St. Tikhon’s University Review . Series III: Philology

The article is devoted to a review of the life and literary heritage of Ğirmānūs Farḥāt (1670–1732), the Maronite archbishop of Aleppo, a significant figure in the history of Arabic literature. Living a century before the beginning of the Arab literary revival (the so-called Nahḍa), this scholar, writer and poet made a lot of efforts to make this revival possible. A large number of works on syntax, lexicology, morphology, stylistics, and rhetoric belong to the archbishop. Through his works, he sought to raise the educational background of the Christian population of the Middle East and destroy the idea that a Christian could not be fluent in the sacred language of the Koran. Ğirmānūs Farḥāt became famous for his zealous church service: he was the ideological encourager of the Lebanese monastic order and the archbishop of the one of the most important cities in Ottoman Syria. His dynamic educational and scientific activity resonated with many scientists and writers of that time. The interest in the figure of the archbishop appeared at the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century, and S. al-Šartūnī, J. Manash and I. Yu. Krachkovsky played an integral role in this process. In this paper, an attempt is made to give a comprehensive view of the figure of Ğirmānūs Farḥāt and to determine what caused the interest of scientists in his heritage.

Ğirmānūs Farḥāt, Maronites, Maronite Catholic Church, Nahḍa, the "learned council", Lebanese monastic order, Arab-Christian literature, Aleppo

1. Ali-Zade E. (2007) Istoriia literatury Sirii XIX–XX vekov. Moscow (in Russian).
2. Brustad K. (2009) “Jirmānūs Jibrīl Farḥāt”, in J. E. Lowry, D. J. Steward (eds) Essays in Arabic literary biography, 1350–1850, Wiesbaden, pp. 242–251.
3. Capomaccio M. (2020) “Baḥṯ al-maṭālib wa-ḥaṯṯ al-ṭālib, la grammatica della Rinascita: un’indagine sull’opera del maronita Ğirmānūs Farḥāt”. Studi sull’Oriente Cristiano, 2020, vol. 24, pp. 209–238.
4. Capomaccio M. (2021) “Tashīl al-ṣarf wa-l-naḥw in the 18th-century Syriac and Arabic grammars: the cases of Josephus Simonius Assemani and Ğirmānūs Farḥāt”. Parole de l’Orient, 2021, vol. 47, pp. 263–277.
5. Dolinina A. (2010) “Otrazhenie traditsii klassicheskoi arabskoi poezii v divane Dzhermanusa Farkhata, Arkhiepiskopa Khalebskogo”, in A. Dolinina, Arabeski: izbrannye nauchnye stat′i. St. Petersburg, pp. 110–112 (in Russian).
6. Edwards A. (2018) “Fact or fiction? In search of the ‘Learned Council’ of Ğirmānūs Farḥāt”. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2018, vol. 18, pp. 1–21.
7. Féghali J. (1966) “Germānos Farhāt, archevêque d’Alep et arabisant (1670–1732)”. Melto: Recherches Orientales, 1966, no. 1, pp. 115–131.
8. Graf G. (1949) Geschichte der christlichen arabischen literatur. Città del Vaticano, Bd. 3.
9. Kilpatrick H. (2006) “From Literatur to Adab: The Literary Renaissance in Aleppo around 1700”. Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 2006, vol. 58, pp. 195–220.
10. Krachkovskii I. (1956) “Obshchie ocherki: istoricheskii roman v sovremennoi arabskoi literature”, in I. Krachkovskii, Izbrannye sochineniia, Moscow; Leningrad, vol. 3, pp. 67–68, 247–250 (in Russian).
11. Krachkovskii I., Karam A. (1991) “Farḥāt, Djirmānūs”, in B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, J. Schacht (eds) The encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed., Leiden, vol. 2, pp. 795–796.
12. Krymskii A. (1971) Istoriia novoi arabskoi literatury: XIX — nachalo XX veka. Moscow (in Russian).
13. Panchenko K. (2012) Blizhnevostochnoe Pravoslavie pod osmanskim vladychestvom: pervye tri stoletiia, 1516–1831. Moscow (in Russian).
14. Rodionov M., Sarab′ev A. (2013) Maronity: traditsii, istoriia, politika. Moscow (in Russian).
15. Sahin E. (2018) “Jirmānūs Farḥāt”, in D. Thomas et al. (eds) Christian-Muslim Relations, Leiden, vol. 12, pp. 135–142.
16. Sarab′ev A. (2011) “German Farkhat”, in Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, Moscow, vol. 11, pp. 358–359 (in Russian).
17. Serikov N. (2020) “Maronitskii pisatel′ Gavriil German Farkhat (1670–1732) i ego popytki vkliucheniia sochinenii khristianskikh arabskikh avtorov v virtual′nyi katalog″ arabskoi musul′manskoi literatury”. Orientalistica, 2020, no. 3, pp. 143–159 (in Russian).
18. Walbiner C. (2022) “Farḥāt, Jirmānūs”, in K. Fleet et al. (eds) The Encyclopedia of Islam, Leiden, vol. 2022–2, pp. 21–23.

Galimetdinova Olga

I express my gratitude to Cand. Sc. (Philology) S. A. Melikyan for suggestions, corrections, help with the search for bibliographic materials, and also to Cand. Sc. (Philology) T. S. Nalich for valuable comments and recommendations.

The article devoted to study of the fragment (so-called third Syro-Turkic fragment) of a Syrian Christian book from Khara-Khoto (the capital of the Tangut kingdom) written in Turkic language in Syriac script, which comes from the Turks who adopted Christianity from the Syrians in the XIII-XIV centuries in the region of the lake Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan).This article analyses the fragment of a Christian manuscript book written in Turkic language in Syriac script from Khara-Khoto (so-called the third Syro-Turkic fragment). The author proposes a clarification of the translation of the text of this manuscript. In particular, the author gives a different translation of the word bitik, relying on the other Christian texts in Turkic languages of the 13th-14th centuries, where this word means Holy Scripture, Gospel, Bible. According to the author, this is confirmed by the data in the Karachay-Balkari language, in which this meaning of bitik has its roots in the early Middle Ages and it is associated probably with the activity of Christian missions among the North Caucasian Huns and Alans and the first translation of the Gospel into the Hunnic language in 534. The article provides a brief history of the Christian community among the Turks of Central Asia, who used the Syriac script for writing books and tombstones in Turkic language. After a careful study of the Syro-Turkic fragment the author concludes that it is part of a Christian Syriac book written in the Turkic language.

The third Syro-Turkic fragment, Syriac Christianity, Syro-Turkic script, manuscripts in Syriac script, Turkic Christian grave inscriptions in Syriac script, Uiguric texts, Karachay- Balkar language

1. Akbaev I. Tylmach (1926) Russko-Karachayevsky slovar. Batalpashinsk (in Russian).
2. Borovkov A. M. (1932) Karachayevo-balkarsky jazik. Jafetichesky sbornik. Leningrad, 1932, issue VII, pp. 37–55 (in Russian).
3. Gabain A. von. (1950) Alttürkische Grammatik. Leipzig.
4. Glashev A. A. (2020) Slovo bitik v uigurskoy grafi ke v Codex Cumanicus. Program and theses of the XXVIII International Scientific Conference “Dmitriev Readings”, October 2, 2020. ISAA ofthe MGU named after M. V. Lomonosov. Moscow, p. 27 (in Russian).
5. Drevneturksky slovar (1969) Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Leningrad (in Russian).
6. Mahmūd al-Kāshgarī. Dīvān Lugāt at-Turk (2005) Translated, foreword and comments M. Auezova, Indices R. Ermers. Almaty (in Russian).
7. Miziev I. M. (1991) Ocherki istorii i kulturi Karachaya i Balkarii 13–18 vekov. Nalchik (in Russian).
8. Pigulevskaya N. V. (1938) Fragments syriaques et syro-turcs de Hara-Hoto et de Tourfan. Revue de ľOrient chrétien, 1938, vol. X, pp. 3–46.
9. Pigulevskaya N. V. (1966) Jescho raz o syro-turkskom. Turkologichesky sbornik, 1966. Moscow, 1966, pp. 228–232 (in Russian).
10. Pigulevskaya N. V. (1960) Katalog syriyskikh rukopisey Leningrada. Palestinsky sbornik, issue 6 (69). Moscow; Leningrad, 1960 (in Russian)
11. Pigulevskaya N. V. (1940) Syriysky i syro-turksky fragmenty iz Khara-Khoto i Turfana. Sovietskoye vostokovedenie, vol. I. Moscow; Leningrad, 1940, pp. 212–234 (in Russian)

Glashev Akhmed

The article examines the issue of collecting and translating ascetic literature into Slavic and Russian languages in the 18–19 centuries using the example of the Pakhomian corpus of texts. Comparative analysis of the composition of the Greek Philokalia and the Russian Philokalia – the latter is considered not just as an ascetic five-volume book prepared for publication by st. Feofan the Recluse, but as a systematic translation activity that united several generations, and thanks to which there was a flourishing of monasticism and the resumption of eldrship in Russia. The reasons for the differences in the composition of Greek and Russian Philokalia are also considered, in particular, the interest not only in Hesychast literature, but also in monastic statutes, primarily in the tradition of Egyptian cenobitic monasticism, which was initiated by st. Pachomium. Based on the correspondence of the participants, the circumstances of the work on the texts of the Pachomian circle are traced: Pachomius the Great, his predecessor Orsicius and John Cassian the Roman. The collected material and analysis of individual translation principles of this period allows us to speak about the wide interest in Russia in the history of monasticism, about the good knowledge of European patristic publications when choosing texts for translation, about the high level of Latin language proficiency and the exceptional importance of the results achieved, which will never lose their significance, as they serve as evidence of the time of flowering on Russian soil translation activities.

Greek Philokalia, Russian Philokalia, Egyptian monasticism, the Rules of St. Pachomius, st. Orsisi, st. John Cassian the Roman, Russian monasticism, st. Paisii Velichkovsky, st. Theophan the Recluse, st. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), st. Makary (Ivanov), mon. Clement (Zedergolm), projects for the translation and publication of ascetic literature in the 18–19 centuries

1. Bezhanidze G. (ed.) (2013) Perepiska K. Zedergol′ma so startsem Makariem Optinskim (1857–1859). Moscow (in Russian).
2. Crum W. E. (1939) A Coptic Dictionary. Oxford.
3. Draguet R. (1944) “Le chapitre de l’Histoire Lausiaque sur les Tabennesiotes derive-t-il d’une source copte?” Le Museon, 1944, vol. 57, pp. 53–145.
4. Golovnina N. (2018) “Transformatsiia grecheskikh zaimstvovanii v koptskom iazyke (na materialе monasheskikh pravil prp. Pachomiia i Shenute)”. Vestnik PSTGU. Ser. III: Filologiia, vol. 57, pp. 131–140 (in Russian).
5. Kashirina V. (2006) Literaturnoe nasledie Optinoi Pustyni. Moscow (in Russian).
6. Khosroev A. (2004) Pakhomii Velikii (iz rannei istorii obshchezhitel′nogo monashestva v Egipte). St. Petersburg (in Russian).
7. Lur′e V. (2000) Prizvanie Avraama. Ideia monashestva i ee voploshchenie v Egipte. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
8. Shlenov D. (2007) “Izdanie Russkogo Dobrotoliubiia i novye russkie perevody”, in Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, vol. 15, pp. 508 –509, Moscow (in Russian).
9. Tkachev E. (2019) “Orsisii”, in Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, vol. 53, pp. 337–350. Moscow (in Russian).

Golovnina Natalia

A number of works by both Ethiopian researchers and clergymen, and scholars outside of Ethiopia are devoted to the process of making of Ethiopian manuscripts and of their copying. Most of these works describe the features of the process of writing on the base of the experience of contemporary Ethiopian scribes. Historical data on the scribes’ work are little known and, in this regard, did not become the object of a particular research. In addition, related scientific works were most often created on the base of manuscripts of religious nature. The present study examines the work of scribes of specific lists on the base of a comparison with each other of handwritten copies of the texts of the royal chronicles of the second half of the 18th century, namely, of the kings Takla Haymanot II and Takla Giorgis I from the manuscripts of Eth. 143 from the collection of the National Library of France and Orient. 821 from the British Library.

Ethiopian manuscripts, Ethiopian historyography, Ethiopian Church, scribes, Ethiopic language, Ge’ez, Amharic language

1. Chernetsov S. (ed.) (1991) Efiopskie khroniki XVIII veka. Moscow (in Russian).
2. Frantsuzov S. (2007) “Debtera”, in Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia, Moscow, vol. 16, p. 528 (in Russian).
3. Kropp M. (1989) Die äthiopischen Königschroniken in der Sammlung des Däğğazmač Haylu: Entstehung und handschriftliche Überlieferung des Werkes. Frankfurt am Main.
4. Leslau W. (1976) Concise Amharic Dictionary. Wiesbaden.
5. Leslau W. (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʽez. Wiesbaden.
6. Platonov V. (2017) Rukopisnaia kniga v traditsionnoi kul′ture Efiopii. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
7. Zabolotskikh M. (2008) “Khronika tsaria tsarei Efiopii Feodora II, napisannaia Alekoi Vol′de Mariamom: perevod i kommentarii”. Pis′mennye pamiatniki Vostoka, 2008, no. 2 (9), pp. 67–103 (in Russian).

Gusarova Ekaterina

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.

One of the issues vigorously discussed by the supporters and opponents of the Council of Chalcedon was that of the Trisagion song text, namely the possibility of using it in the phrase “crucified for us”. During these discussions the question about the circumstances and the time of its origin was also raised. The Armenian literature provides various examples showing who originally used the Trisagion song and when it happened. This article presents a number of extracts from the writings by Catholicos Ovan of Odzoun, vardapet Abraham, Mkhitar Gosh, Grigor of Tatev, Stepanos of Syunik, Armenian theological tradition which are compared with the facts of the Byzantine tradition. Some of the Armenian sources which date the origin of the hymn to the times of Christ obviously have legendary character. Other writings could be correlated with the Byzantine (and other) sources which date the origin of the Trisagion song to the Council of Ephesus (431). None of the Armenian sources, while mentioning the Trisagion song, give any information about the earthquake at the time of St. Proclus of Constantinople when, according to the Orthodox writers, this hymn appeared (or was corrected). However, all the Armenian sources mention the full version of the Trisagion song as the original one, which provides the Armenian theologians with the extra argument for the possibility and necessity of addressing Christ in this hymn.

Armenian Apostolic Church, Council of Chalcedon, Trisagion, theopaschism, Proclus of Constantinople, Grigor of Tatev, Stepanos of Syunik, Armenian theological tradition

1. Aleksandrova T. (2016) “Ditia, voznesennoe v vozdukh (k voprosu o sushchestvovanii syna Feodosiia II i Evdokii, Arkadiia II)”. Cursor mundi: Chelovek antichnosti, srednevekov′ia i vozrozhdeniia, 2016, no. 8, pp. 67–85 (in Russian).
2. Afinogenov D. (2019) “Nasledie patriarkha Fotiia v verouchitel′noi polemike s armianami v pervoi chetverti X v.: Nikolai Mistik i Arefa Kesariiskii”, in Miry Vizantii. Χερσωνος θεματα: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov Mezhdunarodnogo Vizantiiskogo seminara. Simferopol, pp. 199–210 (in Russian).
3. Janeras S. (1967) “Les byzantins et le Trisagion christologique”. Miscellanea liturgica. Rome, 1967, vol. II, pp. 469–499.
4. Aleksandrova T. (2016) “Ditia, voznesennoe v vozdukh (k voprosu o sushchestvovanii syna Feodosiia II i Evdokii, Arkadiia II)”. Cursor mundi: Chelovek antichnosti, srednevekov′ia i vozrozhdeniia, 2016, no. 8, pp. 67–85 (in Russian).
5. Afinogenov D. (2019) “Nasledie patriarkha Fotiia v verouchitel′noi polemike s armianami v pervoi chetverti X v.: Nikolai Mistik i Arefa Kesariiskii”, in Miry Vizantii. Χερσωνος θεματα: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov Mezhdunarodnogo Vizantiiskogo seminara. Simferopol, pp. 199–210 (in Russian).
6. Janeras S. (1967) “Les byzantins et le Trisagion christologique”. Miscellanea liturgica. Rome, 1967, vol. II, pp. 469–499.

Panteleev Sergey, диакон

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.

The Mamluk epoch was a period of deep decline of the Christian East. In the conditions of permanent religious persecutions, the cult of saints and martyrs consolidated the Middle Eastern Greek Orthodox (Melkite) community and ensured its positive self-identification. There were a number of individual and collective martyrdoms among the Melkites during the 13th and 15th centuries. This martyrology includes mass victims of the wars between the Muslims and the Crusaders, anti-Christian pogroms and trials as well as local spiritual and secular Christian leaders like Yaqub al-Hamaturi or Rizkallah ibn Nabaa, and even voluntary martyrs. At the same time the cultural decline of the Melkites of the late Medieval period, extinction of their literature activity caused weakening of collective memory and rapid lose of information about many confessors and martyrs of that epoch. The bulk of the martyrs of the Mamluk period had been already forgotten to the late 16th century and were discovered only by current scholars. The article studies as the facts of the late Medieval Melkite martyrdoms so the nature of the historical memory of the Middle Eastern Orthodox community in the Mamluk and Early Ottoman time.

the Christian East, the Sultanate of Mamluks, the Greek Orthodox Arab community (the Melkites), religious persecutions, the cult of saints, neomartyrs, the historical memory

1. Müller Ch., Pahlitzch J. (2004) “Sultan Baybars I and the Georgians in the Light of new Documents, Related to the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem”. Arabica, 2004, vol. 51, fasc. 3, pp. 258–281.
2. Pahlitzsch J. (2003) “Georgians and Greeks in Jerusalem (1099–1310)”, in East and West in the Crusader states: Context — Contacts — Confrontations, Leuven, t. 3, pp. 35–52. (Orientalia Lovanensia Analecta; t. 125).
3. Panchenko C. (2011) “Podzhog Kaira 1321 g. i problema khristianskogo terrorizma v Mamliukskom gosudarstve”. Vestnik PSTGU. Ser. III: Filologiia, 2011, vol. 4 (26), pp. 96–124 (in Russian).
4. Panchenko C. (2012) “Razorenie seleniia Kara sultanom Beibarsom v 1266 g.: istoricheskii kontekst”. Vestnik PSTGU. Ser. III: Filologiia, 2012, vol. 3 (29), pp. 32–45 (in Russian).
5. Panchenko C. (2013) “Zabytaia katastrofa: k rekonstruktsii posledstvii Aleksandriiskogo krestovogo pokhoda 1365 g. na Khristianskom Vostoke”, in Araby-khristiane v istorii i literature Blizhnego Vostoka. Moscow, pp. 202–219 (in Russian).
6. Panchenko C. (2017) “Ispit′ smertnoe zel′e: Aleksandriiskii patriarkh Ioakim (1448–1567) mezhdu eposom i istoriei”. Istoricheskii vestnik, 2017, vol. 20, pp. 136–163 (in Russian).
7. Panchenko C. (2020) “Padenie Tripoli 1289 g. v vospriiatii khristianskikh obshchin Blizhnego Vostoka”. Istoricheskii vestnik, 2020, vol. 31, pp. 136–159 (in Russian).
8. Panchenko C. (2020) “Skazanie ob istreblenii inokov lavry sv. Savvy (k rekonstruktsii istoricheskoi mifologii palestinskogo monashestva)”. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 13: Vostokovedenie, 2020, no. 1, pp. 106–120.
9. Panchenko C. (ed.) (2012) “Mitropolity i eparkhii pravoslavnoi Antiokhiiskoi Tserkvi v opisanii Patriarkha Makariia III az-Za’ima (1665 g.)”. Vestnik tserkovnoi istorii, 2012, vol. 1/2 (25/26), pp. 116–157 (in Russian).
10. Swanson M. (2010) The Coptic Papacy in Islamic Egypt (641–1517). Cairo; New York.
11. Tūma (Bitar) (1995) Al-qaddisūn al-mansiyyūn fi -t-turāṯ al-anṭākiyy. S. l. (in Arabic).

Panchenko Konstantin

*According to ISCED 2011, a post-doctoral degree called Doctor of Sciences (D.Sc.) is given to reflect second advanced research qualifications or higher doctorates.

The article presents the analysis of genre dominants of "The Life of Plotinus" by Porphyry and analyses the polemical sources of the text. Having established the lack of research on the genre of the text in the modern bibliography, the author places the Life of Plotinus into the range of the late antique biographies, and determines the main characteristics of the analyzed text. The title of the text indicates Porphyry's dual purpose: to introduce the reader to the personality of Plotinus, whom Porphyry deliberately presents as theios aner, and also to present Plotinus' 54 treatises within the coherent system of the Enneads. The dual task is also reflected in the structure of the Life. Reconstructing the image of Porphyry in the text, the author of the article highlights the techniques that create the image of the author of Plotinus' Life. Emphasizing his own place in the hierarchy of the school is caused by the polemic both within the Neoplatonic school (with the earlier edition of Plotinus' treatises by Amelius; this is shown through the analysis of the introduction of the Life of Plotinus) and outside it. The author establishes the pragmatics of the key episodes of the text and shows that the text is built around a constructed hierarchy of testimonies: from the fellow student, Amelius, to the Oracle of Apollo. By highlighting the essential attributes of the hero of the biography, the author illustrates the dynamism of Porphyry's conception: Vita Plotini is not only an introduction to the edition, but also a didactic text, depicting a contemporary who has achieved the goal of human life. In the final part of the article, the author analyses the approaches to the identification of the opponents of Porphyry in the literature and sets forth his own hypothesis: the text was created in opposition to the school of Origen and to the image of the scholarch, which was drawn by Gregory the Wonderworker and Eusebius of Caesarea. The hypothesis of Porphyry's response to the Christian texts is grounded by the new lexical similarities with Origen.

Neoplatonism, Plotinus, Life of Plotinus, Porphyry, Origen, early Christianity, Late Antiquity

1. Albrecht M. von, Dillon J., George M. et al. (2002) Jamblich, Pythagoras: Legende — Lehre — Lebensgestaltung. Darmstadt.
2. Bieler L. (1935) Θεžος Ÿνήρ: Das Bild des ‘göttlichen Menschen’ in Spätantike und Frühchristentum. Wien.
3. Blumenthal H. J. (1984) “Marinus’ Life of Proclus: Neoplatonist biography”. Byzantion, 1984, vol. 54, pp. 469–494.
4. Brisson L, Segonds A. Ph. (1992) “Vita Plotini: Notes”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: études ďintroduction, texte grec et traduction française, commentaire, notes complémentaires, bibliographie, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 187–299.
5. Brisson L., Flamand J.-M. (1992) “Structure, contenu et intentions de l’Oracle d’Apollon (VP 22)”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: études ďintroduction, texte grec et traduction française, commentaire, notes complémentaires, bibliographie, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 565–617.
6. Brisson L., Flamand J.-M. (1992) “Vita Plotini: Une bibliographie”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: études ďintroduction, texte grec et traduction française, commentaire, notes complémentaires, bibliographie, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 723–735.
7. Chiaradonna R., Goulet R., Zambon M. et al. (2012) “Porphyre de Tyr”, in R. Goulet (ed.) Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, Paris, vol. 5, pt. 2, pp. 1289–1325.
8. Dufour R. (2002) Plotinus: a Bibliography, 1950–2000. Leiden.
9. Edwards M. (2018) “Porphyrios”, in Ch. Riedweg, Ch. Horn, D. Wyrwa (eds) Philosophie der Kaiserzeit und der Spätantike, Basel: Schwabe, pp. 1327–1348.
10. Edwards M. (ed.) (2000) Neoplatonic Saints: The Lives of Plotinus and Proclus by Their Students. Liverpool.
11. Edwards M. (1993) “Two Images of Pythagoras: Iamblichus and Porphyry”, in H. J. Blumenthal, E. G. Clarke (eds) The Divine Iamblichus: Philosopher and Man of Gods, Bristol, pp. 159–172.
12. Goulet R. (1982) “L’Oracle d’Apollon”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: travaux Préliminaires et Index Grec Complet, Paris, vol. 1, pp. 369–412.
13. Goulet R. (1992) “Le Plan de la Vie de Plotin”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: études ďintroduction, texte grec et traduction française, commentaire, notes complémentaires, bibliographie, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 77–85.
14. Goulet R. (1992) “Notes critiques sur le texte grec”, in L. Brisson et al. (eds) Porphyre. La Vie de Plotin: études ďintroduction, texte grec et traduction française, commentaire, notes complémentaires, bibliographie, Paris, vol. 2, pp. 119–130.
15. Goulet R. (2010) “Cinq nouveaux fragments nominaux du traité de Porphyre ‘Contre les chrétiens’”. Vig. Chr, 2010, vol. 64, pp. 141–148.
16. Henry P. (1953) “La dernière parole de Plotin”. Studi Classici e Orientali, 1953, vol. 2, pp. 113–130.
17. Henry P., Schwyzer H.-R. (eds) (1951) Plotini opera. Leiden, vol. 1, pp. 1–41.
18. Henry P., Schwyzer H.-R. (eds) (1964) Plotini opera. Oxford, vol. 1, pp. 1–38.
19. Jerphagnon L. (1990) “Les sous-entendus anti-chrétiens de la Vita Plotini, ou l’évangile de Plotin selon Porphyre”. MH, 1990, vol. 47, pp. 41–52.
20. Kalligas P. (ed.) (1991) Porphyriou: Peri tou Plōtinou biou, Plōtinou: Enneas Prōtē, Plōtinou: Enneas Deutera, Plōtinou: Enneas Tritē. Athens (in Greek).
21. Koch D., Männlein-Robert I., Weidtmann N. (eds) (2010) Platon und das Göttliche. Tübingen.
22. Männlein-Robert I. (2016) “Zwischen Polemik und Hagiographie: Iamblichs‚ De vita Pythagorica‘ im Vergleich mit Porphyrios’ ‚Vita Plotini‘”, in M. Bonazzi, S. Schorn (eds) Bios Philosophos: Philosophy in Ancient Greek Biography, Turnhout, pp. 197–220.
23. Mansfeld J. (1994) Prolegomena: Questions to Be Settled before the Study of an Author, or a Text. Leiden; New York; Cologne.
24. Miles G. (2021) “Philosophers and their Neoplatonic Lives: Problems and Paradigms”, in K. De Temmerman (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Ancient Biography, Oxford, pp. 349–362.
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29. Schroeder F. M. (1987) “Ammonios Saccas”, in ANRW, vol. 36.1, pp. 518–519.
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31. Schwyzer H.-R. (1987) “Corrigenda ad Plotini Textum”. MH, 1987, vol. 44, pp. 191–210.
32. Schwyzer H.-R. (1992) “Textkritisches zu Plotin und zur Vita Plotini”, in M.-O. Goulet-Cazé, G. Madec, D. O’Brien (eds) Σοφίης μαιήτορες = Chercheurs de sagesse: hommage à Jean Pépin, Paris, pp. 343–346.
33. Shichalin Yu. (2013) “The Traditional View of Late Platonism as a Self-Contained System”, in M. Vinzent (ed.) Papers Presented at the Sixteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2011, Leuven; Paris; Walpole, Mass., vol. 10: The Genres of Late Antique Literature, pp. 3–7.
34. Staab G. (2002) Pythagoras in der Spätantike. Studien zu De vita pythagorica des Iamblichos von Chalkis. Leipzig.
35. Tresnie C. (2021) “Biography as Implicit Philosophical Polemics: Porphyry’s Life of Plotinus and Iamblichus’ Pythagorean Life”, in P. d’Hoine et al. (eds) Polemics, Rivalry and Networking in Greco-Roman Antiquity, Turnhout, pp. 177–202.

Soloviev Roman

In his 6th Hymn De crucifixione that is consecrated to the interpretation of three days problem of Jesus’ resurrection, the Syriac poet-theologian Ephrem the Syrian (4th c.) functions as a teacher of astronomical and calendric lore. The article focuses on the probable sources of the construction of Ephrem’s authority as a teacher in this hymn. The author demonstrates that the astronomical discourse in the Syriac hymn is constructed with the specific structural devices, e.g., the first-person discourse, the term “calculation” and metaphorically expressed with the image of the scribe. These elements have obvious parallels within the Jewish Aramaic texts of the Second Temple, e.g., “the Aramaic Astronomical Book” and “the Document of Levi”. Like in Ephrem’s Hymn De crucifixione, in these texts are used the astronomical and other arithmetical calculations. The Jewish scribes who composed these works, transformed the old Babylonian mathematical lore into new narrative forms. In the course of this, these real scribes used fictive authority of the biblical figures associated with writing, e.g., Moses, David, Enoch, Noah and others. The author gives heed to the similar use of these biblical figures in Ephrem’s hymns and draws a conclusion about the self-definition by Ephrem as the scribe who is inspired by God and obtain a capability to interpretate God’s “secrets”. As a result, Ephrem “blends” the Christological typological interpretation of the “secret” or “symbol” with ancient Jewish and Mesopotamian connotations. Hence, in his sixth Hymn De crucifixione, the Syrian poet functions not as a theologian but as a teacher with quasi-prophetic status who is aligned with Moses and David and imitates their writing and interpretative activities. In the opinion of the author, these conclusions could shed light not only on the origins of Ephrem’s works, but on the origins of the Syriac Christianity as a whole.

Syriac Christianity, Ephrem the Syrian, the hymns De crucifixione, the education in early Syriac Christianity, religious authority, Jewish Literature of Second Temple, Jewish astronomical writing, the Aramaic Astronomical Book, the Document of Levi, the scribes as teachers, inspired by God

1. Alexander P. (2014) “Enoch and the Beginnings of Jewish Interest in Natural Science”, in J. Ben- Dov, Sanders S. L. (eds). Ancient Jewish Science and the History of Knowledge in Second Temple Literature. New York, 2014, pp. 25–50.
2. Beck E. (ed.) (1964) Des Heiligen Ephraem des Syrers Paschahymnen (de Azymis, de Crucifi xione, de Resurrectione). Louvain, pp. 42–78.
3. Becker A. (2006) Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom. The School of Nisibis and Christian Scholastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia. Philadelphia.
4. Drawnel H. (2004) An Aramaic Wisdom Text from Qumran: A New Interpretation of the Levi Document. Leiden.
5. Drawnel H. (2006) “Priestly Education in the Aramaic Levi Document (Visions of Levi) and Aramaic Astronomical Book (4Q208–211)”. Revue de Qumran, 2006, no. 88, vol. 22.4, pp. 548–574.
6. Drawnel H. (2011) The Aramaic Astronomical Book from Qumran: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Oxford.
7. Hartung B. (2021) “The Significance of Astronomical and Calendrical Theories for Ephrem’s Interpretation of the Three Days of Jesus’ Death”, in A. M. Butts, R. D. Young (eds). Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance. Washington, pp. 37–49.
8. Scher A (ed.) (1981) Mar Barḥadbšabba ̔Arbaya, évêque de Ḥalwan (VI siècle): Cause de foundation des écoles. Texte syriaque publié et traduit par Addai Scher. Patrologia Orientalis 4, fasc. 4, № 18. Turnhout.
9. Milik J. (1976) Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrân Cave 4. Oxford.
10. Mroczek E. (2008) “Moses, David and Scribal Revelation: Preservation and Renewal in Second Temple Jewish Textual Traditions”, in G. J. Brooke, H. Najman, Loren T. Stuckenbruck (eds). The Significance of Sinai: Traditions About Sinai and Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity. Leiden, 2008, pp. 91–115.
11. Mroczek E. (2016) The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity. Oxford.
12. Murray R. (2006) Symbols of Church and Kingdom. A Study in Early Syriac Tradition. Piscataway, NJ.
13. Orlov A. (2005) “The Learned Savant Who Guards the Secrets of the Great Gods″: Evolution of the Roles and Titles of the Seventh Antediluvian Hero in Mesopotamian and Enochic Traditions. Part I: Mesopotamian Traditions”, in D. Nosnitsin et al. (eds). Scrinium I. Varia Aethiopica. In Memory of Sevir B. Chernetsov (1943–2000). St. Peterburg, pp. 248–264.
14. Orlov A. (2006) “The Learned Savant Who Guards the Secrets of the Great Gods″: Evolution of the Roles and Titles of the Seventh Antediluvian Hero in Mesopotamian and Enochic Traditions: Part II: Enochic Tradition”, in B. Lourie (ed). Scrinium II. Universum Hagiographicum. St. Peterburg, 2006, pp. 165–213.
15. Popović M. (2010) “The Emergence of Aramaic and Hebrew Scholarly Texts: Transmission and Translation of Alien Wisdom”, in S. Metso, H. Najman, E. Schuller (eds). The Dead Sea Scrolls: Transmission of Traditions and Production of Texts. Leiden, 2010, pp. 81–114.
16. Reed A. Y. (2017) “Writing Jewish Astronomy in the Early Hellenistic Age: The Enochic Astronomical Book as Aramaic Wisdom and Archival Impulse”. Dead Sea Discoveries, 2017, vol. 24, pp. 1–37.
17. Ruani F. (2017) “Books of Protection, Books of Perdition. Book Imagery in Ephrem the Syrian’s Heresiology”. HENOCH, 2017, no. 39 (2), pp. 270–286.
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20. Wickes J. (2019) Bible and Poetry in Late Antique Mesopotamia. Ephrem’s Hymns on Faith. University of California Press.

Fomicheva Sofia

In the article the Book of Paroemias issued in al-Shuwayr in AD 1775, purchased in Beirut in December of 2005 and kept now in a private collection of St. Petersburg is examined in detail. The author gave a full description of that copy from the point of view of its design, state of preservation and also of its contents. He traced the foundation of a monastery of St. John the Baptist in al-Shuwayr on the turn of the 17th – 18th century AD, its turning into a stronghold of the Uniates separated from the Antiochian Orthodox Church, who adopted the Charter of St. Basil the Great, and the formation of a printing house in Arabic script upon it that published its first book in AD 1734 and existed till AD 1899. It is noted that one of the peculiarites of its book production consisted in the elegance of its script fabricated by Abdallâh b. Zhâhir, hereditary jeweler and its creater. It is established that the Book of Paroemias published in al-Shuwayr in AD 1775 was mentioned in the itineraries of C.-Fr. Volney and was thoroughly described in the Bibliotheca Arabica by Ch. Fr. de Schnurrer. The correspondence of that liturgical book to the Orthodox canon is demonstrated. Besides that, the attention is paid to the fact that the Uniated, who did not want to break with the East Christian tradition, spread among their flock the Roman Catholic theological doctrine through different ways, including books printed in al-Shuwayr.

paroemias, Book of Paroemias, Christian Arabs, Arabic old-printed books, Lebanon, village of al-Shuwayr, Uniate Monastery in al-Shuwayr, Printing House at that monastery

1. Frantsouzoff S. A. (2018) “Arabografi chnyi fond”, in I. F. Popova (ed.) Aziatsii Muzei — Institut vostochnykh rukopisei RAN. putevoditel′. Moscow, pp. 51–73, 103–107 (in Russian).
2. Graf G. (1929) “Verzeichnis arabischer kirchlicher Termini”. Zeitschrift für Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete, 1929, vol. 7, pp. 225–258.
3. Krymskii A. (1971) Istoriia novoi arabskoi literatury: XIX — nachalo XX veka. Moscow (in Russian).
4. Panchenko C. (2012) Blizhnevostochnoe Pravoslavie pod osmanskim vladychestvom: pervye tri stoletiia, 1516–1831. Moscow (in Russian).
5. Polosin V., Serikoff N., Frantsouzoff S. (2005) The Arabic Psalter: A Supplemet to the Facsimile Edition of Manuscript A 187 The Petersburg Arabic Illuminated Psalter from the Collections of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg Branch). St. Petersburg; Voronezh (in Russian and English).

Frantsouzoff Serge

*According to ISCED 2011, a post-doctoral degree called Doctor of Sciences (D.Sc.) is given to reflect second advanced research qualifications or higher doctorates.

The publication presents a commented interlinear and literary translation of two qasidas (poems) from the Divan (collection) of the first known Arab Christian poet – Sulayman al-Ghazzi, bishop of Gaza in Palestine (Xth-XIth cent.). His poetic work is the earliest attempt at using the metrical and stylistic tools of classical Arabic poetry for purely Christian subjects. The Divan also contains multiple autobiographical data and important historical evidence of Christian persecution under the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, including the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Despite their unique significance, very few of Sulayman’s poems have been translated into a modern language. The two selected qasidas belong to the opposite traditional genres of Arabic poetry – reproach and praise. In the first one the Jews who rejected Christ are targeted; the other one is focused on righteous Christians and their liturgy. In addition, the first qasida is rich in biblical allusions and quotations, loosely reworked by the author in a poetic vein, and the second one gives a detailed description of the divine service and is therefore a valuable evidence of the liturgical life of Palestinian Christians in Sulayman’s era.

Sulayman al-Ghazzi (of Gaza), Christian Arabic literature, medieval Arabic poetry, Jews, Palestinian liturgy, al-Hakim's persecutions of Christians, Jerusalem

1. Davydenkov O. (2016) “Ob istochnikakh nekotorykh kosmologicheskikh i antropologicheskikh idei Suleimana Gazskogo”. Vestnik PSTGU. Ser. I: Bogoslovie. Filosofi ia. Religiovedenie, 2016, vol. 65, pp. 42–51 (in Russian).
2. Davydenkov O. (ed.) (2016) “Suleiman, episkop Gazskii. Dva bogoslovskikh traktata”. Vestnik PSTGU. Ser. III: Filologiia, 2016, vol. 49, pp. 119–128 (in Russian).
3. Edelby N. (ed.) (1985) Sulaïmān al-Ġazzī. Al-Diwān. Jounieh. (Patrimoine arabe chrétien; t. 8) (in Arabic).
4. Frolov D. V. (1991) Klassicheskii arabskii stikh: istoriia i teoriia aruda. Moscow (in Russian).
5. Griffith S. H. (1992) “The Monks of Palestine and the Growth of Christian Literature in Arabic”, in H. S. Griffith, Arabic Christianity in the Monasteries of Ninth-Century Palestine, Aldershot, pp. 1–28.
6. Haddad R. (1985) La Trinité divine chez les théologiens arabes (750–1050). Paris.
7. La Spisa P. (ed.) (2013) Sulaymān Ibn Ḥasan al-Ġazzī. I trattati teologici. Louvain, 2 vol. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium; t. 648–649. Scriptores Arabici; t. 52–53).
8. La Spisa P. (2005) “I trattati teologici di Sulaymān al-Gazzī: per una nuova edizione critica”. Parole de l’Orient, 2005, vol. 30, pp. 342–360.
9. Noble S. (2010) “Sulaymān al-Ghazzī”, in D. Thomas et al. (eds.) Christian-Muslim Relations, Leiden; Boston, vol. 2, pp. 617–632.
10. Noble S. (2014) “Sulayman al-Ghazzi”, in S. Noble, A. Treiger (eds.) The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700–1700: an Anthology of Sources, DeKalb, Illinois, pp. 160–170.

Melikyan Sofia

*According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, the degree of Candidate of Sciences (Cand.Sc.) belongs to ISCED level 8 — "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar.

Edelshtain Anastasia