Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Life and Homilies of Jacob of Serugh in a Manuscript in the OIM
A lecture by Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, OI Museum Collections Research Grant recipient
The story of this identification goes back to the year 1911, when the Syriac orthodox monk Afrem Barṣawm (1887–1957), who later became the patriarch of his church, visited the region of Ṭūrʿabdīn, nowadays in southeast Turkey, and examined the manuscripts that were preserved in its churches and monasteries. Among the sources that Barṣawm examined, there was a Syriac manuscript copied in 12th or 13th century that contains numerous homilies composed by early church fathers, and mainly by Jacob of Seruj, a famous Syriac poet (451–29 November 521), whose 1500 anniversary is celebrated this year. Barṣawm claimed that this manuscript was lost with other Syriac manuscripts during the World War I, however it was only recently identified in the OI Museum collection.
Join us to learn more about this manuscript in a lecture by Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, OI Museum Collections Research Grant recipient. Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, Metadata Editor at Atla, holds a Ph.D. in Church History from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, and another Ph.D. in World Christianity and Global Missions-Christian-Muslim Studies from the Lutheran School of Theology-Chicago. Fr. Dr. Bcheiry has published a collection of books such as: "An Early Christian reaction to Islam: Išū‘yhab III and the Muslim Arabs" (Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press, 2019); "Hagiography, History, and Manuscript Culture: Studies in Syriac Christianity" (Kaslik: Lebanon, 2018); "Collection of Historical Documents in Relation with the Syriac Orthodox Community, in the Late Period of the Ottoman Empire" (Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press, 2010). Also, Fr. Dr. Bcheiry published numerous articles on the history of Syriac Christianity and cataloged several collections of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts. He is also a Priest for the Syriac Orthodox Church and serves as a pastor of his community in Chicago since 2006.
Originally aired November 4th, 2021
OI lectures are free and available on YouTube thanks to the generous support of our members. To become a member, please visit: bit.ly/2AWGgF7
2021, OI
Music credit: bensound.com
The Life and Homilies of Jacob of Serugh in a Manuscript in the OIM
A lecture by Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, OI Museum Collections Research Grant recipient
The story of this identification goes back to the year 1911, when the Syriac orthodox monk Afrem Barṣawm (1887–1957), who later became the patriarch of his church, visited the region of Ṭūrʿabdīn, nowadays in southeast Turkey, and examined the manuscripts that were preserved in its churches and monasteries. Among the sources that Barṣawm examined, there was a Syriac manuscript copied in 12th or 13th century that contains numerous homilies composed by early church fathers, and mainly by Jacob of Seruj, a famous Syriac poet (451–29 November 521), whose 1500 anniversary is celebrated this year. Barṣawm claimed that this manuscript was lost with other Syriac manuscripts during the World War I, however it was only recently identified in the OI Museum collection.
Join us to learn more about this manuscript in a lecture by Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, OI Museum Collections Research Grant recipient. Fr. Dr. Iskandar Bcheiry, Metadata Editor at Atla, holds a Ph.D. in Church History from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, and another Ph.D. in World Christianity and Global Missions-Christian-Muslim Studies from the Lutheran School of Theology-Chicago. Fr. Dr. Bcheiry has published a collection of books such as: "An Early Christian reaction to Islam: Išū‘yhab III and the Muslim Arabs" (Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press, 2019); "Hagiography, History, and Manuscript Culture: Studies in Syriac Christianity" (Kaslik: Lebanon, 2018); "Collection of Historical Documents in Relation with the Syriac Orthodox Community, in the Late Period of the Ottoman Empire" (Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press, 2010). Also, Fr. Dr. Bcheiry published numerous articles on the history of Syriac Christianity and cataloged several collections of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts. He is also a Priest for the Syriac Orthodox Church and serves as a pastor of his community in Chicago since 2006.
Originally aired November 4th, 2021
OI lectures are free and available on YouTube thanks to the generous support of our members. To become a member, please visit: bit.ly/2AWGgF7
2021, OI
Music credit: bensound.com
