The Symposium Syriacum Bambergense was held from 13 to 15 March. This event brought together some of the most important syrologists from Germany, Austria and beyond. The conferences covered a wide range of topics related to the Syriac language, from theology to philosophy, grammar, literature as well as contemporary discussions on the presence of Syriac in modern Europe.

The takes of the symposium were significant for us considering both our shared framework in heteronomous texts and the interests of our individual projects. As scholars of texts, we found it particularly interesting to hear from Philip Forness about the progress of the digital edition and commentary on John of Ephesus’ Ecclesiastical History within the DFG project “Kommentar zur Kirchengeschichte des Johannes von Ephesus.” (Goethe-Universität)

Intriguing for theoretical reflection were the contributions of Dietmar W. Winkler and Cornelia Horn. Winkler underlined the importance of interdisciplinary approach when studying texts formed in ancient cultural contexts foreign to us, such as China. Horn, in turn, challenged us to reflect what an approach to Syriac texts as performed texts would look like and how combining musicology with paleography could contribute to this goal.

Other senior scholars whose papers caught our attention were Ute Possekel, who discussed the role of the virgin blood during the Incarnation, Hubert Kaufhold, who reconstructed the history of the printing of Syriac texts, and Christian Lange, who talked about the Homiliae in Hexaemeron by Jacob of Serugh.

We were also delighted to hear contributions from young scholars in the plenum. These included the paper of Yulia Furman on the Book of Makkabees in John bar Penkaye, Anna-Simona Barbara Üzel’s comparison of anti-Nestorian polemics in Philoxenus of Mabbug and Dionysius bar Salibi, as well as the contribution of Simon Birol where he assessed the authenticity of two vitae attributed to Jacob of Serugh.

Our project “Autonomie heteronomer Texte in Antike und Mittelalter” was present in the symposium with its own panel, in which professor Matthias Perkams, and three of his PhD students had the opportunity to present their research. Professor Perkams presented his stemma for his new edition of Causa Fundationis Scholarum; Elisa Kössi compared the story of Balaam in Jacob of Serugh and Isho‛dad of Merv; Diego Viola presented his advances in his edition of Proba's Commentary on the Isagoge; and Alfonso Ganem gave an overview of John Philoponus' Tmêmata.

During the generous coffee breaks, lunches and dinners, we had the opportunity to learn more about each other’s research and establish contacts within the German-speaking Syriac scholarly community. All in all, we came back from the conference well-nourished and with new enthusiasm to continue our own research.