Niko Kontovas
@nikokontovas.bsky.social
Linguist | Digital Humanist | Subject Librarian and Curator for the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Turkey/Türkiye @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social | Lecturer in Uzbek and Chaghatay | http://www.turkolog.ist
My first co-curated exhibit opens this evening @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social!
TREASURED is a treasures exhibition that questions the very notion. It's also the first at the #Bodleian with around 50% non-Western material.
Those in #Oxford can visit starting tomorrow, 6 June. And it's free!
TREASURED is a treasures exhibition that questions the very notion. It's also the first at the #Bodleian with around 50% non-Western material.
Those in #Oxford can visit starting tomorrow, 6 June. And it's free!
June 5, 2025 at 11:36 AM
My first co-curated exhibit opens this evening @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social!
TREASURED is a treasures exhibition that questions the very notion. It's also the first at the #Bodleian with around 50% non-Western material.
Those in #Oxford can visit starting tomorrow, 6 June. And it's free!
TREASURED is a treasures exhibition that questions the very notion. It's also the first at the #Bodleian with around 50% non-Western material.
Those in #Oxford can visit starting tomorrow, 6 June. And it's free!
Our perennial reminder that spring only comes when the tiniest flowers break through the seemingly unending dirt that buries them.
نوروزتان پیروز باد!
نورۇزۇڭلارغا مۇبارەك بولسۇن!
نوروز بایرامڭز مبارک اولسون!
Newroz pîroz be!
Navro'zingiz muborak bo'lsin!
Наврўзатон муборак бошад!
نوروزتان پیروز باد!
نورۇزۇڭلارغا مۇبارەك بولسۇن!
نوروز بایرامڭز مبارک اولسون!
Newroz pîroz be!
Navro'zingiz muborak bo'lsin!
Наврўзатон муборак бошад!
March 20, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Our perennial reminder that spring only comes when the tiniest flowers break through the seemingly unending dirt that buries them.
نوروزتان پیروز باد!
نورۇزۇڭلارغا مۇبارەك بولسۇن!
نوروز بایرامڭز مبارک اولسون!
Newroz pîroz be!
Navro'zingiz muborak bo'lsin!
Наврўзатон муборак бошад!
نوروزتان پیروز باد!
نورۇزۇڭلارغا مۇبارەك بولسۇن!
نوروز بایرامڭز مبارک اولسون!
Newroz pîroz be!
Navro'zingiz muborak bo'lsin!
Наврўзатон муборак бошад!
Aujourd'hui c'est la Journée internationale de la langue maternelle. On oublie parfois que le français c'est ma première langue, alors ça vaut la peine de vous rappeler 😜 J'ai pas souvent l'occasion de travailler avec des #manuscrits français, mais comme il n'y pas mal d' #Arméniens en France...
February 21, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Aujourd'hui c'est la Journée internationale de la langue maternelle. On oublie parfois que le français c'est ma première langue, alors ça vaut la peine de vous rappeler 😜 J'ai pas souvent l'occasion de travailler avec des #manuscrits français, mais comme il n'y pas mal d' #Arméniens en France...
In honour of #LGBTQ+ History Month, the Nizami Ganjavi Library @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social is showcasing some new acquisitions from J. P. Der Boghossian's #Queer #Armenian Library project! Come visit us in #Oxford for poetry, memoirs, novels, and more by Queer authors in Armenia and the diaspora.
February 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
In honour of #LGBTQ+ History Month, the Nizami Ganjavi Library @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social is showcasing some new acquisitions from J. P. Der Boghossian's #Queer #Armenian Library project! Come visit us in #Oxford for poetry, memoirs, novels, and more by Queer authors in Armenia and the diaspora.
In #Oxford? Want to learn #Uzbek? Have Thursday evenings free? Come attend my introductory Uzbek course at Wolfson College! Since the course is aimed at Oxford students, we'll mostly focus on comprehension, but it's a good start if you want to go on to a more communicative course, too.
January 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM
ئۆزبېكىستانغا بېرىپ كەلگەن دوستلار ئۇيغۇر پولوسى بىلەن ئۆزبېك پولوسىنىڭ پەرقى نېمە دەپ سورىغاندا ئۆيگە چاقىرىپ كۆرسىتىشتىن باشقا ئامال يوق!
#uyghur #ئۇيغۇر #food #centralasia
#uyghur #ئۇيغۇر #food #centralasia
January 18, 2025 at 11:57 PM
ئۆزبېكىستانغا بېرىپ كەلگەن دوستلار ئۇيغۇر پولوسى بىلەن ئۆزبېك پولوسىنىڭ پەرقى نېمە دەپ سورىغاندا ئۆيگە چاقىرىپ كۆرسىتىشتىن باشقا ئامال يوق!
#uyghur #ئۇيغۇر #food #centralasia
#uyghur #ئۇيغۇر #food #centralasia
I know you come for the #manuscripts and not me, but I couldn't help but share these snaps that @liber-ray.bsky.social took recently. Of course, @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social's 1485-95 copy of Navā'ī's Sab‘a Sayyāra from Herat and 1553 copy of the same from Bukhara are the real stars here!
December 24, 2024 at 12:01 AM
I know you come for the #manuscripts and not me, but I couldn't help but share these snaps that @liber-ray.bsky.social took recently. Of course, @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social's 1485-95 copy of Navā'ī's Sab‘a Sayyāra from Herat and 1553 copy of the same from Bukhara are the real stars here!
Vandaag bezocht ik de tentoonstelling @theulspeccoll.bsky.social over Thomas van Erpe. Goede herinnering dat de 17e eeuwse Nederlanden dé plek waren voor de studie van Oosterse talen in heel Europa. Wat nu gebeurt in @unileiden.bsky.social is eigenlijk de vernietiging van een Nederlandse traditie.
December 11, 2024 at 11:49 PM
Vandaag bezocht ik de tentoonstelling @theulspeccoll.bsky.social over Thomas van Erpe. Goede herinnering dat de 17e eeuwse Nederlanden dé plek waren voor de studie van Oosterse talen in heel Europa. Wat nu gebeurt in @unileiden.bsky.social is eigenlijk de vernietiging van een Nederlandse traditie.
If you have an extra minute, go visit the #Queer 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ #Armenian 🇦🇲 Library pop-up in the reading corner at the Weston Library @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social. And if you can't make it to #Oxford, no worries! You can find out more about this eclectic collection here: queerarmenianlibrary.com #lgbtq+
December 9, 2024 at 8:59 AM
If you have an extra minute, go visit the #Queer 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ #Armenian 🇦🇲 Library pop-up in the reading corner at the Weston Library @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social. And if you can't make it to #Oxford, no worries! You can find out more about this eclectic collection here: queerarmenianlibrary.com #lgbtq+
One of these days, someone will write a good article on the uses of "neo- #Chaghatay" in #Uzbekistan. The social dynamics of writing #Uzbek in Arabic script -- like on the catalogue at the Beruni Institute in #Toshkent -- are unlike any other language I know of that has officially switched scripts.
December 5, 2024 at 3:10 PM
One of these days, someone will write a good article on the uses of "neo- #Chaghatay" in #Uzbekistan. The social dynamics of writing #Uzbek in Arabic script -- like on the catalogue at the Beruni Institute in #Toshkent -- are unlike any other language I know of that has officially switched scripts.
What's a more poetic way of saying "worth its weight in gold"? This note on @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Pococke 294 is a pretty good candidate: "If this book were sold for its weight in gold, the seller would be the one cheated." #manuscripts #Arabic #عربي
www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
December 4, 2024 at 1:57 PM
What's a more poetic way of saying "worth its weight in gold"? This note on @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Pococke 294 is a pretty good candidate: "If this book were sold for its weight in gold, the seller would be the one cheated." #manuscripts #Arabic #عربي
www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
I'm out with a nasty flu, so I'm stuck sharing old photos for a while. This miniature is from a 1494 #manuscript of the Šāhnāma. It shows a pretty sweet sīmurġ (which would make a killer tattoo) but even cooler is the fact that it and the people on the roof are pasted in over an older miniature.
December 2, 2024 at 11:43 PM
I'm out with a nasty flu, so I'm stuck sharing old photos for a while. This miniature is from a 1494 #manuscript of the Šāhnāma. It shows a pretty sweet sīmurġ (which would make a killer tattoo) but even cooler is the fact that it and the people on the roof are pasted in over an older miniature.
I've been stuck in afwul #Oxford traffic for nearly an hour coming back from @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, so before my battery runs out have a miniature! This one is from MS. Canonici 122, a copy of the #Persian #Sufi epic Intikhāb-i ḥadīqah by Sanāyī (supposedly edited by Farīd al-dīn ‘Aṭṭār).
November 29, 2024 at 5:36 PM
I've been stuck in afwul #Oxford traffic for nearly an hour coming back from @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, so before my battery runs out have a miniature! This one is from MS. Canonici 122, a copy of the #Persian #Sufi epic Intikhāb-i ḥadīqah by Sanāyī (supposedly edited by Farīd al-dīn ‘Aṭṭār).
New article out! Short, non-specialist piece in the magazine of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs on the history of #Turkic literature in #CentralAsia. Nothing groundbreaking, but good for someone who wants an overview of the major Turkic literary #languages and #scripts in the region. #tengri
November 28, 2024 at 9:14 PM
New article out! Short, non-specialist piece in the magazine of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs on the history of #Turkic literature in #CentralAsia. Nothing groundbreaking, but good for someone who wants an overview of the major Turkic literary #languages and #scripts in the region. #tengri
If I had to pick a single image to sum up my day-to-day work @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, it would be a frontispiece in lapis blue and gold like this one from a 1494 copy the #Shahnamah of #Firdawsi. Still, I never get tired of them 💙💛 #persian #manuscripts www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
November 27, 2024 at 5:06 PM
If I had to pick a single image to sum up my day-to-day work @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, it would be a frontispiece in lapis blue and gold like this one from a 1494 copy the #Shahnamah of #Firdawsi. Still, I never get tired of them 💙💛 #persian #manuscripts www.fihrist.org.uk/catalog/manu...
So glad that my first item on the screen @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social was at an event with the Elif Şafak about, among other things, women's writing. Thanks to @richove.bsky.social for inviting me to share the work of Iqbāl-khān, late 19th/early 20th c. #Tajik & #Uzbek woman poet from #Bukhara!
November 26, 2024 at 8:05 PM
So glad that my first item on the screen @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social was at an event with the Elif Şafak about, among other things, women's writing. Thanks to @richove.bsky.social for inviting me to share the work of Iqbāl-khān, late 19th/early 20th c. #Tajik & #Uzbek woman poet from #Bukhara!
@bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Marsh 196 is an #Ottoman genealogical #manuscript in the form of a 40+ ft scroll, probably from the early half of the 1500s. It's unique in its inclusion not only of the Old Testament prophets, but also the Old Persian kings and -- as seen here -- the Chinggisids.
November 24, 2024 at 7:53 PM
@bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Marsh 196 is an #Ottoman genealogical #manuscript in the form of a 40+ ft scroll, probably from the early half of the 1500s. It's unique in its inclusion not only of the Old Testament prophets, but also the Old Persian kings and -- as seen here -- the Chinggisids.
#რუსთაველი ლეიდენში! #Rustaveli in #Leiden! The 110 wall poems in the city represent dozens of #languages from #Georgian to Muskogi. Language studies are etched into the very rocks that built this city. Stop de #bezuinigingen op #cultuur, #wetenschap en #onderwijs! @woinactie.bsky.social
November 22, 2024 at 9:18 AM
#რუსთაველი ლეიდენში! #Rustaveli in #Leiden! The 110 wall poems in the city represent dozens of #languages from #Georgian to Muskogi. Language studies are etched into the very rocks that built this city. Stop de #bezuinigingen op #cultuur, #wetenschap en #onderwijs! @woinactie.bsky.social
The Abulkhayrid dynasty, which controlled #Bukhara (present-day #Uzbekistan) in the mid 16th century when this manuscript was likely produced, isn't as well-known for its book arts as its Timurid predecessors, but this exquisite miniature of Yūsuf in the well demonstrates, maybe it should be!
November 16, 2024 at 6:27 PM
The Abulkhayrid dynasty, which controlled #Bukhara (present-day #Uzbekistan) in the mid 16th century when this manuscript was likely produced, isn't as well-known for its book arts as its Timurid predecessors, but this exquisite miniature of Yūsuf in the well demonstrates, maybe it should be!
MS. Whinfield 12 is one of the most hodge-podge #manuscripts in our #CentralAsia collections @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, but that's part of its beauty! Nearly every page of this copy of Jāmī's #Persian epic Yūsuf u Zulaykhā (Joseph & Potiphar's wife) has a different design & color combination.
November 16, 2024 at 6:27 PM
MS. Whinfield 12 is one of the most hodge-podge #manuscripts in our #CentralAsia collections @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social, but that's part of its beauty! Nearly every page of this copy of Jāmī's #Persian epic Yūsuf u Zulaykhā (Joseph & Potiphar's wife) has a different design & color combination.
I hear cats do well on this site, so... here's Ghost to help shamelessly boost my number of followers! 👻😻
November 14, 2024 at 10:45 PM
I hear cats do well on this site, so... here's Ghost to help shamelessly boost my number of followers! 👻😻