Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions, Volume IV: Aramaic Inscriptions and Documents of the Roman Period

In the first centuries AD, although much of the Near East was ruled by Rome, the main local language was Aramaic, and the people who lived inside or on the fringes of the area controlled by the Romans frequently wrote their inscriptions and legal documents in their own local dialects of this language. This book introduces these fascinating early texts to a wider audience, by presenting a representative sample, comprising eighty inscriptions and documents in the following dialects: Nabataean, Jewish, Palmyrene, Syriac, and Hatran. Detailed commentaries on the texts are preceded by chapters on history and culture and on epigraphy and language. The linguistic commentaries will help readers who have a knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic or one of the Aramaic dialects to understand the difficulties involved in interpreting such materials. The translations and more general comments will be of great interest to classicists and ancient historians.


Author: John F. Healey
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/01/2010
Pages: 448
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.58lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.88d
ISBN: 9780199252565

About the Author

John F. Healey is Professor of Semitic Studies at the University of Manchester.

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