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6th International Conference “Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia”
6th International Conference “Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia” organized by Salzburg University and the Institute of Archeology named after A.Kh. Margulan with the support of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies was held June 21-27, 2019 in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan).
Around 40 speakers made presentations on various aspects of Syriac or, as it is commonly called in the Central Asian Region, Nestorian Christianity.
The conference was opened by Prof. Dietmar Winkler (Salzburg University, Austria), Mr. Kevin White (Department of Nestorian Studies of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and Dr. Dmitry Voyakin (IICAS).
The first day of the conference was dedicated to the penetration of Christianity into the Central Asia. The speakers were Dr. Li Tang (Austria), Prof. Richard Foltz (Canada), Mr. Valeriy Kolchenko (Kyrgyzstan), Prof. Harald Suermann (Germany) and Dr. Zhu Li-Layec (Switzerland).
The second day of the event focused on Syrian-Christian architecture and iconography, as well as artifacts, texts, and their interpretations. This information was presented by Mrs. Susan Balderstone (Austria), Prof. Charles Stewart (USA), Mrs. Andrea Jian Chen (China), Dr. Hatice Demir (Turkey), Mrs. Aysulu Iskanderova (Uzbekistan) with the presentation of Mr. Ruslan Muradov (Turkmenistan), Dr. Glen Thompson (China), Dr. Alexander Tamm, Prof. Ute Verstegen (Germany), Prof. Mehmet Tezcan (Turkey), Prof. Xiaolin MA (China), Prof. Pier Giorgio Borbone (Italy), Mr. Ali Langrodi (Germany) and Mr. Rong Huang (USA), Mrs. A. Musakaeva (Uzbekistan).
The discussion of artifacts and texts continued on the third day with the efforts of Prof. Peter Zieme (Germany), Prof. Hidemi Takahashi (Japan) and Dr. Erica Hunter (Great Britain). In addition, Dr. Anthony Watson and Dr. Stephen Gilbert made the presentation of the ongoing excavations in Kayalyk and Ilibalyk.
The fourth day began with presentations on the Sogdian Christianity made by Prof. Nicholas Sims-Williams (UK) and Dr. Chiara Barbati (Austria). The rest of the time was dedicated to the historical perspectives and future research on this issue. This issue was discussed by Mr. Sergey Kostomarov (Kazakhstan), Mr. Martin ZiRan Guo (Switzerland), Prof. Dr. Baby Varghese (India), Dr. Anthony Watson (USA), Dr. Andrew Platt (China), Dr. Stanislau Paulau (Germany), Dr. Bolormaa Oyunchimeg (Mongolia), Dr. Tjalling Halbertsma (Netherlands), Dr. Gunner Mikelsen (Australia) and Mr. Bradford Houdyshel (USA/Japan).
Ilibalik's kayrakas – tombstones with Christian symbols – were demonstrated at the conference.
IICAS presented to the participants of the event a series of books published by the Institute as a result of joint projects, as well as the latest edition of its periodical scientific journal – Bulletin of IICAS.
After the end of the conference, the participants were offered a two-day tour to the Charyn Canyon and Ilibalik excavation site, where traces of Nestorian Christianity were found.
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