The Syriac world / / edited by Daniel King.

• Superior document: The Routledge Worlds
• Author: Kessel, Grigory
• TeilnehmendeR: King, Daniel, 1977-
• Place / Publishing House: New York : : Routledge,, 2018.
• Year of Publication: 2019; 2018
• Language: English
• Series: Routledge worlds.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (895 pages).

This volume surveys the 'Syriac world', the culture that grew up among the Syriac-speaking communities from the second century CE and which continues to exist and flourish today, both in its original homeland of Syria and Mesopotamia, and in the worldwide diaspora of Syriac-speaking communities. The five sections examine the religion; the material, visual, and literary cultures; the history and social structures of this diverse community; and Syriac interactions with their neighbours ancient and modern. There are also detailed appendices detailing the patriarchs of the different Syriac denominations, and another appendix listing useful online resources for students. The Syriac World offers the first complete survey of Syriac culture and fills a significant gap in modern scholarship. This volume will be an invaluable resource to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Syriac and Middle Eastern culture from antiquity to the modern era.

Table of Contents

Cover; Half Title; Series Page; Title; Copyright; Dedication; CONTENTS; List of figures; List of contributors; Abbreviations; Diachronic maps of Syriac cultures and their geographic contexts; Introduction; PART I: BACKGROUNDS; 1 The eastern provinces of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity; 2 The Sasanian Empire; PART II: THE SYRIAC WORLD IN LATE ANTIQUITY; 3 The pre-Christian religions of the Syriac-speaking regions; 4 The coming of Christianity to Mesopotamia; 5 Forms of the religious life and Syriac monasticism; 6 The establishment of the Syriac Churches

7 The Syriac Church denominations: an overview8 The Syriac world in the Persian Empire; 9 Judaism and Syriac Christianity; 10 Syriac and Syrians in the later Roman Empire: questions of identity; 11 Early Syriac reactions to the rise of Islam; 12 The Church of the East in the ?Abbasid Era; PART III: THE SYRIAC LANGUAGE; 13 The Syriac language in the context of the Semitic languages; 14 The Classical Syriac language; 15 Writing Syriac: manuscripts and inscriptions; 16 The Neo-Aramaic dialects and their historical background

PART IV: SYRIAC LITERARY, ARTISTIC, AND MATERIAL CULTURE IN LATE ANTIQUITY17 The Syriac Bible and its interpretation; 18 The emergence of Syriac literature to AD 400; 19 Later Syriac poetry; 20 Syriac hagiographic literature; 21 The mysticism of the Church of the East; 22 Theological doctrines and debates within Syriac Christianity; 23 The liturgies of the Syriac Churches; 24 Historiography in the Syriac-speaking world, 300-1000; 25 Syriac philosophy; 26 Syriac medicine; 27 The material culture of the Syrian peoples in Late Antiquity and the evidence for Syrian wall paintings

28 Churches in Syriac space: architectural and liturgical context and development29 Women and children in Syriac Christianity: sounding voices; 30 Syriac agriculture 350-1250; PART V: SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY BEYOND THE ANCIENT WORLD; 31 Syriac Christianity in Central Asia; 32 Syriac Christianity in China; 33 Syriac Christianity in India; 34 The renaissance of Syriac literature in the twelfth-thirteenth centuries; 35 Syriac in a diverse Middle East: from the Mongol Ilkhanate to Ottoman dominance, 1286-1517; 36 The Maronite Church; 37 The early study of Syriac in Europe

38 Syriac identity in the modern era39 Changing demography: Christians in Iraq since 1991; Appendices; I The patriarchs of the Church of the East; II West Syrian patriarchs and maphrians; III Online resources for the study of the Syriac world; Index of Maps; Subject Index