Heleen Murre-van den Berg
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hlmvdberg.bsky.social
Heleen Murre-van den Berg
@hlmvdberg.bsky.social
160 followers 300 following 31 posts
Professor of Global Christianity, Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University - Books - Middle East - Religion - Syriac/Assyrian Christians - Migration
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hlmvdberg.bsky.social
@acbm.bsky.social Just picked up my copy of Adam Bremer-McCollum’s The Pearlsong - what a beautiful edition for one of the most famous Syriac texts! Looking forward reading it.
November 1, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
abshlimon.bsky.social
The fact that this is how people are learning about the Assyrian Church of the East 💀 if you enjoyed this post you may be interested in my forthcoming article on Assyrians in Middle Eastern studies, stay tuned
dicknixon.bsky.social Richard M. Nixon @dicknixon.bsky.social · 14d
Mar Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, also born in Chicago, gave Pope Leo a Cubs jersey.
Mar Awa III, in red cassock, smiles as he gives the jersey to Leo, who looks as though he's been given a bomb to hold
October 28, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
museum.of.emilyk.art
"Tzefardea Tzedek" (Frog of Righteousness)

As soon as the Portland Frog became a meme, Jewish social media blew up with jokes about the 2nd Passover plague - tzefarde'a (frogs) - and the Rabbinical commentary around it. I knew I had to make a calligraphy piece encompassing all of it. (more in alt.)
Hebrew calligraphy in dark green stretches in lines across the image. Negative space makes room for a simple representation of an inflatable frog costume with a blue bandana. That shape consists of the English translation of the Hebrew, in a lighter green, and in much smaller text. -- Famously, the Egyptian tyrant causes Egypt to be overrun with frogs because he refuses to free the Hebrew people, but there are additional details that make this a fun one to ponder. For one, the Hebrew says "the frog came up" - ONE frog - even though the rest of the time it says "frogs." So there are a few explanations rabbis have come up with to explain this. One is that a single frog multiplied to create swarms. A more creative explanation is that there was a singular giant frog who traveled and brought destruction. Jewish social media was sharing videos of the Portland Frog protester with the caption, "One Big Frog! One Big Frog!" Of course the frog protesters did multiply, and many were seen in crowds all over the world on "No Kings" Day. This calligraphic work takes the verses addressing the frog plague and combines them to form a simple rendering of the Portland Frog protester. The frog figure itself is made up of the English translations of the Hebrew around it. At the bottom left my signature is in the shape of a lily pad.
October 25, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
petertarras.bsky.social
Mind-numbing how many layers of history there can be to a single manuscript page: Syriac upper text (10th c.), Armenian undertext (pre-10th c.), Arabic material used for binding (11-12th c.?), Coptic foliation in the margin (date?), modern foliation at the bottom. Image: Leiden UL Or. 14236, link ⬇️
Opened palimpsest codex (Leiden UL Or. 14236) with Syriac upper text and Armenian undertext. The upper text is written in black and red ink and decorated braided band patterns. There's also a fragment with Arabic on it between the two pages of the opened codex.
October 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
leoniedejonge.bsky.social
💡 Hoe kijken politieke partijen aan tegen onderzoek, onderwijs en internationalisering? In aanloop naar de TK verkiezingen van 2025 analyseerden we met De Jonge Akademie de verkiezingsprogramma’s van alle deelnemende partijen.
👉 Bekijk het Dashboard hier: dejongeakademie.nl/publicaties/...
October 13, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
nabalkattu.bsky.social
The essence of Jewish and Arabic music was performance. While music involved extensive skill and learning, it wasn't defined as a piece of writing but something you *did.* In the 20th century a similar divide was racialized: black Jazz artists didn't write, they improvised; whites "composed."
October 7, 2025 at 10:39 AM
hlmvdberg.bsky.social
Net uit (x2: net gepubliceerd en uitgelezen) - aanrader!! www.singeluitgeverijen.nl/nijgh-van-di...
De genesis van het verraad - Singel Uitgeverijen
Een ijzingwekkende roman met het tempo van Dan Brown en de diepgang van Jan Brokken In De genesis van het verraad onderzoekt Israëlische archeologieverslaggever Shira Gutman de verborgen geschiedenis ...
www.singeluitgeverijen.nl
October 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
groene.nl
Podcast 🎙️| Vaak wordt de vraag gesteld of Israël tegelijk een joodse én een democratische staat kan zijn. Kritiek op het zionisme wordt tegenwoordig al snel bestempeld als antisemitisch. Martine van den Berg vertelt hoe vroegere joodse denkers over het zionisme dachten.
Podcast: Joodse kritiek op het zionisme
Martine van den Berg over vergeten joodse denkers, hun kritiek op het zionisme en de blijvende spanning tussen joodse identiteit en democratie in Israël.
buff.ly
October 2, 2025 at 8:05 AM
hlmvdberg.bsky.social
Our edited volume came out today - with a beautiful cover and available #OA: books.radbouduniversitypress.nl/index.php/ru...
Many thanks to all who contributed to it - the editors from Radboud University Press, and of course all the authors!
September 29, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
letteney.bsky.social
This is now out in paperback and the publisher sent me copies. I've got four to give away — if you're a graduate student, early career, or contingent researcher, I'm happy to send you a copy in the US, or deliver to AIA/SCS/AAR/SBL. Just chime in here or send me a DM.
Cover of _The Christianization of Knowledge in Late Antiquity_
September 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
sustainable2050.bsky.social
NASA images have confirmed the complete disappearance of Iran's Lake Urmia, once one of the world's largest saltwater lakes.
www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/862...
'Lake Urmia Has Become Part of History,' Report Declares as NASA Images Confirm Complete Disappearance
NASA images have confirmed the complete disappearance of Iran's Lake Urmia, once one of the world's largest saltwater lakes, according to a report by Ettelaat Online. The 4,000-year-old "turquoise jew...
www.kurdistan24.net
September 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
hlmvdberg.bsky.social
Goed verhaal over de penibele situatie waarin de Armeense gemeenschap van Jeruzalem zich bevindt — ook voor hen is het afgelopen jaren steeds moeilijker geworden www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Armeense christenen verdedigen hun wijk in de Oude Stad van Jeruzalem. ‘Het is onze morele plicht om onze aanwezigheid te behouden’
Jeruzalem: Armeense christenen in de Oude Stad van Jeruzalem raken in de verdrukking door aanvallen van extremisten en kolonisten. Een dubieuze vastgoeddeal ontketende protest. „We worden behandeld al...
www.nrc.nl
August 31, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
timep.bsky.social
NEW: Syria’s National Transitional Justice Authority is set to only investigate crimes committed by the Assad regime, excluding abuses by other parties. This undermines victims’ rights and any prospect for real accountability, argues Lina Ghoutouk.

Read more: timep.org/2025/08/28/o...
August 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
yairwallach.bsky.social
Assaf David is a colleague, a friend, and one of the wisest people I know. Please read this interview. (non paywalled link - next post)

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
One of the few Israelis with a direct line to Gazans urges public to confront horrors
***
www.haaretz.com
August 9, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
visithmml.bsky.social
Cataloging is in progress for microfilms of 30+ manuscripts of Enṭoṭṭo Māryām Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In EMML 6555, a seal of the church has crowned letters that represent the first initials of the church's founders, Emperor Menilek II (ም) and Empress Ṭāytu (ጣ): www.vhmml.org/readingRoom/...
In manuscript EMML 6555, the seal of Enṭoṭṭo Māryām Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The crowned letters represent the first initials of the church's founders, Emperor Menilek II (ም) and Empress Ṭāytu (ጣ).
August 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
timep.bsky.social
Today, August 4, marks five years since the Beirut Port explosion shook Lebanon and upended countless lives, killing +200, injuring thousands, and displacing 300,000 from their homes.

The TIMEP team reiterates its support for the people of Lebanon on this painful date.
August 4, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
jjholtland.bsky.social
Vanavond is het precies 5 jaar na de verwoestende havenexplosie van Beiroet. Met nabestaanden en politici sprak ik over de vraag of er in Libanon (ooit) gerechtigheid komt.

"Het wachten voelt als een langzaam sterven."

Hier te lezen @volkskrant.nl
www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/d...
De grote explosie van Beiroet is nog altijd een giftige wond: al vijf jaar lopen de daders vrij rond
Vijf jaar na de vernietigende explosie in de haven van Beiroet wachten de nabestaanden nog altijd op gerechtigheid. De waarheid gaat echter schuil achter een duister web van macht en corruptie. Worden...
www.volkskrant.nl
August 4, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
olafkoens.bsky.social
Prachtig stuk van @jjholtland.bsky.social over Ziad Rahbani, de zoon van Fairouz.

'Hij werd een rebel, een volkstribuun, een Libanese mix van Kees van Kooten en Boudewijn de Groot (‘Meneer de president, welterusten’), maar dan met de swagger en eeuwige sigaret van Serge Gainsbourg.'
July 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
syrianotes.bsky.social
Inside Syria, each side has its version of events in Suweida, and each version has its facts. Outside Syria, as in the case of Israel, the crisis was overtaken by narratives designed to exacerbate existing divisions and fracture the country.
@newlinesmag.bsky.social
newlinesmag.com/argument/how...
How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria
Seven months after Assad’s fall, an analysis of the violence in Sweida shows how international interference and internal paralysis are pushing the country back toward chaos
newlinesmag.com
July 26, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
yairwallach.bsky.social
Given Israel's Kahanist government, it was already on 7 Oct that genocide in Gaza is a real possibility. I personally did not know when the accumulation of Israeli crimes would cross that threshold. Two things could have stopped it: both failed.

1/
July 24, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
qusaynoor.net
St. Elias #Church in the #Douaila neighborhood, in the heart of the capital, #Damascus, today.
June 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
ingridrobeyns.bsky.social
We all knew this was coming since @helendecruz.net had been writing about her terminal illness - but it still comes as a blow.
Helen, thanks for what you did for philosophy and for humans without privileges; you will be very sorely missed. ✨
dailynous.com/2025/06/20/h...
Helen De Cruz (1978-2025) - Daily Nous
Helen De Cruz, professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University, has died. Professor De Cruz specialized in philosophy of religion and cognitive science. They were the author of Wonderstruck: How Won...
dailynous.com
June 20, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Heleen Murre-van den Berg
isisnaucratis.bsky.social
🦚📜 Did you know that the father of Church History was Palestinian? To learn more about what his story teaches us about ancient Palestine and how it relates to the present, read @chancebonar.bsky.social's new #EOPalestine post!
everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2025/05/20/t...
The Father of Church History was Palestinian – #EOPalestine 21
by Chance Bonar Eusebius Pamphilius, bishop of Caesarea Maritima (modern Qesarya/قِيسارْيَة, Israel), is a fixture in the study of ancient Christianity. Living from the 260s to 339 CE and spending …
everydayorientalism.wordpress.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:46 PM
hlmvdberg.bsky.social
In de categorie bijzonder leven: weet iemand wat dit is? We kwamen het tegen op het strand van Terschelling, eind vorige week. Zo’n 30-40 cm in de lengte. @hesterloeff.bsky.social ?
May 5, 2025 at 11:00 AM