Syriac historiography

The Syriac historiography was written by the fathers of church, and there was no political benefits in that period. . dealing with this historical events and benefiting from other Syriac chronicles make a serious contribution to those who do these studies. Among the Syriac sources, the Anonymous Syriac Chronicle of 1234 has a special feature place. Because this chronic creation 1234 Year Syriac  chronic Anonymous has conducted a detailed explanation can be considered, but also offers alternative perspectives to modern researchers.

“Well-documented and long-needed book on the multidimensional identity of the Arameans. It makes complex and confusing matters simple and clear.”
Prof. Dr. Werner Arnold, University of Heidelberg

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This most recent book on the fascinating history, identity and language of the Arameans (otherwise known as Syriacs) also discusses how some of them became ‘Assyrians’ after European and American travelers, mapmakers, missionaries, archaeologists and colonial powers came to the Middle East in the 19th century.

Aramaic is a remarkable gift from the Arameans to humankind and is best known as the language of Jesus. For 1500 years, it was spoken and written throughout the Near East until Arabic replaced it. Aramaic and the Arameans survived mighty empires and played a significant role for Jews, Christians and Muslims in the birth of their religion and literature, including the Bible and the Qur’an.

What else did they contribute to world culture? When and why did the Syriac, ‘Nestorian’, Melkite, Maronite and Chaldean churches come into being, some of whom preserved Aramaic to this day? What do their church fathers and scholars say about their traditional self-identifications? How can we understand often-used names like Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Suryaye, Suryoye and as-suroye?

These and other intriguing questions answered in this work have been enriched with four unique and hitherto unpublished documents about this Semitic people. Readers interested in the history, language, religion and identity of the Arameans, who are indigenous to Southeast Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, will find great value in this book on the last Aramaic-speaking Christians of the Middle East.

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The book is available from www.johnymesso.com (incl. book trailer).

The objective of the present article is to give a brief, introductory description of some Neo-Aramaic manuscripts belonging to a private collection authored and compiled by Khivron ‘Azīzī (Urmia) that has remained completely unknown to scholars. This collection consists now of 12 manuscripts in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, which are housed together in my own library in Melbourne, Australia. Furthermore, I hope that this description will draw the attention of scholars to the collection, especially for the contents of the manuscripts. More important, maybe, is that this collection gives insight into a most unknown and not well studied period in the history of the Assyrians in Iran, namely the mid to late twentieth century. This encompasses the later years of Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule as well as the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, and their effects on the Assyrians remaining in Urmia.

On the occasion of the 80 th birthday of Sebastian P. Brock, Sankt Ignatios Theological Academy & Stockholm School of Theology, Sweden, are hosting a major conference on " The Future of Syriac Studies. " Sebastian Brock has agreed to be present and participate and it is expected that this will be a significant and memorable event for Syriac studies. Papers are now being invited and solicited from senior and junior scholars for a limited number of spaces in general sessions. Papers should be 20-25 minutes in order to give time for discussion, and may concern any topic in the broad range of Syriac studies. Please keep in mind that the theme of this conference focuses upon new directions and methodologies, as well as to forge new resolutions to traditional issues. The deadline for submittal of a title and abstract (ca. 200 words) is 1 February 2018. The conference committee will notify those whose papers have been accepted by 1 March 2018. During the concluding session, Sebastian Brock will be awarded the Order of Sankt Ignatios for his long and valued contribution to all matters Syriac, along with his mentorship to so many scholars. In addition to the plenary and general sessions, events of Syriac song and poetry are being planned, as well as a round-table discussion of the future of Syriac studies. Housing and meals will be available for all participants at the Sigtuna Conference Centre or in the close vicinity. Sigtuna is one of the oldest settlements in Sweden and is located only 20 minutes from the Stockholm Arlanda Airport. A registration form will be available shortly at www.sanktignatios.org.

An unlikely, yet crucial, witness for the study of the Late Antique afterlife of the Jewish pseudepigraphical Book of Jubilees (2nd century BCE) is the Anonymous Syriac Chronicle to the Year 1234. This chronicle not only preserves extensive fairly literal excerpts from this work, but also adaptations of some of its traditions, which reached the anonymous chronicler via the Book of the Cave of Treasures and (a) Syriac chronographic source(s).

In this paper, which I presented in Oxford in 2013,  I investigated the origin of these adaptations, which lead us to the Greek chronicles of Hippolytus of Rome (3rd century) and Annianus of Alexandria (5th century), and the Syriac chronicle of the enigmatic Andronicus (6th century).

Considering the importance of the Sasanian era, the independent study of this period does not fit at all with such a deserved magnificence that some say Sasanians are the dark side of the moon in the Late Antiquity. The result has been this situation that Sasanian Iran is concerned to be only a subsidiary subject for Early Byzantine studies. The reason might seem to be insufficiency in local resources. The purpose of this article is to familiarize with the main resources of the Byzantine Empire (and the territories between the two powers), in which reports and illustrations of Sasanian Iran are presented. These resources are mainly written in five languages of Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian and Latin.

Kutsal Kitap’ın Süryanice çevirisi olan Peşitta, Hz. Nuh’un gemisinin
Kardu dağlarına indiğini söyler. Sahip olduğu bu özel anlamın
ötesindeKardu, Süryani kaynaklarında sıklıkla karşılaşılan bir isimdir.
Geminin nereye indiğitartışmalarından bağımsız olarak bu çalışmanın
amacı, Süryani yazarların kaydettiği verilerden yararlanarak, bir yer adı
olanKardu’nun konumunu ve özelliklerini olabildiğince tespit etmektir.
Araştırmada, Orta Çağ Süryani yazarlarının Süryanice veya Arapça kaleme
almış oldukları tarihi nitelikli eserler ana kaynak olarak kullanılmıştır. Söz
konusu kaynaklardan elde edilen veriler Kardu’da bulunan bazı yerleşim
yerlerini tespit etmeyi, Kardu’nun yaklaşık konumunu belirlemeyi ve yine
coğrafi ve etnik özellikleri hakkında fikir sahibi olmayı mümkün
kılmaktadır. Buna göre Kardu geniş, dağlık bir alan olup burada Ermeniler,
Kürtler ve Süryaniler yaşamaktadır. Konum olarak ise bölgenin, Irak’ın
kuzey kesimindeki dağlık alandan başlayıp Doğu Anadolu’nun içlerine
doğru uzandığı anlaşılmaktadır. Bölgedeki yerleşim yerleri ve manastırlar
hakkındakaynaklarda geçen daha detaylı bilgiler, Şırnak ve çevresindeki
dağlık alanın Kardu’nun sınırlarına dahil olduğunu göstermektedir. Ancak
Süryani kaynakları üzerinden, Kardu sınırlarının bunun ötesinde nereye
kadar uzandığını tespit etmek mümkün görünmemektedir.

I analyse here a surprisingly long and detailed account of the Trojan War that survives in the Syriac Anonymous Chronicle up to the year 1234. I first explore its relationship with Greek sources (the Epic Cycle in particular) and then contextualise it among late antique allegorical readings of the Homeric poems. I argue that the Anonymous Chronicle modelled its narrative on canonical Biblical and historical accounts of the fall of famous cities to resonate with a teleological view of history.

A community of particular significance in the development of Mesopotamian-Iraqi Christian life in the modern era was (and is) the Dominican Order which has had a sustained presence since the 18th century. This article serves as an overview of Dominican contributions to Syriac Christian life in Mesopotamia and reflects on the Order's presence as part of the traditional plurality of Iraqi society. Notwithstanding the rise of Da'esh/ISIL since June 2014 multiple religious traditions continue to exist in Iraq. The willingness of wider Iraqi society to accept a Christian presence is easily forgotten in contemporary narratives which focus on sectarian discourses and avoid acknowledging that the Middle East is not dichotomous in perpetuity: there are wider considerations than Jewish-Muslim, Arab-Kurd, Arab-Persian &c. Moreover, while Islam is an ever present reality in the modern and contemporary Middle East, it is not the only reality.

L’influence de nombreuses sources sur la Chronique anonyme jusqu’à l’année 1234 a déjà été révélé, qu’il s’agisse du Livre des Jubilés, des ouvrages d’Eusèbe de Césarée (Chronique et Histoire Ecclésiastique), de Socrate de Constantinople, d’Annianus d’Alexandrie (via un intermédiaire syriaque), de la Caverne des Trésors, de Jean d’Éphèse, de Pseudo-Zacharie de Mitylène, de Jacques d’Édesse et de Dénys de Tell-Maḥrē. Un nouveau nom doit figurer en bonne place dans cette liste, celui d’Andronicus, l’auteur énigmatique d’une chronique syriaque, datant probablement du VIe siècle. Plusieurs chroniqueurs syriaques le citent pour des diverses questions chronologiques, notamment pour la date de la Passion du Christ en l’an 342 des Grecs. Notre Chroniqueur Anonyme du XIIIe siècle n’est donc pas une exception.
Or, en dépit de son importance pour la chronographie syriaque, l’impact d’Andronicus, surtout sur la Chronique anonyme, a été peu étudié, car le monde académique s’est résigné à l’idée que trop peu de matériaux de la chronique d’Andronicus avaient survécu. Cependant, ma recherche sur cette Chronique anonyme a révélé des passages qui apparaissent aussi dans la chronique (en arabe) d’Agapius de Mabbug (ca. 940), la Chronographie de Michel le Syrien (1126-1199) ou encore dans les commentaires sur l’Ancien Testament d’Ishoʿdad de Merv (ca. 850). Ces passages, qui remontent presque certainement à Andronicus, décrivent l’histoire postdiluvienne et pré-Abrahamique et montrent une familiarité avec certaines traditions du livre des Jubilés.

In the liturgical literature of the Church of East (the so-called Nestorian), the Wardā collection, meant for the liturgical performance at night services on the festival days and Sundays of the whole liturgical year, holds a special place. Strophic hymns – ōnītā (pl. ōnyātā) – contained in the collection are still a part of the liturgy of the East Syrian Church. Altogether, the collection comprises more than 120 hymns, most of which are ascribed to Gīwargīs Wardā (13th century), who is the eponym of this book. According to their content, the hymns can be divided into five categories: exegetic, hagiographic, apocryphal narratives, describing historical events and calamities, dedicated to other subjects. The first part of the book is a detailed study of the textual, poetical and historical peculiarities of the Wardā collection. Ist evolution stages and the main types have been reconstructed. A special chapter focuses on the position of this book in Syriac church literature and defines ist main sources. The second part represents a critical edition of 35 hymns from the Wardā collection according to the existing manuscripts, including English translations. Many of these hymns have been translated for the first time.

Dawid 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 neglect or completely discount this letter as a reliable source, since it suggests that Miaphysite scribes had a direct influence on East Syriac reading traditions. This article provides a more critical analysis of the letter, first examining the problematic state of its extant manuscripts, and then evaluating the text to determine its historical plausibility in the context of seventh-century northern Mesopotamia.

The Syriac poetry of the 11th–14th centuries (so-called Syriac Renaissance) was studied very purely until quite recently. One of the reasons for such indifference is a traditional approach of the scholars, who treated this poetry as a secondary one, because of a strong influence of the Islamic literature. In this article, it is argued that the authors of this period were trying to connect their own poetical traditions with the achievements of the Persian and Arabic poetry. As the result, they created new original forms that need to be carefully examined. One of the creators of this new style was probably Bar ʿEbrōyō (1226–1286), a famous West-Syrian  and scientist. His esthetic approach was developed by his East-Syrian contemporary Khāmīs bar Qardaḥē of Arbela, who used sophisticated rhythmic and rhyme schemes to achieve a stronger expressive effect. The article discusses one of his poems that demonstrates his outstanding skills as a poet experimentalist in both rhythm an...

In the liturgical literature of the Church of East (the so-called Nestorian), the Wardā collection, meant for the liturgical performance at night services on the festival days and Sundays of the whole liturgical year, holds a special place. Strophic hymns – ōnītā (pl. ōnyātā) – contained in the collection are still a part of the liturgy of the East Syrian Church. Altogether, the collection comprises more than 120 hymns, most of which are ascribed to Gīwargīs Wardā (13th century), who is the eponym of this book. According to their content, the hymns can be divided into five categories: exegetic, hagiographic, apocryphal narratives, describing historical events and calamities, dedicated to other subjects.
The first part of the book is a detailed study of the textual, poetical and historical peculiarities of the Wardā collection. Ist evolution stages and the main types have been reconstructed. A special chapter focuses on the position of this book in Syriac church literature and defines ist main sources. The second part represents a critical edition of 35 hymns from the Wardā collection according to the existing manuscripts, including English translations. Many of these hymns have been translated for the first time.

Евфимия в Эдессе и Евфимия в Халкидоне: две агиографические легенды на фоне догматических споров B. Lourié Euphemia in Edessa and Euphemia in Chalcedon: two hagiographic legends against their polemical background Summary Two hagiographical legends are analyzed: a Syrian (while composed in Constantinople) miracle story on the martyrs Gury, Samonas and Habib and the Byzantine Constantinopolitan Martyrium of St Euphemia. The study resulted in conclusion that the two legends were polemically counterpoised in the struggle over the Council of Chalcedon. Moreover, the earliest form of the Miracle of St Euphemia about the horos of Chalcedon has been reconstructed and the dating of this legend has been provided (about 510s). The analysis of the earliest recension of the Martyrium of Euphemia leads to the conclusion that this cult absorbed the veneration of Empress Pulcheria immediately after her death. The legend of the Miracle of St Euphemia about the horos has been compared with the legend of the martyrs Gury, Samonas and Habib in Edessa performed for another Euphemia. This comparison of the two legends shows that the latter has been composed as an anti-Chalcedonian answer to the former. В догматических спорах христианского Средневековья агиография традиционно играла роль главного церковного СМИ. Все стороны догматических конфликтов излагали свои позиции на языке агиографических легенд, то есть на языке понятных народу символов, а не только на логическом языке богословско-полемических трактатов. Вопрос о «достоверности» тех или иных текстов может поэтому ставиться аналогично вопросу, с которым сталкиваются историки Новейшего времени, — о достоверности газетных сообщений, современных интересующим их событиям. Конечно, газетные штампы и агиографические символы устроены по-разному, но их функция одинакова: опосредовать отношения массового сознания с реальностью. Именно поэтому оказывается, как это показали в ХХ веке великие болландисты (члены Société des Bollandistes, созданного внутри ордена иезуитов еще в XVII веке исключительно для изучения христианской агиографии), что сколь угодно «неправдоподобная» легенда всегда имеет конкретный исторический смысл. 1 Ниже мы рассмотрим историю двух агиографических легенд, тесно связанных между собой и отражающих догматическую борьбу вокруг Халкидонского (Четвертого Вселенского) собора (451 г.), провозгласившего христологический догмат в весьма спорной, с точки зрения многих современников, формулировке. В течение последующего столетия, вплоть до Пятого Вселенского собора (553 г.), баланс сил между сторонниками и противниками Халкидона неоднократно менялся, что, в конце концов, привело к серьезной корректировке принятых на этом соборе догматических постановлений. 2 1. Чудо святых мучеников Гурия, Самона и Авива Исходным пунктом анализа станет легенда о посмертном чуде Эдесских мучеников — Гурия, Самона и Авива. Она полностью сохранилась на сирийском (две рукописи), но слегка сокращенная греческая версия сохранилась в гораздо большем количестве списков и редакций, не говоря о бессчетном количестве всяких кратких резюме этой истории на греческом языке. Сирийское название — «История о Евфимии, дочери Софии, и о чуде, которое совершили с ними исповедники Самон, Гурий и Авив». В греческом эта история обычно составляет приложение к Мученичеству Гурия, Самона и Авива 3 и называется просто «Чудо мучеников Гурия, Самона и Авива». Это именно то самое чудо, из-за которого этих трех эдесских мучеников стали считать нарочитыми покровителями христианского брака, и которое обеспечило им популярность далеко за пределами Сирии, вплоть до современного народного благочестия всех традиционно православных стран.

“O ringdove! Where are you heading for?” — a Syriac dialogue
poem of the late 13th century
Until recently Syriac poetry of the so-called Syriac Renaissance period
of the 11th–14th centuries has attracted little attention of scholars for being
treated mostly as secondary, if compared to the Islamic literatures in Arabic
and Persian. In fact, Syriac classical poems of the 4th–7th centuries
seem to be wholly original, while pieces created after the Arabic conquest
bear essential signs of external influences. Nevertheless, the Syriac literature
did not lose its originality and, according to recent studies, was in
346 «На пастбище Мысли Благой»
search of new forms, enriching its own tradition with poetic achievements
of neighboring cultures. Among the most notable figures of that epoch was
an East-Syriac poet Ḵāmīs bar Qardāḥē (the late 13th — early 14th centuries)
who experimented with new forms and metrics, e. g. in quatrains
modeled on Persian rubāʽī and short poems resembling ghazals. In some
manuscripts of his works among sōgītā (short strophic) poems there is a
piece addressed to the bird (‘ringdove’) which symbolizes a human
soul, as it follows from the poem’s headings. The central motive of
the poem is the bird’s departure, i. e. the soul’s take-off, what is also noted
in the headings. Thus, the piece is composed on behalf of the dying body
which is complaining of the death to come and fearing the uncertainty of
its future destiny. The poem has never been studied or published before.

Die ellenlage zur Auseinandersetzung zwischen Īšōʿjahb III. und Sahdōnā ist auf zweierlei Weise problematisch: erstens sind die chronologischen Schwierigkeiten und Widersprüche zu nennen; zweitens geben die meisten ellen die o zielle Wahrheit der ostsyrischen Kirche wieder und verwischen dadurch jegliche objektive Erinnerung an diese Kontroverse. Die Darstellung der Ereignisse und der daran beteiligten Personen in der ostsyrischen Kirchengeschichtsschreibung ührte zu einer Vielzahl von eorien, d ie S ahdōnā d er e inen o der a nderen christologischen Strömung zurechnen. Die Hypothesen gehen von ›externen Ein üssen‹, d .h. von der Bekehrung zu einer der ›westlichen‹ Christologien, Miaphysitismus oder Chalcedonismus , bis hin zu ›internen Einwirkungen‹ durch eine lokale ›katholi-