Classical Syriac for Hebraists is intended for people who already have a basic knowledge of
Biblical Hebrew and want to study Syriac an important ancient Semitic language a dialect of
Aramaic. Syriac is the official language of the Syriac-speaking churches and has a vast amount
of literature representing diverse areas of human knowledge: ancient translations of the Bible
and related early documents biblical commentaries theological treatises ecclesiastical
histories legends about saints scientific texts covering philosophy natural sciences
grammar translations from Greek documents and many others. With previous knowledge of Hebrew
assumed and related phenomenon in Hebrew frequently mentioned the student can be expected to
acquire reading knowledge of Syriac with reasonable ease and speed. The chrestomathy presents a
selection of eleven documents including not only passages of the Bible but also biblical
commentaries and theological discussions humorous fables and a grammatical treatise all
original Syriac compositions. The texts are fully or partly vocalised provided with
grammatical annotations with constant cross referencing to the appropriate sections of the
grammar. A glossary to facilitate studying of these texts is appended.
