Marking the time:
Festivals in Roman and Byzantine Egypt
University of Amsterdam, 8th of October 2026
This informal workshop explores the festive culture in Roman and Byzantine Egypt in order to gain a better understanding of the rituals, the social background and religious identity of the participants, the times at which festivities took place and the transformations they underwent.
Some questions that are central to our research project are: How do the dates of new Christian festivals relate to or interact with the dates of older feasts? In what aspects can we see the Roman and Graeco-Egyptian influence on the later Christian festive calendar, in a multicultural place such as Egypt? To what extent were festivals used strategically in the shaping of group identity? What role does the recurring festive custom of gifts play in this transitional phase? And what can we say about who actually celebrated specific festivals and feasts?
By bringing together scholars working on different periods and different source types, we want to get a better grasp on long-term continuity and change, as well as reflect on methodological challenges: how can we fully use the broad scope of available source material, what are the limitations and biases of the evidence and how can these be overcome?
Program
| Bushuis D2-04 (Kloveniersburgwal 48) | |
| 9.30 – 10.00 | Welcome and introduction |
| 10.00 – 11.00 | Elena Chepel (Vienna) – Good days, bad days: festivals, divination, and auspicious times |
| 11.00 – 11.15 | Coffee break |
| 11.15 – 12.15 | Harald Buchinger (Regensburg) – Alexandria: a latecomer in the development of the liturgical year? |
Lunch
| PcHoofthuis 3.19 (Spuistraat 134) | |
| 13.30 – 14.30 | Sofie Remijsen (Amsterdam) – Astrological, Jewish and planetary weeks |
| 14.30 – 15.30 | Elsa Lucassen (Amsterdam) – Retaining the festive rhythm: Serapeia, Easter and the Feast of Pharmouthi |
| 15.30 – 15.45 | Coffee break |
| 15.45 – 16.45 | Ágnes Mihálykó (Vienna) – Hymns, calendars, and vigils: what the liturgical sources from Egypt tell us about the evolving Christian calendar |
| 16.45 – 17.00 | Closing remarks |
If you would like to attend and join us for lunch, please send an email to e.a.lucassen@uva.nl.