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Syriac Literature
Syriac literature is literature in the Syriac language. It is a tradition going back to the Late Antiquity. It is strongly associated with Syriac Christianity. Terminology In modern Syriac studies, and also within the wider field of Aramaic studies, the term ''Syriac literature'' is most commonly used as a shortened designation for ''Classical Syriac literature'', that is written in Classical Syriac language, an old literary and liturgical language of Syriac Christianity. It is sometimes also used as a designation for ''Modern Syriac literature'' or ''Neo-Syriac literature'', written in Modern Syriac ( Eastern Neo-Aramaic) languages. In the wider sense, the term is often used as designation for both ''Classical Syriac'' and ''Modern Syriac'' literature, but its historical scope is even wider, since Syrian/Syriac labels were originally used by ancient Greeks as designations for Aramaic language in general, including literature written in all variants of that language. Such plura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Estrangela
The Syriac alphabet ( ) is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language since the 1st century. It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the Palmyrene alphabet, and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic and Sogdian, the precursor and a direct ancestor of the traditional Mongolian scripts. Syriac is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a cursive script where most—but not all—letters connect within a word. There is no letter case distinction between upper and lower case letters, though some letters change their form depending on their position within a word. Spaces separate individual words. All 22 letters are consonants (called , ). There are optional diacritic marks (called , ) to indicate the vowel (, ) and other features. In addition to the sounds of the language, the letters of the Syriac alphabet can be used to represent numbers in a system similar to Hebrew and Greek numerals. Ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Golden Race of humanity ( ''chrýseon génos'') lived. After the end of the first age was the Silver age, Silver, then the Bronze Age (mythology), Bronze, after this the Greek Heroic Age, Heroic age, with the fifth and current age being Iron Age (mythology), Iron. By extension, "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, ecological stability, stability, and prosperity. During this age, peace and harmony prevailed in that people did not have to work to feed themselves for the earth provided food in abundance. They lived to a very old age with a youthful appearance, eventually dying peacefully, with spirits living on as "guardians". Plato in ''Cratylus (dialogue), Cratylus'' (397 e) recounts the golden race of humans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Severus Of Antioch
Severus of Antioch (; ), also known as Severus of Gaza, or the Crown of Syrians (; ), was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 512 until his death in 538. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 8 February. Biography Early life and education Severus was born in the city of Sozopolis in Pisidia in 459,Barsoum (2003), p. 92 or , into an affluent Christian family, however, later Miaphysite sources would assert that his parents were pagan.Witakowski (2004), pp. 115–116 His father was a senator in the city,Chapman (1911) and his paternal grandfather, also named Severus,''St. Severus of Antioch'' Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was the Bishop of Sozopolis and had attended the |
Jacob Of Edessa
Jacob of Edessa (or James of Edessa) () (c. 640 – 5 June 708) was Bishop of Edessa and prominent Syriac Christian writer in Classical Syriac language, also known as one of earliest Syriac grammarians. In various works, he treated theological, liturgical, canonical, philosophical and historical subjects, and contributed significantly to scholarly and literary development of Syriac Christianity. He is considered to be one of the most important scholars of the Christian-Aramean tradition. Life Jacob of Edessa was born in Aindaba (Arabic: عيندابا) at 50 km west of Aleppo, around 640. He studied at the famous monastery of Qenneshre (on the left bank of the Euphrates) and later at Alexandria. On his return from Alexandria he became a monk at Edessa, where he was known for his learning. Ordained a priest in 672, he was appointed metropolitan of Edessa by his friend Athanasius II, Patriarch of Antioch. He held this office for three or four years, but the clergy opp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Of Nineveh
Isḥaq of Nineveh (; Arabic: إسحاق النينوي ''Ishaq an-Naynuwī''; – c. 700), also remembered as Saint Isaac the Syrian (), Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, Isaac Syrus and Isaac of Qatar, was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop of the Church of the East, and theologian best remembered for his written works on Christian asceticism. He is regarded as a saint in the Church of the East, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. His feast day falls, together with 4th-century theologian and hymnographer St. Ephrem the Syrian, on January 28. Life He was born in the region of Beth Qatraye in Eastern Arabia, a mixed Syriac- and Arabic-speaking region encompassing the south east of Mesopotamia and the north-eastern Arabian Peninsula. When the Catholicos Giwargis I of the Church of the East (661–680), visited Beth Qatraye in 676 to attend a synod, he ordained Isaac bishop of Nineveh far to the north in Assyria. The administrative duties did not suit his retiring ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Babai The Great
Babai the Great ( , c. 551 – 628) was an early Assyrian people, Assyrian church father of the Church of the East. He set several of the foundational pillars of the Church, revived the monastic movement, and formulated its Christology in a systematic way. He served as a monastic visitor and coadjutor with Aba I, Mar Aba as unofficial heads of the Church of the East (formerly falsely referred to as "Nestorian Church") after Gregory (Nestorian patriarch), Catholicos Gregory until 628 Anno Domini, AD, leaving a legacy of strong discipline and deep religious Orthodoxy. He is revered in the modern Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East. Biography Babai the Great (not to be confused with Mar Babai I, the first autonomous leader of the Church of the East) was born in the Assyrian town of Beth Ainata in Beth Zabdai, on the west bank of the Tigris, near Nisibis. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philoxenus Of Mabbog
Philoxenus of Mabbug ( Syriac: , '; died 523), also known as Xenaias and Philoxenus of Hierapolis, was one of the most notable Syriac prose writers during the Byzantine period and a vehement champion of Miaphysitism. Early life He was born, probably in the third quarter of the 5th century, at Tahal, a village in the district of Beth Garmaï east of the Tigris. He was by birth a subject of Persia, but all his active life of which we have any record was passed in the territory of the Byzantine Empire. His parents were from the Median city of Ecbatana. The statements that he had been a slave and was never baptized appear to be malicious inventions of his theological opponents following his death. He was educated at Edessa, perhaps in the famous " school of the Persians", which was afterwards (in 489) expelled from Edessa on account of its connection with Nestorianism. His anaphora is linked to the anaphora of Mar Addai and Mar Mari. Furthermore, he comes from the East Syriac R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narsai
Narsai (sometimes spelt ''Narsay'', ''Narseh'' or ''Narses''; , name derived from Pahlavi ''Narsēh'' from Avestan ''Nairyō.saȵhō'', meaning 'potent utterance'; ) was one of the foremost of the poet-theologians of the early Church of the East, perhaps equal in stature to Jacob of Serugh, both second only to Ephrem the Syrian. He is venerated as a saint in all the modern descendants of the Church of the East; the Chaldean Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, and Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Saint Narsai is known as the 'Flute of the Holy Spirit.' Although many of his works seem to have been lost, around eighty of his ''mēmrē'' (), or verse homilies are extant. Life Narsai was born at ‘Ain Dulba ( " Plane Tree Spring") in the district of Ma‘alləta () in the Sasanian Empire (now in Duhok Governorate, Iraq). Being orphaned at an early age, he was raised by his uncle, who was head of the monastery of Kfar Mari () near Beth Zabda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacob Of Serugh
Jacob of Serugh (, ; ; 452–521), also called Jacob of Sarug or Mar Jacob (), was one of the foremost poets and theologians of the Syriac Christian tradition, second only to Ephrem the Syrian and equal to Narsai. He lived most of his life as an ecclesiastical official in Suruç, in modern-day Turkey. He became a bishop (of Batnan) near the end of his life in 519. He was a Miaphysite (a form of Non-Chalcedonian Christianity), albeit moderate compared to his contemporaries. Jacob is best known for the homilies he wrote in the late fifth and early sixth centuries. He wrote in prose, as well as in 12-syllable ( dodecasyllabic) meter, which he invented, and he was known for his eloquence. According to Jacob of Edessa, he composed 763 works during his lifetime. Around 400 survive, and over 200 of those have been published. The longest is about 1,400 verses. By the time of his death, he had a great reputation. His works were so popular that of any author from late antiquity, only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC. The Western Roman Empire, western empire collapsed in 476 AD, but the Byzantine Empire, eastern empire lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. By 100 BC, the city of Rome had expanded its rule from the Italian peninsula to most of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and beyond. However, it was severely destabilised by List of Roman civil wars and revolts, civil wars and political conflicts, which culminated in the Wars of Augustus, victory of Octavian over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power () and the new title of ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' derives from Greek language, Greek (''hymnos''), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns. Although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other major religious groups, world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent (''stotras''). Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures. Some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Origins Ancient Eastern hymns include th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephrem The Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian (; ), also known as Ephraem the Deacon, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ — ''Mâr Aphrêm Sûryâyâ)'' was a prominent Christian theology, Christian theologian and Christian literature, writer who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa. Ephrem is venerated as a Christian saint, saint by all traditional Churches. He is especially revered in Syriac Christianity, both in East Syriac Rite, East Syriac tradition and West Syriac Rite, West Syriac tradition, and also counted as a Holy and Venerable Father (i.e., a sainted monk) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially in the Slovak tradition. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in the Catholic Church in 1920. Ephrem is also credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis, which in later centuries was the center of learning for the Church of the East. Ephrem wrot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
