Department of Ancient History

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Professor Alanna Nobbs

BA Syd., PhD Syd.

Head of Departmenr of Ancient History and Co-Director Ancient History Documentary Research Centre

Contact Details:

Telephone: +61 2 9850 8844
Fax: +61 2 9850 8240
Office: W6A 318
Email: alanna.nobbs@humn.mq.edu.au

Profile

Professor Alanna Nobbs is Head of Department of Ancient History and Co-Director of the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre. Her fields of research and teaching include the historical background of Acts of the Apostles; Greek papyri documenting the Christianisation of Egypt; Late antique and early Byzantine history and historiography. She concluded her BA Hons1( Latin) and PhD (Latin) at the University of Sydney (1966, 1973) and has taught at Macquarie University from 1970.

External Appointments

1974, 1979 Honorary Visiting Fellow, Birkbeck College, University of London
1984, 1995 Honorary Visiting Fellow, Department of History, University of Sydney
1995 Honorary Visiting Fellow, Centre for Research in East Roman Studies, University of Warwick1995
1999, 2003 Honorary Visiting Fellow, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London
2004 50th Anniversary Lecturer, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London
2005 British Academy funded Visiting Speaker, University of Edinburgh

Grants (last 5 years)

2006: MURDG 'Breaking the Code for the Early Christian Symbol: The Nomina Sacra' (year 1: $25,717, year 2: 24,057)
2006: Research Infrastructure Block Grants (RIBG) 'Expanded Digitised Library, Coptic Resource Centre, and Thematic Database' ($67,040)
2004: MURG Research Committee Discretionary Fund ($25,000); RIBG ($56,000); Paleographical and Codicological Analysis of 2nd century codex manual ($19,970)
2003: MURDG Codicological Analysis of 2 Oxyrhynchus Libraries ($19,700)
2002: RIBG ($47,500); Bilingualism within 4th century Egyptian Monasticism ($16,400); New Testament Paleographic Register ($9,760); Foreign Relations in the post Roman West ($14,990)
2001: MURDS Transformation from polytheisiic to Monotheistic formulas in Greek letters on papyrus ($14,700); The Macquarie English to Coptic Dictionary ($9,600); Distinguishing Jewish from Christian Papyrii ($8,735)
2000: Theophanes Continuatus (ARC Small Grant $11,600); RIBG ($37,900); Translation and commentary on Philostorgius ($7,770)

Publications

Books (authored)

Kambala: the First Hundred Years 1887-1987 (Globe Press, 1987) 244pp.
Books (edited)

History and Historians in Late Antiquity (Pergamon, 1983) (with Brian Croke) 182pp.

Reading the Past in Late Antiquity (ANU Press, 1990) (edited by Graeme Clarke with Brian Croke, Raoul Mortley & Alanna Emmett Nobbs) 370pp.

Ancient History in a Modern University (2 vols, Eerdmans, 1997) (with T.W. Hillard, R.A. Kearsley and C.E.V. Nixon) vol 1: 436 pp; vol 2: 493 pp.

Journal of Religious History (Blackwells, 2002), special issue on the Dead Sea Scrolls (with John Gascoigne and Mark Harding) 197pp.
Research Articles

‘Three Recent Interpretations of Ammianus Marcellinus’, Prudentia 2 (1970) 19-27.

‘A Fourth-century Hymn to the Virgin Mary? Psalmus Responsorius: P. Barc. 149b-153’, Proceedings of XIV International Congress of Papyrologists Oxford, 24-31 July 1974) Graeco-Roman Memoirs, No.61 (1975) 97-102.

(With S.R. Pickering) ‘The Importance of P. Bodmer XX The Apology of Phileas and its Problems’, Prudentia 7 (1975) 95-103.

‘The Subject of Psalmus Responsorius: P. Barc. 149b-153’, Museum Philologum Londiniense 2 (1977) 99-108.

‘Introductions and Conclusions to Digressions in Ammianus Marcellinus’, Museum Philologum Londiniense 5 (1981) 15-33.

‘Female Ascetics in the Greek Papyri’, Akten des XVI. Internationalen Byzantinisten-Kongresses = Jahrbuch der Oesterreichischen Byzantinistik 32.2 (1982) 507-515.

‘Corpus Papyrorum Christianarum. A Report’, ibid., 31.2, section 2.1.

‘A Fourth Century Hymn to the Virgin Mary?’ New Documents illustrating Early Christianity (A.H.D.R.C. Macquarie, 1982) 141-6.

‘The Digressions in the Lost Books of Ammianus Marcellinus’, in History and Historians in Late Antiquity (Pergamon, 1983) 42-53.

(With Brian Croke) ‘Historiography in Late Antiquity: an Overview’, ibid., 1-13.

‘An Early Fourth-Century Female Monastic Community in Egypt?’ Maistor: Studies Presented to Robert Browning (= Byzantina Australiensia 5) (1984)
77-83.

‘The Concept of Spirit in Papyrus Letters of the Third and Fourth Century: Problems Posed by P. Harr. 107’, The Concept of Spirit, Prudentia, Supplement 1985, 73-79.

‘A Revolt in the Time of Diocletian: the Evidence of the Paniskos Papyri’, Ancient Society 16 (1986) 132-6.

‘Digressions in the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret’ Journal of Religious History 14.1 (1986) 1-12.

‘The Idea of Salvation: the Transition to Christianity as Seen in Some Early Papyri’ in The Idea of Salvation, Prudentia Supplement 1988, 59-63.

‘Philostorgius’ View of the Past’, in Reading the Past in Late Antiquity (ed. Graeme Clarke with Brian Croke, Raoul Mortley & Alanna Emmett Nobbs, ANU (1990) 251-264.

‘Philostorgius’ Ecclesiastical History: an “Alternative Ideology” ’ Tyndale Bulletin 42.2 (1991) 271-281.

‘Acts and Subsequent Ecclesiastical Histories’, in The Book of Acts in its Literary Setting, (Eerdmans 1993) 153-163.

(With T.W. Hillard and B. W. Winter) ‘Acts and the Pauline Corpus 1: Ancient Literary Parallels’, ibid., 1-31.

‘Cyprus in the Book of Acts’, The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting (Eerdmans 1994) 279-289.

‘Philostorgius’ Place in the Tradition of Ecclesiastical Historiography’, Tradition and Traditions. Prudentia suppl.1994, 198-207.

Article on ‘Philostorgius’, in Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd edn, 1997).
(With S.R. Llewelyn) ‘P. Grenf. II.73 Reconsidered’, Proceedings of XXI International Papyrological Conference (Berlin 1997) Teubner, (1997) 613-630.

(With W. Leadbetter) ‘The Christians in the Later Roman Empire’, chapter in Personalities from the Past (Nelson, 1997), 261-282.

‘Formulas of Belief in Greek Papyrus Letters of the Third and Fourth Centuries’, in Ancient History in a Modern University (Eerdmans, 1998) vol 2, 233-237.

‘Gnosticism and the Greek Papyri from Egypt’, Phronema 14 (1999) 53-60.

(With I. Gardner and M. Choat) ‘P.Harr. 107. Is this another Greek Manichaean Letter?’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 131 (2000) 118-124.

(With S.R. Llewelyn) ‘The earliest dated reference to Sunday in the papyri’, in S.R. Llewelyn (ed.), New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 9 (Sydney/Grand Rapids, 2002) 106-118.

‘The Christians in the Later Roman Empire’, Ancient History: Resources for Teachers 32.1 (2002) 39-63.

(With T. Rajak) Review of Doron Mendels, The Media Revolution of Early Christianity. An Essay on Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Scripta Classica Israelica 22 (2003).

Australian Dictionary of Biography article on Fifi Hawthorne (2003).

‘Beloved Brothers in the New Testament and Early Christian World’, in The New Testament in its First Century Setting: Essays on Context and Background in Honour of B.W. Winter on his 65th birthday, ed. P.J. Williams, Andrew D. Clarke, Peter M. Head, David Instone-Brewer (Eerdmans, 2004) 143-151.

M. Choat & A.Nobbs, ‘Monotheistic Formulae of Belief in Second – Fourth century AD Greek Papyri’, Journal of Greco-Roman Judaism and Christianity 2 (2001-2005) 36-51.
Papers at general education seminars and conferences (selection only)

‘Tacitus as a Writer of History’ Teaching History 5 (1971) 48-55.

‘Ausonius’ ‘Moselle’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1976) 161-7.

‘The Later Roman Empire’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1977) 125-138.

‘Aristophanes as Social and Political Critic’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1978) 147-8.

‘Recent Work on Julian’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1980) 44-63.

‘Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History Book viii’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1981) 66-78.

‘A New Look at Tacitus’ Teaching History 15.1 (1981) 26-32.

‘Major Studies on Constantine’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1982) 125-9.

‘What Makes a Good 2-Unit or 3-Unit Examination Answer’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1983) 121-5.

‘Forum: Examining the HSC Syllabus in Ancient History’ Macquarie University Continuing Education Program: Conference Papers (1984) 89-91.

‘The Form of Acts and Luke/Acts’ History in the New Testament: A Continuing Education Course at Macquarie (1984) 1-8.

‘Ungodly Women in Revelation’ The Book of Revelation in its Roman Setting (Society for the Study of Early Christianity 1990) 24-29.

‘Are the Creeds really based on the New Testament’? in What Happened to the New Testament in Late Antiquity (Society for the Study of Early Christianity 1992) 21-26.

‘Traditions of the Birth of Jesus’ in Loose Canons: Books in The Bible and Books Left Out (Society for the Study of Early Christianity 2001) 8-12.
Book Reviews

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Department of Ancient History:
http://www.anchist.mq.edu.au/

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