The Syriac World

1. The eastern provinces of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity
2. The Sasanian Empire
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 overview
8. 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 ʿAbbasid Era
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
17. 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 development
29. Women and children in Syriac Christianity: sounding voices
30. Syriac agriculture 350–1250
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 era
39. Changing demography: Christians in Iraq since 1991

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.