The OTSSA (est. 1957) endeavours to promote the study of the Old Testament in South Africa.
Description
"The society endeavours to promote the study of the Old Testament in South Africa."
"The Old Testament Society in South Africa (OTSSA) was established in 1957 by professors and senior lecturers who were responsible for teaching Old Testament and/or Semitic languages at South African universities. It was decided that conferences will be held annually and that papers read at these conferences will be published under the aegis of the OTSSA. For the first thirty years the papers were published as conference proceedings and had the heading OTWSA/OTSSA, the date, and the theme of the conference on the title page (e.g. OTWSA/OTSSA 27 [1984] Studies in the Succession Narrative). These publications soon found their way to overseas colleagues and libraries. The executive also set itself the task of inviting distinguished overseas scholars to read papers at these conferences. This contributed to the establishment of good relations with overseas colleagues. Since 1988 the journal Old Testament Essays (New Series) took over the task of publishing the conference papers. The journal was initially established by colleagues at the University of South Africa but in 1988 it became the journal of the OTSSA and now reflects the kind of research which is done at South African universities."
"The society was relatively small at the beginning (consisting of not more than twenty members) but it soon grew and these days the membership runs into three digits. The OTSSA currently has a membership of almost two hundred. The growth in membership can, inter alia, be attributed to scholars from the rest of Africa now joining the society and attending the conferences."
Notes
In order to become a full member of the OTSSA, one must have a doctoral degree or equivalent, be invited by a full member, and pay an annual fee of R150.