Programme

9.00: Welcome: Alberto Rigolio (Durham / All Souls College)

9.10: Session 1, Chair: Zsuzsanna Gulácsi (Northern Arizona)

F. Briquel Chatonnet (CNRS), Cross Roots and Origins of Early Syriac Writing

J. BeDuhn (Northern Arizona), The Beginnings of Manichaean Literature: New Breakthroughs and Insights

10.30-11: Break

11.00: Session 2, Chair: Francis Watson (Durham)

S. Richter (Berlin), Coptic: Domains and Constraints of the Written Vernacular of Egypt

A. Papaconstantinou (Aix-en-Provence), Copticists, Classicists, and Interpretations of the Egyptian Language in Late Antiquity: What has Empire got to do with it?

A. Camplani (Rome), The Rise of Coptic and Syriac Cultures: A Comparison of the Contexts of Literarization

13-14.15: Break

14.15: Session 3, Chair: Theo Van Lint (Oxford)

T. Greenwood (St. Andrews), Mind the Gap: Armenian Literature – Beginnings and Contexts

V. Calzolari Bouvier (Geneva), Early Armenian Literature and its Links with the Syriac Cultural Environment

M. Debié (EPHE), The schools of Edessa and their role in the beginnings of Christian literatures

16.15-16.45: Break

16.45: Session 4, Chair: Sebastian Brock (Oxford)

D. Taylor (Oxford), ‘Why should the Devil have all the Best Tunes?’ Re-examining the Context of Early Syriac Poetry and Song

A. Butts (Hamburg), Late Antique Ethiopic Literature: Challenges and Prospectives

18.05: Roundtable Discussion

18.25: Closing Remarks