Search Results (5)

Bells have long been a defining feature of Christian culture, shaping the soundscapes of medieval Europe. This article examines the sonic heritage of active medieval bells in the Valdres region of Norway. We analyze the tonal structure of bells from Slidredomen, Lomen, Hegge, Reinli, and Hedalen churches based on acoustic measurements taken during fieldwork in the summer of 2024. We collected acoustic data using a Sound Level Meter Cesva 202 and a Zoom H4n recorder, which we then used for tonal analysis of the bells with Wavanal software. The results revealed the distinctive voices of individual bells while highlighting tonal similarities among certain bells and patterns in bell selection within specific churches. Based on the study’s valuable insights into the sound character of medieval bells in Valdres, we discussed medieval bell tuning and the implications for the preservation of medieval church bells as sonic heritage. Full article

Religious practice in Serbia has taken place using both indoors and outdoors sacred sites ever since the adoption of Christianity in medieval times. However, previous archaeoacoustic research was focused on historic church acoustics, excluding the open-air soundscapes of sacred sites. The goal of this review paper is to shed light on the varieties of sacred soundscapes that have supported the various needs of Orthodox Christian practice in medieval Serbia. First, in relation to the acoustic requirements of the religious service, we compare the acoustic properties of masonry and wooden churches based on the published archaeoacoustic studies of medieval churches and musicological studies of the medieval art of chanting. Second, we provide an overview of the ethnological and historical studies that address the outdoor sacred soundscapes and investigate the religious sound markers of large percussion instruments, such as bells and semantra, the open-air litany procession that has been practiced during the annual celebration of a patron saint’s day in rural areas, and the medieval assemblies that took place on the sacred sites. This paper finally points out that the archaeoacoustic studies of sacred soundscapes should not be limited to church acoustics but also include open-air sacred sites to provide a complete analysis of the aural environment of religious practice and thus contribute to understanding the acoustic intention of medieval builders, as well as the aural experience of both clergy and laity. Full article

This article relates the transmission history of a single Samaritan text and its fascinating trajectory from a Samaritan legend into early modern rabbinic tradition, and on to nineteenth and early twentieth century Jewish studies circles. It focuses on the only Samaritan narrative cited in all of Louis Ginzberg’s monumental Legends of the Jews (1909–1938). Often called the “Epistle of Joshua son of Nun,” I trace the trajectory of this story from a medieval Samaritan chronicle to Samuel Sulam’s 1566 publication of Abraham Zacuto’s Sefer Yuḥasin. From there, we move to early modern belles lettres in Hebrew and Yiddish, western scholarship and then to the great Jewish anthologizers of the fin de siècle, Micha Yosef Berdyczewski, Judah David Eisenstein and Louis Ginzberg. I will suggest reasons why this tale was so appealing to Sulam, a Sephardi scholar based in Istanbul, that he appended it to Sefer Yuḥasin, and what about this tale of heroism ingratiated it to early modern European and then early Zionist readers. The afterlife of this tale is a rare instance of Samaritan influence upon classical Jewish literature, undermining assumptions of unidirectional Jewish influence upon the minority Samaritan culture from antiquity to modern times. Full article

A collaboration between the American University of Rome, the Municipality of Giove, and Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio dellʼUmbria has resulted in an academic project aimed at a preliminary evaluation of a particular area along the Tiber river that straddles the border between Umbria and Lazio. Archaeological prospection methods, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and photogrammetry, have made it possible to better study the landscape with respect to not only the changes the area has undergone recently, but also its evolution during the Roman and Medieval periods, while keeping the main communication route represented by the Tiber river as its fulcrum. Full article

Two hundred years after Tommaso Minardi (pupil of Antonio Canova) was appointed director, the Accademia di Belle Arti “Pietro Vannucci” of Perugia (Academy of Fine Arts), in synergy with the Università degli Studi of Perugia, once again had a fundamental role in the creation process of the Umbria brand concept. A concept that once again was the result of a true cultural project, whereby, just as the image of a “green and medieval” Umbria was reinforced by the evocative charge of painting, the image of a more “authentically contemporary” Umbria will be powered by the connotative charge of design. Full article