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.
Normative Judaism? Jews, Judaism and Jewish Identity Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 111
ISBN: 9781607241614
Pub Date: 22 May 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies (1759-1953)
Description:
This collection of short case studies considers the issue of normatively in Judaism and Jewish identity. The questions of how and why certain aspects of Jewish life and thought come to be regarded as authoritative or normative, rather than inauthentic or marginal, have been and continue to be contentious ones. Topics include the philosopher Moses Maimonides, the composer Felix Mendelssohn, the self-perception of communal leadership in Manchester during the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, sermons of Jewish Reform rabbis during the Second World War, Orthodox rabbinic debate about war in general, representations of Jews in photographic exhibitions, the idea of Jewish music, and the academic study of Judaism itself.
A 16th Century Italo-Byzantine Cross Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 181
ISBN: 9781463201630
Pub Date: 11 May 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Description:
The contributors have tried to reconstruct the mingling of two cultures, Greek and Italian, in sixteenth century Venice. This is examined through the medium of a single intricately carved wooden cross, executed by a Greek carver, with adaptations suitable to a member of the Latin church. We can identify the carver who made the cross and make some speculations about his life, and how he and his art are reflective of this hybrid culture.
The Book of the Himyarites Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781607248149
Pub Date: 07 May 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
The Book of the Himyarites, given in Syriac and English translation, deals with the growth of Christianity in Arabia. The introduction provides details about the historical value of the work and its relationship to other related sources.
The Gospel of Matthew According to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 238
ISBN: 9781463201746
Pub Date: 02 May 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Surath Kthob
Description:
This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshiṭta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars. Childers has translated the Peshiṭta of Matthew, while Kiraz has prepared the Syriac text in the west Syriac script, fully vocalized and pointed. The translation and the Syriac text are presented on facing pages so that both can be studied together.
The Book of Isaiah According to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 376
ISBN: 9781463201555
Pub Date: 30 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Surath Kthob
Description:
A new English translation of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars. Greenberg and Walter have produced an annotated translation of the Peshitta version of the Book of Isaiah, while Kiraz and Bali have edited the Peshitta text. The English translation and the Syriac text are shown on facing pages so that both can be studied together.
The Latent Trace of Islamic Origins Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 234
ISBN: 9781607240457
Pub Date: 26 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
This work presents a putative reconstruction, testing the hypothesis that Islam is historically linked to Jewish Christianity. The argument takes the Qur’anic text to be a valid start-point for historical inquiry and reconstructs from biased views of Jewish Christianity the notion of an enduring Nasorean movement. The effective link between the Nasorean movement and the Meccan religious awakening is the preaching of the Qur’anic Prophet Shu’ayb in Midian, on the border of Arabia.
Antitheodicy, Atheodicy and Jewish Mysticism in Holocaust Theology Cover Antitheodicy, Atheodicy and Jewish Mysticism in Holocaust Theology Cover
Format: 
Pages: 263
ISBN: 9781463201760
Pub Date: 20 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Studies in Judaism
Pages: 263
ISBN: 9781463203948
Pub Date: 26 Jun 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Studies in Judaism
Description:
The Holocaust has provoked many different Jewish theological responses, yet upon closer inspection interesting commonalities can be observed between even seemingly antithetical thinkers. One of these common trends within Holocaust theology has been the rejection and replacement of traditional theodicies which explain and justify suffering, with responses centred on ideas of recovery, consolation and divine mystery. Another widespread, though largely unrecognized trend is use of Jewish mystical themes by Holocaust theologians.
Texts and Translations of the Chronicle of Michael the Great (Vol 1-11) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 7196
ISBN: 9781593331146
Pub Date: 09 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
This invaluable eleven-volume set on the Chronicle of Michael the Great makes the scholarly resources on this unique manuscript available together for the first time. Now inaccessible, the Chronicle is the largest medieval chronicle known, and is available here for the first time in history as a facsimile copy of the original manuscript, as well as in a copy of the original Syriac, the French translation, an abbreviated Armenian recension, and Arabic versions. The Chronicle is one of the most important primary sources on the history of the Middle East, especially the period between the rise of Islam and the Crusades.
Der alte Anfang und die upsprünglich Form von Cyprians Schrift Ad Donatum Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 18
ISBN: 9781617194337
Pub Date: 06 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
This much-cited essay contains the third century Christian leader Cyprian's letter to his friend Donatus written shortly after his conversion.
From Ugarit to Nabataea Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 313
ISBN: 9781463201807
Pub Date: 06 Apr 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Ugaritic Studies
Description:
From Ugarit to Nabataea is a collection of articles on the texts and cultures of various Near and Middle Eastern societies such as Ugarit, Ancient North Arabia, Nabatea, Palmyra, Edessa, the monasteries of Mesopotamia, and modern day Syriac-speaking communities. They include discussion of the religious beliefs, iconography, epigraphy, architecture and language of these societies – fields to which John F. Healey has contributed in his long, distinguished and varied career.
The Monks of Kûblâi Khân Emperor of China Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 385
ISBN: 9781617195082
Pub Date: 29 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume contains the English translation of the histories of Rabban Sawma and Mar Yahbalaha III (ca. 1230-1300) and their travels from China across Persia into Iraq. The translator also offers over 100 pages of prefatory material.
Sancti Patris Nostri Clementis Romani Epistolae Binae de Virginitate Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 441
ISBN: 9781617192494
Pub Date: 27 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume is a complete presentation and study of the two letters “On Virginity” ascribed to Clement of Rome, only fragmentarily extant in Greek, but surviving complete in Syriac.
Monte Singar Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 172
ISBN: 9781617190421
Pub Date: 27 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume contains the Syriac text, with Italian translation, of a catechetical work on the beliefs and practices of the Yezidis based on a manuscript in the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd.
Pardaisa da-Eden seu Paradisus Eden: Carmina Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 140
ISBN: 9781617192531
Pub Date: 27 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume presents the (fully vocalized) Syriac text of ‘Abdisho‘ bar Brikha’s (d. 1318) Paradise of Eden, with every page abundantly annotated. Theodore Nöldeke’s review of the book is also included.
Sancti Gregorii Theologi Liber Carminum Iambicorum: Versio Syriaca Antiquissima, pars prima Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 194
ISBN: 9781617192401
Pub Date: 27 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume contains Syriac texts of the old Syriac translation of Gregory Nazianzen’s orations edited from a Vatican manuscript. The Syriac selections in this volume total 131 parts from Gregory’s works and cover a wide variety subjects.
The Tradition of the Syriac Church of Antioch concerning the Primacy and the Prerogatives of St. Peter and of his Successors the Roman Pontiffs Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781617192425
Pub Date: 27 Mar 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume includes both the Syriac and English of a unique work in which Cyril Behnam Benni, Archbishop of Nineveh, presents testimonies of Syriac texts on the subjects of St. Peter, the Roman Church, and the Roman Pontiffs.