2026
UPCOMING EMBCA EVENTS: The Status of Orthodox Monasteries under Islamic Rule — and Why This Still Matters and Is Important" Webinar on Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 2 P.M. EST / 9 P.M. Athens EEST.
Link: youtube.com/live/CYzxecaLscw
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Bir İstanbullunun İzleri: Metochites’ten Kariye’ye
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhQK-maNRZE
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Unberührter Wissensschatz: Ein Projekt zur Erschließung der osmanischen Handschriften der Athos-Klöster
By Dr. Richard Wittmann
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MOmA Training workshop, 6 & 7 April 2026
Das Orient-Institut Istanbul veranstaltet gemeinsam mit den Partnern des Projekts Manuscripta Ottomanica montis Athonis (MOmA) einen zweitägigen Training Workshop zu digitalen Methoden zur Erschließung osmanischer Handschriften.
Das internationale Forschungsprojekt (seit Mai 2025) widmet sich der Digitalisierung und Katalogisierung der osmanischen Handschriften des Berges Athos und entwickelt u. a. Tools zur automatischen Handschriftenerkennung.
Der Workshop bietet praxisorientierte Einblicke in diese Methoden und Werkzeuge.
Einführungen durch:
Richard Wittmann (Orient-Institut Istanbul)
Sibel Karakoç / Kent Schull (University of Binghamton, New York)
Ahlem Elffati (Infoscribe, Tunis)
Niehoff-Panagiotidis (Freie Universität Berlin)
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A newly published article by Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis and Prof. Dr. Theocharis N. Grigoriadis on Verfassungsblog
After the War in Iran
Historical Legacies and Scenarios for Reform
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Im Rahmen des EU-Gipfeltreffens auf Zypern, das im ersten Halbjahr 2026 die EU-Ratspräsidentschaft innehat, besuchte eine Gruppe von Ministern aus verschiedenen EU-Ländern auch das Kloster Agia Napa im Südosten der Mittelmeerinsel. Dort leitet Dr. Brigitta Schrade seit 15 Jahren ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt der Berliner Byzantinistik mit der Metropolie Constantia-Ammochostos sowie der Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia zur Einrichtung eines Museums und Erforschung des Klosters. Mit seiner internationalen Ausrichtung sei das Projekt vorbildlich für die gesamteuropäische Forschung, heißt es aus Zypern.
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On June 2nd and 3rd, Professor Niehoff-Panagiotidis will give a paper at the University of Oxford on the Arabic documents to illustrate the history of the Byzantine Monastery of Sinai. He will also meet the reading group of Christian Arabic there, on the 3rd of June.
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Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis und Dr. Anastrasios Nikopoulos published a new book with Evraq. it can be found on: Evrak: Beiträge zur Quellenkunde des Vorderen Orients Band 1 (2025), Beitrag 2: S. 49–97.
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Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis will give next Tuesday, 2 June, and next Wednesday, 3 June, two lectures in Oxford on Christian Arabic.
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New Article by Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis: (The recent article by Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis "How the Ottomans viewed Mount Athos", was officially accepted by the Munich review "Südostforschungen", vol. 84, and it will appear as soon as possible."
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Conference Report Announcement | Bridging Manuscripts and Machines
New Approaches to the Multilingual Heritage of Ancient Scientific Texts in the Digital Age
Ruhr University Bochum, we are pleased to share that Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis will be presenting a paper titled "Geoponika and Alchemy" at the international conference Bridging Manuscripts and Machines, hosted by the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Ruhr University Bochum on 27 June 2026 (11:30–12:30).
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Professor Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis’s new article, “Sharia in Northern Greece: The Continuation of Ottoman Law on Mount Athos and Its Roots in Islamic (and Not So Islamic) Jurisprudence,” has been completed and is forthcoming in Greek. It will be printed by Ayioritiki Estia.
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Forthcoming Edition of Emperor İoannis Kantakuzinos’s Histories
The first book of the Histories by the fourteenth-century Byzantine emperor İoannis Kantakuzinos is now ready for publication in Tusculum series (Berlin). The text was prepared by our co-author Alberto Longhi.
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New Publication: Judah Hadassi, Eshkol Ha-Kofer
Professor Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis has contributed to the newly published critical edition of Judah Hadassi’s Eshkol Ha-Kofer, edited, introduced and annotated by Daniel J. Lasker, in collaboration with David Sklare and Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis.
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Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis to Participate in EMBCA Panel on the Istanbul Pogrom of 1955
Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis will participate as a panelist in the online discussion “Before and After the Istanbul Pogrom of September 6–7, 1955: The Destruction of the Hellenic (Rum) Community of Turkey,” organized by the Eastern Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA).
The panel will examine the Istanbul Pogrom of 6–7 September 1955 and its wider historical context, including its consequences for the Hellenic (Rum) community of Istanbul, minority rights, cultural heritage, historical memory, and the developments that contributed to the community’s subsequent decline.
Date: Sunday, 6 September 2026
Time: 2:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time / 9:00 PM Athens Time
Format: Online webinar panel discussion
Further information and online participation:
Official EMBCA event page
YouTube livestream:
https://youtube.com/live/CkCCQIObpuE
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New Treatise by Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis
Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis has completed a new treatise entitled “The Islamicate Institution of waqf according to two Ottoman Commentators of al-Ḥalabī’s (d. 1541) multaqā al-abḥur by Şeyḫīzāde ‘Dāmād’ and al-Ḥaskefī al-Dimaşqī.”
The study examines the institution of waqf in Ottoman Ḥanafī law through the writings of two important Ottoman commentators on al-Ḥalabī’s Multaqā al-abḥur. It also addresses questions concerning the legal status of Christian religious foundations and monasteries within the Ottoman legal framework.
The treatise is currently in print.
German Article
Eine arabische waqfiye aus der Zeit Murāds III (1580) für das Sinai-Kloster und die Frage nach dem Rechtsstatus der orthodoxen Klöster im Osmanischen Reich nach 1568/1569
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New Article by Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis
Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis has completed a new article entitled:
“Eine arabische waqfiye aus der Zeit Murāds III (1580) für das Sinai-Kloster und die Frage nach dem Rechtsstatus der orthodoxen Klöster im Osmanischen Reich nach 1568/1569.”
The article is currently in print.
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New Audio Essay: “Sinai — Fifteen Centuries of Continuity”
We are pleased to share a new academic audio essay, “Sinai — Fifteen Centuries of Continuity,” based on a forthcoming article by Professor Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, Chair of Byzantine Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.
The audio essay explores how Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai has survived for some 1,500 years as a living bridge to late antiquity and Byzantium. Tracing the monastery’s complex legal history, the audio essay highlights a fascinating historical paradox: its long-term survival was not achieved in opposition to Islamic law, but was in important ways protected through it. One striking example is a 1580 Cairo legal document in which a Christian monk established a perpetual endowment (waqf).
The audio essay also considers how recent Egyptian court rulings and administrative delays may affect this extraordinary historical continuity.
The audio essay is based on the research and article of Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis and was prepared with the assistance of Raneem Abdulazeez and monks of Mount Athos.
This audio essay was produced by Schrifton, an independent publishing and media studio based in Berlin.
Release Date: September 2026
Research: Prof. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, Freie Universität Berlin
Production: Schrifton
Assistance: Raneem Abdulazeez and monks of Mount Athos
Listen to the Audio Essay
Sinai — Fifteen Centuries of Continuity · SCHRIFTON
Link to Project
Sinai — Fifteen Centuries of Continuity
Sinai — Fifteen Centuries of Continuity — Academic Audio Essay — SCHRIFTON
Before and After the Istanbul Pogrom of September 6–7, 1955: The Destruction of the Hellenic (Rum) Community of Turkey
Anlässlich des Jahrestages des Istanbuler Pogroms vom 6.–7. September 1955 widmet sich dieses internationale Webinar-Panel der Geschichte der griechisch-orthodoxen (Rum) Gemeinschaft in der Türkei vor und nach den Ereignissen von 1955. Im Mittelpunkt stehen nicht nur der Pogrom selbst, sondern auch die längerfristigen politischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen, die zur weitgehenden Auflösung einer jahrhundertealten Gemeinschaft in Istanbul und der Türkei führten.
Die Diskussion behandelt unter anderem die Minderheitenbestimmungen des Vertrags von Lausanne, die Vermögenssteuer (Varlık Vergisi) von 1942, Enteignungen und Diskriminierungen sowie die Ausweisungen von 1964. Zugleich werden Fragen nach Minderheitenrechten, religiöser Freiheit, kulturellem Erbe, historischer Erinnerung und Gerechtigkeit gestellt.
An der von Lou Katsos, Präsident der Eastern Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA), moderierten Diskussion nehmen Dr. Harry G. Dimopoulos, Prof. Dr. Johannes Niehoff-Panagiotidis, Dr. Alexandros K. Kyrou, Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Tsitselikis, Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou und Stelios Taketzis teil.
Aufzeichnung des Webinars vom 6. September 2026:
Webinar auf YouTube ansehen
https://www.youtube.com/live/CkCCQIObpuE?si=vjsqG9tJFtP-i8jT&utm_source=chatgpt.com
Neuer Artike von Professor Niehoff
This article examines the legal status of Mount Athos during the early Ottoman period (fourteenth to sixteenth centuries), focusing on the interaction between Byzantine law, customary law and Islamic law. Drawing upon unpublished archival material, Ottoman firmans, waqf deeds (waqfnāmes), fatwās, and both Byzantine and Ottoman legal sources, it reconstructs the evolution of the Athonite legal regime from the Ottoman conquest to the end of the sixteenth century. Copyright©Johannes-Niehoff-Panagiotidis-2026