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Document Details : Title: Kaldāyūthā Subtitle: The Spar-Sammāné and Late Antique Syriac Astrology Author(s): AL-JELOO, Nicholas Journal: ARAM Periodical Volume: 24 Date: 2012 Pages: 457-492 DOI: 10.2143/ARAM.24.0.3009285 Abstract : Works concerning astrology and divination comprise one of the least studied Syriac literary genres. The most common of these is that simply titled Spar-Sammāné (Book of Medicines). It is a work which arouses strong feelings of mystery in most Assyrians today, with a great number of original manuscripts jealously guarded by their owners from inquisitive eyes. The Spar-Sammāné exists in many different recensions and versions, with most manuscripts originating from northern Iraq and southeast Turkey – largely within an East Syriac milieu. At the present time, an uncritical edition of only one manuscript has ever been published and translated into English – by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge in 1913. The translation of another version into Neo-Aramaic was published in Chicago during the 1990s. Between September and December 2009 this writer has, for the first time, managed to document and digitise eight versions of this book in Classical Syriac and Neo-Aramaic, still kept in private collections which he was given access to in Dohuk (Iraq) and villages of the Khabur region (Syria). The aim of this paper will be to provide an introduction on Syriac literature concerning astrology and divination, an overview of the different versions known to exist in both manuscript and print form, and will briefly touch on some of what is contained in different versions of the Spar-Sammāné. |
