Talmud - Wednesday, 1 October 2014

The  first session of the Ancient Law reading group takes place in the University of Manchester's Samuel Alexander building South 2.2 on Wednesday at 5pm.

After a few introductory words, we shall mean business straight away. Marton Ribary is offering  a short excerpt from tractate Berakhot 19b of the Babylonian Talmud which touches upon the tension between traditionalism and innovation. The two opposing approaches to received legal tradition are by no means limited to the Talmudic sages, and it is expected that the topic will generate discussion among participants whose primary interest may be in other ancient legal cultures

Participants are asked to have a quick thought about how the opposing tendencies of traditionalism and innovation shape the legal culture of their primary interest. Methodological questions specific to the study of Talmudic literature shall be addressed as the discussion dictates.

There is absolutely no need to prepare or read ahead, but in case participants are interested, they can download a short document including the excerpts. Printouts will be provided for the session.

Schedule - Autumn term 2014-2015

2014 Autumn Semester
Wednesday 5pm, fortnightly

Samuel Alexander building, South Wing 2.2

The University of Manchester

First session: 1 October

The newly established “Ancient law reading group” seeks to provide a platform of learning and discussion for people interested in the broadly defined field of law in ancient times. We are particularly interested in any points of comparison and contrast between the legal thought (and implications thereof) of different societies and encourage all approaches (e.g. philosophical, legal, socio-historical, philological, literary).

Schedule:

1 October: Talmud (Marton Ribary)

15 October: Roman law – slavery (Sam Jones)

12 November: The Theodosian Code (Melissa Markauskas)

26 November: Roman law – abortion (Rachel Plummer)

10 December: Kafka’s Before the law (Will Simms’ Christmas special)

Method:

The sessions require no prior preparations from the participants. We would focus on the close reading of a short excerpt with the session leader orchestrating the discussion and introducing the participants to the linguistic and methodological issues of his/her own field.

Spring term:

We would like to continue our reading group in the Spring term to explore further ancient legal cultures such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Near East, Biblical Law, Early Canon Law, Early Islam, Zoroastrianism, Celts, Gauls and other neighbouring cultures of Rome. The list is purely indicative, and is by no means exhaustive. People studying ancient legal cultures are encouraged to join our group, and offer a session introducing their field.

The reading group is open to all staff and students members of the university and beyond.

For further information, please contact Marton Ribary and Sam Jones:

marton.ribary@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

samuel.jones-2@manchester.ac.uk