In the late fourth century, the early Christian monk and author Evagrius Ponticus wrote his magnum opus in Greek--entitled Kephalaia Gnostika ("Gnostic Chapters")--a spiritual treatise on ascetic contemplation and unity with God. After Evagrius' death, however, his theology attracted controversy, and many of his writings were suppressed or destroyed. As a result, complete copies of this important work principally survived only in Syriac translations and an Armenian adaptation, until the recent discovery of two Arabic copies at the so-called Monastery of the Syrians in Egypt. The present volume represents the first-ever critical edition and translation of the Kephalaia Gnostika in that language.

"A catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic collections at Dayr al-Suryan in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt, to be published in multiple volumes, covering the following genre categories: Biblical Texts, along with Coptic Grammars and Lexica; Commentaries and Canons; Theology; Ascetic Discourses; Saints' Lives and Sermons; and Liturgical Texts. In addition to introducing readers to the history and contents of the monastic library, this series collects data on approximately 1000 manuscripts, recording information on manuscript number and genre, works and contents, date, language, script, and material, scribes, patrons, and restorers, colophons and endowments, pages and numbering systems, dimensions, area of writing, and lines per page, cover and condition, and other details related to scribal practice and readers' insertions. The result will serve as a foundation for further research on Coptic and Christian Arabic literature and on the monastery and its important library." --provided by publisher

Contemplative reading is a spiritual practice developed by Christian monks in sixth- and seventh-century Mesopotamia. Mystics belonging to the Church of the East pursued a form of contemplation which moved from reading, to meditation, to prayer, to the ecstasy of divine vision. The Library of Paradise tells the story of this Syriac tradition in three phases: its establishment as an ascetic practice, the articulation of its theology, and its maturation and spread. The sixth-century monastic reform of Abraham of Kashkar codified the essential place of reading in East Syrian ascetic life. Once established, the practice of contemplative reading received extensive theological commentary. Abraham's successor Babai the Great drew upon the ascetic system of Evagrius of Pontus to explain the relationship of reading to the monk's pursuit of God. Syriac monastic handbooks of the seventh century built on this Evagrian framework. 'Enanisho' of Adiabene composed an anthology called Paradise that would stand for centuries as essential reading matter for Syriac monks. Dadisho' of Qatar wrote a widely copied commentary on the Paradise. Together, these works circulated as a one-volume library which offered readers a door to "Paradise" through contemplation. The Library of Paradise is the first book-length study of East Syrian contemplative reading. It adapts methodological insights from prior scholarship on reading, including studies on Latin lectio divina. By tracing the origins of East Syrian contemplative reading, this study opens the possibility for future investigation into its legacies, including the tradition's long reception history in Sogdian, Arabic, and Ethiopic monastic libraries.

A catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic collections at Dayr al-Suryan in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt, to be published in multiple volumes, covering the following genre categories: Biblical Texts, along with Coptic Grammars and Lexica; Commentaries and Canons; Theology; Ascetic Discourses; Saints' Lives and Sermons; and Liturgical Texts. In addition to introducing readers to the history and contents of the monastic library, this series collects data on approximately 1000 manuscripts, recording information on manuscript number and genre, works and contents, date, language, script, and material, scribes, patrons, and restorers, colophons and endowments, pages and numbering systems, dimensions, area of writing, and lines per page, cover and condition, and other details related to scribal practice and readers' insertions. The result will serve as a foundation for further research on Coptic and Christian Arabic literature and on the monastery and its important library.

A catalogue of the Coptic and Arabic collections at Dayr al-Suryan in Wadi al-Natrun, Egypt, to be published in multiple volumes, covering the following genre categories: Biblical Texts, along with Coptic Grammars and Lexica; Commentaries and Canons; Theology; Ascetic Discourses; Saints' Lives and Sermons; and Liturgical Texts. In addition to introducing readers to the history and contents of the monastic library, this series collects data on approximately 1000 manuscripts, recording information on manuscript number and genre, works and contents, date, language, script, and material, scribes, patrons, and restorers, colophons and endowments, pages and numbering systems, dimensions, area of writing, and lines per page, cover and condition, and other details related to scribal practice and readers' insertions. The result will serve as a foundation for further research on Coptic and Christian Arabic literature and on the monastery and its important library.

Cyril ibn Laqlaq’s Book of Confession offers the critical edition and translation of a treatise that is published here for the first time. Cyril, the 75th Coptic Patriarch, was a controversial figure who was judged for simony by his own bishops in an official synod. Despite his failure to promote auricular confession during his lifetime, the widespread distribution of his treatise had a significant impact on the practice's adoption. The Book of Confession is well attested in the manuscript tradition. The vast inventory of manuscripts attests to its popularity among diverse Christian denominations throughout the Middle East. Undoubtedly, it has been a highly influential text in the formation of spiritual life and penitential theology in the Middle Ages.