Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; 'Edessa grew dim and Nisibis shone forth': the School of Nisibis at the transition of the 6th-7th century; Babai the Great's Life of George and the propagation of doctrine in the late Sasanian empire; Die Entstehung der syrischen Alexanderlegende als politisch-religiöse Propagandaschrift für Herakleios' Kirchenpolitik; Pseudo-Ephraems 'Rede über das Ende' und die syrische eschatologische Literatur des siebenten Jahrhunderts; Pseudo-Methodius and the pseudo-Ephremian 'Sermo de Fine Mundi'; Alexander the Great in 7th-century Syriac 'apocalyptic' texts; Paideia: God's design in world history according to the East Syrian monk John bar Penkaye; Pseudo-Methodius und die Legende vom römischen Endkaiser; Ps.-Methodius: a concept of history in response to the rise of Islam; Der edessenische 'Pseudo-Methodius'; The Romance of Julian the Apostate as a source for 7th century Syriac apocalypses; Early Christian reactions to the building of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem; The beginnings of Syriac apologetic literature in response to Islam; Die Muslime in einer Sammlung von Dämonengeschichten des Klosters von Qennesrin; The lamb on the tree: Syriac exegesis and anti-Islamic apologetics; An early Syriac reference to Qur'an 112?; Communal identity and the systematisation of knowledge in the Syriac 'cause of all causes'; Addenda and corrigenda; Index.

About the Author

Dr G.J. Reinink is Associate Professor at the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Middle East, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.