Anselm Hagedorn: “Gardens between Text(s) and Archaeology: A Perspective from Song of Songs“

The lovers of the Song of Songs prefer the open. Here, they are able to enjoy their company (mostly) undisturbed from the interferences from others. Gardens and vineyards as places of encounter play a crucial role and it is hardly surprising that the beloved women can be described as a “locked garden” (Song 4:12-5:1). Here, the description of the sumptuous garden, echoes imagery that will reappear in the ekphraseis known from classical romances. We will take a closer look at the text world created by such descriptions and relate these findings to the archaeological record of gardens in the Eastern Mediterranean, to investigate what kind of cultural register is used by the author. Anselm Hagedorn has read Theology, as well as some Classics, at Göttingen, St. Andrews, Notre Dame (USA), and Heidelberg. He earned his doctorate (DPhil) at Oxford University, with a thesis titled Between Moses and Plato: Individual Society in Deuteronomy and Ancient Greek Law. After being the Kennicott-Hebrew-Fellow at Oxford, he proceeded to a Habilitation at the Humboldt-Universität of Berlin. His Habilitationsschrift (Die Anderen im Spiegel: Israels Auseinandersetzung mit den Fremden in den Büchern Nahum, Zefanja, Obadja und Joel) investigated how the portrait of the so-called “foreign nations” influenced the literary genesis of the Book of the Twelve. He has taught as a Privatdozent in Berlin, Göttingen, and Heidelberg. In 2015 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew, Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Osnabrück. From 2015-2018, he served as the Chair of the Annual Meeting Programme Committee of the SBL. Since 2020, he has cooperated with Oded Lipschits and Shua Kisilevitz in the Tel Moza Expedition Project. Opening Track Credits: Corporate Soft by LesFM | Music promoted by Creative Commons CC BY 3.0