Hjem
Institutt for arkeologi, historie, kultur- og religionsvitenskap
Conference

The persona and cult of the Archangel Michael

On the 20th and 21st of March 2018, a conference on “The persona and cult of the Archangel Michael,” organized by Alexandros Tsakos, Marta Camilla Wright, and Ingvild Sælid Gilhus, is due to take place in Bergen.

Michael
The Archangel Michael and the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace (10th century), from the Cathedral at Faras, Lower Nubia; today in the Sudan National Museum.
Foto/ill.:
Sudan National Museum

Hovedinnhold

The conference, supported by a SPIRE-grant, brings together fifteen scholars from different backgrounds in order to discuss, in a multi-disciplinary context, aspects of this most important figure of the Abrahamic religions. For the first time, disciplines traditionally involved in the study of religion, like philology and papyrology, art and iconography, anthropology and religion, history and psychology, are combined with methodologies deriving from memory studies, graphic design, and art education and semiotics.

This innovative venue aspires to become the first of a series of such conferences and workshops aiming at creating a network of “Michaelological” studies. Therefore, the focus on the cult and persona of Michael in Christianity is only the beginning of a larger scope of understanding the Archangel’s role, not only in Christianity but also in Judaism and Islam. A conference in South Africa is already being planned as a continuation of the collaboration in the SPIRE framework. In the meantime, you are welcome to follow the proceedings of the conference in Bergen at Seminarrom D, Dragefjellet skole.

Day 1, March 20:

10:00-10:15 Tsakos Alexandros (UiB), Welcome and scope of the conference

 

10:15-10:35 Gilhus Sælid Ingvild (UiB), On Angels

10:35-11:00 Discussion

 

11:00-11:20 Human Delene (University of Pretoria), The Resurrection Myth Archetype Manifested Through the Journey of a Hero – Archangel Michael

11:20-11:45 Discussion

 

11:45-12:45 Lunch break

 

12:45-13:05 Zielińska Dobrochna (University of Warsaw) & Tsakos Alexandros (University of Bergen), Following the footsteps of an archangel. The representations of the Archangel Michael in the framework of the project “Corpus of wall paintings from Medieval Nubia”.

13:05-13:30 Discussion

 

13:30-13:50 Łaptaś Magda (Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw), The position of the Archangel Michael in the celestial hierarchy. Some aspects of the manifestation of his cult in Nubian painting

13:50-14:15 Discussion

 

14:15-14:30 Break

 

14:30-14:50 D’Agostino Pietro (University of Paris), Saint Michael, the River Nile and the Egyptian nature: is the Archangel the heir of the god Thot?

14:50-15:15 Discussion

 

15:15-15:35 Innemée Karel (University of Amsterdam), The Archangel Michael as psychopomp.

15:35-16:00 Discussion

 

16:00-16:15 Coffee/tea break

 

16:15-16:35 Lundhaug Hugo (University of Oslo), Textual Fluidity and Exegetical Creativity in the Investiture of Michael the Archangel

16:35-17:00 Discussion

 

17:00-17:20 Tibet David (Independent Researcher), The IFAO foglia with a Sahidic version of Liber Institutionis Michaelis

17:20-17:45 Discussion

 

Day 2, March 21:

09:00-09:20 Wright Camilla (UiB), The archangel Michael in Ethiopian Orthodox Christian healing practices in contemporary Addis Ababa.

09:20-09:45 Discussion

 

09:45-10:05 Malara Diego (University of Edinburgh), Making the Angel Visible: Witnessing, Kinship and Hierarchy in Ethiopian Orthodox Exorcism 

10:05-10:30 Discussion

 

10:30-10:45 Coffee/tea break

 

10:45-11:05 Levene Dan (University of Southampton), 'Magical Michael'. Incantation traditions.

11:05-11:30 Discussion

 

11:30-11:50 Steyn Raita (University of Pretoria), Archangel Michael in the midst of The New Jerusalem - an African sacred space for pilgrims

11:50-12:15 Discussion

 

12:15-13:30 Lunch break

 

13:30-13:50 Kriel Lize (University of Pretoria), St Michael as ‘elsewhere’: myths of misplacement in the changing visual landscapes of South Africa’s Capital Cities

13:50-14:15 Discussion

 

14:15-14:35 Kapalo James (University College Cork), “And thus we obtain the Archangel Michael” – The Representation and Embodiment of the Archangel Michael on Twentieth Century Moldova

14:35-15:00 Discussion

 

15:00-15:15 Break

 

15:15-16:00 General discussion