Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 9781463234720

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
From the Editor
The desert, the divine, and a disaster in the architecture and chronology of the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria
“May I treasure up the words in my heart!”: Syriac Culture in Modern Aramaic Oral Tradition
A Dūrekṯā on the‘Battle of Urmia’
Neo-Aramaic Lullabies from the Plain of Nineveh
1992-2010+: A Unique Window for the Revitalization, Linguistic Leveling and Maintenance of Aramaic
The 6th North American Syriac Symposium
Obituaries
Rev. Dr. Butrus Haddad (1937-2010)
Dr. Donny George Youkhanna (1950-2011)
Members of the CSSS for 2010-2011

Citation preview

JOURNAL OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies/ de la Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques The JCSSS is a refereed journal published annually, and it contains the transcripts of public lectures presented at the Society and possibly other articles and book reviews

Editorial Board General Editor

Amir Harrak, University of Toronto

Editors Sebastian Brock, Oxford University Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America Adam Lehto, University of Toronto Craig E. Morrison, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome Lucas van Rompay, Duke University Copy Editing

Antoine Hirsch

Publisher Gorgias Press 180 Centennial Avenue, Suite 3 Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com

The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies La Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques Society Officers 2010-2011 President: Amir Harrak Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer: Khalid Dinno Members of the Board of Directors: Samir Basmaji, Marica Cassis, Khalid Dinno, Geoffrey Greatrex, Amir Harrak, Antoine Hirsch, Robert Kitchen, Adam Lehto, Albert Tarzi The aim of the CSSS is to promote the study of the Syriac culture which is rooted in the same soil from which the ancient Mesopotamian and biblical literatures sprung. The CSSS is purely academic, and its activities include a series of public lectures, one yearly symposium, and the publication of its Journal. The Journal is distributed free of charge to the members of the CSSS who have paid their dues, but it can be ordered by other individuals and institutions through Gorgias Press (www.gorgiaspress.com). Cover Pottery from the Monastery of Mar Musa (Syria) — Drawing by Robert B.J. Mason, ROM

JOURNAL OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

Volume 11

Copyright © 2011 by The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey ISBN 978-1-4632-0153-1 ISSN: 1499-6367

GORGIAS PRESS 954 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standards. Printed in the United States of America

The Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

Table of Contents

From the Editor

1

Robert B.J. Mason, The desert, the divine, and a disaster in the architecture and chronology of the Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Syria

3

Alessandro Mengozzi, “May I treasure up the words in my heart!”: Syriac Culture in Modern Aramaic Oral Tradition

18

Mar Emmanuel J. Emmanuel, A Dūrekṯā on the‘Battle of Urmia’

33

Shawqi Talia,

44

Neo-Aramaic Lullabies from the Plain of Nineveh

Robert Y. Odisho, 1992-2010+: A Unique Window for the Revitalization, Linguistic Leveling and Maintenance of Aramaic

55

Kyle Smith

69

Obituaries:

The 6th North American Syriac Symposium Rev. Dr. Butrus Haddad (1937-2010)

72

Dr. Donny George Youkhanna (1950-2011)

74

Members of the CSSS for 2010-2011

76

____________________________________________________________________________

FROM THE EDITOR

W

e begin the second decade of the JCSSS with a series of articles that were originally lectures given in the various scholarly activities of the CSSS. Robert Mason of the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto discusses the chronology of the monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi (on the Qalamoun mountain north of Damascus Romans), whose archaeology he is currently studying. The Romans may have constructed a watchtower on the site, and the Byzantines left their traces as early as the 6th century, with, among other things, the erection of a basilical church typical of the era (though, as the author notes, the primary construction contains different types of stonework). During the time of the Crusades, the monastic church was renovated after an earthquake and decorated with four different levels of wallpaintings, the last dated to 1208. There is 14th century pottery, and the claim by inscriptions that building activities took place during the 15th century is corroborated in the architecture. Such activities continued until the abandonment of the monastery in the early 19th century. The papers that follow were given at the symposium on Vernacular Aramaic literature (November 2010). “May I treasure up the words in my heart!”: Syriac Culture in Modern Aramaic Oral Tradition”, by Alessandro Mengozzi of the University of

Turin, discusses two poems (after a brief overview of the birth of Neo-Aramaic as a field of study): one on the Maccabean martyrs and another on “Mary and her husband Joseph”. He illustrates the fact that classical narrative material was transmitted to Aramaic-speaking communities by popular but gifted poets using oral poetry. The material is elaborated, expanded, and sometimes even distorted, but key aspects of the narratives are highlighted and kept in memory. Bishop Mar Emmanuel of the University of Toronto presents an unpublished NeoAramaic poem in his paper entitled “A Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ on the Battle of Urmia”. The poem, which consists of 220 stanza verses, was composed by an author named Sada (Martyr) who claimed that he became an “eyewitness of these events” without giving any clear chronological indications. Mar Emmanuel suggests that the date must be after March 1918 and that the “event” is the murder of the Patriarch Mar Benjamin Shem’on (19031918). This poem is a vivid witness to a troublesome period, hence its historical value. In “Neo-Aramaic Lullabies from the Plain of Nineveh,” Shawqi Talia, of the Catholic University of America, classifies these zummarta-songs as “Children’s literature”. They follow very characteristic poetic conventions and are deeply religious. As they call upon biblical and Christian saints to

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From the Editor ____________________________________________________________________________________

protect the child and point to specific shrines, monasteries, and churches, these poems become a “historical tapestry” of such holy men and women and buildings. This enables the author to identify the provenance of the lullabies, the trials and tribulations in the memory of the various Christian communities, and study the kind of language in which they were expressed. Edward Odisho, of the Northeastern Illinois University, documents a surge in the utilization of Vernacular Aramaic in the schooling system in Iraqi Kurdistan since the year 1992, and uses it as a case study to assess the future prospects of this threemillennium old language. He describes at least three aspects of this surge: an extensive

school system in Vernacular Aramaic in all subjects from Grade 1 to Grade 12; students’ exposure to classical Syriac; and the fact that some 10,000 learners have thus far been immersed in Neo-Aramaic education—their proficiency in Syriac literacy ranging from fair and excellent. Nonetheless, the continuation of this surge and the revitalization of Aramaic depend entirely on the maintenance of democracy and human rights in Iraq and in the Kurdish region. The reader will also find a report on the 6th North-American Syriac Studies Symposium, which took place in June of this year at Duke University, as well as obituaries commemorating two Iraqi scholars who made a significant impact on Syriac and Mesopotamian studies. A.H.

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______________________________________________________________________ THE DESERT, THE DIVINE, AND A DISASTER IN THE ARCHITECTURE AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE MONASTERY OF ST. MOSES THE ABYSSINIAN, SYRIA

ROBERT B.J. MASON ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM AND UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

INTRODUCTION

T

he Monastery of Saint Moses the Ethiopian (Deir- or more properly Dayr- Mar Musa al-Habashi) stands on an eastern escarpment of the Qalamoun Mountains in the Syrian desert 90 km north of Damascus (see Figure 1). It is particularly famous for its cycle of wall paintings, painted in the late 11th to the beginning of the 13th century CE.1 The monastery itself was a laura, in which the monks lived in caves spread around the landscape and only came to the central buildings on Sundays.2 As such it is one of a number of communities which developed in the Byzantine period for groups or individuals to continue the dialogue with God in the desert that forms a thread throughout the Abrahamic faiths. It is now once again a monastic community, and at their request the author has agreed to undertake an archaeological study of the monastery and its hinterland. This paper provides the result of four seasons of study, providing the first analysis of the architectural history of the site, creating a sequence of construction phases that puts the wall-painting into greater context; a

preliminary assessment of the distribution of the laura cave hermitages; and a consideration of the available dating evidence for the site, including pottery found during restoration.

A CHRONOLOGY FOR DEIR MAR MUSA AL-HABASHI The Two Towers Apart from stone alignments thought to be of prehistoric origins, there are no significant remains of human presence in the valley wherein lies the monastery predating the first phase of architecture. This architecture comprises courses of large stone blocks, typically about 50-60 cm high, about 80 cm wide, and 50 cm thick, although larger and smaller stones are found, all quite well-dressed with a hammer (see Figures 2 & 3). Two structures on the site have several courses of these blocks, with the stones keyed into the bedrock of the site. The large blocks rise to a height of one storey in the south building and two in the north. The present entrance in the north structure is later, comprising a small low door which might be original but the inner

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archway has a pointed arch and is probably medieval. Extensive remodeling has obscured any more likely doorway, although there is a possible gap in the larger stones on the western wall (see Figure 2). Similarly proportioned towers often seem to have doors in the middle of the long side.3 An opening articulated by large blocks in the south wall of the southern structure is almost certainly the original doorway (Figure 4). It is about 1 m high by 60 cm wide, and has sockets for the door and bolt. The doorway is about 150 cm from the base of the wall, and when it was built there would have been a precipitate drop to the valley (the present floor has been built up later). This means that this door would be very inaccessible, which is typical of Roman watchtowers. There are three possible explanations for these buildings. Firstly, they may have been part of a Roman watchtower,4 which would be in a good position the Tadmor/ Palmyra to Damascus road visible to the east (Figure 1). The monastery of Sergius and Bacchus at Deir al-Nasrani in the Hauran is built around a watchtower under possibly similar circumstances.5 Roman watchtowers communicated by visual signaling to each other, so the towers would have to be significantly taller to be visible from the west. There are examples of towers elsewhere preserved to a height of six stories. Secondly, the towers may have been for civilian defence purposes,6 although there really is no farming community or anything of that nature in the area in this period. Thirdly, they may have been constructed directly for monastic purposes. Defensive towers were often an important aspect of monastic foundations of the 5th and 6th centuries,7 and are fairly common on Syrian monasteries.8 They would often be the first buildings in the monastery, in order to provide shelter for

the monks, which would be particularly appropriate here. However the south structure has received a lot of modification, suggesting it was ruinous before the foundation of the monastery. Hence the preferred hypothesis is that the towers are not contemporary. The southerly one is in a better position to see to the east and be seen from the west, while modifications appear to be Byzantine stonework, suggesting the entire building had collapsed before the site became a monastery. The northerly tower, with its alignment with the church, was only modified in the medieval period. So the working hypothesis is that the south tower was originally a Roman watchtower (Figure 5), while the north tower was a later construction either to replace the south structure after collapse, or as part of the monastic foundation built prior to the construction of the church. Byzantine monastery Local tradition has it that the monastery was founded in the 6th century.9 The earliest reliable date which is associated with the monastery is found in a copy of a glossary of St. Matthew by St. John Chrysostom, with an inscription saying it was in the monastery of Mar Musa in 585 CE.10 Other evidence includes a coin of Justinian I (527-565 CE) found in the mortuary area by Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, as well as the Deir Mar Musa Censer, “collected” at Deir Mar Musa by Sir Richard Burton and then sold to the British Museum, and thought to date to the 6th-9th centuries CE. It would probably have been in this period that the caves were first occupied, as laura are considered more typical of this period. Exploratory surveillance has located over 30 caves, all within 1.5 km of the monastery, and several of them are currently occupied by the present community. Typically, the caves do not seem to have formed naturally, certainly

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not to their present extent, since they all have rough angular walls, are most often on the south-facing side of the valley, and are typically about 2 m in each dimension (Figure 6). Typically, monks are expected to create their own cells unless one has been made vacant.11 The size of each of them would have been just right for a monk to sit alone and pray, with enough floor space to lie down on a mat (monks were even known to sleep sitting), while the rough niches in the walls would be perfect for placing an icon, a week’s supply of meager food (collected from the central buildings on Sunday), illumination (some niches had soot blackening from candles or lamps), and

other property (a Bible or Psalter and work tools are recorded as being the

personal property of monks).12 In one of the caves that had been partly cleared by a recent novice in 2005, several artifacts from the 14th century were found, including two jars (one of which would certainly have contained water) and two bowls.13 The known mortuary area (Figure 7) is a shallow cave which has too little soil to be properly called a graveyard. As part of the refoundation of the monastery, the surficial human bone of the site was collected into an ossuary by Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, whose impression was that human bone disturbed by fresh interments were originally collected, wrapped in textile, and placed in niches in the cave. Typically the more “important” members of monastic communities are buried within the monastic buildings, while most of the monks are buried outside of the building.14 So it may be that the graves of the founder and the subsequent monastery superiors have not yet been found. A possible location is below the altar (a not uncommon location for the crypt), which is the only area within the current buildings that is not over bedrock or a cistern. Excavation of this area is planned in a future season.

It has been suggested that the complete floor plan of the church itself is typical of the basilical form of the 5th to 6th century CE (see Figure 2), as are motifs carved into the stonework of the church.15 However, the primary construction comprises a number of different types of stonework. The isolated piers, the archway, the spandrels that separate the nave from the aisles, and the east wall above the apse, are all constructed of a finely worked ashlar. This has been dressed with chisels of about 3.5-4 cm wide with 10-12 teeth, in blocks which are typically about 30-40 cm high, and the full width of the column (66 cm) is by half its width. The original parts of the outer walls are of hammer-dressed blocks in well-ordered courses; typically the stones are about 22 cm high. However, many core areas of the building, including the half piers, the west wall of the nave, and the inner shell of the apse, are badly ordered and comprise some very large stones, probably re-used from the ‘Roman’ towers. This core masonry seems like the work of monks, rather than masons, while the rest of the structure is obviously the work of a team of highly skilled masons. This combination would be odd if the building was built in one project. If one considers the plan (Figure 2), this core masonry actually forms the outline of what is considered the most typical of monastic churches in the Holy Land,16 which is a simple prayer hall with an apse at the eastern end, with the most reliably dated examples being late 4th or 5th century. There seem to be two main ways of constructing a church of this nature, one with a pitched roof, the other with a flat stone roof supported by transverse arches (Butler 1929: 17). These parts of the hypothesized prayer hall at Deir Mar Musa are entirely missing, so to investigate whether our early church had a flat or pitched roof I have used the main surveys of early Syrian church architecture to

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develop an idea of the distribution of each type.17 The distribution is not conclusive, but for now I have reconstructed the church with a pitched roof (see Figure 5).Typically the better preserved examples have a window in the apse.18 In comparable monasteries, the church is placed on the north side of the complex, with a courtyard on its southern side to provide space for the community to congregate, a function of particular importance in laura with their infrequent assemblies.19 The proposed monastery-type church actually provides a far more appropriately sized courtyard for this function at Deir Mar Musa. Typically, the door to a church of this nature would be at the western end, or on the south wall towards the western end, where it is intended to let in light to the church. The irregular alignment of the north wall may be due to a structure, such as a baptistery or a diaconicon at the eastern end of the present north apse. At some time after the monk-built monastery-type church was built, professional masons were recruited to turn the church into the basilical pattern. Part of the north wall of the church has been damaged, probably by earthquake (see Figure 2), and has been replaced by a disordered rubble and wooden beam infill (wood is known to decrease the impact of an earthquake; see also below for chronological significance). The walls of the clerestory of the nave are mostly poorlyordered rubble and wood, and although the eastern ends have ashlar stonework which is a continuation of the east wall, keyed in to the clerestory walls, the courses of the rubble do not follow that of the ashlar. There are three small windows in each clerestory wall; two on the north side have some blocks that had originally been finely worked with a combed chisel, like that in other parts of the early church. Since they are supported by the rubble construction, it is evident that they have been re-used in

some way, although it is conceivable that they have just been put back into their original position (in Figure 5 they are reconstructed as arched windows, like the surviving window from this phase in the East wall). The well-known wall-paintings of the site20 (see Figure 8) comprise several layers, the earliest sealing an inscription in the wall of 1058, and the last incorporated a dated inscription of 120821 or 119222 (the 1208 date will be used here). The first phase is found painted on the ashlar elements, while the last phase is found on all of the walls, including the rubble and wood beam clerestory, suggesting that the clerestory was constructed in its present form between these dates, i.e., in the 12th century. Visible as dotted lines on the plan are the rooms under the present terrace. The walls of these rooms are made from poorly dressed rubble with wooden beams that abut the earlier walls on the western side of the rooms which are therefore earlier (these are shown shaded as being the same phase as the church). This north wall is of wellordered courses of hammer-dressed stones, a bit rougher than the church walls, but nevertheless functioning as a revetment for the church. It represents the eastern extent of the terrace at the church ground-level in this period (and is visible in a photograph taken before reconstruction of the terrace.23 A fragment of well-ordered and welldressed masonry is found on the extreme northeast corner of the terrace, representing a structure which would have been perched on a promontory of the bedrock. The building would be in an appropriate position for a diaconicon during the basilical phase of the church. Again this structure was damaged during an earthquake. The rooms below the present terrace in this northern group go down to three levels, and the outer wall of the lowest of these is also of well-ordered masonry. This

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would indicate a lower terrace at the time of the church construction or slightly later (later in Figure 5). The southeast complex of walls below the present terrace also has what appears to be an older wall at its western extremity (Figure 2). It differs from the northerly early terrace revetment in being in a diverse range of blocks, similar to the parts of the church in which it was suggested that Roman blocks were re-used. This wall is set onto the bedrock, and may be the east wall of a cistern that is under the terrace. The southern termination of this wall may suggest that the early terrace ends along the line of the northern wall of the south range of buildings. This would indicate that the south range is later than the foundation of the monastery, although the visible outer wall along the south side of the building is of well-ordered courses of hammer-dressed masonry (they are in the same shade as the church on the plan). The south range may be a later construction, for the monastery is recorded as thriving in later centuries: in the 9th century it seems that two monks from Deir Mar Musa became bishops.24 The western end of these buildings shows significant earthquake damage, with repairs in the same masonry as seen elsewhere. The reconstruction for circa 1100 (Figure 5) shows the buildings existing before the earthquake(s) of the 12th century. Mediaeval monastery An apparent period of prosperity in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries is indicated by the recorded renovation of the church in 1058 CE followed by four different levels of wall-paintings (Figure 8), with the last bearing an inscription dating it to 1208 CE. However, it must be said that the 1058 inscription commemorating the construction of the monastery may be a rather grandiose claim as the building really seems to represent primarily a Byzantine foundation with remodeling following an

earthquake which probably occurred in the 12th century (see Figure 9). The greater part of the medieval construction on the site seems to be due to earthquake damage, and if the hypothesis that the clerestory of the nave of the church was made in its present form between the dates that bracket the paintings, then this would date the earthquake in the 12th century. Earthquake damage certainly seems to be indicated in a number of major cracks in the walls, and the actual collapse and subsequent rapid reconstruction of the walls in other places mentioned above. All of this masonry is of a similar nature, indicative not of professional masons but of amateurs trying to rapidly shore up the remaining buildings. Apart from the clerestory and the pieces of masonry already suggested as being repair following an earthquake, other walls of the same nature include the rooms constructed over the aisles of the church, and the rooms below the present terrace. A 12th century date for the reconstruction works very well with the known seismic history of greater Syria.25 Major transverse faults may be found all along the region (see Figure 1), while a major northsouth fault on the same alignment is visible in the valley (see Figure 10). During the 12th century a series of major earthquakes passed down the fault system from north to south.26 The Aleppo earthquake of 1138 is known as one of the most destructive earthquakes in recorded history. The Hama earthquake of 1157 is particularly well known in Middle Eastern history because it practically annihilated the Munqidh family of Shayzar. It is also recorded as being the first earthquake in which wood was incurporated into rebuilding.27 Each of these shocks caused widespread damage across the region, and could have caused the damage at Deir Mar Musa. The closest epicentre (but not necessarily the most likely culprit) is the earthquake of 1170,

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while the Baalbek earthquake of 120228 was only 6 years before the completion of the wall-paintings in 1208. Reconstruction also appears to have been undertaken on the remains of the larger of the two ‘Roman’ towers in about this period. This masonry comprises blocks which are well-dressed with a hammer and pecked, in well-lain courses of about 28-30 cm height. Small narrow windows all have a little detail of an arch cut into the top stone, and there is a small but effective box machicolation (see Figure 11), situated directly over the door on the ground floor, already postulated as being medieval in its present form (see above). The vaulting in the ground floor of this structure would probably also be of this period. It seems probable that after the initial reconstruction following the earthquake, professional masons with experience of military architecture were employed to develop this defensive structure. The mediaeval modifications to the Bab al-Sharqi and Bab Touma in the capital Damascus have similar stone-work, windows, and box machicolations, the latter being of a suitably larger size. Both of these gates are particularly apposite comparisons as they also have foundations of large Roman blocks. Fourteenth century and later Although a great deal of pottery was recovered from the monastery buildings during restoration it would seem mostly to represent quite a restricted time range in the 14th century.29 The pottery has mostly been recovered from the rooms below the terrace, and the roof of the church, which may possibly suggest that the former were largely abandoned in this period and the latter was repaired. Diagnostic wares include Damascus underglaze-painted wares;30 a piece of Yuan Longquan celadon stoneware from China; a group of slippainted earthenware bowls; an even larger

group of slip-incised or “sgraffiato” bowls; and unglazed slip-painted wares.31 The slip-incised wares are particularly interesting in that they appear to have Christian symbols, although were probably made by Muslim potters in Damascus (see Figure 12). In the late 15th century it is known that the monastery was producing a large number of manuscripts.32 Two inscriptions claim to have constructed a “fortress” on the site, one dated 1467/8 and located in the courtyard, the second over the present main entrance dated to 1497/8. There are indeed at least two further phases recognizable in the architecture at Deir Mar Musa which may fit this data (see Figure 2). The final phase visible in the floor-plan is an extension that abuts the 15th century extension, which presently contains the lavatories, and presumably had this function when it was constructed. Further inscriptions attest to intermittent activity until the abandonment of the monastery in the early 19th century. Restoration of the monastic buildings began in 1984, and in 1991 a monastic community officially under the aegis of the Syrian Catholic church was founded once more at the site, led by Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio. The monastic community is active in encouraging understanding between Christians and Muslims in an area where such understanding is essential to world peace. As part of the development of this work, I am working towards the development of a museum and research centre for archaeology and natural history as part of a planned visitor centre.

CONCLUSION One of the most significant things that can be said about Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi is that it is located where hardly anyone would choose to live. If the Romans did indeed occupy the site, it was because

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some legate decided it would be so. The occupants of the monastery came here for other reasons: to continue the Abrahamic tradition of dialogue with God where there are no distractions—in the desert. The monastic buildings themselves exhibit fifteen hundred years of occupation. During this time there have been various phases of construction, quite often, it seems, due to the challenges of conflict, but also to acts of God in the form of earthquakes. It is startling to realize that the wealth indicated by the church remodeling in 1058 CE followed by four different levels of wall-painting by 1208 CE, occurred during the period of the early Crusades. These alien invaders were hostile to Muslim and Jew alike, with Eastern Christians often faring little better at their hands. It is also rather salutary to consider that the famous mural paintings of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi may have been created because of an earthquake that is known to have killed tens of thousands of people. Future research will be aimed at

greater understanding the monastery and examining this history, and examining in particular the greater monastery that is spread across the valley in the form of hermit caves, cisterns, field terraces, and lime kilns.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Michel Maqdisi and others at the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums for their help and co-operation; Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio and Emma Loosley for information and input on the subject matter; to them and also to Julian Siggers, Kay Sunahara and Blanka Misic for comments on earlier drafts of the paper; I would like to thank Emma’s uncle Ink for sending me to see her at Mar Musa in the first place; and lastly I would like to recognize the generosity of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the University of Toronto, and the Royal Ontario Museum for supporting this project.

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NOTES 1

P. Dall’Oglio, M. Cordaro, L. Alberta, et al, Il restauro del monastero di San Mose l’Abisino, Nebek, Siria (Damascus, 1998); E.C. Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa al-Habashi: A Study in Medieval Painting in Syria (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2001). 2 Y. Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert Monasteries in the Byzantine Period (Yale U. Press, 1992), 10-11, 18-33. 3 H.C. Butler, Syria: Publications of the Princeton archaeological expeditions to Syria in 1904-5 and 1909; Part II: Architecture. Section A: Southern Syria; Section B: Northern Syria (Leyde, 1910-20), 20.II.A: 115; J.L. Biscop, Deir Déhès Monastère d'Antiochène étude architecturale, Institut Français D'Archéologie du Proche Orient : Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique CXLVIII (1997), pl. 70 ; J. Lassus, Sanctuaires chrétiens de Syrie, essai sur la genèse, la forme et l'usage liturgique des édifices du culte chrétien en Syrie, du IIIe siècle à la conquête musulmane (Paris : P. Geuthner, 1947), pl. XLII.1. 4 D.L. Kennedy and D. Riley, Rome's desert frontier: from the air (London: Batsford, 1990), 28-46. 5 H.C. Butler, Early Churches in Syria, Princeton Monographs in Art and Archaeology (Princeton, 1929), 91. 6 M. Decker, “Towers, refuges and fortified farms in the late Roman East,” Liber Annuus 56 (2006) 499-520. 7 Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, 171-76. 8 Butler, Syria, 85-90. 9 On the grave of St Moses the Ethiopian and for a discussion of the saint see Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa al-Habashi, 9-10. 10 H. Kaufhold, “Notizen über das Moseskloster bei Nabk und das Julianskloster bei Qaryatain in Syrien,” OC 79 (1995) 48-119. 11 Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, 62. 12 Ibid, 93-101. 13 Mason (forthcoming). 14 Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, 130-143. 15 Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa alHabashi, 5; E. Loosley, The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth to Sixth-Century Syrian Churches (Kaslik, Lebanon: USEK Publications, 2003).

16

Cf. Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, 112-

130.

17

See Figure 1, data from Butler, Syria, II.A, and II.B; Butler, Early Churches in Syria; G. Tchalenko, Villages antiques de la Syrie du nord: le massif du Belus à l'époque romaine, Institut français d’Archéologie de Beyrouth, Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique, Tome I (1953); A. Ovadiah, Corpus of the Byzantine Churches in the Holy Land (Bonn: Peter Hanstein Verlag GMBH, 1970); Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert; G.M. Fitzgerald, A Sixth Century Monastery at BethShan (Scythopolis) (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1939); A. Michel, Les églises d'époque byzantine et umayyade de Jordanie (provinces d'Arabie et de Palestine) Ve-VIIIe siècle: typologie architecturale et aménagements liturgiques (avec catalogue des monuments) (Brepols, 2001); J. Lassus, Inventaire archéologique de la région au nord-est de Hama (Damas: Institut français de Damas, 1935), 4-7; and personal observation. 18 Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, figs. 13 and 14; Tchalenko, Villages antiques de la Syrie du nord, Tome II (1953), pl. XIII. 19 Hirschfeld, The Judean Desert, 166-170. 20 Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa alHabashi. 21 P.M. Dall’Oglio, et al., Il restauro del monastero di San Mose l’Abisino, 11-22. 22 Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa alHabashi, 17. 23 Ibid, pl. 6. 24 Ibid, 12. 25 N.N. Ambraseys, “The 12th century seismic paroxysm in the Middle East: a historical perspective,” Annals of Geophysics, N. 2/3 (April/June 2004) 733-758. 26 Ibid; N.N. Ambraseys and C.P. Melville, “An Analysis of the Eastern Mediterranean Earthquake of 20 May 1202,” in W.H.K. Lee, H. Meyers and K. Shimazaki (eds.), Historical Seismograms and Earthquakes of the World (San Diego: Academic Press, 1988), 181-200. 27 Ambraseys, “The 12th century seismic paroxysm in the Middle East.” 28 Ambraseys and Melville, “An Analysis of the Eastern Mediterranean Earthquake of 20 May 1202.”

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The Desert, the Divine, and a Disaster in the Architecture and Chronology of the Monastery of St. Moses _________________________________________________________________________________________ 29

Mason, forthcoming. R.B. Mason, G. Bailey & L. Golombek, “Stylistic Groups and their Production Centres,” in L. Golombek, R. B. Mason, & G. Bailey, Tamerlane's Tableware: a new approach to the Chinoiserie Ceramics of Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Iran (Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Press, & Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum Press, 1996), 109-123. 30

31

For fuller accounts of the ceramic technology, see R.B.J. Mason, Shine Like the Sun: Lustre-painted and Associated Pottery from the Medieval Middle East (Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Press, & Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum Press, 2004). 32 Kaufhold, “Notizen über das Moseskloster bei Nabk;” Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa al-Habashi, 12.

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Figure 1 Location Map Earthquake epicenters after Ambraseys (2004), fault lines also from Ambraseys and only available for western Syrian region. Sites are located with Google Earth by using overlays of main sources (e.g., Butler 1910-20, 1929; Tchalenko 1953; Hirschfeld 1992) or provided grid references (e.g. Michel 2001; Ovadiah 1970), followed by prospection of the satellite image to exactly position each location, which is then used to generate the map.

Figure 2 Plan of the main building at Deir Mar Musa with preliminary phase analysis (base plan after Dall’Oglio et al 1998, with significant modifications, phases entirely that of the present author’s interpretation).

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Figure 3 Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in 2007, from the west. Note in particular the large blocks of the “Roman (?)” tower to the left, the mediaeval restructuring above it, and the late 15th century extension to the right (the wall butt-line is just to the left of the door).

Figure 4 Doorway into probable Roman southern structure _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) — Page 13

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Figure 5 Isometric projection of various hypothetical phases of construction

Figure 6 Typical cave, with human for scale _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) — Page 14

The Desert, the Divine, and a Disaster in the Architecture and Chronology of the Monastery of St. Moses _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 7 Mortuary area; for scale note the two climbers approaching the upper cave (which was completely devoid of any archaeological evidence or potential stratigraphy). Note also another cave further up the hillside, which had evidence of occupation, and a further cave at the top of the hill which was occupied, although by a horned viper .

Figure 8 Mural paintings from the 1208 phase: Top left, St. Barbara (patron saint of masons); top right, St. Catherine; bottom left the first phase with the Ascension of Elijah (red pigments, white ground), and the final phase with the Evangelist Mathew and inscription of 1208; bottom right St. Cecilia from the first phase. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) — Page 15

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Figure 9 Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in 2007, from the north. Note in particular the irregular cracks caused by earthquake damage.

Figure 10 Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi from the southeast in 2004. Note the fault line going down the cliff on the opposite side of the wadi. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) — Page 16

The Desert, the Divine, and a Disaster in the Architecture and Chronology of the Monastery of St. Moses _____________________________________________________________________________________________

Figure 11 Small box machicolation from mediaeval defensive phase

Figure 12 Slip-incised ware, with cross-motif? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) — Page 17

____________________________________________________________________________

“MAY I TREASURE UP THE WORDS IN MY HEART!”: SYRIAC CULTURE IN MODERN ARAMAIC ORAL TRADITION

ALESSANDRO MENGOZZI UNIVERSITY OF TURIN

T

he earliest written witnesses of Modern Aramaic are religious texts composed in learned varieties of Jewish and Christian vernaculars of presentday northern Iraq. Their linguistic, literary and stylistic forms attest the existence of a rich and probably much earlier oral literature in the vernacular. They are written texts that have drawn on classical literatures—Hebrew, Jewish Aramaic and Classical Syriac, but they are clearly intended for oral transmission, being homiletic texts in the case of Jewish authors and lengthy hymns to be chanted by soloists and/or choirs in the case of East Syrian Christians. The latter exhibit stylistic features and structuring devices typical of oral poetry: rhyme, rhythm, formulae, copia verborum, multilingual hendyadis, anaphora and anadiplosis.1 The earliest dated Modern Aramaic vernacular Christian texts originated in the Mosul plain around the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. It was only in the 18th century, however, that Christian Aramaic vernacular literature began to be committed to writing in manuscripts as a marginal, quantitatively almost insignificant phenomenon in the context of that flourishing of scribal and literary activities known as the “school of Alqosh”. Beginning with the 16th century, a number of

authors and families of professional scribes of Alqosh, in the Mosul plain, or the surrounding region, were extraordinarily active in copying, reading, and commenting on Classical Syriac works. They became original authors them-selves in the classical language and—to a far lesser extent—in the vernacular.2 In the 19th century, this kind of literary production attracted the attention of the first European scholars who dealt with Modern Aramaic. They used it especially as a source of linguistic evidence and were seldom interested in literary features.3 After the first ground-breaking publications, almost a century elapsed before Semitic scholars rediscovered the charm of modern Aramaic tongues.4 This renewed interest was cultivated mostly by dialectologists who became progressively more aware of the risk of extinction that threatened what they usually label “Neo-Aramaic” dialects. Only a few scholars devoted themselves to reading and collating manuscripts containing Modern Aramaic literary texts. 5 The intense and meticulous labour of the linguists resulted in the publication of a number of grammatical descriptions of NeoAramaic dialects. Especially in the last few years, there has been a real surge in publications on Neo-Aramaic.6 A new series

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on Neo-Aramaic studies has recently been launched by Gorgias Press. The meritorious German series Semitica Viva, Harrassowitz Verlag, hosts a growing number of grammatical outlines, always accompanied by the transcription and translation of oral texts and glossaries. Geoffrey Khan can be considered the leading scholar in this kind of publication. For Gorgias Press and Brill, he is the author of a number of grammars structured according to the Semitica Viva model, but enriched with thorough and refined treatments of syntax and ample anthologies. The more than 2000 pages of his three-volume The NeoAramaic dialect of Barwar7 can be considered a monumental achievement not only for NeoAramaic and Semitic studies, but more broadly for dialectology and descriptive linguistics as well.8 Among the oral texts published in such dialectological works it is not rare to come across engaging examples that reflect the recent history of the Aramaic-speaking communities and of their oral literature: folktales, fables, specimens of heroic poems, songs, etc. Informants, selected as the most competent and representative speakers of the various dialects, are often talented story-tellers, and the texts they have recorded are often felicitous examples of fine oral performances. In this paper, I shall address two of these oral texts, in which Modern Christian Aramaic oral tradition preserves ancient lore. They tell stories which followed similar patterns of transmission. Mentioned in and perhaps originating from Biblical accounts, they were elaborated in various forms, expanded with narrative details in extra-canonical midrashlike literary texts, in Classical Syriac and/or other Eastern Christian languages, and are finally to be found circulating in oral form among con-temporary Assyrians and Chaldeans. The plots and characters are so popular and they are so widespread in time and space that it is almost impossible to draw a

genealogical tree to illustrate the history of their transmission and their interdependence. In an apt and fascinating metaphor that I heard once used to describe Greek epics, they are stories carried by the current of a narrative river that flows underground and from time to time allows certain parts or details to spring up to the surface, in various forms and languages. We shall focus on two stories: the Maccabean martyrs and the Blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph.

THE MACCABEAN MARTYRS The deutero-canonical Second Book of Maccabees relates the martyrdom of the noble scribe Eleazar and of a mother and her seven sons as examples of the cruelty of Antiochus Epiphanes toward the Jews (2nd century B.C.).9 Because of their refusal to eat prohibited food, they were tortured and killed, becoming martyrs by virtue of their respect for the Law and for their fear of God. The same story with small variations is expanded in the Fourth Book of Maccabees, which seems to be part of the “canon” in the old Peshi৬ta manuscript known as the Codex Ambrosianus (6th-7th century) together with Book VI of Josephus’ Bellum judaicum, featured there as the Fifth Book of the Maccabees.10 [The Fourth Book of Maccabees] ... has come down to us in Greek, Latin and Syriac. It was doubtless composed in the first mentioned language. It is found in the great Biblical Codices, the Sinaitic and the Alexandrine, as well as in a number of minor Greek MSS. Being sometimes attributed to Josephus it is to be found in editions of his works as well as in editions of the Septuagint. 11

In 1895 Bensly-Barnes published a number of Syriac works related to the Maccabean martyrs.12 In the Syriac tradition, at least since Aphrahat and Ephrem, the courageous mother has been called Shmuni.

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In a madrƗšƗ attributed to Ephrem, she is transformed through a subtle play of comparisons and oppositions into an improbable heroine of virginity.13 An anonymous WestSyriac homily contains curious attempts to give the story a Christian flavour. The manuscript was written in Antioch, in year 1503 of the Seleucidic era. The headings describe the mother and her sons as martyrs of Christ the Saviour and in the text the name of Shmuni is occasionally christianized as Mary.14 Traces of this literary tradition concerning the Maccabean martyrs are preserved in a dorek‫ܔ‬a, attributed to Israel of Alqosh, one of the earliest and probably the most famous author of the first period (16th century), founder of the ShikwƗnƗ (or QashƗ) family of scribes, leader and inspirer of the so-called “School of Alqosh”. The first verses of this Modern Aramaic hymn are worth quoting since they encode, as it were, all the basic elements of the oral transmission. The poet asks for eloquence, passion and memory to tell his story (“may I treasure up the words in my heart, so that I may tell them and not forget”) and invites all Syrians to listen to him. 1 In the name of the Trinity, O that I had eloquence and that passion might strike me! 2 O that passion might strike me both outside and inside, that I might speak and the ear listen to me! 3 Listen, Oh Syrians, to the story of the priest Israel which he told about the Maccabean martyrs! 4 Oh Maccabees, children of Shmuni, all of you, stay with me, when I speak for you with my small mouth! 5 May I speak with my mouth for you and sing about you with my heart and let my figure sink in your dust (sic)! 6 When they take pity on me may they sprinkle dew on my flame and cover and protect me with their peace!

7 May they cover and protect me with their peace so that, when their eyes look at me, I may be clothed with their armour! 8 May I be clothed with their armour and may I treasure up the words in my heart so that I may tell them and not forget. 9 In the time in which the cursed Antiochus was king and sovereign, he left the perfect way of truth. 10 In Jerusalem he slew and destroyed and like a dragon he hissed and he destroyed many people. 11 In the three days that he came eighty thousands he killed15 and when he took them to prison, 12 he ordered Eleazar the nobleman: ‘Eat swine’s flesh, lest I cook you in the fire! 13 And if it happens that you do not eat and you deny this word of mine, you will not escape from death. […] 28 Great is Shmuni, how much she endured!, whose seven children, a nest, were killed in front of her and she did not grieve. 29 Great is Shmuni, the holy, her children were killed, one and six, but she was not separated from her Lord! 30 She was aflame as she sat and when she heard it, voluntarily she leapt in the cauldron of pitch.16 31 When she leapt, she was cooked and her soul went out from her body and she deserved to ascend to the Kingdom. 17

The narrative detail of the mother who “voluntarily leapt in the cauldron of pitch” (v. 30, ll. b-c) indicates that Israel of Alqosh used sources deriving from 4 Maccabees. Precisely this incident is in fact the main

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difference between the Second and the Fourth Book of Maccabees. In 2 Maccabees 7:41, the mother is said to have died last, after all her children, whereas the text of 4 Maccabees 17:1 specifies that she, “certain guards say, flung herself into the frying pan.”18 When Jasmin Sinha published in 2000 a grammatical sketch with texts of the NeoAramaic dialect of BƝৢp‫ۑ‬n (province of Mardin, southeastern Turkey), she probably did not realize that she had found an oral version of the story of Shmuni. The oral text has been recorded in France, where Sinha’s informant, Mr P‫ۑ‬৬r‫ۑ‬s Ide, now lives. The audio-file can be downloaded from SemArch –the Semitisches Tonarchiv of Heidelberg University (www.semarch.uni-hd.de). The text begins with a proud statement of identity: 19

Našmoni QadϷšta 1. Mă-d-iwux axnux suraye ad-kaldƗ̗ n qa‫ܒ‬oliqaye Ϸձtwalayni matwata b- Türkiya: MƝr, Baznaye, ξšši, Harbole,20 ‫ۉ‬a‫܈܈‬an, BƝ‫܈‬pϷn, anni Ϸձtwalũ etata. 2. U m̷-d-iwa eta ad-Me’er bi-gawϷd šϷmmϷd Našmoni QadϷšta, m- Našmoni QadϷšta yamri amare. 3. ξ̗ twala šawwá-brone u xa-gawra. gawraw mϷtle. qƗm xá- ... malka, yzale m-’Ϸllaw yamϷr Ϸn lá-batyat m‫܈‬apyat bí, bgawrat bí u payšat mϷnni. 4. Aya yamra mϷnnux lá-ypayšan u láygawran u bkalyan go haymanutϷd Mšiha. 5. YamϷr lá-gawrat bí, bronax qatlϷnnũhũn. Yamra q‫ܒ‬ullũ broni. Maytele brona aw-raba, q‫ܒ‬Ϸlle, xzela, baraqul aynaw q‫ܒ‬Ϸlle, l-săhaduta. 6. Xera mtayta smϷlta m-ăra hal zala lšmayya. Bronaw hǀl bsyaqa b-šmayya bizala lšmayya. Malaxa lawbnj̗ l biyu, šmayya xzela. 7. Yamra q‫ܒ‬ul... ham pa-zaۜoma qa‫ܒ‬l... q‫ܒ‬ul áwxena-že. Šáw Ϸtla bronaw. QϷ‫ܒ‬lile u hadax bqadišuta xazyawa yasqawa yasϷq yalaw lšmayya. 8. U aya-že q‫ܒ‬ilale, go haymanutϷd Mšiha lámpϷlla u lá-mϷxšϷkla. Aya zϷlla l-malkutϷd šmayya u m-qam d-ayyá-săhadutϷd d-wϷdla ayyá-qadϷšta etata ymatti b-šϷmmaw.

10. M̷-d-iwa MƝr, matϷd MƝr Ϸձtwala dá-eta go šϷmmaw, go ‫ܒ‬ura mtayta, b-zawnϷd m-qam …yaҳni batϷr Mší‫ۊ‬ewa ăman m-qam M‫ۊ‬ammad mtáytewa eta tama go šϷmmaw. 11. U hal diyo-že qadϷձštewa u p-axxa líbalũ yamewa biyaw dϷgla. U naše daywane ylablíwalũhũn šamríwalũ l-tama, ymanixáwalũhũn. 13. Kud haymϷnwa sqila biyaw ynayxiwa, ándaywane l-tama u yatũwa. 14. U m̷-d-iwa matϷd MƝr Ϸšti šawwí-bátewa. U kud šeta go šϷmmaw yawdiwa xá-šera. axnux lišana yamruxwa šera, u qurdϷt yamri šawălăd‫ڼ‬r. 15. Yawdiwa go šϷmmaw, yqa‫ܒ‬iwa qϷnyana u yawdiwa ixala u yzáwalũhũn qam tarϷd eta. Tama ybašliwa u yaxliwa u hal a‫܈‬Ϸrta m‫܈‬alũwa go šϷmmaw. 16. bi-d-áw-yoma ixala u šera yawdiwa u edaw y‫܈‬aydíwale-že áw-yoma, p-axxa láypalϷxwa b-go šϷmmaw. 1. We, Christians, Chaldean Catholics, we had villages in Turkey: MƝr, Baznaye, Išši, Harbole, ণassana, BƝৢp‫ۑ‬n, and they had churches. 2. As for the church of MƝr, it had been built in the name of Saint Našmoni. About Saint Našmoni there is a legend. 3. She had seven sons and a husband. Her husband died and a king came to her and said: —You shall give yourself to me, marry me and be mine.— 4. She said: —I shall not be yours nor marry you. I stand fast in my faith for Christ.— 5. He said: —If you do not marry me, I will kill your sons. —She said: —Then, kill my sons! – He took the oldest son and killed him. She saw it. He killed him before her eyes, as martyrdom. 6. She saw a ladder reaching heaven from the earth. Her son ascended to heaven, he went to heaven. She saw that an angel carried him to heaven. 7. She said: —Kill! —She said to the tyrant: —Kill! Kill the others too! – She had seven sons. He killed them and so, in holiness, she saw that her sons ascended to heaven.

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ 9. He killed her too. She stood fast in her faith for Christ. She did not fall and did not doubt. She went to the Kingdom of Heaven. Because of this martyrdom which the holy woman faced, they build churches in her name. 10. As for MƝr, the village of MƝr had a church in her name, built on a mountain in the time before… I mean… after Christ but before Muতammad this church was built in her name. 12. Until today Našmoni is regarded as a saint. And here too [in France, where the informant now lives] one should not tell lies in her name. The possessed were brought there. They were kept there and were healed. 13. Whoever has deep trust in her is healed. The possessed … there and came back. 14. As far as the village MƝr is concerned, there lived there sixty or seventy families. Every year they held a festival in her name. In our language we say šera, while in Kurdish they say šawălăd‫ڼ‬r. 15. It is held in her name. They slaughtered a cow and prepared a banquet. They went there out in front of the church. They cooked and ate there and prayed in her name until evening. 16. On that day they held a banquet and a festival. Her church too was seized on that day. But here, too, one does not work in her name.

The name of the saint in this dialect (or at least in the idiolect of this informant) has the form ‘Našmoni’, which probably derives by distortion from the Classical Syriac phrase bnay Shmuni ‘the sons of Shmuni’. The final diphthong -ay is pronounced –a in certain positions in a number of dialects.21 The meaning of the sequence bna shmuni is probably not understood any more, sounding something like bnoned shmuni in the modern dialect, and yields the new name Našmoni for the saint.22 The narrator from BƝৢpƝn clearly remembers that Našmoni alias Shmuni had seven sons and that they were killed by an illintentioned sovereign. Moreover, he appears to be in agreement with part of the Classical Syriac tradition that transformed the Jewish

mother of the Maccabean martyrs into a Christian Shmuni, persecuted bhaymanutϷd Mši‫ۊ‬a “because of her faith in Christ” (4). He then tries to date the construction of Saint Shmuni’s church in MƝr ‘after Christ but before Muতammad’ (10), probably to emphasize that Muslims—who eventually seized that sacred place—have no claim to it. The matter of the dispute between the heroic Christian—Christianised— mother and the evil king consequently, could no longer have been a question of Jewish kashrut, and the narrator readily changes it with a folktale topos: the attempt of a king or a ruler to take advantage of a woman in a weak position, in this case a widow (3). The narrator draws from the underground river we spoke of and combines narrative components of different stories. The mother’s vision of a ladder linking earth to heaven and of the angel who carries her sons to heaven (6) is another fabulous detail probably added by the narrator and possibly to be found in hagiographical traditions or inspired by the biblical ladder of Jacob. It confirms the mother in her belief in the future of her sons in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the second and final part of the text (1216), we are then taken to the village festival of Našmoni Qadd‫ۑ‬šta and told how the saint and her church had power to heal the possessed (daywane, possibly ‘mentally disturbed people’).

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AND JOSEPH HER HUSBAND The story of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph her husband has its roots in the Gospel of Matthew and in early non-canonical texts, such as the Greek Protoevangelium of James (mid-2nd century AD), which tried to cope with a number of narrative gaps in Matthew’s account (1:18-25) or integrated what would become canonical material with narrative elements drawn from unknown sources, thus

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both drawing from the depths of our underground river and pouring fresh new water into its currents. It is not easy to ascertain when apocryphal texts on the infancy of Jesus and the life of his mother Mary entered Classical Syriac literature.23 In 1899 Ernest Wallis Budge published a text entitled History of the Blessed Virgin Mary from a 1890 copy of an East-Syriac manuscript of the 13th-14th centuries. Building on previous studies by Wright,24 Budge reconstructs three main versions of the story of the Virgin, but he prefers to edit and translate the text of this late eastern collection since [the History of the Blessed Virgin Mary] represents the popular views which were held by devout but unlettered people concerning the earthly life of the Virgin and Child. But the work […] has considerable value, for it is a tolerably full summary of a number of apocryphal books among which may be mentioned the Protevangelium of James, the Gospel of the Pseudo-Matthew, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of the Infancy, the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, and the ‘Transitus’, or Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These and other books written in Greek and Latin were laid under contribution by the Syrian translator and editor, and as a result we have in the work before us a careful selection of the most important of the stories concerning the Virgin and Child which were current in Syria and Palestine as early as the end of the IVth century of our era, as well as some which were incorporated with them at a later date.25

Very similar narrative material overflows in the chapters of the Book of the Bee dedicated to the birth of Mary and her son Jesus. The Book of the Bee is a prose collection which narrates God’s intervention in the history of the world, from the beginning to the end, incorporating biblical and non-canonical sources, and it appears to

have played a central role in the transmission of traditional Syriac lore to Modern Aramaic poetry.26 It is attributed to Solomon of Baৢra, an East-Syrian writer active in the first half of the 13th century.27 The text was published and translated into English, once again by Budge, in 1886. In the 13th-14th centuries there were thus East-Syrian copyists and authors—such as Solomon of Baৢra—interested in transmitting, harmonizing, and epitomizing old stories about the Virgin Mary. According to the 20thcentury manuscript Habbi 3, p. 228,28 a Modern Aramaic poem (dorek‫ܔ‬a) On the Blessed Virgin Mary was composed in the year 2034 Sel. (1722/23 AD) by a certain Haydeni of Gessa, a village located in the mountain district of Tkhuma, in the Hakkari region. The date is plausible since the text is preserved in another manuscript collection of dorekya‫ܔ‬a (Chaldean Patriarchate, Baghdad 560, dated Alqosh 1758 and unavailable at the moment) and, partially, in the miscellaneous manuscript 567 of the Mingana collection, dated Zawitha, in the mountain district of Tiyari, 1744 AD (now in Birmingham). The content may be described as a poetic rendering of the story of the Holy Virgin Mary as it is told in the Book of the Bee, ch. 34-3629 and it may be summarized as follows: Mary’s father and mother are called Zadok or Yonakhir and Dinah or ণanna respectively, with tentative etymologies of their names.30 After much fasting and prayer, the sterile couple are granted a daughter who is brought to the Temple while still very young. Joseph is recognized as her chaste worthy husband when a white dove goes forth from the Temple and alights on his staff. Gabriel announces to Mary the conception of Our Lord and an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and encourages him to accept her pregnancy. Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. When Jesus is born, twelve Persian kings visit the holy family in Bethlehem to honour the new-born child with offerings and

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________

ĖťſƲƃŎ ŴƌŎ ťƇƀŇ Ɖò ƢƀŎ ƄŎ ƌŇ Ŵſő ơƣŇ ŴƘ Ŏ Ň Ň Ň Ň ő .ŦŁƢŨ ƅƇſĭŋ ųŨ ťƍŶŎ ŧƢƣŋ ŴũƉ Ŏ ő Ň .ƬŎ ũŇŎ Ơò ƌŊ ƁƆŎ ő Ŵƃ Ŏ ƁŎ ƃŎ ƢũŎ Ɖ űŨŊ ĴŴŇ ŬŨ ő Ň Ň ĭĪőŎ ĖŦŁƢ Ŏ ũƣ Ŏ ƃŎ ŴŎ ƃŎ ŦŴſ Ŏ ŦŴŶŇ IJĥĪ ƬŎ ƀź ő Ň Ň ũő ƣ ŦŴŇ ŶŇ IJŤŨ .ƬŎ ƀź Ŏ Ŏ Ň Ŏ ƃŎ ŴŎ ƃŎ ƁƇŎ ƙŊ ƌ ŦŁƢ Ň Ň ŴŨ ƁƇũő ƠŨő ƅſĪ .ƬŎ ƃƱ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ň Ŏ ŦŁƢŨ IJŤŨ ő ò ő ő ťƊƊ ĖƬŎ ŇƙŎ ƀŊ ŹŇ ĶĬĭ Ŏ Ŏ ŋ ƕŎ Ǝſųƀ Ŏ ƆŎ Ŵƃ ő Ň Ň ő ř Ň .ƁƇƀ Ŋ ŦŁƢŨ ƬƍƣĪ Ŏ ƆŊ ĭĬ Ŏ ťƀźƉ ťƆĪ őŇ ő ő ųƆ ő ƁƇƙƠƆ .ƁƇƇŇ Ũő ŴƌŎ ťƇƄſ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ őƁƇŎ ƇƀƠƣ Ň ħő ĿĪ ŧűŇ ſŤƆ ò Ň ĖƁƇƇŇ ſĭĬ Ɓ ſĪ ťƌ ų ƃ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ ŎŎ ő ŇřŇ ő Ň Ň Ň Ň .ťƇƟŤŨŎ ŦŴƤƃŎ ĿŎ Ī ƬƍƤƆ ťƇƀź Ŏ Ŋ Ɖ ĪŴƃ Ň ő Ň ő ő ő .ťƇƄſųƆ Ŏ ƁƇƇŨŴƌŎ ƁƇƙƠƆ Ŏ Ŏ ƁƇƇƀƠƣ Ň Ň ő ő ő ő ő ĖťƇſĭĿ ŋ ĵĬŊ ƋſƢŎ ƉŎ ťƇƤƘŊ ťƇƄſĬŎ ŴŬŨĭŊ Ň Ŵƃ ťƍƃò ĭ ťƆĭŁ ťƉŇ ŁŇ ĶĬő .Ĭő ŁƱ Ŏ Ŏ ŎŎ ŋŊ Ŏ ő ő ő ò Ň Ň .ƬŎ ƊƃŎ Ī ťūĿ Ŋ Ŏ űƆ Ŏ ĭĿ Ŏ ź ŋ ƉĭŊ ƁƇſ Ŏ ő ƁƇƀ Ň ő Ň ĖŦŁŎ Ŵƌų Ŏ ƃĪ ĿŴźƏ Ŏ űŨ Ŏ ŧƲŊ ũŎ ūŎ ŦŁ Ŏ ſĭĬ Ŏ ƁƇ ò Ɓƌő ĥ ò ƬŎ ƆŇ ĭŎ ƦŨ .ťƍƣŇ Ʊŋ Ī ƬŎ ƍŨ Ŏ Ŏ ő Ň ő Ň ò .ťƌųƃĪ ĿŴźƏ ƁƇ Ŏ űŨ Ŏ ŧƲŋ ũŎ ūŎ ŦŁ Ŏ ſĭĬ Ŏ Ň ƣő ƅƉ ő ťƣŴƉĪ ťƕƢ ĖųƌŴő ƃŎ ĥőŎ ķĭĿĿĬĥĭ Ŏ ŋ Ŏ Ŏ Ŋ Ň Ň ő Ň ő ő Ň ŨŊ .ťƉŁ ƋſƢŎ ƉŎ IJĥ ťƇƤƘŊ ųƍŇ ƀŬ ő Ň ő ř ő ŵƃ ťƆĪ .ťƊŇ ƀƉ Ŏ ŁŎ ŧƢũŎ ūŎ ťƤŇ ƌŇ ĥ ƁƇſ Ŏ ŋŎ ő ŇŇ Ň ƁƇƇŇ ſĭĬ Ėųő ƊŇ ƕŎ ĪƢŨŊ ƚƏŊ ŴƀƆ Ŏ ĴĪųƉ ő ĥő .ťƌŤŇ ƃŋ ƚƏŊ ŴſŇ ĭĥ ŧƢŋ Ɖŋ ŦųŇ Ŭſ Ŏ Ŏ Ň ő ő Ň ő ő Ň Ň .ťƍũŊ ƄƆŎ ŦŁƢŨ ķŴƀƆĭ Ŏ ťƌĥ Ŏ ƦŨ Ň ő Ň ĖťƌƢŊ źƍŎ Ũ ťƌĥ IJŤŎ ſĪŎ ŦŁŎ ŴƆ Ŏ ĭŎ ƦŨ Ŏ

worship him.31 Mary is finally borne up to Heaven, where the heavenly hosts greet her as their Queen. Thus the poet transfers old apocryphal narratives from the classical tradition32 to his Modern Aramaic composition. The story runs pleasantly and fluently through the 99 verses. It is the first witness of the text I have come across and I am currently working at a critical edition. A selection of verses is here proposed, in my provisional working translation:

ő ĭĪ ħĭŁ ŧűŇ ƀŎ ũŎ ƕĪőŎ ƋſƢő Ŏ ƉŎ ő ƬŎ ƀƍŎ ŨŇŎ ŴŹĪ ƬŎ ƃĿ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ň ő Ň ő ő ő Ň Ň Ŏ ƠƆ Ň .ťƉŴŶ Ŏ ŁŎ ĪŎ ŧĿƦŎ ŨŎ Ī ťƐūŊ Ī Ɓƍſ Ŏ űſ Ŏ ŋ Ĭŗ ťƤƀƤ Ň űƆĥĥ ƦŎ ƍŎő ƤŨŎ ő ķŴŇ ƀƆ Ň .ťƍŋ ƀźƏƲƃ ƅƇŋ ūŎ ő ĭŎ Ʀő ƃŎ ĥőŎ ĭŎ ƦŎ ſƞŎ ƉŎ ő Ň Ň ŧƢũő ƃő ťƃŇ ķŴő ƃŴſĪ Ň Ň .ťƌŋ ƦƉ Ŏ Ň Ŏ Ŏ Ň Ŏ ŧĪĭĥ ő ő Ň ŦŁŇ ƢŨ ƋſƢő Ŏ ƉĪ Ėťƍŋ ƣƱĪ Ŏ ƬŎ ƃĿĭĪŎ ő ťƍŇ ſĪ ĶĬĭ ő ő .ƁƆŎ ő ĭŇ ƦŎ ƆŎ ő ťƌĭƢŨ Ŏ Ň Ŏ ľĭĪőĽŇ ő Ň ő ő Ň .ƁƆŎ ŴũŷŊ ƉŎ ťƆ ƈſƢƐſĪŎ ťƊŇ ƕŎ ò ĖƁƆŎ ő ŦĭŇ Ŏ Ĭř Ŧĭŋ ő ĬŇ ťƆŇ ƬŎ ƍŇ Ũò ĭŊ ťƌŴƍŨ ő ĭ ťƍŨƱ Ň ŴƟ .ŦŁŎ ŴƆĽ ŦŴŇ ſĪĭ ĥŇ ťƉŇ ŁŇ Ŋ Ŏ Ŏ ŋ ő ő Ň ƇŇ ƃŇ Ʈƌĥĭ .ƬſŎ ƢŎ ƃőŎ ƬŇ Ŏ ƃő ĭűŨ Ŏ ŦŴƀ Ŏ Ŏ ő ő ťƌŴƍŨ ò ĶĬĭ ò ƁƆĭŇ ƦŎ ƆĪő Ūő ũő ƐƉ ĖƬŎ ƍŨ Ŏ Ŏ ŎŎ Ň ő ő .Ĭő ƢũŎ ūŎ ő ŦŁŇ ŧƢƉŋ ťƍŇ ſĪŎ ŦųŇ Ŭſ Ŏ ĥŎ Ň ő ő .ŧĿŴźƆ Ŏ Ň ƅƠƏ Ŏ Ŏ ƅź Ŋ ĥŎ ƎſŇ ŧƢŨűŎ ƊƆ Ŋ ƇƘ ĪŴƟ ő ő ő ő Ň Ň ĖŧĿŴū ťƄƇƉŎ ƋƟŎ ŦŁŎ ŴƖ Ŏ Ũ ĴűũŎ ƕŎ ő ő Ň ƇƘ ŧƢŨűŎ ƊƆ .ŦŁŎ ŴƖ Ŏ ŨŇ ƁƇƉ Ŏ ƁƆŴź Ŏ Ľĭ Ŋ Ŋ ő ò ő ő ő ő Ň ťƄŋ ƇƉĪ ťƄƇƉŎ ƋƟŎ ő .ŦŁŎ ŴƆĽ ƁƇŎ Ɔŋ ĭƞƉ Ŏ Ŏ Ň ĖŦŁƢŨ ƎſŇ ťƌĭƢŨ ƎƆŎ ő ĬőŎ ƎũŎ ő ŨŇ ťſŇ ő Ň Ň Ƣő Ɖ ťƇƀƊƃ .ťƍŇ ƊŶ ťŷŇ ŨŎ Ŵƣ Ŏ Ŏ ŋ Ŏ ŦųƆŤƆ ő ťƇƀƊƣĪ ő ľĭĪő ĽĪ Ň .ťƍŇ ſĪĪ Ķ Ĭĭ Ŧ Ł ŴƆĽ Ŏ Ŏ ŋ Ŋ ŇŎ Ň ŧĿĪő ŴƤƉ ƁƖ ĖťƌŇ ƢƤũŎ ő Ɖ Ŧĭŋ ĬĪ Ŏ Ŏ ƀƏ ŋ ŎŇ ő ő Ň Ň ĥŇ Ň .ťƇſĭĬ ť ƃ ŤƇ Ɖ ť ƌ ƢƤ ũ Ɖ Ŧ ĭ ŋ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ ő .ťƇŋ ƀƇŋ ƃ ťƍŇ ſĪŎ Ūƀő Ŭŋ Ɔ ťƀŇ Ɗƣ Ŏ ƎƉŎ ťƆŋ ƦŎ ƄŊ ƌ Ň ő ĖťƇŋ ƠƣŊ ŴƙƉ Ŏ ťƍŇ Ŷő Ŏ ťƍŇ ſĪĪ Ŏ ťƊƣŊ ĶĬĭ Ŏ ő ő Ň ő Ň Ň Ň ő Ŏ ųƊƣ ơƣŴƘ .ťſĭƢŨ ųƍŶŇ ťƍŶĪ Ŏ ő ő ő Ň ő Ň Ň Ň .ťƀũŎ ūŎ ƢƀŎ ƄŎ ƌŴſ ľĭĪĽĪ ťƊƣŊ ĶĬĭ Ŏ

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Another poem on the Blessed Mary, written by the priest Haydeni of Gessa, which is in the territory of Tkhuma. In the year 2034 of the Greek (1723 AD)

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Come, listen you Christians! Your servant tells a story, the poem on Mary daughter of princes

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Sadok and Dina did not have a child. The people of Israel did not love them. They did not get sons or daughters.

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There they used to make sacrifices and pray

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ and they were sorely tried33 because they did not have sons nor daughters. 4

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Then Dina told her husband: ‘Let us go out into the desert or onto the mountain and ask a boon of the great King!’ They went out into the desert and fasted for a boon. They prayed before the King of kings: ‘Oh our Father, give us a son or a daughter!’ Glory be to God! How merciful He is, who listened to the prayer of Sadok and Dinah. He sent a messenger to announce good news. That messenger was an angel. He descended from heaven and visited Dinah. He also translated the name of Dinah as Anne. The meaning of Anne’s name is ‘the Creator had mercy on her’, while Sadok’s name is Yonakhir the chosen. The meaning of Yonakhir is ‘with stranger children’. He announced: ‘Anne, you will have a daughter; all women will bless you, who laboured under the sin of childish Eve.

10 Through childish Eve they came under the sway of sin; in your daughter all nations and peoples will receive blessings.’ 11 In less than a year they had a daughter. They took her in their arms and brought her to the temple. They gave her into the hands of their high priest. … 16 When she reached the year in which she began to walk34 they took her on their arms and brought her to the temple. She remained in the temple till she grew up.

… 19 She dwelt there and her companions grew up and reached marriageable age. They were given husbands by permission of the priests. 20 Those maidens were daughters of nobles. They were given in marriage by permission of the priests according to the law of Moses and Aaron his brother. 21 Maryam remained there alone, since they did not find any perfect man. Therefore they gave her to Joseph her fellow countryman. 22 Then honest Joseph said: ‘I am a virgin. I do not want the girl. I shall preserve my virginity. … 24 They were still praying when a dove came (and) alighted on the staff of honest Joseph. Even this Joseph did not believe. 25 In that moment the dove flew up, circled around and closed her wings. She flew away and settled on honest Joseph. 26 When the priests saw, they were all surprised and they all kissed Joseph’s head. Then they gave Mary to him. 27 Joseph accepted then with surprise. He glorified the name of the merciful Lord, but spoke this word to the priest. 28 Joseph spoke this word to the priests: ‘This year I have fallen on hard times. I cannot make a wedding feast for you.’35 29 Then he took her and brought her to his house. By order of the priests he took her with him and respected her honour treating her like his sister.

As is narrated in this text, Joseph’s reaction when the priests offer him Mary in marriage is rather strange (v. 22). It is not clear why he should have refused a girl who

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________

had grown up and been educated in the temple, or why he made a vow of chastity: ‘I am a virgin. I do not want the girl. I shall preserve my virginity.’ Joseph’s chastity36 is in line with the western, Catholic tradition, especially with dogmatic concerns about Mary, her virginity, immaculate conception, assumption into heaven, etc. Bruno Poizat drew my attention to a partial copy of the same dorek‫ܔ‬a on Mary, preserved in a manuscript which once belonged to Father Jacques Rhétoré and is now in the library of the Dominicans of Mosul. In the Mosul manuscript the text is attributed to a certain Brahim of Tkhuma and Father Rhétoré wrote in the margins and on the blank pages before the text that its contents are theologically and historically questionable. He then added the very precious information that an adaptation of this poem to the language of the Mosul plain was to be found in another manuscript (MDM 87: 115116). It is probably this adaptation to the language of the Mosul plain—and to the Catholic sensitivity of the missionaries working there among the Chaldeans—that is attributed to Haydeni of Gessa in the manuscript Habbi 3. In the archetypal text, more faithfully preserved in the version attributed to Brahim of Tkhuma and criticized by Rhétoré on account of its contents, Joseph gives the priests a much more comprehensible answer (22R, MDM 87: 121): ‘I have wives and I’ve got children too. I do not take leave of my family’s heart.’ Therefore, when the miracle of the dove points him out as the perfect husband for Mary (24-26), one cannot but have sympathy for this man, married to more than one woman and presumably with many children, who does not really appear enthusiastic about marrying again. He tries to put off the usual wedding feast and candidly confesses that he has no money to pay for it (28).

Ň ƟŎ ő ųƇŋ ƤƘŊ ĿĬőŎ ŧƢŇ ũő Ŷő Ŏ ĭųř ŨŇ ƚƏŊ ŴſŇ .ųƌƢ ő ĶĬő ŦŁŇ ƦŇ ƄŨő ƁƆƦſĥ ŧƢƉĥř .ťƌŇ ĥř ťƍŋ Ɵ ťƌŋò ŴƍŨ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ ŋŋ ő ťũŇ Ɔ Ň Ň ūŇ ĭĥĪ ĖťƌŇ ĥř ťƤƀƙ Ŏ Ɖ ťƆ Ɓŷ Ŏ ú Ŋ

22 R

22R By that word Joseph became her spouse37 and said: ‘I have wives and I’ve got children too. I do not take leave of my family’s heart.’

Joseph’s previous marriages in the old apocryphal text probably served to solve textual problems and narrative gaps in the New Testament, which says that Jesus had brothers. The alleged author of the Protoevangelium of James explicitly claims that he is a son of Joseph and therefore a stepbrother of Jesus. In passing from the traditional lore of East Syrians living in the Hakkari mountains to the new Catholic Chaldean identity of the plain of Mosul, someone—not necessarily a western missionary—felt the need to make a chaste Joseph out of the old polygamous one, and this of course in order to reaffirm Mary’s chastity. Various versions of this modern poem and its classical sources circulated among the Assyrians at least as early as the 18th century and they have probably contributed to the preservation of the old narratives until the present day. In 1998 Shabo Talay recorded the voice of Awiqam Shakro reciting the oral text that I give here in English translation, excluding the episode of the annunciation and Mary’s discussion with the archangel Gabriel. Die Heilige Maria 38 1. Saint Mary, her parents had no children. They used to ascend to the mountain. Every time they went to the Church, they remained behind the whole assembly. 2. There were people who mocked them because they had no children. They mocked them and said: You have neither sons nor daughters!

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. She said to her husband: – Let’s go up to the mountain and fast and pray to God. Maybe God will give us a son or a daughter, whatever God wants to give us. 4. He prepared himself. She took then her husband and both ascended to the mountain. They fasted three days in prayer. While they were sleeping, they saw in a dream a form like an angel who came to them and said... The name of the father of the Virgin Mary was Tsadok and her mother Dinah. 5. When the angel appeared to them in a dream, he changed their names. The name of Dinah, he changed it to Hanna, and the name of Tsadok he changed it to Jonaxar. 6. He said: You will get a daughter and they all shall ... everything will be blessed. Through her Christ will come, and through her all women will be blessed. 7. I mean, it went on and on and this really happened after a year. I mean, they got a daughter and they took care of her around a year, until she was able to walk. 8. She was a year old and learned to walk. They took her and brought her in the Temple, in the Church, I mean, in the Church as a birth-offering. 9. She wove ... she wove rugs and other things and spun yarn for the church. 10. She stayed there and finally they sent her to school with the nuns. They stayed at school until they were eighteen years old, until they were twenty years old they stayed at school. 11. All the others went away and married, but she remained there alone. She did not marry, she remained unmarried. 12. They found no one to whom they could marry her, no-one proper to marry her. 13. The priests went to church to pray. There was a certain Joseph, he was her cousin.39 I mean, before the priests had finished praying, there came a dove from God, which flew and settled on Joseph’s shoulders.

14. The priests were very pleased and said: Finally we have found someone to whom we can marry her. He will take good care of her. 15. They said: – We will marry her to you! – He said: I have women, I have sons and daughters. I will accept, but – he said – she will not be a real wife for the moment. I will take her with me, but now I will not celebrate the marriage. [...] 20. She became pregnant and Joseph saw that she looked so, I mean, pregnant and wanted to divorce her. The Jews said to Joseph: – You are married without a wedding! – The poor man, indeed, had not celebrated the marriage. 21. When he saw her, he too was .... He said: – I do not believe you until I go there and see her with my eyes. 22. He went and met her. Behold, she was really pregnant. In his heart he thought she might have... in a bad way. 23. He went to bed. He decided in his heart and said: – I will give her a divorce letter and I will divorce her in a country far away. 24. In the evening he fell asleep. An angel of the Lord came in his dreams. He said to him: – Why do you want to abandon her? The one by whom she is pregnant will be called son of the Most High. This is from God. 25. He got up and asked Saint Mary to go home and asked: – Explain to me, where does it come from ...? She swore to him and said: 26. Oh Joseph, I swear to you by the pure blood of Abel, the righteous, first-born and only: there is no one who spoke to me ever! 27. Oh Joseph, I swear to you by the ascension of St. Elijah in the heavenly homeland;

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________

ő Ň ĪĥĪő ųő ƍŇ Ɖ ĶĪŤƆ Ň .ƬƉ Ŏ Ŏ ő Ŋ Ŏ Ɓř ƇŎ ũŊ ūĪő ő ƄŨ ƁƉĥ ťƀƄŶŴƉ ťƤŇ ƌŇ ĥ ƦƀƆ ĖŦŁŎ ŴŎ ŨƢ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ Ŏ ő Ň ő Ŏ ſő Ŏ Ň .ťƀƃĮŎ ťƉűŊ Ũ ƚƏŊ Ŵſ ĴŴƍŎ ƀƊ ő Ň Ň .ťſĭƢƣŎ ŧƢƃŎ ŴŨ Ŏ ťƌŤƃŋ ƈƀŨŋ Ĭ ĭĥĪ ő ř Ɔő ő 41 Ň ĖťſĬĮŎ IJƢŎ ŬŎ ƘŎ ĪŤŨ ťƤŇ ƀū Ŏ ťƤŇ ƌŇ ĥ Ʀƀ Ŏ Ŏ Ň ő Ň ő Ŏ ſő Ŏ Ň Ň .ťƀƌŴƣ Ŏ ĭŤŨ ĶĬŎ ƚƏŊ Ŵſ ĴŴƍŎ ƀƊ Ň .ťƀƌŇ űŋ ƕ ŧĿŁŎ ĥĪőŎ ťƀƆ Ŏ ĥŋ IJƢƉ ĭĥĪ ř Ň ƖŨ ƁƉĥ ťƀƄő ŶŴƉ ťƤŇ ƌŇ ĥ ƦƀƆő ĖťƀƆű Ŋ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ ő Ň ò Ň ő Ŏ ſő Ŏ .ƬŎ ƉŴƉ ƁƆŴŎ ƄŨ ƚƏŴſŇ ĴŴƍƀƊ Ň ő ò ò ò Ň Ň .ŦŁŎ ŴũŨĪ ķŤŨĭŊ ťƀŋ ũŎ ƌĪŊ ťŨŋ ƦŎ Ƅő ŨŊ ő ťƤŇ ƌŇ ĥř ƦƀƆő ő Ň ĭő ƦƉ ĖŦŁŎ ŴƤ Ŏ ƀŎ ũŨ ƁƉ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ ĥŊ ťƀƌ ő ő ő ő Ň ő .ƬƀŎ ƄŎ ŷƉĪ Ŏ ťƣƢŋ Ũ ƁƍŎ ƊŊ ſĭųƉ ƋſƢŎ ƉŎ ő ő .ƬŎ ƉŇ Ŵò ƉŇ űƆŊ ĥŊ ŦŁŎ ŴƠ Ŏ ƀƍƏ Ŏ Ʀƀ Ŏ ƆŎ Ň ŻƟĭ Ŏ ő ő Ň Ň Ň Ň ĖŦŁƢ Ŏ ƃŎ ťſĭųŨ ƅſĪŋ ĴŎ ŵƃŎ űŨŊ ĭ ĴŎ ƢũƀƐƉ Ŏ Ň ő ő Ň Ň .ƢƐŎ Ɵŋ ĸŴźƏŴūŎ ŤƉ ťƌűƟŴƘ Ŏ ťƇŋ źƇŊ Ƙ ő ťƇƀŨƦƄő Ũ ųŬūĭŤŨ Ň .ĿƦƘő űŨ ťƃŇ Ŏ ĪŴƃ Ŏ ŎŎ Ŏ Ŏ ŋ ú Ŏ Ň ŦŁ ő ĿĮĭ Ŧŵò ūĭ ťūƲƃŇ Ī ťƇƠƣ Ė42ƢƏĥ Ŏ ŋŊ ú ú Ŏ

there is no one who came near this pure body! 28. Oh Joseph, I swear to you all oaths, so that you yourself feel the truth. Let us wait and see what will happen in the end! 29. He said: —I believe, it is as you said, I believe you. —Then they went and from then on they lived together until the time came when the birth of Christ was near. Then Christ was born and that was from God. 30. I know this story too so far.

The narrator, Awiqam Shakro, was born in 1933 in Iraq in the village of Noþiya and emigrated to Syria as a baby. His family settled in the village of Tell FƝ਌a, one of the villages along the Khabur river where many Assyrians from the Hakkari region sought and found refuge.40 He tells the story of Mary, her parents and her cousin Joseph quite faithfully. The Jewish temple becomes a church (8) and the noble girls educated in the temple become nuns in a convent school. They prepare for marriage, yet they are called nuns (rabbanyate, 11). But it is in the final part that it becomes clear that Shakro’s source must be a version of our dorek‫ܔ‬a. He shifts appropriately from prose to verse at the most dramatic point in the story of Mary and Joseph, when Joseph asks her about her pregnancy, which had been announced to him in a dream. In defence of her honour as a virgin, the maiden answers in three rhyming verses, each composed of three lines of various lengths and introduced by the formula ‘Oh Joseph, I swear to you...’. (26-28) With slight variation, they contain the same text of vv. 59-62 of the dorek‫ܔ‬a attributed to Haydeni of Gessa in the plain of Mosul and to Brahim of Tkhuma in the mountains of Hakkari:

ő .ťƇŋ ƀƆĪ Ŏ Ŏ ƬƍŎ ƣŊ ƎƉŎ ťƇƊƟŊ ƚƏŊ ŴſŇ ĪŴƃ ő ŬƆ ƋſƢő Ɖő ƬƆĭƦũő Ɔ Ň ƟŊ ųũƀ .ťƇſƢ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ Ŏ Ŋ ŋ ő ƋſƢő Ɖő Ň ƅſĪ ťƆŴƣ ĖťƇŋ ſĭĬ ƁƇƀ ƇūĪ Ŏ Ŏ Ŋ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ň Ň ò ő ő Ň .ƬŎ ƖŨŎ ĽŊ ƁƌŎ ŤŨ ƚƏŴſ ĴŴƍƀƊ Ŏ ſő Ŏ

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When Joseph got up from the sleep of the night, he summoned the virgin Mary: ‘Mary, reveal to me what happened!’ ‘I swear to you, Joseph, on the fingers that moulded Adam from the dust. There is no one who spoke to me with evil intent. I swear to you, Joseph, on the innocent blood of Abel, upright first-born of the beginning. There is no one who touched this chaste body. I swear to you, Joseph, on the removal of St. Elijah from temporal space. There is no one who spoke to me with accusation. I swear to you, Joseph, with all oaths on the books of the prophets and of the Fathers. There is no one who spoke to me with ill intent.’ ‘Mary, I trusted from the beginning of your story.

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ There is no need at all for oaths. Let us be patient and we will see how it ends. 64

A decree was issued by Caesar Augustus. Everyone will be written in the register in his tribe to collect taxes, tributes and duties.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Poetry is a way of treasuring up words, telling them and not forgetting, as Israel of Alqosh says in his poem on Shmuni. I hope I have been able to illustrate the function of Modern Aramaic poetry and oral tradition in preserving and creatively elaborating on old classical narrative material. The stories derived from or created around the Bible are extraordinarily persistent throughout the centuries and pass from the earliest attestations, via late poetic adaptations or prose collections to the contemporary oral traditions of the Assyrians and Chaldeans. Authors, scribes

and oral performers select themes and expand on them according to their cultural background and their expressive needs. The media employed in the transmission, manuscripts on the one hand and memory and voice on the other, leave their marks in the texts and contribute to reshaping their form and content. The name of the mother of the seven martyrs changes from Shmuni to Mary, or via Bnay Shmuni to Nashmuni, but her courage and fortitude continues to be sung, repeated and told with admiration. From one manuscript to the next, Joseph may be transformed from a polygamous father of many sons and daughters to a chaste virginal guardian of Mary’s virginity, but neither poets nor storytellers can resist filling in the gaps of the Gospel narrative for their audiences, who are evidently eager to know everything about the earthly and heavenly life of the mother of Our Lord the Saviour. Who were Mary’s parents? What did Joseph say to Mary when he discovered her pregnancy? What did she say to defend herself?43

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ NOTES 1

Y. Sabar, “Some Comparative Observations on the Lexicons of Nerwa Texts in Jewish NeoAramaic and the Neo-Syriac Poems of Alqosh and Telkepe,” in Studi Afroasiatici, ed. A. Mengozzi (FrancoAngeli: Milano, 2005), 391-96; A. Mengozzi ed., A Story in a Truthful Language: Religious Poems in Vernacular Syriac by Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe (North Iraq, 17th century), CSCO 590, Scriptores Syri 231 (Peeters: Leuven, 2002); Idem ed., Religious Poetry in Vernacular Syriac from Northern Iraq (17th-20th Centuries). An Anthology, with contributions by E. Braida, S. Destefanis, R. Saccagno and Sh. Talia, CSCO 627-628, Scriptores Syri 240-241 (Peeters: Leuven, 2011). 2 H.L. Murre-van den Berg, “A Syrian Awakening. Alqosh and Urmia as Centers of NeoSyriac Writing,” in VII Symposium Syriacum (1996), OCA. 256, ed. R. Lavenant (Romae: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1998), 499-515; Eadem, “Classical Syriac, Neo-Aramaic, and Arabic in the Church of the East and the Chaldean Church between 1500 and 1800,” in Aramaic in its Historical and Linguistic Setting, ed. H. Gzella and M. Folmer (Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden, 2008), 335-51; Eadem, “Bible, Theology and Grammar: Scholarly Trends in the Church of the East between 1500 and 1850,” in The Volume of the Fourth Syriac Langauge Conference (Duhok: Beth Mardotha), 51-68. 3 S.P. Brock, “Review of R. Macuch, Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur, Berlin 1976,” JSS 23 (1978) 129 [129-38]. 4 A. Mengozzi, “The Neo-Aramaic Manuscripts of the British Library: Notes on the Study of the DurÕkyata as a Neo-Syriac Genre,” Muséon 112.3-4 (1999) 459-94. 5 E.g. G. Khan, “The North-Eastern NeoAramaic Dialects,” JSS 52 (2007) 1-20. 6 A. Rubin, “Review of R. Voigt (Hrsg.), “From Beyond the Mediterranean”. Akten des 7. Internationalen Semitohamitistenkongresses, Aachen 2007,” JSS 55 (2010) 265 [263-265]. 7 G. Khan, The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar, HdO 1: The Near and Middle East 96 (Brill: Leiden, 2008). 8 A. Mengozzi, “Studi neoaramaici tra ricerca sul campo e filologia: note in margine a Semitica Viva 24, 26, 28 e 32,” Henoch 26 (2004) 338-64;

Idem, “Neo-Aramaic Studies: A Survey of Recent Publications”, submitted to Aramaic Studies (forthcoming). 9 2 Maccabees 6:18-7:42. Paul Bedjan published the Syriac text of 2 Maccabees at the end of vol. 3 of the Acta martyrum et sanctorum: P. Bedjan, ed., Acta martyrum et sanctorum (Otto Harrassowitz: Paris-Leipzig, 1892), vol. III, 68286. On the reception of the story of the Maccabean martyrs in the Greek tradition see A.B. Schneider, Jüdischer Erbe in christlicher Tradition. Eine kanongeschichtliche Untersuchung zur Bedeutung und Rezeption der Makkabäerbücher in der Alten Kirche des Ostens, Inauguraldissertation (Heidelberg: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, 2000); in the Latin Church, L.F. Pizzolato and Ch. Somenzi, I sette fratelli Maccabei nella Chiesa antica d’Occidente, Studia patristica mediolanensia 25 (Vita e Pensiero Edizioni: Milano, 2005). 10 S.P. Brock, The Bible in the Syriac Tradition, Gorgias Handbooks 7 (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2006), 43. 11 R.L. Bensly and W.E. Barnes, The Fourth Book of Maccabees and Kindred Documents in Syriac (Cambridge University Press, 1895), XI. The author of 4 Maccabees exploits the exemplum of the Maccabean martyrs in demonstrating the moral philosophical thesis that the rational part of man is superior and has to rule over the senses and passions. For an English translation and an updated introduction to the cultural-historical importance of this book, see H. Anderson, “4 Maccabees,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2, ed. J.H. Charlesworth (Darton, Longman & Todd: London, 1985), 531-64. An Italian edition of the Greek text, with translation and ample commentary has also appeared recently: G. Scarpat, Quarto libro dei Maccabei, Biblica 9 (Paideia: Brescia, 2006). 12 Two of them are of Greek provenance: a literal translation from the Greek of a panegyric on the Maccabees by Gregory of Nazianzus (4th century), and two versions of a Greek homily of Severus of Antioch (6th century): see R.L. Bensly and W.E. Barnes, The Fourth Book of Maccabees, XXI-XXV. 13 St. 32-33 of the madrƗšƗ attributed to Ephrem (R.L. Bensly and W.E. Barnes, The Fourth Book of Maccabees, XXI-XXV). The idea that heroism and martyrdom are not exclusively

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ male is also present in 4 Maccabees: see, e.g., 14:11, 16:2, 16:14. 14 On various Marys in early Christian traditions, see F.S. Jones ed., Which Mary? The Marys of Early Christian Tradition (Brill: Leiden, 2002). An anonymous East-Syriac mêmra on Shmuni is preserved by a late Malabar manuscript. The 678 dodecasyllables of the ‘short metrical homily’ (mêmrƗ z‘orƗ in l. 42) are rhymed in groups of approximately 10-30 lines. According to R.L. Bensly and W.E. Barnes, The Fourth Book of Maccabees, xxv, it can be described as a poetic version of 4 Maccabees. After asking the martyrs’ assistance in his poetic task, the author re-tells and rhetorically expands the story, mentioning the seven sons by name: Gadday, Tarsay, ণusay, ণevron, ণevৢon, Bakos, and Jonadhav. More on the Maccabean martyrs in Syriac historiography and hagiographical poetry can be found in W. Witakowski, “Mart(y) Shmuni, the Mother of the Maccabean Martyrs, in Syriac Tradition,” in VI Symposium Syriacum 1992, OCA 247, ed. R. Lavenant (Romae: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1994), 153-68. 15 2 Maccabees 5:14. 16 4 Maccabees 17:1. 17 Text and translation in A. Mengozzi, A Story in a Truthful Language. 18 R.L. Bensly and W.E. Barnes, The Fourth Book of Maccabees and Kindred Documents in Syriac, XII-XIII. 19 J. Sinha, Der neuostaramäische Dialekt von Bespin (Provinz Mardin, Südosttürkei). Eine grammatische Darstellung, Semitica Viva 24 (Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden, 2000), 212-15. 20 Omitted in Sinha’s transcription. 21 See Barwar where an open ѓ or an a are allophones of the phoneme ay in various phonetic contexts (G. Khan, The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar, 78), or Telkepe final –ay, regularly pronounced –a as a 3rd-pl verbal ending: E. Coghill, “Some Notable Features in North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects of Iraq,” in Neo-Aramaic Dialect Studies, Gorgias Neo-Aramaic Studies 1, ed. G. Khan (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2008), 91-104. 22 I am grateful to prof. Fabrizio A. Pennacchietti for suggesting to me this explanation of the name Našmoni. 23 For an overview of the manuscript transmission of this kind of apocryphal literature in

Syriac, see A. Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur (A. Marcus und E. Webers Verlag: Bonn, 1922), 69-70. 24 W. Wright, Contribution to the Apocryphal literature (Williams and Norgate: London, 1865). 25 E.A.W. Budge, The History of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The history of the likeness of Christ which the Jews of Tiberias made to mock at (Luzac and Co.: London, 1899), VIII. 26 A. Mengozzi, Religious Poetry in Vernacular Syriac, VIII, X-XI. 27 A. Baumstark, Geschichte, 309. 28 On this manuscript and, more in general, on the history of transmission of Christian NeoAramaic literature, see A. Mengozzi, “The NeoAramaic Manuscripts.” 29 E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Bee: The Syriac text by bishop Shlêmôn or Solomon (The Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1886), 76-79. A Classical Syriac hymn on the same subject, attributed to Giwargis Warda, is available in Italian translation in Georges Gharib, Ermanno M. Toniolo, Luigi Gambero, Gerardo di Nola (eds.), Testi mariani del primo millennio, vol. 4. Padri ed altri autori orientali (Roma: Città Nuova 1991), 373-377. A collection of Modern Aramaic poems entitled ‘Oniya‫ܔ‬a and written around the years 1948-49 in a village on the Khabur in Syria, contains a dorek‫ܔ‬a on Mary, attributed to a pupil of the school of Yawnan Haydo Nissan of Beth Zaya. I am grateful to Bishop Mar Emmanuel Joseph Emmanuel of Toronto for drawing my attention to this text. 30 E.A.W. Budge, The History of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Syr. text, 9; Eng. trans., 11. 31 Book of the Bee, ch. XXXIX (E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Bee, 84). On the Magi in the Syriac tradition, see W. Witakowski, “The Magi in Syriac Tradition,” in Malphono w-Rabo dMalphone. Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock, Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 3, ed. G.A. Kiraz (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, 2008), 809-43. 32 For example, the name Dinah given to Mary’s mother is characteristic of the EastSyriac tradition of the Cave of Treasures: SuMin Ri, Commentaire de la Caverne des trésors: étude sur lҲhistoire du texte et de ses sources, CSCO 581, Subsidia 103 (Peeters: Louvain, 2000), 435.

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“May I treasure up the words in my heart!” ____________________________________________________________________________________ 33

The meaning of the text is unclear: lit. ‘they stayed in a narrow place’. 34 Lit. ‘she went on her foot’. 35 E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Bee, 79: ‘For the Jews did not approach their wives until they made a feast to the high priest, and then they took them’. 36 In his reconstruction of the saga of the biblical patriarchs, Giovanni Garbini suggested that there might be a connection between the name of the New Testament Joseph and the other “chaste” Joseph of the Old Testament: G. Garbini, Mito e storia nella Bibbia, Studi biblici 137 (Paideia: Brescia, 2003), 83. 37 The word for ‘spouse’ should be the Arabicderived ťƍŇ ſƢŎ Ɵ.Ŏ ő This line and the beginning of the following are probably corrupt in the Mosul ms. and violate the metre. 38 Sh. Talay, Neuaramäische Texte in den Dialekten der Khabur-Assyrer in Nordostsyrien, SV 41 (Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden, 2009), text 17.4; unfortunately the audio-file is not yet downloadable from the SemArch data-base. 39 E.A.W. Budge, The Book of the Bee, 75: ‘Joseph’s father and Mary’s father were cousins’. 40 Between 1934 and 1937, under the French Mandate, around 10.000 Assyrians were given permission to settle in 34 villages along the Khabur river in north east Syria, where they managed

to create a prosperous agricultural system through intensive use of the river water and reached a reasonable level of economic and social wealth. Settlement in the various villages reflected and still reflects the original tribal and clanic structure of their society before World War I, when the Assyrians lived in their homeland, i.e. the southeastern Turkish territory between the Iranian border to the east, the Tigris to the west, Lake Van to the north and the Iraq border to the south. Shabo Talay dedicated two volumes of the Semitica Viva series to the dialects of the Khabur Assyrians: comparative grammatical outlines are arranged in the first volume: Sh. Talay, Die neuaramäischen Dialekte der Khabur-Assyrer in Nordostsyrien, SV 40 (Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden, 2008); whereas a wonderful collection of oral texts are transliterated and translated in the second volume: Sh. Talay, Neuaramäische Texte. Ň 41 Ms. IJƢŬŎ ƘőŎ . 42 Ň Ŵƃ ƭ ťƇƟ ŁƢŨő ƢƏĥ ő Footnote in the ms: .Ī .Ĭ ƬſĪĿ Ŏ Ŏ Ŏ Ŀŋ ĮŊ Ň .ťƣĿŋ ƚƐŋ ƃ‘zeresar is a Kurdish word which means census’. 43 See also the dialogue poems (suƥiya‫ܔ‬a) on Joseph and Mary: see Sebastian P. Brock, Mary and Joseph, and Other Dialogue Poems on Mary, Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 8 (Gorgias Press: Piscataway, NJ, forthcoming).

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______________________________________________________________________ A DNjREK‫ܓ‬Ɩ-POEM ON THE BATTLE OF URMIA

MAR EMMANUEL JOSEPH EMMANUEL UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

INTRODUCTION

T

he Vernacular Syriac Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ-poem entitled the Battle of Urmia was composed to commemorate a battle that took place in 1918 A.D. in the region of Urmia in the northwest of modern Iran. The catastrophic winds of WWI were not limited to Europe alone but spread out to other regions of the world where the major powers had political and economic interests. Many areas in Turkey and Iran were affected, and in this turmoil thousands of Christians were massacred by Turkish, Persian and Kurdish tribes. Their homes were destroyed, their villages were burned, men and elders were brutally massacred, and women were either killed or taken as captives. Metropolitan Mar TǀmƗ ƿdǀ, the compiler of a monumental Syriac dictionary,1 was brutally killed there.2 The famous Jesuit and publisher Paulus Bedjan described in a letter to the Syrian Orthodox Bishop (later patriarch) Barৢnjm (1887-1957) the massacres that took place in Salamas and Urmia, where his own parents were also murdered.3 This war forced the Christian Assyrians living in Turkey to flee in all directions. Many settled in Russia, while others escaped to

the northern regions of what is now modern Iraq. The majority, however, fled to the north-western regions of modern Iran. Our Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ, written in an Aramaic dialect common to the Assyrians, mainly describes the struggle for life of the Assyrian people who are its subject. It speaks about their sufferings, poverty and massacres. It also describes how this persecuted community had to make a fateful choice: either to fight against aggression so as to survive, or to surrender and let their small nation die and vanish. The geographical scene was the region of Urmia, located to the west of Lake Urmia, to the northwest of Iran, and close to the borders of modern Turkey and Iraq. The region received the Christian faith from the first centuries of our era, and local tradition dates its famous church of Saint Mary to the first century A.D. Though this date is impossible, the tradition nonetheless indicates an early date for the reception of Christianity. The advent of Islam and various persecutions caused the Christian population of Urmia to decline. Arianne Ishaya4 demonstrates that by WWI, about 300 villages were in the region, 120 of which were inhabited by Assyrians; around 1900,

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A Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ-Poem on the Battle of Urmia _________________________________________________________________________________________

40% of the population were Christians, either Assyrian or Armenian. Ishaya also states that due to European missionaries, the Assyrian community in that region grew urbanized and westernized, becoming the envy of their Muslim neighbours. The missionaries managed to convert members of the Church of the East, and thus some became Protestants, Russian Orthodox, or Roman Catholics.

THE SOURCE We do not aim to discuss in detail the history of this battle but to highlight certain features in the Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ on the basis of its original text, in addition to offering an English translation. Both the Vernacular Syriac text and its translation are published for the first time. The manuscript: The Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ is found in a manuscript that includes seven other DnjrekyƗ‫ܔ‬Ɨ: The first with 91 stanzas; the second with 60; the third with 50; the fourth with 55; the sixth with 79; the seventh with 29, and the eighth, the longest, with 148 stanzas and 592 lines. Our Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ is the fourth within this compilation, its 55 stanzas comprising 222 lines. The manuscript is written in vocalized East Syriac; it is thin and not very elegant, but clear and readable. It contains many grammatical errors and its spelling is not consistent—some words have three different spellings. It was copied by KhǀšƗbƗ Ʈšǀ` in 1969 from an early copy that he had himself copied in 1947 in the region of Erbil, in the north of Iraq. Date of Composition: The ‘Battle of Urmia,’ the title given to this Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ, describes the murder of the Patriarch Mar Benyamin and mentions also his successor Mar Paulǀs in stanza 54. Thus it is safe to fix a date for this Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ after April 1918 since the poem makes reference to the murdered Patriarch Mar Benyamin and the election of his successor Mar Paulǀs. Mar

Benyamin was murdered in 3 March 1918 at the hands of Semko, a Kurdish tribal chief, and his brother Mar Paulǀs was enthroned as patriarch on Palm Sunday, April 14, 1918. Authorship: We are fortunate that our Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ identifies its author at the end of his work. He calls himself SƗdƗ, a common name among the Assyrians which derives from Syriac SahdƗ (‘martyr’). He tells us that he was esknjlƗyƗ, a student who must have studied at the Assyrian schools of Urmia, and that he witnessed the events surrounding the Battle of Urmia.

THE POEM The following is the Battle of Urmia in vernacular Syriac and in an English literal translation. The original text is given here as is with its inconstancies and errors. 1 À˜†~ ¾Á~ ­ ¿Ìß~ ¾ãýÁ ­ ­ À˜ÍÄ ¾ýàñ ˜š †ÿÜ À˜ÍùØ ¾ãÜ ÀûÂÄ ¾ãÜ À˜ÍÏ ÌßÿÙß ˜Íîƒ ¾å†ÎÁ 2 ¿ÿÐÙýâ ÿÙéî ¿ÿÙü ÚÁ ¤ ¾ÐØûÁ ‘Í⚠¾ÏûØ ÊÙÁ ¾ÐØûè ¾ýàñ ¾Ï ÌàؘÍýâ ¾ÐØûÜS ¾ýÙâ À˜Íå ~ 3 ¾æãÄûÄ ¾Ø˜~ äÙ߆ ¾æàÙÏ ¾ýàñ ¾Ï Ìàü˜ƒ ¾åƒ†˜ Ñâ ĀÊÙĘ ¾Ù冃 ¾æàéÝâ ÌàÓÙàñ ¿šûÐÁ 4 ¾ñ†˜ÍØ Ž… ¾Ùè~ çâ­ ¾òÙÒ áÝÁ ¾ýàñ Ìàü˜ƒ ¾òÙè ¿ÿÐâ ¾Âàè āÓùÁ ¾òÙÐå ÌàÓÙàñ äÙ߆ ¿šûÐÁ K 5 ¾ÙÐåÊ⃠ÀûÙùÏ ¾Ýàâ ¾Ùé܆šĂ~ ¿ÿ؃†š çâ­ ¾ÙàùÙå ‘†ÊæéÝß~ ¾Øûñ– ¿ÍÜÍÜ Ñâ Ìàùؘ‡ ­ 6 āùؘ‡ ¾Øûñ– ¿ÍÜÍÜ ÞØ~ āùÙÁƒ ¾Ù冃ƒ ¿‡ûãß ¿‡ûâ āùؘ ¾ãùâ Úܘ†š ¾Ýàâ āø˜Íòâ ¾æÙèăÜ ¾òß~ 7 ¾ãßÍü Ā† ¾ýàñ Ìàü˜ƒ

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A Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ-Poem on the Battle of Urmia _________________________________________________________________________________________

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¿†ûÏ Ā† ¾ýàñ Ìàü˜ƒ ¿†… ÍÄ ”†~ ¾üÍÙÁ ¾ãÙÁ ­ ¿†ÿÜ †ÿÜ Àƒ†‡ ˆÎãß ¿†… ¾ýϘ† ÀûÙÒ ÍàýÐü ¾ãßÍü Āƒ ¾ýàñ Āƒ Ìàü˜ƒ ¾ãàü Ìàùߚ ¾ÁÍÏ Ìàø˜ ­ ¾ãàø ÚÁ †ÿÜ ˆ÷ãß ¾ã؃ ¾ÂàÁ ¾åÍå ÍàýÙÅü Āš āãø ¿š˜ÍÄ ÿØûÁ āÓâ ¿‡ûÂß ¾üÍÙÁ ¾ãÙÁ āãü Íàùß ­ ¾éåûñ ¿š˜ÍÏ āÙÐâ çãüÊß ¿šûÂÄ ~ Úܘ†ÿÁ āÙòå ¿š˜ÍÄ ‹‡š ÚÅÙÜS ÍàÓãü ‹ûχ ÌàùØûñ ÚÝàâ ÌßÿÙâ Úß~ Àûü Ú܆ƒ āæÓÁ†‡ ”˜ÍØ K ¾Ùàãü~ƒ ¾ÝàâK ÍàýÙÐü ¾ØĂ÷⠎… ~ÿèÊå… çâ ­ ¾ÙØĂÍè ¾ø āÓÙàñ çâûñ ¾ÙÜƚ ä߇ ¾Ýàâ çâ ­ ¾ÐØÚ ÍÄ ÞùýÄ ûÄ ¾ùÙè ¾ÓÙàñ çؘÌå ÿÁ çâ ­ ¾ù؆ƒ š† ÿ胘ÍÜ ÍÄ ¾ùؘ ûØĀ ç冇 ¿šûÏ (sic) çãÙæÁ ‹ûâ ¾øûÁ çàÓàñ ÿ胘ÍÜ çâ ­ ¾øÍýÁ šÍß š† çâ ­ ¾ø†ÊÁ ÿãø çãüƒ ¾ùߚ ¾ÙÓâ ¾âÍÜ ¾âÍØ ¾ÜûØûÓñ çãÙæÁ ‹ûâ ¾Üûü ÿà⃠¾æ£ ü˜ äî ¾ÝØ~ ÿøûñ ÀûÜS †û⠾܆ƒ ÞÂàÒ ¾Ù膘 çâ ­ ¾Ù£ æ蘆~ ¾Ýàâ ÌàÙãü ¾Øƒ˜Íøƒ çãüÊß ÌàÙÐâ ¾ÙؘÍè ¾ø ŽÎæâ ÌàÐØÿñ ¾ÙåûØ~ƒ ¾ÓÙß À˜š~ ¿šÍÝàâ ÀÊÏ ¿ÍØ~ ¾Ù膘 ¿š˜ÍÏ Ā†ÿÙß ¾Ù£ 冃 ÍÄ ¿š†ûÁ†ÊÁ āÙòâ ¾æØ~ ¿šÍæÙèûÜ ûÙéÐØ āùØÍü āÙùØÍü ¾ØûÏÍå ûÙéÐØ āÙñÍéâ ¾æãüƒ ÀÊؽÁ Ā†ÿÜ ÿÁ ¿†ÿÜ ˜š āÙøÌâ ÿÁ À˜†Êß À˜†ƒ ­ À˜Êâ ¾ÐØÚ ÍÄ †ÿÜ K ¾ÐåÍÄ ÿÄ S ÌÁ ¾ÏûÏÿâ

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¾ÐåÊâ ¾ÜûØûÓñ šÍÁ ¾ÐÙÁƒ­ ÌàÙýñ ÿéãàè ÍÄ ûéæ⚠¿½â~ ¾òß~ƒ ¿ÿæÙü ˜÷⤠Ž… †Êå… çâ ­ ÍàýÐü ûéø ¾Ýàâ äÙ߆ ¿ÿýø ûéùâ Úܘ†š ¾Ýà⠔†~ Àûü çß~ ˜†… ˜†… ÀûÜăü ¾æãàüÍâ çâ ­ ÀûýåÍÜ ¾ÐåÍÄ šÍÁ ¾ø À˜ƒ ÿÁ ¾ÙÜƚ ÍÄ ûÙÄ S ¿ÿÂü ¾âÍÙÁ ˜ƒ½Á ¿ÿߚ ¿ÿòàòü āø ¾Ï çàÙãü ¿ÿãß ¿ÿãß ˜†… ˜†… ¿šÿÐÁ À˜ÍÄ ¾ÙÐÂÁ À˜šÍÜ ûÂâ ¾ñ˜~ ÿïè ÀûÓâ ÚÁ ÀûؘÍýâ ¾Ù冃 À˜š~ ÍÄ ÌàÙòâ À˜ÍÄ ûÄ S āÓø ÀûÙè ¾ÜûØûÓñ ¾ÜûØûÓñ ¾Ï ç߆ÿØ~ ¾Ýàâ ÀÊÏ ˆ~ ¿ÍÙ⃠¾Ü ¾Ýß ÍÜS ¿†ÿÙß ÀûñÍü áî ¾ÐÙéñ ¾ØÊÏ ¿ÍñÍèûñ ¾ùØÿÙî çÂÁƒ ÀûϚ ˜… ¾ùÙè ÌàýÙñ ÀûýåÍÝÁ ¤ ¾ù؃‡ †…J çãÙæÁ ‹ûâ ¾ùÙî ¾òÙÒ ˜ÿÏ šÍÁ ¾ØûÏ †…J ¾â†– ÿü˜ ¾Øûø ¾ýàñ ÀûýåÍÜ ¤ K āø ¾Øš½Á ¾Åæñ†šƒ ¾ØûÅ Á ¿ÿÙùýÁ ¾âƒ S K ¿ÿÙùü ÍÄ ÌàØûÄ ¾âƒ K Ä À˜Íü SÍàÙàâ ¿š†Ê S ¿šÿÐÁ À˜Íă ÀÊàü çâ­ £ ¿ÿñ ¿ÿâÍÜ ÍÝãè šÍÁ ¾ÙÓÏ ¾ýÙÁ ÌàÙâÍÏ ¾ÙæÝýü ¾ýÙÁ ÍÝãè ¾Ù܇ ¾âƒ ÌàÐñ†š ¾ÙèÍÏ ÌßÿÙß äàî Ž… ¾Ýàâ ¾å˜ÍÄ ÍàÙãÄ S K ¾ÄăÅ ÍßÎؘÍâ S Á ¾åÍüÍø K K ¾ÅæüÍñ äî ¾ñÍÒ ÍßÍùü ¾ÅÜ ÍãÙÐâ Àƅ ÍàØûø ¾æàÙÏ ¾ãÜ ¾ýàñƒ āø ¾æÙæâ Āƒ ¾ñÍÒ ÌàâÍÜ ¾æÅß ¾ÙÐâ ÀûýåÍÜ ¾åƒÍî Íâ Úàî ˜†… Ñàâ āÁ†ÍÅ S ⠐Íà؃

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­ Ñàø ÌàÐÙàñ ÿ膃 ÍÝãè ÑßÍýÁ ¾æÓØÍÏ ¾å~ ”†~ ˆ˜ÍæÁ ÍßÊÙø ‹ÿÙÁ Úýؘ 31 ¾åÊÙü ˜… ¿š˜ÍÏ š~ ¾å˜…Íü ¾ýÙÁ Íîûñ ¾åƒ†~ ûÁ ¾ÓÙãü ÌßÊø ¾æâûÏ ¿†Íσ À˜‡ûÁ ­ 32 Íàø Úãýâ ÍÝãè š~ ­ ÍàØûø Êø ÀûýåÍÜ ­ ­ ÍàÙñ†û⠍ÍàòÙÐå Ā ÚÜ~ƒ ­ ­ ÍàÙñÍéâ ¾ÙØĂÍè ÀÊؽÁ 33 Àƒă⠁˜‡ ¿šăÙýî ÀÊàÄ S ¾åĂÍÒ áî ÍàÏûÜS K ÀÊàÄ S ÍàÙò⠾؃˜Íø çâ­ ÀƒĂƒ āÙàâ ÍÝãè ¾Âß 34 ¾âÍϚ Àûؚ ¾ÒăÙýî ¾âÍÜ ÍàýÙñ ÀÊàÄ S ÍàÙãÄ S ¾âÍÜ ¾âÍÙß ¾ÙÓâ ÍÝãè ¾âÍÄ ÍÄ ˜Íî ¿ÿòâÍÜ ¾Ø 35 ¾â˜Íè äæÏ ÀÊàÄ S ¾ãÙø ¾ãàø ÚÁ ¿†ÿÜ ¾Ï ĀÍØÿÜ ¾ãàü ÍÝãè ÍàÁ çàÁ ÿÙß ¾ãÏÍå ¾âÍØ Ž… Í؃~ çâ ­ 36 êãàè çâ­ Ì߇ ÀûÂÏ ‘†ûÓñ ¾ÏĀ ÌàÙÓâ ¿†ÿÜ K êÙàâ ¾åÍüÍø ÀÊàÄ S Íø ‘ûÝâ [‹ÌØÿø] ¿ÿø ¾ýàñ ÿÄ S … 37 ¿†ÿÜ āØûø ‘†ûÓñ ¾Ü~ ­ ¾Ø†ÌÁ ‹ƒÍâ ÿÄ S … Ìà؃ ¿Íè ¾ùåÍÄ ÌßÊÙ ÜS ¾âš S ¿†ûÏ ƒÍî ¾ÂàÁ ÌàÙÓø 38 ¾Ð؆˜ ¾Øÿñ Ú☆~ À˜š~ ¾ÐæÁ ¾Ðå Íàãü €†ÍÄ S ¾ÏÍÙå À˜Íø çãÙæÁ ‹ûâ ¾ÐØûñ Ìàýñ ¾ÙؘÍè ÍÄ ç­ â 39 ¾â˜ À˜ÍÓß ¾ÓÙàñ ÍüÍø ¾ãàü Ā˜ƒ ÀûÜS ¿ÿãß ¾âûÜÍâ ­ ¾ÙÓß ÍÝãè ÚàÜ ­ ¾âƒ Ā†š Íæâ Ñàùü K K 40 ¾Åæñ†š ¾ñÍÒ ÍàÏÍßÍâ K ¾ÅæüÍñ ¾Á˜ ¾æÙæâ ¾Åå˜ ¾âÊÁ āùÙãè ¾Åߚ ¾Ååƒ āÙÓø ¾ÓÙãü ÍÝãè K ¾ÝàâK ÍàÙãü 41 ¾Ùàãü~ ¾ÙÜƚ ¾ø Ìà؇ €†ÍÄ S ¾ÙæâăÅ S ß ÀÊÙÜS ÍàýÙñ ¾ÙÜƚƒ äÙ߇ çâ ­

42 ‘ÍæÙÓæÓèÍø āÙÓ⠀†ÍÄ S êÜûØûÓñƒ ¾ùè ¿ÿÂýÁ ‘Íæؚ~ āàÙâ ¿ÿãýñ ‘ûñ ‹Êâ ¾ÐØûñ ”ûÅߚ 43 ¾ÙØĂÍè ¾èÍÄ ÿÁ ÌàùØûñ ¾ÙæèÆ~ ¿šƒÊî ûÁ çâ ­ ¾ØƒĂÍø ¾æãK üS ƒ ¾ÏûÜS ¾Ø˜ ƒÍî ¾ÂÁ ¿Ìß~ 44 ¾ÐåÊâ ¿ÍÜÍ܃ ¾Ä†‡ ¾Ï ­ ¾ÐÙæÁ ¾ÐÙå ¿ÍÙø˜ÎÁ ¾Ä˜ÊÁ À˜ÍÄ çãÙæÁ ‹ûâ ­ ¾Ï˜ÍÂâ ¾Ýàâ ÚÙàùÙå 45 ¾ùßÍè ÍÙÁ ¾ÐØûÁ ÀÊؽÁ ¾øûÁ ¾ÙÜƚ çàØÎÏ ¾ø˜ÎÁ ¾åĂÍÓß ¾ýãü ÞØ~ ¾ø˜½Á Ì߆… êãàè çâ ­ 46 ¿ÿØÊâ Ú☆~ áî çàÙÓâ ¿š†ƒ‡ ¾ýÐÁ ¾òÄ S ÀûùØ~ ¿š†ûØûãÁ ¾Á˜ çãÙýñ ¿šÍÂÙàÏ ÚÁ ¾ÙÏK çàÙæø 47 ¾ÏûØ ¾Ï Ú☆~ ÍÄ çàýÙñ ¾Ä˜ƒ ­ ÌßÍؚ ‘ÍßÍñ ‹ûâ áî ¾Ï˜ÍÂâ ¾ãÙè ¾ÜûØûÓñ ¾Ï˜†~ ¾Ï ÌàýØÿñ ÿø 48 ¾øûî Ā†… ‘Í⚠¾ÏûÙÁ ¾ùéÙÁ Ú☆~ çâ ­ ÿàâ ¾ø˜‡ ¾ÂÅß ç߆… çàÁ ¾ø†ÊÁ ÿãø çæãüƒ J çàØûÒ 49 ¾ÐåÊâ ¾ÂÄ †Ìß ¾ÏûØ ¾Ï āýØûÄ ûòè K ¾Ï˜†~ ¿ÿÙ⠾ؖ ¾æÙòÜ ¾ÐÙæÁ Ā ¾âÍÙÁ āÙàÁ 50 û⃠ÿãü ¾ÏûÁ ¿†… ûòè ¾ø áØÎæâ ÌàÐØÿñ ˜†ÌÁ ÿ膃 À˜ƒÍü K ˜ûâ āÐÙæâ ¾ÙæéàÅå~ 51 ¾ÙØĂÍèƒ ¾ùØÿî —˜š K ÚæÁ ¾ÙÐåÊâ ­ ÀăÙéÐØ ¾ÙÜƚ çâ ­ ÀÊØûÒ ÍàýÙñ ¾ÙæéÙàÅå~ ÀûÙÓå ÌàÁÍø 52 ¾ÁÍÝÁ§ ª À˜š~ áî çàÙÓâ ¾Á˜Íø šÊÐÂß ¿ÿØËâ ¾ÂÅß ¾ÂÄ S ÍïÁ ¾ùéÙÁ ¿šÍâ Ìߚ ¾Á˜ ¾æÙæãß ÀûéñÍâ ­ 53 ¾ÙØĂÍè Þؘš ÿéø K ¾Ù冃 çâ ÀÊØ ăÒ ¾Ùæè ­ K ¾Ù冃 ÍÄ ¾ÓÙß ÌàÙÓø

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¾ÙåÍýâ À˜šĀ À˜š~ çâ ­ ˜… 54 ‘ÍßÍñ ‹ûâ ÿéø ¾å†‡ ÍÄ êÙÜûØûÓñ ¾ùÙ߆ÿø êÓÙàÙñûÓÙâ óèÍØ ‹ûâ êÙÄûè ‹ûâ ¾ñÍùéñ~ 55 ¾ÙÓÏ ¾Ï~ š†ÿÜ āýÙñ ¾ÙßÍÝè~ ÀÊè ¾ãü ¾ØÎÐÁ ÌàæïÁ ÀÊè ¾ØûÁ Ìà؃ À˜ÍÄ ¾ÐåÍÄ 1 In the Name of God, the Father and the Son, let us write the account of the Great War [WWI], how terrible and overwhelming [it was]— it had no parallel in times past. 2 In the Christian year, 1914, In the blessed month of Tammnjz (July), a terrible war began, like a fire encircling a forest. 3 Wilhelm,5 a roaring lion, initiated the powerful war; the world shook like an earthquake; at the end, he grew weak. 4 From Asia to Europe, he initiated war with every nation, killing, looting, and cutting with the sword. In the end, Wilhelm was put to shame. 5 The glorified king of the East, and of the Orthodox religion, Alexander Nicholas6, shone like the morning star. 6 Like the morning star he shone. He seized [land] from shore to shore in the world. The Turkish king fled from before him, he who saved thousands of Christians. 7 He initiated a war; [and] there was destruction, in sea, on land, and in the sky— We are unable to write more; the birds and the creatures of the sky were stirred. 8 He initiated an endless war, [for] love has escaped and peace was lost— we are unable to write it down with the pen;

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the fish were disturbed in heart of the sea. Great Britain rose up and marched, by sea and land, and arrived on the shore; France her ally responded to her call, and like a mighty one she struck the enemy. A great lamentation fell upon Turkey: ‘My ammunitions are depleted and my weapons are destroyed! Woe unto me that my king has died, [for] Europe has conquered my land. The Ishmaelite kings were stirred up, from Hindustan to the land of the Egyptians. A decree was issued against the Syrians,7 by the oppressor, the Turkish king. We should look into the histories: From Mesopotamia we went up fleeing; we occupied a land in Kurdistan, [and] at the end of our time we fled into Iran.8 From Kurdistan, we flew in escape, leaving from one land to another land. The enemy was observing our exodus; The dark day of the destruction was approaching. Mar Benyamin9 the Patriarch, along with the rest of the leaders of the millet, spoke: ‘Where is our hope and salvation? Let us ask for a place [of refuge] from Russia.’ Upon hearing it, the Russian King struck the enemy, the Kurds. He opened a place for the Syrians, [in] the accursed land of Iran.10 Russia then was a kingdom that had no rival in the world. But it fell in divisions, Leaving Christianity imprisoned.11 She abandoned [the Christians], prisoners and strangers, surrendering them into the hand of the enemy. History will write and document this—

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it will be narrated century after century. Let us also record in histories to commemorate the cause of the tragedies, concerning the Patriarch of the East, who was slain in SalƗmƗs. In the year one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, They stirred up from India up to Egypt the bow: The Caesar king Wilhelm, and the Turkish king [his] ally. ‘Help! Help! Woe unto us, on account of the Šarkars, the Muslims, because of the tragedy of Kohna Shahar.’12 He would strike an arrow against the Turks. On the third of ƖdƗr (March), on Saturday, We heard the groaning voice ‘Help! Help!’; from one village to another village, men and women were wailing! At the fourth hour in the afternoon, the sky began to rain; a great screaming fell upon the land: The Patriarch was shot down and killed! We had a Patriarch, who was in the likeness of a king! Concerning his beauty, there was no blemish whatsoever! His personality was happy and joyful. [Ah!] the memory of our ancient father, who was taken to Kohna Shahar… [so too] Mar Benyamin, the righteous, because of the oppressed people... On the first day of the last Lent, Kohna Shahar called for war. The sound of guns was heard, [and] blood was running in the streams. The blood ran into streams; the streets were full of corpses— corpses of men and women— because of the black-faced Semko. They were kept by the evil [and] sinning

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Semko13—an evil Shashkenite! [In] his shedding of innocent blood he will have no mercy whatsoever. The leaders and tribal chiefs assembled; they arranged their troops in lines: “Take up your guns with ammunition! Cry: ‘Hurrah! Fire your arms!’” The sound of the war, how powerful it was! It was filled with countless guns! Kohna Shahar blamed itself: ‘I seek help, what should I do?’ She was answered:14 ‘What is your problem? Semko, your companion, has served you; [but now] I too am associated with your degradation; my head and my house are burned with your fire! You [Semko] are a mad companion, a coward [like] Pharaoh the evil and the proud, the accursed, the son of destruction, the seed of a deadly serpent! You Semko, make your voice heard, for Kohna Shahar has already called upon you. Are you not ashamed for abandoning it, and surrendering it into the hands of the Syrians?’ The tribes, skilled and good-fighters, quickly ascended the mountains, [many] among the Kurds fell quickly; The heart of Semko was filled with concern. The tribes of ৫yƗrƝ [and] TekhnjmƗ15 quickly gathered and became black out of terror; Semko was approaching the black day— ‘O shame-faced one, go inside the sheepfold!’ The Lady SnjrmƗ16 rose up quickly, and wrote a letter with a pen: ‘O Semko! There is no peace between us and you, from this day to the day of the resurrection!’ A companion went out from SalƗmƗs,

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and the letter reached Agha Patrǀs:17 ‘Rise up and arrange the troops! Proclaim to them the cause of the battle!’ Agha Patrǀs read the letter and understood the prediction that [it] was. There, he invited the young and the old; He pledged in his heart that he would make destruction. The region of Urmia is wide and extensive. They heard the reply little by little: [that] Mar Šemǥǀn18 was lying in the grave— gone from amongst the Syrians. The army went out to a high mountain, and saluted the ChƗrƗ village:19 ‘Stop, O Semko, accursed and anathematized! We will get blood revenge out of you!’ They fired with guns a great number of bullets. The colour of the snow [turned] to red; Semko was destroyed, and his voice is silenced. The chiefs of the Ishmaelites heard [of it], and the message went to the Turkish [authorities]. The Germans were invited by the oppressive Turks. The message reached Constantinople. On Saturday the Patriarch departed. Athens was filled with sorrow; the telegraph flew from Media and Persia. The refuge of the Syrians was over. After the churches of the Russians, [the mountains] were climbed by the Kurds, the enemy; ‘O God the Father: take the lead!’ A pair of stars from the East, shone little by little: Mar Benyamin, a man of rank, and Nicolai, the blessed king. In the blessed feast, in the day of Ascension, we saw the Turks fleeing,

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while the sun was shining on the mountains— they were fleeing from SalƗmƗs. We reached the city of Urmia; [the troops were greeted] with honour and acclaim, as they proceeded with fear; we are greatly and bitterly saddened; through victory we gained [our] life. We remained in Urmia for a month; Mar Paulǀs came in and sat in rank; he was ordained a blessed patriarch, opening a path for us. In the month Tammnjz (July) the escape took place; the millet-nation went up from Urmia, having in mind the east, while the enemy was seizing our frontier. We marched towards the east; our journey lasted one month. There was hunger, thirst, and death on the way, with no rest, night and day. Blessed be the name of our Lord, for He opened a place on our journey. For our rescue, he sent our companion, the English, to bring relief to our suffering. The ancient history of the Syrians, became imprisoned by the easterners. They were chased away by the Turks, but they were received and protected by the English. We reached the region of Baǥquba,20 on the side of the city of Baghdad [and] close to it. Death approached [us] with wonder, greatly decreasing our number.21 This is the historical account of the Syrians: They were despised, driven away by the nations, Massacred, and cursed in the world; they went from one land to another land. This account was [written] in the time of Mar Paulǀs the Catholicos-Patriarch, and Mar Yǀsep the Metropolitan,22 and Mar Sargis the Bishop.23

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55 It was written by a sinner, a disciple, whose name is SƗdƗ. SƗdƗ witnessed with his own eyes this great tragedy that happened.

NOTES ON THE DNjREK‫ܓ‬Ɩ One must not expect to find raw historical material in a poem, and thus our dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ can be best described as commemorative. In metrical stanzas, it describes the sad fate that faced the Assyrians in Turkey. They were targeted by their own Turkish government, sided with the Russians, were then abandoned by the latter, and eventually massacred. Their patriarch, who was like a king for them (see 23:2), was murdered in a Kurdish plot. Although the Assyrians dealt a blow to their Kurdish aggressor Simko, their fate was exodus to the region in the south of Iraq. In what follows we will comment on the dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ as a text. Most of the DnjrekyƗ‫ܔ‬Ɨ were composed in vernacular Syriac from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century, and many of them contain grammatical errors and lack consistency, unlike texts written in classical Syriac. This is understandable since no grammar books existed for vernacular Syriac dialects until the midnineteenth century, which explains why authors wrote according to their own practices and judgement. The inconsistency of spelling can be seen if we compare stanzas 1 and 53, where we find the Arabic/Turkish word ­ written properly with a kƗp (˜š ‘history, account’), with stanza 12, where it is spelled with ‫ۊ‬Ɲt (¾ÐØÚ) and stanza 51, where it is spelled with a qƗf (—˜š). The word ÍàýÐü “they stirred” in 7:4 and 19:2 is written ÍàýÙÅü ­ in 8:1, interchanging gƗmal () with ‫ۊ‬Ɲt. The spelling with the gƗmal seems more correct since the root verb in classical Syriac is þĘ. ­ Other cases   of inconsistencies include ¾ ø  û Á¤ (“in

  flight”) in 13:1 and 45:2 spelled as ¾ø  ˜½Á£     in 45:4 and as ¾ø  ûî£ in 48:1, as well as ¾Ï  ~   in 37:1. “Agha” in 36:2 spelled as ¾Ü  ­ ~ The poem also offers unusual spellings of foreign terms. For example in 52:2 the famous city of Baghdad is spelled šÊÐÁ instead the more common ƒ~ÊÅÁ or ƒÊÅÁ. Likewise, the title “Agha” (given to Patrǀs   and even after his victory) is spelled ¾Ü  ~   instead of the expected ¾Ä     ~. ¾Ï  ~ The dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ contains several erroneous spellings that can be attributed either to the copyist or to the original author himself. Some, however, can be attributed to the constraints of metre, and in these cases should not be considered as errors but as unusual forms. Errors include: ¿Ìß~ ¾ãýÁ for ¿…Ā~ƒ ¾ãýÁ (1:1), ‘†˜ÊéÝß~ for ‘†˜ÊæéÝß~ (5:4), ¾ÐåÊâ for ¾ÐåÊ⃠(18:3), ¾ÙÜƚ for ¾ÙÜƚƒ (11:4), ¿šÍæÙèăÜ for ¿šÍæÙÓèăÜ (16:4), ¾ñ˜~ for ¾ïÁ˜~ (22:1), is ÌàâÍÜ for ÌàÁÍØ? (29:2), ¾å˜…Íü for ¾å˜ÌÁÍü (31:2), ¾ãÏÍå ¾âÍØ for ¾âÍØ ¾ãÏÍåƒ (35:4), ¾ÙÓß for ¾ÓÙß (39:3), K K ¾Ùàãü~ for ¾Ùàïãü~ (41:1), ‘ÍæÙÓæÓèÍø for ‘ÍæÙÓæÓèÍùß (42:1), ¿šƒÊî for ¿šÊî ࡇ ª (43:2), ¿šÍÂÙàÏ for ¿šÍÂàÄ § as translated above (46:4),‘Í⚠for ‡Í⚠and ¾ÂÅß ¾ø˜‡ for ¾ø˜‡ƒ ¾ÂÅß (48:1, 4),¾Ï˜†~ for ¾Ï˜†½Á (49:3),û⃠ÿãü for û⃠¾ãü (50:1),¾ÙæéÙàÅå~ for ¾ÙæéÙàÅå½Á (51:4), êÓÙàÙñûÓÙâ for êÙÓÙßÍñûÓÙâ and (54:3). Many other seemingly erroneous spellings are actually phonetic renderings. The dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ also shifts phonemes as the following list shows:  < ˆ : as in ¾ÙÐÁ for ¾ÙÝÁ (21:4), ¿šÿÐÁ for ¿šÿÝÁ (26:3), Ñß½â for Þß½â äæÏ, (30:1) for äå½Ü (Persian ϢϧΎΧ ; 35:1). €­ > † : There are many examples of the shift from fricative bƝt to wƗw, as ¿†ûÏ for ¾ÁûÏ ­ (7:1), and as ¾ø†ÊÁ for ¾ùÂÁƒ ­ (31:3). ‰ < š : š† for ç҆ , although this may be taken from Turkish where the Arabic

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emphatic ‫ܒ‬Ɨ’ is reduced to tƗ’ (12:3, 13:2); ¾ùߚ for ¾øûÒ (13:4). – < ‘ : ¿ÍñÍèûñ for ¾ñ†–ûñ (23:4); ¾ÐÙéñ for ¾ÐØ÷ñ (23:4). ­ > ˆ or : Agha (Arabic ΎϏ΍) is   (36:2) and ¾Ü  ­ ~   (37:1). spelled both ¾Ï  ~

from Russian ‘Hurrah’, an expression of joy or approval (28:3); ÍüÍø from ª Turkish for ‘army’ (39:1), and ¾Åæ § ¤ ñ§ †š from Turkish for ‘guns’ (40:1).

Living among Kurds, Arabs, and Turks, many foreign words entered Vernacular Syriac. The following borrowings are attes­ ted in our dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ: ˜š and Ñؘš from Arabic ΦϳέΎΗ ‘history, account’ (1:1); ‹ûχ from Turkish/Arabic ΓήϴΧΫ/ΓήϴΧί ‘ammunition’ (10:2); çâûñ from Turkish firman ‘decree, edict’ (11:3), ä߇ from Turkish/ Arabic Ϣ˰˰˰˰˰˰˰ϟΎυ (and Syriac ¾XXXXXXâÍàÒ) ‘oppressor’ (11:3); š† from Turkish/ Arabic Ϧρϭ ‘country, land’ (12:3, 13:3); ¾Ù£ 冃 from Arabic via Persian ΎϴϧΩ (Syriac ¾ãàî) ‘world’ (3:3, 6:2, 16:2, 22:2), ŽÎæâ from Arabic ϝΰϨϣ ‘house, place’ (15:3, 50:2),   À˜Í² ÜS from Kurdish for ‘hope’ (14:3), ˜†  …    from Kurdish for ‘help’ (20:1, 21:3), À˜†… §

After the 14th century, Syriac Christians formed the habit of commemorating events that affected them in colophons of manuscripts that they copied in great numbers. Rarely, however, do we see a catastrophe that befell them described in metric poetry and in Vernacular Syriac. Thus, the dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ on the Battle of Urmia is of particular value, especially because it was written by an eyewitness. Besides preserving it from oblivion, the present article sheds some light on the Aramaic dialect in which it was written and on the writing practices of its author. More importantly, it keeps in memory an event that decimated Middle Eastern Christianity almost a century ago.

CONCLUSION

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NOTES 1

TnjmƗ ƿdǀ, SimtƗ d-lešƗnƗ suryƗyƗ (Thesaurus of the Syriac Language) (Mosul: Dominican Press, 1879). 2 The priest Dawid Shmuel witnessed how the Metropolitan TǀmƗ was brutally wounded and died after three days; see his The AssyroChaldean History (Chicago, 1923), 213. 3 K. Dinno & A. Harrak, “Six Letters from Paul Bedjan to Aphram Barsoum, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Syria and Aleppo,” Journal of the CSSS 9 (2009) 55-73. 4 Arianne Ishaya, “From Contribution to Diaspora: Assyrians in the History of Urmia, Iran,” JAAS 16/1 (2002) 55-76. 5 Wilhelm II (1888-1918) became the Emperor of Germany and Prussia. 6 Nicholas II (1894-1917) became the Emperor of Russia. 7 This gentilic does not refer to the people of Syria but to the speakers of Vernacular Syrian/Syriac, the Assyrians. 8 The author of this Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ believes that the origin of the Assyrians of Hakkari is from northern Iraq and that they had settled in Hakkari after the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. 9 Mar Benyamin became the Patriarch of the Church of the East. 10 Negative words used because Iran did not become a refuge for the Assyrians and it became the scene of massacres later on. 11 Reference to the Russian revolution, 1917.

12

A city in the region of SalƗmƗs. Semko was the chief of the Kurdish Shasheknite tribe. He invited the Patriarch to form an alliance between the Kurds and the Assyrians, but when the Patriarch left with many of his guards, he and most of those who accompanied him were shot. 14 The answer comes from the angry Assyrian lady; the context from lines 29:4 to 32 is:1-4 is rhetorical. 15 ‫܉‬yƗrƝ and TekhnjmƗ were the strongest tribes amongst the Assyrians during the 18th and 19th centuries. 16 SnjrmƗ was the sister of the Patriarchs Mar Benyamin and Mar Paulǀs, and the aunt of MƗr Eshai Šemǥǀn. 17 Petrǀs was an Assyrian general who won many victories. He received the title Agha thanks to the liberation of Urmia at his hand. 18 MƗr Šemǥon is the name of the patriarchal seat of the Church of the East. MƗr Benyamin is the heir of the Apostle Simon Peter. 19 Charah was the home village of Semko, where he had his castle. 20 The camp of Ba’quba was in the province of DiyƗlah in Iraq. 21 Thousands of Assyrians had died in their new settlement in Ba’quba because of deadly diseases. 22 MƗr Yǀsip ণnƗnƯšǀ` was the Archbishop of Shemsdin in Turkey; he departed in the city of Baghdad on July 3, 1977. 23 MƗr Zaia Sargis was the Bishop of Jelu. 13

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The Dnjrek‫ܔ‬Ɨ on the Battle of Urmia Copied by GǀrgƯs KhǀšƗbƗ in 1969

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______________________________________________________________________ NEO-ARAMAIC LULLABIES FROM THE PLAIN OF NINEVEH (NORTHERN IRAQ)

SHAWQI TALIA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

L

ullabies, as ancient as man himself, are meant to be sung to help a child to go to sleep or to be quiet. In Mesopotamia they are attested since Sumerian times (3400-1800 BC),1 and although they are not attested in ancient Aramaic, they are well-known in NeoAramaic since they are found among Jews and Syriac Christians in Iraq. While Jewish lullabies attracted some scholarly attention,2 the Christian ones are not dealt with by scholars; the present article is an introduction to the subject. The lullabies from the Nineveh region in the north of Iraq typically have no specific titles. However, each one is designated by a specific opening formula, depending on the choice of the person who is chanting the particular lullaby. These given titles, or designations, are essentially generic, since they do not tell us anything about the subject or theme of the lullaby. These opening formulas are just words used to mean ‘lullaby’ or ‘come, go to sleep.’ When a mother begins her singing of the lullaby, she may use any of the following opening formulae. Her first introduction, before the actual singing, is:

Then she follows with any of the possible designations which serve as titles and which essentially mean the same thing, that is, “come, go to sleep.” Most of these ‘titles’ may derive from foreign words that once entered the vocabulary of the NeoAramaic of the plain of Nineveh, or they may simply be meaningless couplets used internationally. The following are the most commonly used titles with their tentative etymologies: 1.

Dilillǀl. Possibly derived from the Kurdish word dil, which means ‘heart’. As used in Neo-Aramaic, it simply means “come, go to sleep.” 2. Naini, Naini (repeated twice or more). Possibly derived from the Turkish word ninni, which means ‘a lullaby’. In NeoAramaic it has come to mean “come, go to sleep.” 3. HƗye, HƗye (repeated at least twice). This word seems to be derived from the Kurdish hai, which has various meanings, all related to the concept of ‘calling’. In Neo-Aramaic it has the expanded meaning of ‘I call on you, my child, go to sleep.’ 4. DƗye, DƗye (repeated twice or more). Probably from the Kurdish diia, which means ‘mother’. In Neo-Aramaic it has Hayyu d-zamrannux (or d-zamrannax) two distinct meanings. One is ‘mother’, Come, let me sing for you exactly as in Kurdish, and the other, ________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 (2011) ʊ Page 45

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when used for a lullaby, means, ‘come, my beloved’.

The Neo-Aramaic lullaby of Nineveh is a rhymed poem. But this rhyme is not maintained throughout the lullaby. Most often, the poem is divided into sub-sections of couplets, triplets, quatrains, quintuplets, or other forms, yet each section being rhymed. The lullaby is a simple composition that can be sung, or chanted, by anyone, whether trained in singing or not. The lullabies are sung using a typically Middle Eastern melody called ‫܈‬abƗ, which is probably deeply rooted in the ancient Mesopotamian culture. It is emotional and expresses sad feelings and suffering; being downbeat, it quickly puts the child to sleep. The literary form of the lullaby is characterized by its lexical simplicity and austere grammar. The poet uses many poetic conventions, all incorporated to add to the emotional impact of the words. Among the most important conventions are the following: 1. Repetition of certain words in the same line, especially when beckoning the child to go to sleep: a. D-‫ܒ‬wǀ, hƗye, hƗye3 Sleep quietly and joyfully, quietly and joyfully. b. D-naini, naini, naini O little one, go to sleep, go to sleep. c. O dƗye, dƗye, dƗye O my beloved, my beloved, my beloved.

2. Incremental recapitulation, where the first two or three lines of a section are repeated throughout the other sections: a

i. Na‫ܒ‬rƯlux Ҵamri ‫ܒ‬lƗta4 ii. W ҴInjƯl w-ibhƗta iii. D-šǀqƯ zǀre d-dargušyƗta vi M-xal‫܈‬ilǀxu m-marnjta w-šƗta

b i. Na‫ܒ‬rƯlux Ҵamri ‫ܒ‬lƗta ii. W ҴInjƯl w-ibhƗta

iii. M-‫ۊ‬asid d-šwǀyƗta iv. W daҵwƗta d-kapiryƗta c i. ii. iii. iv.

NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux ‫܈‬lƯwa d-xƗye GdarƗle l-mƯta w-xƗye W ҴInjƯl rƗba d-surƗye T-yawillux ҵumra w-xƗye

i. ii. iii. iv.

NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux ‫܈‬lƯwa d-xƗye GdƗrƗle l-mƯta w-xƗye W ҴInjƯl rƗba d-surƗye W kull ibhƗta mšƯhƗye

d

a I. May the three shrines guard you, II. Also the Gospel and the Fathers; III. May they keep the little ones in the cradles IV. And protect them from pain and fever. b I. II. III. IV.

May the three shrines guard you, Also the Gospel and the Fathers, From the jealousy of women neighbors And the curse of the unbelievers.

c I. May the Cross of life guard you II. —when laid on the dead, they come to life— III. Also the great Gospel of the Christians, IV. May it give you long life. d I. May the Cross of life guard you II. —when laid on the dead, they come to life— III. And the great Gospel of the Christians, IV. and all the Church Fathers.

Most of the lullabies, if not all, are anonymous. There are few historical indications of authorship, other than some allusions, such as kamrƯ katawa Ưle… (“they say, the author is…”). Though the poems are anonymous, the structure and poetic conventions used in them clearly point to educated and learned persons, authors well-versed in the history, geography and religious architecture of churches, shrines and Christian ruins of their towns. In addition, the unknown authors are wellread in the martyrdom of Christians who

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are celebrated in the liturgy of the various confessional churches. When examining these lullabies, it is not evident whether the authors are clerical or lay, for even though they are infused with Christian themes, they remain part of a genre of secular or profane literature. Given the historical fact that in times past, few natives of any Christian village or town were educated to a degree that prepared them to compose a lullaby, the authors must have been ordained members of the church. Nonetheless, other poems, such as durikyƗta, were also composed by laypersons, the most famous among them being the blind Dawid KǀrƗ.5 Also, given the stylistic and poetic unity of each of the lullabies, even those as long as the one from BaƥdƝda-Qaraqǀš (see the map), the subject of this paper, they must have been produced by single poets.

The Plain of Nineveh Home of Neo-Aramaic Speakers

The lullaby is sung by the mother, any female of the extended family, or even a neighbor,6 when trying to help the child go to sleep. Structurally and thematically, Neo-Aramaic lullabies can be divided into two categories, long and short. The long ones can be 50-250 (or more) lines, and the short one 15-30 lines. The two lullabies examined in this paper are transcribed from a recording (cassette tape) that was loaned to this writer for the purpose of transcription. The long one is composed of 243 lines and the short one has 27 lines. The informant who provided the tape has very little knowledge about its history, other than it was recorded in Qaraqǀš (BaƥdƝda), sometime in the 1970’s. It came into his possession through a third party, a friend of his. He has stated that he is aware that there were other cassette recordings of lullabies from the plain of Nineveh, whose whereabouts are now unknown. What is remarkable about the tape studied by this writer is that these lullabies are only a recitation, without any melody. Perhaps the object of this recording was to use it as a kind of literary archive for NeoAramaic lullabies, which would be easier to transcribe from recitations than when listening to them as melodies. Based on the intonations, pitch and articulation, we can conclude the reader is man who is 50-60 years of age. While the recited lullabies can be fairly understood, the tape is not in good condition, due to the repeated playing of certain lines. Throughout the long lullaby recited on this tape, the apotropaic prayer nƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux is used, with repeated references to the various communal identities. Given the unusual length of the long lullaby, this writer found it necessary to transcribe and analyze only a small segment of the total 243 lines. This writer hopes to revisit this long lullaby, with the intention of preparing a historical study of its many themes.

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THE LONG LULLABY This type of lullaby is generally divided into three separate, but interconnected thematic parts. In part one, we hear the mother beginning her colloquy with her child by calling on him/her to go to sleep. Following this call to the child, she moves immediately to pronounce her first set of petitions, which begin with the apotropaic prayer nƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux (Syr. n‫ܒ‬r) meaning “May he guard you”, which is repeated as a preamble for all the following petitions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

D-‫ܒ‬wǀ hƗye, hƗye NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux ‫܈‬lƯwa d-xƗye W ҴInjƯl rƗba d-surƗye Na‫ܒ‬rilux Ҵamri ‫ܒ‬lƗta W ƯtƗta d-xawidran d-mƗta

1. 2. 3.

Sleep gently, gently sleep, May the Cross of life guard you And also the Great Gospel of the Christians. May the three shrines guard you, And also the Churches that are around the town.

4. 5.

Interestingly, this same apotropaic opening formula is also known in Jewish Neo-Aramaic lullabies of Iraq, as in the following case: Na‫ܒ‬rile ‫܇‬ehra uyǀma May he be guarded by the moon and the sun. Na‫ܒ‬rƗle tora May he be protected by the Torah.7

Part two includes the various intercessions and petitions addressed to the following: 1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

Jesus, Mary and Gospel figures; Churches and shrines of the poet’s village or town; Christian martyrs, whose shrines are geographically located in the poet’s village, including a biography of their lives; Christian ruins of said village; Old Testament “martyrs,” such as Mart(y) ŠmnjnƯ;

6.

Shrines, churches and martyrs of the surrounding Christian villages, including some far away from the plain of Nineveh, such as Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq.

Before beginning the formally organized petitions, the poet introduces the ones related to his own village. This is important, as the author attempts to establish the fact that his town has much in common with others when celebrating the Christian history of his village. These intercessions are then followed by petitions addressed individually to the various Christian places, saints and martyrs of the other Christian towns and villages. In the long lullaby examined in this paper, we come to know the full Christian history of the village BaƥdƝda (= Qaraqǀš), the poet’s home, as he moves in his presentation of petitions to all the Christian aspects of his own village. These petitions are presented not only on behalf of the child and his well-being; they are publically pronounced to remind the citizens of his village’s long Christian heritage: Christian faith not threatened by persecutions, but blessed with holy men and women who became role models for the populace, and with numerous monumental churches built by the locals with muscles and deep faith—faith that has always carried the village community to where they are today. And to the outsider, it is a statement of courage, reminding one and all that keeping the faith in the midst of ever-present persecution is not easy, but always shepherded by Christ and his Church. These introductory intercessions encompass a history of Christianity in the poet’s village. While a large number of the villagers are familiar with the names of Christian personalities, the poet adds to this knowledge by presenting the Christian profile of this community, from the early history of the coming of Christianity to his

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village to the present time. This introduction shows the poet’s pride in his own Christian community. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux Mar ‫ۉ‬anna ArbilnƗya8 W Mar Yaҵqnj9 ‫ۉ‬a‫ڲ‬irnƗya W ҴƯta b-zuqƗqa xtƗya W Mar ZƯna10 ҴƯle Mi‫܈‬lƗya W SarkƯs BƗkǀs11 PalgƗya W b-Šmnjni12 raiš d-‫ܒ‬apayƗta W Mar Gorgis13 qaddišnƗya W Mar QiryƗqus14 daštƗya NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux MuqurtƗya

1.

May Saint John of Arbela guard you, and also Saint Jacob of the fields, the church in the lower alley, Mar ZƯna of Mosul, Saints SarkƯs and BƗkǀs, Mart(y) ŠmnjnƯ, Saint George, and the monastery of Mar QuryƗqǀs. May MuqurtƗya (= monastery of John of Daylam) protect you.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

In the second section the poet uses a special poetic convention, which may be called ‘Correlative Petition’, that is, the speaker petitions not only churches, shrines, Christian ruins and martyrs of his own village, but also of all the other villages of the Christian community of the plain of Nineveh. This very stylized convention is a reflection of the strong solidarity of these Christians, regardless of confessional affiliation. In doing so, the listener is given a biographical history of all the Christian villages, reminding all that there is only one Christian community, the Church of Christ, divided by geography, but united in the one faith. 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux Mar ZƯna d-ƤdaydƗye15 W b-ŠmnjnƯ d-Bari‫ܒ‬lƗye16 W Rabban Hormiz17 d-AlqušnƗye18 W Mar Ynjsuf d-BaƥdadnƗye19 Na‫ܒ‬rƗlux BarbƗra20 d-KarmšƗye21 W Mar HnjdƯni22 d-Bari‫ܒ‬lƗye W ҴƯta rapta23 d-ƤdaydƗye

W NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux Šaix Matti24 dYaҵqnjbƗye 9. W [ҴƯta] d-Meskinta25 d-KaldƗye 10. W [ҴƯta] d-Mar Tǀma26 d-Mi‫܈‬lƗye 11. W Maryam imme‫ ۊ‬d-SurƗye 12. D-ŠoqƯ zǀre bixƗye

8.

1.

May Mar ZƯna of BaƥdƝda guard you, 2. and also Mart(y) ŠmnjnƯ of Bar৬ella, 3. Rabban Hormiz of Alqoš, 4. the Church of St. Thomas of Baghdad, 5. Saint Barbara of Karamles, 6. Mar Aতnjdemmeh of Bar৬ella, 7. and the Great Church27 of BaƥdƝda. 8. May the blessed Mattai of the Syrian Orthodox guard you, 9. and also the Church of Meskinta of the Chaldean Church, 10. And the Church of Saint Thomas of Mosul. 11. May the Virgin Mary, mother of all the Christians, 12. keep the little ones alive.

This poetic convention of ‘correlative petition’ is a literary device used by poets of lullabies also from the surrounding Christian villages. This is clearly seen from another lullaby written in the town of Karamles, about five kilometers from BaƥdƝda: 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.

Na‫ܒ‬rƗlux BarbƗra d-GarimšƗye28 W Mar Gorgis d-Bar‫ܒ‬illƗye W Mar BihnƗm d-ƤdaydƗye May Saint Barbara of Karamles guard you and also Saint George of Bar৬ille, and Saint Behnam29 of BaƥdƝda.

Furthermore, the poet attempts to present the history of martyrdom of the most important martyrs mentioned in his poem. In doing so, the poet is telling his audience about the lives of these Christians who died for the faith, and whose remains became for them a source of healings, peace, and protection.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux MaqurtƗya30 Dayre‫ ۊ‬dƯle barƗya ŠiqqƯta qƗmi‫ ۊ‬bijrƗya Kim qƗ‫ܒ‬ille ҵajmƗya Dimme‫ ۊ‬jraile mix mƗya

1. 2.

May John of Daylam guard you, he whose monastery is outside the village— a brook flows facing it. He was martyred by the Persians and his blood flowed like rushing water.

3. 4. 5.

When we examine the thematic structure of these lullabies, it becomes evident that while a cradle song is a vehicle whereby a child is helped to go to sleep, it also fulfils another objective. Though the mother anticipates the child’s falling asleep, she also anticipates that her lullaby will be a spiritual gift to her other listeners, as well as to herself. When listening to the Neo-Aramaic lullaby, one is moved by what appears to be an element of lament, especially when it alludes to a Christian martyrdom. However, on closer examination of the text of these poems, it becomes evident that the lullaby is not a lament, for neither the composer of the lullaby nor the singing mother sees it this way. These lullabies are intended to bring blessings, grace and healing to whoever encounters them, whether through the melody or the text. Though many of these (typically Middle Eastern) melodies are sad, even melancholy, obviously the intention of any lullaby is to celebrate life, as depicted in the beautiful relationship between the mother and her child. The Christian communal places and saints celebrate the Christian life, a life that is the recipient of their special benediction and blessing. The texts of these lullabies show the intention of the poet, which is to remind the reader, or the listener, that one should joyfully celebrate these communal places and not lament about them. The text

informs us that the Christian life is given by God as a celebration, and not as a lament. Hence, these Neo-Aramaic lullabies are really celebratory poems. We can compare them to the Syriac ҵǀnyƗta and qinyƗta that are so much a part of the Syriac liturgical tradition. All of these are a source for Christian hope and expectancy. That these communal shrines and churches are symbols of the celebration of the Christian life is well shown in the annual festivals related to them that take place on the plain of Nineveh. This writer has been blessed, on many occasions, when attending these festivals (called šƝrƗ, from Syriac šahrƗ “vigil”), such as on the festal day of Mart(y) ŠmnjnƯ. Visiting their shrines and churches, the community witnesses to the importance of these holy places. But often, due to special circumstances, the poet inserts a lament experienced by the mother. This poetic convention is not often used, lest the lullaby becomes a lament and a dirge. Such an example is seen when the mother laments the particularity of being a stranger in her village, due to the fact that her village is not her birth village, but that of her husband: 1. 2. 3.

LƗ bƗxit w lƗ mabxitli Nixraita w nƗša latli Yatumta w xǀna latli

1. 2.

Do not cry, lest I cry Stranger I am, here I have no family An orphan I am, a brother I do not have

3.

Interestingly, this same poetic convention is used by the poet of the Iraqi Arabic lullaby (sung by Muslims): 1. 2. 3.

ƤarƯba w jƗrƗtƯ ƥrƗyib31 W mƗlƯ b-hal balad ‫ۊ‬bƗyib ƤarƯba, ma ye‫ۊ‬innan Ҵalayya wallah yƗ yumma

1.

A stranger I am, and so are my neighbors

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2. 3.

In this village I have no family A stranger I am; O mother, they have no compassion for me.

Part three has the mother’s colloquy with her child. In this colloquy she calls on her child to go to sleep, now that she has petitioned all to provide for him and to guard him: 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4.

D-‫ܒ‬wǀ yƗ mar šimma xilya Ƥair minnux latti xinna NƗ‫ܒ‬ayrux ҴIšoҵ ‫ۊ‬abƯba Sleep, you with the beautiful name I have no one else beside you May the beloved Jesus guard you. The Short Lullaby

In the short lullaby the mother attempts to quiet the child by singing of the economic well-being of the child. The aim here is to establish a sense of hope for the welfare of the child. The mother engages her fantasy by imagining the many possible things that may be provided for the child by the father. The desire for some material goods and some prosperity for the child is symbolic of the economic deprivation of the whole family, not only the child. Such lullabies convey the hope, the assurance and the expectancy of a brighter future in the daily life of the child, as well as the family. An example of a short lullaby is given below. Its title (Zummarta d-‫܇‬ehra “A Song of the Moon”) reflects the object of the child’s petition. This lullaby must be chanted under two concurrent circumstances. First, it must be sung during the summer, when the family sleeps on the roof, as all other villagers do, and when there is a full moon. Secondly, the father has to be absent for some time, in a faraway land, travelling in search of work, trade or barter. What is interesting about this lullaby is the reversal of speaker. While it is the mother who is uttering the words, it is the child who is petitioning, because the petition

is given in the first person, referring to himself, as we shall see. Here the child is asking his father to bring him some material goods when he returns from his trip, even though he is clearly too young to be cognizant of his circumstances. In reality, it is still the mother who is asking, since she is the one who knows what the child needs. This kind of lullaby represents a specific socio-cultural aspect of life in the Christian community. Given the demands of family life, usually with many children, the breadwinner may travel to seek a livelihood, hence the absentee father. The moon is our guide as to where the father might be or has been. 1. O ‫܈‬ehra bahnjra 2. La ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-‫ܒ‬njra 3. K-mataili abƯse w ҴarҴnjra 4. O ‫܈‬ehra xƗta 5. La ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-daštƗta 6. K-mƗtaili xilya d-barƗta 7. O ‫܈‬ehra ҴatƯqa 8. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ bšnjqa 9. GzƗwinnli zbnjn dƯqa 10. O ‫܈‬ehra rƗba 11. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ ‫ۊ‬abbƗba 12. KmƗtaili tnjta bjurƗba 13. O ‫܈‬ehra xtƯra 14. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-‫ۊ‬aܲƯra 15. Kim‫܈‬Ɨyidli zinzƯra 16. O ‫܈‬ehra ‫ۊ‬alnjya 17. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-gǀ bariyya 18. KmƗtaili pƗra w xilya 19. O ‫܈‬ehra zǀra 20. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-x‫ڲ‬Ɨra 21. KmƗtaili lachak xwƗra 22. O ‫܈‬ehra mdnjra 23. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ Ҵaikid nagƗra 24. KmƗtayle qaisa xwƗra 25. O ‫܈‬ehra d-šmayya 26. LƗ ƥzaylux bƗbƯ b-suriyya 27. KmƗtaili maqtaҵ d-šƗmiyya 1. O bright moon 2. have you not seen my father in the mountain

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3. bringing me raisins and manna from heaven? 4. O new moon 5. have you not seen my father in the countryside 6. bringing me milk of young goat? 7. O ancient moon 8. have you not seen my father in the market 9. bringing me an embroidered robe? 10. O great moon 11. have you not seen my beloved father 12. bringing me mulberry in a sack? 13. O beautiful moon 14. have you not seen my father by the threshing field 15. hunting for me a starling? 16. O sweet moon 17. have you not seen my father in the steppe 18. bringing me lamb and milk? 19. O small moon 20. have you not seen my father roving 21. bringing me white headgear! 22. O round moon 23. have you not seen my father with the carpenter

24. bringing me white wood?32 25. O moon in the sky 26. have you not seen my father in Syria 27. bringing me a Damascene robe?

In conclusion, the Neo-Aramaic lullabies of the plain of Nineveh are a form of literature deeply rooted in the Christian Syriac tradition and anchored to that specific territory. They are presented in a literary form that is shaped by the Christian rich heritage: literary, architectural, and religious. Literary, because the lullabies draw on Syriac literature when they evoke martyrdom and holiness; architectural, because they refer to magnificent churches and monasteries, some very old, dotting the plain of Nineveh; and religious, because they bring blessing and protection upon the child for whom the lullabies were composed. Though composed as poems, they are a literary tableau of the whole Christian community. Each lullaby seems to be also a lesson in hagiography and geography, not just of a particular village, like Qaraqǀš, but rather of every village in this plain.

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NOTES 1

See Walter Farber, Schlaf, Kindchen, schlaf! Mesopotamische Baby-Beschwörungen und –Rituale (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1988). 2 Yona Sabar, “Nursery Rhymes and Baby Words in the Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Zakho (Iraq),” JAOS 94/3 (1974) 330-331; Shimon L. Khayyat, “Lullabies of Iraqi Jews,” Folklore 89/1 (1978)13-22. 3 Consonantal transcription: ‫ ڴ‬fricative: English that. E.g., hu‫ڴ‬Ɨya (Jewish man). ‫ ۊ‬final pharyngeal. Used as ending for the 3rd sing. fem. and masc. E.g., šimma‫ۊ‬, šimme‫ۊ‬ (her name, his name). ƥ velar fricative: French Paris. E.g., BaƥdƝda, BaƥdƗd. ‫ ۊ‬pharyngeal. E.g., ‫ۊ‬abbƗba (beloved). ‫ ܈‬emphatic. E.g., ‫܈‬ehra (moon). ‫ ܒ‬emphatic. E.g., ‫ܒ‬wǀ (go to sleep). t fricative: English theology. E.g., matla (proverb). x velar fricative: German Bach. E.g., xtƯra (beautiful). ay diphthong. E.g., tanayta. 4 According to J. Fiey, there are seven churches in the town of Qaraqǀš. These churches are: the Church of Al-৫Ɨhira, the Church of Mar Zena, the Church of Ba-ŠmnjnƯ, the Church of Mar Yoতanna, the Church of Mar Gorgis, the Church of Mar Ya‫ޏ‬qnjb, and the Church of Mar Sarkis and Baqǀs. Since this tape has only the texts of the lullabies, it is difficult to ascertain the names of the three churches mentioned in the lullaby. Whichever these three are, they are of special importance for the villagers; the line “na‫ܒ‬rƯlux Ҵamri ‫ܒ‬lƗta” is repeated four times, signifying a special attachment to them. Cf. J. M. Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne; contribution à l'étude de l'histoire et de la géographie ecclésiastiques et monastiques du nord de I'Iraq, 3 vols. (Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1965-1968) 2:446-460; also Geoffrey Khan, The Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 4-6. 5 See Fables en langue chaldéenne vulgaire par Daoud l’aveugle de Mar-Yacoub (Mossoul: Imprimerie des Pères Dominicains, 1896). 6 It is a common practice among the women of these Christian villages that when a mother

is too busy to put the child to sleep, a neighbor will take her place to sing to the child to get him to do so. This is not considered babysitting, but rather a moral obligation that is required by the Christian faith. 7 Yona Sabar, “Nursery Rhymes…” 13-22. 8 YuতannƗn ArbilnƗya was bishop of Arbela, martyred ca. 344. Cf. Paul Bedjan, Acta martyrum et sanctorum, 7 vols. (Paris-Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890-1897) 4:128-130. 9 Mar Ya‫ޏ‬qnjb (Saint James) is probably Saint James the Hermit, a sixth-century martyr. His church goes back to 1744, though the original church is certainly a more ancient one. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 6. 10 Mar ZƯna, a seventh-century monk of the Syrian Orthodox Church has a church in BaƥdƝda, originally built in the twelfth century but destroyed many times. The present church was rebuilt in 1743-4. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 5. 11 The Church of SarkƯs and BƗkǀs (Saints Sergius and Bacchus), two Roman officers martyred in the late third century (or early fourth), belongs to the Syrian Orthodox community in BaƥdƝda. Legend has it that John of Dailam had this church built when he converted the town to Christianity. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 5, and BaudotChaussin, Vie des Saints et des Bienheureux selon l’ordre du calendrier avec histoire de fêtes, 13 vols. (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1935-1959), 10:101-107. 12 Mart ŠmnjnƯ is an Old Testament Jewish woman who, together with her seven sons, was martyred for refusing to violate the rituals of her Jewish faith; see 2 Maccabees 6-7 and 4 Maccabees 15-18. Her martyrdom, and that of her children, has been incorporated into the canon of martyrology of the Syriac and other Eastern churches. Her festal day is celebrated on May 3. One can say that the Eastern Churches have baptized Šmnjni and her seven sons. The given name ŠmnjnƯ, is probably a corruption of the Hebrew word šmoneh, meaning ‘eight’, representing the mother and her seven children. For an excellent history of the cult of ŠmnjnƯ, see Michael Abdalla, “The Cult of Mart Shmuni, A Maccabean Martyr, in the Tradition of the Assyrian Churches of Mesopotamia,” JAAS 23/1 (2009) 22-39; see

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also Witold Witakowski, “Mart(y) Shmuni, the Mother of the Maccabean Martyrs, in Syriac Tradition,” in René Lavenant (ed.), VI Symposium Syriacum 1992, OCA 247 (Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1994), 153–168 13 The Church of Mar Gorgis (Saint George) is a Syrian Orthodox Church in BaƥdƝda. Sources give a probable date for its foundation in the 13th century. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 5. 14 Saint QuryƗqǀs and his mother, Juliet, were probably martyred in the early 4th century in Syria or present-day northwest Turkey. Cf. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum, 3:254-283. 15 BaƥdƝdaye is gentilic based on BaƥdƝda, also called XudƝdƗ and Qaraqǀš. It is a Christian town 32 kilometers southeast of the city of Mosul, northern Iraq. The major Christian community belongs to the Syrian Catholic Church, with a minority of the Syrian Orthodox Church. The present population is around fifty thousand persons. Since the American war in Iraq, the town has seen a large increase of Christians from large Iraqi cities who have been subjected to a very organized persecution. 16 Bar৬ella is a Christian town 22 kilometers east of the city of Mosul. The Church of Mart(y) ŠmnjnƯ is very old, probably erected in the 12th century. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 5. 17 Rabban Hormiz is the most popular religious personality in the Church of the East and the Chaldean Church. He was born in the middle of the 7th century, and his famous monastery, which carries his name, is near the town of Alqoš, in the upper north of the plain of Nineveh. His feast is celebrated on May 9. For a full biography of Rabban Hormiz, cf. E. W. Budge, The History of Rabban Hormizd the Persian and Rabban bar ҵidta, 2 vols. (London: Luzac, 1902). 18 The town of Alqoš is 40 kilometers north of the city of Mosul, in the upper northwest reaches the plain of Nineveh. Its inhabitants are Chaldean Catholic, with a population around six thousand people; its most famous Christian monument is the Monastery of Rabban Hormiz (cf. note 14, above). 19 It is not clear which church this is, since there are many churches in Baghdad, the capital

of Iraq, which have the same name of “Mar Ynjsif” (St. Joseph). In this petition we see the poet truly exercising the convention of ‘correlative petition’. Baghdad is almost 350 miles from BaƥdƝda, yet he petitions its church(es) as a symbol of the unity of all the Christians of the land of Iraq. 20 Qaddišta BarbƗra (Saint Barbara) was a Roman who converted to Christianity (ca. late 3rd century), but was killed by her father on account of her faith. Her festal celebration is December 4 for the Syrian Orthodox and Chaldean Churches. The Church of the East celebrates it on the fourth Monday after Easter. Cf. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum, 3:343-455. 21 The town of Karamles (also Garamleš) is 25 kilometers from the city of Mosul. Its 10000 or so inhabitants are Chaldean, most of whom the migrated from the major Iraqi cities following the American invasion of 2003. For the history of this town, cf. Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne, 3:400-415. 22 Mar ণudƝni is the name of Aতnjdemmeh, a Syrian Orthodox catholicos, who died in prison in 575, imprisoned by the Persian king Anušarwan for having converted to Christianity one of the king’s relatives. His festal day is celebrated on May 2. Cf. J. M. Fiey, “Notule de littérature syriaque: Ahnjdemmeh” in Le Muséon 81 (1968) 155-159. 23 Known as the Church of the Virgin and the Great Church (ҵidta rapta), and al-ܑƗhira in Arabic. It is the largest church in Iraq, whose new section was finished in 1948. Cf. Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne, 2:446-451. 24 Šaix MattƯ was the ascetic who converted Mar Bihnam and his sister Sarah. His monastery is 20 kilometers east of the city of Mosul, located on the mountain of Maqlnjb. Its foundation goes back to the late 4th century. For the full history of Šaix Matti and the monastery, cf. Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne, 2:759-770. 25 The Church of Meskinta is the cathedral church of the Chaldeans in Mosul. It is dedicated to Mart(y) Meskinta, martyred, together with her children, during the reign of Yazdgerd II (438-457). The earliest reference to its building dates to the early 13th century. Cf. J. M. Fiey, Mossoul chrétienne; essai sur l'histoire, l'archéologie et l'état actuel des monuments chrétiens de la ville de Mossoul

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(Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1959), 12023. 26 There are two Mar Tǀma (Saint Thomas) churches in Mosul, the oldest belonging to the Syrian Orthodox community and dating to at least the 8th century. The second one belongs to the Syrian Catholic Church and is dated to 1862. Cf. Fiey, Mossoul chrétienne, 62, 147-151. 27 The Great Church is built beside the Church of the Immaculate Conception, which is the oldest edifice in the town. Here there is a monolithic font that has an inscription dated 1521. There are also tombstones, with some inscriptions that are dated to the fifteenth century, even as far back as the Middle Ages. Cf. Khan, Neo-Aramaic of Qaraqosh, 4; Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne, 2:446-449. 28 The short text of the Karamles lullaby is transcribed from the same tape of the lullabies from Qaraqǀš (BaƥdƝda). The reciter is the same person. We know the lines are from the town of Karamles, because he begins by saying, “Dilillol m-Karamles.” Sad to say, this lullaby has only five to seven lines, most of them difficult to understand, due to the deteriorated condition of the tape; whether only these lines were recorded, or whether the rest of the lullaby was on a different tape, perhaps now lost, is not known. The informant stated that he has no information about the lullaby from Karamles. 29 Bihnam and his sister Sarah are among the most venerated martyrs in the Syrian Church. However, the history of the martyrdom is not well established, probably occurring during the Sassanid period (4th century). The story states that Bihnam and Sarah converted to Christianity when the ascetic Mattai healed Sarah from her leprosy. When their father, Sennacherib, learned of this, he had them and forty-two of their friends put to death. Later, their father, the king, became sick, but he and his wife, ŠƯrƯn, converted to Christianity and built a monastery dedicated to Šaix MattƯ. For a full history of Bihnam and his sister Sarah, cf. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum, 2:397-441. The poet of this lullaby evidently knows his history, for his presentation of the story of Mar Bihnam and Sarah follow the traditional legend. He says:

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. B. 1. 2. 3. 4. A. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. B. 1. 2. 3.

B-dakidƥaita tfiqle W tƗma brikle w m-‫܈‬lnjlaile ҵukaste‫ ۊ‬b-Ҵara mxaile W Ҵaina d-mƗya pli‫ܒ‬laile W xƗ‫ܒ‬e d-Mar BihnƗm mu‫܈‬xaile W mgrnj‫ ۊ‬mušfaile XƗtai‫ ۊ‬Sarah garwanƯta KmdƗraila b-Ҵaina d-knjrƯta Pli‫ܒ‬la mix daihwa ‫܈‬pƯta MhƯminne b-ҴalƗhnjta Šaix Matti descended from the mountain And Mar BihnƗm came from Nimrod At the place of Dakidƥaita they met There he fell on his knees and prayed He hit the ground with his cane A spring then appeared open to him He bathed Mar BihnƗm’s sister in it He healed her from her leprosy

His sister Sarah, she with leprosy He immersed her in the spring She came out clean like unto pure gold 4. He then believed by the power of God.

30

Muqurtaya was the monastery dedicated by the villagers of BaƥdƝda to John of Dailam. It was destroyed in 1743 by the invading armies of Nader Shah, and was rebuilt recently. John of Dailam was born in 660 and died in 738. He spent most of his life in spreading Christianity among the Dailamites. The lullaby reference to his martyrdom by the Persians is intriguing, but wrong, since historical sources clearly indicate that he died peacefully of old age, having lived almost eighty years. For his life, see Sebastian Brock, “A Syriac Life of John of Daylam,” Parole de l’Orient 10 (1981-2): 123-189. 31 The quoted lines from this Arabic lullaby are transcribed from a tape in the possession of this writer. They are lines from the most famous Iraqi lullaby, simply called Dilillol. The singer on this tape is Waতida Khalil, the most accomplished Iraqi female folk singer. She is especially remembered for her wistful and melancholy voice, much appreciated by her compatriots. She died in early 1960. 32 Probably a reference to a special kind of wood, one that is either very valuable or one that is well suited for making certain objects, such as a crib, which is generally made of ‘white’ wood.

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1992-2010+: A UNIQUE WINDOW FOR THE REVITALIZATION, LINGUISTIC LEVELING AND MAINTENANCE OF ARAMAIC

EDWARD Y. ODISHO NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY – CHICAGO

1) TIMELINE OF ARAMAIC LANGUAGE SURGE AND DECLINE

A

ramaic began to appear as a distinct language in the Middle East in the 12th century B.C. By the 8th century B.C., it was the lingua franca of the Greater Middle East including Palestine, Israel, Mesopotamia, Syria and Lebanon, in the core region, and Iran, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula in the periphery. It became first the medium of the Christian religion not simply because Jesus spoke it, but, more so, because it was the most common language that the masses of the people in Palestine and Israel spoke as their daily language, as opposed to Greek, which was the language used primarily by the urban elites.1 Aramaic had remained the unrivalled medium of literacy and civilization for a period of at least one millennium stretching from the 8th century B.C. to the 7th century A.D. when Islam, with its Arabic language, began to dominate the Middle East. With the rise of Arabic, Aramaic began to recede and dwindle in influence, domain and number of speakers. The erosion of Aramaic in the face of Arabic has continued unabated since then. Undoubtedly, other local Middle Eastern languages besides Arabic, such as Turkish, Farsi and Kurdish,

have also contributed to the erosion of Aramaic, especially from the post-Mongol conquest to the present. Except for a couple of limited surges of Aramaic language, especially the movements associated with the so-called School of Alqosh in the 17th century2 and the revitalization of Modern Aramaic3 (Assyrian) initiated by Christian missionaries in Urmia early in 19th century and its extension into early 20th century, the language has been in a steady pattern of deterioration; however, very recently –more specifically in the early 1990s—when formal Aramaic (Syriac) language schools were founded in the Kurdish region of Iraq due to the pursuit of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and the approval of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), the language experienced yet another spike in activity which, as portrayed in this study, amounts to a surge. In sum, Aramaic was reduced from a major language of liturgy, literature and civilization4 to mere regional and local impoverished dialects that barely survived until this very day under the name of Modern Aramaic, Syriac or Assyrian. Foremost among the primary causes of its deterioration have been: a) Absence of a political entity to embrace Aramaic as a symbol of its sovereignty. After the downfall of the

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Assyrian and Babylonian empires and several Aramean kingdoms, Aramaic speakers did not have powerful political entities in the form of recognized states over which they had independent political, social, economic and educational jurisdiction. b) Gradual erosion and shift in ethnic and national identity. In establishing any ethnic or national identity, religion and language are the most essential premises for that identity. With their adoption of Christianity, the religious identity of the Aramaic speakers became much stronger than their ethnic and/or national identities. This centuries-old erosion of their ethnic identity has made them an easy target of identity obliteration and loss. c) Loss of population. At the birth of Islam in the 7th century, Christianity had become the faith of the vast majority of the population of the Fertile Crescent and of Egypt.5 The stronger the Arabs and Moslems became, the more the conversion from Christianity to Islam and from Aramaic to Arabic accelerated. The end result of these conversions was the drastic reduction in the population of Aramaic speakers and their linguistic marginalization. d) Domination of Arabic Language and Islamic Religion. Once the Islamic administration was firmly established, Aramaic (Syriac) as a native language was forbidden by Caliph Abdul Malik [685-705] to be used in administration;6 instead, Arabic was fostered by its universal use as a medium of government, culture and commerce, in general,7 and literacy and education, in particular. e) Schisms between Christians. The Christological controversies among Christians led to different schisms. Certainly, those schisms have been a major factor in weakening the Christian population in both religion and language in the face of the Islamic faith and the Arabic language. In the midst of this unavoidably gloomy future of Aramaic (Syriac), a window of hope has recently opened for a Surge in its

revitalization, linguistic leveling and maintenance when, in early 1990s, the formal Syriac language schools were founded in the Kurdish region of Iraq followed by Iraq’s constitutional recognition of Syriac as one of the languages in Iraq.8 The focus of this presentation is to substantiate and evaluate the positive impact of such a surge on the future survivability of Syriac as the native language of the ChaldoAssyrians.

2. EXPLANATION OF BASIC TERMS In order to substantiate the claim made in this presentation that a unique window of hope for the further revitalization and better maintenance of Aramaic has been in the making since the early 1990s, a few primary technical terms need strict definitions such as: a) Revitalization; b) Dialect Elevation to Standard; c) Linguistic Leveling; d) Maintenance; and e) surge and koiné. 2.1. Revitalization In this study, language revitalization denotes the strengthening of the status of a given language that is still in circulation among its natives, but has, throughout time, lost its vigor and richness especially in its formal and standard variety. Typically in such instances, the local and regional dialects dominate and the common language variety recedes. Revitalization should not be equated with ‘language revival’, which refers to a language that is on the verge of disappearance because of lack of circulation among its natives. A clear example of language revival is the growth of Modern Hebrew since the founding of Israel in 1948. Previous to this date, Hebrew, as a language of daily communication, was out of circulation. Unlike Hebrew, what Aramaic has been experiencing almost since the Mongol invasion of the Middle East is the steady deterioration in the richness of

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language in both formal and informal varieties. Nevertheless, vernacular Aramaic has been and still remains the daily means of communication among the majority of its speakers. In other words, Aramaic is still very much alive although its active circulation is gradually dwindling due to many reasons. 2.2. Dialect Elevation to Standard Every language is made up of a wide range of geographic, socio-economic and ethnic dialects; however, when it comes to national and/or ethnic identity and unity, the need for a unifying common means of communication becomes of utmost importance. Usually, the trend to establish this common means is through the elevation of one of the dialects—usually of the influential uppermiddle class, of the capital or the one that is culturally prestigious—to play the role of the common denominator or what is linguistically known as the ‘standard’. This is true of Modern English, since the dialect of the south-east of England played its historical role in the evolution of Modern Standard English. This role was soon strengthened through education at the university triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London and the public school system. For Arabic, it was the prestigious dialect of Quraish (ζϳήϗ) that became the language of Al-Qur’Ɨn (ϥ΁ήϘϟ΍) and then of Classical Standard Arabic. In case of Standard Italian, it was the dialect of Florence rather than that of Rome that established the basis for the standard since at the time Florence played a far more significant cultural role than Rome. Once a dialect becomes the medium of linguistic, cultural and political unification every effort is made to reinforce its status. Primarily, its domain of circulation is extended and it is soon codified through the writing system (orthography), dictionaries and grammar.9

With regard to Aramaic, when the Western missionaries arrived in Urmi and Hakkari, the use of the literary/formal language was almost lost except among the clergy and an extremely small number of lay people. The local and regional vernaculars (dialects) of Aramaic were the only means of communication. Some such vernaculars were seriously unintelligible to each other, especially those of Urmi plain residents versus those living in Hakkari mountains. The initiative of the Western missionaries to reduce Urmi vernacular to writing and use it as the medium of teaching and education helped in creating a modern literary koiné which, in turn, laid the foundation for a spoken koiné, especially after the Assyrians settled in Iraq post-1918. Thus, in terms of descriptive linguistics a new (i.e., modern) literary Aramaic was born which could be identified as a standard language. Indeed, this modern literary language has established itself during the last two centuries as a standard which impacted the different spoken dialects especially among the Assyrians of Iraq and Iran. A major linguistic observation in this regard is that Aramaic has had many standards and many vernaculars throughout its long history and it is descriptively inaccurate to look at Aramaic throughout its long history as one literary/ formal or standard variety versus one vernacular. 2.3. Linguistic Leveling The merger of several dialects of a given language to form a uniform common dialect through the process of large scale intermingling10 is called linguistic leveling. In dealing with the historical evolution of Modern Aramaic as spoken by the Assyrians of Iraq, the term koiné11 has been used to identify the common variety of language that emerged as a result of the massive displacement, relocation and mixing of speakers of different dialects after World War I.12

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However, as demonstrated in the next section, more recent observations and research on the demographic and linguistic changes among these Aramaic-speakers13 and further scrutiny of the concepts of surge and koiné forced a reconsideration of such concepts with regard to Modern Aramaic. An interesting underlying dynamic interrelationship seems to exist between the surge, linguistic leveling and koiné. The surge generates linguistic leveling which, in turn, generates a koiné. 2.4. Language Maintenance Language maintenance usually refers to relative language stability in number and distribution of its speakers, its proficient usage by children and adults, and its retention in specific domains such as home, school and religion, among others.14 The recent surge in the revitalization of Aramaic claimed in this study and its linguistic leveling with a touch of standardization are all key processes in the maintenance of Aramaic longer than expected prior to this surge than the expectation prior to this surge. 2.5. Surge and Koiné In this study, a surge designates a significant qualitative and quantitative rise in the written and oral use of language in informal daily communication and formal literature. If the surge is maintained for a reasonable durationusually two/three generations- it gives birth to a koiné. A koiné designates the rise of a common dialect or a lingua franca variety of a given language that facilitates communication across different dialects within one language. When these two terms are used as descriptive tools for a combined diachronic and synchronic assessment of the changes that Modern Aramaic has undergone, there is ample evidence to recognize two surges and two koinés since the early 19th century until now. There is also evidence that the two phenomena are linked together through the process of linguistic leveling. The first koiné

(koiné 1) was triggered by the 19th century15 western missionaries’ attempt to reduce the vernacular Aramaic (Assyrian) of Urmi to writing which gradually gave birth to Standard Written Language (SWL). This literary surge through the schooling system, which was based predominantly on the Urmi dialect, suffered a serious decline immediately pre- and post- WW I, but was soon revitalized after the settlement of the Assyrian refugees in Iraq16 post-1918. Within two generations of their settlement in Iraq, there was large scale oral dialect blending and leveling, especially in the cities of Kirkuk, Baghdad, Mosul and the town of Habbaniyya, which led to the materialization of koiné 1. The emergence of the second koiné (koiné 2) seems to coincide with late 1980s and early 1990s, and is based partially on koiné 1, but with strong components from the Ashirat17 and Plain dialects. Two distinct trends are unmistakably clear. First, a surge in Modern Aramaic tends to lead to linguistic leveling and literary enrichment which, in turn, form a koiné. Second, each latter koiné is partially influenced by the former one. For both koinés, the evidence for their formation can easily be synchronically substantiated. Thus, this synchronic evidence may be used to diachronically investigate the long history of Aramaic- or other languages for that matterto verify whether a systematic relationship exists between surge in a given language and the emergence of koiné. Since the focus in this study is on koiné 2, which is still in the process of evolving, it is worthwhile knowing the conditions and circumstances in which it was conceived. Approximately, during the last three decades a newly emerging variety of Modern Aramaic has been in the making. Its emergence coincides with two major changes in the social/demographic and political life of Aramaic speakers in Iraq, in general, and in the north region, in particular. Socially/ demographically, a large-scale immigration

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out of Iraq, especially from the urban areas, began, which essentially consisted of koiné 1 speakers. Politically, it was the beginning of the armed struggle of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) that started as a small group of political activists and guerilla fighters, but gradually snowballed into a broad-based political movement whose leadership and rank-and-file were predominantly speakers of Ashirat and Plain varieties. Many of the originally Ashirat speakers had lived in urban areas and became familiar with koiné 1; however, because with the guerilla war they retreated to the Ashirat towns and villages in the north, their Ashirat dialect was reinforced and a new era of bidialectalism began through the gradual merger of Ashirat and Plain dialects. This era of Ashirat and Plain bidialectalism coupled with the designation of the Kurdish region as a Safe Haven zone and the initiation of relatively large-scale Aramaic (Syriac) language schooling system ushered in a radical surge in the revitalization, linguistic leveling and maintenance of Aramaic. The freedom of physical movement and social intermingling of the speakers of Aramaic within the Kurdish region and the Plain of Nineveh resulted in linguistic leveling. Thus, the schooling system and the large-scale interaction of dialects jointly justify calling the outcome of this surge as koiné 2. The rest of this paper will be devoted to unveiling the specifics of the rationales for identifying this latter era of change in the history of Modern Aramaic as koiné 2.

3. RATIONALES FOR IDENTIFYING THE 1992-2010+ PERIOD AS A SURGE The identification of the above period in the modern history of Aramaic as a surge (which we hope will continue!) must be based on certain valid criteria that justify the claim. Foremost among such criteria are the

following: 3.1) initiation of a schooling system in the Syriac language; 3.2) creation of a comprehensive Syriac language curriculum; 3.3) the creation of a complete set of cross-curriculum textbooks; 3.4) the level of teacher preparation; 3.5) the number of schools and learners involved in schooling system; 3.6) the emergence of a system from elementary to college level; 3.7) the amount of exposure to formal and informal usage of language; 3.8) the degree of social intermingling and literary activities. 3.1. Initiation of a Schooling System in Aramaic (Syriac) In 1991, after the first Gulf War, the north of Iraq was declared by the allied forces a nofly zone to facilitate the return of all Kurdish, ChaldoAssyrian, Turkmani, Yezidi etc… refugees to their homes in the North of Iraq. At this juncture of time, the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) was the only active Aramaic-speaking political movement that was involved in the guerilla fighting against Saddam Hussein’s regime. In the formation of the first Kurdish parliament, ADM won 4 of 5 seats assigned for the Christians. ADM also had a cabinet member in the Kurdish Self-rule government. Teaching the native language was on the top of ADM’s political and educational agenda. The ADM bloc in the parliament submitted a proposal to establish a primary school system, the instructional language of which would be Aramaic (Syriac). After some serious discussions, the cabinet approved the proposal and the Syriac language educational system was established formally by the Ministry of Education in 1992-1993.18 In this educational system, there are two types of schools inasmuch as Syriac language is concerned. The first type is the so-called Syriac Schools in which Syriac is the primary language of instruction across the whole curriculum while Kurdish and Arabic are taught as regional languages with English

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as a foreign language to facilitate intercommunity and cross-language communication. The second type is the so-called Kurdish School in which the language of instruction is Kurdish, but Syriac language is an item in the curriculum required by Syriacspeaking students. Usually, ChaldoAssyrian students in Kurdish School are required to receive 4 to 6 hours of instruction in Syriac language per week. Two-thirds of schools are of the first type and one-third of the latter type. In other words, Syriac-speakers have been afforded a unique opportunity to create and implement a curriculum of instruction which promotes the use of the native language (L1) as the primary medium of instruction in all content areas or at least (in the case of Kurdish schools) as a subject in the curriculum. This is a unique language education project that the native speakers have not had for over a millennium. With the completion of 6th grade of instruction at the primary school (DÔPÍls DÔskhÁ Δϴ΋΍ΪΘΑϻ΍ ΔγέΪϤϟ΍), massive efforts were exerted by ADM and the ChaldoAssyrian population to officially extend the level of instruction throughout the three years of the intermediate school ( ΔγέΪϤϟ΍# DÔQ©ÝÁ# DÔskhÁ ΔτγϮΘϤϟ΍). There was reluctance on the part of KRG to approve the concept of an intermediate school, let alone sponsoring it financially. The reluctance was partially based on legal grounds in the sense that the law restricted the instruction in Syriac to the elementary school level only. The legal grounds were further reinforced, allegedly, on the basis of the deficiency in the educational cadre required at this level of instruction. However, after further deliberations, a compromise was reached and in December 1998 the Ministry of Education granted its permission to establish an intermediate school under the Ministry’s supervision, but without its financial commitment. Thus, ADM had to find the ways and means to finance the admi-

nistration of the intermediate school named Nisibin Intermediate School. Due to the extreme importance of this school level, the Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS/A), an all-Assyrian public organization based in the United States, had to assume the full responsibility of running the school financially and administratively. Soon after the intermediate school, the High School stage was inaugurated from which the first class of an all-Syriaclanguage education graduated. The graduates joined various departments in different Iraqi universities, and some of them joined the newly-established (2004) Syriac Language Department at the College of Languages/ Baghdad University, where they could major in Syriac language. 3.2. Comprehensive Syriac Language Curriculum It is absolutely necessary to make clear to the reader that this Syriac schooling system is not just for teaching Syriac (i.e. a language program); rather, in a sizeable number of Syriac-speaking schools, the system of instruction in Syriac is cross-curriculum (i.e., all academic subjects taught in Syriac). In other words, all content areas in social sciences, natural sciences and humanities are taught in Syriac from grades 1 to 12. Obviously, Kurdish, Arabic and English are taught as languages. 3.3. Complete Set of Cross-Curriculum Textbooks When the schooling system was initiated, textbooks, especially in content areas, were almost non-existent. Thus, there was a serious urgency for creating them primarily by translating appropriate textbooks existing in Arabic for other parts of Iraq. Where and when appropriate, such textbooks have been properly edited and modified to be in line with ChaldoAssyrian cultural, national and

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patriotic goals.19 Presently, there are over fifty (50) textbooks printed in Syriac covering all grades and subjects included in the curriculum.

that have been in such schools, since their inception, is over 10,000. Their proficiency in Syriac literacy (reading and writing) ranges between fair and excellent.

3.4. Teacher Preparation

3.6. Elementary through College Schooling System

At first, there was a general shortage of professionally qualified teachers, but the shortage was specifically felt in the formal language proficiency and educational preparedness of teachers in handling comprehensive instruction in Syriac covering a wide array of content areas: mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. The deficiency was attributed, in general, to the high percentage of illiteracy in the native language among adult speakers of Syriac as well as the rapidly decreasing fluency in their oral skills due to the pervasive dominance of Arabic. Faced with this serious language deficiency, the Directorate General of Syriac Language Education has continuously organized intensive language proficiency courses for the teachers. More than 600 teachers have been afforded the opportunity to such courses. 3.5. Number of Schools and Learners Involved in Schooling System It is quite difficult to determine the exact number of students involved in this schooling system because the number keeps changing; however, currently the number is in the range of 7,000 per academic year studying in over 50 elementary, intermediate and high schools in the Erbil and Dohuk governorates. The first KRG-funded Syriac primary schools were officially opened in March 1993.20 There are now additional schools opened in the Kirkuk and Nineveh (Mosul) governorates. Even in Baghdad, there are a couple of schools, but because of security problems they are not realistically functional. The estimated number of students

The Syriac language schooling system that began with the elementary level in 1993 was completed through to the college level in 2004. A complete Syriac-language educational system has many significant linguistic, cultural and academic implications. Linguistically, the length of the formal schooling period (i.e. twelve or sixteen years) affords learners ample opportunity to be exposed to both Aramaic language and literature, including levels of proficiency in the phonological, morphological, syntactical and lexical aspects of the classical and modern varieties of the language. Since language and culture are historically intertwined, learners will undoubtedly have copious exposure to the culture of the Syriac-speaking communities throughout its long history. Academically, after completing twelve or sixteen years of immersion in their native language, learners will be qualified to handle several important academic tasks such as teaching the language efficiently, practicing professional writing and conducting research. Interestingly, there are also two nongovernmental kindergartens managed by ADM women’s league, one in Duhok and the other one in Arbil, where children are taken care of, educated and entertained in their native language. 3.7. Ample Exposure to Formal and Informal Usage of Language The strength of this schooling system comes not only from its duration and completeness, but more significantly from its intimate contact and interaction with the vibrant

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Aramaic-speaking communities within which it functions. The combination of formal education in the native language and its informal circulation in the community is the best formula for any language revitalization, leveling and eventual maintenance. Nowadays, there is nowhere throughout all the Aramaic-speaking communities where the combination of formal and informal varieties of Aramaic language is as active and effective as it is in the north of Iraq. 3.8. Substantial Social Intermingling and Literary Activities The social security and stability in the Kurdish region has offered the best opportunity for Aramaic-speaking communities, with their different dialects, towns and villages, to actively interact socially, educationally and culturally and have ample exposure to each other’s dialect. They have also bonded even politically and nationalistically even further as the members of the same ethnic and nationalistic entity. The social bonding, the political and nationalistic awareness and the establishment of a native language schooling system all jointly invigorated literary and artistic activities. During the last three decades the number of books, magazines and newspapers published increased noticeably. Equally noticeably, the number of social and cultural clubs and organizations has increased as well. People have become more interested in publishing their works and performing their artistic and cultural activities in their native tongue, Aramaic.

4. MOST SALIENT ASPECTS OF ARAMAIC LANGUAGE SURGE #2 Below are the most salient characteristics of surge 2: a) This is the first time in centuries that complete instruction in the Aramaic lang-

uage has been administered through a central organ called the Directorate General of Syriac Education, which is a body of the Ministry of Education of the KRG. The Directorate is in charge of designing and implementing the instructional curriculum. b) Native language promotion is intimately associated with the promotion of the native cultural heritage. The Directorate General of Syriac Education has a twin body under the name of the Directorate General of Syriac Culture. c) Language instruction is authentically contextualized in the triangular environment of school, home and community, which is the best habitat for the maintenance of a language. To further highlight the significance of this feature, one has to assume that school, by itself, is not capable of realistic language maintenance without the continuous support of the community and home. It is the latter two that actually preserve the oral circulation of a given language. d) Language usage represents a complete array of communicative and educational functions in all fields of life and knowledge in all formal and informal modes, especially the modes of what have recently been identified as Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) vs. Cognitive/ Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).21 The two modes are simply identified as conversational language and academic language, respectively. e) Females represent almost 50% of the total number of learners, which is a ratio that has never been reached in the known history of modern ChaldoAssyrians. This very high representation of females has significant bearing on the maintenance of the native language because it will lead to a high percentage of native-language literate mothers, a condition which is the most conducive for children’s acquisition of the oral and literacy skills of the mother tongue.

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f) There is a massive social and political support for formal instruction in the native language, because language is a major pillar of the national, political and linguistic identity of the ChaldoAssyrian People. g) Native language instruction is strongly propagated and reinforced through the mass media in the form of books, newspapers, magazines, radio/television broadcasting and (most recently) electronic media. h) The language variety used in surge 2 schools is Standard Modern Aramaic enriched with more old Aramaic where necessary. The learners and teachers involved in the program come from a wide variety of dialects which exposes their language to considerable mixture and, hence, linguistic leveling. Linguistic leveling is further consolidated by the communal interaction of the speakers of L1 in a wide variety of social, educational, religious and political contexts. In reality, linguistic leveling, which is the theme of next section, is one of most important outcomes of the present surge in Aramaic.

5. LINGUISTIC LEVELING AND THE COHERENCE OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL ARAMAIC As defined earlier on, linguistic leveling implies the merger of several dialects of a given language to form a uniform common dialect through the process of large scale intermingling and interaction among speakers of different dialects. Linguistic leveling enhances the commonality and coherence within a language. This process of dialect leveling will eventually promote a standard koiné variety of a language. Indeed, the new schooling system and the considerable surge in the revitalization of both the BICS (conversational language) and CALP (academic language) of Aramaic are

jointly leading to noticeable linguistic leveling of Modern Aramaic, which, in turn, points in the direction of the emergence of koiné 2. 5.1. Differences between Koiné #1 and Koiné #2? Although the two koinés have led, or are in the process of leading, to linguistic uniformity through linguistic leveling in Aramaic, they are, nevertheless, different in several respects. First, historically, koiné 1 was noticeably influenced by the Urmi dialect.22 Unlike koiné 1, koiné 2 is largely based on the Ashirat and Plain dialects. Second, koinés 1 and 2 are linguistically very different in many respects. Lexically, there were many loanwords from Farsi and Turkish that crept into koiné 1 due to Urmia dialect influence. Such loanwords are distinctly clear in the modern rendition of the Bible in Assyrian. Unlike koiné 1, koiné 2 is in the process of replacing most of those loanwords with native words either retrieved from Old Aramaic (Eì¶PÔí©# EìÆìtô½) or borrowed from other contemporary Aramaic dialects, especially Ashirat and Plain. In phonology, the differences between the two koinés are most distinct. There are at least three major phonological differences with regard to: a) the ZlƗma [GÖ] and RwƗxa [QÖ] vowels; b) the interdental fricative pair [6 âÓ & âg]; and c) the

pharyngeal pair [Í#b ž ¬] on which we will elaborate below. Even in grammar and syntax, koiné 2 is showing more of a tendency of aligning itself with Old Aramaic than koiné 1 did. 5.1.1. Different Lexical Tendencies between in Koiné #1 and Koiné #2 The reduction of the dialects of Assyrian in the region of Urmi to literacy and the subsequent standardization of the new variety of formal written language brought

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with it a flow of loanwords from Turkish, Farsi, Kurdish and Arabic. This can be seen in Touma Audo’s Vernacular Assyrian Grammar, originally published in 1911.23 Mar Toma, the scholar in Aramaic used nonAramaic words such as, not because he was not aware of the more genuine Aramaic words, but because he wanted to make the style of his book as familiar as possible to the readers of Urmia’s dialect by using vocabulary that they were familiar with. For instance, he could have used < E÷½Íú > for , for , or for , < Eì¾ís> or for etc., all of which are included in his gigantic dictionary of 1897. It is such authentic lexical items that learners in the contemporary Syriac schools are using, in order to avoid loanwords that invaded the Urmi dialects. Another source for the revitalization of the lexical inventory of the learners is via the infusion of synonyms from dialects, especially the Ashirat and Plain ones. For example, extensive circulation of lexical cognates and synonyms specific to each variety is now in progress in both daily and academic usage, such as the use of the synonyms ‘morning’ and ‘catch’ of Ashirat sideby-side with and of Plain. The dialects are also used as a resource to replace some items of vocabulary that are deeply seated in koiné 1 such as replacing (wrestling) and (quickly) with and . Many new terms have been coined in the process of compiling or translating the textbooks and teaching them in classroom situations. Even more words are created in the midst of a literary minirenaissance to cope with the editing and publishing of new books, journals and magazine or to run daily radio and television programs. For instance, the word (tape or cassette) that the late poet William Daniel coined in 1970s gave birth to

(video tape), (radio) and (television), all of which are in full circulation in the community even by illiterate people. In fact, there are scores of words that have been coined from native roots during the last three or four decades, most of which have become very popular. An important observation regarding the students in these Syriac language schools, especially those in intermediate levels and higher, is worthy of mentioning. Visitors to those schools, whose native language is Syriac, are shocked to the extent of embarrassment when they listen to the purity of the communication in Syriac that students are able to conduct. In one such video-taped communication, the student was solving a math problem and he used the term (plus minus) instead of the traditional and less impressive . Although both terms are original Syriac, the first term is less bulky, lighter and easier to pronounce. 5.1.2. Different Phonological Tendencies of Koiné 1 and Koiné 2 The most distinct and readily noticeable differences, even by linguistically unsophisticated people, are in the phonological system. The following subsections will demonstrate some examples of such differences. 5.1.2.1. Return of Classical Zlama [GÖ] and Rwaxa [QÖ] in Koiné 2 The traditional Old Aramaic zlƗma yarƯxa (EŸm [GÖ]) occupied the XwƗsa [KÖ] vowel slot in koiné 1. In other words, zlƗma yarƯxa and xwƗ‫܈‬a in this koiné have now identical phonetic values. Koiné 2, however, retains the traditional (classical) phonetic value of the vowel. For example, the words in table 1, below, represent the two variant pronunciation patterns of koiné 1 vs. koiné 2.

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Koiné 1 Pronunciation

Koiné 2 Pronunciation

EìÁEéo#

Silver

[UKÖOC]

[UGÖOC]

Eìsék

Head

[TKÖ5C]

[TGÖ5C]

EìTDég

Wolf

[FKÖYC]

[FGÖYC]

EìÅD÷Ó

Fig

[V*KÖPC]

[V*GÖPC]

Table 1: Loss of zlƗma in koiné 1 versus its retention in Koiné 2

Parallel to the above difference, there has been a frequent replacement of the traditional RwƗxa ( [QÖ]) with RbƗsa ( [WÖ]) in koiné 1 versus its retention in koiné 2, as in the examples in table 2, below. Word

Meaning

EìÅàÎ\ìD EìÅàÍlL Eì½Îà óìµ ¬àÎtP

Brother Son murderer person’s name

Koiné 1 Pronunciation [!C:WÖPC] [DTWÖPC] [SCWÖNC] [!KÖ5W]

Koiné 2 Pronunciation [!C:QÖPC] [DTQÖPC] [SCQÖNC] [!KÖ5Q]

Table 2: Loss of rwƗxa in koiné 1 versus its retention in koiné 2

5.1.2.2. Return of Classical Interdental Fricatives [6 Ι Ó â ; & gâ Ϋ ] in Koiné 2 In the realm of consonants, the interdental fricatives /ș âÓ / and /ð âg /, so typical of Old Aramaic, disappeared in koiné 1; they are systematically replaced by the alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/, respectively. The two fricatives are retained in koiné 2. See Table 3 below: Word String Fly Book House

Koiné 1 Pronunciation [gda:la] [didwa] [kta:wa] [be:ta]

Koiné 2 Pronunciation [gða:la [diðwa] [kșa:wa] [be:șa]

Table 3: Loss of interdentals /ș/ and /ð/ in koiné 1 versus their retention in koiné 2

5.1.2.3. Anticipated Return of Pharyngeal Fricatives [Í Ρžω] in Koiné #2 Koiné 2 (1????) has completely lost the pharyngeal fricatives [ÍΡ žω], but koiné 2 manifests a tendency to retrieve and/or retain them. This tendency for their return and retention is primarily attributed to the influence of the Plain group of dialects. Their retention in Plain group is most likely attributed to the proximity of the settlements of Plain dialect speakers to the Arabicspeaking communities in the city of Mosul and its neighbouring towns. An additional reason for the return of these classical pharyngeals in koiné 2 is the tendency in the schooling system to align the overall pronunciation of the native language with its more classical forms based on the prescriptive assumption that older forms are more authentic.

6. CONCLUDING REMARKS In spite of the general trend to the deterioration of the Aramaic language during the last millennium of its history, it has experienced two periods of revitalization in recent centuries. The first coincided with the Western missionaries’ attempt in Urmia at creating a common written language and promoting literacy through its medium. They succeeded in generating a new Standard Written Language (SWL) largely based on Urmi dialects. In turn, this SWL served as the foundation for the future emergence of a common koiné of oral communication in the period between 1918 and the 1980s in Iraq that cut across all the tribal and regional dialects and helped to drastically standardize the oral language. The SWL also functioned as the medium of publication of literature and language materials and of the extensive semi-formal and informal native language education activities that reached their peak

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during 1950s and 1960s, plateaued in the 1970s and seriously decelerated in the 1980s. There are strong indications that yet another revitalization has been in the making since early 1990s. This surge/revitalization has its own phonological, morphological, grammatical and lexical characteristics. Equally significant is that the recent surge is linguistically leveling many of the existing dialects, leading to the emergence of a somewhat different standardized variety of Modern Aramaic that justifies its labeling as koiné 2, as opposed to koiné 1 for the period between 1918 and the 1980s. Stated differently, linguistic leveling implies the process of koinéization.24 Thus far, surge 2 is still in progress and its subsequent koiné 2 is in the making; nevertheless, the indications seem to suggest that the prospects of the current surge, ceteris paribus, compared to surge 1 may be more effective in the revitalization of native language for several reasons. First, and primarily, the schools that are leading the revitalization in this surge are complete cross-curriculum schools leading to total immersion in the native language as opposed to the predominantly language-only schools of previous surge which offered only partial exposure to the native language. Besides, all social and cultural activities in schools of surge 2 are in the native language compared to, for instance, the non-native language and culture activities in the Assyrian school of early 20th century as reported in the following quotation: In time, the curriculum of the American Mission schools became westernized. In a 1906 issue of Kokhva, the sole Assyrian nondenominational newspaper, a report was published with regard to the graduation ceremony of the American Mission College and high school students. While the report praised the high quality of students’ presentations in foreign languages, it lamented the

total ignorance of these students about their own history. In subsequent reports we read how parents sat patiently during the graduation ceremonies listening to the presentations of their sons and daughters in English and Farsi, not understanding a word of what was being said.25

Second, the current surge is driven by a complete 12-grade system in the native language (L1) crowned with a 4-year university education, if learners desire academic specialization in L1. Third, the schools have complete sets of text-books in the native language covering all subjects taught. Fourth, learners are wholly immersed in Modern Aramaic as their full-time educational task as well as seriously exposed to Old Aramaic. Fifth, the immersion in L1 in schools is effectively propped up by opportunities of further immersion through mass media, social interactions and literary practices. The linguistic features of koiné 2, especially with regard to its linguistic trend of returning to some classical vowel and consonant sounds, the retrieval of native lexical items in place of foreign loanwords and the tendency for more traditional grammar serve as evidence that koiné 2 triggers the reversal of some of the phonological and lexical tendencies instituted by Urmi’s revitalization of native language and the subsequent evolution of koiné 1. As the focus of this study is on native language education and language maintenance, the significance of the recent surge lies in the fact that raising a new generation of young literates immersed in Aramaic, both modern and classical, will prolong the life of the language at least up to two future generations, since by the time the first generation departs, its impact will be felt on at least the next two generations. However, as for a long-term assessment of the future prospects of this new surge, it is,

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unfortunately, clouded with unpredictability. There are two major factors that dictate the unpredictability: first, the volatility of the overall political situation in Iraq, especially with regard to non-Arab and non-Kurdish minorities whose security has been steadily deteriorating and whose political rights have been practically almost completely marginalized; second, the future prospect of the working relationships between the Kurds as the majority in Kurdistan region and the ChaldoAssyrian minority and the consoledation of democracy and human rights in the region. Without genuine democracy neither the masses of the Kurdish people, nor the ChaldoAssyrian and other ethnic minorities will prosper economically, politically, educa-

tionally and socio-culturally. Nevertheless, the existence of all-Aramaic language schools during the last two decades coupled with large-scale circulation of native language in publication and media and massive intermingling across dialects, especially of Ashirat and Plain, do constitute a solid base for the claim of a new surge in Aramaic if those schools continue to function for several more decades. With security and democracy this surge/ revitalization of Aramaic will further prosper, whereas in the absence of democracy and security the surge will suddenly come to an abrupt end and Aramaic may be doomed to extinction by the end of 21st century.

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NOTES 1

Antonie Wessels, Arab and Christian? Christians in the Middle East (Kampen/ Netherlands: Kok Pharos Publishing House, 1995), 46; Sebastian Brock, From Ephrem to Romanos: Interactions between Syriac and Greek in Late Antiquity (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. 1999), 149. 2 H.L. Murre-van den Berg. (1998). “A Syrian Awakening Alqosh and Urmia as Centres of Neo-Syriac Writing,” in OCA 256, ed. R. Lavenant, S.J. (Rome: Department of Asian and African Languages, 1998), 499. 3 The terms ‘Aramaic’, ‘Syriac’ and ‘Assyrian’ are used interchangeably where convenient. 4 Wessels, Arabs and Christians, 30. 5 Philippe Fargues, “The Arab Christians of the Middle East: A Demographic Perspective,” in Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future, ed. Andrea Pacini (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), 49 6 Bat Ye’or, The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam (Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996), 60. 7 P.M Holt, Ann Lambton, and Bernard Lewis, eds., The Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 1 (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1970), 176. 8 The Republic of Iraq, “Iraq’s Constitutional,” (2005). Article 4:1. 9 J. Cheshire, V. Edwards, H. Münstermann and B. Weltens, “Dialect and Education in Europe: A General Perspective,” in Dialect and Education: Some European Perspectives (Clevedon: Multi-lingual Matters, 1989), 3-10. 10 V. Fromkin and R. Rodman, An Introduction to Language (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998), 401. 11 Koiné, a Greek term used to describe the common dialect (‫ ݘ‬țȠȚȞ‫ ޣ‬įȚȐȜİțIJȠȢ). The Random House College Dictionary, s.v. “koiné” (New York: Random House, Inc., 1975). 12 Edward Y. Odisho, The Sound System of Modern Assyrian (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1988), 20. 13 Odisho, “The Second Koiné of Modern Syriac (Aramaic),” Mediterranean Language Review 15 (2004) 48-62; also, “Recent Demogra-

phic Changes in Aramaic-Speaking Population of Iraq: Return of some Phonological Features of Classical Aramaic,” in Linguistic and Cultural Studies in Aramaic and Arabic (New Jersey: Gorgias press, 2009), 93-101. 14 Colin Baker, Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Cleveland: Multilingual matters, 1997), 59. 15 Specifically in 1836 which coincides with the opening of the first missionary school: Arianne Ishaya, “From Contributions to Diaspora: Assyrians in the History of Urmia, Iran,” Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies 16/1 (2002) 55-76. 16 A similar koiné evolved in Iran as a result of dialect blending as well as the perceptible influence of Farsi. 17 Ashirat dialects e.g., Upper and Lower Tiari etc… usually dwellers of more mountainous areas and Plain of Mosul dialects e.g., Alqosh, Telesquf, Telkepe, Baghdede, Keremlis and Zakho to their north: Arthur J. Maclean, Dictionary of the Dialects of Vernacular Syriac (Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1972), ix-xi. 18 Kurdistan Regional Government/UK Representation, The Status of Christians in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq (London: Kurdistan Regional Government/UK Representation, 2009). 19 Syriac Education in the North of Iraq: Facts and Figures (San Diego: Friends of the Syriac Education, 2000), 24-5. 20 KRG Report, Status of Christians…, 2009. 21 For details see, Jim Cummins, Bilingualism and Special Education: Issues in Assessment and Pedagogy (Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1984). 22 Konstantin G. Tsereteli, The Modern Assyrian Language (Moscow: NAUKA Publishing House, 1978), 30-31; Georg Krotkoff, A NeoAramaic Dialect of Kurdistan (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1982), 3; Edward Y.Odisho, The Sound System of Modern Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic) (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1988), 57-61 . 23 Touma Audo, Vernacular Assyrian Grammar (Chicago: Assyrian Language and Culture Classes, Inc., 1911, reprinted 1982?), ΍. 24 Peter Trudgill, Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society (London: Penguin Books, 2000), 157. 25 Ishaya, “From Contributions to Diaspora,” 59.

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______________________________________________________________________

THE SIXTH NORTH AMERICAN SYRIAC SYMPOSIUM DUKE UNIVERSITY, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA JUNE 26–29, 2011

KYLE SMITH UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

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n late June of this year Duke University hosted the Sixth North American Syriac Symposium in Durham, North Carolina. The principal organizer of the Symposium was Lucas Van Rompay, Professor of Eastern Christianity and Chair of the Department of Religion at Duke University. Commencing twenty years to the day after the First North American Syriac Symposium, this summer’s quadrennial gathering was the largest and most diverse yet—both in terms of the participants themselves and the number and variety of papers presented. Previous symposia have been held at Brown University (1991); The Catholic University of America (1995); the University of Notre Dame (1999); Princeton University (2003); and the University of Toronto (2007). While scholars from American and Canadian institutions were in the majority, participants from ten other countries were also in attendance, including sizable contingents from the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, the state of Kerala in southwestern India, and Iraq. Clerics representing several churches of the Syriac Diaspora read papers at the Symposium, and, representing

the historical homeland of Syriac Christianity, Saadi al-Malih (the General Director of Syriac Culture and Arts in the Kurdistan Regional Government) spoke about the impact of Syriac education and media on classical Syriac in Iraqi Kurdistan. Reflecting the continuously-growing and global interest in Syriac studies, the Sixth Symposium built upon the successes of the Fifth Symposium held four years ago at the University of Toronto. At Toronto there were eighty participants, fifty-five conference papers, and five plenary lectures; at Duke, there were nearly one hundred participants, seventy-five conference papers, six plenary lectures, and an evening study session during which three ongoing projects were discussed: the manuscript cataloguing and digitization efforts of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at St. John’s University in Minnesota; the construction of the online Syriac Reference Portal at the University of Alabama; and the development of a new Gorgias Press book series devoted to making the full corpus of the Syriac Acts of the Persian Martyrs more accessible via the publication of annotated Syriac-English text editions.

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Quite a number of other publication projects and textual studies were discussed at the Symposium. To cite but a few examples: Amir Harrak (University of Toronto) delivered a plenary lecture about his edition of the twelfth-century Chronicle of Michael the Syrian; Jan van Ginkel (Leiden University) analyzed a new manuscript of Job of Edessa’s Book of Treasures; Grigory Kessel (Philipps University, Marburg) presented his research project on Syriac monastic anthologies; Saju Varghese provided a codicological survey of the liturgical manuscripts at his home institution, the Orthodox Theological Seminary of Kottayam, India; and, in a rousing session of papers, Maria Doerfler (Duke University), Charles Stang (Harvard University), and Robin Darling Young (University of Notre Dame) discussed the reception, translation, and “grammatology” of the works of Evagrius of Pontus in later Syriac literature. The Symposium’s plenary lectures and conference paper sessions spanned a wide variety of topics encompassing not only the language and literature but also the cultural history of Syriac Christianity in its various ethno-religious contexts from late antiquity to the present. As Lucas Van Rompay noted in his opening remarks during the first evening of the Symposium, the purview of Syriac studies is no longer limited to early Christianity but now often focuses on the “reception, re-reading, and re-interpretation of the Syriac Christian tradition” from multiple textual, social, and art historical points of view. Susan Harvey—who organized the First Symposium at Brown University, and who led off the Sixth Symposium with a slide lecture on Eve in the Syriac liturgical tradition—also commented on the breadth of topics in the 2011 Symposium, happily acknowledging the marked shift in Syriac studies over the past twenty years.

In addition to the plenary lectures of Amir Harrak and Susan Harvey, Heleen Murre-van den Berg (Leiden University) spoke about the twentieth-century history of classical Syriac and the ways in which the language of Syriac-speaking Christians continues to develop and expand; Riccardo Contini (University of Naples) considered the deployment of linguistic thought in the Syriac exegetical tradition; Alison Salveson (University of Oxford) explained the detailed evidence for the deep biblical and secular learning of Jacob of Edessa; and Sidney Griffith (The Catholic University of America) queried the relationship between Mecca and Urhoy by means of an intertextual study of Syriac Christianity and the Qur’an. If the number of young participants at the Symposium is any indication, then the future of Syriac studies in North America promises further growth of the field. The quality and quantity of paper proposals (and, ultimately, paper presentations) by graduate students inspired the Symposium’s North American supervisory board to institute an award for the best student presentation at the Symposium. The award, which will be conferred at future Symposia as well, honors the life of Nijmeh Abdulahad Kiraz (1924-2011), a lifelong supporter of Syriac studies who was born in Bethlehem to a family that had escaped the early twentieth-century Sayfo in Tur ‫ޏ‬Abdin. This year’s Nijmeh Abdulahad Kiraz Award winner is Jeffrey Wickes (University of Notre Dame) who presented a paper entitled, “The Poetics of SelfPresentation in Ephrem’s Hymns on Faith.” It was decided at the business meeting concluding this year’s Symposium that the Seventh North American Syriac Symposium shall be held at Yale University in the summer of 2015. Aaron Butts, Lector of Semitics in Yale’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,

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agreed to serve as the principal organizer for the next Symposium. Abstracts of the papers delivered at the Symposium can be accessed online: www. syriacsymposium.trinity.duke.edu/speakers .

An edited volume of the Symposium’s proceedings, which will include the six plenary lectures and many of the other conference papers, is due to be published by Gorgias Press in 2012.

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OBITUARIES

REV. DR. BUTRUS HADDAD (1937-2010)

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Syriacist, Arabist, historian, linguist, and church historian, Rev. Dr. Haddad left this world and with it his great contributions to the fields of Syriac Studies and Church History. Some of his publications will remain major sources for generations to come.

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Rev. Haddad was native of Mosul in Iraq, where he studied in the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary of St. Simon the Elect (Maǥhad Šamǥnjn al-‫܇‬afa al-Ba‫ܒ‬riyarkƯ). In 1954 he began his studies of Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome from which he obtained his BA (1957), MA (1961), and the Doctorate (1964). Upon the completion of his studies, he returned to Mosul, which he served as a priest and where he taught Latin to the

students of the St. John`s Syro-Chaldean Seminary. This is where I came to know him as a remarkable and demanding teacher. In 1966 Rev. Haddad moved to Baghdad where he served as a priest, taught Church History at the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary at Dora, and, more importantly for Syriac Studies, managed the Patriarchal Archives which included a great number of Syriac, Christian Arabic, and Garshuni manuscripts, some of which are truly unique. Most of his publications (some in collaboration with Bishop Jack Isতaq) are in Arabic and deal with the patriarchal archives, the archives of the Chaldean Monastic Order of St. Hormizdas, and archives proper to individual Chaldean churches in Iraq. They included the voluminous Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts in the Library of the Chaldean Monastery in Baghdad, vol. 1: Syriac Manuscripts, and vol. 2: Arabic Manuscripts, both appearing in Baghdad in 1988. Already in 1981, he published “The Manuscripts of the Diocese of Dehǀk,” in Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in Iraq, vol. II. Although these are mere catalogues, the author often included in them extracts of unique texts that can be used in textual studies. Among his other publications is Churches and Monasteries of Baghdad (in Arabic), published in Baghdad in 1994. This is a very interesting and quite important source for the study of Christianity in the Iraqi capital, its

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value enhanced given the destruction of churches (and of Christians before them) that has been taking place in the capital since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Another very significant publication is his discovery and edition of Mukhta‫܈‬ar al-’akhbƗr al-bƯǥiyyah [Abridged Ecclesiastical History], printed in Baghdad in the year 2000. This is an ecclesiastical history in Arabic made on the basis of a lone copy dated to 1137 of our era, and originally owned by the monastery of MƗr Jacob the Recluse located near Seert in eastern Anatolia. Rev. Haddad hesitantly took the manuscript for the first part of the Chronicle of Seert, which remains missing, although the late Father Jean-Maurice Fiey flatly rejected this relationship in a letter he sent to the editor in 1988. Still, the book is a mine of information on the history and administration of the Church of the East during the first centuries of the Christian era, and as far as the ancient city of al-ণira is concerned, the “Abridged History” contains the longest and most detailed account of its Christian history.

Rev. Haddad was the first Iraqi who took an interest in local Syriac epigraphy. In the 1970s, he planned to edit all the extant Syriac inscriptions with translations into Arabic, but due to his involvement in pastoral and educational activities, he limited himself to a selection of inscriptions from Mosul and the Monasteries of Rabban Hormizd and Our Lady of the Seeds. These editions proved to be very valuable when I decided to undertake the publication of all extant inscriptions. An author with diverse interests, Dr. Haddad also produced numerous translations into Arabic of books originally written in French, English, Italian and Latin and pertaining to spirituality, culture, and travel. The loss of Rev. Haddad to Syriac and Christian Arabic studies and to the wider Iraqi scholarly community is truly great. No wonder that the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and his Deputy Mr. ‘Adil Abdul-Mahdi, along with countless others both inside and outside Iraq, lamented the death of this indefatigable and outstanding scholar. May he rest in peace. Amir Harrak

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DR. DONNY GEORGE YOUKHANNA (1950-2011)

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n Friday March 11, 2011, a great number of students, professors, and others interested in antiquity came to the University of Toronto to attend a lecture by Dr. Donny. When they learned that it was cancelled, their disappointment was enormous, and understandably so. Dr. Donny was an internationally known archaeologist, and his theme was to be the Assyrian treasure of Nimrud that he himself had photographed. When we learned of his collapse at the Toronto airport, shock and bewilderment seized every one of us.

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Dr. Donny was born in Iraq to an Assyrian Christian family on October 23, 1950. He obtained his BA, MA, and PhD in archaeology at the University of Baghdad, and worked at the Iraq Museum for more than thirty years in various key positions: Archaeologist, Head of External Relations, Assistant to the Director of Antiquities and Heritage, Director General of the Iraqi Museum (2003-2005), and finally Chairman of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and

Heritage (2005-2006). He fled with his family Iraq in 2006 due to the chaos that the invasion of this country brought about, and began to teach Mesopotamian archaeology at Stony Brook University, a position he held until his untimely death. Dr. Donny’s specialty was not Syriac, but he knew more about Christian archaeology in Iraq than any other person in the world. When I began to work on Syriac epigraphy at the Iraq Museum in the late 1990s, Dr. Donny was an excellent resource for information on the collections of Syriac inscriptions and archaeological artefacts inside the Iraq Museum and in situ: Takrit, al-Qusair, Tulul al-Ukhaidhir, the Dukakin Caves, Qasr-Serij, Mseifna, etc. He was also among the teaching staff at the Babylon College of Theology and Philosophy, where Syriac was a major field. Dr. Donny’s sudden death on his way to an event in Toronto tells much about his own life. He was always on the road whether in Iraq, in Europe, or in North America, digging, managing archaeological digs, tracking stolen antiquities, and teaching the younger generation about the civilizations of ancient Iraq. The dust of Iraq was infused in his bones and the love of archaeology and of Iraq flowed in his blood. Overpowered by armed thieves who broke into the museum to loot it, he was the only voice raised for the protection of this important cultural institution. No help came from the allied forces and we all know the consequences. When he became the director of the Iraq Museum, he took drastic steps to fortify the museum, demanded money to establish an archaeological police force for the countless sites in the south of Iraq, many exposed to total destruction through

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illegal digging. He then embarked on an international campaign to create awareness of the looting of the Iraqi Museum, to seek the help of foreign governments and of the Interpol to stop the illegal trafficking of antiquities, and to promote Mesopotamian history and antiquities. His care for the museum and the Iraqi archaeological heritage began well before 2003. In the 1990s he was working hard to stop illegal diggings in the south of Iraq when security was lax. Thanks to this indefatigable archaeologist, the Iraqi Museum recuperated a large number of looted artefacts, and to his great credit he became internationally known as “the man who saved the Iraq National Museum.”

Syriac studies has lost a unique scholar who was planning to publish the many Christian antiquities that he photographed throughout the years of his work at the Iraq Museum. The Iraqi culture has also lost “one of its stars and one of the greatest scholars and protectors of Mesopotamia’s ancient heritage”, as Mr. Jalal Talabani, the President of Iraq, has put it in his lament over the death of Dr. Donny. Go in peace, teacher, Go in peace instructor— The Lord who taught you wisdom, will give you joy in his abode! (From the ‘AnnƯdƗ-Funerary Book) Amir Harrak

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THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

MEMBERS OF THE YEAR 2010-2011

Honorary Member BROCK, Sebastian, Oxford, UK GRIFFITH, Rev. Sidney H., Gaithersburg MD Corporate Members GORGIAS PRESS, Piscataway NJ SALAM Social Club, Toronto ON GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF SYRIAC CULTURE AND ARTS, Erbil, IRAQ

Life Members BADWI, Fr. Abdo, Kasilik, LEBANON DAVID, Sargon, Scarborough ON DINNO, Khalid, Mississauga ON EMMANUEL, Mar Emmanuel, Toronto ON GREATREX, Geoffrey, Ottawa ON GREATREX, Marina, Ottawa ON MALAS, Gabriel, UK MURAD, Janan, Mississauga ON SMITH, Helen, Toronto ON Members ABBA, Rev. Yusif, Toronto ON ABDULAHAD, Raika, Thunder Bay ON AFRAM, Zyad, Mississauga ON AKOPIAN, Arman, Ottawa ON ALIBERTIS, Demetrios3, Toronto ON ASTO, Sami, Scarborough ON BADOVINAC, J. & Ed. Mississauga ON BANDAK, Jean, Scarborough ON

BANDAK, John, Markham ON BASMAJI, Samir, Markham ON BASMAJI, John, Markham ON BEAULIEU, Paul-Alain, Toronto ON BENJAMEN, Alda, Maple ON BENJAMIN, Renya, Maple ON BIHNAN, Adnan, Brampton ON BORBONE, Giorgio Pier, Pisa, ITALY BOUJIKIAN, Stephen, Scarborough, ON BRIQUEL CHATONNET, Françoise, Paris, FRANCE BROWN, Kenneth, Aberdeen MD BOUTROS, Ramez, Toronto ON CASEY, Kevin, Toronto ON CASSIS, Marica, St. John’s NL CHAMOUN, John, Scarborough ON CHAMOUN, Ramia, Scarborough ON CHAMOUN, Issa, Scarborough ON CHAMOUN, Ruba, Scarborough ON CLARKE, Colin S., Hamilton ON COCHRANE, Steve, Weston CO CONTINI, Riccardo, Napoli, Italy CORBETT, John H., Kingston ON COX, James, King City ON DAKGI, Mike, Scarborough ON DAKGI, Abdo, Scarborough ON DAWOID, Fatdal, Täby, Sweden DAWOOD, Fadi, Thunder Bay ON DAWOOD, Issam, Thunder Bay ON DAWOOD, Massarah, Thunder Bay ON

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DEBIÉ, Muriel, Paris, FRANCE DESREUMAUX, Alain, Paris, FRANCE DINNO, Deena, Mississauga ON DODD, Erica, Victoria BC DOERFLER, Maria, Durham NC DOHLER, Anna, Toronto ON DONABED, Sargon, Toronto ON FAIBISH, Neil, Toronto ON FATHI, Jean, Toronto ON FOX, James B., Notre Dame IN FRAME, Grant, Philadelphia PA FRANCOIS, Mark, Toronto ON GEORGE, Elia, Toronto ON HANNA, Robert, Mississauga ON HANNAWI, Abdul Ahad, Toronto ON HANNAH-SHMOUNI, Fady, Richmond BC HARRAK, Amir, Toronto ON HARRAK, Ryan, Toronto ON HARRAK, Sarah, Toronto, ON HARVEY, Susan A., Lincoln, RI HEAL, Kristian S, Provo UTAH HINDO, Tariq R., Toronto ON HIRSCH, Antoine, Toronto ON HUMPHRYS, Peter, Peterborough ON ISSA, Rev. Stephanos, Scarborough ON ISSAK, Rev. John, Hamilton ON JOHNSON, Nola J., Toronto ON JWAIDEH, Albertine, King City ON KASSIR, Zuhair, Milton ON KEOUGH, Shawn, Leuven, Belgium KIRAZ, George, Piscataway NJ KITCHEN, Rev. Robert, Regina SK KYDD, Ronald, Colborne ON LAWSON, Todd, Toronto ON LEHTO, Adam, Waterloo ON LONDES, Arlette, Thornhill ON MATHEW, Parackel, Rev. Dr. Toronto ON

MATHEWS Jr., Edward G, Tunkhannock PA MICHELSON, David, Princeton, NJ MORRISON, Rev Craig, Rome, ITALY MOUSSA, Helene, Toronto ON NINAN, Mathew, Brampton ON ORAHA, Alhan, Toronto ON POSSEKEL, Dr. Ute, Reading MA POIRIER, Paul-Hubert, Quebec PQ RASSAM, Suha, Surrey, UK ROMENY, R. B. ter Haar, Leiden, NL ROYEL, David, San Jose CA RUSSELL, Rev. Paul S., Chevy Chase MD SAATI, Zak, Scarborough ON SAATI, Jack, Scarborough ON SALEH, Walid, Toronto ON SHAMANI, Toma, Toronto ON SAATI, Jacklin, Scarborough ON SHAMON, Isaac, Mississauga ON SHAMOUN, Ashorina, Mississauga ON SKIL, Sonia, Toronto ON SMITH, Kyle, Durham, NC TAKAHASHI, Hidemi, Tokyo, JAPAN TALIA, Shawqi, Washington DC TARZI, Habib, Unionville ON TARZI, Albert, Unionville ON TARZI, George, Unionville ON TARZI, Salwa, Unionville ON TREIGER, Alexander, Halifax NS VAN ROMPAY, Lucas, Durham NC THEKEPARAMBIL, Rev. Jacob, Kerala INDIA WEATLEY-IRVING, Linda, Chicago IL WERYHO, Jan, Montreal PQ WHATELY, Conor, Winnipeg, MB YACOUB, Fr. Jack, Montreal, PQ YOUSIF, Ashoor, Toronto ON YU, Alexander, Toronto ON ZAIYOUNA, Ahsan, Thornhill ON

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