Online Lecture: “Towards a History of Syriac Intellectuals in Abbasid Iraq in the Ninth Century: Educational Paths, Intellectual Milieu, and Career Prospects”

Syr­i­ac Chris­t­ian intel­lec­tu­als played a cru­cial role in trans­lat­ing Greek sci­ence and phi­los­o­phy into Ara­bic between the eighth and 10th cen­turies. Yet almost noth­ing is known about the edu­ca­tion that enabled them to hold pres­ti­gious posi­tions in Abbasid Iraq.

This lec­ture dis­cuss­es the pos­si­ble edu­ca­tion­al paths tak­en by Syr­i­ac intel­lec­tu­als. It con­sid­ers both those who worked for the caliphs and those who held promi­nent reli­gious and intel­lec­tu­al posi­tions with­in their own Chris­t­ian com­mu­ni­ties.

After set­ting out the scholas­tic cur­ricu­lum taught to Syr­i­ac stu­dents, the lec­ture reflects on how some became refined trans­la­tors, work­ing on trans­la­tions from Greek into Syr­i­ac and Ara­bic with con­sid­er­able philo­soph­i­cal skill. It also con­sid­ers how Syr­i­ac intel­lec­tu­als helped to shape the Abbasid intel­lec­tu­al and cul­tur­al milieu.