On 11 October Kristian S. Heal, a research associate at CPART and a doctoral candidate at the University of Birmingham, delivered a paper based on his research into the Old Testament patriarch Joseph in early Syriac literature. Although Joseph was seen principally as an exemplar of particular virtues in most early Christian writings (e.g., He-brews 11:22), Heal used Syriac sources dating from the fourth to the sixth centuries to demonstrate that particular aspects of the life of Joseph were construed as typifying the life of the Lord. Two particular typological connections were prominent in the Syriac interpretation of the figure of Joseph: (1) his going down into and coming up from the pit and his confinement in prison and subsequent release were seen as types of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord; and (2) Joseph's being made governor of Egypt and his brothers' coming down and worshipping before him were seen as a type of the Lord's second coming and the way in which the Lord would be worshipped by the Jews when he appears. Heal also showed how Syriac authors often added to the biblical narrative to more fully expose the typological significance of the biblical figure. In addition, examples from retellings of the life of Joseph and Abraham were also cited to show that Syriac authors believed that Old Testament patriarchal figures had personal revelations regarding the coming of Christ and his atonement.