Conference: ‘Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Apocalypticism in the 7th-9th Centuries Event

Time:

Date:

2025-09-01 09:30:00 2025-09-03 13:30:00

Venue:

Online and in-person

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Event details

We are delighted to invite you to participate in our conference on ‘Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Apocalypticism in the 7th-9th centuries’. The conference marks the final event of a funded project examining apocalyptic literature of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in this formative period of contact and conflict. The aim is to bring together scholars from different disciplines to inspire innovative discussion about the nature of apocalypticism and Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations at the emergence of Islam.

The following topics will be covered by the conference:

1. the nature of apocalyptic as a literary phenomenon in the 7th-9th centuries
2. comparative analysis of apocalyptic writings of Jews, Christians and Muslims
3. the significance of apocalyptic for understanding Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations

The conference is organised both in-person and online.

We have some bursaries available to support those who may like to attend in-person. Please contact Professor Helen Spurling by email with an expression of interest (200 words on your research area and interest in the conference plus your contact details and affiliation). Priority will be given to early career colleagues and doctoral researchers. Applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis on Fridays from now up to and including the 22nd August.

Visit our Eventbrite page to register .

Participants will be sent a link to join the conference nearer to the event.

Please email Professor Helen Spurling for further information .

Conference Programme (All times are British Summer Time or UTC+1)

Monday 1 September

9.30-10.15 Refreshments

10.15-10.30 Welcome and introduction

10.30-12.00 Session 1

Helen Spurling: The Kenites in Nistarot Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai

David Cook: Nu’aym b. Hammad and the apocalyptic future of north Syrian Christians

12.00-13.00 Lunch

13.00-14.30 Session 2

Veronika Wieser: Detangling Apocalyptic Patterns: Ambrose of Milan’s Interpretation of Gog-Magog and Its Political Connectivity

James Palmer: Apocalypse, Crisis, and Interfaith Relations in the Carolingian World

14.30-15.00 Break

15.00-17.00 Session 3

Apocalyptic as a literary phenomenon in the 7th-9th centuries: Workshop identifying and addressing methodological challenges and comparative analysis (led by Helen Spurling and James Palmer)

Tuesday 2 September

9.00-10.30 Session 4

Sebastiano Crestani: The Messianic Name ‘Menachem’: A Byzantine ‘Loan’ from Jewish Eschatology

Andras Kraft: Methodios meets Enoch: textual contiguity in late antique apocalypticism

10.30-11.00 Break

11.00-12.30 Session 5

Alexei Sivertsev: Messiah’s Jerusalem: A Late Antique City in Age of Transition

Gaelle Bosseman: Question-and-Answer Literature as an Apocalyptic Literary Form

12.30-13.30 Lunch

13.30-15.00 Session 6

Philip Alexander: Convergent Eschatologies in the 7th – 9th centuries and their Political and Inter-religious Implications

Angelika Neuwirth and Dirk Hartwig: Apocalypticism in the Qurʾān Disputed: The Case of Alexander

15.00-15.30 Break

15.30-17.30 Session 7

The significance of apocalyptic for understanding Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations: Workshop identifying significant themes and approaches (Helen Spurling and James Palmer)

Wednesday 3 September

9.30-11.00 Session 8

Sebastian Bitsch: The Four Gardens of Paradise: An enigmatic Qurʾānic passage (Q 55:46, 62) and the reflection of Zoroastrian apocalyptic ideas in the Qurʾānic milieu.

Chris Bonura: Late Antique Eschatology and the Rise of Islam: A Re-evaluation of the Debate

11.00-11.30 Break

11.30-12.30 Session 9

Plenary (Helen Spurling and James Palmer)

12.30-13.30 Lunch