THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
his writings have thus far been published (cf. O. Braun, Moses bar Kepha und sein Buch von der Seele, Freiburg, 1891). The work of Thomas of Marga (monk in the cloister of Beth 'Abbe in 832, secretary to the Patriarch Abraham in 837, and later bishop of Marga), The Book of Governors, the Historia Monastica of the Bishop of Marga (ed. and transl. E. A. W Budge, 2 vols., London, 1893; Liber Superiorum Mar Xarsetis Homiliw in Joseph,
Documenta patrum de quibusdam fidei dogmatibus, ed. P. Bedj an, Paris, 1901), is of importance for the history of the Syrian monasteries. A contemporary of Thomas of Marga was Ishodad, whose position in the exegesis of the Old Testament has been pointed out by G. Diettrich, in the Beihefte zur ZATW, no. 6, 1902, while an edition and translation is promised in the near future by Margaret D. Gibson.
The eleventh century produced no great author among the Syrians, but to the twelfth belongs Dionysius bar Salibi, some of whose numerous works have been published in CSCO, II.: the explanation of the Mass (by H. Labourt, vol. xciii., 1903), the first part of the commentary on the Gospels (by I. Sedlacek, vol. xcviii., 1906), and the commentary on Revelation, Acts, and the Catholic Epistles (by the same, vol. ci., 1910). In the early part of the thirteenth century there
8. Period flourished Bishop Solomon of Basra, of Decline, the author of The Book of the Bee (ed. and transl., E. A. W. Budge, in Anecdota Oxoniensia, vol. i., part ii., Oxford, 1886), which is full of curious legendary information concerning the Bible. To this period also belongs the poet Giwargis Warda of Arbela (about 1225), but the most versatile author of the century, and indeed of the whole range of Syriac literature, was Abulfaraj (q.v.), commonly called Bar-Hebra?us. To the list of modern editions of his works given by Nestle (Litteratura, pp. 46-50, ut sup.) some twenty more have been added by BrGr, p. 159, and even this is not exhaustive (cf. J. Gottesberger, " Barhebraus und seine Scholien zur heiligen Schrift," in Biblische Studien, ed. O. Bardenhewer, v. 4-5, Freiburg, 1900). Abulfaraj was followed by Ebed Jesu (q.v.), the author of a versified list of Syriac literature, a collection of canons, and the " Paradise of Eden," an imitation of the Arabic " Seances " of Hariri. The name of the last writer of good Syriac is unknown, but he was the biographer of the Patriarch Yaballah (1281-1317), who started on a pilgrimage from China to Jerusalem and Europe, and who rose, through his relations with the Mongolian princes to whom the Syrian Church was then subject, to the dignity of patriarch. Several centuries then passed before the literature in modern Syriac began, a literature which, however, falls outside the scope of this article.
The discussion has thus far been concerned chiefly with individual authors, most of whom wrote on theology. There are, however, also numerous works the authors of which are unknown, as well as collected works (cf. the list in BrGr, pp. 131-134) and the rich literature of translations (BrGr, p. 140 sqq.), especially from Greek, though there are also some from Arabic and Persian, and a few from Latin,
such as the Works of Cyprian, which probably came through the medium of Greek. Among theological works mention may here be made (cf. the more complete list in Harnack, Lilteratur, g. Collected i. 885-886) of the writings of Alexanand Miscel- der of Alexandria, Clement of Alexlaneous andria, Clement of Rome, Dionysius Writings, of Alexandria, Eusebius, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Hippolytus, Ignatius, Irenfflus, Julius Africanus, Pseudo-Justinus, Marcion, Melito, Methodius, Origen, Paul of Samosata, Peter of Alexandria, Polycarp, Sextus, and Tatian (qq.v.). Noteworthy among the collections and anonymous works are the important Didascalia and Apostolic Constitutions (see Apostolic Constitutions and Canons), the so-called " Rules of the Egyptian Church," and the Acts of Andrew, Archelaus, John, Philip, and Paul (especially the latter's correspondence with the Corinthians). Being the home of the Christological controversies, almost every important writer and document became known to the Syrians through translations, particularly Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa; while special mention is due the last great discovery in this field, the finding of the Liber Heraclidis of Nestorius. This treatise, the Greek version of which has been lost, has been edited by P. Bedjan (Le Livre d'Heraclide de Damas, Paris, 1910) and has been translated into French by F. Nau (Paris, 1910; cf. also E. W Brooks, " La Lettre de Nestorius aux habitants de Constantinople," in ROC, II., v. 3; M. Briere, ib. v. i.). And a considerable literature has already arisen on the Odes of Solomon, which were first edited from the Syriac version by J. R. Harris in 1909 (see Solomon, Odes of).
In the domain of philosophy the Syrians became the teachers of the Arabs, whose translations of the writings of Aristotle carried this new learning throughout medieval Europe. Here the way was led by the Nestorian Probus, who probably flourished in the first half of the fifth century, and he was followed by Theodore, bishop of io. Works Merv after 540. Here belong also Paul on Philoso- the Persian (see above), who resided phy and at the court of Chosroes Anushirvan, Science, and Sergius of Ras'ain (c. 535; see the works of A. Baumstark, Friedmann, R. J. H. Gottheil, G. Hoffmann, A. van Hoonacker, and N. Nagy, cited in BrGr, p. 140). For the grammatical treatises of the Syrians reference may be made to A. Merx, Historia Artis Grammaticcc apud Syros (Leipsic, 1889 [cf . also Mdr(i) Elid of Sobhd, Treatise on Syriac Grammar, ed. and transl. R. J. H. Gottheil, Berlin, 1877]). Galen and Hippocrates gave to the Syrians their knowledge of medicine (cf . the works of Gottheil, Merx, and H. Pognon listed in BrGr, p. 142). On geography J. P N. Land published " Aardrijkskundige fragmenten uit de syrische litteratuur " in the Verslagen en Mededeclingen der koninklijken Akademie van Wclcnschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde, III., iii. 1886), while from R. J. H. Gottheil came contributions on the history of Syriac geography in Hebraica, vii. 39-55, viii. 65-76, Mitteilungen des akademisch-orientaliscnen Vercins zu Berlin, no. 3, 1890, pp. 148, JAOS, Proceedings, May,