Ra'anan Boustan, Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed contested relics of the sacrificial cult of the Jerusalem Temple and the royal house of ancient Israel in his January 29 lecture for the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. His talk, "Matter of Contention: Relics of the Biblical Past Between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity," continued the Institute's 2013-15 theme, "Materials of History." The talk is available online as an MP3 audio file to University of Michigan account holders (link here to access).

On January 30, the Institute presented the workshop, "Absent Matter," featuring Ra’anan Boustan (Associate Professor, History, University of California, Los Angeles), Ismail Alatas (Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology and History, University of Michigan), Jonathan Brack (Ph.D. Candidate, History, University of Michigan), Michail Kitsos (Ph.D. Program, Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan), Shira Schwartz (Ph.D. Program, Comparative Literature, University of Michigan), and Rachel Neis (panel chair; Associate Professor, History, Judaic Studies, Law, University of Michigan).