The Letter of Mara bar Sarapion purports to be written in a Roman jail after the capture of the capital of Commagene, Samosata, presumably after the Roman invasion in 72 CE, which ended the reign of Antiochus IV. Written in Syriac, it reveals an author who is intimately familiar with Greek paideia but who also speaks of the Jewish war, presenting the fate of Jerusalem as God’s punishment for what the Jews did to their ‘wise king’. The nature of the letter calls for an interdisciplinary treatment, which is why the symposium aims to promote discussion among specialists from different fields, notably Syriac studies, classics, Roman history, New Testament studies, ancient philosophy, Jewish studies, archaeology, and the history of ancient religions.
Book
The book 'Mara bar Sarapion - Letter to His Son' includes a new edition with translation by David Rensberger and interpretative essays by prof. Annette Merz (Department of Theology, Utrecht University) and Teun Tieleman (Department of Philosophy, Utrecht University). It appears in Mohr Siebeck's SAPERE series (ISBN 978-3-16-150163-0).
Symposium
The symposium is organised by Annette Merz and Teun Tieleman. It is part of the research programme '"Habent sua fata libelli": Text Processing in the Philosophical and Religious Movements within the Roman Empire (1-300 CE)', based at the Faculty of Humanities and subsidised by Utrecht University in the context of its High Potentials Programme (see http://www.phil.uu.nl/hsfl).
For further information please contact: A.B.Merz@uu.nl or Teun.Tieleman@phil.uu.nl
To enrol please contact: C.H.M.Hens@uu.nl
Programme
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| Thursday 10 December |
| 19.00-21.00 hrs |
Kanunnikenzaal, Faculty Club, Achter de Dom 7, Utrecht |
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- Introduction and Reception
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| Friday 11 December |
| 09.30-12.30 |
Sweelinckzaal, Drift 21, Utrecht |
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- Dr. Margherita Facella (Pisa): Social Structure and Cultural Identity in the Land of Mara bar Sarapion
- Prof. Dr. Michael A. Speidel (Basel): Mara bar Sarapion, Samosata, and the Romans
- Dr. Miguel John Versluys (Leiden): “Let us obey the kingdom that fate has given us”: The Romanisation of Commagene and the Mara bar Serapion Letter
- Discussion
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| 12.30-14.00 |
Lunch (Drift 21) |
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| 14.00-17.00 |
Kanunnikenzaal, Faculty Club, Achter de Dom 7, Utrecht |
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- Prof. David L. Blank (UCLA): The Letter of Mara bar Sarapion and
- Greek Philosophy
- Anna Ntinti, MPhil (Utrecht): The Death(s) of Plato
- Em. Prof. Pancratius C. Beentjes (Tilburg): Where is Wisdom To Be Found?
- Discussion
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| 19.00 |
Dinner in Brasserie Goeie Louisa, Geertebolwerk 1, Utrecht |
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| Saturday 12 December |
| 09.30-12.30 |
Sweelinckzaal, Drift 21, Utrecht |
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- Dr. Ilaria Ramelli (Milan): The New Edition and Translation of the Letter of Mara bar Sarapion: Comments
- Dr. Michael Blömer (Münster): Religious Life of Commagene in the First Century AD - The Archaeological Evidence
- Prof. Albert de Jong (Leiden): Mara's God(s) and the Language of Belonging
- Discussion
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| 12.30-14.00 |
Lunch (Drift 21) |
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| 14.00-17.00 |
Sweelinckzaal, Drift 21, Utrecht |
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- Prof. Petr Pokorny (Prague): The Intention of the Letter of Mara bar Serapion
- Em. Prof. Pieter W. van der Horst (Zeist): Consolation from Prison: Mara and Boethius
- Drs. Martin Ruf (Utrecht): Error, Pollution and Corruption: Mara and Peter on the “World”
- Discussion
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Discussion |
"What else can we say, when the wisesuffer violence at the hands of tyrants, their wisdom is taken captive by denunciation, and for all their enlightenment they are dispossessed with no opportunity for defense? For what benefit did the Athenians derive from the slaying of Socrates? For they received the retribution for it in the form of famine and plague. Or the people of Samos from the burning of Pythagoras? For in one hour their entire country was covered with sand. Or the Jews [from the killing] of their wise king? For from that very time their sovereignty was taken away. For God rightly exacted retribution on behalf of the wisdom of these three. For the Athenians starved to death, 184 recto and the people of Samos were covered by the sea without remedy, and the Jews, massacred and chased from their kingdom, are scattered through every land. Socrates did not die, because of Plato; nor did Pythagoras, because of the statue of Hera; nor did the wise king, because of the new laws that he gave.
Mara bar Sarapion"
" Begin, O wisest among the human race, and tell us, on which possession shall a person rely? Or of what things shall one say that they seem enduring? Of great riches? They can be grabbed away. Of fortified towns? They can be plundered. Of cities? They can be laid waste. Of majesty? It can be brought low. Of magnifycence? It can be thrown down. Of beauty? It fades. Of laws, then? They pass away.
Mara bar Sarapion"
(fragments from the Letter of Mara bar Serapion, translated by David Rensberger)