Recovering Late-Antique Christian Identities: The Ongoing Discovery and Rediscovery of Syriac Manuscripts, their Diversity, and Limitations

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The chapter shows that since its beginnings Patristic Studies has occasionally taken into account the additional or unique readings of a fraction of Syriac manuscripts. It argues that this misrepresents the full range of the cultural traditions in African, Near-Eastern and Asian regions, where they were made and used over a wide timeframe. Taking these into account is important, for example, to counter the negative view of late antique Syriac cultures found in most Arabic and European accounts, and to challenge the reliability of critical editions, especially for Patristic Studies. The chapter analyses four brief case-studies of the use and destruction of manuscripts, which differ in the agency of the holders and the intention behind the destruction. These blur traditional assumptions about religious identity, materiality of writing and the relevance of texts among Christians.