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.
Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 533
ISBN: 9781593332198
Pub Date: 29 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Neo-Aramaic Studies
Description:
More than a literary survey, this introduction to the history of late and Neo-Syriac (Neo-Aramaic) covers the works of the past several centuries. Macuch begins with the post-Mongolian period to the end of the 18th century. For the 19th century, Macuch considers the situation of the Assyrians in this period, including the American, Anglican, and Russian Orthodox missionary enterprises in Urmia, noting the writers of the foreign missions.
Bioarchaeology of the Near East  1 (2007) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 74
ISBN: 9781607246664
Pub Date: 28 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Bioarchaeology of the Near East
Description:
Bioarchaeology of the Near East (Volume 1, 2007) includes contributions by Theya Molleson, Douglas H. Ubelaker, and Joseph L. Rife, as well as short fieldwork reprots.
Bioarchaeology of the Near East 2 (2008) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 109
ISBN: 9781607246671
Pub Date: 28 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Bioarchaeology of the Near East
Description:
Bioarchaeology of the Near East (Volume 2, 2008) includes contributions by Nathan K. Harper, Sherry C. Fox, Mateusz Baca, and Martyna Molak, as well as short fieldwork reprots.
Moslem Women Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 340
ISBN: 9781607244097
Pub Date: 28 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
Moslem Women is built around six main chapters; half are devoted to the place and experiences of Moslem women, and half consider the Christian mission to these women. The Zwemers acknowledge some of the great women of Islamic history, such as Rabia, the famous early mystic, and Nurah Mahal, wife of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. They speak in glowing terms about advances in the women’s situation in post-Ottoman Turkey.
The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Sanandaj Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 651
ISBN: 9781607241348
Pub Date: 28 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Neo-Aramaic Studies
Description:
This volume presents a description of the Neo-Aramaic dialect that was spoken by the Jews of Sanandaj in western Iran, but which is now virtually extinct. The material for the volume was gathered firsthand in fieldwork conducted with the last remaining speakers in Israel. The volume consists of a detailed grammatical description, a corpus of transcribed texts, including folktales, historical accounts and portrayals of customs, and an extensive glossary.
Time and Astronomy in Past Cultures Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 188
ISBN: 9781607246688
Pub Date: 28 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Précis Portfolios
Description:
The volume contains 12 papers presented at the conference "Time and Astronomy in Past Cultures" (Toruń, Poland 2005). Five of them concern Near Eastern calendars and sky-watching, three are devoted to European archaeoastronomy (including a paper on Stonehenge), and two represent ethnoarchaeological research in the Baltic area.
The Ostraca of the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo, Egypt Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 389
ISBN: 9781607240143
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Handbooks
Description:
The Ostraca of the Coptic Museum, written on pottery pieces, limestone flakes and wood, present the lives of ordinary people in their interactions with one another, and includes their economic and personal affairs. This volume is a catalog of the 1,127 ostraca in the museum.
The Rebuke of Islam Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9781607244110
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
Temple Gairdner’s The Rebuke of Islam, published in 1920, has long been recognized as one of the classics of Christian response to Islam in the early 20th century. Part of its significance is that Gairdner’s approach sums up the very best of earlier approaches (especially in the 19th century), but breaks significantly new ground and therefore points forward to approaches that have been developing between his time and the present day.
Christianity and Islam Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 200
ISBN: 9781607244127
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
Based on lectures delivered in Chichester Cathedral, this book mirrors typical nineteenth century English attitudes toward the non-European space. This needed Christianity and European political oversight, or its people would remain backward and spiritually lost. The book shows how someone whose inclinations were liberal could look at Islam and dislike what he saw.
Sufism: Its Saints and Shrines Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 448
ISBN: 9781607244134
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
A convert to Christianity from the Qadiri Order, John A. Subhan is well-known for his seminal work, Sufism: Its Saints and Shrines. Sufism prepared him for faith in Jesus and his Injil.
Mohammed and Islam Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 394
ISBN: 9781607244103
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
Ignaz Goldziher was a pre-eminent scholar of Islam during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This book encapsulates his own lifetime of work and provides something of an historical commentary on his epoch in the Western academic study of Islam. One of its strengths is that Goldziher’s investigation of historical development probes into underlying religious motivations and allied theological issues.
Eothen Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 262
ISBN: 9781607246640
Pub Date: 27 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Exploring the House of Islam: Perceptions of Islam in the Period of Western Ascendancy 1800-1945
Description:
Given the twenty-first century association between the Holy Land and the Bible, we may assume that such a relationship just exists, and that the land is like the Book and contains a timeless quality. Eothen requires us to question this supposition. Alexander Kinglake describes a Palestine which is largely a wilderness on the verge of being defined by the political and religious forces of the west.
Syriac Books Printed at the Dominican Press, Mosul Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 56
ISBN: 9781607241041
Pub Date: 26 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Handbooks
Description:
Since the 1850s until the outbreak of World War I, the Dominican Press in Mosul, Iraq, produced scholarly, liturgical, and pedagogical publications to service the local Christian communities. These hard to find publications have now been cataloged in detail by J. F.
The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Register of Dues of 1870 Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 244
ISBN: 9781607244271
Pub Date: 26 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Description:
This monograph presents an unpublished historical resource in the form of a register of dues collected for the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate during the second half of the nineteenth century. Bcheiry provides the original text, an English translation, and an extensive socio-economic study.
The Arabic Encyclopedia (vol 5) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 840
ISBN: 9781593337742
Pub Date: 24 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
In an era of extraordinary encyclopedias, Boutros al-Boustani undertook the contribution from the perspective of the Arabic world. Encompassing 11 volumes and the work of three generations, this encyclopedia, while containing standard encyclopedic fare, focuses on the Middle East and its people, history, science, and literature.
The Arabic Encyclopedia (Vol 9) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 780
ISBN: 9781593337780
Pub Date: 24 Oct 2009
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
In an era of extraordinary encyclopedias, Boutros al-Boustani undertook the contribution from the perspective of the Arabic world. Encompassing 11 volumes and the work of three generations, this encyclopedia, while containing standard encyclopedic fare, focuses on the Middle East and its people, history, science, and literature.