Syriac Literature An English Translation of La Littérature Syriaque

Despite having been written over a century ago, the 3rd edition of Rubens Duval's History of Syriac Literature remains one of the best - and most readable - introductions to Syriac literature. This edition provides the first English translation of the work, translated by Olivier Holmey. Syriac literature is first and foremost an ecclesiastical literature, and most of the works that have come down to us were penned by clergymen and theologians. Its origins are closely tied to the evangelisation of Mesopotamia, which began at Edessa, and would eventually place the city at the center of an intellectual movement that encompassed both religious and scientific study. The Bible was soon translated into Syriac, the language of Edessa, and Syriac then spread as an ecclesiastical literary language. Syriac literature includes poetry and chronicles documenting the dissensions, polemics and religious controversies of the Christian world, as well as compositions on the lives of biblical figures and hagiographical works on the acts of martyrs. Syriac translations preserved a number of works of which the originals are - in part or in full - lost. Greek works on philosophy, medicine, grammar and lexicography were transmitted in Syriac translations, as well as Pahlavi adventure and romance narratives. Part I deals with Syriac literature by genre, and Part II provides a chronological overview of Syriac authors. This English edition also benefits from an index of names. Foreword to the English Edition ......................................................... vii PART I SYRIAC LITERATURE AND ITS DIFFERENT GENRES ....... 1 I. The Origins of Syriac Literature ......................................................... 3 II. General Features of Syriac Literature. Poetry................................. 7 §1. — Features of Syriac Literature .............................................. 7 §2. — Poetry .................................................................................... 9 III. The Ancient Versions of the Old and New Testaments........... 21 §1. — The so-called Peshitta version of the Old Testament . 21 §2. — The ancient versions of the New Testament ................ 31 IV. The Syro-Palestinian Version of the Old and New Testament ....................................................................................... 37 V. The Later Versions of the Old and New Testament ................... 43 VI. The Syrian Masoretic Text ............................................................. 47 VII. The Biblical Commentaries .......................................................... 53 VIII. The Apocrypha Concerning the Old and New Testament ... 67 §1. — The apocrypha of the Old Testament ............................ 67 §2. — The apocrypha of the New Testament. ......................... 73 IX. The Acts of the Martyrs and of the Saints .................................. 97 §1. — The Acts of the Martyrs of Occidental Mesopotamia ......................................................................... 97 §2. — The Acts of the Martyrs of Persia ................................. 102 §3. — The Syriac texts on the martyrs outside Mesopotamia and Persia .................................................... 116 §4. — Lives of the saints and martyrs ...................................... 122 X. The Apologetic Texts ..................................................................... 133 XI. Ecclesiastical Canons and Civil Law........................................... 137 §1. — Ecclesiastical canons translated from Greek ............... 137 §2. — Syriac ecclesiastical canons. ............................................ 141 §3. — Civil law. ............................................................................ 148 XII. The Historiographers .................................................................. 153 §1. — General history ................................................................. 153 §2. — Particular histories. .......................................................... 177 XIII. Ascetic Literature ....................................................................... 187 XIV. Philosophy ................................................................................... 203 §1. — Syriac philosophy ............................................................. 203 §2. — Aristotelian philosophy ................................................... 212 §3. — Other Syriac versions of Greek philosophy ................ 223 XV. The Sciences of the Syrians ........................................................ 231 §1. — Medicine ............................................................................ 231 §2. — Natural history ................................................................. 236 §3. — Astronomy, cosmography and geography ................... 238 §4. — Chemistry .......................................................................... 242 §5. — Mathematics ..................................................................... 243 XVI. Grammar, Lexicography, Rhetoric and Poetic ...................... 245 §1. — Grammar ........................................................................... 245 §2. — Lexicography .................................................................... 253 §3. — Rhetoric and poetic ......................................................... 258 XVII. Syriac Translations .................................................................... 261 §1. — Translations of the works of the Greek Fathers ........ 262 §2. — Translations of the secular works ................................. 276 PART II NOTES ON THE SYRIAC AUTHORS ........................................ 281 I. Writers up to the 5th Century ......................................................... 285 II. Writers up Until the 7th Century .................................................. 293 §1. — The Orthodox .................................................................. 293 §2. — The Nestorians ................................................................. 296 §3. — The Monophysites ........................................................... 304 III. Writers under the Arabs ............................................................... 321 §1. — The 7th century ................................................................ 321 §2. — The 8th century ................................................................ 331 §3. — The 9th century ................................................................ 337 §4. — The 10th century.............................................................. 343 §5. — The 11th century.............................................................. 345 §6. — The 12th century.............................................................. 348 §7. — The 13th century and the end of Syriac literature ...... 352 Index of Names .................................................................................... 363 "Despite having been written over a century ago, the 3rd edition of Rubens Duval's History of Syriac Literature remains one of the best - and most readable - introductions to Syriac literature. This edition provides the first English translation of the work, translated by Olivier Holmey. Syriac literature is first and foremost an ecclesiastical literature, and most of the works that have come down to us were penned by clergymen and theologians. Its origins are closely tied to the evangelisation of Mesopotamia, which began at Edessa, and would eventually place the city at the center of an intellectual movement that encompassed both religious and scientific study. The Bible was soon translated into Syriac, the language of Edessa, and Syriac then spread as an ecclesiastical literary language. Syriac literature includes poetry and chronicles documenting the dissensions, polemics and religious controversies of the Christian world, as well as compositions on the lives of biblical figures and hagiographical works on the acts of martyrs. Syriac translations preserved a number of works of which the originals are - in part or in full - lost. Greek works on philosophy, medicine, grammar and lexicography were transmitted in Syriac translations, as well as Pahlavi adventure and romance narratives. Part I deals with Syriac literature by genre, and Part II provides a chronological overview of Syriac authors"-- Back cover