In this revised and updated edition of his classic work, Robert Murray offers the fullest and most vivid picture yet available of the development and character of the Syriac culture, illustrating both its original close relationship to Judaism and its earlier origins in Mesopotamian civilization.

This book is of interdisciplinary importance, involving the cultural crossroads of the ancient and medieval worlds of east and west, and of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It will be of interest to a correspondingly wide range of scholars and students. No knowledge of Syriac is assumed.

"A superb work."--Wayne A Meeks, Yale University

"After more than a quarter of a century, Robert Murray's Symbols of Church and Kingdom still remains by far the best introduction to early Syriac Christianity. It has justly become something of a classic."--Sebastian Brock, University of Oxford

"This scrupulous book with an unfailing historical sense is alive to the language of the Late Romans, laying bare with sympathy the way in which Syriac-speaking Christians spoke of the Church."--The New York Review

Dr. Robert P. R. Murray SJ was Lecturer at Heythrop College, University of London, until his retirement.