The undertaking of writing a dictionary in a language used by a relatively small group of people united by their religious faith is a labor of love. Audo’s Syriac dictionary is a reference tool coveted by all students of the Syriac language. As a language tool it represents the Syriac known and used in the nineteenth century in the Middle East. Seldom since the days of Johnson and Webster has such effort been put into a lexical project by an individual. Now available with an English introduction, Gorgias Press is making this historic contribution to the understanding of the Syriac language.

Thomas Audo (1855-1918) was a Chaldean Bishop of Urmia in what is now Iran. He became the victim of a series of attacks on the Assyrian population during the First World War, having died what is considered by many a martyr’s death. Another of his books is Kalila and Dimna: Fables of Bidpai, also available from Gorgias Press.