- The differences between, importance, and uses of Classical Syriac, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, and Old Galilean. Who used them, where, and what kinds of things were written in each? Out of these languages, what writings were important to the continuity / discussion of Xian theology? Important as early Xian witnesses? To the defense of the Scriptures?
- Syriac theological terms whose uses/meanings have changed over the centuries requiring adjustments in scripture translations. Cases (from scripture or poetry translations) where Syriac words were changed in order to *retain* original theological meanings.
- Vocabulary study: Greek *theological* loan words in Syriac. Why were existing Syriac terms insufficient? Examples of archaic Syriac phrases that were replaced with Greek. Did this happen in scripture translations?
- How Syriac poetic embellishments on the life of Biblical figures (from Jacob Serug, Ephraim, etc) were used to support/defend Scripture and theological/Christological concepts.
Image for banner reproduced by permission from the President and Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge. [Psalm 23 in Syriac. Psalmi Davidis, edited by Thomas van Erpe (Leiden 1625)]
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Ideas for Syriac class topics. If you teach these, I will take your class.
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Revealing, Preserving, and Sharing the Syriac Manuscript Heritage in the Near East and India
Discovering a New World in the Old: Revealing, Preserving, and Sharing the Syriac Manuscript Heritage
in the Near East and India
By
Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB, DPhil, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
On
the occasion of the appearance of the fifteenth volume of the edition
of the Peshitta, the second-century Syriac Bible still used by Syriac
Christians in the Middle East and the Diaspora. This is the first volume
prepared in Amsterdam after the move of the Peshitta Institute from
Leiden.
Since 2003 the
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
(HMML) at Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, has been
partnering with Syriac-tradition communities throughout the Near East
and South India to digitize, catalog, and share their manuscript
heritage. HMML’s work with Syriac manuscripts is part
of a broader effort that began on the eve of the US-led invasion of
Iraq and continued throughout subsequent tragedies, particularly the
rise of Daesh (ISIS) in 2014, when Christians were uprooted from Mosul
and villages throughout the Nineveh plain.
The
result has been the digitization of more than 15,000 Syriac and
Garshuni manuscripts from five countries (India,
Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey) and the Old City of Jerusalem. These
include manuscripts from the Chaldean Catholic, Malankara Orthodox,
Maronite, Syriac Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syro-Malabar Catholic and
Syro-Malankara Catholic traditions. Together these
represent a largely unstudied array of manuscript material
complementing the well-known collections in Europe and North America.
Most of these manuscripts were previously inaccessible to scholars. In
recent years some collections have been moved or hidden
because of war, while others have been destroyed. Complete digital
versions are now coming online through vHMML Reading Room, with more
than 4000 Syriac manuscripts already freely accessible, including scans
of almost 50 manuscripts from the microfilm collection
of the Peshitta Institute.
The
lecture will be followed by short talks on the new Brill Peshitta Portal (Wido van Peursen) and the on the 60th
anniversary of the Peshitta Institute (Bas ter Haar Romeny). After
these, the new volume will be presented to H.E. Mor Polycarpus,
Metropolitan
and Patriarchal Vicar for the Netherlands of the Syriac Orthodox
Church, and Fr. Columba Stewart. The meeting will be concluded by a
drinks reception.
15
October 2019, 3 p.m., room Agora 1 (third floor, main building), Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam
Registration (optional):
bas.ter.haarromeny@vu.nl
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephrem translated into Syriac by Ninos Oshaana
Reposted here for posterity from his Wordpress blog (https://oshaana.wordpress.com/)...
"Every year during Great Lent, Orthodox Christians recite a short yet deeply poignant prayer attributed to Saint Ephrem the Syrian.
Working from the English text, I translated the prayer back into Syriac. Please note that this is only an approximation of how the prayer would be written in Syriac and not the actual text by Saint Ephrem. I have also transliterated the Syriac text to demonstrate the pronunciation."
"Every year during Great Lent, Orthodox Christians recite a short yet deeply poignant prayer attributed to Saint Ephrem the Syrian.
O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother; For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. AmenFriends and colleagues have asked if I know the original Syriac version of this prayer. I’m assuming it exists somewhere although I personally have not seen any references to a Syriac manuscript which contains the prayer in this form. Many of Saint Ephrem’s prayers have similar wording and structure. The attribution to Saint Ephrem is also very old.
Working from the English text, I translated the prayer back into Syriac. Please note that this is only an approximation of how the prayer would be written in Syriac and not the actual text by Saint Ephrem. I have also transliterated the Syriac text to demonstrate the pronunciation."
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Targum: Translation And Transmission
A new 2018-19 series of articles shared on the roots and the prospects that unite Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Traditions to the realm of Jewishness and Hassidism, Compared semantics and exegetical “paysages” by archpriest Alexander A.Winogradsky Frenkel (Patriarchate of Jerusalem). Below the tenth article...
"...Nowadays, the Yemenite Jewish communities are the only ones that systematically read the weekly portions in Hebrew, then in Aramaic in the targum of Onkelos the proselyte and finally in Arabic, i.e. the vernacular tongue. This method of translating/interpreting can lead to complete estrangement, a process that drifts away from the basic meaning of the sacred texts."
"...Nowadays, the Yemenite Jewish communities are the only ones that systematically read the weekly portions in Hebrew, then in Aramaic in the targum of Onkelos the proselyte and finally in Arabic, i.e. the vernacular tongue. This method of translating/interpreting can lead to complete estrangement, a process that drifts away from the basic meaning of the sacred texts."
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Found: Greek fragments of the First Apocalypse of James
Dr. Landau has taken UT Austin's program to a new level. Nice work, sir! (No one in Oklahoma would've supported the development of religious studies to this extent.)
only a small number of texts from the Nag Hammadi library — a collection of 13 Coptic Gnostic books discovered in 1945 in Upper Egypt — have been found in Greek, their original language of composition. But earlier this year, UT Austin religious studies scholars Geoffrey Smith and Brent Landau added to the list with their discovery of several fifth- or sixth-century Greek fragments of the First Apocalypse of James, which was thought to have been preserved only in its Coptic translations until now.
“To say that we were excited once we realized what we’d found is an understatement,” said Smith, an assistant professor of religious studies. “We never suspected that Greek fragments of the First Apocalypse of James survived from antiquity. But there they were, right in front of us.”
The ancient narrative describes the secret teachings of Jesus to his brother James, in which Jesus reveals information about the heavenly realm and future events, including James’ inevitable death.
https://news.utexas.edu/2017/11/29/ut-austin-professors-discover-copy-of-jesus-secret-teaching
http://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2017/11/30/ut-professors-discover-unknown-jesus-gospels
only a small number of texts from the Nag Hammadi library — a collection of 13 Coptic Gnostic books discovered in 1945 in Upper Egypt — have been found in Greek, their original language of composition. But earlier this year, UT Austin religious studies scholars Geoffrey Smith and Brent Landau added to the list with their discovery of several fifth- or sixth-century Greek fragments of the First Apocalypse of James, which was thought to have been preserved only in its Coptic translations until now.
“To say that we were excited once we realized what we’d found is an understatement,” said Smith, an assistant professor of religious studies. “We never suspected that Greek fragments of the First Apocalypse of James survived from antiquity. But there they were, right in front of us.”
The ancient narrative describes the secret teachings of Jesus to his brother James, in which Jesus reveals information about the heavenly realm and future events, including James’ inevitable death.
https://news.utexas.edu/2017/11/29/ut-austin-professors-discover-copy-of-jesus-secret-teaching
http://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2017/11/30/ut-professors-discover-unknown-jesus-gospels
Saturday, May 26, 2018
NEW: The Digital Syriac Corpus
Individual texts may be downloaded to facilitate publishing projects, such as the production of critical editions, and research, such as more advanced corpus linguistic analysis.
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