By Stephanie Pambakian

At the end of October, the NEAstr project welcomed its first international guests, Dr Emilie Villey and Dr Olivier Defaux (CNRS) for nearly two weeks of cooperation, research and sharing ideas.

It was a particular pleasure to have Emilie and Olivier join us for two sessions of our weekly Almagest reading group. Both guests offered their insights and expertise to help us better understand Ptolemy’s work, as did doctoral candidate Camille Demouchy (UniCA) who joined us for one session.

Between visits to the collections of the British Library and group reading sessions, Dr Villey was able to spend time with members of our project individually.

Dr Villey and Dr Defaux worked side by side with Dr Abigail Pearson to examine Syriac manuscripts in UK collections, and set the ground for further collaboration that will bring more of these unedited treasures to light.

Dr Villey’s expertise in Syriac cosmology and her interest in the corresponding Armenian traditions gave Dr Stephanie Pambakian an opportunity to revisit her edition and translation (forthcoming) of the 7th-c. Cosmology attributed to Anania Širakac‘i in preparation for the workshop ‘Cosmic architectures in the late antique and early medieval Near East’.

This visit has been a great pleasure and an immense opportunity for our team, and we hope there will be many more occasions for collaboration and academic friendship in the future.