Books by Aaron Butts
The History of the ‘Slave of Christ’: From Jewish Child to Christian Martyr offers the first crit... more The History of the ‘Slave of Christ’: From Jewish Child to Christian Martyr offers the first critical editions and English translations of the two Syriac recensions of this fascinating text, which narrates the story of a young Jewish child, Asher, who after converting to Christianity and taking the name ʿAḇdā da-Mšiḥā (‘slave of Christ’) is martyred by his father Levi in a scene reminiscent of Abraham’s offering of Isaac in Genesis 22. In a detailed introduction, the authors argue that the text is a fictional story composed during the early Islamic period (ca. 650–850) probably in Shigar (modern Sinjār). Building upon methodology from the study of western Christian and Jewish texts, they further contend that the story’s author constructs an imagined Jew based on the Hebrew Bible, thereby challenging the way that previous scholars have used this text as straightforward evidence for historical interactions between Jews and Christians in Babylonia at this time. This ultimately allows the authors to reevaluate the purpose of the text and to situate it in its Late Antique Babylonian context.
It is well documented that one of the primary catalysts of intense language contact is the expans... more It is well documented that one of the primary catalysts of intense language contact is the expansion of empire. This is true not only of recent history, but it is equally applicable to the more remote past. An exemplary case, or better cases, of this involves Aramaic. Throughout its long history, Aramaic has been in contact with a variety of languages due to the expansions of empires, including Akkadian, Greek, Arabic, and various dialects of Iranian. This books focuses on one particular episode in the long history of Aramaic language contact: the Syriac dialect of Aramaic in contact with Greek.
In this book, Butts presents a new analysis of contact-induced changes in Syriac due to Greek. Several chapters analyze the more than eight-hundred Greek loanwords that occur in Syriac texts from Late Antiquity that were not translated from Greek. Butts also dedicates several chapters to a different category of contact-induced change in which Syriac-speakers replicated inherited Aramaic material on the model of Greek. All of the changes discussed in the book are located within their broader Aramaic context and analyzed through a robust contact linguistic framework.
By focusing on the Syriac language itself, Butts introduces new – and arguably more reliable – evidence for locating Syriac Christianity within its Greco-Roman context. This book, thus, is especially important for the field of Syriac studies. The book also contributes to the fields of contact linguistics and the study of ancient languages more broadly by analyzing in detail various types of contact-induced change over a relatively long period of time.
Narsai (d. ca. 500), who is variously called “the tongue of the East” and “the harp of the Spirit... more Narsai (d. ca. 500), who is variously called “the tongue of the East” and “the harp of the Spirit,” is the most foundational East Syriac theologian and exegete and among the most important and influential Syriac authors more broadly. Just over eighty metrical homilies (mēmrē) attributed to Narsai survive. The present volume serves as a clavis to Narsai’s homilies. The first part consists of the clavis itself: It is organized by homily providing for each a number, a short title, the incipit, the Br1 number, the manuscript attestation, previous editions and translations, previous scholarship, and additional notes, when applicable. The second part is a study of manuscripts that consist of collections of homilies attributed (primarily) to Narsai. For each manuscript, the following information is provided: date, catalogue-type description of contents, bibliography, and notes, as well as other information, such as location copied, alternative shelfmarks, and alternative sigla, when applicable. The third part is a series of concordances that link the present work to earlier publications as well as to the incipits. The volume also contains a curated bibliography that provides a sense of the history of scholarship on Narsai.
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Sebastian P. Brock, Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 690, Subsidia 142; Leuven: Peeters, 2020). xxiv + 166.
Aaron M. Butts, Ethiopic Paradigms. A Summary of Classical Ethiopic (Gǝˁǝz) Morphology (Leuven: P... more Aaron M. Butts, Ethiopic Paradigms. A Summary of Classical Ethiopic (Gǝˁǝz) Morphology (Leuven: Peeters, forthcoming 2021).
Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug ... more Recognized as a saint by both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Christians alike, Jacob of Sarug (d. 521) produced many narrative poems that have rarely been translated into English. Of his reported 760 metrical homilies, only about half survive. Part of a series of fascicles containing the bilingual Syriac-English editions of Saint Jacob of Sarug’s homilies, this volume contains his homily on the Tower of Babel. The Syriac text is fully vocalized, and the translation is annotated with a commentary and biblical references. The volume is one of the fascicles of Gorgias Press’s Complete Homilies of Saint Jacob of Sarug, which, when complete, will contain all of Jacob’s surviving sermons.
Edited Reference Works by Aaron Butts
* * * now available online * * *
https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/index.html
The Gorgias Encyc... more * * * now available online * * *
https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/index.html
The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (GEDSH) is the first major encyclopedia-type reference work devoted exclusively to Syriac Christianity, both as a field of scholarly inquiry and as the inheritance of Syriac Christians today. In more than 600 entries it covers the Syriac heritage from its beginnings in the first centuries of the Common Era up to the present day. Special attention is given to authors, literary works, scholars, and locations that are associated with the Classical Syriac tradition. Within this tradition, the diversity of Syriac Christianity is highlighted as well as Syriac Christianity’s broader literary and historical contexts, with major entries devoted to Greek and Arabic authors and more general themes, such as Syriac Christianity’s contacts with Judaism and Islam, and with Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Georgian Christianities. In addition to the literary tradition, inscriptions and objects of art are given due consideration. The entries are accompanied by 131 illustrations, twenty of which are in color. The volume closes with maps, lists of patriarchs of the main Syriac Churches of the Middle East, and elaborate indices.
GEDSH is a collaborative project that involves seventy-six scholars from across the globe. Three of the four editors are associated with major universities in Europe and the United States: Oxford University, Yale University, and Duke University. The fourth editor is the founding director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. GEDSH was carried out under the auspices of Beth Mardutho."
Edited Volumes by Aaron Butts
Narsai, who is variously called “the tongue of the East” and “the harp of the Spirit”, is among t... more Narsai, who is variously called “the tongue of the East” and “the harp of the Spirit”, is among the most important and influential Syriac authors. His life spanned the fifth century, which was a tumultuous time for Christians following the controversies surrounding the First Council of Ephesus, the Second Council of Ephesus, and the Council of Chalcedon. Playing a crucial role at this critical juncture, Narsai would ultimately be remembered as one of the foundational figures of the Church of the East. The present volume inaugurates the series Narsai: The Homilies, which aims to provide English translations of all the surviving homilies of Narsai. The homilies translated in this volume are “On Revelations to Patriarchs and Prophets (I)” (1), “On Jonah” (14), “On Peter and Paul” (8), “On Stephen” (10), “On Mary” (5), and “On the Evil of the Time” (12).
Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross (eds.), Jews and Syriac Christians: Intersections across the... more Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross (eds.), Jews and Syriac Christians: Intersections across the First Millennium (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020).
Scholarly interest in intersections between Jews and Syriac Christians has experienced a boom in recent years. This is the result of a series of converging trends in the study of both groups and their cultural productions. The present volume contributes to this developing conversation by collecting sixteen studies that investigate a wide range of topics, from questions of origins to the development of communal boundaries, from social interactions to shared historical conditions, involving Jews and Syriac Christians over the first millennium CE.
Syriac Christianity developed in the first centuries CE in the Middle East, where it continued to... more Syriac Christianity developed in the first centuries CE in the Middle East, where it continued to flourish throughout Late Antiquity and the Medieval period, while also spreading widely, as far as India and China. Today, Syriac Christians are found in the Middle East, in India, as well in diasporas scattered across the globe. Over this extended time period and across this vast geographic expanse, Syriac Christians have built impressive churches and monasteries, crafted fine pieces of art, and written and transmitted a sizable body of literature. Though often overlooked, neglected, and even persecuted, Syriac Christianity has been – and continues to be – an important part of the humanistic heritage of the last two millennia. The present volume brings together fourteen studies that offer fresh perspectives on Syriac Christianity, especially its literary texts and authors. The timeframes of the individual studies span from the second-century Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible up to the thirteenth century with the end of the Syriac Renaissance. Several studies analyze key authors from Late Antiquity, such as Aphrahat, Ephrem, Narsai, and Jacob of Serugh. Others investigate translations into Syriac, both from Hebrew and from Greek, while still others examine hagiography, especially its formation and transmission. Reflecting a growing trend in the field, the volume also devotes significant attention to the Medieval period, during which Syriac Christians lived under Islamic rule. The studies in the volume are united in their quest to explore the richness, diversity, and vibrance of Syriac Christianity.
Aaron Michael Butts and Robin Darling Young (eds.), Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020).
Narsai († ca. 500) was a founding theologian of the Church of the East. Active first at the Schoo... more Narsai († ca. 500) was a founding theologian of the Church of the East. Active first at the School of the Persians in Edessa and later at the School of Nisibis, Narsai creatively synthesized his native Syriac tradition with the newly translated works of Antiochene theology and exegesis. In a time of theological upheaval, his works helped forge a new theological tradition in Syriac. This groundbreaking collection of original essays refocuses attention on this fascinating Late Antique thinker and illustrates his importance for understanding Christianity in Late Antiquity. The essays highlight Narsai’s contributions to exegesis, asceticism and moral formation, Jewish-Christian relations, liturgical theology, and place his work and thought within the cultural and intellectual world of two leading Christian centers in the Roman-Persian frontiers in the fifth century.
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Robert A. Kitchen, Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World (Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity 121; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020).
Papers by Aaron Butts
An edition, with English translation, is provided of an Ethiopic ‘Homily on Peter’, attributed to... more An edition, with English translation, is provided of an Ethiopic ‘Homily on Peter’, attributed to Ephrem the Syrian (d.373), which is uniquely attested in MS Ethio-SPaRe UM-046, fols 148v–151v. This Ethiopic homily ultimately goes back—undoubtedly via Arabic—to a Syriac stanzaic poem (soḡiṯā) recently edited by S. P. Brock.
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, 2024
With this article, I inaugurate a series that will unveil intriguing cases of Syriac writing foun... more With this article, I inaugurate a series that will unveil intriguing cases of Syriac writing found in Ethiopic manuscripts and of Ethiopic writing in Syriac manuscripts. These findings, which have been mainly overlooked, offer tangible evidence for the connected histories of Ethiopic and Syriac Christianity. I begin the series here with a line of Syriac found in MS Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 148. This composite Ethiopic manuscript, most, if not all, of which can be dated to the fifteenth century, is among the oldest and most important sources for the synodical literature of Ethiopic Christians. In addition to containing a line of Syriac, this manuscript is also—seemingly unrelated—a unique witness to the Ethiopic version of the Syriac Demonstration 8 associated with Aphrahaṭ (fl. 336–345).
Published in Nils Heeßel, Vera Tsukanova, and Michael Waltisberg (eds.), Der Perlentaucher. Fests... more Published in Nils Heeßel, Vera Tsukanova, and Michael Waltisberg (eds.), Der Perlentaucher. Festschrift für Stefan Weninger zu seinem 65. Geburtstag am 6. August 2024 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2024). 33-47.
In the standard reference works for Ethiopian and Eritrean studies, one finds a Homily on Holy Ea... more In the standard reference works for Ethiopian and Eritrean studies, one finds a Homily on Holy Easter (CAe 1265) attributed to Gregory of Nazianzus and identified as one of his Orations (CPG 3010). Both the attribution and identification are, however, incorrect. Rather, this Homily on Holy Easter, which is actually attributed to an otherwise unknown John Theologos in the earliest recoverable layer of the Ethiopic tradition, is to be identified as an Ethiopic version of a homily, recorded as CPG 4163.2, attested in two Arabic manuscripts, one where it is attributed to Ephrem and the other where it is anonymous.
Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin, 2023
In 1905, Alphonse Mingana published a two-volume edition of metrical homilies, or mēmrē, of the i... more In 1905, Alphonse Mingana published a two-volume edition of metrical homilies, or mēmrē, of the important East-Syriac theologian and poet Narsai (d. c.500). This edition remains the field-standard resource for scholars working on Narsai. In the present article, I draw attention to four cases in which a line was missing from the manuscript(s) that served as the basis of Mingana’s edition, resulting in a broken couplet in Mingana’s text. I restore these couplets by consulting ms. Diyarbakır 70 (= Da), which was copied near Erbil in 1328, and thereby I recover some lost lines of Narsai. In a concluding appendix, I discuss how these lost lines can serve as errores significativi (Leitfehler) for establishing a stemma of the manuscripts of Narsai’s mēmrē.
Aethiopica, 2022
In an article published in this journal in 2010, Norbert Nebes argued that ʾbk wdm is an apotropa... more In an article published in this journal in 2010, Norbert Nebes argued that ʾbk wdm is an apotropaic formula, which can be translated, for instance in the case of RIÉ 9, as ‘und Waddum ist dein (göttlicher) Vater als Schutz vor einem Widersacher’ (wʾbk wdm [b]n ʿtkm). In contrast, it is proposed here that ʾbk wdm continues the previous list of deity names, as already suggested in 1976 by Roger Schneider. Key to this argument is the distribution of the concluding prepositional phrases bn kl mrʿm, ‘from everyone who is malicious’, and bn ʿtkm, ‘from an adversary’, which only occur in inscriptions that have b-s¹qt, ‘by the protection of’. Thus, the following formula is proposed: b-s¹qt DN(s) bn X, ‘by the protection of divine name(s) from X’.
The Aksumite kingdom was one of the great powers of the late antique world. Travelers to its anci... more The Aksumite kingdom was one of the great powers of the late antique world. Travelers to its ancient capital of Aksum could not have helped but marvel at the colossal monolithic funerary stelae that dominated the horizon, just as tourists react to the several that still stand today (fig. 1). In fact, one stela estimated to weigh 520 tons is thought to be the largest single block of stone that humans have ever attempted to erect (fig. 2). These magnificent stelae projected the greatness of the Aksumite kingdom to all who found themselves in its capital. It is no surprise that the Aksumite kingdom is named in the Kephalaia of the third-century Mesopotamian prophet Mani as one of the four great kingdoms of the world, alongside that of the Chinese, the Romans, and the Babylonians and Persians. Unfortunately, those who study the Aksumite kingdom are confronted with limited and challenging sources....
The word samminē (PL) appears to be a hapax legomenon in Syriac, being attested only in Mēmrā 10... more The word samminē (PL) appears to be a hapax legomenon in Syriac, being attested only in Mēmrā 10 ‘On Stephen’ of Narsai (d. ca. 500), where it seems to refer to grapes and perhaps, more specifically, to pomace. Though the available manuscripts are unanimous in transmitting samminē (PL), Brockelmann emended the word to yasminē ‘jasmine’. This emendation is, however, contextually difficult. In addition, a possible cognate to Syriac samminē (PL) is to be found in Akkadian sammīnu, which occurs in lists of food-stuffs in several Old Babylonian letters as well as in the Uruanna plant list. The Akkadian cognate, which has not previously been noted in the Syriac lexicographical literature, all but assures that samminē (PL) is a genuine Syriac word.
Published in James E. Walters (ed.), Eastern Christianity: A Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021... more Published in James E. Walters (ed.), Eastern Christianity: A Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021), 129-141.
Theodore bar Koni taught at the exegetical school of Kashkar in southern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the ˁAbbasid period (750-1258). He is best known for his Scholion, completed in 792/3, which is a manual of the theology of the Church of the East. In its present form, the Scholion is composed of eleven mēmrē. The first nine are organized according to the biblical text: Mēmrē 1–5 treat the Old Testament, whereas 6–9 treat the New Testament. These mēmrē are not structured as a running commentary, but rather are in the form of questions and answers, a genre employed by other Syriac exegetes. In addition to questions of a strictly exegetical nature, Bar Koni often discusses various philosophical and theological concepts within these first nine mēmrē. The Scholion’s tenth mēmrā, which is of interest here, is an apology for Christianity against Islam. The question and answer format of the previous mēmrē is replaced in this mēmrā by a dialogue between a teacher, who speaks on behalf of Christians, and a student, who speaks on behalf of Muslims, or as stated in the text ḥanpē “pagans,” which seems to be a word-play with Arabic al-ḥanīf “a true believer, muslim.” The tenth mēmrā is an important source for understanding Muslim-Christian relations in the early ˁAbbāsid period. The eleventh and final mēmrā of the Scholion is a description of what Bar Koni calls “all the heresies before and after Christ.” These include Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, various types of Gnosticism, as well as the “heresies” of the Quqites, Orphites, and the Bardaiṣanites, to name only a few. One of the sources of the eleventh mēmrā is the Anakephalaiōsis, an abridgement of the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis (d. 403).
Published in James E. Walters (ed.), Eastern Christianity: A Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021... more Published in James E. Walters (ed.), Eastern Christianity: A Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021), 123-128.
Timothy I was an influential Catholicos of the Church of the East for more than forty years (780–823). Around sixty letters of his survive, and these provide fascinating insights into how the Catholicos led the Church of the East during a pivotal time at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid Caliphate (750–1258). The present letter deals with two principal topics. The first is Timothy’s efforts to produce three copies of the Syriac translation of the Septuagint column of Origen’s Hexapla. This Syriac translation, known in modern scholarship as the Syro-Hexapla, was produced by the Syriac Orthodox translator Paul of Tella in 616–617. In addition to being the first mention of the (Syro-)Hexapla in East Syriac sources, this section of the letter provides a rare – and captivating – glimpse of scribal culture and manuscript copying. The second topic of the letter is the discovery of Hebrew manuscripts in the region of Jericho. This incredible story anticipates the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by more than a millennium. In addition, it might explain the existence of the so-called Apocryphal Psalms in the Syriac tradition. The Syriac Apocryphal Psalms are a group of five poetic compositions, numbered 151–155, that are first attested in a Syriac manuscript datable to the twelfth century. Two of these Psalms (154–155) are also found in the Qumran Psalms Scroll (11QPsa). This letter might be the proverbial silver bullet to explain how non-canonical Hebrew Psalms could be transmitted into Syriac after the original translation of the canonical Peshiṭta many centuries earlier. Together, both parts of this letter shed light on biblical studies in the Church of the East at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid period and especially Timothy’s activities in this area. Beyond these two main topics, the letter is filled with many other intriguing details. These range from referring to Caliph al-Rashīd (786–809) as the “victorious king,” as is common in Syriac sources of the time, to Timothy’s mention of the appointment of bishops for the Church of the East, not only in the Middle East but spreading eastward into Central and East Asia, with Turkestan and Tibet expressly mentioned. Toward the end of the letter, Timothy returns to where he began, by discussing manuscripts, asking the recipient of the letter to send some manuscripts, search for others, and make copies of yet others.
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Books by Aaron Butts
In this book, Butts presents a new analysis of contact-induced changes in Syriac due to Greek. Several chapters analyze the more than eight-hundred Greek loanwords that occur in Syriac texts from Late Antiquity that were not translated from Greek. Butts also dedicates several chapters to a different category of contact-induced change in which Syriac-speakers replicated inherited Aramaic material on the model of Greek. All of the changes discussed in the book are located within their broader Aramaic context and analyzed through a robust contact linguistic framework.
By focusing on the Syriac language itself, Butts introduces new – and arguably more reliable – evidence for locating Syriac Christianity within its Greco-Roman context. This book, thus, is especially important for the field of Syriac studies. The book also contributes to the fields of contact linguistics and the study of ancient languages more broadly by analyzing in detail various types of contact-induced change over a relatively long period of time.
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Sebastian P. Brock, Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 690, Subsidia 142; Leuven: Peeters, 2020). xxiv + 166.
Edited Reference Works by Aaron Butts
https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/index.html
The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (GEDSH) is the first major encyclopedia-type reference work devoted exclusively to Syriac Christianity, both as a field of scholarly inquiry and as the inheritance of Syriac Christians today. In more than 600 entries it covers the Syriac heritage from its beginnings in the first centuries of the Common Era up to the present day. Special attention is given to authors, literary works, scholars, and locations that are associated with the Classical Syriac tradition. Within this tradition, the diversity of Syriac Christianity is highlighted as well as Syriac Christianity’s broader literary and historical contexts, with major entries devoted to Greek and Arabic authors and more general themes, such as Syriac Christianity’s contacts with Judaism and Islam, and with Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Georgian Christianities. In addition to the literary tradition, inscriptions and objects of art are given due consideration. The entries are accompanied by 131 illustrations, twenty of which are in color. The volume closes with maps, lists of patriarchs of the main Syriac Churches of the Middle East, and elaborate indices.
GEDSH is a collaborative project that involves seventy-six scholars from across the globe. Three of the four editors are associated with major universities in Europe and the United States: Oxford University, Yale University, and Duke University. The fourth editor is the founding director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. GEDSH was carried out under the auspices of Beth Mardutho."
Edited Volumes by Aaron Butts
Scholarly interest in intersections between Jews and Syriac Christians has experienced a boom in recent years. This is the result of a series of converging trends in the study of both groups and their cultural productions. The present volume contributes to this developing conversation by collecting sixteen studies that investigate a wide range of topics, from questions of origins to the development of communal boundaries, from social interactions to shared historical conditions, involving Jews and Syriac Christians over the first millennium CE.
Aaron Michael Butts and Robin Darling Young (eds.), Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020).
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Robert A. Kitchen, Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World (Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity 121; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020).
Papers by Aaron Butts
Theodore bar Koni taught at the exegetical school of Kashkar in southern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the ˁAbbasid period (750-1258). He is best known for his Scholion, completed in 792/3, which is a manual of the theology of the Church of the East. In its present form, the Scholion is composed of eleven mēmrē. The first nine are organized according to the biblical text: Mēmrē 1–5 treat the Old Testament, whereas 6–9 treat the New Testament. These mēmrē are not structured as a running commentary, but rather are in the form of questions and answers, a genre employed by other Syriac exegetes. In addition to questions of a strictly exegetical nature, Bar Koni often discusses various philosophical and theological concepts within these first nine mēmrē. The Scholion’s tenth mēmrā, which is of interest here, is an apology for Christianity against Islam. The question and answer format of the previous mēmrē is replaced in this mēmrā by a dialogue between a teacher, who speaks on behalf of Christians, and a student, who speaks on behalf of Muslims, or as stated in the text ḥanpē “pagans,” which seems to be a word-play with Arabic al-ḥanīf “a true believer, muslim.” The tenth mēmrā is an important source for understanding Muslim-Christian relations in the early ˁAbbāsid period. The eleventh and final mēmrā of the Scholion is a description of what Bar Koni calls “all the heresies before and after Christ.” These include Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, various types of Gnosticism, as well as the “heresies” of the Quqites, Orphites, and the Bardaiṣanites, to name only a few. One of the sources of the eleventh mēmrā is the Anakephalaiōsis, an abridgement of the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis (d. 403).
Timothy I was an influential Catholicos of the Church of the East for more than forty years (780–823). Around sixty letters of his survive, and these provide fascinating insights into how the Catholicos led the Church of the East during a pivotal time at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid Caliphate (750–1258). The present letter deals with two principal topics. The first is Timothy’s efforts to produce three copies of the Syriac translation of the Septuagint column of Origen’s Hexapla. This Syriac translation, known in modern scholarship as the Syro-Hexapla, was produced by the Syriac Orthodox translator Paul of Tella in 616–617. In addition to being the first mention of the (Syro-)Hexapla in East Syriac sources, this section of the letter provides a rare – and captivating – glimpse of scribal culture and manuscript copying. The second topic of the letter is the discovery of Hebrew manuscripts in the region of Jericho. This incredible story anticipates the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by more than a millennium. In addition, it might explain the existence of the so-called Apocryphal Psalms in the Syriac tradition. The Syriac Apocryphal Psalms are a group of five poetic compositions, numbered 151–155, that are first attested in a Syriac manuscript datable to the twelfth century. Two of these Psalms (154–155) are also found in the Qumran Psalms Scroll (11QPsa). This letter might be the proverbial silver bullet to explain how non-canonical Hebrew Psalms could be transmitted into Syriac after the original translation of the canonical Peshiṭta many centuries earlier. Together, both parts of this letter shed light on biblical studies in the Church of the East at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid period and especially Timothy’s activities in this area. Beyond these two main topics, the letter is filled with many other intriguing details. These range from referring to Caliph al-Rashīd (786–809) as the “victorious king,” as is common in Syriac sources of the time, to Timothy’s mention of the appointment of bishops for the Church of the East, not only in the Middle East but spreading eastward into Central and East Asia, with Turkestan and Tibet expressly mentioned. Toward the end of the letter, Timothy returns to where he began, by discussing manuscripts, asking the recipient of the letter to send some manuscripts, search for others, and make copies of yet others.
In this book, Butts presents a new analysis of contact-induced changes in Syriac due to Greek. Several chapters analyze the more than eight-hundred Greek loanwords that occur in Syriac texts from Late Antiquity that were not translated from Greek. Butts also dedicates several chapters to a different category of contact-induced change in which Syriac-speakers replicated inherited Aramaic material on the model of Greek. All of the changes discussed in the book are located within their broader Aramaic context and analyzed through a robust contact linguistic framework.
By focusing on the Syriac language itself, Butts introduces new – and arguably more reliable – evidence for locating Syriac Christianity within its Greco-Roman context. This book, thus, is especially important for the field of Syriac studies. The book also contributes to the fields of contact linguistics and the study of ancient languages more broadly by analyzing in detail various types of contact-induced change over a relatively long period of time.
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Sebastian P. Brock, Clavis to the Metrical Homilies of Narsai (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 690, Subsidia 142; Leuven: Peeters, 2020). xxiv + 166.
https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/index.html
The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (GEDSH) is the first major encyclopedia-type reference work devoted exclusively to Syriac Christianity, both as a field of scholarly inquiry and as the inheritance of Syriac Christians today. In more than 600 entries it covers the Syriac heritage from its beginnings in the first centuries of the Common Era up to the present day. Special attention is given to authors, literary works, scholars, and locations that are associated with the Classical Syriac tradition. Within this tradition, the diversity of Syriac Christianity is highlighted as well as Syriac Christianity’s broader literary and historical contexts, with major entries devoted to Greek and Arabic authors and more general themes, such as Syriac Christianity’s contacts with Judaism and Islam, and with Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Georgian Christianities. In addition to the literary tradition, inscriptions and objects of art are given due consideration. The entries are accompanied by 131 illustrations, twenty of which are in color. The volume closes with maps, lists of patriarchs of the main Syriac Churches of the Middle East, and elaborate indices.
GEDSH is a collaborative project that involves seventy-six scholars from across the globe. Three of the four editors are associated with major universities in Europe and the United States: Oxford University, Yale University, and Duke University. The fourth editor is the founding director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. GEDSH was carried out under the auspices of Beth Mardutho."
Scholarly interest in intersections between Jews and Syriac Christians has experienced a boom in recent years. This is the result of a series of converging trends in the study of both groups and their cultural productions. The present volume contributes to this developing conversation by collecting sixteen studies that investigate a wide range of topics, from questions of origins to the development of communal boundaries, from social interactions to shared historical conditions, involving Jews and Syriac Christians over the first millennium CE.
Aaron Michael Butts and Robin Darling Young (eds.), Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020).
Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal, and Robert A. Kitchen, Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World (Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity 121; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020).
Theodore bar Koni taught at the exegetical school of Kashkar in southern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the ˁAbbasid period (750-1258). He is best known for his Scholion, completed in 792/3, which is a manual of the theology of the Church of the East. In its present form, the Scholion is composed of eleven mēmrē. The first nine are organized according to the biblical text: Mēmrē 1–5 treat the Old Testament, whereas 6–9 treat the New Testament. These mēmrē are not structured as a running commentary, but rather are in the form of questions and answers, a genre employed by other Syriac exegetes. In addition to questions of a strictly exegetical nature, Bar Koni often discusses various philosophical and theological concepts within these first nine mēmrē. The Scholion’s tenth mēmrā, which is of interest here, is an apology for Christianity against Islam. The question and answer format of the previous mēmrē is replaced in this mēmrā by a dialogue between a teacher, who speaks on behalf of Christians, and a student, who speaks on behalf of Muslims, or as stated in the text ḥanpē “pagans,” which seems to be a word-play with Arabic al-ḥanīf “a true believer, muslim.” The tenth mēmrā is an important source for understanding Muslim-Christian relations in the early ˁAbbāsid period. The eleventh and final mēmrā of the Scholion is a description of what Bar Koni calls “all the heresies before and after Christ.” These include Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Manichaeism, various types of Gnosticism, as well as the “heresies” of the Quqites, Orphites, and the Bardaiṣanites, to name only a few. One of the sources of the eleventh mēmrā is the Anakephalaiōsis, an abridgement of the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis (d. 403).
Timothy I was an influential Catholicos of the Church of the East for more than forty years (780–823). Around sixty letters of his survive, and these provide fascinating insights into how the Catholicos led the Church of the East during a pivotal time at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid Caliphate (750–1258). The present letter deals with two principal topics. The first is Timothy’s efforts to produce three copies of the Syriac translation of the Septuagint column of Origen’s Hexapla. This Syriac translation, known in modern scholarship as the Syro-Hexapla, was produced by the Syriac Orthodox translator Paul of Tella in 616–617. In addition to being the first mention of the (Syro-)Hexapla in East Syriac sources, this section of the letter provides a rare – and captivating – glimpse of scribal culture and manuscript copying. The second topic of the letter is the discovery of Hebrew manuscripts in the region of Jericho. This incredible story anticipates the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by more than a millennium. In addition, it might explain the existence of the so-called Apocryphal Psalms in the Syriac tradition. The Syriac Apocryphal Psalms are a group of five poetic compositions, numbered 151–155, that are first attested in a Syriac manuscript datable to the twelfth century. Two of these Psalms (154–155) are also found in the Qumran Psalms Scroll (11QPsa). This letter might be the proverbial silver bullet to explain how non-canonical Hebrew Psalms could be transmitted into Syriac after the original translation of the canonical Peshiṭta many centuries earlier. Together, both parts of this letter shed light on biblical studies in the Church of the East at the beginning of the ˁAbbāsid period and especially Timothy’s activities in this area. Beyond these two main topics, the letter is filled with many other intriguing details. These range from referring to Caliph al-Rashīd (786–809) as the “victorious king,” as is common in Syriac sources of the time, to Timothy’s mention of the appointment of bishops for the Church of the East, not only in the Middle East but spreading eastward into Central and East Asia, with Turkestan and Tibet expressly mentioned. Toward the end of the letter, Timothy returns to where he began, by discussing manuscripts, asking the recipient of the letter to send some manuscripts, search for others, and make copies of yet others.
Old Syriac refers to the inscriptions and documents written in the Syriac language that date from the first to the third centuries CE. These represent the earliest attestations of the Syriac language. The Syriac language likely originated in or around Edessa, present-day Urfa in south-eastern Turkey, and from there, it spread, as a language of Christianity, over most of Mesopotamia and Syria reaching as far as Ethiopia, India, and Central Asia. Syriac is the best documented dialect of Aramaic, which belongs to the larger Semitic language family. The Syriac language is most well known from the large corpus (tens of millions of words) of Christian literature that began to be produced in the second century and continues to be written up until today (in general, see Brock et al.). There is, however, the smaller corpus of Old Syriac, which is the subject of this article. Old Syriac can be divided into two categories based on media: inscriptions on hard surfaces and documents on perishable materials...
The ancient Kingdom of Aksum, which was centered on what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was considered one of the great world powers in Late Antiquity. The Kephalaia of the third-century prophet Mani, for instance, goes so far as to list the Kingdom of the Aksumites as one of the four great kingdoms of the world alongside the Kingdom of the land of Babylon and of Persia, the Kingdom of the Romans, and the Kingdom of the Chinese. The prominence of the Aksumite Kingdom during Late Antiquity derived at least in part from its port city Adulis: Strategically located on the western side of the Red Sea, Adulis was an important stop on the Indian Ocean trade routes that spanned from the Roman Empire to India and beyond. The port of Adulis, thus, brought significant wealth to the Aksumite Kingdom and connected it to the broader Mediterranean world....
“From Syriac to Arabic to Ethiopic: Loci of Change in Transmission,” in R. B. Finazzi, F. Forte, C. Milani, and M. Moriggi (ed.), Circolazione di testi e superamento delle barriere linguistiche e culturali nelle tradizioni orientali (Orientalia Ambrosiana 7; Milan: Biblioteca Ambrosiana – Centro Ambrosiano, 2020). 21-57.
Published in Journal of Semitic Studies 65 (2020): 495-509.
Published in Antoine Borrut, Manuela Ceballos, and Alison Vacca (eds.), Navigating Language in the early Islamic World Multilingualism and Language Change in the First Centuries of Islam (Turnhout: Brepols, 2024), 365-401.
To be published in Hans-Josef Klauck et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009–).
Review of Leonid Kogan, Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses (De Gruyter: Boston – Berlin, 2015) in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 77 (2018): 144-149.
Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Christian Palestinian Aramaic, OLA 234 (Leuven: Peeters, 2014). Pp. xlii + 466; $122.00.
Michael Sokoloff, Texts of Various Contents in Christian Palestinian Aramaic, OLA 235 (Leuven: Peeters, 2014). Pp. x + 248; $95.00.