The Syriac Versions of the Categories of Aristotle 9781463214791

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T H E SYRIAC V E R S I O N S O F T H E CATEGORIES O F A R I S T O T L E

Analecta Gorgiana 77

General Editor George Anton Kiraz Analecta Gorgiana is a collection of long essays and short monographs which are consistently cited by modern scholars but previously difficult to find because of their original appearance in obscure publications. Now conveniently published, these essays are not only vital for our understanding of the history of research and ideas, but are also indispensable tools for the continuation and development of on-going research. Carefully selected by a team of scholars based on their relevance to modern scholarship, these essays can now be fully utilized by scholars and proudly owned by libraries.

The Syriac Versions of the Categories of Aristotle

RICHARD J . H . GOTTHEIL

GORGIAS PRESS

2007

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THE SYRIAO VERSIONS OF THE CATEGORIES OF ARISTOTLE. B Y PROFESSOR KICHARD J . H . GOTTHEIL, P H . D . , Columbia College, New York City.

The work of the Syrian scholars in translating and commenting upon the Aristotelean writings is well-known. Their value has also been recognized as the starting-point for the later Arabic-Hebrew-Latin development,1 and also for the text-criticism of the Greek originals themselves. It was especially the Organon which interested these men ;2 for they were, in the first place, theologians, and the Organon forged weapons for their theological dialectics. It also gave a basis for their grammatical studies to which they were led by their desire to accurately fix and understand the word of Scripture. They knew of other writings of Aristotle, real and spurious; but we get only an inkling now and then of their influence in the later literature.3 The knowledge of them died out, as the theological interest grew deeper; but the knowledge of the Organon was kept alive through the golden and silver ages of Syriac literature.4 It is surprising that what has come down to us of these early translations and commentaries should have lain in the libraries for so long a time without being used. George Hoffmann made an excellent beginning with his edition and criticism of the Syriac -cpi ¿puevdas? Fifteen years later D. S. Margoliouth followed with the TToirjTiKafi; but he was sorely pressed, as, for the Syriac, he could rely only upon a late compendium of Bar 'Ebhraya. My own studies in the history of the native Syriac grammarians bad led me back to the narrr/op'tai of Aristotle; and in 1886, after having copied the Berlin MS., I went to London to copy the MSS. in the British Museum. Since then I have been hoping to find sufficient leisure to work them up in connection with the Greek text. But other literary and academical work, which takes up the best i Cf. Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, 1, S 95f. Renan, De philosophica peripatetica apud Syros, passim. » Cf. Merx, Ristoria artfe grammatieae apud Syros, 1889, p. 3. Gottheil, A Tract on the Syriac Conjunctions, H E B R A I C A , IV., 1 6 7 . s Cf. in regard to the MeTeupo^oyiKa Gottheil, Contributions to the History of Geography, ii, H E B R A I C A , V I I . , p p . 40 s q .

* E. g. B a r Zo'bi, Bazwadh ill his Liber definittonum, B a r Ebhraya in the logical parts of his "M'narath KudhSe," etc. ' De Hermeneutieis apud Syros Aristoteleis. Leipzig, 1873 (2). sAnalecta Orientalia ad Poeticam Aristoteleam. Londini, 1887, cf. also Diels, Sitz. Ber. der Preuss. Acad, der WUsen., 1888, pp. 49-54. Archive f llr gesch. der Philnsophie, ii, 3, p. 499. Rente Critique, 1888, 14, p. 261.

T H E SYRIAC VERSIONS OF THE CATEGORIES OF ARISTOTLE.

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hours of the day, have kept me from carrying out my intention. As the future looks as crowded as the past has been, I must give up hoping, and content myself with laying the texts, as I have found them, before my colleagues. I have instructed one of my students to proceed with the critical part of the work; and I have good reason to feel satisfied that it will be well done. An Arabic translation of the categories was published many years ago by J. T. Zenker from a well-known Paris MS.7 With which Syriac translation it agrees, remains yet to be seen. I have stated elsewhere8 that there seem to exist at least four distinct versions of the Categories in Syriac. 1. MS. Brit. Mus. add. 14659, fols. 3a-28b. 2. MS. Brit. Mus. add. 14658, fols. 73-91b. 3. MS. Bibliotheque Nat. Ancient Ponds 161, fols. llb-27b = MS. Vatican 158, fol. 27b sq. 4. MS. Sachau 236, fols. 10a-42b. In one of Tischendorf's MSS. there is a page of the Categories :9 but I know nothing further in regard to it. In a note to p. 834 in his article, " Syriac Literature " (Eneycl. Brit.), Wright supposes the Vatican MS. to contain the same translation as does Brit. Mus. add. 14658. But this is not so, as a comparison of a couple of pages has shown me.10 The first version (A) is probably the work of George, Bishop of the Arabs (ordained 686 A. D.), and is taken from MS. Brit. Mus. add. 14659.U It is unnecessary for me to do more than direct attention to the three excellent treatises of Byssell,12 which show the extent and depths of George's knowledge. The volume—written in a large Estrangela of the VHIth or IXth century—has been sufficiently described by Wright. The MS. has suffered somewhat; and, in some places, is illegible. I have been scrupulous to give only what can be seen. I have not been sparing with question marks; and what I have supplied of my own accord is bracketed. The volume is full of marginal notes, which I have read as best I could. The chapter division in the Syriac is a little different to our own. I have added the paging of Bekker's edition of the Greek for the sake of easier reference. ' Aristotelis Categoriae, etc. Lipsiae, 184«. Cf. Wenricb, De auctorum, graecorum Versionibtu, etc. Lipsiae, 1848, p. 131 sq. There is said to be a similar MS. in a Damascus Library. Athenwum, 1 Feb., 1890, p. 148. »A Syriac Fragment, HEBRAICA, IV., p. 206. s Anecdota Sacra et Prof ana. Lipsiae, 1861, p. 68. io Cf. Hoffmann, De Hermenevticis, p. 18: "Itaque iam hinc utriueque versionis auctorem diversum esse perspicitur." n Cf. Benan, Journal Asiatique, 1852, p. 324. Wright, Catalogue, p. 1163. 1« " Bin Brief Oeorgs, Bvtchnfn tier Araber. Gotha, 1883. Gearys ties Araber-bischofs Oedichte und Brief e. Leipzig, 1891. Poemi Siriaci di Giorgio vescova degli Arabi, Reale Accademia del Lincei. Roma, 1892.

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