JCSSS is a refereed journal published annually by the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies Inc. (CSSS), located at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. JCSSS contains the transcripts of public lectures presented at the CSSS and possibly other articles and book reviews. JCSSS focuses on the vast Syriac literature, which is rooted in the same soil from which the ancient Mesopotamian and biblical literatures sprung; on Syriac art that bears Near Eastern characteristics as well as Byzantine and Islamic influences; and on archaeology, unearthing in the Middle East and the rest of Asia and China the history of the Syriac-speaking people: Assyrians, Chaldeans, Maronites and Catholic and Orthodox Syriacs. Modern Syriac Christianity and contemporary vernacular Aramaic dialects are also the focus of JCSSS. The languages of the Journal are English, French and German, and quotations from ancient sources are given in the original languages and in translation. The articles are interdisciplinary and scholarly; the Editorial Committee brings together scholars from four American, Canadian, and European universities. The CSSS that publishes JCSSS was founded in 1999 at the University of Toronto, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, as part of the latter’s academic programme in Aramaic and Syriac languages and literatures. It was incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act in January 23, 1999.

Volume 5 includes the following articles: "The Imagery of the Spiritual Mirror in Syriac Literature" by Sebastian Brock, “Syriac Vrsion by Ḥunain (?) of Nicolaus Damascenus’ Compendium of Aristotelian Philosophy and Accompanying Scholia” by Hidemi Takahashi, “Monk, Missionary, and Martyr: John of Ephesus, A Syriac Orthodox Historian In Sixth Century Byzantium” by Jan van Ginkel, “Nestorian Grave Inscriptions From Quanshou (Zaitun), China” by NIU Ruji, “The Stylites of Nebo: A Syrian Tradition in the Highlands of Central Jordan” by Debra Foran, and “Professor David John Lane (1935-2005)” by Amir Harrak.