WOMEN IN THE SYRIAC TRADITION Susan Ashbrook Harvey
WOMEN IN THE SYRIAC TRADITION Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Brown University, USA. A Syriac apocryphal work, the Acts of Thomas holds that Christianity was brought to India by the apostle Judas Thomas in the middle of the first century AD. At the beginning of this document, two striking encounters with women take place. The first occurs soon after Thomas arrives in India as a slave, bought to serve King Gundaphorus as a carpenter. The only person to recognize that Thomas is not what he seems is a young Hebrew flute girl. A servant, the girl is portrayed as...
Read MoreVisual Aspects of the Transmission of Babylonian Astronomy and its Reception into Greek Astronomy J. M. STEELE
ANNALS OF SCIENCE, Vol. 68, No. 4, October 2011, 453465 Visual Aspects of the Transmission of Babylonian Astronomy and its Reception into Greek Astronomy J. M. STEELE Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Email: john_steele@brown.edu Summary Evidence for the transmission of Babylonian astronomy into the Greco-Roman world is well attested in the form of observations, numerical parameters and astronomical tables. This paper investigates the reception of Babylonian astronomy in the Greco-Roman world and in particular the transmission, transformation and exploitation of the layout of texts...
Read MoreGenesis of the Syriac Community in North America
This article was originally written by His Eminence Mor Polycarpos Adib Aydin, and later updated by The American Foundation for Syriac Studies. The presence of the Syrian Orthodox Church on American soil goes back to the late nineteenth century when religious persecution forced many faithful to leave their traditional homelands in Ottoman Turkey and emigrate to the United States and Canada. Genesis of the Syriac Community in North...
Read MoreThe Survivals of the Ancient Syrian and Mesopotamian Intellectual Traditions in the Writings of Ephrem Syrus/ Amar Annus, Tartu
The Survivals of the Ancient Syrian and Mesopotamian Intellectual Traditions in the Writings of Ephrem Syrus Amar Annus, Tartu1 Two last decades have witnessed a major growth of interest in studies on Ephrem, the Syrian Church Father of the fourth century (303–373). Before that, the writings of Ephrem were mostly a business exclusively for Syriologists, and Ephrem’s texts seldom reached to outside world, for example to the historians of comparative religion. It is true that the writings of Ephrem and other early Syr- ian Church fathers are of much potential interest to modern scholars of...
Read MoreAt the Banquet of Cultures: Mesopotamia’s Heritage in Arabic Times/ CAROLINE JANSSEN Ghent
CAROLINE JANSSEN Ghent At the Banquet of Cultures: Mesopotamia’s Heritage in Arabic Times In regions like Mesopotamia with its heterogeneous population, ideologies of tolerance and universalism were useful tools to unite the different ethnic groups.1 Such ideologies are an inter- cultural phenomenon in se, and vital to societies with complex histories and foundations. A common language, politi- cal ideas and religion are important in- gredients to create a feeling of together- ness. In this paper we explore the idea that such ideologies can be transplanted from one empire to another, and...
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