The main purpose of the book is to provide the Syriac texts from 5th to 7th AD and annotated English translations of four anonymous dialogue poems (with separate introductions to each) where the protagonists are, respectively, Synagogue and Church, Sion and Church, Jesus and the Synagogue, Jesus and the Pharisees.
The conflict of the early Christian Church with Judaism found expression in a particular genre of liturgical literature: Syriac dialogue poetry. This book provides the Syriac texts of four anonymous dialogue poems from between the fifth and eight centuries CE, together with fully annotated English translations and introductions examining their position within the context of other Syriac texts that specifically concern Judaism. These carefully selected poems are fresh critical editions based on the oldest Syriac manuscripts and are published here together for the first time. The volume is enriched with illustrations based on some of the finest surviving illuminated Syriac manuscripts from late antiquity.
