Syriac Language and Literature

Syriac is the important branch of the group of Semitic languages known as Aramaic. In the time of Alexander the Great, Aramaic was the official language of all the nations from Asia Minor to Persia, from Armenia to Arabian Peninsula. It was divided into two dialects: the western, used in Palestine and Syria by the Jews, Palmyrans, and Nabateans; the eastern, spoken in Babylonia by the Jews, Mandeans, Manichaeans, and the people of Upper Mesopotamia. The Syriac language, as we know it from its literature, did not spring from the dialect spoken in Syria, but from the eastern Mesopotamian dialect. When the weakened Seleucides ceased to defend the Euphrates, small independent principalities were formed in that region. The most famous was the little Kingdom of Edessa whose capital Osrhoene was the religious centre of the country. This city also became an intellectual centre, and even then the language of its people attained great perfection. A little later under the influence of Christianity it developed considerably, and eventually became the liturgical and literary language of all the Churches from the shores of the Mediterranean to the centre of Persia. The suppleness and flexibility of this dialect and its loose and variable syntax readily lent itself to the most different constructions, and offered to Christianity a more appropriate instrument than Greek for the expression and spread of new ideas. In Syria proper and western Mesopotamia Syriac was first used simultaneously with Greek, but after the Monophysite schism Greek gradually fell into disuse. The period from the middle of the fifth century to the end of the seventh was the most brilliant period of Syriac literature. The Moslem invasion brought about the decadence by imposing Arabic as the official language; the latter rapidly came into general use, and Syriac was no longer spoken or understood by the people, although it was upheld as a literay language for four centuries longer, and until the present time as a liturgical language. Nevertheless, the destruction was not complete; Syriac, or rather Aramaic, modified according to the laws of evolution common to all languages, is still spoken in the three villages in the neighbourhood of Damascus, in Tour Abdin (Mesopotamia, between Nisibis and the Tigris), and in Kurdistan, especially in the neighbourhood of Ourmiah. The language of this city is even in process of becoming a literay tongue, through the efforts of the missionaries (American Prostestants and French Lazarists), who print numerous works in this dialect, Bibles, text-books, and even reviews.

The works transmitted to us in the Syriac language form an essentially and almost exclusively Christian religious literature. After Latin and Greek there is none more useful to the exegete, the theologian, and the ecclesiastical historian. We know of more than 150 authors who enriched it from the fourth to the thirteenth century. The libraries of Europe and those of some eastern monasteries which are of easy access possess nearly 3000 manuscripts, containing the greater part of these works. Our short list will take only the best-known authors and the most important works. Of pagan literature there remain only a few short inscriptions, most of them funereal, and a letter from Maria bar Serapion, Stoic philosopher of Samosata, to his son, written probably in course of the third century (ed. Cureton, "Spicelegium Syr.", London, 1855). The writings of the Gnostic Bardesanes of the same period, with a Gnostic hymn inserted in the Acts of St. Thomas, form a sort of transition between pagan and Christian literature. The earliest monument of the latter is the version of the Bible called the Peschitta (simple), which is treated elsewhere (see VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE). It suffices to mention also the two oldest orthodox writers, Aphraates the Persian Sage (d. 350), and St. Ephraem, the most brilliant of the Fathers of the Syrian Church (d. 373). Among the disciples of Ephraem was Mar Aba, the author of commentaries on the Gospels and of a homily on Job; Zenobius, deacon of Edessa, who wrote treatises against Marcion and Pamphylus and a "Life of St. Ephraem"; Paulius, who possibly fell into heresy after having written against Marcion and sceptics. Abamya, a nephew of Ephraem, has been wrongly identified with Cyrillona, an unknown author who wrote in 397 a poem on the two plagues of that period, the locusts and the Huns.

At the beginning of the fifth century there flourished at Edessa the famous school of the Persians, in which the doctrines of Theodore of Mopsuetia and Nestorius found fervent adherents. The bishop then was Rabbula, son of a pagan priest of Kenneshrin (Chalcis). He was converted by Eusebius, bishop of that city, distributed his goods to the poor, and embraced the ascetic life. In 412 Acacius of Aleppo appointed him Bishop of Edessa; he died in 435. After inclining to Nestorianism he became an ardent partisan of St. Cyril of Alexandria. His severity made him formidable to his clergy, and won for him the title "tyrant of Edessa". At Constantinople he delivered a discourse against Nestorius, which was translated into Syriac, as well as several of his letters. He himself translated the treatise "Of the Orthodox Faith" which Cyril addressed to him. His extant works were translated by Overbeck (Oxford, 1865). His successor was the famous Ibas, or Hiba, who favoured the Nestorians. Mari the Persian of Rewardashir, to whom the celebrated letter of Ibas was addressed, wrote a commentary on Daniel and a controversial treatise against the Magians. He also commentated the (lost) letters of Acadius of Amida (Diarbekir), an avowed Nestorian, less noted for his writings than for his charity, which won him a place in the Roman Martyrology (9 April). He must not be confounded with Acacius of Melytene who joined Rabbula in his warfare against Nestorianism, nor with Acacius of Seleucia, patriarch of the Nestorians (484-96), author of homilies on fasting and of treatises against the Monophysites; he also translated into Persian the treatise on faith of Osee, Bishop of Nisibis, who in 496 promulgated the statutes of the school of that city (ed. Guidi). About the middle of the century lived Isaac of Antioch, called the Great and regarded as a saint. His history is unknown. The Syrians have attached his name to a considerable collection of metrical homilies, but it is certain that the works of several authors of the same name have been attributed to him.

Among these are Isaac of Edessa, a Monophysite of the end of the sixth century, and Isaac of Amida. The last-named is the author of a poem on secular games (414) and on the taking of Rome (410). In the first half of the century lived Balai, chorepiscopus of Aleppo, the author of numerous poems which have been preserved in part. At the death of Ibas the doctors of the school of Edessa were expelled, and withdrew to the Persian Empire. Among them were Barsauma, who became Bishop of Nisibis and was noted for his despotism; we have six of his letters addressed to the Patriarch Acarius. He also wrote exhortations, funeral orations, and hymns; Narsai joined him and was the real founder of the School of Edessa; he taught there for more than forty years. He was praised in most exalted terms by his co-religionists, who called him "the Tongue of the East", "the Poet of Religion", "the Harp of the Holy Ghost". The Monophysites nicknamed him "the Leper". He died about 502. He is said to have composed commentaries on most of the books of the Old Testment, and 360 metrical discourses. Many of them have been edited by Mingana (Mossoul, 1905). Mana, who became a bishop in Persia, was distinguished at Edessa for his translation of the works of Theodore of Mopsuetia.

Eliseus bar Kozbaye and Abraham of Beit Rabban, the successors of Narsai in the direction of the school, wrote Biblical commentaries and numerous treatises against the Magians. Most of the Nestorian authors of the sixth century proceeded from this school. One of the most famous was the Patriarch Mar Aba I (540-52), a convert from Zoroastrianism; he studied at Nisibis, learned Greek at Edessa, and went to Constantinople; later he founded the School of Seleucia. He preached boldly against the Magi; Khusrau I exiled him; on his return to Seleusia he was thrown into prison, where he died. He is credited with a translation of Scriptures, but there is no trace of it; he wrote Biblical commentaries, homilies, and synodal letters. He also translated into Syriac the liturgy of Nestorius. Paul the Persian, very learned in profane philosophy, composed a treatise on the "Logic" of Aristotle, dedicated to King Khusrau (ed. Land), and several other didactic works, preserved in part. His namesake, Paul of Nisibis, a disciple of Mar Aba, was the author of Biblical commentaries. Theodore, made Bishop of Merw in 540, wrote a commentary on the Psalms and a reply to ten questions of Sergius of Reshayna. His brother Gabriel, Bishop of Hormisdardashir, wrote controversial books against the Manichæans, and the solution of difficult Scriptural questions. To Abraham bar Kardahe, of Nisibis, are attributed homilies, funeral orations, sermons, and a letter against Shisban, probably a