Grzegorz Ochała has been employed as assistant professor at the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw since 2010. In the meantime, he held postdoctoral positions at University of Geneva (2012–2013, Sciex program) and Leiden University (2019–2021, Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions program). He is author of two monographs (Chronological System of Christian Nubia, Warsaw 2011; Life and Death at a Nubian Monastery, Turnhout 2022) and a number of articles in scholarly journals and joint publications. 

Ochała graduated from archaeology, but he specializes in epigraphy and papyrology of late-antique and medieval Nile Valley, with special focus on Christian Nubian kingdoms of Nobadia, Makuria and Alwa. In his research, he seeks to understand the society inhabiting the region, their history, culture and linguistic patterns, mostly as transpiring from Greek, Coptic, Old Nubian, and Arabic sources, but not refraining from analyzing archaeological and art historical contexts. Among topics studied by Ochała, the most prominent are the question of Christian Nubian multilingualism and scribal habits, liturgical calendar of the Nubian Church, the memory-forming function of epigraphy, or tradition of Christian funerary epigraphy of the Nile Valley. 

Ochała’s research at HIAS is a continuation of his previous project on Christian Nubian onomastics, which resulted in the preparation of an open-access database of names occurring in written sources from the region (www.dbmnt.uw.edu.pl). Now the time has come to exploit the collected material to gain a unique inside view into Nubian identity, as expressed by the most intimate identifier, one’s own name. The intended monograph will cover technical and philological aspects (diachronic and synchronic analyses of names’ occurrences, typology of names and variations in their forms) as well as social dimension of medieval Nubian anthroponymy (decoding ethnic, linguistic, religious, etc. meaning of names). 

Ochała’s tandem partner is Aaron Butts, Professor of African and Ethiopian Studies at Universität Hamburg. 

Grzegorz Ochała’s HIAS Fellowship is provided by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the federal and state funds acquired by Universität Hamburg in the framework of its Excellence Strategy.