Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS v
3. LIST OF FIGURES vii
4. LIST OF TABLES xi
5. LIST OF MAPS xiii
6. 1. Semitic languages and peoples 1
7. 2. Arameans at the dawn of their history 29
8. 3. The religion of ancient Arameans 51
9. 4. The Aramaic language and its world 57
10. 5. Osrhoene and the Aramean awakening 149
11. 6. The spread of Christianity in Osrhoene 161
12. 7. Syriac Christianity under the rule of Iran 169
13. 8. Syriaс thought and literature of the first centuries of Christianity 179
14. 9. The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and its schisms 189
15. 10. The split of Syriac Christianity: “Nestorians” and “Jacobites” 199
16. 11. Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites 217
17. 12. The writing and scribal traditions of the Syriacs 223
18. 13. Translation activity of the Syriacs 245
19. 14. Syriac translations of the Holy Scriptures 255
20. 15. Syriac system of education 269
21. 16. Syriac theology and philosophy 277
22. 17. Worldly sciences and secular literature of the Syriacs 285
23. 18. Syriac historiography 297
24. 19. Syriacs under Arab-Muslim domination 307
25. 20. Commercial and missionary activity of the Syriacs 315
26. 21. Syriac rite Catholic Churches 357
27. 22. The Syriacs between the Ottoman Empire, Iran, and Russia 369
28. 23. The “Assyrian idea” and the issue of self-identitification for Syriac Christians 391
29. 24. Syriacs in the 20th century and on the threshold of the third millennium 401
30. 25. Modern Aramaic dialects 427
31. 26.The current stage of the Classical Syriac Language 447
32. 27. The origins and development of modern Aramean and Syriac studies 455
33. APPENDIX: KLAUS BEYER’S CLASSIFICATION OF ARAMAIC DIALECTS 479
34. SELECT BIBILIOGRAPHY 495
35. GENERAL INDEX 503