I am very excited to be able to announce the “Language and Cultural Identity in Postclassical Greek” conference that Robert Walker and I and I are putting on this fall. The conference will launch a new network, The Septuagint within the History of Greek Network.

We are especially looking forward to this conference since we had begun the preparations with the late James Aitken as one of our co-organizers. Not to mention Jim was one of the founders with Trevor Evans of the network. This will not only be a conference that will carry on his work but truly seek to celebrate the legacy of a tremendous scholar. For a little more information about the network, you can also see Marieke Dhont’s recent forward about it in her and Jim’s special volume in the Journal for the Study of Judaism which also mentions the conference.

Language and Cultural Identity Postclassical Greek (SHG23)

In Memoriam: Professor James K. Aitken (1968-2023)

The Inaugural Conference of The Septuagint within the History of Greek Network

Conference Abstract:

Though the nearly three millennia of the Greek language is well-documented, the Postclassical period (350 BCE-350 CE) has found itself not only neglected by traditional linguists and philologists, but t even pitted qualitatively against earlier stages of the language. While these older prescriptivist trends persist today, recent scholarship has seen a growing interest in understanding the nature of Postclassical Greek, and the various cultures surrounding its production from a synchronic and diachronic perspective. Recent research surrounding the ever-growing papyrological and epigraphical evidence is especially significant. This trend has not only illuminated the register, style, and education of Postclassical authors and speakers, but offered a touchpoint for forming a clearer understanding of that which has often been understood as “Biblical Greek” (i.e. the Septuagint and New Testament). Combining perspectives from historical linguistics, socio-linguistics, and cognitive linguistics, this conference seeks to better understand language and cultural identity, and the various internal and external factors which have produced diachronic language change, as evidenced in the Postclassical period.

This conference will function as the launch for The Septuagint within the History of Greek Network (SHGN), a jointly formed network between scholars at Macquarie University, Ghent University, and the University of Cambridge. Throughout the years, collaboration between scholars at each of these universities has brought together expertise in papyrology, epigraphy. Greek linguistics, Biblical studies, and Classics. In recent years, these scholars have recognized the need for a formal network so that other researchers are able to participate in this collaboration as well. The Septuagint with within the History of Greek Network seeks to understand the Septuagint as a Greek text in its own right, which has been influenced by various facets of its milieu. Likewise, this multi-disciplinary network studies not only the Septuagint, but also cultural identity in the Postclassical period through examination of material evidence within Egypt and the larger Greek speaking world. For this reason, we are excited to launch SHGN at the inaugural conference “Language and Cultural Identity in Postclassical Greek” (SHG23) and aim for future conferences to take place under the same banner in coming years.

To register online, fill out the following form: SHG23 Online Registration

Wednesday (13 September) – Greek Linguistics and Translation

• 8.30-9.30 Registration and Coffee in Foyer
• 9.30-9.45 WELCOME (Organisers – Robert Walker, & Andrew Keenan, University of Cambridge; Trevor Evans, Macquarie University)

The Language of the Septuagint (Section 1) 9.45-12.4 (Chaired by: Klaas Bentein)

• 9.45-10.45 Keynote Lecture: The Greek of the Septuagint as ‘Demotic’: Synchronic and diachronic perspectives (Mark Janse)
• 10.45-11.15 Break
• 11.15-11.45 Modal morphosyntax in the Septuagint within the history of Post-Classical Greek (Ezra la Roi)
• 11.45-12.15 Genitives in Postclassical Greek and Late Biblical Hebrew (Lindsey Davidson)
• 12.15-12.45 Typology of Reciprocal constructions in the Septuagint and post-classical Greek (Romina Vergari)
• 12.45-14.15 Lunch break
• 14.00-14.15 Coffee in Foyer

Language Contact in Translation (Section 2) 14.15-17.15 (Chaired by: Marieke Dhont)

• 14.15-14.45 Conditional insubordination and written language contact in the Septuagint and Post-Classical Greek: εἰ/ἐάν (μή) with future or subjunctive (Ezra la Roi and Klaas Bentein)
• 14.45-15.15 Can the use of subjunctives in Greek Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 be best explained in the context of the history of the Greek language? (Ryan Comins)
• 15.15-15.45 Break
• 15.45-16.15 The parenthetic nominatives of the LXX: Standard Greek or artefacts of interference? (Mark Matic)
• 16.15-16.45 Cross-Linguistic Influence and Cognition in Translation: Some Implications for the Interpretation of Lexical and Syntactic Meaning in the Greek Pentateuch (Jean Maurais)
• 16.45-17.15 Inclusive and Exclusive Disjunction in the Greek Pentateuch (Travis Wright)

Day 1 Closing Remarks

Thursday (14 September) – Language and Identity

Education and Jewish-Greek Identity (Section 3) 9.30-12.30 (Chaired by: Trevor Evans)

• 9.30-10.30 Keynote Lecture: The Educational Milieu of the Septuagint Psalms Translator (John Lee)
• 10.30-11.00 Break
• 11.00-11.30 The Pluperfect in Old Greek Kingdoms (Samuel Wessels)
• 11.30-12.00 Language and Identity in Jewish-Greek Poetry: Ezekiel and the Septuagint (Marieke Dhont)
• 12.00-12.30 Translation Traditions in Mutual Illumination: Old Greek and Old English (Joshua Parker)
• 12.30-14.00 Lunch break
• 13.45-14.00 Coffee in Foyer

Identifying the Translator(s) (Section 4) 14.00-16.15 (Chaired by: Timothy Lee)

• 14.00-14.30 What do Egyptian Influences in the LXX tell us about the identity of the translator(s)? (Camilla Recalcati)
• 14.30-15.00 A Kind of Link’: Language and Identity in LXX Joshua (Trevor Evans)
• 15.00-15.15 Break
• 15.15-15.45 A Nosy Translator? The LXX-Translation of the Divine אַף Between Tradition and Innovation (Ellen De Doncker)
• 15.45-16.15 Prayer of the prophet on behalf of the king: semantic view of Jer 21:2 and Jer 37:3 (Jer 44:3 LXX) (Srećko Koralija)
• 16.15-16.30 Break

Kaige in Conversation (Section 5) 16.30-17.30 (Chaired by: Travis Wright)

• 16.30-16.50 Kaige Language and the Postclassical Turn (William Ross)
• 16.50-17.10 Kaige as a Coherent Movement (Timothy Lee)
• 17.10-17.30 Discussion (Led by Chair)
• Day 2 Closing Remarks

Friday (15 September) – Semantics

Septuagint Lexicography (Section 6) 9.30-13.00 (Chaired by: John Lee)

• 9.30-10.30 Keynote Lecture: Reflections on Septuagint Lexicography by an editor of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon (Anne Thompson)
• 10.30-10.45 Break
• 10.45-11.15 Transcription or Translation?: Hebrew and Aramaic Loanwords in Jewish Lects of Greek and the Greek of the Septuagint (Benjamin Kantor)
• 11.15-11.45 Limitless Dimensions of LXX Words (Tyler Horton, Andrew Keenan, and Robert Walker)
• 11.45-12.00 Break
• 12.00-12.30 Idolising Eidola: The Lexicon of Cult Images in Postclassical Greek (Alexi Chantziantoniou)
• 12.30-13.00 The semantics of nature in the Septuagint against the background of Hellenistic Philosophy (Anna Angelini)
• Closing Remarks (Robert Walker & Andrew Keenan, University of Cambridge; Trevor Evans, Macquarie University)