Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures of Columbia University Libraries Special Collections

Exhibition Themes > Theology & Religion > 123. Lexicographical Works

123.  Lexicographical Works. Manuscript, Nestorian, on paper, 19th century. Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Syriac MS 19

The Syriac language was based on the East Aramaic dialect of Edessa, present-day Sanliurfa in Southeastern Turkey, which became one of the chief centers of Christianity in the Middle East at the end of the 2nd century. During the 5th century, Syriac-speaking Christians divided over theological disputes into Nestorians, or East Syrians, under the influence of Persia, and Jacobites, or West Syrians, under Byzantine influence. The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary houses a significant number of Syriac manuscripts, the earliest dating from the 10th-11th century CE. This volume contains two works that show the differences between words written with the same letters.

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