Dedicated to history and literature of Syriac-speaking communities.
Nick Posegay deposited To Belabour the Points: Encoding Vowel Phonology in Syriac and Hebrew Vocalization in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 7 months agoMedieval Hebrew and Syriac scribes both indicated vowels by placing dots above or below their consonantal writing. These vowel points were created in the Late Antique and early Islamic periods to disambiguate the vocalization of important texts, especially the Bible. The earliest step in this process was the implementation of the Syriac ‘diacritic…[Read more]
-
Nick Posegay deposited Men of Letters in the Syriac Scribal Tradition: Dawid bar Pawlos, Rabban Rāmišoʿ, and the Family of Beṯ Rabban in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 7 months agoDawid bar Pawlos’ Letter on Dots is an eighth-century text that purportedly describes the introduction of some of the dots used in Syriac writing. It also sheds light on the life of a certain Rāmišoʿ of Beṯ Rabban, apparently the same man as the master of pointing named in MS BL Add. 12138. However, most studies of Syriac dots either neglec…[Read more]
-
Nick Posegay deposited Connecting the Dots: The Shared Phonological Tradition in Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew Vocalisation in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 7 months agoThis article presents new data on links between the various medieval vocalisation traditions of Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. These include the identification of overlaps in the Aramaic terminology used by Jewish Masoretes and Syriac Christian grammarians and in the phonological theories that underlie them, as well as connections between Syriac and…[Read more]
David Skelton deposited Angels among us? The Watchers myth and angelology in Ephrem’s Commentary on Genesis and the Ethiopic tradition in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 1 year, 11 months agoThis study examines the euhemeristic interpretation of Genesis 6:1–4 as it appears in Ephrem
of Nisibis’ Commentary on Genesis and its influence on Syriac and Ethiopic commentary
traditions. I suggest that Ephrem’s attempt to mitigate the angelic interpretation of Genesis
6 ironically mirrors his own angelology. The distinctive components he ad…[Read more]
Dirk Kruisheer deposited A Bibliographical Clavis to the Works of Jacob of Edessa (revised and expanded) in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years agoD. Kruisheer, ‘A Bibliographical Clavis to the Works of Jacob of Edessa (revised and expanded)’, in B. ter Haar Romeny (ed.), Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day (Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden 18; Leiden: Brill, 2008), 265–293.
-
Dirk Kruisheer deposited Ephrem, Jacob of Edessa, and the Monk Severus. An Analysis of Ms. Vat. Syr. 103, ff. 1–72 in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years agoD. Kruisheer, ‘Ephrem, Jacob of Edessa, and the Monk Severus. An Analysis of Ms. Vat. Syr. 103, ff. 1–72’, in R. Lavenant (ed.), Symposium Syriacum VII (Orientalia Christiana Analecta 256; Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1998), 599–605.
-
Dirk Kruisheer deposited Reconstructing Jacob of Edessa’s Scholia in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years agoD. Kruisheer, ‘Reconstructing Jacob of Edessa’s Scholia’, in J. Frishman and L. Van Rompay (eds.), The Book of Genesis in Jewish and Oriental Christian Interpretation. A Collection of Essays (Traditio Exegetica Graeca 5; Leuven: Peeters, 1997), 187–196.
-
Dirk Kruisheer deposited [Review of] H.G.B. Teule (ed. and transl.), Gregory Barhebraeus, Ethicon (Mēmrā I) (CSCO 534, 535, Syr. 218, 219; Leuven: Peeters, 1993) in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years agoD. Kruisheer, [Review of] H.G.B. Teule (ed. and transl.), Gregory Barhebraeus, Ethicon (Mēmrā I) (CSCO 534, 535, Syr. 218, 219; Leuven: Peeters, 1993), Bibliotheca Orientalis 53.5/6 (September-December 1996), 815-818.
-
Dirk Kruisheer deposited Theodore bar Koni’s Ktābā d-’Eskolyon as a Source for the Study of Early Mandaeism in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years agoD. Kruisheer, ‘Theodore bar Koni’s Ktābā d-’Eskolyon as a Source for the Study of Early Mandaeism’, Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap “Ex Oriente Lux” (Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society “Ex Oriente Lux”) 33 (1993-1994), 151-169.
James Walters deposited Sleep of the Soul and Resurrection of the Body: Aphrahat’s Anthropology in Context in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years, 1 month agoThe fourth-century Syriac corpus known as the Demonstrations, attributed to Aphrahat, the Persian Sage, provides a unique window into the early development of Christianity among Syriac-speaking communities. Occasionally these writings attest to beliefs and practices that were not common among other contemporaneous Christian communities, such as…[Read more]
-
James Walters deposited Demonstration 14 and the Historiography of Fourth-Century Persia in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years, 3 months agoOriginal Abstract:
The sources for the history of Christianity in the early fourth century in the Persian Empire are notoriously sparse. And the sources that are available, such as the Demonstrations of Aphrahat, are vague and difficult to correlate with other sources. Historians of early Christianity have often incorporated these scant sources…[Read more] 
Jesse Arlen deposited Gišeroy kc‘urdk‘ (Hymns of the Night): Seven Madrāše of Ephrem the Syrian Preserved in Armenian in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 2 years, 11 months agoA translation and study of seven hymns (madrashe) on vigil of Ephrem the Syrian preserved in Classical Armenian.
Alexandre Roberts deposited Being a Sabian at Court in Tenth-Century Baghdad in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 4 years agoThābit b. Qurra (d. 288/901), a Sabian of Ḥarrān, and his descendants remained in their ancestral religion for six generations. Why did they persist despite pressure to convert? This article argues that religious self-identification as a Sabian could be a distinct advantage in Baghdad’s elite circles. It focuses on Thābit’s great-grandson Abū…[Read more]
-
James Walters deposited Where Soul Meets Body: Narsai’s Depiction of the Soul-Body Relationship in Context in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 4 years agoPre-publication draft (not intended for circulation or citation) of a contribution to a forthcoming edited volume on Narsai of Nisibis. Any comments, suggestions, or corrections are welcome (email to jwalters@rc.edu).
Tony Burke deposited The Syriac Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas: A Critical Edition and English Translation in the group
Syriac Studies on Humanities Commons 4 years, 3 months agoThe Infancy Gospel of Thomas, like many apocryphal gospels, has been much transformed over the course of its transmission. Though composed in Greek in the second century, the gospel is extant in a number of other languages and a myriad of forms. The most well-known form is a 19-chapter version in Greek based on late manuscripts (none earlier than…[Read more]