Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies

Photo of Professor Siam Bhayro

Professor Siam Bhayro

Associate Professor, Semitic Languages and Jewish Studies

S.Bhayro@exeter.ac.uk

4240

01392 724240

IAIS UG.03

Overview

Professor Siam Bhayro was appointed Associate Professor of Semitic Languages and Jewish Studies in 2022, having previously been Associate Professor in Early Jewish Studies since 2016, Senior Lecturer since 2012, and Lecturer since 2007.

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Research

Bible, Semitic Languages and the Ancient Near East; Early Judaism and Jewish Biblical Exegesis; Medicine in the Christian and Islamic Orient; Aramaic incantation texts; ancient and medieval music.

Collaborative research projects include:

  • Publication of the Aramaic incantation bowls from the Martin Schøyen Collection (Norway), in collaboration with Professor Shaul Shaked z"l (The Hebrew University, Jerusalem) and Dr James Nathan Ford (Bar Ilan University).
  • Publication of Sergius of Resh Aina's Syriac translation of Galen's Book of Simple Drugs, from a manuscript housed in the British Library, in collaboration with Dr Robert Hawley and Dr Jimmy Daccache (CNRS, Paris), as part of the European Research Council funded project Floriental.
  • Publication of the Syriac Galen Palimpsest, from a manuscript housed in a private collection in the USA, in collaboration with Professor Peter Pormann (University of Manchester), Dr Robert Hawley (CNRS, Paris) and Dr Grigory Kessel (University of Marburg).
  • Publication of the Aramaic incantation bowls from the collection of the Pergamon Museum (Berlin), in collaboration with Dr Dan Levene (University of Southampton), Dr James Nathan Ford (Bar Ilan University), Dr Matthew Morgenstern (University of Haifa) and Dr Ortal-Paz Saar (IAS, Princeton).
  • Publication of a Handbook of Jewish Magic, in collaboration with Dr Ortal-Paz Saar (IAS, Princeton).
  • Publication of The Oxford Handbook on Angels and Demons in the Bible and Related Traditions, in collaboration with Professor Kelley Coblentz Bautch (St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas). 

Research group links

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Supervision

Recent PhDs supervised

Anne Burberry, Edition and Analysis of Twenty-Five Unpublished Aramaic Magic Bowl Texts in the Collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin) (2020) - Examined by Geoffrey Khan and Daniel Ogden. 

Abigail Pearson, A Transcription, Translation, and Analysis of John Rylands Library ms. Syr. 52 (2022) - Examined by Marco Moriggi and David Horrell. 

Matthew P. Bartlett, Edition and Analysis of Twenty-Seven Unpublished Aramaic Bowl Texts from the Collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin (2022) - Examined by Philip Alexander and Emily Selove.

Harriet Elizabeth Walker, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowl Texts: Uncovering Operational Mechanisms of the Practice using Digital Methods (2024) - Examined by Jason Mokhtarian and Martin Pitts. 

Dissertations Examined

A. Avetisyan, Linguistic Variation in MS 1751 Judaeo-Arabic Medical Manuscript of the Matenadaran Collection, PhD, University of Cambridge, 2023

P. Moore, Studies in the Language of Targum Canticles, with Annotated Transcription of Geniza Fragments, PhD, University College London, 2021

D. Molin, The Language of the Biblical Hebrew Quotations in the Aramaic Incantation Bowls, MPhil, University of Cambridge, 2017

A. Bellusci, The History of the She'elat Ḥalom in the Middle East from the Medieval Era back to Late Antiquity, PhD, Tel Aviv University, 2017

S.C. Barry, The Question of Syriac Influence Upon Early Arabic Translations of the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, PhD, University of Manchester, 2016

M.L. Morris, Translation and Critical Commentary of the Syriac Martyrdom Text, The Slave of Christ, PhD, University of Southampton, 2009

S. Aldihisi, The Story of Creation in the Mandaean Holy Book of the Ginza Rba, PhD, University College London, 2008

M. Schmierer, Selected Aspects of the Historical Phonology of Aramaic, MPhil, University of Cambridge, 2007

 

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 |

2024

2023

2022

2021

  • Bhayro S, Moriggi M. (2021) Preface, Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions, Brill, vii-vii, DOI:10.1163/9789004467200_001.
  • Bhayro S, Moriggi M. (2021) Syriac Studies and Magic: An Introduction, Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions, Brill, 1-12, DOI:10.1163/9789004467200_002.
  • Bhayro S. (2021) Syriac Magic and Medicine: A Near-Eastern Paradigm of Priestcraft, Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions, Brill, 31-56, DOI:10.1163/9789004467200_004.
  • Bhayro S, Moriggi M. (2021) Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions, Brill. [PDF]
  • Bhayro S. (2021) Foreword to Gilgamesh, by M. L. West, Archiv für Orientforschung, volume 54, pages 426-427.
  • Bhayro S. (2021) Pseudonymity and Pseudo-Galen in the Syriac Traditions, Pseudo-Galenica: The Formation of the Gaelic Corpus from Antiquity to the Renaissance, The Warburg Institute, 83-97.
  • Bhayro S. (2021) The Use of Quotations from the Psalms in the Aramaic Magic Bowls, You who live in the shelter of the Most High (Ps. 91:1): The Use of Psalms in Jewish and Christian Traditions, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 69-82.

2020

  • Bhayro S, Afif N, Pormann PE, Sellers WI, Smelova N. (2020) The Syriac Text of Book Nine of On Simple Drugs: New Evidence from the Syriac Galen Palimpsest, Archives internationales d'histoire des sciences, volume 70, pages 130-149, DOI:10.1484/J.ARIHS.5.122784.
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Galen’s Simples in Syriac, Archives Internationales d’Histoire des Sciences, volume 70, pages 114-128, DOI:10.1484/J.ARIHS.5.122783.
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Performative Elements in the Aramaic Magic Bowls, Patients and Performative Identities: At the Intersection of the Mesopotamian Technical Disciplines and Their Clients, Eisenbrauns, 159-167. [PDF]
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Treating the Body and the Soul in Late-Antique and Early-Medieval Syriac Sources: The Syro-Mesopotamian Context of Bardaiṣan and Sergius, The Unity of Body and Soul in Patristic and Byzantine Thought, Brill - Ferdinand Schöningh, 213-228.
  • Bhayro S, Usacheva A, Ulrich J. (2020) Introduction, The Unity of Body and Soul in Patristic and Byzantine Thought, Brill - Ferdinand Schöningh, vii-xiv.
  • Bhayro S, Usacheva A, Ulrich J. (2020) The Unity of Body and Soul in Patristic and Byzantine Thought, Brill - Ferdinand Schöningh.
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Review of David Frankfurter (ed.), Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic, Brill, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 71, pages 203-206, DOI:10.18647/3450/jjs-2020.
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Cosmology in Mandaean Texts, Hellenistic Astronomy: The Science in its Contexts, Brill, 572-579, DOI:10.1163/9789004400566_046.
  • Bhayro S. (2020) Magic Incantations and Bowls, T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism, T&T Clark, 448-451.

2019

  • Bhayro S. (2019) Enoch in Ge'ez, Treasures of Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, Manar al-Athar, University of Oxford, 52-57.
  • Bhayro S. (2019) The Reception of Galen in the Syriac Tradition, Brill's Companion to the Reception of Galen, Brill, 163-178, DOI:10.1163/9789004394353_010.

2018

2017

2016

  • Bhayro S, Afif N, Arsene C, Calà I, Daccache J, Hawley R, Kessel G, Pormann PE, Sellers WI, Smelova N. (2016) Continuing Research on the Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Collaborative Implementation within the Framework of Two European Projects, Semitica et Classica, volume 9, pages 261-268, DOI:10.1484/J.SEC.5.112740.
  • Bhayro S, Afif N, Pormann PE, Sellers WI, Smelova N. (2016) The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Research Methods and Latest Discoveries, COMSt Bulletin, volume 2, pages 5-16.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Sergius of Reš ‛Ayna’s Syriac Translations of Galen: Their Scope, Motivation, and Influence, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, volume N.S. 26 (dated 2012), pages 121-128.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Review of Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Ostraca from Idumea: Vol. 1 Dossiers 1-10: 401 Commodity Chits, Eisenbrauns, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Review of Claudio Balzaretti, The Syriac Version of Ezra-Nehemiah: Manuscripts and Editions, Translation Technique and its Use in Textual Criticism, Gregorian and Biblical Press, Hugoye, volume 19, pages 259-261.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Review of Archie T. Wright, The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6:1-4 in Early Jewish Literature (revised edition), Fortress Press, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 67, pages 184-186, DOI:10.18647/3266/JJS-2016.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Review of Alberdina Houtman, Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman and Hans-Martin Kirn (eds), A Jewish Targum in a Christian World, Brill, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S. (2016) Judeo-Syriac, Handbook of Jewish Languages, Brill, 630-633, DOI:10.1163/9789004297357_023.

2015

2014

  • Bhayro S. (2014) The Jewish Babylonian Aramaic authority פלסא פליסא in light of Ge‘ez falasa and Epigraphic South Arabian fls3, Semitica et Classica, volume 7, pages 233-236, DOI:10.1484/J.SEC.5.103531.
  • Bhayro S. (2014) Remarks on the Genizah Judaeo-Syriac Fragment, Aramaic Studies, volume 12, pages 143-153, DOI:10.1163/17455227-01202003.
  • Bhayro S, Hawley R. (2014) La littérature botanique et pharmaceutique en langue syriaque, Les sciences en syriaque, Geuthner, 285-318.
  • Bhayro S. (2014) Review of Philippe Gignoux, Lexique des termes de la pharmacopée syriaque, Association pour l'avancement des études iraniennes, Hugoye, volume 17, pages 367-368.
  • Bhayro S, Levene D, Marx D. (2014) “Gabriel in on their Right”: Angelic Protection in Jewish Magic and Babylonian Lore, Studia Mesopotamica, volume 1, pages 185-198.

2013

  • Bhayro S, Brock S. (2013) The Syriac Galen Palimpsest and the Role of Syriac in the Transmission of Greek Medicine in the Orient, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, volume 89, no. 1, pages 25-43, DOI:10.7227/bjrl.89.s.3.
  • Bhayro S, Pormann PE, Sellers WI. (2013) Imaging the Syriac Galen Palimpsest: preliminary analysis and future prospects, Semitica et Classica, volume 6, pages 297-300, DOI:10.1484/j.sec.1.103745.
  • Bhayro S, Wilkins J. (2013) The Greek and Syriac traditions of Galen de alimentorum facultatibus, Galenos, volume 7, pages 95-114.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) The Reception of Mesopotamian and Early Jewish Traditions in the Aramaic Incantation Bowls, Aramaic Studies, volume 11, pages 187-196, DOI:10.1163/17455227-13110210.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) Simon of Genoa as an Arabist, Simon of Genoa’s Medical Lexicon, Versita, 49-65.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) On Performatives in Aramaic Documents, Aramaic Studies, volume 11, pages 47-52, DOI:10.1163/17455227-13110101.
  • Bhayro S, Pormann PE, Sellers WI. (2013) Imaging the Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Preliminary Analysis and Future Prospects, Semitica et Classica, volume 6, pages 299-302, DOI:10.1484/J.SEC.1.103058.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) Names of Musical Instruments: Pre-Modern Period, Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics: Volume 2 G–O, Brill, 752-756.
  • Bhayro S, Brock S. (2013) The Syriac Galen Palimpsest and the Role of Syriac in the Transmission of Greek Medicine in the Orient, Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, volume 89 Supplement, pages 25-43.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) Review of Jonathan Kearney, Rashi - Linguist Despite Himself: A Study of the Linguistic Dimension of Rabbi Solomon Yishaqi's Commentary on Deuteronomy, T&T Clark, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S, Outhwaite BM. (2013) The first discovery of Judaeo-Syriac: T-S K14.22, DOI:10.17863/CAM.62330.
  • Bhayro S, Shaked S, Ford JN. (2013) Aramaic Bowl Spells: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls Volume One, Brill.
  • Bhayro S, Hawley R, Kessel G, Pormann PE. (2013) The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Progress, Prospects and Problems, Journal of Semitic Studies, volume 58, pages 131-148.
  • Bhayro S. (2013) The Reception of Galen’s Art of Medicine in the Syriac Book of Medicines, Medical Books in the Byzantine World, Eikasmós, 123-144.

2012

  • Bhayro S. (2012) A Judaeo-Syriac Medical Fragment from the Cairo Genizah, Aramaic Studies, volume 10, pages 153-172, DOI:10.1163/17455227-12100201.
  • Bhayro S, Hawley R, Kessel G, Pormann PE. (2012) Collaborative Research on the Digital Syriac Galen Palimpsest, Semitica et Classica, volume 5, pages 261-264.
  • Bhayro S. (2012) Review of Jan Dušek, Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim and Samaria between Antiochus III and Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Brill, BAJS Bulletin, pages 76-77.
  • Bhayro S. (2012) Review of Yelena Kolyada, A Compendium of Musical Instruments and Instrumental Terminology in the Bible, Equinox, BAJS Bulletin, pages 75-76.
  • Bhayro S. (2012) ‘He shall play with his hand, and you shall be well’: Music as Therapy in I Samuel 16:14–23, Ritual Healing: Magic, Ritual and Medical Therapy from Antiquity until the Early Modern Period, Edizioni del Galluzzo, 13-30.
  • Bhayro S. (2012) On the Manipulation of the Planets by the Lyre Player in a ‘Wine Song’ by Khamis bar Qardahe, ICONEA 2009-2010. Proceedings of the International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology held at the Université de la Sorbonne, November 2009, and at Senate House, School of Musical Research, University of London, December 2010, ICONEA and Gorgias Press, 41-52.
  • Bhayro S, Glick S, Arad D, Grossman A, Schwartz Y, Stampfer Z, Assis M, Outhwaite B, Davies D. (2012) Seride Teshuvot: A Descriptive Catalogue of Responsa Fragments from the Jacques Mosseri Collection Cambridge University Library, Brill.
  • Bhayro S. (2012) Review of John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow (eds), The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, Eerdmans, Review of Biblical Literature, pages 3-7.

2011

  • Outhwaite B, Bhayro S. (2011) Index Of Subjects, "From a Sacred Source", Brill Academic Publishers, 389-398, DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004190580.i-420.101.
  • Outhwaite B, Bhayro S. (2011) Early Karaite Grammatical Thought As Reflected In A Commentary On Hosea Friedrich Niessen, "From a Sacred Source", Brill Academic Publishers, 219-236, DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004190580.i-420.58.
  • Outhwaite B, Bhayro S. (2011) Index Of Sources, "From a Sacred Source", Brill Academic Publishers, 399-406, DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004190580.i-420.102.
  • Outhwaite B, Bhayro S. (2011) Preliminary Material, "From a Sacred Source", Brill Academic Publishers, i-xliv, DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004190580.i-420.2.
  • Outhwaite B, Bhayro S. (2011) Plates, "From a Sacred Source", Brill Academic Publishers, 407-420, DOI:10.1163/ej.9789004190580.i-420.103.
  • Bhayro S. (2011) Review of Julian V. Hills, The Epistle of the Apostles, Polebridge, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, volume 73, pages 865-866.
  • Bhayro S. (2011) Review of John F. Healey, Aramaic Inscriptions & Documents of the Roman Period (Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions, Volume IV), Oxford University Press, BAJS Bulletin, pages 62-63.
  • Bhayro S. (2011) Magic as the basis for social cohesion in pre-Islamic Mesopotamia, Societas Magica Newsletter, volume 25, pages 1-5.

2010

  • Bhayro S. (2010) Review of Michael Sokoloff, A Syriac Lexicon. A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann’s Lexicon Syriacum, Eisenbrauns & Gorgias Press, Hugoye, volume 13, pages 339-342.
  • Outhwaite BM, Bhayro S. (2010) Preface in “From a Sacred Source”, pages xi-xiii.
  • Outhwaite BM, Bhayro S. (2010) “From a Sacred Source”: Genizah Studies in Honour of Professor Stefan C. Reif, Brill.
  • Bhayro S. (2010) Review of Charles Burnett (ed.), Ibn Baklarish's Book of Simples: medical remedies between three faiths in twelfth-century Spain, The Arcadian Library in association with Oxford University Press, Medical History, volume 54, pages 269-271.
  • Bhayro S. (2010) Review of Michaël Langlois, Le premier manuscrit du Livre d'Hénoch. Étude épigraphique et philologique des fragments araméens de 4Q201 à Qumrân, Les Éditions du Cerf, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 61, pages 147-149.
  • Bhayro S. (2010) Ancient Near Eastern and Early Jewish Lyre Traditions, ICONEA 2008: Proceedings of the International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology held at the British Museum December 4, 5 and 6, 2008, ICONEA Publications, 77-82.

2009

  • Bhayro S. (2009) Review of E. Lev, Z. Amar, Practical Materia Medica of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean according to the Cairo Genizah, Brill, Medical History, volume 53, pages 455-456.
  • Bhayro S. (2009) Review of Andrew D. Gross, Continuity and Innovation in the Aramaic Legal Tradition, Brill, BAJS Bulletin, pages 56-58.
  • Bhayro S. (2009) A Leaf from a Medieval Hebrew Book of Tobit: Jacques Mosseri Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library, Mosseri I.38 (with a Note on the Dating of T-S A45.25), With Wisdom as a Robe: Qumran and Other Jewish Studies in Honour of Ida Fröhlich, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 163-173.
  • Bhayro S. (2009) The Use of Jubilees in Medieval Chronicles to Supplement Enoch: The Case for the "Shorter" Reading, Henoch, volume 31, no. 1, pages 10-17.
  • Bhayro S. (2009) A Third/Ninth Century Kufic Funerary Inscription in Aberdeen, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, volume 36, no. 1, pages 147-148.

2008

  • Bhayro S. (2008) Bardaisan of Edessa (174-222 CE), Book of the Signs of the Zodiac (after ca 200 CE?), Sergius of Reš'Aina (500-536 CE), Severus Sebokht of Nisibis (630-667 CE), Theodore, pupil of Sergius (525-545 CE), The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek Tradition and its Many Heirs, Routledge.
  • Bhayro S. (2008) Review of Carol Bakhos (ed.), Current Trends in the Study of Midrash, Brill, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S. (2008) Review of Simon Swain (ed.), Seeing the Face, Seeing the Soul: Polemon's Physiognomy from Classical Antiquity to Medieval Islam, Oxford University Press, Transcendent Philosophy, volume 9, pages 365-370.
  • Bhayro S. (2008) The Aramaic 'Fugitive' Decree: A New Interpretation, Aramaic Studies, volume 6, no. 1, pages 1-15, DOI:10.1163/147783508X371268.

2007

  • Bhayro S, Ginsbursky M, Outhwaite B, Wagner E. (2007) Redating a leaf from a medieval Hebrew Book of Tobit (TS A45.25), DOI:10.17863/CAM.40132.
  • Bhayro S. (2007) Review of Annette Yoshiko Reed, Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature, Cambridge University Press, Review of Biblical Literature, pages 228-231.
  • Bhayro S. (2007) On the Etymology of Hebrew bərît, XII Incontro Italiano di Linguistica Camito-semitica (Afroasiatica), Rubbettino, 117-125.
  • Clines DJA, Stec DM, Bhayro S. (2007) The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew - Vol. VI: s-p, Sheffield Phoenix Press.

2006

  • Bhayro S. (2006) Noah’s Library: Sources for 1 Enoch 6-11, Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, volume 15, no. 3, pages 163-177.
  • Levene D, Bhayro S. (2006) ‘Bring to the Gates… upon a good smell and upon good fragrances:’ An Aramaic Incantation Bowl for Success in Business, Archiv für Orientforschung, volume 51, pages 242-246.

2005

  • Bhayro S. (2005) ‘… and you know everything before it happens …’: A Complaint against the Inaction of the Most High in 1 Enoch 9, Studies in Jewish Prayer, Oxford University Press, 33-54.
  • Bhayro S. (2005) The Shemihazah and Asael Narrative of 1 Enoch 6-11: Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary with reference to Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Antecedents, Ugarit-Verlag.
  • Bhayro S. (2005) Review of Stefan C. Reif (ed.), The Cambridge Genizah Collections: Their Contents and Significance, Cambridge University Press, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 56, pages 157-160.
  • Bhayro S. (2005) Syriac Medical Terminology: Sergius and Galen’s Pharmacopia, Aramaic Studies, volume 3, no. 1, pages 147-165.

2004

  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Heinrich W. Guggenheimer, Talmud Yerushalmi. First Order: Zeraïm. Part 3: Tractates Kilaim and S?eviït, de Gruyter, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) The Madness of King Saul, Archiv für Orientforschung, volume 50, pages 285-292.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) A Syriac Fragment from the Cairo Genizah, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, volume 94, pages 39-51.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Jacob Neusner, The Halakhah: An Encyclopedia of the Law of Judaism: I, Between Israel and God Part A, Brill, Review of Biblical Literature.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (second edition), Bar Ilan University Press/Johns Hopkins University Press, Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 123, no. 2, pages 382-385.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Maria Michela Sassi, The Science of Man in Ancient Greece, University of Chicago Press, Isis, volume 95, no. 3, pages 483-484.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (second edition), Eerdmans/Dove, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 55, pages 166-167.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of John Van Seters, A Law Book for the Diaspora: Revision in the Study of the Covenant Code, Oxford University Press, Journal of Jewish Studies, volume 55, pages 363-365.
  • Bhayro S. (2004) Review of Judah B. Segal, Catalogue of the Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum, British Museum Press, Bibliotheca Orientalis, volume LXI, no. 3-4, pages 390-393.

2003

  • Bhayro S. (2003) Preface, Aramaic Studies, volume 1, no. 2, pages 163-164.
  • Bhayro S. (2003) The Status of Non-Jews in the Eschaton: An Enochic Debate, Jewish Culture and History, volume 6, no. 2, pages 1-10.
  • Bhayro S. (2003) Matthew 5:17-18 in the light of Qumran Scribal Practice, Paratext and Megatext as Channels of Jewish and Christian Traditions: The Textual Markers of Contextualization, Brill, 37-48.

2002

2001

  • Bhayro S. (2001) A Karshuni (Christian Arabic) Account of the Descent of the Watchers, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Texts: Essays in Memory of Michael P. Weitzman, Sheffield Academic Press, 365-374.
  • Bhayro S. (2001) Review of E. C. Hostetter, An Elementary Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Sheffield Academic Press, Vetus Testamentum, volume 51, pages 563-564.
  • Clines DJA, Stec DM, Bhayro S. (2001) The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew – Vol. V: m-n, Sheffield Academic Press.

2000

  • Bhayro S. (2000) Daniel’s ‘Watchers’ in Enochic Exegesis of Genesis 6:1-4, Jewish Ways of Reading the Bible, Oxford University Press, 58-66.
  • Bhayro S. (2000) Review of C. Müller-Kessler and M. Sokoloff, A Corpus of Christian Palestinian Aramaic – V: The Catechism of Cyril of Jerusalem in the Christian Palestinian Aramaic Version, Styx, Journal for the Aramaic Bible, volume 2, pages 265-268.

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External impact and engagement

Editorships

MRLA  Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity (Brill) brill.com/display/serial/MRLA

CAMA  Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology (Brill Schöningh) brill.com/display/serial/CAMA

MRLA
1. S. Shaked, J. N. Ford and S. Bhayro, Aramaic Bowl Spells: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls Volume One (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 1; Leiden: Brill, 2013) https://brill.com/view/title/20045
2. D. Levene, Jewish Aramaic Curse Texts from Late-Antique Mesopotamia (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 2; Leiden: Brill, 2013) https://brill.com/view/title/20963
3. M. Moriggi, A Corpus of Syriac Incantation Bowls: Syriac Magical Texts from Late-Antique Mesopotamia (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 3; Leiden: Brill, 2014) https://brill.com/view/title/21239
4. M. Shenkar, Intangible Spirits and Graven Images: The Iconography of Deities in the Pre-Islamic Iranian World (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 4; Leiden: Brill, 2014) https://brill.com/view/title/24814
5. S. Bhayro and C. Rider (eds), Demons and Illness from Antiquity to the Early-Modern Period (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 5; Leiden: Brill, 2017) https://brill.com/view/title/34226
6. O.-P. Saar, Jewish Love Magic from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 6; Leiden: Brill, 2017) https://brill.com/view/title/21914
7. S. Bhayro, J. N. Ford, D. Levene and O.-P. Saar, Aramaic Magic Bowls in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin: Descriptive List and Edition of Selected Texts (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquty Series, Volume 7; Leiden: Brill, 2018) https://brill.com/view/title/38176
8. J. N. Ford and M. Morgenstern, Aramaic Incantation Bowls in Museum Collections Volume One: The Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection of Babylonian Antiquities, Jena (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 8; Leiden: Brill, 2020) https://brill.com/view/title/38923
9. M. Moriggi and S. Bhayro (eds), Studies in the Syriac Magical Traditions (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 9; Leiden: Brill, 2021) https://brill.com/view/title/60427
10. S. Shaked, J. N. Ford and S. Bhayro, Aramaic Bowl Spells: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Bowls Volume Two (Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity Series, Volume 10; Leiden: Brill, 2022) https://brill.com/view/title/60966
 

CAMA
1. A. Usacheva, J. Ulrich and S. Bhayro (eds), The Unity of Body and Soul in Patristic and Byzantine Thought (Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology Series, Volume 1; Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2020) brill.com/display/title/56808
2. M. C. Chiriatti and R. V. Marín (eds), Mujeres imperiales, mujeres reales. Representaciones públicas y representaciones del poder en la Antigüedad tardía y Bizancio (Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology Series, Volume 2; Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 2021) brill.com/display/title/57642

3. A. Usacheva and E. M. Ferrándiz (eds), Mediterranean Flows: People, Ideas and Objects in Motion (Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology Series, Volume 3; Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 2023) brill.com/edcollbook/title/61970

4. M. C. Chiriatti and C. Trillo San José (eds), In and Out of the City: Female Environments, Relations and Dynamics of Space (400–1500) (Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology Series, Volume 4; Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 2024) brill.com/edcollbook/title/65090 

5. V. Ivanovici, Between Statues and Icons: Iconic Persons from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (Contexts of Ancient and Medieval Anthropology Series, Volume 5; Paderborn: Brill Schöningh, 2023) brill.com/display/title/64518
 

Academic Board

  •  International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology 

Editorial Board

  • Near-Eastern Musicology Online

Scientific Board

  • Medioevo Romanzo e Orientale

Virtual Magic Bowl Archive

Research papers presented at the following meetings:

1998

  • British Comparative Literature Association Eighth International Conference, Lancaster, UK

1999

  • British Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Manchester, UK

2000

  • British Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Leeds, UK

2001

  • Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Rome, Italy

2002

  • British Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Southampton, UK
  • Aramith: Conference on Aramaic Lexicography, Sheffield, UK

2003

  • British Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Durham, UK
  • Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Cambridge, UK
  • History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Cambridge MA, USA

2004

  • American Association for the History of Medicine 77th Annual Meeting, Madison WI, USA
  • Society for Ancient Medicine European Meeting, Birmingham, UK
  • Ninth International Congress of Ethnobiology, Canterbury, UK
  • Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Groningen, The Netherlands
  • The Nineteenth Barnard Medieval and Renaissance Conference, New York NY, USA
  • Interactions: Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine Symposium, London, UK

2005

  • 12th Italian Meeting of Afroasiatic Linguistics, Ragusa, Sicily
  • The Fourteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Israel

2006

  • Warburg Institute Colloquium: Ritual Healing in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, London, UK
  • 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, UK
  • Mediterranean Editors and Translators Meeting, Barcelona, Spain

2007

  • Ninth workshop of the AHRC project Late Aramaic: The Linguistic and Literary Context of the Zohar, London, UK
  • Fourth Enoch Seminar: Enoch and Jubilees, Camaldoli, Italy

2008

  • Plants and Knowledge, Exeter, UK
  • Music in Sumer and after, International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology, British Museum, London, UK

2009

  • Talmudic Archaeology, Institute of Jewish Studies Summer Conference, University College London, UK
  • Comparative Organology, International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology, Sorbonne, Paris, France

2010

  • The Semitic Languages of Jewish Intellectual Production, Memorial for Dr F. Niessen, CCHS, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
  • Approaches to Ancient Medicine, International Conference hosted at Cardiff University, UK
  • Aramaic Magical Texts from Late Antiquity: Sources, Contexts and Transmission, BIRAX workshop, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Musical Exchanges between Ancient Egypt and the Near East, International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology, Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study, London

2011

  • Anglo-American Conference 2011: Health in History, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, London

2012

  • An Evening on Aramaic Incantation Bowls, Excellence Cluster TOPOI, Free University, Berlin
  • Simon of Genoa’s Medical Lexicon, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • British Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, London
  • ERC Workshop: Floriental, CNRS, Paris
  • Galen in Translation, Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Safed

2013

  • American Oriental Society Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon
  • Congress of the International Organisation for the Study of the Old Testament/International Organisation for Targumic Studies, Munich
  • European Association for the Study of Religions Annual Conference, Liverpool
  • De Babylone à Bagdad: Retracer l’histoire de “l’herbier” au Proche-Orient ancien, Institut catholique de Paris, Paris
  • Les sciences en syriaque, Institut protestant de théologie, Paris
  • The Enochic Chronotope: Comprehending Immaterial Causes and Physical Space - an Apocryphal Discourse, Excellence Cluster TOPOI, Free University, Berlin

2014

  • Medical Translators at Work: Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin Translations in Dialogue, Humboldt University, Berlin
  • Female Bodies and Female Practitioners in the Medical Traditions of the Late Antique Mediterranean World, Free University and Humboldt University, Berlin
  • Interpreting Galen, University of Exeter, Exeter 
  • Aksum, Himyar and Egypt: Merchants, trade, religion and the changing world of the city in the age of Justinian, The Warburg Institute, University of London

2015

  • Pseudo-Galenic Texts and the Formation of the Galenic Corpus, The Warburg Institute, University of London
  • The Use of Psalms in Jewish and Christian Traditions, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem, Budapest, Hungary

2016

  • Revealing Galen's Simples, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Philadelphia, USA (paper read in absentia due to illness)

2017

  • Medical Traditions in and around Byzantium, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany
  • Rethinking Ancient Pharmacology: The Transmission and Interpretation of Galen's Treatise On Simple Drugs, British School at Rome, Rome, Italy

2018

  • Aramaic Science in Qumran, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem, Budapest, Hungary (paper read in absentia) 

2019

  • XVIII International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford (paper read in absentia) 
  • Exploring the Syriac Galen Palimpsest, The John Rylands Library, Manchester 

2020

  • Magic in Late Antiquity: Objects, Texts and Contexts, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel (paper read in absentia)

2021

  • The Sorcerer's Handbook Workshop, University of Exeter, Exeter
  • Magical and Literary Enchantment in the Ancient World: The Poetic-Pragmatic Aspect of Ancient Magical Texts, University of Oxford, Oxford

2022

  • The Aramaic Incantation Bowls in their Late Antique Jewish Contexts, Yale University, New Haven, USA

2023

  • The Scholarly Experience: Wisdom in the Premodern Syriac World, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), Berlin, Germany

2024

  • Syriac Studies in the UK: Past, Present, Future, Durham University, Durham

Invited Lectures and Seminars

2005

  • University of Durham Theology Research Seminar, Durham, UK

2006

  • Annual Joint Lecture of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society/Institute of Jewish Studies, London, UK
  • Lecture in series "Passover: Journey to Freedom", Jewish Museum, London, UK

2008

  • Lecture to United Learning, Kenton, Kingsbury, Wembley United Synogogues, London, UK
  • University of Southampton Medieval Research Seminar, Southampton, UK

2012

  • ICONEA Seminar, School of Advanced Study, London, UK

2013

  • Seminar to the Arabic Commentaries on the Hippocratic Aphorisms project, John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK
  • Workshop at the Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem, Piliscsabai, Hungary

2014

  • Seminar on Jewish History and Literature in the Graeco-Roman Period, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Oxford, UK

2015

  • Lecture on the importance of magic bowls for biblical and other studies, Logos in Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • Lecture on the Aramaic magic bowls in the Schøyen Collection and their importance for the study of late antique Mesopotamia, London Centre for the Ancient Near East, SOAS, London, UK

2016

  • Patristic and Late Antique Seminar, Christ Church, Oxford, UK
  • Lecture on the importance of magic bowls for biblical and other studies, Logos in Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • Thesis Workshop: Magical Traditions and Medieval Religions of the Book, The Warburg Institute, University of London

2017

  • Lecture on the importance of magic bowls for biblical and other studies, Logos in Oxford, Oxford, UK

2018

  • Parkes Seminar Series, Parkes Institute for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton
  • Lecture on the importance of magic bowls for biblical and other studies, Logos in Oxford, Oxford, UK

2022

  • Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages Lecture, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University of Oxford, UK

Conferences/Symposia Organised

  • 2002 Aramith: Conference on Aramaic Lexicography, Sheffield, UK
  • 2005 Yale Semitics Seminar Symposium on the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Haven CT, USA
  • 2007 First International Genizah Studies Conference, Cambridge, UK
  • 2013 Demons and Illness: Theory and Practice from Antiquity to the Early Modern Period, Exeter, UK

Prizes

1996 Jews Commemoration Prize

1997 Hester Rothschild Scholarship

1997 Rosa Morrison Prize and UCL Faculty of Arts Medallion

Awards and Grants

1998-2000 British Academy PhD Grant

2009-2010 British Academy Small Research Grant (SG-52081, awarded January 2009), £5,000 for Publication of Pre-Islamic Incantation Bowls

2011-2012 British Academy Small Research Grant (SG-101726, awarded February 2011), £6,240 for The Collection of Aramaic Incantations in the Berlin Museum (with Dan Levene)

2015-2021 ARHC Research Grant (AH/M005704/1, awarded January 2015), £1,011,457 for The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Galen's On Simple Drugs and the Recovery of Lost Texts through Sophisticated Imaging Techniques (with Peter Pormann and William Sellers)

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Teaching

Modules taught

  • ARA1040 - Elementary Syriac
  • ARA2016 - Magic and the Abrahamic Religions

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Biography

Professor Siam Bhayro joined the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in 2022 as Associate Professor of Semitic Languages and Jewish Studies. He was previously in the Department of Theology and Religion, as Associate Professor in Early Jewish Studies since 2016, Senior Lecturer since 2012 and Lecturer since 2007.

He graduated in 1997 with a First Class Honours degree in Hebrew from the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London. He was also awarded the Faculty of Arts Prize and Medallion for that session. He gained a PhD from the same department in June 2000 for his research into the Book of Enoch.

For the next two years he worked on the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew at the University of Sheffield, before working for three years as Lector of Semitic Languages in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University, one year as Wellcome Trust Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London and, finally before arriving at Exeter, one year as Research Associate at the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, University of Cambridge. 

He can often be seen walking Paul, his English Springer Spaniel, around Exeter, and is a season ticket holder for his beloved Arsenal.

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More information

Teaching Awards

  • 2010 — Voted Department Tutor of the Year
  • 2012 — Shortlisted for Best Feedback Provider, Students' Guild Teaching Awards
  • 2012 — Also nominated for Best Lecturer
  • 2013 — Shortlisted for Best Feedback Provider, Students' Guild Teaching Awards
  • 2014 — Runner-up for Most Supportive Member of Staff, Students' Guild Teaching Awards
  • 2014 — Also nominated for Best Feedback Provider, Best Lecturer, Innovative Teaching, and Research Inspired Teaching
  • 2015 — Winner in the category of Most Supportive Member of Staff, Students' Guild Teaching Awards
  • 2015 — Also nominated for Best Feedback Provider, and Best Lecturer
  • 2016 — Nominated for Best Lecturer, Innovative Teaching, and Most Supportive Member of Staff.
  • 2017 — Nominated for Best Undergraduate Supervisor, Best Feedback Provider, and Most Supportive Member of Staff.
  • 2018 — Shortlisted for Most Supportive Member of Staff, Students' Guild Teaching Awards
  • 2018 — Also nominated for Most Supportive Personal Tutor 
  • 2019 — Nominated for Best Teacher/Academic, Best Supervisor, and Most Supportive Member of Staff.

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