Der Ktaba D-Durrasa (Ktaba D-Ma'Wata) des Elija Al-Anbari. Memra I-III : T. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Syri)

Elija, east-Syrian (nestorian) bishop of al-Anbar west of Baghdad flourished in the first half of the Xth century. His voluminous Ktaba d-Durrasa (Book of Instruction) is composed of metrical stanzas and consists of thirty centuries (therefore known as Ktaba d-Ma'wata), arranged in ten Memre. It is a work of didactic poetry, deeply influenced by Dionysius the Areopagite and his theory of symbolism. We meet a manual of theoria based on Scripture, nature and tradition addressed to monks (and clergy?) and reflecting their hierarchical order of illumination. Of special interest are the large portions with mainly typological explanations of the AT and the NT. From 19 manuscripts of western and eastern libraries a solid text (the common archetype of ca. the 12th/13th century) is established. The second part (Memre IV-VI) is in preparation.