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.

Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam Cover Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam Cover
Format: 
Pages: 309
ISBN: 9781593331023
Pub Date: 09 Apr 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Pages: 309
ISBN: 9781463241728
Pub Date: 03 Mar 2020
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
Patricia Crone reassesses one of the most widely accepted dogmas in contemporary accounts of the beginnings of Islam: the supposition that Mecca was a trading center. In addition, she seeks to elucidate sources on which we should reconstruct our picture of the birth of the new religion in Arabia.
An East Syrian Manuscript of the Syriac 'Masora' Dated to 899 CE Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 552
ISBN: 9781463203917
Pub Date: 13 Mar 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
This unique manuscript of the East Syrian Syriac ‘Masora’ is essential for any study of early Syriac vocalization, accentuation, and punctuation. In Volume 1, Gorgias Press has published a facsimile reproduction of this unique ‘masoretic’ manuscript. This volume (Volume 2) includes an introduction and comprehensive lists of all scriptural sample texts and marginal notes in this compilation.
Common Grounds without Foundations Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 382
ISBN: 9781607240426
Pub Date: 10 Mar 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
An alternative, fallibilist model of moral reasoning rooted in the American Pragmatic tradition. Additional resources drawn from Chinese philosophy, Jain epistemology, modern philosophy of mathematics, and the Gadamerian hermeneutical tradition serve both to corroborate the argumentation and to provide examples of continuities in reasoning that cross the boundaries of disparate traditions.
Samuel 1&2 According to the Syriac Peshitta with English Translation Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 456
ISBN: 9781463204235
Pub Date: 16 Feb 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Surath Kthob
Description:
This volume is part of a series of English translations of the Syriac Peshitta along with the Syriac text carried out by an international team of scholars.
Soteriology as Motivation in the Apocalypse of John Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 287
ISBN: 9781463204198
Pub Date: 22 Jan 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
This monograph employs Toulmin’s model of argumentation analysis to examine how the Apocalypse of John motivates its hearers to respond to John’s prophetic apocalyptic exhortation. John’s visions of salvation and judgment provide the positive and negative grounds for motivational argumentation.
Bar Hebraeus Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 118
ISBN: 9781611432350
Pub Date: 19 Jan 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Bar Ebroyo Kloster Publications
Description:
The present volume includes a poetic bibliographic narrative about Gregory Bar Hebraeus, the thirteenth century Syriac author whose various works are among the most important of the later Syriac tradition.
Iraq After The Muslim Conquest Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 726
ISBN: 9781593333157
Pub Date: 14 Jan 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
Morony compares conditions in late Sasanian and early Islamic Iraq in the seventh century AD and depicts both the emergence of a local form of Islamic society, and the interaction of Muslim conquerors from Arabia with the native population.
Neo-Aramaic and its Linguistic Context Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 502
ISBN: 9781463204105
Pub Date: 02 Jan 2015
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Neo-Aramaic Studies
Description:
This volume contains papers on the Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects and the languages in contact with them. The papers make important contributions to the documentation of the dialects and to the understanding of their development in the context of non-Semitic contact languages.
Humanist Comic Elements in Aristophanes and the Old Testament Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 317
ISBN: 9781463202439
Pub Date: 16 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
Lazarus compares and discusses comic elements used for didactic purposes in two separate literary traditions: Old Testament narrative and Aristophanic Comedies. Given that humour relies on taking people's ideas of what is normal and making them incongruous, this volume examines these very different texts to see how they use that comic incongruity to help define what it means to be human within the hierarchy of the universe.
The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century Cover The Syriac Writers of Qatar in the Seventh Century Cover
Format: 
Pages: 298
ISBN: 9781463205249
Pub Date: 09 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Pages: 298
ISBN: 9781463203559
Pub Date: 26 Nov 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Description:
The Syriac writers of Qatar themselves produced some of the best and most sophisticated writing to be found in all Syriac literature of the seventh century, but they have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve in the last half century. This volume seeks to redress this underdevelopment by setting the standard for further research in the sub-field of Beth Qatraye studies.
A Recently-Discovered Nabataean Sanctuary, Possibly Devoted to the Sun-God Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 18
ISBN: 9781617198304
Pub Date: 08 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
This article presents, in provisional form, a recently discovered and excavated Nabataean sanctuary devoted to the cult of the sun-god in Madâ’in Sâlih, ancient Hegra.
An Overview of the Canons for the Syriac Clergy of Mosul and its Dependencies Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 51
ISBN: 9781617196324
Pub Date: 04 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
This short volume, originally printed at the Dominican Press in Mosul, is an Arabic collection of 173 canons and served as a convenient guide for Catholic priests in Mosul and the surrounding areas.
My Tour in the Parishes of the Syrian Church in Syria and Lebanon Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 399
ISBN: 9781607246855
Pub Date: 04 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Abrohom Nuro Library
Description:
A record of the author’s investigation concerning the situation of the Syriac-speaking churches during the 1960s. The author provides statistics about parishes, schools, organizations, and cultural activities. The book lists most of the educational institutions with hundreds of photographs, as well as biographies and photos of Syriac writers and Orientalists specializing in Syriac studies.
An Essay on Engagement and Marriage Contracts according to the Canons of the Roman Church and the Eastern Rites Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 80
ISBN: 9781617196317
Pub Date: 03 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
Clemens Joseph David (1829-1890) here studies the practices and laws of engagement and marriage among Syriac Catholics with an eye to Roman Canon Law on these aspects.
The Martyrs of Mount Ber'ain Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 129
ISBN: 9781463204211
Pub Date: 01 Dec 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Persian Martyr Acts in Syriac: Text and Translation
Description:
The Martyrs of Mount Ber’ain is the poignant tale of three noble Iranian siblings who are martyred under Shapur II. Composed in the seventh century, it demonstrates enduring concerns of Christian self-definition in Iran, especially with respect to the Zoroastrian priesthood.
Zum Feuerkultus bei den Mongolen Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 20
ISBN: 9781611438598
Pub Date: 25 Nov 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
The fire cult of the Mongols, the names and images of the fire-god, the origins of the cult in Buddhism, its mythic connections, and its festivals.