The Mara bar Sarapion Project
(Syrian Philosopher) The Syriac letter of Mara bar Sarapion still is accessible only through W. Cureton’s 1855 edition with English translation, B.P. Pratten’s translation in the ‘Ante-Nicene Fathers’ series (1867-72) and the German version by F. Schulthess (1897). Clearly these are products of a bygone era of scholarship. A new edition of this highly important document, together with a translation and a discussion of interpretative issues, is an urgent desideratum. This is the project undertaken by a small research team consisting of Annette Merz (New Testament Studies, Utrecht),...
Read MoreThe letter of Mara bar Sarapion
Mara, son of Serapion, to Serapion, my son: peace. When thy master and guardian wrote me a letter, and informed me that thou wast very diligent in study, though so young in years, I blessed God that thou, a little boy, and without a guide to direct thee, hadst begun in good earnest; and to myself also this was a comfort-that I heard of thee, little boy as thou art, as displaying such greatness of mind and conscientiousness:2 a character which, in the case of many who have begun well, has shown no eagerness to continue. On this account, lo, I have written for thee this...
Read MoreJourney into her own family’s history
A filmmaker makes a journey into her own family’s history to investigate the terrible truth behind her grandmother’s odd tattoos and, in the process, unveils the story of the Armenian women driven out of Ottoman Turkey during the First World War. Aired on the Al-Jazeera. Movie length (on youtube) 47:23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjNW8V8Ej2Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjNW8V8Ej2U
Read More