Sergius of Reshaina (d. 536), famous for his translations of Galen into Syriac, rendered the scientific-theological Aristotelian text known as the De Mundo into Syriac in the early sixth century. The De Mundo, regarded by most scholars as spurious, purports to be a letter from Aristotle to Alexander in which the philosopher exhorts his pupil to the study of philosophy. This exhortation takes the form of a scientific examination of the natural world, including astronomy, meteorology, and geography. The author presents the universe as well-ordered and balanced, governed from afar by a supreme deity.

The earlier period of Greek-Syriac translation was characterized by freer versions, while in the seventh century there are very good examples of a literalistic tendency. Since Sergius translated at a time between these two periods, his version of the De Mundo will be of special interest to Greek and Syriac scholars. This Index provides a large amount of data that will hopefully fuel interest and research in Greek-Syriac translations. It contains a Greek-Syriac and Syriac-Greek listing of the greater number of words and phrases in the De Mundo. Excluded are pronouns, the verb hwa, and most prepositions. The Index was compiled from the unique Syriac manuscript of the De Mundo rather than de Lagarde’s printed text, but a table of correspondence between the manuscript and printed edition is included.