Biblia Arabica academy project & 2 open PhD positions
Nathan P. Gibson
Dear Colleagues (apologies for cross-posting),
(Thank you, George Kiraz, for posting this earlier -- here are some more details and an additional position.)
As you may have heard, Ronny Vollandt and I recently received news that our 21-year project to study Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has been approved by the Union of Academies (Germany). Our accomplished colleague Peter Tarras will coordinate the Munich team. We are thrilled about the opportunity to devote so much time to such a crucial topic. For more details on the project itself, please see below (or the page at https://biblia-arabica.com/news/new-academy-project-biblia-arabica-critical-edition-and-comprehensive-digital-inventory-of-arabic-old-testament-manuscripts-and-their-paratexts/).
We are also looking for two well-qualified doctoral students in Arabic Bible, one with an emphasis on canon formation within the Munich team of the Biblia Arabica project, and one with an emphasis on Muslim reception (using DH text-reuse methods) in the Frankfurt team of the newly funded LOEWE Center “Dynamics of the Religious,” where I have a subproject.
Please see these job postings and help us circulate them as widely as possible:
- https://job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/5240b3331c8d428ca07ac029d32214f0591a03c80 (Munich)
- https://dynamiken-des-religioesen.uni-frankfurt.de/ausschreibung-15-promotionsstellen-am-loewe-zentrum-dynarel/ (Frankfurt, but not the specific description and requirements of Subproject 1.3 at https://dynamiken-des-religioesen.uni-frankfurt.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Informationen-LOEWE-Zentrum-englisch.pdf#page=11.)
Many thanks,
Nathan Gibson and Ronny Vollandt
The project, entitled “Biblia Arabica: Researching and preserving the Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament” will run for 21 years (2026–2046) and is based at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich and the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz. It will be jointly led by Prof. Dr. Ronny Vollandt (LMU Munich) and Prof. Dr. Nathan P. Gibson (Goethe University Frankfurt). The new project will be the first comprehensive study of Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament – a central testimony to the shared cultural heritage of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in the Near East. These translations document centuries of religious and linguistic interconnection, but are now in danger of being forgotten. Using state-of-the-art methods of digital humanities, the team will identify and describe around 8,200 manuscripts and make them digitally available through a selection of editions and English translations. They will also investigate historical contexts, translators, and usage traditions. The aim is to preserve this unique heritage, and make it visible and accessible worldwide – as a historical reflection of pluralistic culture and a contribution to interreligious dialogue. The academy project builds on earlier research undertaken in the DFG-DIP project “Biblia Arabica” (2012–2018).