Gorgias Press
Founded in 2001 Gorgias Press is an independent academic publisher of books and journals related to history, languages, and religious studies, with specific areas of expertise in the Ancient Near East, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Archaeology, Biblical Studies, Classics, Early Christianity, Jewish Studies, Linguistics, and Syriac.
Gorgias [GOR-gee-us] Press was originally created by George and Christine Kiraz as a specialty press that could keep up with their research interests. With a background in computational linguistics, George Kiraz envisioned combining cutting-edge technology with humanities research. The new company would be completely online, with no physical storefront, and it would use automation and digital printing technology rather than traditional print runs. With these tools, the press could afford to publish rare and understudied topics that were previously considered unprofitable, and Gorgias soon became known for its pioneering work in language and linguistics, religion, and especially Syriac and Eastern Christianity.
Gorgias’ philosophy of “Publishing for the Sake of Knowledge” rather than profit, attracted a number of new authors, and the press’ areas of interest rapidly began to expand. Today, Gorgias Press publishes 50-60 new titles a year, including monographs, edited volumes, translations, and more, and Gorgias books can be found in academic collections all over the world.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 396
ISBN: 9781593339142
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Catalogues Archive
Description:
Among the earliest important Shiite works is that of Tusy’s List of Shiites Books. This reprint of the first publication of the work bears all the marks of a primary source, and it was a work heralded by Islamic scholars of late antiquity. Also included in this edition is the new edition of a supplement to Tusy’s bibliography prepared by Alam al-Hoda.
The notes from this text are replicated at the bottom of the page. A useful resource for scholars of ancient bibliography, this uncommon source of Arabic scholarship is now again available, in its original language, for the Arabic reader interested in the history of bibliography.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9781593339548
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Description:
Concerned with the continuing, and growing, anti-Semitism of his day, Jacobs laid out a statement of the Jewish contribution to civilization. Beginning with the convention of Jewish self-recognition as the people of the book, he sketches the relationship between the church and the Jews. He notes that Jews in the Middle Ages were intellectual intermediaries and their works had a profound impact on Medieval thought.
Their roles in commerce and capitalism are explored. Noting the contribution throughout history of Jews to the cause of liberality, Jacob makes a profound case for seeing the deep impact Judaism has made on the modern world.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 404
ISBN: 9781593335762
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Dictionaries Archive
Description:
Wortabet’s dictionary has a staying power not often found among historical dictionaries. In various forms it is still in wide use today. Going back to the historic original form, Gorgias Press is now offering this volume as part of its Historical Dictionary series.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 528
ISBN: 9781593335717
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Dictionaries Archive
Description:
Peyron’s lexicon is the classic Coptic-Latin dictionary of the early twentieth century. It is of special historical importance because of the association of Peyron with Champollion, Napoleon’s epigrapher on his Egyptian voyage. Placed so early in the dawn of Egyptian studies, Peyron sheds light from an eye undimmed by the subsequent decades of scholarship.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 414
ISBN: 9781593335779
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Dictionaries Archive
Description:
Wortabet’s dictionary has a staying power not often found among historical dictionaries. In various forms it is still in wide use today. Going back to the historic original form, Gorgias Press is now offering this volume as part of its Historical Dictionary series.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 222
ISBN: 9781593339319
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Catalogues Archive
Description:
In this historic catalogue, Crum presents the Coptic monuments of the Museum of Cairo. Although given a French title, the contents of this book are written in English. Some of the more striking items are presented with beautifully drawn sketches of relevant sections of the source.
As a museum book, this catalogue is amply illustrated with 57 black and white plates. A variety of artifacts are described: manuscripts, ostraca, and stelae, and indices round out the utility of this volume. A specialized collection from early Christian Egypt, this book will be welcomed by specialists in Coptic materials still found in their native land.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 499
ISBN: 9781593338343
Pub Date: 12 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Dictionaries Archive
Description:
This edition of the Syriac-Arabic glosses of Isho Bar Ali is a publication difficult to locate. These glosses are located in the second part of Bar Ali’s lexicon, as the first part had been previously published. Bar Ali, a physician as well as a lexicographer, produced this noted Syriac-Arabic dictionary showing the meanings of Syriac words in Arabic.
This historic step in the development of Syriac lexicography is analyzed here according to the glosses of the numerous manuscripts cited in the forward.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 550
ISBN: 9781593337407
Pub Date: 06 Mar 2009
Series: Kiraz Theological Archive
Description:
Originally published as the Hibbert Lectures of 1887, this series of essays covers more than the title suggests. The work of an early explorer of Assyriology, this book traces many of the more familiar motifs and themes from ancient religion back to the ancient Babylonians.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 711
ISBN: 9781593339166
Pub Date: 27 Feb 2009
Series: Kiraz Historical Dictionaries Archive
Description:
The famous Persian dictionary of Sayyid Abdurrashid, now quite difficult to locate, is an historic dictionary to which linguists still make reference. The Farhang I Rashidi was compiled by the Persian scholar Abd ur-Rashid bin Abd ul-Ghafur Husaini al-Madani al-Tattawi (d. 1653) who lived in Thatta, now the Sindh province of Pakistan.
One of two dictionaries compiled by Abd ur-Rashid, this lexicon, presented entirely in Classic Persian, marks a turning point in Persian lexicography and ranks as one of the cultural and literary achievements of the seventeenth century. The two volumes of this historic dictionary are here bound together, providing an affordable alternative to earlier two-part editions.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 51
ISBN: 9781607240402
Pub Date: 25 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
A translator of Aristotle and friend of Jacob of Edessa and Athanasios of Balad, George, Bishop of the Arab Tribes (d. AD 724) was an important figure in the history of the life and thought of the Syrian Orthodox Church. This article offers a study of the first three of George’s eleven extant letters and relates them to the larger Christian and Islamic context of his day.
It will be of interest to students of Greek patristics, Syriac Christianity, and early Islamic history.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 228
ISBN: 9781607240686
Pub Date: 24 Feb 2009
Series: Digital Technologies and the Ancient World
Description:
The Computer Working Group of the International Association of Egyptologists has been in existence since 1983. The group focuses on the efforts of Egyptologists to find creative and useful ways of using information technology to aid in the research and teaching of Ancient Egypt. This volume collects the 16 papers presented during the 2008 meeting on topics including databases, complex systems, 3D modelling, textual analysis systems, the uses of the internet for sharing photographs, and bibliography.
This publication provides an essential snapsot of the present uses of IT in the study of Ancient Egypt.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 39
ISBN: 9781607241218
Pub Date: 24 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This eighth lecture in the series addresses Marcion.
Burkitt focuses on how this early Christian thinker remained ahead of his time while also falling out of the mainstream of what was an emerging Christianity.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 33
ISBN: 9781607241225
Pub Date: 24 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This ninth lecture in the series concerns itself with the non-canonical, or apocryphal gospels.
Written before the discovery of the Nag-Hammadi library, this study considers the Testamentum Domini, Pistis Sophia, the Gospel and Apocalypse of St. Peter, the Protevangelium of James, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel According to the Hebrews, and the Oxyrhynchus Logia..
Format: Paperback
Pages: 48
ISBN: 9781607241171
Pub Date: 23 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This fourth lecture in the series begins by noting that in early Christianity it was Jesus that was preached and not Jesus’ sayings.
Burkitt thus suggests some criteria for finding Jesus’ original words and then applies them in order to reconstruct the teachings of Jesus.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 38
ISBN: 9781607241188
Pub Date: 23 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This fifth lecture in the series examines the concept of gospel in Matthew and Luke.
Burkitt notes the special emphases and concerns of these two Gospel writers, calling attention to how they differ from each other and also from Mark.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 36
ISBN: 9781607241201
Pub Date: 23 Feb 2009
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Originally delivered as one of the Jowett Lectures for 1906, the contents of this booklet emerged during the first quest for the historical Jesus. Somewhat surprisingly, Burkitt discovered that historical criticism increased the historical credibility of the Synoptic Gospels in his estimation. This seventh lecture in the series traces the origin of the authoritative four-fold Gospels to about 150 of the Common Era when they are amply attested together.
Positing a three-stage evolution to the canonical Gospels, Burkitt notes that other Gospels did not measure up to the same standard.