A delegation from the Institute of Semitic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin — Shabo Talay, Maciej Klimiuk, Grace Park, A.-S. Barbara Üzel, as well as Cale Johnson from the Institute for the History of Knowledge in the Ancient World — took part in joint workshops with the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary (PUTS) and in a scholarly conference at Anyang University (HK+). The programme included special lectures, research workshops, and working meetings with Korean partners.

The participants visited, among other places, the National Museum of Korea, and delivered the following lectures:

• Shabo Talay, The Beginnings of Syriac Christianity, Its Eastern Expansion, and the Spiritual and Educational Centrality of Monasteries; The Status of Aramaic in the Middle East Today; Syriac Christianity at the End of the Ottoman Period and its Disappearance from the Middle East

• Maciej Klimiuk, Between Linguistic Identity and Religious Tradition: Perspectives on Christian Arabic

• A.-S. Barbara Üzel, Syriac Liturgy: The Influence of Ephrem the Syrian and Jacob of Sarug

• Cale Johnson, Precursors of the Silk Road in West Asia: The Transmission of Babylonian Medicine to its Neighbors

During the stay, the English-language study programmes of the Department of History and Cultural Studies at Freie Universität Berlin were also presented, and discussions were held on future academic cooperation in the fields of Syriac studies, Semitic studies, and the history of science in the ancient Near East.

Shabo Talay and Maciej Klimiuk also visited Arabic Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, where they established academic contacts with Prof. Yun Eun-Kyeong, head of the oldest Arabic Studies programme in Korea.

Organisers on the Korean side: Kwak Moon-seok, Seo Won-mo, Choi Hyung-geun.
Interpretation was provided by Grace Park and Woo Kyung-yoon.

We thank our hosts for their excellent cooperation.

The journey was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Flexible Funds of Freie Universität Berlin.