International Catacomb Society

Documentality: New Approaches to Written Documents in Imperial Life and Literature Sept 30 – Oct 1, 2016 Stanford Humanitites Center, Boardroom 424 Santa Teresa Street Stanford, California 94305 Program (pdf). For questions or to register for the conference as a guest, contact: documentality2016@gmail.com. Documentality is sponsored by the France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Stanford…

Beyond the Book Speakers Series at the University of Michigan presents: “East-West, No Bible is Best”:  A new picture of ancient Mediterranean Judaism in which the Bible was not the center of Jewish religious life. Thursday, September 22nd, 2016: 11:30am-1:30pm. Location: Institute for the Humanities Common Room, Room 1022 South Thayer Building, 202 S Thayer (University…

The ICS seasonal update, Luminaria, has been sent to members.  If you have not received your copy, please contact membership@catacombsociety.org.

Karen Audette’s award-winning documentary, The Nike Chariot Earring”, relates a crime story stranger than fiction, and with a happy ending!  All thanks to Florence Z. Wolsky, International Catacomb Society co-founder and longtime staff member of the Department of the Art of the Ancient World at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, who would never let…

A Times of Israel article of July 15, 2016 by Italian correspondent Rossella Tercatin quotes at length International Catacomb Society Executive Director Jessica Dello Russo about structural and artistic features inside of the Jewish Catacombs of the Vigna Randanini in Rome. The Times of Israel article also includes observations on the Vigna Randanini site…

“It is with sadness that I am writing on behalf of the Executive Board of the International Catacomb Society that Estelle Brettman passed away on June 24, 1991. Last fall, Estelle had an operation, but seemed to be recovering from it fairly well. A few weeks ago, she suddenly became very ill, and entered…

(Below are intimate portraits of Estelle Shohet Brettman by close friends and associates written not long after her death on June 24, 1991.  In a genuine and spontaneous manner, they provide insight into the unprecedented success of her campaign to raise international awareness of the artistic and anthropological significance of the Jewish and Christian…

(To honor the memory of ICS founder and longtime executive director, Estelle Shohet Brettman, who died a quarter century ago in Boston on June 24, 1991, the ICS is releasing archival materials that testify to Brettman’s life and legacy to the society that she endowed in perpetuity.  Many of these testimonials are of longtime…

“Each one of us can be a bridge of encounter between diverse cultures and religions, a way to rediscover our common humanity.” Twenty-five years ago today, on June 6, 1991, Estelle Shohet Brettman, founder and long-time executive director of the International Catacomb Society, composed a last testament that would permit the society’s existence through…

The 2016 Annual Conference of the North American Patristics Society (NAPS) features a number of presentations by International Catacomb Society Directors, current members, and previous scholarship recipients.  The conference is scheduled for May 26-28, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.  Click here for the final program, including workshops and special events. As stated…