Paul bar Arqa of Edessa
Paul Bar Arqa or Anqa of Edessa was a master of the art of calligraphy. He invented the Syriac script known today as the Estrangelo script as mentioned earlier.2 He probably lived around the year 200 A.D.3 In his Lexicon on the term Estrangelo, Bar Bahlul quotes Hannan Yeshu bar Sarushawayh (bishop of al-Hira in the ninth century) who states that “God has given the talent to Paul to perfect this script for the glorification of the Gospel, in order that one’s intellect be delighted and all may endeavor to read the Gospel in this wide legible and beautiful script.”4
2- Paul bar Arqa of Edessa