Until now this first insider-history of Tur Abdin has been unavailable to non-Semitic readers. Written by Patriarch Ignatius Aphram Barsoum in Syriac, this history of the mountainous region in southeastern Asia Minor called Tur Abdin has not found wide readership because of language barriers. This new edition produced by Gorgias Press is a trilingual edition: the original Syriac, and Arabic and English translations. The Tur Abdin region stretches from Mardin in modern Turkey to the traditional regions of northwestern Mesopotamia. In ancient times the peoples of Tur Abdin were Aramaeans related to those living in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. The present inhabitants of this region still speak Syriac and have retained their Syro-Aramaic heritage and identity. Explored by Gertrude Bell, the region is briefly described in her Amurath to Amurath, also available from Gorgias Press. Unlike Bell, or even other writers on the region, Barsoum’s interest is the coming of Christianity to the region and the origin of its Aramaean culture. The names of villages, fortresses, patriarchs, maphrians, and bishops fill out in remarkable detail the history of the region in its Christian contexts. Based on the Syriac sources, Barsoum has been able to shed considerable light on the Syriac monasteries of the region, providing many names of monks and bishops associated with them. Anyone interested in the perspective of an inside view of the Syriac Orthodox church in Tur Abdin will find this book essential reading.

Patriarch Ignatius Aphram Barsoum (1887-1957) was born in Iraq and studied many languages, including Syriac, Arabic, French, and Turkish. He taught at the Deir al-Za’faran monastery before being consecrated Bishop of Syria and eventually Patriarch of Antioch. Known as both a churchman and a scholar, he wrote several published works, including the present volume.

Matti Moosa holds a Ph.D. degree in Middle Eastern history and culture from Columbia University. His publications include The Wives of the Prophet (ed.), Gibran in Paris (ed.), The Maronites in History (1986), and many translations from Arabic into English.