Elaine Pagels May 6th at St James Madison Avenue on Revelation

Elaine Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, will speak at St. James’ Church at 6:30pm on Monday, May 6. The church is located at the corner of Madison Ave. and 71^st St., and the talk is FREE. Pagels, the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, is best known for her work on the Gnostic Gospels, and is most recently the author of Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation (Viking, 2012), which was favorably reviewed in the New York Times Book Review and the New Yorker. She will offer Art, Music, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, a multimedia presentation on the use of language and imagery from the Book of Revelation in times of war and conflict.

May 5th 12.45am-3.30pm Miriamic Procession at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, NYC

1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street New York, New York 10025 stjohndivine.org 212.316.7490

The Congregation of Saint Saviour presents

The Miriamic Procession

Professors Phyllis Trible, Deirdre Good and Robyn Neville

The Miriamic procession is both auditory and visual. The sound starts with the

glorious song of Miriam who sings the "Song of the Sea" in Exodus 15

celebrating Israel's deliverance with music and dance. The Miriamic

procession continues in the New Testament from Mary, the mother in the birth

stories, through women disciples in Jesus' ministry, to the women at the

empty tomb and at the resurrection. Miriam's song resonates in the Magnificat,

the lament psalms of Pistis Sophia, the Manichaean psalms, Peter Abelard's

Easter sermon, and medieval and baroque music of the east and west. Mary's

role and function as the mother of Jesus advances in the procession from

Christological debates into medieval texts with a particular focus on Mary in

medieval Ireland.

Professor Trible will discuss Exodus 15 and traditions around Miriam

Professor Good will discuss Luke 2, John 20 and traditions around Mary and

Mary Magdalene

Professor Neville will discuss the dynamic narrative history of Mary in the early

and medieval church

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Conference Room, Cathedral House

Registration Fee: $25.00 (includes lunch)

12:45 – 1:30 pm: Registration and Lunch

1:30 – 3:30 pm: Course

Please RSVP by May 1 to office@saintsaviour.org or 212.316.7483.

Pompei of the North: 8,000 (and counting) Roman artefacts in London

Six months into the dig of Bloomberg place (yes, the London dwelling to be of our own Mayor Bloomberg perhaps when he leaves office) archaeologists have uncovered the largest site of Roman finds in London to date.

Archaeologists have so far discovered 8,000 objects and expect that to rise to 10,000 by the time the project is finished. These include writing tablets, clothing, jewellery and pottery as well as parts of buildings that will help build a picture of thriving London life from around 40 AD to the fifth century.

Ms Jackson said: “Why the site is so incredibly important is the preservation of archaeological finds which are normally decayed, or lost or destroyed on other sites.” The reason many of the objects are so well preserved is that one of London’s lost rivers, the Walbrook River, ran under the site, with the damp conditions preserving the objects.

Michael Marshall, Roman find specialist at Mola, said the findings would “completely transform” understanding of Roman London. “There are very few civilian sites. This is the largest assemblage discovered in London.”

Over 150 fragments of writing tablets have been discovered in one room - in what was described as similar to finding an abandoned filing cabinet - with information written on or scratched into them about people who lived in London at the time.

Archaeologists expect to double the number of names known in London to over 30, although nothing is certain. Mr Marshall said: “It’s an amazing accident when the text survives.”

Ms Jackson added: ““These are really exciting; there are only 14 references to London in all of Roman literature.”

The objects ended up in the ground generally from two ways, people throwing objects into refuse pits, or throwing them into the river as offerings.

The wetness of the ground proved particularly fortuitous, helping preserve the organic remains, and Mr Marshall called it the “best site in London” for Roman remains.

“No oxygen could get at the organics, so wood, leather, horn, and occasionally textiles survive in these conditions. The rest of the city of London doesn’t get that water logging. It gives us a picture of what it would have been all over the whole city.”