Syriac and Eastern Christianity

A text for Students, with an introduction, translation and commentary.

Christian initiation, eucharistic liturgy and anaphora, orders, hours, and the liturgical year of the early Christian church in Egypt are the subject of this booklet.

The Liturgy of St James is used by a number of churches. This gives the Greek, Syriac and Reformed (Mar Thoma Syrian Church) texts in parallel columns for comparison.

This is a brilliant addition to the comprehensive range of patristic liturgical materials offered by this Series.

This is a Study which will open windows galore for Westerners, for not only is the history as recorded likely to cover ground untrodden by most English-speaking liturgists, but equally the surrounding field of study and its other scholarly occupants (who are laid heavily under contribution) will also be largely unknown.

This volume includes an introduction, translation, commentary, and notes.

The origins, methodologies, and uses of the Anaphoras of Sts. Basil and James are explored, along with examples.

Sergius of Reshaina (d. 536), translated the (pseudo-)Aristotelian text known as the De Mundo from Greek into Syriac in the early sixth century. The earlier period of Greek-Syriac translation was characterized by freer versions, while in the seventh century there are very good examples of literalism. Since Sergius worked at a time between these two periods, his translation will be of special interest to Greek and Syriac scholars.

An article tracing the development of the Ionic column from Egyptian lotus motifs through Assyrian rosettes and Cypriot pottery motifs.

In this paper noted librarian, scholar, and philanthropist William Warner Bishop examines and classifies the existing church mosaics of Rome and the immediate vicinity.

The Martyrdom, and the later History, of Simeon bar Sabba’e narrate the death of the bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon who was killed around the year 340 C.E. at the beginning of King Shapur II’s “Great Persecution” of Christians in Sasanian Persia.

The present volume includes the papers of the first PRO ORIENTE Colloquium Syriacum, which took place in Salzburg, Austria and concentrated on the Syriac Churches’ experiences with Islam. The papers in this volume survey the whole history of these two communities from the times of the Four Caliphs through the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Ottoman periods. Topics include the personal status of Christians under Islam, the ecclesiastical response to the rise of Islam, the Indian experience and the present situation.

Widely regarded as a premier journal dedicated to the study of Syriac, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies was established in 1998 as a venue devoted exclusively to the discipline. An organ of Beth Mardutho, the Syriac Institute, the journal appears semi-annually and will be printed in annual editions. A peer-reviewed journal, Hugoye is a respected academic source for up-to-date information about the state of Syriac studies and for discovering what is going on in the field. Contributors include some of the most respected names in the world of Syriac today. This is Volume 12 of the journal from 2009.

This unique manuscript of the East Syrian Syriac ‘Masora’ is essential for any study of early Syriac vocalization, accentuation, and punctuation. This volume presents a facsimile reproduction of this ‘masoretic’ manuscript. An introduction and comprehensive scriptural indices will be included in a forthcoming volume.

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 study presents a modern linguistic approach to the function of the Syriac et-verbal prefix. Based on a detailed analysis of a number of early Syriac texts, it proposes a unified account of the different values traditionally attributed to the Syriac et- stems. Farina views the data within a typologically comparative framework derived from a cross-linguistic study of middle conjugations.

This book is one of the most important sources for the canon law of the East-Syrian Church. In Canon I of the council held in the year 1318, this collection was proclaimed the authoritative canon law and has since retained its status as the binding legal collection of the East Syrian Church. This second edition reproduces the original manuscript in color.

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 main purpose of the book is to demonstrate that as early as the first phase of his activity (386-393 AD), Augustine did make use of some Origenian works, and that basic elements of his early theology were derived from the Alexandrian master.

The Teaching of Addai is a Syriac document convincingly dated by some scholars in the fourth or fifth century AD. I agree with this dating, but I think that there may be some points containing possible historical traces that go back even to the first century AD, such as the letters exchanged by king Abgar and Tiberius. Some elements in them point to the real historical context of the reign of Abgar ‘the Black’ in the first century. The author of the Doctrina might have known the tradition of some historical letters written by Abgar and Tiberius.

The volume deals with the liturgical dimension of mystical, ascetical, and hymnographic texts and traditions within the Christian environment. Special attention is paid to liturgical texts of the Coptic and the Byzantine rite, especially in its Slavonic and Georgian versions. The volume also explores the Jewish background of some Christian liturgical settings and the afterlife of the Jewish priestly and liturgical traditions in the Christian milieu. The collection includes the critical edition of the early Slavonic version of the liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts accompanied by the historical study of this service.

Widely regarded as a premier journal dedicated to the study of Syriac, volume 11 includes the following articles: "Syriac manuscripts in the New York Public Library" by Iskander Sharbil Bcheiry, "Early Christian Angelomorphic Pneumatology: Aphrahat the Persian Sage" by Bogdan Bucur, and "John of Damascus and the Church in Syria in the Umayyad Era: The Intellectual and Cultural Milieu of Orthodox Christians in the World of Islam" by Sidney H. Griffith.

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.

Anton Baumstark presents the Arabic text and Latin translation of an Egyptian version of the Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi. Baumstark discusses the date of the text and compares the content of the liturgical prayers with various contemporary sources.

Marius Besson presents the critical text of two manuscripts containing an apophthegmatic text with sayings attributed to Isaac of Nineveh. The text also includes a separate apparatus with references to parallel texts in various early Christian documents.