Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Aphrahat and Ephrem: From context to reception -- Making Ephrem one of us / Joseph Amar -- The significance of astronomical and calendrical theories for Ephrem's interpretation of the three days of Jesus' death / Blake Hartung -- Reconsidering the compositional unity of Aphrahat's Demonstrations / J. Edward Walters -- From sketches to portraits -- The Canaanite woman within lat Antique Syriac poetry / Erin Galgay Walsh -- Translation -- the Syriac reception of Plato's Republic / Yury Arzhanov -- Did the dying Jacob gather his feet into his bed (MT) or stretch them out (Peshitta)? -- Describing the unique character of the Peshitta / Craig Morrison -- Hagiography: formation and transmission -- The invention of the Persian Martyr Acts / Adam Becker -- The sources of the history of 'Abda damsiha / Simcha Gross -- Stories, saints, and sanctity between Christianity and Islam / Reyhan Durmaz -- Chirstians in the Islamic world -- Syriac in the polyglot medieval Middle East / Thomas A. Carlson -- Christian Arabic Historiography at the crossroads between the Byzantine, the Syriac, and the Islamic traditions / Maria Conterno -- Seeing to be seen / Zachary Ugolnik -- On sources for the social and cultural history of Christians during the Syriac renaissance / Krisian Heal.

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.