People & the Peoples: Syriac Dialogue Poems from Late Antiquity

The conflict of the early Christian Church with Judaism found expression in a particular genre of liturgical literature: Syriac dialogue poetry. This book provides the Syriac texts of four anonymous dialogue poems from between the fifth and eight centuries CE, together with fully annotated English translations and introductions examining their position within the context of other Syriac texts that specifically concern Judaism. These carefully selected poems are fresh critical editions based on the oldest Syriac manuscripts and are published here together for the first time. The volume is enriched with illustrations based on some of the finest surviving illuminated Syriac manuscripts from late antiquity.