The Material Origin of Numbers

"In recent years, many studies have been published on a period often referred to as the 'Syriac Renaissance' (11th-13th centuries). In fact, we have to admit that many original works - in Syriac or Arabic - have not yet been critically edited or translated into a Western language, and still less studied. The present work on the Collection of Warda, which comprises a critical edition of twenty ?Onyata (hymns), accompanied by an English translation and a study of their central themes, especially their Christology, is therefore a welcome contribution to a better knowledge of this period. First of all, these hymns evoke, sometimes with beautiful imagery, the hardships that befell the Church of the East at the end of the 13th century. Interestingly, the author compares the hymns to more or less contemporary Muslim Arabic poetry, lamenting the fall of Baghdad, political oppression and the loss of science and learning, showing the collection to be the product of a shared literary culture. The hymns themselves are meditations on the events of salvation as told in the Bible and celebrated during the liturgical year of the Church of the East. Christ is, of course, the central figure, and in this way the collection offers insights into Christology. An analysis of the Christological themes, paying attention also to the way in which the author of the Warda Collection uses some technical Christological terms, shows him to be someone firmly rooted in the East Syriac theological tradition, but with some accents of his own." -- Prof. Herman Teule