I graduated from the English Department in the Faculty of Arts of Menia University (Egypt) in 2000, and then from the Coptic Theological Faculty (Egypt). I received my PhD in Theology from Philipps-Universität, Marburg, in 2018. My doctoral research concentrated on the study of the life and work of Simʿān b. Kalīl, a Coptic author from the 12th–13th centuries, producing a critical edition of his preface to the book of Psalms. Before coming to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), Munich, in August 2021, I worked as a research assistant on a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) on making a critical edition of the Arabic Apostolic Constitution at the Research Center for Oriental Christianity (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt). Currently I am one of a team preparing that work for publication.
I am primarily interested in the study of Christian Arabic literature, with a focus on the exegesis of the Bible in Arabic and a special interest in the impact of Syriac exegesis on Coptic exegesis. Currently I am preparing a critical edition and a study of Ibn Kalil’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew within the scope of a project sponsored by the DFG.
I am also interested in the interactions of the different Oriental Christian communities with each other as well as with non-Christians (Jews and Muslims) in the period between the 7th and the 13th centuries, and the influence that such interactions had on the development of Christian Arabic thought.
joseph.faragalla@lmu.de
Areas of Interest
Christian Arabic and Syriac literature, history of Oriental Christians, biblical exegesis, Arabic translation of patristic literature, manuscripts and codicology
Historical Periods of Interest
7th through 16th centuries CE
Positions
2021
Research Associate (Principal Investigator), DFG Project “Studies on Simʿān ibn Kalīl’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew: Critical Edition, Translation and Researches on the Religious-Historical Significance of the Work”, Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), Munich
2018 – 2019
Research Assistant, Research Center for Oriental Christianity, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
2015 – 2016
Research Assistant, DFG Project “Orientalische Quellen zum Kirchenrecht. Edition und Übersetzung pseudapostolischer Kirchenordnungen in arabischer Überlieferung”, Research Center for Oriental Christianity, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
2011 – 2013
External Cataloger of Christian Arabic and Garshouni manuscripts, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Saint John’s University, USA
Education
2018
PhD, Department of Protestant Theology, Theology, Philipps-Universität, Marburg
2005
BA in Theology, Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary, Cairo, Egypt
2000
BA in English Literature, Minia University, Egypt
