Arietta Papaconstantinou is Reader in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

and Associate Faculty Member in the

Faculty of Oriental Studies The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (formerly the Faculty of Oriental Studies), is a subdivision of the University of Oxford. The faculty is engaged in a broad range of research and teaching on modern and historical Asian and Midd ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She is an expert in the religious, social and economic history of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and the Near East during the transition from the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

to the

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Education and career

Papaconstantinou was educated at the

German School of Athens The German School of Athens (, DSA; , ΓΣΑ), also known as the Dörpfeld Gymnasium, is a coeducational independent, kindergarten, elementary school and high school in Marousi, Athens, Greece. The school has been in operation since 1896 and was ...

and Deree College in Athens. She received a Masters in

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and a PhD in

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

from the

Université de Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

. Her doctoral thesis was entitled ''Le Culte des saints en Egypte d'après la documentation papyrologique et épigraphique grecque (Ve - VIIe siècle)'' (1993)''.'' Papaconstantinou was

Maître de Conférences The following summarizes basic academic ranks in the France, French higher education system. Most academic institutions are state-run and most academics with permanent positions are French Civil Service, civil servants, and thus are Academic tenur ...

at the Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, where she taught since 1999. She joined Reading University in 2011. Papaconstantinou was a Summer Fellow at

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and gardens of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife ...

in 1998. Her project was “The Cult of Saints in Byzantine and Umayyad Egypt: The Contribution of Greek and Coptic Papyrological and Epigraphical Evidence”. She was a Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks, 2006–7. Her research project was 'The Rise and Fall of Coptic: A Cultural History of the Language and its Speakers'. She contributed to the University of Oxford's 'Cult of Saints Project', funded by the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

, and she collaborated on the 'Provinces et empires: l'Égypte islamique dans le monde antique' Project at the Institut français d’archéologie orientale. With David B. Hollander and

Andrew Erskine Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

, Papaconstantinou is a General Editor for the Encyclopedia of Ancient History, published by

Wiley Wiley may refer to: Locations *Wiley, Colorado, a U.S. town *Wiley, Georgia, an U.S. unincorporated community * Wiley, Pleasants County, West Virginia, U.S. * Wiley-Kaserne, a district of the city of Neu-Ulm, Germany People *Wiley (musician), ...

Select bibliography

* ''Le culte des saints en Égypte des Byzantins aux Abbassides. L’apport des sources papyrologiques et épigraphiques grecques et coptes'', Le monde byzantin (Paris 2001) * ''The material and the ideal. Essays in medieval art and archaeology in honour of Jean-Michel Spieser'', co-ed. with Anthony Cutler, The Medieval Mediterranean 70 (Leiden 2007). * ''Becoming Byzantine: children and childhood in Byzantium'', co-ed. with

Alice-Mary Talbot Alice-Mary Talbot (also Alice-Mary Maffry Talbot; born May 16, 1939) is an American Byzantinist. She is director of Byzantine studies emerita, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Her particular expertise is the social context of Byza ...

Symposia and Colloquia (Washington 2009). * ''‘Writing true stories’: historians and hagiographers in the late antique and medieval Near East'', co-editor with

Muriel Debié Muriel Debié, born in 1967, is a French historian specialist of the Syriac world. Biography Muriel Debié was born in Pau on December 28, 1967. After studying at Henri-IV and then at the École normale supérieure, she pursued a path as a ...

and Hugh Kennedy, Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages 9 (Turnhout: Brepols 2010). * ''The multilingual experience in Egypt from the Ptolemies to the ‘Abbāsids'', ed. (Farnham 2010). * ''Le Proche-Orient de Justinien aux Abbassides: peuplement et dynamiques spatiales'', co-ed. with Antoine Borrut,

, Dominique Pieri and Jean-Pierre Sodini, Bibliothèque d’Antiquité Tardive 19 (Turnhout: Brepols 2011).

References

External links

Worldcat Author Page

Google Scholar Profile

'Becoming Byzantine: Children and Childhood in Byzantium' Colloquium
2006, Dumbarton Oaks, co-organised with Alice-Mary Talbot
Oxford University Staff Profile

Reading University Staff Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papaconstantinou, Arietta Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Greek historians Greek women historians Greek Byzantinists Scholars of Byzantine history Women Byzantinists Women medievalists German School of Athens alumni