Daniel King, ed., The Syriac World
J. Edward
Walters
Rochester University
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
George A. Kiraz
James E. Walters
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Patrick Conlin
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2019
Volume 22.2
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https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/review/hv22n2prwalters
J. Edward Walters
Daniel King, ed., The Syriac World
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol22/HV22N2PRWalters.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute,
vol 22
issue 2
pp 481–484
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.
?File created by Patrick Conlin
Daniel King, ed., The Syriac World
(London: Routledge, 2019). Pp. lii + 842; $220.
The field of Syriac studies, including language, history, religion,
and literature, has become much more visible in recent years, both as a distinct
area of study and as a significant ancillary subject to other fields (Early
Christianity, Late Antiquity, Islamic studies, Middle Eastern History, etc.).
One area where the visibility of Syriac studies was lacking, however, was the
publication of scholarly reference handbooks. The present volume, edited by
Daniel King, fills this gap and provides a much-needed reference work for anyone
interested in Syriac, novice and expert alike.
The book is arranged in five parts.
For purposes of space, it is impossible to review
each chapter individually, so the comments here will treat each part of
the work, focusing on thematic connections. Likewise, for purposes of
space I will not include the titles of chapters. I will merely refer to
chapter numbers and the authors’ names. The full Table of Contents is
available on the publisher’s website:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Syriac-World-1st-Edition/King/p/book/9781138899018.
2 For other chapters
Part I (“Backgrounds”) situates the study of early Syriac literature and
history against two historical backdrops: the eastern Roman Empire in Late
Antiquity (Ch. 1, Muriel Debié) and the Sasanian Empire (Ch. 2, Touraj Daryaee).
In addition to the wealth of information provided in these chapters, they also
introduce a theme that runs throughout the work: the relationship of Syriac
speakers to imperial powers. The study of Syriac history and literature from
virtually any time period involves an understanding of the political precarity
of these communities, which shaped significant aspects of the development of
ecclesiastical hierarchies and divisions between communities.
For other chapters in this book that highlight the
significance of the history of empires and issues pertaining to
political alignments, see especially: Ch. 6 (Volker Menze), Ch. 7
(Dietmar W. Winkler), Ch. 8 (Geoffrey Herman), Ch. 10 (Nathanael
Andrade), Ch. 11 (Michael Penn), Ch. 13 (David Wilmshurst), Ch. 31 (Mark
Dickens), Ch. 32 (Hidemi Takahashi), Ch. 33 (István Perczel), Ch. 35
(Thomas Carlson), Ch. 36 (Shafiq Abouzayd), and Ch. 39 (Erica C. D.
Hunter).
Part II (“The Syriac World in Late Antiquity”) continues the
historical framing, but the chapters here are more varied in topic and scope.
Two chapters continue the theme of Part I by addressing how Syriac Christians
adapted to Roman (Ch. 10, Nathanael Andrade) and Persian (Ch. 8, Geoffrey
Herman) settings. Some of the chapters herein treat the topic of Syriac
Christians and their relationship to other religious groups, including
pre-Christian “pagan” religions (Ch. 3, John F. Healey), Judaism (Ch. 9, Michal
Bar-Asher Siegal), and early Islam (Ch. 11, Michael Penn). Other chapters focus
particularly on the early history of the various branches of Syriac-speaking
churches (Ch. 6, Volker Menze; Ch. 7, Dietmar W. Winkler; and Ch. 12, David
Wilmshurst). Rounding out the section are chapters that debunk literary myths
about the origins of Syriac Christianity (Ch. 4, David G. K. Taylor) and an
overview of Syriac monasticism (Ch. 5, Florence Jullien). The topics of these
chapters are diverse and difficult to classify together, but they are likely to
be of intertest to a wide variety of readers as they interact with a number of
other fields.
Part III (“The Syriac Language”), containing four chapters,
provides a more coherent thematic organization by focusing solely on topics
pertaining to Syriac as a language. The first two chapters in this section (Ch.
13, Holger Gzella and Ch. 14, Aaron Michael Butts) both situate Syriac
linguistically with respect to other Semitic languages; the former is broader in
scope, while the latter focuses more on developments within and unique features
of classical Syriac. The following contribution (Ch. 15, Françoise
Briquel-Chatonnet) treats the history of writing systems for Syriac, including
an analysis of both inscriptions and manuscripts. The section concludes with an
essay on Neo-Aramaic dialects and their relationship to early forms of
Syriac/Aramaic (Ch. 16, Geoffrey Khan).
Part IV (“Syriac Literary, Artistic, and Material Culture in Late
Antiquity”), in contrast with the thematic unity of the previous section, is a
wide-ranging collection of essays on various topics. Several of the chapters are
focused on divergent aspects of Syriac literature, such as the Bible (Ch. 17,
Jonathan Loopstra), an overview of early Syriac literature (Ch. 18, Ute
Possekel), poetic writings (Ch. 19, Sebastian Brock), hagiography (Ch. 20,
Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent), and historiography (Ch. 24, Philip Wood).
Two further chapters pertaining to literature explore the contributions of
Syriac to the preservation and development of philosophical (Ch. 25, John W.
Watt) and medical knowledge (Ch. 26, Grigory Kessel). Other thematic chapters
treat topics such as mysticism (Ch. 21, Adrian Pirtea), theological debates (Ch.
22, Theresia Hainthaler), women and children (Ch. 29, Susan Ashbrook Harvey),
and agriculture (Ch. 30, Michael J. Decker). Finally, material culture is
treated in two chapters, focusing on wall paintings (Ch. 27, Emma Loosley) and
church architecture (Ch. 28, Widad Khoury). In addition to these chapters, it
would have been nice if a chapter on Syriac manuscripts as objects of material
culture had been included.
The final section, Part V (“Syriac Christianity Beyond the Ancient
World”) explores different aspects of Syriac history and culture beyond its
ancient contexts. Several chapters are geographically oriented, surveying the
history of Syriac Christianity in Central Asia (Ch. 31, Mark Dickens), China
(Ch. 32, Hidemi Takahashi), India (Ch. 33, István Perczel), and later
developments in the Middle East (Ch. 35, Thomas Carlson). The remaining chapters
are difficult to classify, treating topics as diverse as the medieval
renaissance of Syriac literature (Ch. 34, Dorothea Weltecke and Helen
Younansardaroud), the Maronite tradition (Ch. 36, Shafiq Abouzayd), the early
study of Syriac in Europe (Ch. 37, Robert J. Wilkinson), modern Syriac identity
(Ch. 38, Heleen Murre-van den Berg), and even the most recent political
upheavals affecting Syriac Christians in Iraq (Ch. 39, Erica C. D. Hunter). The
chapters in this section cover topics that have received comparatively less
scholarly attention than the earlier eras of Syriac literature and history, so
they play a much-needed role in introducing Syriac as a significant field of
study beyond Late Antiquity.
These chapters are supplemented by a set of newly produced maps,
arranged diachronically, which were produced by David A. Michelson, as well as a
series of three appendices: 1) a list of patriarchs of the Church of the East;
2) a list of patriarchs and maphrians for the West Syriac tradition, and 3) an
annotated bibliography of online resources for Syriac studies. The volume also
includes dozens of wonderful images and figures that enrich the various
essays.
In short, alongside the Gorgias Encyclopedic
Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, the present volume will immediately
become a standard reference work for nearly any topic in the broad field of
Syriac studies. The chapters contained in this volume are sufficiently broad to
serve as introductions for non-specialists, yet deep enough for experts to gain
further insight on a wide variety of topics. This volume is a ground-breaking
achievement, and the editor and all contributors should be commended for
producing such a valuable contribution to the field of Syriac Studies. Hopefully
this publication will make Syriac more visible as a field of study and serve as
an invitation to study the rich history and literature of the Syriac
tradition.