This volume is part of a series that addresses issues of Classical Syriac lexicography, and the lexicography of other ancient languages. The international team of authors invited to participate represents a wide range of disciplines and opens new horizons in lexical thinking.

This volume is part of a series that addresses issues of Classical Syriac lexicography, and the lexicography of other ancient languages. The international team of authors invited to participate represents a wide range of disciplines and opens new horizons in lexical thinking.

A translator of Aristotle and friend of Jacob of Edessa and Athanasios of Balad, George, Bishop of the Arab Tribes (d. AD 724) was an important figure in the history of the life and thought of the Syrian Orthodox Church. This article offers a study of the first three of George’s eleven extant letters and relates them to the larger Christian and Islamic context of his day. It will be of interest to students of Greek patristics, Syriac Christianity, and early Islamic history.

Pagoulatos explores the unknown sources of the eleventh-century Byzantine service of Christ the Bridegroom in the Dura-Europos Christian baptistry ritual (earliest known Iconophile service) dating the liturgical use of Christian images in the third century, not in the seventh-century, A.D.

Origen’s construal of the Bible as a textual incarnation of the Word encourages an assimilationist interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures as a proto-Christian gospel. Although in partial agreement with this thesis, this study suggests a non-assimilationist reading of Origen’s biblical exegesis.

John of Tella was in the 520s and 530s one of the most dangerous ecclesiastical opponents of the emperor Justinian I. The present letter by John lays out his faith, and gives an inside view of how a Syrian Orthodox bishop locates himself within the Christian tradition.

Blandina of Lyon, a lowly slave, battles the powers of the Roman Empire. Using Bowen Theory and the writings of Foucault the book explains how the anxiety of authority figures results in their failure to quell the rise of Christianity.

The Journal of Sarah Ann Breath is an account of a trip from Boston to Oroomiah (modern Urumia) Persia in June, 1849 by the wife of missionary printer Edward Breath. Sarah describes the journey by sail, steamship, and overland caravan and the couple’s encounter with Assyrian, Kurdish and Nestorian Christian communities.

The Garden of Wisdom is a rare Jewish systematic theology, here presented in English translation as well as in the Arabic (in Hebrew script) original. It is a treatise of the theology of the Jews living in Southern Arabia written by Nathanael Ibn al-Fayyumi in the twelfth century when the Jews of Yemen were undergoing persecution.

Written in the days when textual criticism was still relatively new, and the great mass of manuscripts commonly used by present-day biblical scholars had not yet been plumbed, Lagarde spent many years making these exotic manuscripts available to scholars who previously had no access to them. In this volume are combined two manuscripts: the Pentateuch translated into Coptic, and the Gospels translated into Arabic. Despite the relatively recent dates of the manuscript sources for both collections, the material contained in these translations dates back to earlier days. Each of these translations is introduced in German with some critical notes about the readings included.

An early example of Islamic history, the Kitab al-ma'arif (“Book of Knowledge”) of ibn Qutayba (ibn Coteiba) has a prominent place. Born in Kufa, in present-day Iraq, ibn Qutayba was a teacher in Baghdad and he was among the first formal historians. This particular work ambitiously covers topics from the beginning of creation and facts about the period before the appearance of Islam (jahiliyya) to the names of the companions of the prophet Mohammed, famous jurists and masters of the oral tradition associated with the prophet (hadith). Presented here in the Arabic of the original, along with an introduction of Wüstenfeld, this early manual of history is sure to be of interest to anyone considering the impact of early Islamic historical writing on the enterprise of history writing in general or on Islamic outlooks from the ninth century.

This volume of collected essays focuses on Middle Turkic and Ottoman literature.

Djuneyd: Un personnage remuant de l'époque des Sultans Mehmed I et Mourad II Deux oracles concernant le règne de Michel VIII : Prédictions et prophéties vers la fin de l'Empire byzantin L'étendard de Mourad, conte historique Bayazid et Roxana, fiction historique Romain IV Diogène à Manzikert.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This first lecture in the series addresses the literary originality of the Gospel of Mark. Here Burkitt surveys the priority of Mark, the shared Synoptic material, and the literarily unique sections of Mark.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This second lecture in the series addresses the historical value of the Gospel of Mark. Here Burkitt considers the historical questions of how accurately Mark may portray his limited life of Jesus.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This third lecture in the series addresses the composition and literary characteristics of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This fourth lecture in the series begins by noting that in early Christianity it was Jesus that was preached and not Jesus’ sayings. Burkitt thus suggests some criteria for finding Jesus’ original words and then applies them in order to reconstruct the teachings of Jesus.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This fifth lecture in the series examines the concept of gospel in Matthew and Luke. Burkitt notes the special emphases and concerns of these two Gospel writers, calling attention to how they differ from each other and also from Mark.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This eighth lecture in the series addresses Marcion. Burkitt focuses on how this early Christian thinker remained ahead of his time while also falling out of the mainstream of what was an emerging Christianity.

Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This ninth lecture in the series concerns itself with the non-canonical, or apocryphal gospels. Written before the discovery of the Nag-Hammadi library, this study considers the Testamentum Domini, Pistis Sophia, the Gospel and Apocalypse of St. Peter, the Protevangelium of James, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel According to the Hebrews, and the Oxyrhynchus Logia..

Indeed a classic of accessible archaeological writing, Burrows’ study of ancient Crete was one of the main contributors to the commencement of modern understanding of the Minoans. The earliest traces of the Minoan civilization are sketched out before he turns to the historical periods when Minos flourished. The sack of Knossos and the end of the Bronze Age are narrated against the archaeological background. Aware of the cultural continuity of classical stories from the island, he introduces the topic of the minotaur and the famed labyrinth of Knossos. For anyone interested in the roots of western civilization, or of the founding of classical civilizations, this book remains essential reading.

Copiously illustrated, this set of three lectures on the Hittites of southern Anatolia is a valuable introduction to the sites of Zenjirli, Sakjegeuzi, and Carchemish. Chosen because of the importance of southern Anatolia to the biblical record, these locations are explained from an archaeologist’s viewpoint and presented in an easily readable format.

Trever relates the story of the frantic scholarly explorations carried on against the harried backdrop of war-torn Palestine, an absorbing story of intrigue and undercover negotiations, personal risk and frustration, and tireless pursuit of the evidence.

The prophet Jeremiah is among the most complex and intriguing characters in the Bible. This study of the prophet focuses on the major biographical episodes in the prophet’s book and their interpretation. An overview of prophecy and the prophets of the Hebrew Bible sets the backdrop for this fascinating character. Setting the historical background of the prophet, Avioz then explores Jeremiah’s prophetic call. The temple sermon is then parsed to provide insight into how it fits the outlook of the prophet. The resultant trial is considered along with an exploration of the aim of the narrative. Jeremiah’s famous complaints receive individual attention. Those with whom Jeremiah interacts, the kings of Judah and the false prophets, are assessed in contrast with the prophet. The fall of the kingdom of Judah and the tragic Gedaliah episode round out the historical material. Avioz concludes his study with a consideration of Jeremiah’s legacy down to the present day.

This essay on the history of how the Hebrew Bible was considered during the Reformation period takes the reader into areas largely unexplored. In addition to the Bible, the Kabala is brought into the discussion. Box traces the development up to the advent of the critical study of the Bible which continued to be controversial when his study was published.

Translated for the first time, with annotations and useful additions, this long under-appreciated work of S. D. Luzzatto is now available to modern scholars. A history of both Hebrew and Hebrew scholarship, it is replete with valuable information and insight.

In the lamentable absence of an English-Syriac dictionary, this handy digital tool will be useful to Syriac scholars on the go. A pdf version of J. Payne-Smith’s Compendious Syriac Dictionary, fully bookmarked and searchable, this innovative tool will allow scholars to search all English words in the dictionary. Not only can this pdf be uploaded to laptops, it will also work with smart phones, palms, and other portable electronic devices. Ideal for carrying into the library with you while on Syriac research, this worthwhile edition of the time-honored dictionary will be certain to find a host of applications for today’s Syriac scholar.