ANCIENT SYRIAC DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE EARLIEST ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN EDESSA - From the Year After Our Lord's Ascension to the Beginning of the Fourth Century - Discovered, Edited, Translated, and Annotated

Oct 6, 2026

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A scholarly volume presenting ancient Syriac documents about the earliest establishment of Christianity in Edessa and neighboring regions. It covers the period from the year after Our Lord’s Ascension through the beginning of the fourth century, with material discovered, edited, translated, and annotated by W. Cureton, supported by a preface by W. Wright. The preface explains the discovery and transcription history of the Syriac texts, their role in establishing early Christian conversion in Edessa, and the documentation of persecutions and martyrdom from Sharbil onward.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages338

Reading Time14 h 12 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Discovery and transcription of the Syriac texts

Progress and publication of the printing

Main purpose of the work

Documents and historical scope

Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2019 with funding fromPrinceton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/ancientsyriacdoc00cure ANCIENT SYRIAC DOCUMENTS RELATIVE T THE EARLIEST ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITYIN EDESSA AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRLES. F'ROM THE YEAR AFTER UR LOBD'S ASCENSION TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH(ENTURY: DLSCOVERED,EDITED,THANSLATED,AND ANNOTATED BY THE LATE W.CURETON,D.D.,F.R.S., CANON OF WESTMINSTER, MEMBER UF TIIE MIPERIAE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE,ETC.ETC. WITH A PREFACE BY W.WRIGHT,PH.D.,LL.D., ASSISTANT IX THE DEPARTMENT OF MSS.,BRITISH MUSEUM. WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 14 HENRIETTA STREET,COVENT GARDEN,LONDONAND 20 SOUTH FREDERICK STREET,EDINBURGH. P REFACE. THE Syriac texts contained in this volume were discovered andtranseribed by its lamented author so long ago as 1848;for in thepreface to the Festal Letters of Athancsius,p.xxiii,note,he says:"I have found amongst the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museuma considerable portion of the original Aranaic document,whichEusebius cites as preserved in the archives of Edessa,and variouspassages from it,quoted by several authors,with other testimonieswhich seem to be sufficient to establish the fact of the early conversionof many of the inhabitants of that city,and anong them,of the kinghimself,although his successors afterwards relapsed into Paganism.These,together with accounts of the martyrdom of some of the firstbishops of that city,forming a most interesting accession to our know-ledge of the early propagation of Christiauity in the East down toabout A.D.300,I have already transcribed,and hope to publish,witha translation,and such illustrations as may appear necessary.I regretthat the little leisure which I have for such labours will not allow meeven to speculate upon the probable time when I may be able to fulfilthis intention." The printing of these documents was actually commenced aboutthree years ago,but progressed at first very slowly,owing to thedemands made upon Dr.Cureton's time by his parochial and otherduties.Indeed,up to May 1863,when he met with the accidentthat ultimately caused his death,only,I believe,about forty pageshad been printed.As soon,however,as he was again able to attend ii to business,he pushed forward the printing both of text and transla-tion as rapidly as possible,availing himself to some extent of myassistance in correcting the proofs of the former;and happily hisstrength held out long enough to enable him to all but finish his task.When his health finally gave way,there remained only the preface tobe written;but of that,although it was all arranged in his mind,hedid not,it would seem,commit a single line to paper. The main scope and object of this work—of which I can safely saythat it is,with one exception,the most generally interesting of all Dr.Cureton's publications—is clearly enough stated in the passage fromone of his own writings quoted above.He was himself firmly per-suaded of the genuineness of the epistles attributed to Abgar,king ofEdessa,and our Lord;an opinion which he shared with such illus-trious scholars as Baronius,Tillemont,Cave,t R.Mountague,bishopof Norwich,§and Grabe.||Whether right in this particular point ornot,his book ndubitably proves the conversion of King AbgarUkkāmā and a considerable number of the Edessenes at the hands ofAddai or Thaddæus,one of the seventy Disciples;and presents uswith authentic documents relative to the persecutions of the earlyChristians in that city,from the time of the first martyr Sharbil,downto that of the last,Habib. To those who,like myself,study the ancient Syriac literatureprincipally from a linguistic interest,this volume offers several docu-ments of high inportance;in particular the two discourses on themartyrs of Edessa by Mar Jacob,bishop of Serūg,one of the earliestand finest of Syrian writers,but of whose netrical homilies only one

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this volume?

It presents Syriac documents intended to support and illuminate the early conversion of Edessa and related traditions, covering Christianity’s earliest establishment in the region.

Who prepared the discovered and annotated Syriac materials?

The documents were discovered, edited, translated, and annotated by W. Cureton, with a preface written by W. Wright.

What historical period do the documents address?

They span from the year after Our Lord’s Ascension to the beginning of the fourth century, including accounts relevant to early persecutions and martyrdom in Edessa.

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by Adam