Enno Littmann (1875-1958) is considered the last of the great European Orientalists. His field covered the entire Old and New East, including Ancient Israel and modern Palestine. Littmann mastered 13 languages, including several spoken in Ethiopia: Tigre, Amharic, Ge'ez, Tigrinya, and Oromo. He is widely known as the first translator of the tales of "Arabian Nights" into German.

The participants of the III. International Enno Littmann Conference will deal with Enno Littmann as well as with those scholars who accompanied him on expeditions to the Near East, such as the building researcher Daniel Krencker or the architect, building researcher, and photographer, Theodor von Lüpke. The focus will be on the American Archaeological Expedition to Syria (1899/1900), the Princeton (University) Expedition to Abyssinia (1905/1906), and the German Aksum Expedition (1905/1906).

A new focus of the meeting will be on Tigre, the second most important language of Eritrea. Littmann's research laid the foundations of Tigre, and now young Eritrean scholars are studying this new literary language, which in the meantime has become the language of instruction in Tigre-speaking area schools. Another new theme is Semitic inscription. Scholars from Jordan and Saudi Arabia will report on new inscriptions.