Bogdan Burtea is a Romanian religious studies scholar and

Semiticist Semitic studies, or Semitology, is the academic field dedicated to the studies of Semitic languages and literatures and the history of the Semitic-speaking peoples. A person may be called a ''Semiticist'' or a ''Semitist'', both terms being equi ...

currently based in Germany. His main interests are

Mandaic Mandaic may refer to: * Mandaic language * Mandaic alphabet The Mandaic alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Mandaic language. It is thought to have evolved between the second and seventh century CE from either a cursive fo ...

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, and Ethiopic studies.

Early life and education

Bogdan Burtea was born in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

.Häberl, Charles G. (2007)
Review of Bogdan Burtea, ''Das mandäische Fest der Schalttage'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005)
In: ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', 127(2), 208–210. American Oriental Society. In 1999, Burtea obtained his Master's degree in Semitic Studies and Religious Studies, with a focus on History of Religions, at

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

after graduating with a bachelor's degree from the same university. He then became a research assistant at the Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Free University of Berlin, which was chaired by Rainer Voigt. He obtained his doctorate in Semitic Studies at the Free University of Berlin in 2003, with his dissertation supervised by and

Kurt Rudolph Kurt Rudolph (3 April 1929
University of Leipzig – 13 May 2020) was a German researcher of < ...

Career

After graduation, in 2004, Burtea became a research assistant at the Department of Islamic Studies at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt () is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after German reunification. Therefore ...

, where he worked on the research project "The Influence of Globalization and Regionalization Processes in the History of the Eastern Church on the Emergence, Spread and Early Development of Islam in the 6th and 7th Centuries". From 2011 to 2016, he was a research assistant at the Department of Religious Studies of the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, where he worked on a research project relating to

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

that was funded by the

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: , SNF; French: , FNS; Italian: ) is a science research support organisation mandated by the Swiss Federal Government. The Swiss National Science Foundation was established under private law b ...

. From 2004 to 2011, he was a research assistant at the Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the

, where he worked on several Mandaic textual translation projects funded by the

Fritz Thyssen Foundation The Fritz Thyssen Foundation () is a private nonprofit foundation in Germany, created on 7 July 1959 by Amélie Thyssen and Anita Gräfin Zichy-Thyssen and named in memory of prominent iron and steel manufacturer August Thyssen and his son Fritz, ...

and the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

(DFG). In 2017, he was a visiting scholar in the BabMed (Babylonian Medicine) research project at the Free University of Berlin. Since 2018, he has been a research associate at the Faculty of Theology of the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, supported by funding from the

Translations of Mandaic texts

Burtea is known for his German-language translations of several Mandaean religious texts, including: *''Šafta ḏ-Dahlulia'' ("The Scroll of, i.e. against Evil Spirits", DC 20) *''Zrazta d-Hibil Ziwa'' ("The Amulet of Hibel Ziwa," DC 44) *

Scroll of the Parwanaya The ''Scroll of the Parwanaya'' ( ) is a Mandaean religious text that describes the rituals of the five-day Parwanaya festival. Excluding the colophon, the text consists of 931 lines. Manuscripts and translations Copies of the scroll include ...

in 2005 *''

Zihrun Raza Kasia The ''Šarḥ ḏ-Zihrun Raza Kasia'' (; "The Scroll of Zihrun, the Hidden Mystery") is a Mandaean religious text that describes rituals such as the masbuta, masiqta, and other related topics. It is an illustrated scroll. Zihrun (referred to a ...

'' in 2008 *

Secrets of the Ancestors ''Diwan u-tafsir ḏ-razia ḏ-abahata'' ( "Scroll and Tafsir xplanationof the Secrets of the Ancestors", or simply "The Secrets of the Ancestors") is a Mandaean religious text. It is written as a scroll. Manuscripts and translations The Bodl ...

in 2012 *''

Haran Gawaita The ''Haran Gawaita'' ( Mandaic: , meaning "Inner Harran" or "Inner Hauran"; Modern Mandaic: ''(Diwān) Harrān Gawāythā'') also known as the ''Scroll of Great Revelation'', is a Mandaean text which recounts the history of the Mandaeans as ...

'' in 2020 *''

Diwan Abatur The ''Diwan Abatur'' (; "Scroll of Abatur"; Modern Mandaic: ''Diwān Abāthor'') is a Mandaean religious text. It is a large illustrated scroll that is over 20 ft. (6.1 m) long. A similar illustrated Mandaean scroll is the '' Diwan Nahraw ...

'' (completed in 2024) *

Left Ginza The Left Ginza () is one of the two parts of the Ginza Rabba, the longest and the most important holy scripture of Mandaeism. The other part of the Ginza Rabba is the Right Ginza. As of 2024, a critical edition that includes an annotated transl ...

(in progress, with )

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

External links

WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtea, Bogdan Living people Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin Religious studies scholars Scholars of Mandaeism Semiticists Ethiopianists Free University of Berlin alumni Romanian expatriates in Germany Year of birth missing (living people) Translators from Mandaic Romanian philologists Translators to German Romanian religion academics Translators of the Ginza Rabba