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Page 240

 

Syriac Literature THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 240

his writings have thus far been published (cf. 0. Braun, Moses bar Kepha and sein Buch von der SeelB, Freiburg, 1891). The work of Thomas of Marga (monk in the cloister of Beth 'Abbe in 832, secretary to the Patriarch Abraham in 837, and later bishop of Marga), The Book of Governors, the Historia Monastica of the Bishop of Marga (ed. and transl. E. A. W. Budge, 2 vols., London, 1893; Liber Superiorum . . . Mar Narsetis Homilice in Joseph, Doeumenta patrum de quibusdam fidei, dogmatibus, ed. P. Bedjan, Paris, 1901), is of importance for the history of the Syrian monasteries. A contemporary of Thomas of Marga was Ishodad, whose position in the exegesis of the Old Testament has been. pointed out by G. Diettrich, in the Beihefte zur ZATW, no. 6, 1902, while an edition and translation is promised in, the near future by Margaret D. Gibson.

The eleventh century produced no great author among the Syrians, but to the twelfth belongs Dionysius bar Salibi, some of whose numerous works have been published in CSCO, 11.: the ex planation of the Mass (by H. Labourt; vol. xciii., 1903), the first part of the commentary on the Gos pels (by I. SedlaYek, vol. xcviii., 1906), and the commentary on Revelation, Acts, and the Catholic Epistles (by the same, vol. ci., 1910). In the early part of the thirteenth century there

8. Period flourished Bishop Solomon of Basra, of Decline. the author of The Book of the Bee (ed. and transl., E. A. W. Budge, in An ecdota Oxoniensia, vol. i., part ii., Oxford, 1886), which is full of curious legendary information con-. cerning the Bible. To this period also belongs the poet Giwargis Wards, of Arbela (about 1225), but the most versatile author of the century, and indeed of the whole range of Syriac literature, was Abulfaraj (q.v.), commonly called Bar-Hebrwus. To the list of modern editions of his works given by Nestle (Litteratura, pp. 46-50, ut sup.) some twenty more have been added by BrGr, p. 159, and even this is not exhaustive (cf. J. Gottesberger, " Barhebraus and seine Scholien zur heiligen Schrift," in Biblische Studien, ed. O. Bardenhewer, v. 4-5, Freiburg, 1900). Abulfaraj was followed by Ebed Jesu (q.v.), the author of a versified list of Syriac literature, a collection of canons, and the " Paradise of Eden," an imitation of the Arabic " Seances " of Hariri. The name of the last writer of good Syriac is unknown, but he was the biographer of the Patriarch Yaballah (1281-1317), who started on a pilgrimage from China to Jerusalem and Europe, and who rose, through his relations with the Mongolian princes to whom the Syrian Church was then subject, to the dignity of patriarch. Several centuries then passed before the literature in modern Syriac began, a literature which, however, falls outside the scope of this article.

The discussion has thus far been concerned chiefly with individual authors, most of whom wrote on theology. There are, however, also numerous works the authors of which are unknown, as well as collected works (cf. the list in BrGr, pp. 131-134) and the rich literature of translations (BrGr, p. 140 sqq.), especially from Greek, though there are also some from Arabic and Persian, and a few from Latin,

such as the works of Cyprian, which probably came through the medium of Greek. Among theological works mention may here be made (cf. the more complete list in Harnack, Litteratur, 9. Collected i. 885-886) of the writings of Alexanand Miscel- der of Alexandria, Clement of Alex-

laneous andria, Clement of Rome, Dionysius Writings. of Alexandria, Eusebius, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Hippolytus, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, Pseudo-Justinus, Marcion, Melito, Methodius, Origen, Paul of Samosata, Peter of Alexandria, Polycarp, Sextus, and Tatian (qq.v.). Noteworthy among the collections and anonymous works are the important Diddscalia and Apostolic Constitutions (see APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS AND CANONS), the so-called " Rules of the Egyptian Church," and the Acts of Andrew, Archelaus, John, Philip, and Paul (especially the latter 's correspondence with the Corinthians). Being the home of the Christological controversies, almost every important writer and document became known to the Syrians through translations, particularly Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa; while special mention is due the last great discovery in this field, the finding of the Liber Heraclidis of Nestorius. This treatise, the Greek version of which has been. lost, has been edited by P. Bedjan (Le Livre d'Hercaclide de Damas, Paris, 1910) and has been translated into French by F. Nau (Paris, 1910; cf. also E. W. Brooks, " La Lettre de Nestorius aux habitants de Constantinople," in ROC, IL, v. 3; M. Bribre, ib. v. i.). And a considerable literature has already arisen on the Odes of Solomon, which were first edited from the Syriac version by J. R. Harris in 1909 (see SOLOMON, ODES OF).

In the domain of philosophy the Syrians became the teachers of the Arabs, whose translations of the writings of Aristotle carried this new learning throughout medieval Europe. Here the way was led by the Nestorian Probus, who probably flourished in the first half of the fifth century, and he was followed by Theodore, bishop of

zo. Works Merv after 540. Here belong also Paul on Philoso- the Persian (see above), who resided

phy and at the court of Ghosroes Anushirvan, Science. and Sergius of Ras'ain (c.,535; see the works of A. Baumstark, Friedmann, R. J. H. Gottheil, G. Hoffmann, A. van Hoonacker, and N. Nagy, cited in BrGr, p. 140). For the gram matical treatises of the Syrians reference may be made to A. Merx, Historic Artis Crrammaticce aped Syros (Leipsic, 1889 [cf. also Mar(i) Elid of 56bhd, Treatise on Syriac Grammar, ed. and transl. R. J. H. Gottheil, Berlin, 1877]). Galen and Hippocrates gave to the Syrians their knowledge of medicine (cf. the works of Gottheil, Merx, and H. Pognon listed in BrGr, p. 142). On geography J. P. N. Land pub lished " Aardrijkskundige fragmenten uit de syrische litteratuur" in the Verslagen en Mededeelingen der koninklijken, Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdee ling Letterkunde, III., iii. 1886), while from R. J. H. Gottheil came contributions on the history of Syriac geography in Hebraica, vii. 39-55, viii. 65-76, Mit teilungen des akademisth-orientalisehen Vereins zu Berlin, no. 3, 1890, pp. 148, JAGS, Proceedings, May,