Bogdan Burtea is a Romanian religious studies scholar and

Semiticist Semitic studies, or Semitology, is the academic field dedicated to the studies of Semitic languages and literatures and the history of the Semitic-speaking peoples. A person may be called a ''Semiticist'' or a ''Semitist'', both terms being equi ...

currently based in Germany. His main interests are

Mandaic Mandaic may refer to: * Mandaic language * Mandaic alphabet ** Mandaic (Unicode block) Mandaic is a Unicode block containing characters of the Mandaic script used for writing the historic Eastern Aramaic, also called Classical Mandaic, and the m ...

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

, and Ethiopic studies.

Early life and education

Bogdan Burtea was born in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

.Häberl, Charles G. (2007)
Review of Bogdan Burtea, ''Das mandäische Fest der Schalttage'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005)
In: ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', 127(2), 208–210. American Oriental Society. In 1999, Burtea obtained his Master's degree in Semitic Studies and Religious Studies, with a focus on History of Religions, at

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

after graduating with a bachelor's degree from the same university. He then became a research assistant at the Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Free University of Berlin, which was chaired by Rainer Voigt. He obtained his doctorate in Semitic Studies at the Free University of Berlin in 2003, with his dissertation supervised by Rainer Voigt and

Kurt Rudolph Kurt Rudolph (3 April 1929
University of Leipzig – 13 May 2020) was a German researcher of < ...

Career

After graduation, in 2004, Burtea became a research assistant at the Department of Islamic Studies at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

, where he worked on the research project "The Influence of Globalization and Regionalization Processes in the History of the Eastern Church on the Emergence, Spread and Early Development of Islam in the 6th and 7th Centuries". From 2011 to 2016, he was a research assistant at the Department of Religious Studies of the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

, where he worked on a research project relating to

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...

that was funded by the

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: ''Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung'', SNF; French: ''Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique'', FNS; Italian: ''Fondo nazionale svizzero ...

. From 2004 to 2011, he was a research assistant at the Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies at the

, where he worked on several Mandaic textual translation projects funded by the

Fritz Thyssen Foundation The Fritz Thyssen Foundation (german: Fritz Thyssen Stiftung) is a private nonprofit foundation in Germany, created on 7 July 1959 by Amélie Thyssen and Anita Gräfin Zichy-Thyssen and named in memory of prominent iron and steel manufacturer August ...

and the

German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

(DFG). In 2017, he was a visiting scholar in the BabMed (Babylonian Medicine) research project at the Free University of Berlin. Since 2018, he has been a research associate at the Faculty of Theology of the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, supported by funding from the

Translations of Mandaic texts

Burtea is known for his German-language translations of several Mandaean religious texts, including: *

Haran Gawaita The ''Haran Gawaita'' ( Mandaic ࡄࡀࡓࡀࡍ ࡂࡀࡅࡀࡉࡕࡀ "Inner Harran" or "Inner Hauran") also known as the ''Scroll of Great Revelation'', is a Mandaean text which recounts the history of the Mandaeans and their arrival in Media ...

in 2020 *''

Diwan Abatur The ''Diwan Abatur'' ( myz, ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡀࡁࡀࡕࡅࡓ; "Scroll of Abatur") is a Mandaean religious text. It is a large illustrated scroll that is over 20 ft. long. A similar illustrated Mandaean scroll is the '' Diwan Nahrawata'' ( ...

'' in 2020 *

Secrets of the Ancestors The ''Diwan u-tafsir ḏ-razia ḏ-abahata'' ( myz, ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡅࡕࡀࡐࡎࡉࡓ ࡖࡓࡀࡆࡉࡀ ࡖࡀࡁࡀࡄࡀࡕࡀ "Scroll and Tafsir xplanationof the Secrets of the Ancestors", or simply "The Secrets of the Ancestors") is a M ...

in 2012 *''

Zihrun Raza Kasia The ''Šarḥ ḏ-Zihrun Raza Kasia'' ( myz, ࡔࡀࡓࡇ ࡖࡆࡉࡄࡓࡅࡍ ࡓࡀࡆࡀ ࡊࡀࡎࡉࡀ; "The Scroll of Zihrun, the Hidden Mystery") is a Mandaean religious text that describes rituals such as the masbuta, masiqta, and other ...

'' in 2008 *

Scroll of the Parwanaya The ''Scroll of the Parwanaya'' ( myz, ࡔࡀࡓࡇ ࡖࡐࡀࡓࡅࡀࡍࡀࡉࡉࡀ‎ ) is a Mandaean religious text that describes the rituals of the five-day Parwanaya festival. Excluding the colophon, the text consists of 931 lines. Manu ...

in 2005 *Šafta ḏ-Dahlulia ("The Scroll of, i.e. against Evil Spirits", DC 20) *Zrazta d-Hibil Ziwa ("The Amulet of Hibel Ziwa," DC 44)

Selected works

* * * * * *

References

External links

WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burtea, Bogdan Living people Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin Religious studies scholars Scholars of Mandaeism Semiticists Ethiopianists Free University of Berlin alumni Romanian expatriates in Germany Year of birth missing (living people) Translators from Mandaic Romanian philologists Translators to German Romanian religion academics