Excerpting History in the Syriac World

This book examines five Syriac historiographical excerpt collections from Miaphysite milieus (6th-10th c.), preserved in MSS Deir al-Surian Syr. 28A, British Library Add. 12155, 14533, 12154, and Vat. Sir. 145. The collections draw chiefly on the Syriac translations of the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates and Theodoret, while also transmitting passages from Flavius Josephus’ Jewish War and the histories of Eusebius, Pseudo-Zachariah, and John of Ephesus. The volume traces the formation and circulation of the collections and studies their composition, showing how – unlike their Byzantine (Greek) counterparts – they resist strict taxonomies. Copyists adopted individual excerpting techniques, ranging from simple cut-and-paste to more substantial reworking. Moreover, several collections focus on accounts of the anti-Arian struggles and thus present the Miaphysites as the new Nicenes. Finally, the book provides the hitherto largely unedited texts of the corpus, both in Syriac and in English translation. By combining literary and historical analysis and placing Syriac texts within a wider context, the volume brings renewed attention to this overlooked genre and illuminates the role historiography played in forging communal identity.