This Introduction aims to provide basic guidance to important areas of Syriac studies. The relevance of Syriac studies to a variety of other fields is explored. A brief orientation to the history of Syriac literature is offered, and Syriac is set within the context of the other Aramaic dialects. A thorough discussion on important tools (Instrumenta Studiorum) is presented; topics include grammars, dictionaries, the Bible in Syriac, histories of Syriac literature, bibliographical aids and relevant series, periodicals, and encyclopedias. This Introduction should prove useful both for the student beginning Syriac studies and for scholars working in adjacent fields.

Isaac the Syrian lived the solitary life in the 7th century. He was born in Qatar and subsequently lived in present day Iraq and Iran. After life as a monk, then briefly as a bishop, he withdrew to live the solitary life. These discourses are primarily for solitaries to consolidate them in the love and mercy of God. In this volume, the text of Isaac V has also been included because of the light which it sheds on Apocatastasis, of increasing interest in academic and ecclesial circles.

As Abû ʿAbd Allâh al-Ḥusayn, son of ʿAlî and Fâṭima and grandson of Muḥammad, moved inexorably towards death on the field of Karbalâʾ, his sister Zaynab was drawn ever closer to the centre of the family of Muḥammad, the ‘people of the house’ (ahl al-bayt). There she would remain for a few historic days, challenging the wickedness of the Islamic leadership, defending the actions of her brother, initiating the commemorative rituals, protecting and nurturing the new Imâm, al-Ḥusayn’s son ʿAlî b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlî b. Abî Ṭâlib, until he could take his rightful place. This is her story.

More than one hundred years after the publication of the BFBS volume of the Peshitta NT (1920), a critical edition of the Praxapostolos is still a desideratum. This edition fills the gap for the Corpus Paulinum. It expands the collations of the Scottish scholar John Pinkerton (1882–1916) up to some 60 manuscripts, incl. 5 lectionaries and 7 ‘masoretic’ manuscripts; it is based on the (slightly modified) BFBS text, which was established by the majority vote of Pinkerton’s collated manuscripts. The present edition turns the editorial principle of ‘majority vote’ into a textual history, considering the East-West-bifurcation of textual traditions, and the development of the Textus receptus by standardization. 9 printed editions are included, among which are 6 of the Textus receptus (incl. the editio princeps of 1555), thus covering the transmission of the Corpus Paulinum from the beginnings up to the 16th century.