The First Complete English Translation of the Armenian Text with Comments on the Syriac

Armenian Poetry and Syriac Heritage in the Mediaeval Middle East
This volume provides access via a modern language to the complete text of the Armenian trans­lation of poems attributed to Ephraem the Syrian, the famous fourth-century Syriac-Christian poet and theologian. At the basis of this English translation is the authors' critical reading and evaluation of the edition of the Armenian text of the Fifty-One Armenion Antiphons, the Latin translation, and the copious notes of Nerses Akinian, Louis Maries, and Charles Mercier. Further evidence from manuscripts, collated by Levon Ter-Petrosean, is included as well. The notes correct typographical and other errors in the Armenian text and the Latin translation. The Biblical hermeneutics of certain passages receive extended treatment. Hypothetical reconstructions of the Syriac Vorlage are provided where the Armenian text poses particular difficulty.

The lntroduction gives the reader access to an overview of the history of the translation of Syriac texts into Armenian. lt provides a synopsis of the works by or attributed to Ephraem the Syrian, a discussion of some of the problems of discerning the authenticity of ascriptions of individual translated texts to specific original-language authors, a consideration of the dating, some discussion of the genre, and a synopsis of the thematic content of the Fifty-One Armenion Antiphons.

This book addresses interested readers from among the general public, students, and scholars with specific interests in Middle Eastern literature, Armenian Studies, Syriac Studies, late ancient and mediaeval poetry, Early Christianity, Late Antiquity, Byzantine Studies, Medieval Studies, religion, and Christian theology.

This volume inaugurates the Eastern Mediterranean Texts and Contexts (EMTC)'s new subseries Armenian Texts and Studies (ArmTS). Readers gain access to editions of Armenian sources, translations of such texts, and monograph-length studies or edited volumes on relevant topics.

The first volume of EMTC's ArmTS subseries highlights the entangled history of Armenian Chris­tians, who from the very beginnings of the Christian phase of Armenian history avidly drew on and interacted with the world of thought, belief, and cultural production of their immediate neighbors, both Oriental Christians and Eastern Christians. In so doing, Armenians substantially enriched the treasure trove of Christian literature in the Caucasus and the Middle East more broadly.

Robert R. Phenix Jr. is the author of The Sermons an Joseph of Balai of Qenneshrin: Rhetoric and Interpretation in Fifth Century Syriac Literature (2008); coeditor of Children in Lote Ancient Christianity (2009); and coauthor of John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the lberian, Theo­dosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus (2008), The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Lote Antiquity (2011), The Rabbula Corpus (2017), and Strategius of Mar Saba On the Captivity of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614 CE (2022).

Cornelia B. Horn is the author of Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine: The Career of Peter the lberian (2006); coeditor of Children in Lote Ancient Christianity (2009), The Bible, the Qur'än, and Their Interpretation: Syriac Perspectives (2013), Georgian Christian Thought and lts Cultural Context (2014), "In Une with the Divine": The Struggle for Gender Equality in Lebanon (2015), Biblical and Qur'änic Traditions in the Middles East (2016), Childhood in History. Perceptions of Children in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (2018), Armenia between Byzantium and the Orient (2020), Word and Space lnteracting in Palestine in Lote Antiquity. Towards a History of Pluridi­mensionality (2023); and coauthor of John Rufus: The Lives of Peter the lberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus (2008), "Let the Little Children Come to Me": Childhood and Children in Early Christianity (2009), The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity (2011), The Rabbula Corpus (2017), and Strategius of Mar Saba On the Captivity of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614 CE (2022).

December 2024
xiv + 467 pages
Eastern Mediterranean Textsand Contexts (EMTC) 6
Armenian Textsand Studies (ArmTS) 1
Paperback $49.95 (ISBN 9781950116072)
Hardcover $69.95 (ISBN 9781950116089)