Sebastian P. Brock, An Introduction to Syriac Studies (revised second edition). (Gorgias Handbooks 4; Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2006) Pp. ix + 78. Paperback, $29.00.
Robert A.
Kitchen
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
George A. Kiraz
James E. Walters
TEI XML encoding by
html2TEI.xsl
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2007
Vol. 10, No. 2
For this publication, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
license has been granted by the author(s), who retain full
copyright.
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv10n2prkitchen1
Robert A. Kitchen
Sebastian P. Brock, An Introduction to Syriac Studies (revised second edition). (Gorgias Handbooks 4; Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2006) Pp. ix + 78. Paperback, $29.00.
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol10/HV10N2PRKitchen1.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute,
vol 10
issue 2
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal dedicated to the study
of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in January and July) by Beth
Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998, Hugoye seeks to offer the
best scholarship available in the field of Syriac studies.
Syriac Studies
File created by XSLT transformation of original HTML encoded article.
[1] It has
seldom been an easy task to venture into the study of things
Syriac. There are few places, even many theological
institutions, where mention of the Syriac language and its
churches elicits a response of recognition. Sources and
reference materials, therefore, are not readily located, so
where to begin is a matter of first importance. Sebastian
Brock’s second small volume recently republished in an
updated edition remedies the situation. An
Introduction to Syriac Studies was written originally in
1980 for a publication in Birmingham targeted towards
undergraduates, but over time became inaccessible to most
students. Kristian Heal of the Center for the
Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) at Brigham
Young University first rescued the publication from
no-longer-in-print status and published it electronically on
the CPART website. Now Gorgias Press has reissued the
book with a number of additions and updates which Brock happily
notes is the good sign of significant growth and interest in
the field of Syriac studies.
[2] This may be called an introduction, but it is
worth the time reading through for any student or experienced
scholar. Particularly helpful are the initial sections on
“what is Syriac” and “why one should study
it,” matters typically raised by all sorts of people, but
seldom answered in an articulate way. The section on the
scope of Syriac literature is all too brief, but after all this
is intended only to be an introduction, so Brock continually
points the reader towards other more in-depth resources.
Nevertheless, Brock’s enthusiasm and delight in the
subject quickly infect even the oldest hand.
[3]
The fourth section on the place of Syriac among the
Aramaic dialects, along with a chart that locates Aramaic in
the family of Semitic languages, is very helpful for the
student who is entering Syriac from a
Biblical/Hebrew/theological background. A brief
description of the Syriac scripts is helpful, though it would
have been nice to see some actual scripts as examples.
Indeed, that would be the only real criticism of this
handbook—given the facility of computerized publishing
and the availability of numerous Syriac fonts—a few
examples of the different Syriac scripts and fonts would
obviously aid in visualization for the beginner.
[4] Chapter
Five, “Tools,” by necessity has been updated the
most extensively, and in many instances, dramatically.
Grammars, chrestomathies, dictionaries begin; then an excellent
overview of the status of the Syriac Bible, Old and New
Testaments, and their various editions - particular notice
being given to the progress of the Leiden Old Testament
Peshitta project and George Kiraz’s computer-generated
concordance to the Peshitta. Next, histories of Syriac
literature are listed as well as works on the historical
background of Syriac culture and churches, taking care to point
out the different trajectories of the East and West Syriac
traditions. The ever expanding knowledge explosion in
Syriac studies is indicated in the lists of bibliographical
aids, the various old and new series of texts and translations,
periodicals, encyclopedias, festschrifts and volumes of
collected essays.
[5] The
Epilogue may not be part of a formal academic introduction, but
“The Delights of Manuscripts” should result in more
people engaging this adventure. Brock relates tales of his own
joys and excitement in the presence of ancient manuscripts in
which, as he writes concerning holding the oldest dated Syriac
manuscript in the British Library’s Oriental Reading
Room, “It does not take much imagination to find oneself
transported back across time and space to Edessa in November
411.” Brock’s enthusiasm is catching as he takes
the reader on a tour from Sinai to Damascus, Tur Abdin and back
to the Bodleian.
[6]
The Appendix, “The Syriac Churches,” signals
a road seldom traveled in years past. Obviously, most
Syriac literature is immersed in the life of the
Syriac-speaking churches, but often the gap between the academy
and the congregation has not been bridged. Brock
delineates the various members of the Syriac Body of Christ and
their positions relative to the Christological controversies
and historical allegiances to other denominations with the aid
of several charts and diagrams. Clarification and
correction of the terms Nestorian and Monophysite is a critical
insertion in order to facilitate ecumenical dialogue.
Included as well are articles and books describing in more
detail the history and ethos of the individual churches,
whether in the Near East, Europe, the Americas and India.
[7]
There are certainly other scholars who could compile a
similarly excellent introduction to the study of Syriac; here
we may listen to the voice of the scholar who has had a
significant role in putting it all together.