Bible as Notepad. Tracing Annotations and Annotation Practices in Late Antique and Medieval Biblical Manuscripts

The present volume provides a comparative look at the contents and layout features of secondary annotations in biblical manuscripts across linguistic traditions. Due to the privileged focus on the text in the columns, these annotations and the practices that produced them have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. The vast richness of extant verbal and figurative notes accompanying the biblical texts in the intercolumns and margins of the manuscript pages have thus been largely overlooked. The case studies gathered in this volume explore Jewish and Christian biblical manuscripts through the lens of their annotations, addressing the various relationships between the primary layer of text and the secondary notes, and exploring the roles and functions of annotated manuscripts as cultural artifacts. By approaching biblical manuscripts as potential notepads , the volume offers theoretical reflection and empirical analyses of the ways in which secondary notes may shed new light on the development and transmission of text traditions, the shifting engagement with biblical manuscripts over time, as well as the change of use and interpretation that may result from the addition of the notes themselves

Bible as Notepad

The present volume provides a comparative look at the contents and layout features of secondary annotations in biblical manuscripts across linguistic traditions. Due to the privileged focus on the text in the columns, these annotations and the practices that produced them have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. The vast richness of extant verbal and figurative notes accompanying the biblical texts in the intercolumns and margins of the manuscript pages have thus been largely overlooked. The case studies gathered in this volume explore Jewish and Christian biblical manuscripts through the lens of their annotations, addressing the various relationships between the primary layer of text and the secondary notes, and exploring the roles and functions of annotated manuscripts as cultural artifacts. By approaching biblical manuscripts as potential "notepads", the volume offers theoretical reflection and empirical analyses of the ways in which secondary notes may shed new light on the development and transmission of text traditions, the shifting engagement with biblical manuscripts over time, as well as the change of use and interpretation that may result from the addition of the notes themselves

3D Information Technologies in Cultural Heritage Preservation and Popularisation

This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences presents recent advances and developments in the use of digital 3D technologies to protect and preserve cultural heritage. While most of the articles focus on aspects of 3D scanning, modeling, and presenting in VR of cultural heritage objects from buildings to small artifacts and clothing, part of the issue is devoted to 3D sound utilization in the cultural heritage field

New methodological approaches of investigating the identity of Historic Settlement

Para estabelecer a “identidade” de um sítio histórico, a utilização de uma metodologia baseada na aplicação de ferramentas de mapeamento para análise de indicadores tangíveis e intangíveis pode ser de grande interesse e significância, uma vez que esta metodologia ainda não tem sido amplamente utilizada em pesquisas patrimoniais. apesar de ser uma ferramenta poderosa. Nesse tipo de mapeamento, a paisagem, a arquitetura e as camadas de mudança que foram depositadas no território sobre elas, ao longo dos tempos. são consideradas indicadores tangíveis, enquanto a toponímia, a história, a memória e os antigos dizeres locais são considerados indicadores intangíveis. Os indicadores, sua existência, geolocalizações, processos, significado e distribuição espacial, transformações etc. devem ser mapeados em diferentes camadas e posteriormente alguns conjuntos e subconjuntos devem ser justapostos para obter combinações e resultados. Portanto, informações produzidas a partir destes indicadores tangíveis e intangíveis de forma científica e matemática, apoiadas na história, artefactos e vestígios, princípios de urbanismo, inscrições e manuscritos, podem revelar muitos aspetos desconhecidos dos sítios históricos. Os métodos precisam ser de natureza mais científica e objetiva para excluir o viés de uma perceção distorcida. Também é uma boa técnica testar o método em mais de um local que tenha antecedentes diferentes, mas configuração semelhante, a fim de provar a validade e eficácia universal do método. Assim, Khalifatabad (Bangladesh) e Évora (Portugal) são os dois locais de um estudo de caso que visa testar a metodologia acima referida, uma vez que ambos foram declarados Património Mundial da UNESCO e possuem valor histórico semelhante; New methodological approaches of investigating the identity of Historic Settlement Abstract: In order to establish the identity of an ancient settlement, the use of a methodology based on the application of mapping tools for analysis of tangible and intangible indicators might be of great interest and significance, as this methodology has not yet been extensively used in heritage research despite of its being a powerful tool. In this kind of mapping, landscape, architecture and the layers of change that have been deposited on them throughout ages are considered as tangible indicators, while toponymy, story, memory and ancient local sayings are considered as intangible indicators. The indicators, their existence, geo locations, processes, spatial significance and distribution, transformations etc. are to be mapped in different layers and later some set and subsets are to be juxtaposed to obtain certain combinations and results. Therefore information produced from both tangible and intangible indicators in a scientific and mathematical manner, supported by history, artefacts and vestiges, principles of urbanism, inscriptions and manuscripts, can reveal many unknown aspects of historic sites. The methods need to be more scientific and objective in nature to exclude biasness of perception. It is also a good technique to test the method on more than one site that has different background but similar configuration in order to prove the validity and efficacy of the method. Therefore Khalifatabad (Bangladesh) and Évora (Portugal) are the two sites of a case study that aims to test the above mentioned methodology, as they both were declared UNESCO World Heritage and carry similar historic value

From Egyptian barque oracles to Artificial Swarm Intelligence via the Ouija (or wDA?) board

Ancient Egyptian barque oracles had a recent counterpart in the phenomenon of “table turning”, an occult process experienced in Nineteenth Century Spiritualist séances. The séance table’s small scale successor, the Talking Board, ensured that oracular locomotion persisted throughout the Twentieth Century; its best known embodiment – the Ouija board – remains popular even today. Scientific studies have helped to elucidate the behavioural drivers that govern table turning and Ouija sessions; these reveal that good faith groups are dominated by an auto suggestive process known as the ideomotor response (IMR). Learnings from such studies suggest that a hierarchy of up to four drivers (two conscious and conditional, two unconscious and continuous) would have underpinned the significance laden movements of Egyptian barque oracles. Such oracles constitute an early form of what is today called Artificial Swarm Intelligence (ASI); “human swarming” enables networks of individuals whose interactions are governed by real time feedback loops to converge quickly on optimal solutions. The paper also examines the possibility that Ouija – the name bestowed in 1891 upon the “Egyptian luck board” that went on to dominate the Talking Board market – might genuinely reflect an ancient Egyptian word with the approximate sense of “good luck”, just as the board’s pioneers claimed it did

Information Technologies and Social Media: New Scientific Methods for the Anthropocene

The development of technology during the Anthropocene has affected science and the ways of “doing science”. Nowadays, new technologies help scientists of several disciplines by facilitating knowledge and how to manage it, but also allow for collaborative science, the so-called “Social Science”, where everyone can be a scientist and be involved in providing data and knowledge by using a computer or a smartphone without being a specialist. But is it really that simple? Actually, the daily and integrated use of different digital technologies and sharing platforms, such as social media, requires important reflections. Such reflections can lead to a rethinking of epistemologies and scientific paradigms, both in human geography and social sciences. This volume titled “Information Technologies and Social Media: New Scientific Methods for the Anthropocene” includes 10 chapters exploring some changes related to the way to do science with a multidisciplinary approach. From classroom experiences to the use of Citizen Science, from Artificial Intelligence use to how Social Media can help researchers, the book reflects on the ICT influence during the last few decades, exploring different cases, complementary perspectives and point of views

The Spatial Historian: Creating a Spatially Aware Historical Research System

The intent of this study is to design a geospatial information system capable of facilitating the extraction and analysis of the fragmentary snapshots of history contained in hand-written historical documents. This customized system necessarily bypasses off-the-shelf GIS in order to support these unstructured primary historical research materials and bring long dormant spatial stories previously hidden in archives, libraries, and other documentary storage locations to life. The software platform discussed here integrates the tasks of information extraction, data management, and analysis while simultaneously giving primary emphasis to supporting the spatial and humanistic analysis and interpretation of the data contents. The premise of this research study is that by integrating the collection of data, the extraction of content, and the analysis of information from what has traditionally been post-data collection analysis and research process, more efficient processing and more effective historical research can be achieved

Spatial Transformations

This book examines a variety of subjective spatial experiences and knowledge production practices in order to shed new light on the specifics of contemporary socio-spatial change, driven as it is by inter alia, digitalization, transnationalization and migration. Considering the ways in which emerging spatial phenomena are conditioned by an increasing interconnectedness, this book asks how spaces are changing as a result of mediatization, increased mobility, globalization and social dislocation. With attention to questions surrounding the negotiation and (visual) communication of space, it explores the arrangements, spatialities and materialities that underpin the processes of spatial refiguration by which these changes come about. Bringing together the work of leading scholars from across diverse range disciplines to address questions of socio-spatial transformation, this volume will appeal to sociologists and geographers, as well as scholars and practitioners of urban planning and architecture