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Anna Roede and the Fight for Sovereignty
“When Martin Luther proclaimed his 95 Theses in 1517, the resulting shockwaves...”
- Dr. Jennifer Carnell
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To Timbuktu From a Land Far Away: Migrating Manuscripts
“Texts in West Africa were highly mobile...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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The J.F. Hinnebusch Collection and the Writings of Jacques de Vitry
“John Frederick Hinnebusch, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1923, was the youngest...”
- Dr. Jan Vandeburie
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Migration of Ideas through Printmaking
“When discussing the idea of migration in European art history, attention is often focused on...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Sacred Gingerbread in Southern Germany
“Have you ever wondered why gingerbread is a common part of Christmas traditions?”
- Dr. Jennifer Carnell
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Enlightened by One Lamp
“Hindu traditions and Islam share a deeply intertwined history in the Indian subcontinent...”
- Abdullah Ansar
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Migrating Monastic Books in Minnesota
“On September 8, 1876, four boxes of books arrived...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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The Lord’s Song in a Foreign Land
“In the middle of the 19th century, Arabic-speaking immigrants began to appear among the waves of newcomers arriving in the United States...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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But Ask the Animals, and They Will Teach You
“Animals in scripts as symbols of meaning and the art of communicating a message...”
- Dr. Ani Shahinian
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Instruments of Grace and Judgement
“The refrain “The Lord works in mysterious ways” is rarely truer than it is in the Ethiopic Miracles of Mary...”
- Dr. Jeremy R. Brown
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Lions and the Grand Masters of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem
“Considered the king of animals, lions frequently appeared on coats of arms used by...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Creepy Crawlies and Little Beasts
“Antwerp seemed, in the 16th century, to be the center of the Western world...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Postscript — Layers of Translation and Illumination in an Armenian Manuscript
“In the New Testament, Acts of the Apostles (17:34), Luke describes the ‘marketplace of ideas’ in Athens...”
- Dr. Ani Shahinian
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Like a Dog
“In Arabic literature, as with many cultures, dogs are viewed with some ambivalence...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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A Decade in Mali
“It began with a dinner in 2013...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart
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Decorative Birds in Syriac Manuscripts
“Bird watching is typically an activity that...”
- Dr. James Walters
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HMML Board Welcomes New Members, Elects New Chair
“Five new members have joined the 29-voting member HMML Board...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart
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What Are The Animals Trying To Tell Us?
“In historical Timbuktu—as in any part of the pre-modern world—animals were...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Where We’re Working: London
“Nestled in the streets of London, just northwest of St. Paul’s Cathedral, resides a...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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What Does the Fox Say? A Hierarchy of Animal Voices
“For thousands of years, languages around the world have attempted to capture the sounds of animals...”
- Dr. Jennifer Carnell
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The Mysteries & Rhythms of Nature, Seasons, and Time in the Armenian Liturgical Calendar
“Interwoven tapestry of the natural and spiritual worlds as observed through the Armenian liturgical calendar...”
- Dr. Ani Shahinian
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Contesting Saint Paul’s Shipwreck
“The most famous weather event in Maltese history occurred in the first century CE when...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Metaphorical Meteorology, or: When a Sunny Day Offers More Than Sunshine
“In describing printed books, a cataloger looks for subjects or areas of study where...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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An Excerpt on the Properties of April’s Rain in a Curious Collection of Arabic Texts Found in One Manuscript
“The term “April showers” derives from the frequency of short and regular showers that are...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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Eclipses in Early Muslim History — Between Myth and Reality
“The best-known eclipse mentioned in Muslim sources was the solar eclipse that occurred on...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Remembering an Earthquake
“Many of the regions where HMML has worked are no stranger to earthquakes...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Let it Fall as Rain
“Few things can impact daily life in quite the way that weather does...”
- Dr. Jeremy R. Brown

The Frozen Tigris and Other Remarkable Weather Events Described in Syriac Colophons
“In the days before social media, how did people share a noteworthy weather phenomena...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Music Awakens One’s Soul...
“An answer to the question of what it means to be human...”
- Dr. Ani Shahinian

Postscript — For Loving You Too Much
“One of the most common uses of manuscripts over the centuries is to train children in reading and writing...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Space Adventure: A Maltese Musical Fantasy for Children
“With their 1962 children’s musical Space Adventure...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Arthur Vööbus: Preserving a Legacy
“Dr. Arthur Voobus was many things—a scholar, pastor, teacher, and refugee in exile...”
- Dr. James Walters

Nasheeds from West Africa: Uniting Texts and Sound
“All of Timbuktu’s family libraries that were digitized by HMML include numerous compositions that...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Where We’re Working: Lucknow
“HMML’s preservation work in India began in 2008 with the manuscript collections of...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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The Legacy of Mūrisṭus’ Hydraulic and Pneumatic Pipe Organs in the Early 20th-Century Arabic Literary Culture
“The organ is not the first musical instrument that comes to mind when...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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A Christmas Hymn Sing-Along
“Singing is one of those amazing things...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Visualizing the Audible: Depictions of Music in a Medieval German Manuscript
“Although music is an aural and tactile experience, human beings also have a...”
- Dr. Jennifer Carnell
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Do You Hear What I Hear? The Audible and Inaudible in Medieval Music
“Among HMML’s microfilms of the Durham Cathedral Library...”
- Dr. Jennifer Carnell
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I Know It When I See It (I Think…)
“I’m not a musicologist, but I am an avid fan of music from all times...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Deadly snakes and remedies against their venomous bites in the handy charts of a copy of the “Kitāb al-diryāq” (Book on antidotes)
“The Arabic manuscript tradition is rich in medical works discussing remedies and...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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Monastic Sisters on Their Deathbed: A Time to Remember
“The book of vows contained one manuscript...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki
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Instructions for Burial: The Last Will and Testament of Ephrem the Syrian
“Ephrem is perhaps the most widely known of all Syriac authors...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Monuments to the Dead
“Grief, loss, and death itself were very much part of...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Zaydī Manuscripts
“The story of the Zaydīs begins in approximately 740 CE, with a revolt along the...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Impressions of a Death Foretold: the Execution of Fra Sylvain de Bosredon
“In the days before they were going to kill him, Fra Sylvain de Bosredon woke up early in the morning to the dull sound of...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Treatises of Consolation: Muslim Scholars Comfort Themselves and Others Who Have Lost Children
“The Black Death pandemic of the 14th century dramatically reshaped many cultures...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Grief on the Page
“How do you represent grief? For Marc Chagall, the Russian-born Jewish artist...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh
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Postscript — A Swedish Saint in Syriac
“Stories about saints, much like their relics, rarely remain tied to...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Gone, but not Forgotten: the Office for the Dead in Books of Hours
“A choir of cowled monks around a shrouded casket, a body being laid into a coffin, a smiling skeletal figure, an old man sitting on a dung heap...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Where We're Working: Gaza
“The Gaza Strip is the smallest of the two Palestinian territories in...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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HMML Becomes an Independent Nonprofit
“As of July 1, 2023, HMML is operating as its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. HMML began in 1965...”
- Margaret Bresnahan
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Khalīl Janāwī: Scribe, Collector, and Artist from al-Mīdān of Damascus
“Khalīl ibn Jirjis Janāwī was a scribe, a collector of manuscripts, and an artist who was...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki
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A Scribble of Scribes: Men, Women, and Children Copyists Across Mali’s Manuscript Collections
“...each manuscript is an artistic production and requires physical labor performed by a single individual—the scribe...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Build a Church, Build a Library
“If you want to establish a new church, you’re likely going to need some books...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Tracing Scribal Genealogies in Syriac Manuscripts: The Naṣro Family
“The act of hand-copying a manuscript requires specialized skills that...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Muḥammad Ṣādiq: A Scribe Between Manuscript and Print Cultures at the Beginning of the 20th Century
“A great opportunity to look at the interaction between manuscript and print cultures can be found in the Middle East...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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The Calligrapher Clément Perret
“In the mid-15th century, the invention of the printing press made books relatively easier to produce and...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Learning to Write: Practical Aspects of Handwriting
“In 1492, the abbot of a Benedictine monastery in Sponheim, Germany, wrote a small paean to scribes and the act of writing...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Why so Many Fragments? Incomplete Manuscripts in the Timbuktu Collections.
“A large amount of the manuscripts digitized in Timbuktu, Mali, that we at HMML have cataloged are fragments...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Woodcut Fragments of the 16th Century
“HMML’s Art & Photographs collection is full of fragments of the 15th and 16th century...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Postscript — Luqmān the Sage
“Luqmān the Sage (also known as Luqmān al-Ḥakīm, the wise) is a legendary character in Arabic and Islamic storytelling...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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Johann Wetzstein and the Qurʼan Fragments of Tübingen
“Johann Gottfried Wetzstein served as honorary Prussian consul in Damascus, Syria, from 1849 to 1861...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Medieval Fragments in the Palazzo Falson
“When I arrived at the Palazzo Falson in Mdina, Malta...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Reversal of Fates: Access Through Photographs can be a Counterbalance
“Cultural losses continue to beset communities around the world, especially in areas subject to armed conflict...”
- Ted Erho
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Poetry and Agriculture, a Fragmentary Scrapbook
“Manuscripts are known for their idiosyncratic nature...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Identifying Syriac Fragments in the Digital Age
“What would you do if someone handed you a page that had clearly been torn out of a book...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Where We’re Working: L’viv, Ukraine
“In the early decades of HMML, the region beyond the proverbial Iron Curtain was out of reach.”
- Dr. Columba Stewart
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Poetic fragments at the Great ʿUmarī Mosque in Gaza
“The Great ʿUmarī Mosque in Gaza is the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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The Next Stop was Kremsmünster Abbey
“When Father Oliver Kapsner began to microfilm the medieval manuscripts at Kremsmünster Abbey, Austria, in late 1964, he could not have imagined...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

Hiding in the Binding — Fragments in Rare Book Collections at HMML
“Much of human history remains for us today only in the form of smaller remnants or fragments...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Jacques Hnizdovsky in Minnesota
“Jacques Hnizdovsky had arrived in the city the year before as a...”
- Katherine Goertz

Identifying Prohibited Books in Early Modern Malta
“Pope Paul IV (1476–1559) issued the Index Auctorum et Librorum Prohibitorum in 1559 to publicly identify books the...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

“This Book is Free From Banned Content” — Ottoman Censorship of al-Yāzijī’s Arabic Lexicon
“The Lebanese poet, journalist, and linguist Ibrāhīm al-Yāzijī (1847–1906) has gained fame as a...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki

Ḫeruy Walda Śellāsē’s “History of Ethiopia”
“Printing reached Ethiopia rather late. In Europe, texts were occasionally printed in Ethiopic characters from...”
- Ted Erho
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Censorship Without Censorship
“Maḥmūd ibn ʻUmar al-Zamakhsharī did not have an easy childhood. He was born in 1075 CE into a...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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A Book You Would Love to Read...
“A book you would love to read is lost, altered, destroyed, buried, hidden, left unpublished, unwritten, banned.”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh and Margaret Bresnahan

Sandwiching a Forbidden Text
“The advent of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century led to...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

ʻUmar al-Turūdī’s List of Unreliable Books
“ʻUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Turūdī, was a scholar from Kebbi, present-day northern...”
- Dr. Paul Naylor
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Books that Survived the Ban — Syriac Manuscripts in India
“Christianity has a long, rich history in India. Some even trace the origins of Christian communities in India to...”
- Dr. James Walters
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Malta Parish Archives Project Completed
“In 2016, HMML’s Malta Study Center began the Malta Parish Archives Project to...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Lifted on Wings
“Angels occupy an important place in monotheistic religions. They are mainly presented as celestial beings...”
- Sister Marie-Thérèse Elia
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Microfilm Milestones
“HMML’s first library partnerships were to photograph the collections of prominent libraries in...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Feeling the Heavens
“In summer of 1917, the New York-based artist Rockwell Kent made a bold decision.”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh
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Where We’re Working: Mali
“In the spring of 2012, the desert city of Timbuktu in northern Mali was attacked and...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart

Khwājahʹzādah’s Treatise on the Rainbow
“Rainbows are optical illusions caused by the reflection, refraction, and...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni

Postscript — King Solomon the Gynecologist, a Forgotten Tale From the Syriac Book of Medicines
“The Syriac Book of Medicines is a fascinating compendium of medical lore from the...”
- Dr. David Calabro
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The Stars of Ben-Zion
“Born Ben-Zion Weinman in Starokostiantyniv, Ben-Zion came to New York City in...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Between the Sun and Moon
“Today, depending on what communities you are a part of, your concept of a year may follow a calendar that is...”
- Ted Erho
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Astronomical Technology and Religious Practice in Islam
“Astronomical observation is built into the most basic religious practices of the...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler

Signs in the Heavens — Astrological Books of Daniel in Eastern Christianity
“In Syriac Christian communities, astrological texts were sometimes appended to medical books and...”
- Dr. David Calabro

A Tale of Two Bears — Astronomy in Austrian Libraries
“When I was a boy, the night sky always fascinated me—stars, moon, planets, nebulae, comets, and...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

A Tribute to Getatchew Haile (1931–2021)
“In Wayne Gretzky’s final NHL game in Minnesota, he added four assists to the...”
- Ted Erho
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Why was Esau so Hungry? Genesis 25 in Arabic Manuscripts
“Among the well-known biblical narratives is that of the twins Jacob and Esau, and...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki

Creating Relationships — Sharing the Past to Build Toward Future Scholarship
“HMML Authority File (HAF) is a new open-access database created as part of...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Smoking in the Desert — Between Supporters and Opponents of Tobacco
“The use of tobacco in the Sahel, whether smoking, chewing, or taking as snuff, was widespread and...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Postscript — A Sister’s Vows
“In 1744, the French Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary established a convent in ʻAynṭūrah, Lebanon, known in Arabic as...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki
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Soup, with a Side of Reform
“A group of women cluster together, several clutching the handles of lidded pots...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Where We’re Working: The Monastery of Santa Ursula
“When Cláudia Garradas learned about the opportunity to digitally preserve the archives of the Monastery of Santa Ursula...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

The Hard Work of a Market Inspector in Preventing Food Frauds at the Market of Tinnīs, Egypt
“There are several manuals in the Arabic literary tradition describing the profession of the...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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The Gouda Life
“Between 1585 to 1600 Maarten de Vos designed 141 engravings depicting hermits.”
- Katherine Goertz
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A Syriac Poem on Wine
“Who doesn’t love a good glass of wine? White, red, or something in between, authors throughout history...”
- Dr. James Walters
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A Man for All Seasonings
“It was the late 14th century, and Shīrāz was the city of poets.”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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New Scanner is a Quantum Leap for Digitizing Microfilm at HMML
“Microfilm was used by HMML to preserve images of manuscripts from...”
- Joe Rogers

The Case of the Mysterious Pie and the Amsterdam Theater
“Pie. Today, for many, this tasty baked good with its short, flaky crust suggests associations of...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Announces Second Season of its Virtual Series, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Announces Second Season of its Virtual Series, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
- Joe Rogers
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The Travels of the Ebony Horse
“The history of Arabian Nights stories in Christian communities is still imperfectly understood.”
- Dr. David Calabro
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Arabian Nights of the Christian East
“On a shelf in the Syriac Orthodox Church of Saint George in Aleppo is a manuscript copied in Arabic Garshuni...”
- Dr. David Calabro
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Want to Marry the Princess? Know thy Bible!
“Who hasn’t heard a fairy tale about a princess whose beauty moves the richest and...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki

Icon Collection Finds a New Home at HMML
“This year, HMML received a large donation of Russian icons from the collection of Edmund Gronkiewicz...”
- Katherine Goertz

The Story of the Talking Camel and the Exploits of Ali Genre in West Africa
“While some elements of the story are fiction, others are clearly inspired by real events in Khaybar.”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Parabiblical Literature in the Horn of Africa
“Biblical narratives often leave the audience wanting to know a bit more.”
- Ted Erho
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Tracing Folktales in Magic Texts — The Story of Umm al-Ṣibyān
“Despite having been contested in Islamic history by powerful groups rejecting them as illegitimate practices, magic and...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni
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Postscript — Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel
“We live in a world ravaged by a pandemic, by wars, by all manner of catastrophic and...”
- Ted Erho
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Grave Tales, Engraved (and Etched)
“While many artists have provided illustrations for books, some works in the Art & Photographs collection at HMML were inspired by stories...”
- Katherine Goertz
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Ottoman Soap Operas and Other Stories
“HMML’s digital collections include entertaining stories from a wide range of linguistic and...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Creates New Database to Assist Scholars of Understudied Manuscript Traditions
“HMML has developed a new database to support and enhance the study of understudied manuscript traditions...”
- Joe Rogers

The Book of Laughable Stories — A Medieval Joke Book
“Have you ever heard a great joke, but then later when you tried to recount it for someone else, you couldn’t remember it?”
- Dr. James Walters
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The Emperor’s Manuscript
“Towards the end of Getatchew Haile’s first published catalog of Ethiopic manuscripts...”
- Ted Erho
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Four Family Libraries in Jerusalem
“At many points in its history, Jerusalem has been one of the world’s most important cultural crossroads...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Malta Envisioned by an English Clergyman
“The highlights of the island included the harbor of Valletta, an elaborate and protective harbor famous for...”
- Dr. Catherine Walsh
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Where We’re Working: The Balkans
“When people ask how we find new projects for HMML, I admit that sometimes they just come to us.”
- Dr. Columba Stewart
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Multispectral Imaging Tests at HMML
“In July 2021, a series of multispectral imaging tests were conducted at HMML by Mike Toth of...”
- Margaret Bresnahan

Travelers and Texts Crossing the Sahara
“Mobility was a central feature of individuals, societies, and texts within Muslim West Africa’s...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor

Migration, Digitization, and Preservation - A Case Study of a Somali Manuscript
“On the eve of the Somali Civil War, tensions ran high in my ancestral home of Galdogob as...”
- Mohamud Awil Mohamed
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The Journey of One Armenian Manuscript
“In 1945, a pharmacist living in Lebanon—Manaseh Kaprielian—presented a 17th-century Armenian manuscript to...”
- Malina Zakian

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) Receives $5 Million Grant From Arcadia
“This five-year grant focuses on digitization, archiving and cataloging of endangered manuscript collections...”
- Joe Rogers

When in Rome...
“Rome has long been a destination for travelers from around the world.”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman
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Protecting Travelers and Maritime Contacts in the Eighteenth-Century Mediterranean
“The great Age of Sail conjures in our minds vast stretches of ocean populated by...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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From Cairo to Mardin, Manuscripts on Camelback
“This note is the sole testament to the manuscript’s remarkable journey from Egypt to Mardin, a city in...”
- Dr. Vevian Zaki
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Prof. Getatchew Haile — A Giant in His Field and in the Hearts of All Who Knew Him
“Much has been said about the scholarly achievements of Prof. Getatchew Haile...”
- Joe Rogers

Prof. Getatchew Haile, FBA, 1931–2021
“With great sadness we learned that our dear friend and colleague...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart

Traveling to France on Paper
“In the mid-19th century, a group of French artists began to reevaluate the art of...”
- Katherine Goertz

Crossing the Red Sea in the 1640s
“In September 1647 CE, al-Ḥasan al-Ḥaymī left the port of al-Mukhā (Mocha) in...”
- Dr. Josh Mugler
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Medicine, Ritual, and Magic in Ethiopia
“Towards the middle of the 15th century, the Ethiopian Emperor Zar’a Yā‘eqob, a prominent theologian and scholar, faced...”
- Ted Erho

Quarantine in Malta, a Print of the Lazaretto from the Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arti
“The increased activity of Malta’s ports after the Aragonese conquest in 1283 led to a...”
- Cláudia Garradas

HMML Presents Third Program in “To Listen” Series on May 20, 2021
“Inspired by the need to promote active listening in the pursuit of understanding and connection, HMML developed a...”
- Joe Rogers
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Medical Texts From Timbuktu — Local Pharmacological Remedies with Qur’anic Verses
“In West Africa knowledge of the Qur’an was often combined with local pharmacological traditions to...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Early Miniatures of Ethiopians
“On this day seventy-five years ago, an early-14th century illuminated gospel book arrived at the...”
- Ted Erho
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An Anonymous Syriac Medical Compendium
“Many medical works from antiquity were translated into Syriac and transmitted through the...”
- Dr. James Walters

A Tale of Two Herbals, From Medicine to Food in the 16th Century
“Herbals—books describing the medicinal use of plants—have been important scientific sources for...”
- Dr. Matthew Z. Heintzelman

Accounts on Plague and Infectious Diseases from Three Arabic Manuscripts
“The disastrous impact of plague epidemics in the Middle East has been documented in numerous accounts...”
- Dr. Celeste Gianni

HMML Presents the Second Program in the “To Listen” Series on March 18, 2021
“HMML developed a series featuring cultural preservation partners and leaders from...”
- Joe Rogers

Yeɗi Sanba Ɓooyi, a Fulani Scholar and Poet
“Yeɗi Sanba Ɓooyi was a scholar who belonged to the Fulani, a traditionally nomadic people who...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Remedies in the Margins of Syriac Manuscripts
“People in past centuries would sometimes use the blank flyleaves and margins of manuscripts to...”
- Dr. David Calabro
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Creating Cataloging Standards for Regional Names
“Yeɗi belonged to the Fulani people, one of West Africa’s many ethnic groups, which...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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Medical Care for the Enslaved Mustafa Osmon in 18th-Century Valletta, Malta
“The Archivum de Piro in Valletta, Malta preserves a small invoice and...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Where We’re Working: Dayr Anbā Maqār, Egypt
“The Monastery of Saint Macarius is one of the oldest active Coptic monasteries in Egypt.”
- Dr. David Calabro

HMML Presents New Program, “To Listen: A Global Journey”
“Inspired by the call to action in Fr. Columba Stewart’s 2019 Jefferson Lecture, this program will include interviews with...”
- Joe Rogers
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Postscript — A Fāʼidah
“Along with the direct physical resistance to this unjust trade, the text shows...”
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor
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The Power of a Name
NEH grant for cataloging, to create an authority file system database, and work with Library of Congress (LC) and Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)
- Dr. Catherine Walsh

Getatchew Haile, Ethiopic scholar
“The work of Dr. Getatchew Haile, long-time curator of the HMML Ethiopia Study Center...”
- Ted Erho

Database Partnership Expands Access to West African Manuscripts
HMML is now in partnership with the West African Arabic Manuscript Database
- Dr. Ali Diakite and Dr. Paul Naylor

The Gift of Knowing One Another
“The three couples have been friends for more than 35 years. They have traveled together and...”
- Joe Rogers

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library names Rachel McGarry and Nick Swenson to Board of Overseers
Museum and investment executives named to Board of Overseers
- Joe Rogers

Digitization of the Lettere consolari fonds at the Cathedral Archives, Mdina, Now Completed
“HMML’s Malta Study Center has completed the digitization of the important Lettere consolari fonds now held at the...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Refresh of HMML brand identity and website
“Today we move forward with that name at the center of our new brand identity.”
- Joe Rogers

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library completes digital cataloging of Khalidi Library’s manuscript collection
“The Khalidi Library in East Jerusalem and The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library announce that the complete digitized manuscript collection...”
- Joe Rogers

Digitization of the Archives of the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Completed
“HMML’s Malta Study Center signed an agreement with the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo
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Advanced Imaging Data for HMML Palimpsest Project Hosted on OPenn
“The HMML palimpsest SJU Ms Frag 32 is a single parchment leaf from...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton
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New Preservation Projects — HMML Looks to the Future
“HMML’s cultural, religious, and geographic focus has expanded considerably since it began...”
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Why Cultural Heritage Matters Program and Resources
“Why is a Cultural Heritage Matters is a TPT 30-minute program which highlights the reasons why preserving the past...”

“HMML@Home” — A New Way to Stay Connected
“HMML curators are continuing to work from home through the current global pandemic...”

HMML Launches New Series — HMML@Home
“HMML curators are continuing to work from home through the crisis...”

BBC Radio Airs Story on HMML and Fr. Columba
“BBC World Service’s Heart and Soul program aired a story featuring HMML’s work in preserving the manuscript collections of Timbuktu.”
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Ancient Writing Revealed During HMML Palimpsest Imaging at Stanford's SLAC Lab
“HMML’s very own palimpsest fragment recently underwent high energy x-ray imaging at...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton
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HMML Fieldwork — Fr. Columba Travels to Mali, Renews Agreement
“In December, Fr. Columba traveled again to Mali to visiting HMML’s digitization sites in both...”

HMML Receives $1.4 Million NEH Grant to Preserve and Share Manuscript Heritage
“The grant will fund a three-year project to catalog 53,000 digitized manuscripts and create...”
- Joe Rogers
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New Faces at HMML
“HMML welcomes Dr. Heinin Ali Diakite, Dr. Catherine Walsh, and Katrina Schlude...”
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Updates From the World of Metadata
“Metadata is data about data…and in HMML’s case, includes information about a...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton
- 1 MIN READ
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Where We're Working: The Pontificio Collegio Armeno, Rome
“HMML began digitization at the Pontificio Collegio Armeno (PCA) in Rome in 2018.”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

Governor Walz to Headline Event Honoring Minnesota's “Monument Man” of Endangered manuscripts
“Fr. Columba, executive director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) at Saint John’s University, is being honored for his work...”
- Joe Rogers
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HMML Staff Make Scholarly Impact
“The staff at HMML continue to contribute broadly to the fields of history, cultural studies, and...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton
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Cultural Heritage Present and Future — A Benedictine Monk’s Long View
Watch Father Columba's NEH 2019 Jefferson Lecture.
- Dr. Columba Stewart

National Endowment for the Humanities names Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB, the 2019 Jeffereson Lecturer
“Established by the NEH in 1972, the lectureship is the highest honor bestowed by the federal government for...”
- Joe Rogers

Where We're Working: Missionary Society of Saint Paul, Harissa, Lebanon
“Lebanon is one of the most religiously variegated countries in the Middle East.”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

Seeing the Invisible — Multispectral Imaging of Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts
“This year marks twenty years since the first significant efforts were made to use multispectral imaging (MSI) to reveal hidden...”
- Dr. Melissa Moreton

vHMML Reading Room Surpasses Milestone
“vHMML Reading Room, HMML’s digital library, now holds over 50,000 records...”
- Joe Rogers

vHMML Museum Goes Live
“vHMML Museum, a new component of the vHMML digital platform, went live on...”
- Joe Rogers
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Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Mentioned in December 2018 National Geographic Magazine
“Materials curated by the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) are featured in the...”
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HMML Opens New Exhibition “Starting Over — From Death Comes New Life”
“A new exhibition “Starting Over: From Death Comes New Life” opens Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the...”

HMML is Gifted a Rare Copy of William Shakespeare's Second Folio
“HMML is pleased to announce the acquisition of “William Shakespeare’s Second Folio” to its...”

HMML opens new exhibition “Mediterranean Travel — People, Places, Encounters”
“Mediterranean Travel” explores more than travel narratives and journals...
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library's Malta Study Center Completes Digitization Project at MUŻA — Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arti
“HMML’s Malta Study Center has completed a digitization project with Heritage Malta to...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Manuscripts Meet the World — Handwritten Books from Around the World
“The exhibition conveys the universality of handwriting, and shows how manuscripts...”

HMML opens new exhibition “Living Prayer — Prayer Brought to Life, Living Through Prayer”
“The exhibit is free and open to the public in HMML’s Reading Room and Alcuin Library’s Culhane Gallery...”

Digital copies of the Rossi, Ansaldi and Caetani Yemeni manuscript collections now available in vHMML Reading Room
Digital copies of the Rossi, Ansaldi and Caetani Yemeni manuscript collections now available in vHMML Reading Room.

HMML Featured on CBS News’ Program 60 Minutes
HMML was featured on the CBS news program “60 Minutes”

Harvard Magazine Profiles HMML's Father Columba
“Harvard features an alumni profile of Father Columba Stewart in the January-February 2018 issue of...”

Permanent gallery for The Saint John’s Bible opens at Saint John’s University
“The Saint John’s Bible has traveled the world on exhibition and inspired people of all cultures and...”

NEH funds 2018 Summer Institute in Mediterranean Studies at HMML
“HMML has a vast collection of online manuscript and resource materials on the early modern Mediterranean...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

HMML awarded a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for vHMML 3.0
“The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library an outright grant of...”

New Exhibition in HMML’s Reading Room — Fragmented Beauty
“Our knowledge of the past is often fragmented: ancient artifacts, historical documents, architectural ruins, and...”
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Festschrift for Getatchew Haile
“In recognition of the career and work of Dr. Getatchew Haile, FBA, a festschrift was...”

HMML Partners with the Institute for Advanced Study to Share Threatened Manuscript Heritage from Yemen and Neighboring Countries
“HMML is collaborating with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, to provide open access to...”

New Exhibition at HMML Terra Incognita Tracing Western Understanding of the Earth Through Maps
“In the 21st century, we are accustomed to locating geographical information at the...”

HMML’S Malta Study Center Completes Digitization of Malta Collection at the Catholic University of America Rare Books and Special Collections
“HMML’s Malta Study Center has completed the digitization of 90 manuscripts and rare Melitensia located at the...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Innovative Manuscript Research Tool on vHMML Now Available
“vHMML Reading Room will be a game-changing research tool for anyone interested in manuscript studies...”

HMML & Syriac Manuscripts — New Exhibition in HMML's Reading Room
“In 1715, Giuseppe Simone Assemani, then a titular bishop of Tyre, a Maronite scholar and...”

Artistic Director and Scribe of The Saint John's Bible Receives Apostolic Knighthood
“Donald Jackson received one of the highest honors bestowed upon laypeople by the Vatican.”
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HMML’S Malta Study Center and the James Ford Bell Library Open Exhibition on the Great Siege of Malta
“The exhibition features more than twenty original rare books and manuscripts narrating the history of the...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

Father Columba Stewart Awarded 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship
“Father Columba Stewart has been awarded a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation...”

Ethiopia, Europe, and Collegeville — New Exhibition in our Reading Room
“Ethiopia has come to Collegeville in an exhibition at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library...”

HMML’S Malta Study Center Begins Digitization Partnership with the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti
“The Malta Study Center at HMML has signed a partnership agreement with the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti (FPM) to begin...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Launches vHMML
“HMML is very excited to announce the launch of vHMML (“Virtual HMML”)...”

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Awarded $4 Million Grant from Arcadia Fund
“Arcadia Fund has awarded a $4 million grant to the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library...”

HMML Receives Major Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
“The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library...”

HMML Digitizes Timbuktu's Historic Manuscript Collections
“HMML is creating digital records of more than 22,000 rare and historically-significant documents from a...”

HMML Urgently Working to Save Manuscripts in Iraq, Hopes for Safety of Collections in Syria
“Against a background of terrorism and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage sites, HMML...”

Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Joins the Renaissance Society of America
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML) has just been named an Associate Organization of the Renaissance Society of America...”

HMML’S Malta Study Center Begins New Digitization Project at the National Archives of Malta
“Known as the Officium Civile Sacrae Inquisitionis (OSI) Fond, the collection contains records that date from...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

HMML Awarded $500,000 Grant From Henry Luce Foundation to Support Development of an Online Reading Room for vHMML
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded a $500,000 three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to support...”

Malta Study Center Partners with the Mediterranean Seminar
“The seminar’s mission is to encourage scholarly collaboration across disciplines and...”
- Dr. Daniel K. Gullo

New Curator Hired for HMML's Malta Study Center
“Dr. Daniel Gullo has been named the Joseph S. Micallef Curator of the Malta Study Center.”

HMML Receives International SUCCEED Award
“The ceremony will be chaired by Nobel-Prize winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, the...”

HMML Receives Grant from Prince Claus Fund to Digitize Timbuktu Manuscripts
“When Timbuktu’s ancient libraries were in danger of destruction by Islamist militias during the...”

HMML Returns to Mali to Digitize Manuscripts from Timbuktu Library
“Fr. Columba Stewart and his team have returned to Bamako, Mali, where he and...”

Council of the British Academy Bestows Edward Ullendorff Medal Upon Getatchew Haile
“The Council of the British Academy has bestowed the Edward Ullendorff Medal upon Dr. Getatchew Haile.”

HMML Awarded Grant to Develop Virtual HMML
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded a grant of $350,930 from The Institute for Museum & Library Services for...”

HMML Completes Armenian Manuscript Project in Aleppo, Syria
“HMML-trained technicians in Aleppo, Syria, have completed the digitization of 225 Armenian manuscripts...”

HMML Awarded National Medal of Honor
“The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library has been awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service...”

HMML Awarded $3 Million Grant from Arcadia Fund
“A $3 million grant from the Arcadia Fund of London has been awarded to the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library...”

HMML Begins First Manuscript Preservation Project in Jerusalem
“HMML has begun manuscript preservation work in Jerusalem...”

Researcher Identifies Second-Oldest Ethiopian Manuscript in Existence in HMML’s Archives
“Ted Erho, a doctoral student at Durham University in England, recently spent six weeks at HMML studying...”
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Where We’re Working: L’viv, Ukraine
“L’viv is a Ukrainian city whose multicultural past survives in at least two forms: its buildings and...”

HMML acquires two landmark titles for its Rare Book Collection
“When the Benedictine monks came to Minnesota in 1856, they brought with them a chest packed with the...”
- Dr. Columba Stewart