The Center for the Study of Ancient Religious Texts

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: New center to study ancient religious texts (Lauren Franco, The Optimist).

The Center for the Study of Ancient Religious Texts opened Thursday in conjunction with the 30th annual Carmichael-Walling lectures.

The new center, or CSART, will provide an opportunity for faculty and students to collaborate in cutting edge research of ancient texts. Dr. Jeff Childers, director of the CSART, said the center’s participants have already begun engaging in global partnerships, one of which is with St. Catherine’s monastery.

On Thursday, Father Justin, a librarian in the monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai, Egypt, delivered three lectures about the treasures of the monastery.

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The opportunity is open to all students, but Childers said mostly students who are skilled in ancient languages, no matter their major, can be involved in the research. Ancient languages include Ethiopic (ancient Ethiopian), Coptic, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Resident Ethiopic expert Dr. Kurt Niccum, professor of Bible, will continue his research of Ethiopic texts, some of which are housed on campus in the Brown Library.

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Sounds like an exciting project.