JCSSS is a refereed journal published annually by the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies Inc. (CSSS), located at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. JCSSS contains the transcripts of public lectures presented at the CSSS and possibly other articles and book reviews. JCSSS focuses on the vast Syriac literature, which is rooted in the same soil from which the ancient Mesopotamian and biblical literatures sprung; on Syriac art that bears Near Eastern characteristics as well as Byzantine and Islamic influences; and on archaeology, unearthing in the Middle East and the rest of Asia and China the history of the Syriac-speaking people: Assyrians, Chaldeans, Maronites and Catholic and Orthodox Syriacs. Modern Syriac Christianity and contemporary vernacular Aramaic dialects are also the focus of JCSSS. The languages of the Journal are English, French and German, and quotations from ancient sources are given in the original languages and in translation. The articles are interdisciplinary and scholarly; the Editorial Committee brings together scholars from four American, Canadian, and European universities. The CSSS that publishes JCSSS was founded in 1999 at the University of Toronto, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, as part of the latter’s academic programme in Aramaic and Syriac languages and literatures. It was incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act in January 23, 1999.

Volume 2 includes the following articles: a Foreword by James Reilly, “Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World: Mani, Bar Daysan, and Ephraem; the Struggle for Allegiance on the Aramean Frontier” by Sidney H. Griffith, “Faith and Persuasion in the Book of the Laws of Countries: A Note on Bardai?anian Epistemology” by Paul-Hubert Poirier, “Becoming Perfect: The Maturing of Asceticism in the Syriac Book of Steps” by Robert A. Kitchen, “Trade Routes and the Christianization of the Near East” by Amir Harrak, “Kokhe, Cradle of the Church of the East: An Archaeological and Comparative Study” by Marica Cassis, and a group effort for the article “Syriac in International Research”.

• Table of Contents (page 7)
• From the Editor (page 9)
• Forward. By James Reilly (page 11)
• Christianity in Edessa and the Syriac-Speaking World: Mani, Bar Daysan, and Ephraem; The Struggle for Allegiance on the Aramean Frontier. By Sidney H. Griffith (page 13)
• Faith and Persuasion in the Book of the Laws of Countries: A Note on Bardaisanian Epistemology. By Paul-Hubert Poirier (page 29)
• Becoming Perfect: The Maturing of Asceticism in the Liber Graduum. By Robert A. Kitchen (page 38)
• Trade Routes and the Christianization of the Near East. By Amir Harrak (page 54)
• Kokhe, Cradle of the Church of the East: An Archaeological and Comparative Study. By Marica Cassis (page 70)
• Syriac in International Research. By a Group of International Scholars (page 87)
• The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. Members of the Year 2001-2002 (page 92)