A Sureth (Christian NorthEastern Neo-Aramaic) version of an East-Syriac hymn on Simon Magus and Simon Peter in Rome and its late Classical Syriac Vorlage are here published for the first time. The text is part of a small group of hymns on... more
A Sureth (Christian NorthEastern Neo-Aramaic) version of an East-Syriac hymn on Simon Magus and Simon Peter in Rome and its late Classical Syriac Vorlage are here published for the first time. The text is part of a small group of hymns on Peter and Rome that belong to the East Syriac liturgy for the commemoration of Saints Peter and Paul. The episode of the public contest and specific narrative details derive from the Syriac History of Simon Cephas, the Chief of the Apostles. These narrative and poetic texts on Peter have their ultimate roots in literary works, such as the Acts of Peter and the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions, that circulated in various languages from Antiquity onwards and contributed to the genuine lore of Christian culture, in Europe as well as in Africa and the Near East. More or less consciously adopting a rather narrow-minded, confessional point of view, we are used to labelling as apocryphal this kind of foundational Christian literature. An attempt is made to contextualize the two versions of the hymn and their text transmission in the histories of Classical Syriac and Sureth literatures.
The text and translation of the selected letters presented here (twenty-one in all) forms part of a hitherto unpublished corpus of letters in Syriac, Neo-Aramaic and Arabic written and sent during the 1880’s from Mosul to Berlin by... more
The text and translation of the selected letters presented here (twenty-one in all) forms part of a hitherto unpublished corpus of letters in Syriac, Neo-Aramaic and Arabic written and sent during the 1880’s from Mosul to Berlin by Gabriel Jeremiah Shāmīr to Carl Eduard Sachau. The former was a local Assyrian book-collector and copyist whilst the latter was a renowned Orientalist and prolific scholar who edited and translated many Syriac and Arabic works.
In the present paper, a Sureth version is published of the dialogue poem of Mary and the Gardener. As a first attempt to reconstruct the history of this text, the poetic version in the vernacular is compared with five manuscript witnesses... more
In the present paper, a Sureth version is published of the dialogue poem of Mary and the Gardener. As a first attempt to reconstruct the history of this text, the poetic version in the vernacular is compared with five manuscript witnesses of the Classical Syriac original. The poem is presented as part of an intertextual web of Classical Syriac hymns for Easter and Pentecost that are preserved in late liturgical collections and appear to be narrative and rhetorical expansions of John 20:11-17. Formal and thematic parallels to the poem are then found in the broader framework of Christian and Jewish hymnography written in varieties of Late Aramaic.
"The enormous success of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ has revived interest in the Aramaic language. It is now recognized throughout the world as the language spoken by Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Also called Assyrian or... more
"The enormous success of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ has revived interest in the Aramaic language. It is now recognized throughout the world as the language spoken by Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Also called Assyrian or Syriac, it is very much a living language that is spoken today by the Assyrian peoples in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. it is also heard in Assyrian emigre communities such as those in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
Modern Aramaic is made up of a number of dialects. The two major ones are Swadaya (Eastern) and Turoyo (Western). This unique dictionary and phrasebook incorporates both dialects in a way that illustrates the differences and gives the reader a complete understanding of both. The dialects are presented in an easy-to-read romanized form that will help the reader be understood."
Through Nicholas Al-Jeloo's exhibition, the general Fairfield community is able to witness the immense pride of the Assyrian people and the celebration of Persistence & Existence. The Assyrians are a key community in Fairfield. This... more
Through Nicholas Al-Jeloo's exhibition, the general Fairfield community is able to witness the immense pride of the Assyrian people and the celebration of Persistence & Existence. The Assyrians are a key community in Fairfield. This exhibition showcases how the contemporary life of the Assyrian people is deeply rooted in the past and traditions of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria.
