Modern Syriac

This book is Dr. Ameer’s reflection on growing up within the small community of Assyrian Christians in Yonkers, New York. He uses the year 1946 as an orientation for his discussion of that ethnic community, city, and time in history. The book enables readers to reflect on those aspects of community critical to civic support and on the process of successful assimilation in mid-twentieth century America. The author describes the experience of living in an ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse society. This will be of particular interest to people concerned with sustaining the idea of community in American life.

This work of Theodor Nöldeke is an extremely rare find. Its scarcity should not be taken as a reflection on its authority or usefulness, however. In this original 1868 edition, Nöldeke lays out the basics of Neo-Syrian as it was used in Kurdistan and the area of Uremia. This valuable study, essentially unique to this day in its coverage of underrepresented language studies, provides a substantial, German introduction to the dialects described, followed by a thorough study of the languages themselves, also in German.

More than a literary survey, this introduction to the history of late and Neo-Syriac (Neo-Aramaic) covers the works of the past several centuries. Macuch begins with the post-Mongolian period to the end of the 18th century. For the 19th century, Macuch considers the situation of the Assyrians in this period, including the American, Anglican, and Russian Orthodox missionary enterprises in Urmia, noting the writers of the foreign missions. For the twentieth century he includes literature from the period of the wars up to the 1970s. Various East-Syriac and West-Syriac authors of the Chaldean and Church of the East, and Syrian Orthodox and Maronite traditions, as well as the Syrian literature of Malabar in southern India are also considered.

The present volume contains a collection of papers on different aspects of Aramaic linguistics, history and culture. These diverse papers are specifically intended for an informed Aramaic readership interested in raising awareness of their own culture. A fresh range of topics is therefore presented in this flagship volume of the series, offering a renewed vision of Aramaic and Syriac studies even for the specialists in the field.

This volume describes the Neo-Aramaic dialect spoken by descendants of Christian villagers from a district in Southeast Turkey, now largely resident in Russia. This volume is based on fieldwork carried out by the author in Russia, Georgia, and the United States. The volume contains a historical introduction, a grammatical description, transcribed and translated texts, and a glossary with etymological notes.

This volume presents a description of the Neo-Aramaic dialect that was spoken by the Jews of Sanandaj in western Iran, but which is now virtually extinct. The material for the volume was gathered firsthand in fieldwork conducted with the last remaining speakers in Israel. The volume consists of a detailed grammatical description, a corpus of transcribed texts, including folktales, historical accounts and portrayals of customs, and an extensive glossary.

This small book is part of the ‘Allah Ma‘na’ (God With Us) series, created by the Syrian Orthodox community of Aleppo for use in Christian schools, Sunday schools, and Church educational programs. This particular volume is intended for use by third-graders and is meant to introduce them to the basic outlines of the life of Christ—covering all the major events from the Annunciation to Pentecost—in language they can understand.

This small book is part of the ‘Allah Ma‘na’ (God With Us) series, created by the Syrian Orthodox community of Aleppo for use in Christian schools, Sunday schools, and Church educational programs. This volume presents students with actual scriptural passages from a number of the most important passages in the Gospels, including: the Annunciation, the Prologue of John, the Baptism of Christ, the Temptation, the confession of Peter, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.

This small book is the first volume in the ‘Allah Ma‘na’ (God With Us) series, created by the Syrian Orthodox community of Aleppo for use in Christian schools, Sunday schools, and Church educational programs. The series aims to introduce and teach children about the life of Christ. This particular text focuses on the role of the Virgin Mary in the life of Christ and is intended for use both at school with a teacher and at home with parents.

This small book is the second volume in the ‘Allah Ma‘na’ (God With Us) series, created by the Syrian Orthodox community of Aleppo for use in Christian schools, Sunday schools, and Church educational programs. The series aims to introduce and teach children about the life of Christ. This particular volume seeks to highlight the role of hope in the life of the Christian, taking Paul’s words in Romans 8:24 as its jumping-off point.

This small book is the fourth volume in the ‘Allah Ma‘na’ (God With Us) series, created by the Syrian Orthodox community of Aleppo for use in Christian schools, Sunday schools, and Church educational programs. This particular volume focuses on the theme of Christ as the Good Shepherd. Stories includie: Christ’s preaching in Nazareth, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus as the Gate, and Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

In the Ottoman Empire, Syriac communities kept their own baptismal books, marriage, funeral and other records and many of these can be found in various libraries, churches, monasteries in the West and East. The Syriac Garšūnī manuscript found in the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Mardin contains several lists of different subjects that go back to the late period of the Ottoman Empire. These lists, published here for the first time with annotations, are an important historical source for the social, economic, cultural and religious history of the Near East during the 19th century.

This work explores the misconceptions about the Ottoman Süryânî community of the pre-World War I era, using a critique of the present day historiography as the context for the discussion. The works of three early twentieth century journalists, provide the material for the study. The author contends that this group cannot be considered as Assyrian nationalists, the traditional argument, that they saw the future of the Süryânî people as best secured by the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, in which they sought a greater presence for their community.

The small Assyrian community proved to be loyal, dedicated and hard-working citizens of Australia during the years 1914–1947. For the first time the Assyrian issue will be seen through the eyes of Australian official documents and it is hoped that this monograph will raise awareness of these people within Australia and abroad.

Bernhard Vandenhoff publishes here a German translation of three Neo-Aramaic poems and one Syriac poem. In the introduction to these translations, Vanderhoff discusses the dialects and provides an overview of the content of the poems.

This book is a collection of newspaper reports documenting the massacres and genocides of Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrian minorities who inhabited Asia Minor for many millennia, by the Ottoman Turks and later the Kemalists. These reports, emanating from English sources, show that there was a systematic and organized campaign by Turkish authorities to eliminate all traces of the memories of these minorities from the face of the earth.

My Baby Brother Lucian is a biography of a baby that is born into a Syriac family as told by his 9-year-old sister. It provides a glimpse of the exciting changes an elder sister faces in the first year of a new baby's life: From what to name the baby, to how the family prepares for a baptism in the Syriac Orthodox tradition, and finally to the one-year birthday party. This book is a simple yet elegant description of the milestones of an infant in his first year of life.

A Quest for Belonging collects Hans-Lukas Kieser’s works on identities and nationalities in late-Ottoman Anatolia and how their destruction during the First World War continues to resonate today.

Population History of the Middle East and the Balkans collects together the work of Justin McCarthy on Ottoman demographics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This volume contains Neo-Aramaic texts, with German translation, from various regions between Urmia and Mosul, a collection of 27 narratives (including proverbs and songs) that offer a wealth of cultural information.

One of the well-known works of Syrian Catholic Priest Isaac Aramalet, originally published anonymously, this work is an account of the misfortunes suffered by Christians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Turkey (the Sayfo).

This collection of texts in the Neo-Aramaic dialect of Urmia, with parallel German translation and vocabulary notes, includes stories, material on baptism, a wedding, Araq and wine, history of the region, and several letters or parts thereof.

Mark Lidzbarski (1868-1928) here presents annotated German translations of Neo-Aramaic stories, tales, and songs, including a version of the Ahiqar legend.

This reading or practice book for this Aramaic dialect was originally published at the Catholic Press of Urmia. It progresses from simple letter forms on to words, phrases, sentences, and then short narratives.

This catechism in the Aramaic dialect of Urmia, originally published at the Lazarist Press there, provides questions and answers regarding the Catholic faith in that language.