Chair person

Prof. Dr. Stefan Maul

Stefan M. Maul has been since 1995 Professor for Assyriology at the Institute for Cultures and Languages of the Near East, University of Heidelberg. After reading Assyriology, Egyptology and Near Eastern Archaeology at Göttingen he taught Assyriology at the Free University of Berlin (1987-1994). He has been Visiting Professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris) and at the University of Rome (La Sapienza). His research interests include Ancient Near Eastern religions, divination and rituals of the Ancient Near East.


Prof. Bernd U. Schipper

Bernd Schipper

Bernd U. Schipper has studied Theology, Egyptology and Archaeology at the Universities of Mainz and Bonn. Since 2002 he has been Associate Professor for Biblical and Religious Studies at the Department for the Study of Religions and Religious Education at the University of Bremen. During the summer term 2007 he has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Heidelberg. His is the co-editor of the Journal "Die Welt des Orients" (Vandenhoek & Ruprecht Press) and has published and edited books about the history of Apocalypticism, the cultural contacts between Egypt and Israel in biblical times, and the religious literature of Pharaonic Egypt.

P 10 - Rituals of Healing in the Ancient Near East

Room Nr. 3, Neue Universität
Chairs:
Prof. Dr. Stefan Maul stefan.maul@ori.uni-heidelberg.de
Prof. Bernd U. Schipper bschipper@uni-bremen.de

Download preliminary daily schedule here (pdf)
(for better readability kindly print it out)

Common activities:

Reception
On Monday, 29 September, we will officially open the conference with a reception from 19.00 to 22.30
Neue Universität, Neue Aula, free admission

Key Note Lecture
Tuesday, 30 September at 19.00:
Key Note Speaker Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jan Assmann
"Magie und Ritual"
Neue Universität, Neue Aula, free admission

Plenary Discussion
Wednesday, 1 October at 18.00 introductory presentation:
Prof. Dr. Christoph Wulf, Freie Universität Berlin
"The Future of the Science of Ritual in a transcultural Context"
Neue Universität, Neue Aula, free admission

Exchange meeting

Thursday, 2 October from 9:00 - 12:00:
Exchange meeting between scientists from the German Archaeological Institute
and the Collaborative Research Center SFB 619
Neue Universität, Alter Senatssaal, free admission

Workshop
Friday, 3 October from 10:00 - 16:00:
"Staging Religion: Traditional Performances in New Public Spheres and Media"
(Cluster of Excellence »Asia and Europe in a Global Context:
Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows« / B7)
Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, Bergheimer Str. 20


Speakers
(synonym for referee, panelist, active participant)


Day 2 - Tuesday, 30 September 2008



9:00-9:45       
Stefan Maul
                        "Lifting the Ban".
                        On Ancient Mesopotamien Concepts of Disease and Cure

9:45-10:30      Pietro Mander
                        The Mesopotamian Exorcist and his Ego

11:00-11:45    Cynthia Jean
                        Healing Assyrian kings:
                        at the crossroads of technique and psychology

11:45-12:30    Rüdiger Schmitt
                        The Problem of Ritual Healing and Magic in the Old Testament

14:00-14:45    Bernd U. Schipper
                        Rituals of Healing in the Hebrew Bible

                        The Bronze Serpent in Num 21:4-9

14:45-15:30    Erhard S. Gerstenberger
                       
Participants in Old Testament Complaint Rituals

Abstract

The subject of the panel is concerned with the interplay between rituals and magical knowledge in the Ancient Near East. The papers may address the following issues: Rituals of healing and ritual experts in the Ancient Near East, rituals in the Hebrew Bible, and rituals in the New Testament against the backdrop of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East.