Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions

Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions (MEMaT) is a multidisciplinary project which aims at studying various aspects of manuscript production, utilization, and transmission history. The project is a collaboration between Sabine Schmidtke (IAS) and George A. Kiraz (IAS and Beth Mardutho). It brings together specialists with expertise in a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The activities are focused on holding workshops and publishing books on the topic.

Upcoming Workshop - Call for Proposals:
April 22-24, 2026: The Bible in Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions. Conveners: George A. Kiraz (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) and Valentina Sagaria Rossi (University of Rome Tor Vergata). Call details.

Publications:

Literary Snippets: A Colophon Reader, (2024, Gorgias Press), edited by George Anton Kiraz, Senior Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, and Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies

Literary Snippets: Colophons across Space and Time, (2023, Gorgias Press), edited by George A. Kiraz, Senior Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, and Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies

Scribal Habits in Near Eastern Manuscript Traditions, Volume 23 (2021) in the series Texts and Studies (Third Series) [Gorgias Press], edited by George A. Kiraz, Senior Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, and Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies

Writing in My Own Script: Allographic and Garshunographic Systems in Late Antiquity. Part Two = Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 8 i (2020) [Leiden: Brill], edited by George A. Kiraz, Senior Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, and Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies

Writing in My Own Script: Allographic and Garshunographic Systems in Late Antiquity. Part One = Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 7 ii-iii (2019) [Leiden: Brill], edited by George A. Kiraz, Senior Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, and Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies

Islamic Studies

Manuscript Traditions

Near Eastern Studies

Middle Eastern Manuscript Traditions

Events:

Upcoming

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