What Kind of Poetry Would a Syriac Manuscript-Thief Read about Oneself?

Scrinium: Journal of Patrology and Critical Hagiography. 2020. Vol. 16. P. 390–397.

Pritula A.

In the modern period, numerous notes appeared within the colophons that aimed to protect a Syriac manuscript from potential thieves by addressing various curses to them. Some of those curses obtained a verse form, mainly forming quatrains, the most popular and suitable genre form for various kinds of notes. The paper discusses such pieces – never studied of published so far – that were composed and written by scribe Hōrmīz, son of ‘Abd al-Aḥad, who worked in the early 18th century in Kirkuk (Syriac Bēt Slōk).  In the modern period, numerous notes appeared within the colophons that aimed to protect a manuscript from potential thieves by addressing various curses to them. Some of those curses obtained a verse form, mainly forming quatrains, the most popular and suitable genre form for various kinds of notes. The paper discusses such pieces – never studied of published so far – that were composed and written by scribe Hōrmīz, son of ‘Abd al-Aḥad, who worked in the early 18th century in Kirkuk (Syriac Bēt Slōk).  

Keywords: сирийская поэзия, Syriac poetry, восточносирийская традиция, East Syriac tradition, manuscript production, Hōrmīz, son of ʿAbd al-Aḥad, stealing manuscripts, scribal notes, verse curses, Хормизд, сын ʿАбд ал-Ахада, рукописная продукция, кража рукописей, писцовые заметки, проклятия в стихах