I am a Senior Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
I received a bachelor's degree in Jewish history and Hebrew from University College, London, and a Master of Studies in Syriac studies from Oxford University. I took my Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Birmingham. I wrote on the figure of the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph in early Syriac literature.
I was born and raised in Suffolk, England. I am married to Vicki-Bronwen, and we live in Provo.
Kristian S. Heal, Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition. Monographs of the Peshitta Ins... more Kristian S. Heal, Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition. Monographs of the Peshitta Institute 20. Leiden: Brill, 2023.
The Syriac reception of the story of Joseph offers an unprecedented glimpse into late antique Syriac literary culture. The story inspired a diverse body of texts, written in prose, narrative poetry, dialogue poetry, and metrical homilies, including the greatest narrative poem written in Syriac. These texts explore and retell the story of Joseph with a combination of exegetical imagination, playful creativity, and a relentless focus on the exemplary virtues of the patriarch. Read through a typological lens, this study shows how the story also became an important locus of Christian-Jewish polemic.
This book offers the first introduction to and translation of this unique homily on the death of ... more This book offers the first introduction to and translation of this unique homily on the death of Aaron.
Kristian S. Heal, Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on Aaron the Priest. Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 71. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2022.
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.
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).
This volume collects material that had its inception in a panel at Oxford University in August, 2... more This volume collects material that had its inception in a panel at Oxford University in August, 2015. The panel’s organizers sought to gather scholars who were interested in thinking about Syriac verse exegesis in a way that engaged each of these terms equally: Syriac (a specific language, literary history, and cultural context), verse (the particular, and, in many ways, privileged form much Syriac literature has taken), and exegesis (the theological, the polemical, and contextual). To this original group of papers, we have added material that reflects more generally on the unique characteristics of Syriac genres, poetics, and overlooked texts. Together, we hope these papers contribute to conversations about the role of Syriac literature in the broader fields of late antique literature and exegesis.
" This volume of essays breaks new ground in the study of the Book of Steps, an important Syri... more " This volume of essays breaks new ground in the study of the Book of Steps, an important Syriac text of the late fourth-century. In brief, the Book of Steps (aka Liber Graduum) is a collection of 30 mēmrē or discourses by an anonymous author, who probably lived inside the Persian Empire in what is present-day Iraq. The work is characterized by its description of a Christian community consisting of two levels or steps: the Upright—married Christians, who work and own property, and who perform most of the active acts of charity within the community and region; and the Perfect—celibates, who pointedly do not work and have neither possessions nor permanent home, who teach, pray unceasingly, and mediate conflicts. Though the author treats a wide range of topics, both theological and practical, the focus of the Book of Steps always returns to the description, encouragement, and sometimes chastisement of the Upright and Perfect.
The seventeen papers that make up this collection deal with a similarly wide range of topics: the historical context of Persian-Roman rivalry and conflict, the relationship and influences of Manichaeism and magic upon the structures and conflicts with the Book of Steps, the metaphorical images of food, the discovery of a previously unknown citation of the Book of Steps in another patristic work, a challenge of the traditional view of the anonymous author, an extensive introduction to the methods of Biblical exegesis, studies of how the author interprets Genesis 1-3 and the understanding of sexuality in the community of the Book of Steps.
"
"This study examines the figure of Joseph and his experiences at home and in Potiphar’s house as ... more "This study examines the figure of Joseph and his experiences at home and in Potiphar’s house as construed in several early Syriac sources. In the first four chapters I introduce the main sources used in the study. In the course of these chapters I identify new Syriac works on Joseph, fill a major lacuna in an influential early work, and provide a fuller textual history and authorship analysis for other Syriac Joseph texts.
The eight chapters which form the heart of this study are based on a thorough inventory of the reception of Genesis 37 and 39 in these sources (a sample of the inventory is included as an appendix). Each chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of how the biblical narrative was absorbed and reworked in the Syriac tradition, and thereby to further demonstrate the value of these largely neglected sources to a study of the pre-modern reception of this narrative. Of no less importance, however, is the contribution these chapters make to our understanding of the interrelationships between the Syriac sources. It is in this respect that this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of Syriac literature per se, in particular to our understanding of Narsai’s literary heritage."
The Bible and the Latter-day Saint Tradition, 2023
Carl W. Griffin and Kristian S. Heal, “Early Christian Biblical Interpretation.” Pages 297–309 in... more Carl W. Griffin and Kristian S. Heal, “Early Christian Biblical Interpretation.” Pages 297–309 in The Bible and the Latter-day Saint Tradition, edited by Taylor G. Petrey, Cory Crawford, and Eric Eliason. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2023.
Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, 2022
Kristian S. Heal, “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis.” Pages 25–61 in ... more Kristian S. Heal, “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis.” Pages 25–61 in Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, edited by Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2022.
Syriac Christian Culture from Beginnings to Renaissance, 2020
“Syriac Studies in the Contemporary Academy: Some Reflections.” Pages 279-286 in Syriac Christian... more “Syriac Studies in the Contemporary Academy: Some Reflections.” Pages 279-286 in Syriac Christian Culture from Beginnings to Renaissance, edited by Aaron Butts and Robin Darling Young. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020.
Kristian S. Heal, “Narsai and the Scriptural Self.” Pages 133-143 in Narsai: Rethinking his Work ... more Kristian S. Heal, “Narsai and the Scriptural Self.” Pages 133-143 in Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World, edited by Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal and Robert A. Kitchen. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
Kristian S. Heal and John R. Manis, “New Sources for the Armenian Commentary on Genesis Attribute... more Kristian S. Heal and John R. Manis, “New Sources for the Armenian Commentary on Genesis Attributed to Ephrem.” Pages 522-32 in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha) edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018.
Studia Patristica. Vol. LXXVIII - Papers presented at the Seventeenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2015: Volume 4: Literature, Rhetoric, and Exegesis in Syriac Verse., 2017
Aaron Butts, Kristian Heal, Geoffrey Moseley, and Joseph Witztum, “Notes on the History of Joseph... more Aaron Butts, Kristian Heal, Geoffrey Moseley, and Joseph Witztum, “Notes on the History of Joseph (CAVT 113, 114) and the Death of Joseph (CAVT 116, 117),” Apocrypha 28 (2017): 233-237.
This essay seeks to demonstrate how the well-made catalogue can contribute to our understanding o... more This essay seeks to demonstrate how the well-made catalogue can contribute to our understanding of the poetics of Syriac manuscript cultures. The recent catalogue of Syriac manuscripts and fragments from the library of Deir al-Surian by Sebastian Brock and Lucas Van Rompay is used as a case study. In aggregating the diverse data points found in the catalogue's thick descriptions a nuanced portrait of the creative dynamics of manuscript cultures emerges. In the process of this study Brock and Van Rompay's catalogue is shown to be a rich repository of cultural information, and a magnificent contribution to our understanding of the Syriac library of Deir al-Surian. An appendix provides a topical bibliography of the monastery and Syriac manuscripts of Deir al-Surian.
“Notes on the Acquisition History of the Mingana Syriac Manuscripts.” Pages 11-38 in Manuscripta ... more “Notes on the Acquisition History of the Mingana Syriac Manuscripts.” Pages 11-38 in Manuscripta Syriaca. Des sources de première main (Cahiers d'études syriaques 4) edited by Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet and Muriel Debié. Paris: Geuthner, Société d'études syriaques, 2015.
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Volume 1, Nov 2013
The Syriac History of Joseph is a dramatic prose retelling of the story of the Old Testament patr... more The Syriac History of Joseph is a dramatic prose retelling of the story of the Old Testament patriarch Joseph, beginning with his dreams and ending with his death (Gen. 37, 39–47, 50), but omitting Jacob’s blessing upon both Joseph’s and his own children (Gen. 48–49). The narrative is rich in expansions, many of which contain Jewish elements. The work is attributed to Basil of Caesarea in each of its five known manuscript witnesses (CPG 2987). This attribution is certainly spurious. However, the work is no less important for not coming from the pen of the famous Cappadocian since it embodies an influential and early stratum of the significant corpus of Syriac Joseph texts.
Kristian S. Heal, Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition. Monographs of the Peshitta Ins... more Kristian S. Heal, Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition. Monographs of the Peshitta Institute 20. Leiden: Brill, 2023.
The Syriac reception of the story of Joseph offers an unprecedented glimpse into late antique Syriac literary culture. The story inspired a diverse body of texts, written in prose, narrative poetry, dialogue poetry, and metrical homilies, including the greatest narrative poem written in Syriac. These texts explore and retell the story of Joseph with a combination of exegetical imagination, playful creativity, and a relentless focus on the exemplary virtues of the patriarch. Read through a typological lens, this study shows how the story also became an important locus of Christian-Jewish polemic.
This book offers the first introduction to and translation of this unique homily on the death of ... more This book offers the first introduction to and translation of this unique homily on the death of Aaron.
Kristian S. Heal, Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on Aaron the Priest. Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 71. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2022.
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.
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).
This volume collects material that had its inception in a panel at Oxford University in August, 2... more This volume collects material that had its inception in a panel at Oxford University in August, 2015. The panel’s organizers sought to gather scholars who were interested in thinking about Syriac verse exegesis in a way that engaged each of these terms equally: Syriac (a specific language, literary history, and cultural context), verse (the particular, and, in many ways, privileged form much Syriac literature has taken), and exegesis (the theological, the polemical, and contextual). To this original group of papers, we have added material that reflects more generally on the unique characteristics of Syriac genres, poetics, and overlooked texts. Together, we hope these papers contribute to conversations about the role of Syriac literature in the broader fields of late antique literature and exegesis.
" This volume of essays breaks new ground in the study of the Book of Steps, an important Syri... more " This volume of essays breaks new ground in the study of the Book of Steps, an important Syriac text of the late fourth-century. In brief, the Book of Steps (aka Liber Graduum) is a collection of 30 mēmrē or discourses by an anonymous author, who probably lived inside the Persian Empire in what is present-day Iraq. The work is characterized by its description of a Christian community consisting of two levels or steps: the Upright—married Christians, who work and own property, and who perform most of the active acts of charity within the community and region; and the Perfect—celibates, who pointedly do not work and have neither possessions nor permanent home, who teach, pray unceasingly, and mediate conflicts. Though the author treats a wide range of topics, both theological and practical, the focus of the Book of Steps always returns to the description, encouragement, and sometimes chastisement of the Upright and Perfect.
The seventeen papers that make up this collection deal with a similarly wide range of topics: the historical context of Persian-Roman rivalry and conflict, the relationship and influences of Manichaeism and magic upon the structures and conflicts with the Book of Steps, the metaphorical images of food, the discovery of a previously unknown citation of the Book of Steps in another patristic work, a challenge of the traditional view of the anonymous author, an extensive introduction to the methods of Biblical exegesis, studies of how the author interprets Genesis 1-3 and the understanding of sexuality in the community of the Book of Steps.
"
"This study examines the figure of Joseph and his experiences at home and in Potiphar’s house as ... more "This study examines the figure of Joseph and his experiences at home and in Potiphar’s house as construed in several early Syriac sources. In the first four chapters I introduce the main sources used in the study. In the course of these chapters I identify new Syriac works on Joseph, fill a major lacuna in an influential early work, and provide a fuller textual history and authorship analysis for other Syriac Joseph texts.
The eight chapters which form the heart of this study are based on a thorough inventory of the reception of Genesis 37 and 39 in these sources (a sample of the inventory is included as an appendix). Each chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of how the biblical narrative was absorbed and reworked in the Syriac tradition, and thereby to further demonstrate the value of these largely neglected sources to a study of the pre-modern reception of this narrative. Of no less importance, however, is the contribution these chapters make to our understanding of the interrelationships between the Syriac sources. It is in this respect that this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of Syriac literature per se, in particular to our understanding of Narsai’s literary heritage."
The Bible and the Latter-day Saint Tradition, 2023
Carl W. Griffin and Kristian S. Heal, “Early Christian Biblical Interpretation.” Pages 297–309 in... more Carl W. Griffin and Kristian S. Heal, “Early Christian Biblical Interpretation.” Pages 297–309 in The Bible and the Latter-day Saint Tradition, edited by Taylor G. Petrey, Cory Crawford, and Eric Eliason. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2023.
Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, 2022
Kristian S. Heal, “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis.” Pages 25–61 in ... more Kristian S. Heal, “Preaching Christ: Scripture, Sermons, and Practical Exegesis.” Pages 25–61 in Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, edited by Jason R. Combs, Mark D. Ellison, Catherine Gines Taylor, and Kristian S. Heal. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2022.
Syriac Christian Culture from Beginnings to Renaissance, 2020
“Syriac Studies in the Contemporary Academy: Some Reflections.” Pages 279-286 in Syriac Christian... more “Syriac Studies in the Contemporary Academy: Some Reflections.” Pages 279-286 in Syriac Christian Culture from Beginnings to Renaissance, edited by Aaron Butts and Robin Darling Young. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2020.
Kristian S. Heal, “Narsai and the Scriptural Self.” Pages 133-143 in Narsai: Rethinking his Work ... more Kristian S. Heal, “Narsai and the Scriptural Self.” Pages 133-143 in Narsai: Rethinking his Work and his World, edited by Aaron M. Butts, Kristian S. Heal and Robert A. Kitchen. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
Kristian S. Heal and John R. Manis, “New Sources for the Armenian Commentary on Genesis Attribute... more Kristian S. Heal and John R. Manis, “New Sources for the Armenian Commentary on Genesis Attributed to Ephrem.” Pages 522-32 in The Embroidered Bible: Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E. Stone (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha) edited by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Matthias Henze, and William Adler. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018.
Studia Patristica. Vol. LXXVIII - Papers presented at the Seventeenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2015: Volume 4: Literature, Rhetoric, and Exegesis in Syriac Verse., 2017
Aaron Butts, Kristian Heal, Geoffrey Moseley, and Joseph Witztum, “Notes on the History of Joseph... more Aaron Butts, Kristian Heal, Geoffrey Moseley, and Joseph Witztum, “Notes on the History of Joseph (CAVT 113, 114) and the Death of Joseph (CAVT 116, 117),” Apocrypha 28 (2017): 233-237.
This essay seeks to demonstrate how the well-made catalogue can contribute to our understanding o... more This essay seeks to demonstrate how the well-made catalogue can contribute to our understanding of the poetics of Syriac manuscript cultures. The recent catalogue of Syriac manuscripts and fragments from the library of Deir al-Surian by Sebastian Brock and Lucas Van Rompay is used as a case study. In aggregating the diverse data points found in the catalogue's thick descriptions a nuanced portrait of the creative dynamics of manuscript cultures emerges. In the process of this study Brock and Van Rompay's catalogue is shown to be a rich repository of cultural information, and a magnificent contribution to our understanding of the Syriac library of Deir al-Surian. An appendix provides a topical bibliography of the monastery and Syriac manuscripts of Deir al-Surian.
“Notes on the Acquisition History of the Mingana Syriac Manuscripts.” Pages 11-38 in Manuscripta ... more “Notes on the Acquisition History of the Mingana Syriac Manuscripts.” Pages 11-38 in Manuscripta Syriaca. Des sources de première main (Cahiers d'études syriaques 4) edited by Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet and Muriel Debié. Paris: Geuthner, Société d'études syriaques, 2015.
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Volume 1, Nov 2013
The Syriac History of Joseph is a dramatic prose retelling of the story of the Old Testament patr... more The Syriac History of Joseph is a dramatic prose retelling of the story of the Old Testament patriarch Joseph, beginning with his dreams and ending with his death (Gen. 37, 39–47, 50), but omitting Jacob’s blessing upon both Joseph’s and his own children (Gen. 48–49). The narrative is rich in expansions, many of which contain Jewish elements. The work is attributed to Basil of Caesarea in each of its five known manuscript witnesses (CPG 2987). This attribution is certainly spurious. However, the work is no less important for not coming from the pen of the famous Cappadocian since it embodies an influential and early stratum of the significant corpus of Syriac Joseph texts.
A draft transcription of the diary and letters of J. Rendel Harris and Helen Harris recording the... more A draft transcription of the diary and letters of J. Rendel Harris and Helen Harris recording their travels to Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine between September 1888 and May 1889. This transcription was produced as part of a mentored research project. Details of the trip and of the lives of Rendel and Helen Harris can now be found in Alessandro Falcetta, The Daily Discoveries of a Bible Scholar and Manuscript Hunter: A Biography of James Rendel Harris (1852-1941). London: T&T Clark, 2018, esp. chapter 7.
Baumstark's History of Syriac Literature (Part 1), 2024
This is a draft translation of the first part of Anton Baumstark‘s Geschichte Der Syrischen Liter... more This is a draft translation of the first part of Anton Baumstark‘s Geschichte Der Syrischen Literatur, Mit Ausschluss Der Christlich-Palästinensischen Texte (Bonn: A. Marcus und E. Weber, 1922). The translation was made by staff of Brigham Young University’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts as part of an unfinished project on the history of Syriac literature. The page numbers of the German original are given in square brackets. Titles have been added to the section numbers. Baumstark’s copius annotations have been omitted.
This is an English translation of Ignatius Ortiz de Urbina, Patrologia Syriaca. (Altera editio em... more This is an English translation of Ignatius Ortiz de Urbina, Patrologia Syriaca. (Altera editio emendata et aucta. Romae: Pont. Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 1965), translated by Kees den Biesen and edited by Kristian Heal. This translation was commissioned by Brigham Young University’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) in 2008 as part of an unfinished project to produce a new history of Syriac literature. The need for an English translation of Patrologia Syriaca has now largely been met by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron Michael Butts, George A. Kiraz, and Lucas Van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2011). The latest draft of the translation is made available here for any interested readers. The translation does not include any bibliographical data from the original.
This is a handlist of the Brigham Young University Oriental Christian Microfilm Project Directed ... more This is a handlist of the Brigham Young University Oriental Christian Microfilm Project Directed by Prof. S. Kent Brown, and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The handlist is based on the preliminary catalogues prepared by Dr. William F. Macomber. The collection includes manuscripts from CCP - Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, Cairo the Coptic Museum, Old Cairo; the Ecole Biblique, Jerusalem; Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Jerusalem; Greek Catholic Patriarchate, Cairo; St. Anne's Convent, Jerusalem; St. James Monastery, Jerusalem; St. Mark's convent, Jerusalem; and St. Saviour's Monastary, Jerusalem.
This index of proper names found in the works of Ephrem the Syrian was compiled as a personal vad... more This index of proper names found in the works of Ephrem the Syrian was compiled as a personal vademecum from the published editions and translations. Please send any corrections or suggestion to me at kristian_heal@byu.edu.
This index of scripture citations was compiled as a personal vademecum from the published edition... more This index of scripture citations was compiled as a personal vademecum from the published editions and translations of the the works of Ephrem. For the sake of comparison, I have also included scripture citations in Aphrahat and the Book of Steps. Please send any corrections or suggestion to me at kristian_heal@byu.edu.
The desirability of an electronic corpus of Syriac texts has long been recognized (most recently ... more The desirability of an electronic corpus of Syriac texts has long been recognized (most recently in Lucas Van Rompay's January 2007 Hugoye article). Several localized and limited steps have been made in this direction, most significantly with the Peshitta, and as part of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon project. However, no coordinated and large scale effort has yet been attempted. Since 2001 BYU has been working towards creating a comprehensive electronic corpus of Syriac texts. In 2004 we were joined in this effort by Dr. David G.K. Taylor (University of Oxford). Working from both printed editions and manuscripts this project aims to systematically acquire accurate electronic copies of all of Syriac literature.
"The Vatican Apostolic Library is the world’s richest and most important ancient manuscript repos... more "The Vatican Apostolic Library is the world’s richest and most important ancient manuscript repository. With about 65,000 individual codices, the Library’s manuscript holdings far exceed those of any of the great national libraries in Europe or
elsewhere. Among these are over 1,000 Syriac manuscripts, including 170 formerly at the Borgia Museum. This DVD makes available for the first time electronic facsimiles of thirty-three manuscripts from this important collection.
This project was initiated by Mar Bawai Soro, a bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, in an effort to not only make these manuscripts more accessible to scholars but also to the members of the numerous Syriac Christian communities. Included on this DVD are the results of the first phase of the project undertaken jointly by Brigham Young University and the Vatican Apostolic Library. Thirty three manuscripts where selected for this purpose and are all included on this DVD in an accessible and usable form. "
The Syriac Studies Reference Library is a collection of rare and out-of-print titles that are of ... more The Syriac Studies Reference Library is a collection of rare and out-of-print titles that are of vital importance for Syriac studies. It is especially rich in early manuscript catalogs, dictionaries, and grammars, and contains many of the indispensable editions of Syriac texts that were produced in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. This collection was scanned from the holdings of the Semitics/ICOR Library of The Catholic University of America.
The Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem sits on the traditional site of the house ... more The Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem sits on the traditional site of the house of St. Mark the evangelist (cf. Acts 12:12). It is the seat of the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem. Ignatius III lived there as Bishop in 1471, which is the earliest dated evidence for the monastery. The monastery houses a substantial collection of manuscripts (289 volumes are included in Dolabani’s catalogue). Thirty one of these manuscripts were microfilmed in 1987/88 as part of an NEH funded project under the direction of Professor S. Kent Brown. A preliminary catalogue was prepared by William Macomber in 1990.
As I see it, the pleasure of working with manuscripts derives primarily from five areas: 1. A con... more As I see it, the pleasure of working with manuscripts derives primarily from five areas: 1. A connection with the past; 2. Codicology and Cataloging; 3. Encountering ancient texts within the context of manuscript culture; 4. The discovery of new texts; and 5. Tracing the modern history of the manuscript.
The BYU-Oxford Syriac Electronic Corpus is conceived as an essential component in the digital inf... more The BYU-Oxford Syriac Electronic Corpus is conceived as an essential component in the digital infrastructure for the field of Syriac Studies. This paper will present some of the first fruits of this project and illustrate how this electronic corpus will impact the study of Syriac literature. Specifically, the paper will illustrate how the Syriac Electronic Corpus can impact 1. Syriac Manuscript Studies; 2. Text Critical Studies; and 3. Literary Studies.
All lexicography is corpus based. However, contemporary lexicographers have the advantage of depl... more All lexicography is corpus based. However, contemporary lexicographers have the advantage of deploying sophisticated annotated digital corpora in their research, and in the production of new lexica. Nevertheless, little consideration has been given to the potential benefits of basing the ISLP’s proposed Comprehensive Syriac-English Lexicon on an annotated digital corpus of Syriac texts. This paper will address this question, with examples drawn from the BYU-Oxford Syriac Electronic Corpus.
This paper is intended as an historical introduction to the grand collections of Syriac manuscrip... more This paper is intended as an historical introduction to the grand collections of Syriac manuscripts in Europe and North America. It serves as both an orientation to the various collections, and a survey of the major periods of western acquisition of Syriac manuscripts. Appropriate attention is given to manuscripts related to biblical studies, and to the practical issue of getting access to manuscripts in various collections.
Of the several Syriac texts that treat the story of the Magi, most have received recent and compe... more Of the several Syriac texts that treat the story of the Magi, most have received recent and competent analysis. No such attention has been given, however, to an unpublished verse sermon on the Magi attributed, in a sixth century manuscript, to one of the illusive Syriac homilists called Isaac. This homily extends to over 800 seven-syllable lines, and recounts the story of the Magi from their commission as official emissaries to the new King of Judah, to their reluctant return home. This paper will focus on the rhetorical strategies used to establish a viable, peremptory connection between the person of Jesus and the Persian Empire.
Literary influence in classical Syriac literature may be seen at work in the delicate absorption ... more Literary influence in classical Syriac literature may be seen at work in the delicate absorption of Ephrem in the works of Jacob of Sarug and the Julian Romance. However, many authors were not as sensitive in the handling of their sources, preferring instead to encapsulate, extract, abridge, or otherwise appropriate texts and passages as their own, or for their own purposes. In some cases new texts would be made from old simply by rewriting them—occasionally transforming prose into verse, or rewriting a memra found in one metre in another. This paper examines several examples of this later type of “influence,” including some drawn from the varied corpus of Syriac texts treating the Old Testament patriarch Joseph. These particular examples are placed within the context of the broader phenomenon of rewriting and appropriation in early Syriac literature, with a view to extending the discussion of literary influence in this particular tradition.
In 2007, Lucas van Rompay called for the creation of a comprehensive corpus of Syriac literature ... more In 2007, Lucas van Rompay called for the creation of a comprehensive corpus of Syriac literature (Hugoye 10.1). This paper discusses three substantial contributions that such a corpus can make to the field of Syriac studies, and reports on the progress to date of the joint Oxford-Brigham Young University Syriac Corpus project. [1] Building a comprehensive Syriac corpus will inevitably involve the preparation of minor editions of important texts from authors whose works have up until now been entirely consigned to manuscripts. These in turn prepare the way for critical editions of those works. [2] A comprehensive digital corpus also revolutionizes the dictionary. By mining corpora for comprehensive word lists, a gap-free dictionary becomes possible. Furthermore, a digital dictionary allows both simplified human access and serves as a resource for further linguistic study of the Syriac lexicon. [3] An important aspect of the proposed corpus is the annotation of maximally disambiguated morphological analyses. Such annotations further enable the construction of careful digital concordances. The ability to simultaneously search across a multitude of digital concordances will advance both the synchronic and diachronic study of the Syriac language, as well as contributing to a variety of other aspects of Syriac studies.
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The Syriac reception of the story of Joseph offers an unprecedented glimpse into late antique Syriac literary culture. The story inspired a diverse body of texts, written in prose, narrative poetry, dialogue poetry, and metrical homilies, including the greatest narrative poem written in Syriac. These texts explore and retell the story of Joseph with a combination of exegetical imagination, playful creativity, and a relentless focus on the exemplary virtues of the patriarch. Read through a typological lens, this study shows how the story also became an important locus of Christian-Jewish polemic.
Kristian S. Heal, Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on Aaron the Priest. Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 71. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2022.
https://www.gorgiaspress.com/jacob-of-sarugs-homily-on-aaron-the-priest
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, 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).
The seventeen papers that make up this collection deal with a similarly wide range of topics: the historical context of Persian-Roman rivalry and conflict, the relationship and influences of Manichaeism and magic upon the structures and conflicts with the Book of Steps, the metaphorical images of food, the discovery of a previously unknown citation of the Book of Steps in another patristic work, a challenge of the traditional view of the anonymous author, an extensive introduction to the methods of Biblical exegesis, studies of how the author interprets Genesis 1-3 and the understanding of sexuality in the community of the Book of Steps.
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The eight chapters which form the heart of this study are based on a thorough inventory of the reception of Genesis 37 and 39 in these sources (a sample of the inventory is included as an appendix). Each chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of how the biblical narrative was absorbed and reworked in the Syriac tradition, and thereby to further demonstrate the value of these largely neglected sources to a study of the pre-modern reception of this narrative. Of no less importance, however, is the contribution these chapters make to our understanding of the interrelationships between the Syriac sources. It is in this respect that this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of Syriac literature per se, in particular to our understanding of Narsai’s literary heritage."
The Syriac reception of the story of Joseph offers an unprecedented glimpse into late antique Syriac literary culture. The story inspired a diverse body of texts, written in prose, narrative poetry, dialogue poetry, and metrical homilies, including the greatest narrative poem written in Syriac. These texts explore and retell the story of Joseph with a combination of exegetical imagination, playful creativity, and a relentless focus on the exemplary virtues of the patriarch. Read through a typological lens, this study shows how the story also became an important locus of Christian-Jewish polemic.
Kristian S. Heal, Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on Aaron the Priest. Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 71. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2022.
https://www.gorgiaspress.com/jacob-of-sarugs-homily-on-aaron-the-priest
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, 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).
The seventeen papers that make up this collection deal with a similarly wide range of topics: the historical context of Persian-Roman rivalry and conflict, the relationship and influences of Manichaeism and magic upon the structures and conflicts with the Book of Steps, the metaphorical images of food, the discovery of a previously unknown citation of the Book of Steps in another patristic work, a challenge of the traditional view of the anonymous author, an extensive introduction to the methods of Biblical exegesis, studies of how the author interprets Genesis 1-3 and the understanding of sexuality in the community of the Book of Steps.
"
The eight chapters which form the heart of this study are based on a thorough inventory of the reception of Genesis 37 and 39 in these sources (a sample of the inventory is included as an appendix). Each chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of how the biblical narrative was absorbed and reworked in the Syriac tradition, and thereby to further demonstrate the value of these largely neglected sources to a study of the pre-modern reception of this narrative. Of no less importance, however, is the contribution these chapters make to our understanding of the interrelationships between the Syriac sources. It is in this respect that this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of Syriac literature per se, in particular to our understanding of Narsai’s literary heritage."
elsewhere. Among these are over 1,000 Syriac manuscripts, including 170 formerly at the Borgia Museum. This DVD makes available for the first time electronic facsimiles of thirty-three manuscripts from this important collection.
This project was initiated by Mar Bawai Soro, a bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, in an effort to not only make these manuscripts more accessible to scholars but also to the members of the numerous Syriac Christian communities. Included on this DVD are the results of the first phase of the project undertaken jointly by Brigham Young University and the Vatican Apostolic Library. Thirty three manuscripts where selected for this purpose and are all included on this DVD in an accessible and usable form. "