbouring empires, including India and China. The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World is the go-to reference work on the feld, and fulfls a serious need for an accessible, but also thorough and critically informed, volume on the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. It provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Hellenistic East.
Available for free download (or hard copy purchase) from UCL Press: www.uclpress.co.uk/products/2... more Available for free download (or hard copy purchase) from UCL Press: www.uclpress.co.uk/products/233080
Bi-/Multi-lingualism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching
R. Mairs and R. Smith eds... more Bi-/Multi-lingualism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching
Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions Part I: Greek, Bilingual, and Trilingual Inscriptions from Egypt... more Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions Part I: Greek, Bilingual, and Trilingual Inscriptions from Egypt. Volume 1. Alexandria and the Delta (Nos. 1–206)
A. K. Bowman, C. V. Crowther, S. Hornblower, R. Mairs and K. Savvopoulos eds.
Mairs, Rachel (2023) "‘Brief Conversations for Pilgrims’: Rasputin, Russian-speaking travellers a... more Mairs, Rachel (2023) "‘Brief Conversations for Pilgrims’: Rasputin, Russian-speaking travellers and the pilgrim experience in Jerusalem in 1911-1912," Language & History 67, 22-42.
In 1911, Grigorii Rasputin undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. That same year, the Katanov brothers published a quadrilingual phrasebook in Jerusalem-in Russian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic-designed for Russian pilgrims. The Russian pilgrim market was a very different one to the western tourist and pilgrim market typically catered to by phrasebook and guidebook authors in Palestine. Russian pilgrims tended to be poorer, of lower socioeconomic status, to travel in large groups, and to have limited contact with people and places in Palestine outside the churches and religious sites which were their goal-all of which made their linguistic needs very different. Using Rasputin's own account of his pilgrimage, the Katanov brothers' phrasebook and another contemporary account by English journalist Stephan Graham, this paper explores the Russian pilgrim experience in Jerusalem and how it contrasted with that of the elite western tourists who are most prominent in our written sources.
At Sehwan in Sindh in 1845, the British soldier and Orientalist Richard Francis Burton planted a ... more At Sehwan in Sindh in 1845, the British soldier and Orientalist Richard Francis Burton planted a fake ancient jar for an antiquarian to discover. Burton's prank was designed to poke fun at British associations of Sehwan with Alexander the Great. This article examines the incident, Burton's motivations, and the broader question of British colonial fixation on Alexander's campaigns in Sindh. Mairs, Rachel (2023) "Legacies of Alexander in Colonial Sindh: Richard Francis Burton and a ‘Greek Pot’ at Sehwan," Journal of Sindhi Studies 3, 1-22.
The Nile Delta: Histories from Antiquity to the Modern Period, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Just Passing Through? The Nile Delta, Colonial Modernity and the Egyptian T... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Just Passing Through? The Nile Delta, Colonial Modernity and the Egyptian Tourist Economy (c. 1870-1914)," in Katherine Blouin (eds.), The Nile Delta: Histories from Antiquity to the Modern Period, 569-. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Persian Cultures of Power and the Entanglement of the Afro-Eurasian World, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Trilingual Inscriptions: Translating Language and Culture," in Matthew P. C... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "Trilingual Inscriptions: Translating Language and Culture," in Matthew P. Canepa (eds.), Persian Cultures of Power and the Entanglement of the Afro-Eurasian World, 46-53. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.
Handbook of Classics and Postcolonial Theory, 2024
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "“The Ancient Romans conquered all Syria and Egypt”: Encounters between Arab... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "“The Ancient Romans conquered all Syria and Egypt”: Encounters between Arabic and the Classics in the Nineteenth Century," in Ben Akrigg and Katherine Blouin (eds.), Handbook of Classics and Postcolonial Theory, 607-630.
Mairs, Rachel (2024) "James Sanua (Ya‘qūb b. Rafā’īl Ṣanū‘) as Language Teacher," Al-‘Arabiyya 57... more Mairs, Rachel (2024) "James Sanua (Ya‘qūb b. Rafā’īl Ṣanū‘) as Language Teacher," Al-‘Arabiyya 57, 59-76.
It has become a truism that it is impossible to reconstruct a narrative history of Central Asia i... more It has become a truism that it is impossible to reconstruct a narrative history of Central Asia in the period after Alexander. Scant literary or epigraphic sources, and the pitfalls of reconstructing dynastic histories from coins, make scholars wary of writing 'history' in the traditional academic sense. It may therefore come as a surprise that Hellenistic-period Central Asia has emerged as the setting for a number of historical novels. This paper aims to deconstruct the research process that lies behind the crafting of narrative in several such pieces. It will identify the primary sources and works of scholarship used by authors, and explore how these have been used to construct visions of Hellenistic Central Asia which reflect not just on the ancient record, but on the modern authors' political and social context. The works discussed will include Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King (on Alexander and his routes in Afghanistan), Teodor Parnicki's (1955) Koniec Zgody Narodów/The End of the Concord of Nations (which explores the resonances of cultural encounter in Hellenistic Central Asia for the postWar world), and Gillian Bradshaw's (1990) Horses of Heaven (which uses a hypothetical Graeco-Bactrian alliance with Ferghana as the backdrop for historical romance).
Maritime and overland routes The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes, su... more Maritime and overland routes The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes, such as the Arattii, the Arachosii, the Gandaraei and the people of Poclais, in which is Bucephalus Alexandria. Above these is the very warlike nation of the Bactrians, who are under their own king. And Alexander, setting out from these parts, penetrated to the Ganges, leaving aside Damirica and the southern part of India; and to the present day ancient drachma are current in Barygaza, coming from this country, bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, Apollodotus and Menander (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 47; English transl., Casson 1989).
This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the feld of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies,... more This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the feld of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies, mixing theoretical and historical surveys with critical and thoughtprovoking case studies in archaeology, history, literature and art. The chapters from this international group of experts showcase innovative methodologies, such as archaeological GIS, as well as providing accessible explanations of specialist techniques such as die studies of coins, and important theoretical perspectives, including postcolonial approaches to the Greeks in India. Chapters cover the region's archaeology, written and numismatic sources, and a history of scholarship on the subject, as well as culture, identity and interactions with neighbouring empires, including India and China. The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World is the go-to reference work on the feld, and fulfls a serious need for an accessible, but also thorough and critically informed, volume on the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. It provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Hellenistic East.
Egypt of the Hellenistic and Roman periods remains the most thoroughly documented multilingual so... more Egypt of the Hellenistic and Roman periods remains the most thoroughly documented multilingual society in the ancient world, because of the wealth of texts preserved on papyrus in Egyptian, Greek, Latin and other languages. This makes the scarcity of interpreters in the papyrological record all the more curious. This study reviews all instances in the papyri of individuals referred to as hermēneus in Greek, or references to the process of translation/interpreting. It discusses the terminological ambiguity of hermēneus, which can also mean a commercial mediator; the position of language mediators in legal cases in Egyptian, Greek and Latin; the role of gender in language mediation; and concludes with a survey of interpreting in Egyptian monastic communities in Late Antiquity.
Excavations in 2013 at the site of Khirbat Hamra Ifdan in the Faynan revealed several pieces of a... more Excavations in 2013 at the site of Khirbat Hamra Ifdan in the Faynan revealed several pieces of an Arabic papyrus, the first pieces of Arabic papyrus found in Jordan. Although the papyrus is poorly preserved, a detailed analysis of the fragments based on parallels have suggested that the dates to the late seventh/early-mid eighth centuries CE. This article not only discusses the papyrus fragments but also places the fragments within their papyrological and archaeological contexts.
Hellenistic and Roman acrostich inscriptions are usually full of verbal and visual clues, which p... more Hellenistic and Roman acrostich inscriptions are usually full of verbal and visual clues, which point the reader in the direction of the ‘hidden message’ contained in the vertical lines of the text. The authors of such inscriptions want their audiences to appreciate the skill that has gone into their composition. There are several complementary ways in which the presence of an acrostich might be signalled to the reader or viewer and their attention directed towards it. These include direct verbal statements, or more subtle allusions, within the text of the inscription. But, even without having read its text, the viewer of an inscription containing a ‘hidden message’ is often immediately aware that some kind of wordplay is at work. Acrostichs, palindromes and various kinds of word square are all graphically striking, or their appearance may be enhanced to make them more so. Regular spacing, the repetition of the acrostich in a separate column and the use of painted or incised grids a...
Acrostich Inscriptions at Kalabsha (Roman Talmis): Cultural Identities and Literary Games "Cet hi... more Acrostich Inscriptions at Kalabsha (Roman Talmis): Cultural Identities and Literary Games "Cet hiver (1893-1894) j 'ai franchi la première cataracte dans la dahabieh d'un ami et j 'ai fait, sans me presser, le voyage de Ouadi Halfa, aller et retour. À cette occasion j 'eus le bonheur de compter le professeur Mahaffy parmi mes compagnons de route, et nous nous aidâmes mutuellement à copier un grand nombre d'inscriptions grecques, les unes inédites, les autres déjà copiées et publiées, mais souvent d'une manière défectueuse" (Sayce 1894, 284).
Shifting Social Imaginaries in the Hellenistic Period, 2013
The Hellenistic world was an arena for the formation of new communitiesreal and imagined-and rede... more The Hellenistic world was an arena for the formation of new communitiesreal and imagined-and redefinition of old ones. Recent scholarship has offered many approaches to how one should conceptualise these communities, the circumstances of their formation, their internal dynamics and their external relations. In this paper, my general aim will be to examine the social practices and cultural landscapes of one particular region of the Hellenistic world, the 'Hellenistic Far East'. This 'Siberia of the Hellenistic world' 1 was situated at the political and cultural margins of the oikoumene, and modern scholarly analysis has focussed most frequently on its internal cultural diversity, and the vibrant influences it incorporated, not just from the Greek world, but from the cultures and societies of the Iranian world, Near East, Central Asia and India. In what follows, I seek to identify some of the things which bound the Hellenistic Far East together, and explore how these diverse influences came together to create a whole. My partiality to the word 'community' derives, of course, from Benedict Anderson's dissection of modern nationalism as the making of 'imagined communities'. 2 Although I will not always phrase it as such, my goal in this paper is, however, to see what might be gained by searching for a 'social imaginary' in the Hellenistic Far East. I take my working definition of the 'social imaginary' from Charles Taylor's Modern Social Imaginaries: 'the ways people imagine their social existence, how they fit together with others, how things go on between them and their fellows, the expectations that are normally met, and the deeper normative notions and images that underlie these expectations'. 3
The Yiddish-language memoirs of the journalist Getzel Zelikovits (1855-1926), published in New Yo... more The Yiddish-language memoirs of the journalist Getzel Zelikovits (1855-1926), published in New York in 1919-1920, present a version of his life that deviates considerably from the version one might glean from other contemporary testimony, such as newspaper articles and institutional records. This paper examines how Zelikovits constructed a counterfactual narrative in which he seeks to present his readership with his life as it should have been. As well as Zelikovits's sense of injustice at how he had been treated by European and American academia, and by the British and French establishments, another reason for his deviation from the truth is that he was guilty of a number of serious offences: academic fraud, false accusation of murder, and likely sexual assault. I conclude by exploring what is at stake for a biographer, from an ethical and scholarly standpoint, in exposing Zelikovits's misdeeds and untruths.
Facebook discussion group for the University of Reading-based Hellenistic Central Asia Research N... more Facebook discussion group for the University of Reading-based Hellenistic Central Asia Research Network
The book is Open Access, so you can download the PDF for free. The discount flyer is for those w... more The book is Open Access, so you can download the PDF for free. The discount flyer is for those who wish to order a hard copy!
HoLLTnet symposium on ‘Colonialism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching’ at the AILA... more HoLLTnet symposium on ‘Colonialism and the History of Language Learning and Teaching’ at the AILA 2024 conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11–16 August 2024 (https://aila2024.com/) What part have the teaching and learning of languages played in European colonial ventures in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, or in other cases of colonialism? To what extent did colonisers and colonised learn one another’s languages, through what methods and in what venues? In what ways is the ‘mastery’ of indigenous languages by colonisers linked to the drive to ‘master’ people and resources generally? And to what extent, where and why have particular languages been favoured educationally, learned informally or been denied. and demonized in colonial settings? Much previous work in the field of History of Language Learning and Teaching has had a Eurocentric and relatively inward-looking bias (McLelland & Smith 2018, 11) but a major, developing aspiration of the HoLLTnet AILA Research Network is to encourage the development of research into traditions of language learning and teaching beyond Europe, into colonial encounters involving language learning and teaching, and into colonial biases within language learning and teaching historiography. Accordingly, we invite abstract proposals for the above symposium, with a deadline of 15 September 2023. To be considered for inclusion in the symposium, you should send your title, name and affiliation and abstract of no more than 300 words by 15 September 2023 at the latest to: [email protected] and [email protected]. We aim to complete peer review / selection and inform you of the result within a week, to enable you to submit your paper separately for consideration by the conference organizers if necessary. See attached PDF for full details.
Call for papers: HoLLT.net Symposium on 'Women in the History of Language Learning and Teaching' ... more Call for papers: HoLLT.net Symposium on 'Women in the History of Language Learning and Teaching' at the World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA 2020), Groningen, The Netherlands, 9–14 August 2020. HoLLT.net (http://www.hollt.net) is a Research Network of AILA (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée – International Association of Applied Linguistics) which was founded in 2015 to stimulate research into the history of language learning and teaching within applied linguistics internationally.
Orientalism, the Classics and Egypt (Third Meeting)
The Reception of Ancient and Modern Egyptian ... more Orientalism, the Classics and Egypt (Third Meeting) The Reception of Ancient and Modern Egyptian Culture and Heritage, in Academia and Beyond مصر والاستشراق والدراسات الكلاسيكية (اللقاء الثالث) تلقي الثقافة والتراث المصري قديمًا وحديثًا في المجتمع الأكاديمي وما سواه Monday, 11 March 2019 Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Main Entrance, Auditorium https://www.bibalex.org/en/events/eventdetails?id=68349
The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are descri... more The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are described vividly and in detail by ancient Greek authors and have been thoroughly evaluated by modern historians. Numismatic studies have reconstructed the history of the following centuries. However, our understanding of the (mutual?) acculturation following the campaign remains limited. The aim of the conference was to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia at that time. It takes as much as possible a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers. As in the previous meetings of HCARN group in Reading 2016 and Berlin 2017, the Prague conference brings together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of the Hellenistic Central Asia.
The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are descri... more The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are described vividly and in detail by ancient Greek authors and have been thoroughly evaluated by modern historians. Numismatic studies have reconstructed the history of the following centuries. However, our understanding of the (mutual?) acculturation following the campaign remains limited.
The aim of the conference is to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia. It will take a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers.
As in the previous meetings of HCARN group, the conference will bring together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of Hellenistic Central Asia.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
Locating the events of Alexander´s campaign: Combined analysis of archaeological and textual sources
Settlement patterns and dynamics in the late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods Structural changes in the local society Elites and their adapting to the new reality Material culture: local or introduced? New fieldwork at relevant archaeological sites
Registration now open for the History of Language Learning and Teaching conference at the Univers... more Registration now open for the History of Language Learning and Teaching conference at the University of Reading, 5-7 July 2018: https://store.rdg.ac/HoLLTnetInternationalMeeting2018.
November 14-16 2018, Institute of Classical Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Pra... more November 14-16 2018, Institute of Classical Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague
The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are described vividly and in detail by ancient Greek authors and have been thoroughly evaluated by modern historians. Numismatic studies have reconstructed the history of the following centuries. However, our understanding of the (mutual?) acculturation following the campaign remains limited. The aim of the conference is to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia. It will take a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers. As in the previous meetings of HCARN group, the conference will bring together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of Hellenistic Central Asia.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Locating the events of Alexander´s campaign: Combined analysis of archaeological and textual sources • Settlement patterns and dynamics in the late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods • Structural changes in the local society • Elites and their adapting to the new reality • Material culture: local or introduced? • New fieldwork at relevant archaeological sites
We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on relevant topics, from both established scholars and early career researchers. Abstracts of no more than 300 words, along with the author’s name, title and institutional affiliation, should be submitted to [email protected] no later than 31 May 2018.
Thanks to the generosity of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, we anticipate being able to offer some travel funding to participants, on a case by case basis.
Ladislav Stančo (Charles University) Gunvor Lindström (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut) Rachel Mairs (University of Reading)
Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, Simon Hornblower, Rachel Mairs, Kyriakos Savvopoulos: 'A Corpus of... more Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, Simon Hornblower, Rachel Mairs, Kyriakos Savvopoulos: 'A Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions'. Poster presented at the XVth International Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy, Languages – Culture of Writing – Identities in Antiquity, Vienna 28th August – 1st September 2017
Uploads
Blogs by Rachel Mairs
Books by Rachel Mairs
R. Mairs and R. Smith eds.
Taylor and Francis 2019
A. K. Bowman, C. V. Crowther, S. Hornblower, R. Mairs and K. Savvopoulos eds.
Oxford University Press 2021
Papers by Rachel Mairs
In 1911, Grigorii Rasputin undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. That same year, the Katanov brothers published a quadrilingual phrasebook in Jerusalem-in Russian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic-designed for Russian pilgrims. The Russian pilgrim market was a very different one to the western tourist and pilgrim market typically catered to by phrasebook and guidebook authors in Palestine. Russian pilgrims tended to be poorer, of lower socioeconomic status, to travel in large groups, and to have limited contact with people and places in Palestine outside the churches and religious sites which were their goal-all of which made their linguistic needs very different. Using Rasputin's own account of his pilgrimage, the Katanov brothers' phrasebook and another contemporary account by English journalist Stephan Graham, this paper explores the Russian pilgrim experience in Jerusalem and how it contrasted with that of the elite western tourists who are most prominent in our written sources.
Mairs, Rachel (2023) "Legacies of Alexander in Colonial Sindh: Richard Francis Burton and a ‘Greek Pot’ at Sehwan," Journal of Sindhi Studies 3, 1-22.
R. Mairs and R. Smith eds.
Taylor and Francis 2019
A. K. Bowman, C. V. Crowther, S. Hornblower, R. Mairs and K. Savvopoulos eds.
Oxford University Press 2021
In 1911, Grigorii Rasputin undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. That same year, the Katanov brothers published a quadrilingual phrasebook in Jerusalem-in Russian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic-designed for Russian pilgrims. The Russian pilgrim market was a very different one to the western tourist and pilgrim market typically catered to by phrasebook and guidebook authors in Palestine. Russian pilgrims tended to be poorer, of lower socioeconomic status, to travel in large groups, and to have limited contact with people and places in Palestine outside the churches and religious sites which were their goal-all of which made their linguistic needs very different. Using Rasputin's own account of his pilgrimage, the Katanov brothers' phrasebook and another contemporary account by English journalist Stephan Graham, this paper explores the Russian pilgrim experience in Jerusalem and how it contrasted with that of the elite western tourists who are most prominent in our written sources.
Mairs, Rachel (2023) "Legacies of Alexander in Colonial Sindh: Richard Francis Burton and a ‘Greek Pot’ at Sehwan," Journal of Sindhi Studies 3, 1-22.
What part have the teaching and learning of languages played in European colonial ventures in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, or in other cases of colonialism? To what extent did colonisers and colonised learn one another’s languages, through what methods and in what venues? In what ways is the ‘mastery’ of indigenous languages by colonisers linked to the drive to ‘master’ people and resources generally? And to what extent, where and why have particular languages been favoured educationally, learned informally or been denied. and demonized in colonial settings?
Much previous work in the field of History of Language Learning and Teaching has had a Eurocentric and relatively inward-looking bias (McLelland & Smith 2018, 11) but a major, developing aspiration of the HoLLTnet AILA Research Network is to encourage the development of research into traditions of language learning and teaching beyond Europe, into colonial encounters involving language learning and teaching, and into colonial biases within language learning and teaching historiography. Accordingly, we invite abstract proposals for the above symposium, with a deadline of 15 September 2023.
To be considered for inclusion in the symposium, you should send your title, name and affiliation and abstract of no more than 300 words by 15 September 2023 at the latest to: [email protected] and [email protected]. We aim to complete peer review / selection and inform you of the result within a week, to enable you to submit your paper separately for consideration by the conference organizers if necessary.
See attached PDF for full details.
HoLLT.net (http://www.hollt.net) is a Research Network of AILA (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée – International Association of Applied Linguistics) which was founded in 2015 to stimulate research into the history of language learning and teaching within applied linguistics internationally.
The Reception of Ancient and Modern Egyptian Culture and Heritage, in Academia and Beyond
مصر والاستشراق والدراسات الكلاسيكية (اللقاء الثالث)
تلقي الثقافة والتراث المصري قديمًا وحديثًا في المجتمع الأكاديمي وما سواه
Monday, 11 March 2019
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Main Entrance, Auditorium
https://www.bibalex.org/en/events/eventdetails?id=68349
following the campaign remains limited. The aim of the conference was to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia at that time. It takes as much as possible a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers. As in the previous meetings of HCARN group in Reading 2016 and Berlin 2017, the Prague conference brings together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of the Hellenistic Central Asia.
The aim of the conference is to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia. It will take a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers.
As in the previous meetings of HCARN group, the conference will bring together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of Hellenistic Central Asia.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
Locating the events of Alexander´s campaign: Combined analysis of archaeological and textual sources
Settlement patterns and dynamics in the late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods
Structural changes in the local society
Elites and their adapting to the new reality
Material culture: local or introduced?
New fieldwork at relevant archaeological sites
The events directly connected with the campaign of Alexander the Great in Central Asia are described vividly and in detail by ancient Greek authors and have been thoroughly evaluated by modern historians. Numismatic studies have reconstructed the history of the following centuries. However, our understanding of the (mutual?) acculturation following the campaign remains limited.
The aim of the conference is to discuss what actually happened in Central Asia. It will take a local point of view and ask how local people experienced these turbulent developments, and how they coped with the strange newcomers.
As in the previous meetings of HCARN group, the conference will bring together archaeologists, historians, and numismatists working on various aspects of Hellenistic Central Asia.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Locating the events of Alexander´s campaign: Combined analysis of archaeological and textual sources
• Settlement patterns and dynamics in the late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods
• Structural changes in the local society
• Elites and their adapting to the new reality
• Material culture: local or introduced?
• New fieldwork at relevant archaeological sites
We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on relevant topics, from both established scholars and early career researchers. Abstracts of no more than 300 words, along with the author’s name, title and institutional affiliation, should be submitted to
[email protected]
no later than 31 May 2018.
Thanks to the generosity of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, we anticipate being able to offer some travel funding to participants, on a case by case basis.
Ladislav Stančo (Charles University)
Gunvor Lindström (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut)
Rachel Mairs (University of Reading)