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Awards for Books in Classics, Ancient Near East, Antiquity

This is an attempt to assemble information on awards for books in Classics, Ancient Near East, Antiquity more generally. I hope to make it comprehensive. Are there similar awards from non-English language institutions? If you know of others please pass them along in the comments section below or directly to me.

Best First Book in the History of Religions - AAR

The Awards for Excellence in the Study of Religion and the Best First Book in the History of Religions are given each year during the Annual Meeting.

Bolchazy Pedagogy Book Prize

The CAMWS sub-committee for the Ladislaus J. Bolchazy Pedagogy Book Award announces a call for nominations for the 2017 Award. The recipient of this $500.00 award will be announced at the annual CAMWS business meeting, where the recipient is encouragnged to accept the award in person. This prize has been named in memory of Ladislaus J. Bolchazy in recognition of his long career promoting classical scholarship and pedagogy.

CAMWS First Book Award

The Subcommittee on the CAMWS First Book Award asks for your help in identifying distinguished first scholarly books (or digital equivalents) in the field of classical studies (including, but not limited to, the languages, literatures, history, religions, philosophy, art, architecture, archaeology, economy, and reception of Greek and Roman antiquity) published by CAMWS members in 2014, 2015, or 2016. Self-nominations are encouraged. Please note that nominated authors must be members of the Association in good standing and for at least the previous year and that CAMWS has a separate award for pedagogical books (see Bolchazy Book Award). Please send nominations, including titles and publishing information, to committee chair Andrew Faulkner by email (firstbook@camws.org).  

The Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit - SCS

The Charles J. Goodwin Awards of Merit, three prizes given annually, are named in honor of a long-time member and generous benefactor of the Society for Classical Studies. They are the only honors for scholarly achievement given by the Society... The works chosen to receive the award may be books, monographs, or articles, provided that they have not appeared in substantially the same form in earlier publications.

Classical Islamic World Book Prize (CIW)

Gorgias Press is delighted to announce the launch of the inaugural international Classical Islamic World Book Prize (CIW). Based on the decision of an internationally renowned panel of scholars, the CIW will recognise three exceptional early career contributions to the academic study of the classical Islamic world. In particular, the CIW will invite scholars from across the world to submit unpublished monographs that are either revised PhD theses or first Postdoctoral monographs.

The «L’ERMA» di BRETSCHNEIDER Award

The first «L’ERMA» di BRETSCHNEIDER Award in honour of Max Bretschneider, the founder in 1896 of the Publishing house and book-shop, has been announced in 1978.

The award is a competition of unpublished scientific studies written in Italian, English, German, French or Spanish and concerning prehistoric, classical, oriental or medieval archaeology.

Participation in the competition is free. Every author may enter one or more works.

A jury of Italian and foreign university professors of the subjects listed above will examine and judge the entries. The winner will be awarded with the publication of the work presented to the committee.

The George Grote Prize in Ancient History

The George Grote Prize in Ancient History is offered every year by the Institute of Classical Studies from the fund bequeathed by the late Professor V. L. Ehrenberg. The Prize of £3000 will be awarded for an original and hitherto unpublished study on a topic in ancient history, preferably Greek or Hellenistic history. Ancient history may be taken to include related topics in historiography, archaeology and art history. If in doubt about the suitability of a topic, please consult the Chair.

The Irene Levi-Sala Book prize

The purpose of the Irene Levi-Sala book prize is to encourage and reward high quality publications on the archaeology of Israel. The prize is an international award for books focused on the archaeology of Israel and written in English or another international language. The book will deal mainly with the traditional period of "Biblical Archaeology" from the Early Bronze Age to the Classical period and preferably, against the wider context of Near Eastern history and Archaeology.

James Henry Breasted Prize | AHA

Established in 1985 and named in honor of James Henry Breasted, a pioneer in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern history and president of the Association in 1928, this prize is offered for the best book in English in any field of history prior to CE 1000. The prize was endowed by Joseph O. Losos, a longtime member of the Association. 

 James R. Wiseman Book Award - Archaeological Institute of America

Each year the James R. Wiseman Book Award Committee will recommend, in time for presentation of the award at the Annual Meeting of the Institute, the academic work on an archaeological topic it deems most worthy of recognition in that year. Books and monographs bearing a date of publication within the four calendar years prior to (not including) the year of the Annual Meeting at which the award is made will be eligible for consideration. Fieldwork volumes are welcome; textbooks will not be considered, and handbooks or other edited volumes must be exceptionally strong contributions in order to qualify for consideration.

Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards - AJS

The Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards are the first annual book award program to be offered by the Association for Jewish Studies, made possible by funding from the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation of Portland, Oregon. These awards recognize and promote outstanding scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies and honor scholars whose work embodies the best in the field:  rigorous research, theoretical sophistication, innovative methodology, and excellent writing. The awards are structured to recognize all areas of Jewish Studies research, paying tribute to both the breadth and depth of AJS members’ scholarship. 

Jozef IJsewijn Prize for best first book on a Neo-Latin topic

The G. Ernest Wright Award - ASOR

This award is given to the editor/author of the most substantial volume(s) dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean. This work must be the result of original research published within the past two years. (One award is given annually.)

The Frank Moore Cross Award - ASOR

This award is presented to the editor/author of the most substantial volume(s) related to one of the following categories:  a) the history and/or religion of ancient Israel; b) ancient Near Eastern and eastern Mediterranean epigraphy; c) textual studies on the Hebrew Bible; or d) comparative studies of the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern literature. This work must be the result of original research published during the past two years. (One award is given annually.)

The Nancy Lapp Popular Book Award - ASOR

 This award is presented to the author/editor of a book published in the last two years that offers a new synthesis of archaeological or textual evidence intended to reach an audience of scholars as well as students and the broader public. (One award is given annually.)

The Runciman Award - Anglo-Hellenic League

Awarded to a book about Greece
Administered by the Anglo-Hellenic League
Sponsored by the National Bank of Greece

Society for Biblical Literature – De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History

In partnership with the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL), De Gruyter has established the “Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History” to support biblical scholars at the early stages of their careers. De Gruyter will support this award with an annual cash prize of $1,500 for the best recent (last two calendar years) unpublished dissertation or first monograph in biblical studies, with special attention to submissions in the field of reception history, starting in 2014. Winning manuscripts will be published in appropriate De Gruyter book series or, if no appropriate series exists, as stand-alone titles.

A useful general list of Awards in Ancient Studies and Archeology is maintained by  Willamette University's Office for Faculty Research & Resources.

Syrian Antiquities

It seems to me that there is a growing emphasis on the damage being sustained to the archaeological record in Syria, but little on the solutions to prevent material derived from the looting being sold on the market. Some colleagues even deny that material is entering the market even when there is a growing body of evidence to suggest the contrary. There clearly needs to be an emphasis on training for those at ports and airports, intelligence driven interceptions, and prevention when material is offered for sale.

Papyri at the SBL (Atlanta)

Christian Apocrypha; Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
Joint Session With: Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds, Christian Apocrypha
11/21/2015
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: International 4 (International Level) - Marriott
Theme: Papyrus Fragments of Apocryphal Writings: How Were They Used?
Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Presiding (5 min)

Geoff S. Smith, University of Texas at Austin
Preliminary Report on the “Willoughby Papyrus” of the Gospel of John and an Unidentified Christian Text (25 min)

Kelley Coblentz Bautch, St. Edward's University
The Textual History of the Greek Book of the Watchers: Contextual Clues from Translation and the Value of Variant Readings (25 min)

Ross P. Ponder, University of Texas at Austin
A New Transcription of P. Oxy. 5072: Observations from a Recent Autopsy Analysis (25 min)

Thomas A. Wayment, Brigham Young University
The Interaction between Apocrypha and Canon: A Case Study of Oxyrhynchus (25 min)

AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (20 min)


Provenance in an eBay World: Does the Provenance of Ancient Artifacts Matter?
11/23/2015
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 303 (Level 3) - Hilton
Theme: Hosted by the Student Advisory Board
From Gospel of John papyrus fragments appearing on eBay to debates surrounding the origins of modern fragments (e.g., the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, or the new Sappho fragments), the provenance of antiquities has emerged as a challenging issue for scholars and students who work with material culture. This session aims to illuminate some of the stakes around the debate for graduate students. The panel will examine issues of working on materials kept in public and private collections, and highlight the individuals and institutions who are working to create policies and practices that address the issue of provenance. As of now, SBL has no formal policy on the provenance of antiquities, but is actively formulating one. It is the hope of the panel that graduate students will find this panel to be a networking opportunity and source of support for their future academic work.

Ross P. Ponder, University of Texas at Austin, Presiding
Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Panelist
Brice C. Jones, Concordia University - Université Concordia, Panelist
Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania, Panelist
Christine M. Thomas, University of California-Santa Barbara, Panelist
Sofia Torallas Tovar, University of Chicago, Panelist

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
11/22/2015
1:00 PM to 3:45 PM
Room: Inman (Atlanta Conference Level) - Hyatt

Theme: Miscellanea Papyrologica
Lincoln Blumell, Brigham Young University, Presiding

Michael Theophilos, Australian Catholic University
Marginalia in New Testament Greek Papyri: Implications for Scribal Practice and Textual Transmission (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

AnneMarie Luijendijk, Princeton University
Demography, Onomastics, and the Christian Population of Oxyrhynchus in the Third and Fourth Centuries (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Hans Foerster, Universität Wien
The Semantic Web of sêmeion and Papyrology (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (5 min)

Wally V. Cirafesi, McMaster University
Rethinking P.Hev/Se 13 and P.Yadin 18 and the Social and Legal Contexts of Mark 10:12 (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Matthias H. O. Schulz, Universität Wien
Where Past and Present Meet: Papyri and Parchments Illuminating Coptic-Orthodox Liturgical Traditions (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Qumran
11/22/2015
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: International 10 (International Level) - Marriott
Theme: The Hellenistic Context of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Hindy Najman, University of Oxford, Presiding
Benedikt Eckhardt, Universität Bremen
The “Semitic thiasos”: Reconsidering a Model (30 min)

Kimberley Czajkowski, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Literacy and Law in the Documentary Finds from the Judaean Desert (30 min)

Jonathan Ben-Dov, University of Haifa
Jerusalem and Alexandria: Greek Text Criticism and Judean Biblical Texts (30 min)

Armin Lange, Universität Wien
The Textual Standardization of the Hebrew Bible and Alexandrian Scholarship (30 min)

Pieter B. Hartog, KU Leuven
Pesher and Hypomnema: The Dead Sea Scrolls Commentaries in Their Hellenistic-Roman Context (30 min)

Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies; Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
Joint Session With: Digital Humanities in Biblical, Early Jewish, and Christian Studies, Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
11/23/2015
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: International A (International Level) - Marriott
Theme: Papyrology and Digital Humanities
Caroline T. Schroeder, University of the Pacific, Presiding
Stephen J. Davis, Yale University
Manuscripts, Monks, and Mufattishin: Digital Access and Concerns of Cultural Heritage in the Yale Monastic Archaeology Project (30 min)

Roger T. Macfarlane, Brigham Young University
Damaged Papyri Rendered Accessible Through MultiSpectral Imaging: An Update and Prospectus (30 min)

Rodney Ast, University of Heidelberg
A Digital Corpus of Literary Papyri (30 min)

Claire Clivaz, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
Does Any Fragment Count? Considering the Digital Culture from a Papyrological Point of View (30 min)

Laurie E. Pearce, University of California-Berkeley
Digital Tools Supporting Prosopographical Research in Texts and Manuscripts (30 min)
Book History and Biblical Literatures
11/23/2015
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: M102 (Marquis Level) - Marriott
Theme: Paratexts
Eva Mroczek, University of California-Davis, Presiding

Liv I. Lied, Det Teologiske Menighetsfakultet
Do Paratexts Matter? Transmission, Re-Identification, and New Philology (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Francis Borchardt, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong
The Prologue to Sirach and the "Book" of Sirach in a Chain of Text Traditions (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Eric Scherbenske, Independent Scholar
“In Other Copies”: Transmitting and Negotiating Textual Variation on the Margins (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Gregory Fewster, University of Toronto
From Paul's Letter Collection to the Euthalian Apparatus: An Archival Perspective on Pauline Paratexts (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University
Text and Paratext in Documentary Papyri from Roman Egypt (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (25 min)

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
11/23/2015
4:00 PM to 6:45 PM
Room: International 9 (International Level) - Marriott
Theme: Biblical and Early Christian Manuscripts
Peter Arzt-Grabner, Universität Salzburg, Presiding

Lincoln H. Blumell, Brigham Young University
A New New Testament Papyrus in the J. Rendel Harris Collection (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Brent Nongbri, Macquarie University
A Lost Leaf of P.Bodmer XIII and the Construction of the Bodmer "Composite" or "Miscellaneous" Codex (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Peter Malik, University of Cambridge
A Fresh Look at P.Beatty III (P47): Towards an Integrative Study of an Early Christian Codex (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (5 min)

Charles E. Hill, Reformed Theological Seminary
Textual Division in Early Gospel Manuscripts Part II: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with Some Further

Reflections on the Numbering System in Vaticanus (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Don Barker, Macquarie University
P.Oxy. 7.1007 Christian or Jewish? (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)

Call for Papers: Digital Approaches and the Ancient World

Digital Approaches and the Ancient World
A themed issue of the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies

Editors:
Gabriel Bodard (University of London) gabriel.bodard@sas.ac.uk
Yanne Broux (KU Leuven) yanne.broux@arts.kuleuven.be
Ségolène Tarte (University of Oxford) segolene.tarte@oerc.ox.ac.uk

Call for papers:
We invite colleagues all around the world and at all stages of their careers to submit papers on the topic of “Digital Approaches and the Ancient World” to a themed issue of the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. The topic is to be construed as widely as possible, to include not only the history, archaeology, language, literature and thought of the ancient and late antique Mediterranean world, but also of antiquity more widely, potentially including, for example, South and East Asian, Sub-Saharan African or Pre-Columbian American history. Digital approaches may also vary widely, to include methodologies from the digital humanities and information studies, quantitative methods from the hard sciences, or other innovative and transdisciplinary themes.

Papers will be fully peer reviewed and selected for inclusion based not only on their research quality and significance, but especially on their ability to engage profoundly both with classics/history academic readers, and scholars from digital or informatic disciplines. We are keen to see papers that clearly lay out their disciplinary and interdisciplinary methodological approaches, and present and interpret the full range of scholarly and practical outcomes of their research.

We encourage the use of and direct reference to open online datasets in your papers. BICS is not currently an open access publication, but self-archiving of pre-press papers is permitted, and the editors believe in the transparency and accountability that comes with basing scientific work on open data.

To submit an article to this themed issue, please send your full paper of 4,000–8,000 words in Microsoft Word doc, docx or rtf format, to <gabriel.bodard@sas.ac.uk>, along with a 150 word abstract, by January 31, 2016. You do not need to follow BICS style for the initial submission, but please note that the final version of accepted articles will need to be formatted to adhere to our style guide (http://www.icls.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/STYLE-V15.pdf).

If you have any questions about this issue, please feel free to contact any of the editors informally.

Autobiographies of scholars of the greater Ancient Near East

I have initiated a new blog focusing on my Autobiography project:

The History of the Study of Antiquity through the Lens of Autobiography

You are wewlcome to subscribe to it directly.

For the working bibliography See now Here

| | http://projectmosul.itn-dch.net/

Project Mosul is a volunteer action by the fellows of the Initial Trianing Network for Digital Cultural Heritage (www.itn-dch.eu), a Marie Curie Actions training project that is part of the Seventh Framework Programme.

The fellows of the ITN-DCH are asking Project Mosul:

Call For Action

 We are looking for volunteers to help virtually restore the Mosul Museum. This includes finding photos, processing data, contributing to the website and generally helping out with organising the effort to identify the museum artefacts. If you can help, drop us a line here, or e-mail us directly at projectmosul@itn-dch.net. For an example of how crowd-sourced images can help restore artefacts, check out this example here Thanks!

How can I help?

Upload Pictures We need pictures of the artefacts found in the Mosul Museum. These pictures allow us to digitally reconstruct the original artefacts, and can eventually aid in the restoration those artefacts. The more pictures the better, and as many angles and perspectives, even better still! If you have pictures to contribute, search for the artefact in the list of artefacts and simply edit that artefact, adding your photos to the collection.

Develop the Web Platform Know how to code in Ruby on Rails, Angular, or Go? Why not contribute to the web framework and help combat the destruction of ISIS with your coding skills. Visit the GitHub project page (https://github.com/neshmi/projectmosul) and check out the issues. Fork the repository, make a change and issue a pull request.

Mask Some Images Our results will be improved if we can mask the artefacts in the images. Help us by masking some of the images in Photoshop (we are working on developing a web platform for the masking), save the mask in an alpha channel. This takes time, so the more hands we have the easier this task wll be!

Get the word out Know someone who has visited Mosul? Let them know about the project. We need as many pictures from inside and outside the building, the more people we can reach the greater the possibilities are of virtual restoration.

Process an artefact! Do you know how to use automated photogrammetry to create three-dimensional models? Help us by downloading some of the photosets and processing the images.

Project Mosul: A Manifesto The video circulated around the 26th of February, 2015 shows the horrific destruction of the Mosul Museum by ISIS Fighters. This is not the first time this museum has suffered during times of conflict, but the destruction is nearly absolute, and this time we can respond through the application of digital technologies to cultural heritage.

We assume that much of the museum’s contents were looted, and anything small enough to be easily removed will be appearing soon on the antiquities market. Anything too large to remove for sale, appears to have met a violent end at the hand of ISIS extremists. In both cases, it is possible to virtually recreate the lost items through the application of photogrammetry and crowdsourcing. Given enough photographs, digital or scans of analogues, it is possible to reconstruct the artefacts and create digital surrogates of those artefacts. This provides two immediate benefits: helping to identify looted items and recreating destroyed items.

We propose to coordinate a volunteer effort of experts and amateurs in the crowdsourcing of the necessary digital imagery and the creation of digital surrogates for the artefacts in the museum. We would like to work with the local management of the Mosul Museum as much as possible, as well as with experts familiar with the collection and material. All data generated from this project will be freely available to the public. This project is a direct response to the senseless destruction of cultural heritage by extremists, not only ISIS, but to any group who uses heritage as leverage or political power. Instead, we want to bring heritage back to life through digital tools, giving the public access to any destroyed heritage, starting with the Mosul Museum.

We ask for your support in this endeavour, a project we are voluntarily doing and hope that it will make heritage accessible to all the public.

Sincerely the undersigned:

 Marinos Ioannides, project coordinator Matthew L. Vincent, Early Stage Researcher Chance M. Coughenour, Early Stage Researcher Created by Matthew Vincent for the Initial Training Network for Digital Cultural Heritage This website and project are volunteer effort by the fellows of the ITN-DCH project.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission, the European Union, the FP7 PEOPLE Programme, the Marie Cure Actions, the partners and the entire consortium of the project or any other financial backers of the ITN-DCH. We are grateful for their support, and the funding that makes it possible for us to undertake these sorts of volunteer actions to protect and preserve our heritage, within and outside of Europe.