The Faculty of Classics, Ioannou Centre, University of Oxford, is seeking to appoint a part-time researcher for the Leverhulme-funded Late Antique Egypt and the Holy Land: Archaeology, History and Religious Change project from 1 October 2015.

The appointment will be for a fixed period of 5 months and is part-time (0.8 FTE/30 hours per week).

Reporting to Dr Judith McKenzie, the researcher will work 4 days per week to label website images in Arabic and carry out research for a book, to which he/she will contribute, on the conversion of sacred sites from paganism and Christianity to Islam in the Levant and Egypt, comparing textual evidence with archaeological remains. The appointment is being made to provide assistance to the Principal Investigator of the grant, Dr Neil McLynn, on a project, with Dr Judith McKenzie, on the Archaeology and History of Religious Continuity and Change in Egypt and the Holy Land in Late Antiquity, which includes a bilingual Arabic-English website.

The successful candidate will have: working knowledge of written Arabic, and experience at using it in research, especially related to architecture; a relevant PhD, or equivalent, in Late Antiquity; the ability to demonstrate a high level of proficiency at using and evaluating late antique Greek and Latin historical and ecclesiastical sources in the original language; experience at comparing the evidence of written sources with the archaeological record; a strong command of English with accurate spelling and correct grammar; and reading knowledge of French, German, and Syriac.