Gorgias author K.B. Willem has uncovered a new fragment of the Old Syriac version of Hebrews.
Willem claims to have found the new fragment during his excavations in southern Turkey in 2014. The manuscript, which appears to be a previously unknown Old Syriac version, includes a controversial new verse about Enoch living in New Jerusalem, where he regularly has intellectual debates with the angels.
Just kidding (happy April fools!) - but in real Syriac news, David Wilmshurst has translated Bar Hebraeus The Ecclesiastical Chronicleinto English for the very first time. We've been getting lots of requests for this book, so we invite you to find out more in our "Recently Released" section below.
If you have not yet applied to the Gorgias Book Grant, there's still time! We will be accepting applications until April 6. More details under "News."
Finally, don't forget that we have opportunities to study several different languages at the Beth Mardutho summer course! We still have space open for students interested in Syriac or Christian Arabic. See here for more details.
If you would like to unsubscribe from e-Gorgias, the link can be found at the top and bottom of this newsletter (or, if you want to introduce a friend to e-Gorgias, they can subscribe here.)
Happy reading!
Jeff Haines, Marketing Assistant jeff@gorgiaspress.com
Recently Released
News
Reviews
Conferences
For the complete list of recent releases, please visit our Just Published page.
ISBN 978-1-4632-0535-5 Hardback, $140 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $126.00)
The Ecclesiastical History of Bar Hebraeus is an important source for the history of the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of the East. It deserves to be widely read, but has hitherto but has never before been fully translated into English. David Wilmshurst, a noted historian of the Church of the East, has now provided a graceful and accurate English translation of the Ecclesiastical History, with the aim of winning this important text the readership it deserves. Wilmshurst's elegant translation is complemented by a well-informed and helpful introduction, several pages of maps and a comprehensive index of places and persons.
ISBN 978-1-4632-0570-6 Hardback, $99 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $89.10)
In this volume, practitioners within archaeology, anthropology, urban planning, human geography, cultural resource management (CRM) and museology push the boundaries of traditional cultural and natural heritage management and reflect how heritage discourse is being increasingly re-theorised in term of experience.
ISBN 978-1-4632-0562-1 Paperback, $48.5 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $43.65)
Jacob of Sarug's pastoral concern and rhetorical acumen have appropriately earned him the title “the lyre of the Holy Spirit”. This volume presents Jacob's admonitions to those living a life of consecrated singleness to God.
Here is a select list of forthcoming publications. Click here for a complete list.
Job According to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation Job: Translated by Jonathan Loopstra; Text Prepared by George Anton Kiraz & Joseph Bali This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars. Loopstra has translated the text, while Kiraz has prepared the Syriac text in the west Syriac script, fully vocalized and pointed. The translation and the Syriac text are presented on facing pages so that both can be studied together. All readers are catered for: those wanting to read the text in English, those wanting to improve their grasp of Syriac by reading the original language along with a translation, and those wanting to focus on a fully vocalized Syriac text. ISBN 978-1-4632-0554-6, Cloth, $150 (33-50% off on subscriptions)
Hebrews and the General Catholic Epistles According to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation Hebrews and the General Catholic Epistles: English Translation by Daniel King & J. Edward Walters; Text Prepared by George Anton Kiraz This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars. ISBN 978-1-4632-0556-0, Cloth, $150 (33-50% off on subscriptions)
Seven Icons of Christ Edited by Sergey Trostyanskiy This volume sets out an exposition of the seven key iconic moments of Christian intellectual history that formulate the classical profession of Jesus Christ as the Word of God Incarnate. ISBN 978-1-4632-0572-0, Paperback, $107.9 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $97.11)
Dadishoʿ Qaṭraya’s Compendious Commentary on The Paradise of the Egyptian Fathers in Garshuni Edited and Translated by Mario Kozah, Suleiman Mourad & Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn The Compendious Commentary by the Church of the East monk Dadishoʿ Qaṭraya (7th cent.) was originally written in Syriac but was eventually translated into Garshuni or Syro-Arabic. It is a work aimed at immersing the novice monk in the spiritual lore of the monastic vocation, and saturating his mind and spirit with advice and warnings about the pitfalls of aiming to be perfect while remaining nevertheless an imperfect human being. This is a critical edition and translation of the Compendious Commentary in Garshuni that uses all available manuscripts. ISBN 978-1-4632-0566-9, Paperback, $43.355 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $39.02)
Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Late Ottoman Period and Beyond By Khalid Dinno The book addresses the history of Syrian Orthodoxy during a critical juncture of its history that spans the late Ottoman period and treads well beyond to witness remarkable revival, indeed renaissance. The work uniquely utilizes over 6000 uncatalouged and unpublished archival documents that were made available for it. ISBN 978-1-4632-0575-1, Hardback, $208 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $187.20)
2016 Gorgias Book Grant Still Open
If you haven't started your application for the annual Gorgias Book Grant, there's still time to apply! Applications are due April 6 (if sent by snail mail, it must be postmarked by April 6). If your application is going to be delayed for any reason, please let us know by emailing jeff@gorgiaspress.com.
Further information about the Book Grant can be found here.
Registration Open for Summer Course
Our sister institute, Beth Mardutho, is accepting students for summer language courses to study the Christian Middle East. These courses are wonderful opportunities to jump-start your language skills, as well as build relationships with other students and hear guest lectures by experts from Princeton and Rutgers.
Space is still available if you sign up through the Beth Mardutho website. Click here to find out more.
Imperfect Book Sale
Last week, we gave you the opportunity to purchase some of our less-than-perfect books at a steep discount. Because the sale was so popular, we are going to extend the offer until 5 PM on Monday, 4/4.
We only have one copy of most books, so first come, first served. Orders will be processed as they come in.
Order and payment: Reply to this email with your order request. If you have your card on file with us, we will bill you as usual; otherwise, please call 732-885-8900 (we'll reserve your order for 24 hours).
In addition to the price of the book, please be prepared to pay the following for shipping:
Domestic customers: $12/first book, plus $2/each additional book.
International customers: $20/book, plus $2/each additional book.
If none of the books you want are available, we'll send you a free 30% off coupon, good storewide.
We have continued to receive positive reviews, this time for books in Neo-Aramaic Studies and Biblical Studies. The first is a warm review of Eran Cohen'sThe Syntax of Neo-Aramaic: The Jewish Dialect of Zakho by Journal of Jewish Languages.
"With this book, [the Jewish dialect of Zakho] has received one of the best and most comprehensive accounts of Neo-Aramaic grammar in general. The monograph combines both meticulous description of syntactic features and in-depth explanation of the linguistic facts."
- Michael Waltisberg, review of The Syntax of Neo-Aramaic: The Jewish Dialect of Zakho, by Eran Cohen, Journal of Jewish Languages 4.1. 2016.
"Benjamin Lazarus' study is a stimulating contribution to this field because it compares the workings of the comic in two seminal literary oeuvres from different traditions of antiquity, namely, Aristophanic comedy and Old Testament narratives. . . this monograph will prove useful to scholars working in a wide range of fields: classical comedy, Old Testament studies, comparative literature, and the humorous traditions of the ancient world."
- Ioannis M. Konstantakos, review of Humanist Comic Elements in Aristophanes and the Old Testament, by Benjamin Lazarus, Classical Journal February 5, 2016. https://cj.camws.org/sites/default/files/reviews/2016.02.05%20Konstantakos%20on%20Lazarus.pdf.
ISBN 978-1-60724-048-8 Hardback, $172 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $154.80)
This monograph provides an extensive syntactic description of the rather well-known but not previously described Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Zakho. The description covers both microsyntax, namely, syntactic relationships within the confines of the sentence: the predicative link, the attributive and completive relationships, and apposition.
ISBN 978-1-4632-0243-9 Hardback, $191.815 (Gorgias BiblioPerks $172.63)
Lazarus compares and discusses comic elements used for didactic purposes in two separate literary traditions: Old Testament narrative and Aristophanic Comedies. Given that humour relies on taking people's ideas of what is normal and making them incongruous, this volume examines these very different texts to see how they use that comic incongruity to help define what it means to be human within the hierarchy of the universe.
Adam Walker, our acquisitions editor for Arabic and Islamic Studies, will be attending the British Association for Islamic Studies conference from April 11-12. If you have any interest in publishing in our new Islamic Studies series, please drop him a line! He can be reached at submissions@gorgiaspress.com.
