Mark Dickens
My research concerns the interaction between Syriac Christianity and the inhabitants of Central Eurasia (particularly the Turkic peoples) between the 6th and 14th centuries. Of particular interest is the contrast between the historically multi-religious nature of Central Asia (including animism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Manichaeism and Islam) and the predominantly Christian and Semitic culture of Syriac speakers and writers.
My previous position (Apr. 2008-Sept. 2011) involved the cataloguing of approximately 500 Syriac manuscripts discovered in Turfan, Xinjiang Province, China in the early 20th century and now preserved in the Turfan Collection in Berlin. This is part of a larger project to catalogue some 1100 manuscripts in Syriac, Christian Sogdian and Christian Old Turkic from Turfan (http://www.soas.ac.uk/ceoc/turfan/).
My PhD dissertation (Cambridge, 2008), Turkāyē: Turkic Peoples in Syriac Literature prior to the Seljüks, explored how the Turkic peoples of Central Asia before the Seljük invasion of the Middle East in the 11th century are presented and perceived in published Syriac literature.
I have also written and spoken on such topics as 1) the role of the Syriac Psalter and other biblical and liturgical texts in Central Asia (particularly Turfan); 2) multilingualism and other characteristics of Christianity in medieval Central Asia; 3) Syriac gravestones and other Christian inscriptions discovered in Central Asia and 4) the ecclesiastical organization and structure of Syriac Christianity along the Silk Road.
The interaction between Syriac and Central Asian/Turkic culture can be examined from several angles. On the one hand, Syriac literature provides important insights on Eurasian steppe nomads, including the Turks, which can supplement references found in other literary traditions. On the other hand, Syriac texts and inscriptions from both the Middle East and Central Asia often give unique information on the spread of Christianity into the Turkic world and other parts of Asia.
Important research questions to be considered include:
1) How did Syriac writers view nomadic steppe peoples, including Turkic groups, and how did those perceptions change over time and in different sociopolitical contexts?
2) In their writings on Turkic peoples, to what extent were Syriac writers drawing on other literary traditions, especially Muslim and Byzantine literature, and to what extent were they innovative and even influential on those literatures?
3) What role did Syriac Christianity play in opening up corridors of interaction between the West and the East, including the propagation of Christianity amongst various Turkic tribes in Central Asia?
4) To what extent was the Christian message accommodated to Central Asian/Turkic culture and to what extent was it a decidedly foreign influence?
5) What do Syriac and Syro-Turkic manuscripts and inscriptions from Central Asia reveal about the faith and practice of Turkic peoples who converted to Christianity?
6) How did Central Asian Christians relate to other faith communities (animists, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Manichaeans and Muslims) in Central Asia between the 6th and 14th centuries?
My previous position (Apr. 2008-Sept. 2011) involved the cataloguing of approximately 500 Syriac manuscripts discovered in Turfan, Xinjiang Province, China in the early 20th century and now preserved in the Turfan Collection in Berlin. This is part of a larger project to catalogue some 1100 manuscripts in Syriac, Christian Sogdian and Christian Old Turkic from Turfan (http://www.soas.ac.uk/ceoc/turfan/).
My PhD dissertation (Cambridge, 2008), Turkāyē: Turkic Peoples in Syriac Literature prior to the Seljüks, explored how the Turkic peoples of Central Asia before the Seljük invasion of the Middle East in the 11th century are presented and perceived in published Syriac literature.
I have also written and spoken on such topics as 1) the role of the Syriac Psalter and other biblical and liturgical texts in Central Asia (particularly Turfan); 2) multilingualism and other characteristics of Christianity in medieval Central Asia; 3) Syriac gravestones and other Christian inscriptions discovered in Central Asia and 4) the ecclesiastical organization and structure of Syriac Christianity along the Silk Road.
The interaction between Syriac and Central Asian/Turkic culture can be examined from several angles. On the one hand, Syriac literature provides important insights on Eurasian steppe nomads, including the Turks, which can supplement references found in other literary traditions. On the other hand, Syriac texts and inscriptions from both the Middle East and Central Asia often give unique information on the spread of Christianity into the Turkic world and other parts of Asia.
Important research questions to be considered include:
1) How did Syriac writers view nomadic steppe peoples, including Turkic groups, and how did those perceptions change over time and in different sociopolitical contexts?
2) In their writings on Turkic peoples, to what extent were Syriac writers drawing on other literary traditions, especially Muslim and Byzantine literature, and to what extent were they innovative and even influential on those literatures?
3) What role did Syriac Christianity play in opening up corridors of interaction between the West and the East, including the propagation of Christianity amongst various Turkic tribes in Central Asia?
4) To what extent was the Christian message accommodated to Central Asian/Turkic culture and to what extent was it a decidedly foreign influence?
5) What do Syriac and Syro-Turkic manuscripts and inscriptions from Central Asia reveal about the faith and practice of Turkic peoples who converted to Christianity?
6) How did Central Asian Christians relate to other faith communities (animists, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Manichaeans and Muslims) in Central Asia between the 6th and 14th centuries?
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Academic Lecture Videos by Mark Dickens
The Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho, located in the Turfan oasis just north of the Tarim Basin in what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, was an important regional player in Central Asia, from its establishment after the overthrow of the Uyghur Empire by the Kyrgyz in 840 up until the Mongol era, when Uyghurs played a key role in the Mongol Empire. Although Buddhism and Manichaeism were the two most important religions practiced in the kingdom, there were also a significant number of Christians in Turfan, as evidenced by the nearly 1100 Christian manuscript fragments in Syriac, Sogdian, Uyghur, Pahlavi (Middle Persian) and New Persian which were excavated by the Second and Third Prussian Turfan expeditions (1904-1907) and which are now housed in Berlin. After a brief overview of the Christian texts from Turfan, this talk will take a more in-depth look at some fragments of particular interest. In the process there will no doubt be various codicological rabbit trails to go down…
Articles & Book Chapters by Mark Dickens
статье предложена расшифровка эстампажей с двух кайраков, хранящихся в Омском историко-краеведческом музее,
происходящих с несторианского кладбища у города Пишпек, открытого Н.Н. Пантусовым в 1885 г.
Inner Mongolia, with particular attention to their inscriptions. Text, translation, and a brief commentary are given for each Turkic inscription in Syriac script.
The Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho, located in the Turfan oasis just north of the Tarim Basin in what is now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, was an important regional player in Central Asia, from its establishment after the overthrow of the Uyghur Empire by the Kyrgyz in 840 up until the Mongol era, when Uyghurs played a key role in the Mongol Empire. Although Buddhism and Manichaeism were the two most important religions practiced in the kingdom, there were also a significant number of Christians in Turfan, as evidenced by the nearly 1100 Christian manuscript fragments in Syriac, Sogdian, Uyghur, Pahlavi (Middle Persian) and New Persian which were excavated by the Second and Third Prussian Turfan expeditions (1904-1907) and which are now housed in Berlin. After a brief overview of the Christian texts from Turfan, this talk will take a more in-depth look at some fragments of particular interest. In the process there will no doubt be various codicological rabbit trails to go down…
статье предложена расшифровка эстампажей с двух кайраков, хранящихся в Омском историко-краеведческом музее,
происходящих с несторианского кладбища у города Пишпек, открытого Н.Н. Пантусовым в 1885 г.
Inner Mongolia, with particular attention to their inscriptions. Text, translation, and a brief commentary are given for each Turkic inscription in Syriac script.