This volume contains selected papers from a December 2006 Dumbarton Oaks symposium that complemented an exhibition of early Bible manuscripts at the Freer Gallery and Sackler Gallery of Art titled “In the Beginning: Bibles before the Year 1000.” Speakers were invited to examine the use of the Greek Old Testament as a text, social practice, and cultural experience in the Byzantine Empire. Not only are reminiscences of the Old Testament ubiquitous in Byzantine literature and art, but the Byzantine people also revered and identified with Old Testament role models. The Old Testament connected Byzantium not only with its Christian neighbors but with Jewish and Muslim peoples as well. This widespread phenomenon has never received systematic investigation. The Old Testament in Byzantium considers the manifestations of the holy books in Byzantine manuscript illustration, architecture, and government, as well as in Jewish Bible translations and the construction of Muhammad’s character.
Paul Magdalino studied at Oxford and from 1977 to 2009 taught at the University of St Andrews. He is currently Professor of History at Koc University, Istanbul. He has published extensively on many aspects of medieval Byzantine history.
Robert Nelson has long been interested in illuminated Greek religious manuscripts, their social uses as objects, as well as the interplay of text and image. He teaches Byzantine art at Yale University, where he is currently chair of Medieval Studies and chair of Renaissance Studies.
Dumbarton Oaks recent titles in Byzantine Studies Thresholds of the Sacred Sharon E. J. Gerstel, editor Early Byzantine Pilgrimage Art Gary Vikan
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