iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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rAIner Agentic Quantum Rehak @rainer-rehak.mastodon.bits-und-baeume.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

„Berliner, die sich links-außen oder Mitte-links positionieren, weisen durchgängig seltener antisemitische Ressentiments auf (Abb. 5.8).“ Berlin-Monitor 2025, S. 80 berlin-monitor.de/wp-content/upload… #Antisemitismus #Linke #Links #Berlin

Grafik, die zeigt, dass je linker desto weniger antisemitisch.

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Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Seal impressions can reveal ownership, reading practices, and the journeys of manuscripts across collections. A new DFG-funded project is creating a database of seals from manuscripts in the Islamic world. It will link images and descriptions and develop tools for automated recognition

uhh.de

New DFG Project for Exploring Seal Impressions

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Bulletin of the History of Archaeology @bhajournal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

New publication! See Vincent Engelhardt and Jakob Wigand on "The Politics of Provenance Research: Reassessing the Appropriation of Finds from the Samarra Excavations," available #OpenAccess here: archaeologybulletin.org/articles/10.... . Check out the abstract below. 🏺 🗃️

Publications by the Berlin State Museum have justified the presence of archaeological objects from the Abbasid residence of Samarra in its collections by referring to a supposed legal division of finds between the excavators and the Ottoman authorities. However, despite the institution's refusal to grant access to external researchers, this article reexamines the archaeological excavations in Samarra conducted between 1911 and 1913 under the direction of the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. By critically engaging with existing scholarship and drawing on new archival evidence, we argue that a significant number of artefacts were unlawfully exported from the Ottoman Empire to Berlin and that no such legal division of finds ever took place. Additionally, we interrogate the institution's exclusion of independent provenance research...

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I'm happy to share an article I have co-authored with @jawi.bsky.social about the archaeological excavation in Ottoman Samarra (1911-1913). It addresses the antiquities smuggling by German archaeologists and problematises the archival gatekeeping external researchers face at @kulturspk.bsky.social.

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

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Anne Rabe @annerabe.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Der Umgang mit Rechtsextremismus in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik war immer problematisch. Immer beschwichtigend, immer verharmlosend. Selten die reale Gefahr im Blick, selten im Sinne der (potentiellen) Opfer. Es handelt sich um den politischen Extremismus, der in der Geschichte der… 1/29

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HMML @visithmml.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

🧵(1) Digitization & cataloging is complete for 36 Arabic manuscripts in the collection of Eyes on Heritage (al-ʻUyūn ʻalá al-Turāth, project code EOH), a cultural institution in Gaza. Learn more: hmml.org/collections/...

A text on the Sufi orders by ʻUthmān al-Ṭabbāʻ, written in Gaza in 1907 CE, with a note and seals of approval by his teacher Aḥmad Bisīsū. (EOH 00023)

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Ben Alpers @benalpers.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

MIT closing three of its four libraries is shocking and appalling and underscores that the source of so much of the crisis in higher education comes not from attacks from the far right or the collapse of public trust, but rather from the university administrative class itself.

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themboy insomniac @riotliturgist.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

i keep saying that genAI is not about "democratizing information," and it is NOOOOT anti-IP. it's an attempt at information enclosure, it's the mother of all would-be IP landlords. what they want is to crowd out free available information, control what remains, and then charge us for it

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

The only fellow researcher in Dar al-Kutub one day before eid:

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Jan-Martin Wiarda @jmwiarda.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Die bequeme Sorge um die Wissenschaftsfreiheit Die Debatte über Wissenschaftsfreiheit boomt. Doch oft bleiben ausgerechnet jene außen vor, deren Fächer zeigen, wo die Freiheit der Wissenschaft unter Druck steht. Ein Gastbeitrag von Jannis Grimm. Im Wiarda-Blog lesen: www.jmwiarda.de/blog/2026/05...

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

A dozen female Palestinians are working to save and preserve medieval and early modern manuscripts 📕 from the Al-Omari mosque’s library. Hang this picture in the Louvre (and the Met). www.newarab.com/features/ins...

Volunteers in Gaza City are working to rescue books and manuscripts from the library at the Great Omari Mosque

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Some things never change, Victor Édouard Dor (L'instruction publique en Égypte, Paris 1872, p. 250) about visiting the Khedival Library, now Egyptian National Library/Dar al-Kutub:

"Enfin les difficultés que présente toute visite à la bibliothèque; sont peu en harmonie avec le but qu'elle doit remplir."

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Marinos Sariyannis @sariyannis.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

An important update for applicants in our MA in Ottoman history. Deadline is 27 April! Downloadable links here: www.academia.edu/165671803/UP...

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Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz @kulturspk.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Auftakt der Reihe „Schätze des Wissens“: Was erzählen arabische Handschriften über Gesellschaft und Geschichte? Forscher geben Einblicke in die Bestände der @stabiberlin.bsky.social. Mit Simultanübersetzung. 14.04., 18 Uhr, Der Divan, Berlin-Zehlendorf. Anmeldung erbeten t1p.de/b42fq

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Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her) @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Germany and Turkey have a centuries-long shared history, "yet when Turkish workers arrived in Germany in the 1960s, it vanished from view. It did not fit the image of the underprivileged “guest worker” – nor the cliched view of Turkey. In many ways, that remains true today." - Carolin Würfel.

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Maximilian Pichl @maxpichl.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Man kommt nicht hinterher: Jetzt greift Wolfram Weimer auch noch defacto die Sammlungs- und Dokumentationspflicht der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek an. Will diese Bundesregierung gerade Kultur komplett plattmachen? www.deutschlandfunk.de/geplanter-er...

deutschlandfunk.de

Entscheidung von Staatsminister Weimer - Geplanter Erweiterungsbau für Deutsche Nationalbibliothek soll nicht umgesetzt werden

Der seit Jahren geplante Erweiterungsbau an der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek in Leipzig soll nun doch nicht umgesetzt werden. Wie die Nationalbibliothek mitteilte, hat das der Beauftragte der Bundesre...

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Wichtiger Appell zur Öffnung der Unternehmensarchive. Die Überführung der Privatarchive in staatliche Institutionen allein reicht nicht aus, wenn Gatekeeping fortgeführt wird. Die Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft bestimmt etwa nach wie vor, wer Zugang zum DOG-Archiv im Zentralarchiv der SMB haben darf.

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Update: In a statement, Bonn University confirms the renaming of the Otto Spies Memorial Series because of the archival material I quoted in my blogpost. In the meantime, the local newspaper Bonner General-Anzeiger published an article on the issue as well. www.ioa.uni-bonn.de/isl/de/nachr...

New name for the Publication Series: Ottoman Studies Publication Series (OSPS)

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

We published version 5.0 of the Audition Certificate Platform today. It now includes 5560 annotated certificates: www.audition-certificates-platform.org

audition-certificates-platform.org

ACP Search - ACP - Audition Certificates Platform

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Theo Knights @theoknights.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

It is difficult to know how to go about explaining to students that this series was named—in 2015!—for a member of the Nazi Party who was writing things like: 2/3

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Theo Knights @theoknights.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

This is really startling! I have found that Bonn's memorial lecture series and publication provides accessible introductions to topics at the forefront of research in Ottoman studies. For Monday I had even assigned Faroqhi's contribution on Ottoman slavery to an intro course I am teaching. 1/3

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Jonathan Parkes Allen @jparkesallen.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

On the construction and practice of "ordinary" Islam through the lens of one eighteenth century Ottoman traveler and his encounter with a rather unusual saint's shrine in Homs:

jonathanparkesallen.substack.com

At the Tomb of Bābā 'Amr in Homs

A Glimpse at Early Modern Ottoman Islam

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Heleen Murre-van den Berg @hlmvdberg.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Library studies at its best!

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

My first peer-reviewed article, based on my BA thesis at FU Berlin, has just been published (OA). It traces Palestinian libraries from the late Ottoman period in the so-called Abandoned Property Collection (NLI). Thank you to everyone who supported! doi.org/10.1353/mns.... @sims-mss.bsky.social

doi.org

Project MUSE - From Private Libraries in Late Ottoman Palestine to "Abandoned Property": Reconstructing the Dajānī Family Manuscript Collections in the National Library of Israel

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

The Hellmut Ritter memorial stone, situated above the German military cemetery in Tarabya. Created in 1986 by Bern Pielemeier at the initiative of Traugott Fuchs. Today, the once open view of the Bosphorus has become overgrown (as the stone itself will be overgrown soon).

In Memoriam Hellmut Ritter (1892-1971)
نقل فؤادك حيث شئت من الهوى
ما الحب الا الحبيب الاول

"Turn your heart wherever you will in passion; There is no love except for the Beloved" (Abu Tammam)

To the discoverer and preserver, founder and creator

To the exemplary teacher and guide into the future

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Dr Selena Wisnom @lswisnom.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

One of the best archival experiences for me so far has been the Archive of the Turkish Historical Society in Ankara (Türk Tarih Kurumu Arşivi). After my request, they send me within in 24 hours all documents related to my research as pdf and jpg file for free via fileshare.

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

I always wondered how the Ottoman budget for the year 1904-5 found it's way to the Leiden Special collection. Turns out it might be from the library of Sultan Murad V. "formally bought by Cense [former head of the NIT Istanbul] personally to avoid problems with Turkish customs authorities" in 1962:

Jan Schmidt, Turkish mss in the Netherlands, vol. 4, p. 438-9

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

It is intriguing to note that parts of these manuscripts were lost to the flames during the destruction of the Leuven library in 1940. One can’t help but wonder what the collectors who transferred antiquities to Europe, often self-identified "saviours", would have to say about it.

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Hier noch eine gute Anekdote zu den inventories aus einer Essaysammlung von Witkam

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/view/item/36...

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

And the twentieth century adds some additional interesting layers (Witkam, Inventory vol. 15, 95):

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Another wonderful book by Kreiser is his introduction to Istanbul based on Ottoman sources:

Klaus Kreiser, Istanbul - ein historischer Stadtführer, 2013.

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Still a very nice introduction to get a sense of what has been done in languages other than english before 2000:

Klaus Kreiser, Der Osmanische Staat 1300-1922 (Oldenbourg, 2001)

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Emily Pawley @emilypawley.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

I'm feeling a new love for a clumsy sentence or a misspelled word. I imagine a human on the other end. Doing their own typing, like the old days. I'm thinking about styles of writing that might emerge from this-- analogues to a guacamole I once saw advertised as "hand hacked" at a fancy restaurant.

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New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

“The Lebanese label produced hundreds, if not thousands, of recordings in Berlin up until the eve of World War II.” Anna-Theresa Bachmann and Hannah El-Hitami explore the history of Baidaphon for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com

The Arab World’s First Indie Record Label

A Lebanese family’s global brand reflects the story of 20th-century Europe — and its relationship with the Middle East

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

My word autocorrection on the state of German Ottoman scholarship:

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Jan Schmidt on his work as a cataloguer of the Turkish manuscripts at John Rylands University Library, Manchester:

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Vincent E. @vincente.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Important thread on the smuggle of Papyrus bilinguis 1, currently still in the holdings of @stabihh.bsky.social Why is there no public debate in Hamburg about ethical responsibilities today? @juergenzimmerer.bsky.social @spiegel.de @zeit.de @recherche.ndr.de @ndr.de

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Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) @csmc-hamburg.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Once a hub of Ottoman culture, Süleyman Efendi’s library was scattered by conquest. In our PhD Research Series, Rawda El-Hajji traces these manuscripts, showing how they help reconstruct lost intellectual communities and reveal the fate of cultural heritage in times of conflict: uhh.de/csmc-el-hajji

Ms. 3406, Süleyman Efendi’s endowment deed on folio 1r. Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna, ms. 3406 © 2023 by AMS Historica is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Rawda El-Hajji visiting the Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle, Budapest. © Ashraf Sarip

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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

50. Read PhD and MA theses when you are doing research. There is so much great scholarship by people who never got the opportunity to publish their research as a book.

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