Balbina Bäbler (, also known as Balbina Bäbler-Nesselrath;

Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and historian, and is a specialist on the Northern

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coastal area.

Biography

Balbina Bäbler studied at the universities of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. She graduated the course in 1997 with a thesis on "Diligent

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

and strong

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

: non-Greek population of Athens of the classical period and their archaeological heritage" (Fleissige Thrakerinnen und wehrhafte Skythen Nichtgriechen im klassischen Athen und ihre archaologische Hinterlassenschaft.). Bäbler is an expert on the archaeological chronology and burial cultures, and was an Honorary Fellow at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

from 2002 until 2004. Bäbler worked at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

Leibniz University Hannover Leibniz University Hannover (), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public university, public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational School, the university has undergone six period ...

, as well as in the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. She was a research fellow at the Winckelmann-Ausgabe of the

Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur The Academy of Sciences and Literature () is a scientific academy in Mainz, Germany. It was established in 1949 on an initiative of Alfred Döblin. The academy's goal is to support science and literature, and in doing so to help preserve and pr ...

in Mainz from 2010 to 2015. She has co-edited several books on archeology in the Black Sea. Balbina Bäbler is an author of several articles in the encyclopedia Neue Pauly. Bäbler was a part of a research team that investigated burials at a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

basilica in

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

in Israel. The basilica is one of the earliest and largest Christian basilicas in Israel. The team announced in 2021 that they found at the site numerous burials of women recorded as

deaconesses The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

, including one recorded as "Holy Mother Sophronia". The role of deaconess has been disestablished in many Christian denominations, although some such as the Orthodox Church of Greece have re-established it. Pope Francis initiated a

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

to investigate restoring deaconesses to the Catholic church.

Publications

* Fleissige Thrakerinnen und wehrhafte Skythen. Nichtgriechen im klassischen Athen und ihre archäologische Hinterlassenschaft, Teubner, Stuttgart-Leipzig 1998 * Die Welt des Sokrates von Konstantinopel. Studien zu Politik, Religion und Kultur im späten 4. und frühen 5. Jh. n. Chr. (Hrsg. mit Heinz-Günther Nesselrath), Saur, München-Leipzig 2001 * Archäologie und Chronologie. Eine Einführung, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2004 (Einführung Archäologie) * Ars et Verba. Die Kunstbeschreibungen des Kallistratos. Einführung, Text, Übersetzung, Anmerkungen, archäologischer Kommentar (mit Heinz-Günther Nesselrath), Saur, München-Leipzig 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bäbler, Balbina 1967 births Swiss archaeologists Living people People from Glarus University of Bern alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Swiss women archaeologists