This collection of papers originates with a workshop held 24–25 September 2015 in Villa Lante al Gianicolo, Rome. The workshop brought together a number of scholars working in the fields Arabic Studies, Greek and Latin Studies, Septuaginta Studies, and Iranian Studies.

The workshop concentrated on the transmission of texts and ideas across language barriers in the Eastern Mediterranean. The main focus was on literary and historical texts, but also scientific, pseudoscientific, and religious texts were discussed. The workshop and the resulting collection of articles shows clearly that there is still much to do in the field of translation studies in the Long Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The various cultures around the Mediterranean have always lived in close contact with each other, and translation of texts has played a central role in the intellectual interaction of these cultures.

While parts of this interaction have received scholarly attention, others have been almost neglected. The aim of this volume is to direct attention to the manifold and vivid culture of translation around the Mediterranean.