The first International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT) conference to be held in Africa will be hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU) along with the Old Testament Society of Southern Africa (OTSSA) from 4 to 9 September. This is only the second time since IOSOT was established in 1950 that the conference will be held outside Europe – in 1986 it took place in Jerusalem.

According to Prof Johann Cook, Professor Extraordinaire in SU's Ancient Studies Department and President of the IOSOT, the conference is held every three years and draws together various experts focusing on aspects of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

"The fact that the first IOSOT conference is being held in South Africa and on the African continent, allows scholars from this continent to experience IOSOT first-hand for the first time, as it is expensive to travel to these kind of conferences in Europe and America. We have therefore also made provision for many delegates from Africa to be sponsored to participate in the conference," says Cook.

IOSOT2016 received financial assistance from the South African National Research Foundation, SU, OTSSA and The South African Society for Near Eastern Studies (SASNES).

About 350 delegates from South Africa and countries including Germany, America, Britain, Israel, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Argentinia, Iran, Peru, the Philippines, and many others have already arrived in Stellenbosch. 

"At the conference 15 guest speakers will present main papers which will focus on the Old Testament. Various aspects, such as grammatical, theological (inter alia, of the books of Genesis, Job and Daniel), archaeological and ethical, and other perspectives will be addressed. Feminist studies will also be a theme. A novelty at this congress is the presentation of seminars on specific topics. In addition a multitude of short papers will be presented. Prof Sakkie Cornelius from the Ancient Studies Department will also talk about the value of ancient studies in helping us understand the Hebrew Bible," explains Cook.

Altogether 280 papers will be delivered during the event.

When asked about the modern day value of the conference, Cook says: "The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament still play a role in modern society. This applies also to the versions of the Hebrew Bible. Since some of these translations took place so near in time to the Hebrew that was in use then, we can expect to gain major theological insights from them".

The involvement of scholars from the African continent and other regions across the world, says Cook, means that a wide range of perspectives will be heard at this conference. "Europe and America have been on the forefront with regards to new developments within studies around the Hebrew Bible. However, the African influence on these continents and on the Bible are of great importance. Where in the world would you find Contextual African Theology? This is just one example of the unique contributions that scholars on the African continent are making to this research field."

As is the tradition, the congresses of the International Organization of Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS), the International Organization for Targumic Studies (IOTS) and that for Syriac Studies will be combined with the IOSOT conference. This applies to a number of South African academic societies too. The programme for the conference was organised by the host institutions along with SASNES, while Prof Louis Jonker of the Discipline Group, Old and New Testament, in the Faculty of Theology serves as the conference secretary of IOSOT 2016. The conference will take place in the Arts and Social Sciences and Wilcocks buildings.

"Of course we will not only be working," jokes Cook, "we will also be taking our guests on excursions to the township of Khayelitsha, to Franschhoek and the Waterfront, so that they can get a taste of the diverse nature of South Africa."

For more information about IOSOT, visit www.iosot2016.co.za.