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.
The Martyrdom of St Phokas of Sinope Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 74
ISBN: 9781463201890
Pub Date: 08 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
The fame of the martyr St. Phokas, first bishop of Sinope (on the Black Sea) and patron of seafarers, had spread to many parts of the Christian world by the fifth and sixth centuries. Although the Acts of his martyrdom under Trajan were composed in Greek, the earliest witness to them is the Syriac translation which is edited and translated here from two early manuscripts.
First Came Marriage Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 272
ISBN: 9781593335854
Pub Date: 08 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
Ritual and historical perspectives each provide only a partial view of early Jewish weddings. Combining these approaches allows for a new look at practices rejected or highlighted by early rabbis and their successors, and First Came Marriage: The Rabbinic Appropriation of Early Jewish Wedding Ritual investigates the process by which early Jews married and the various moves they used to minimize, elaborate or codify these practices.
The Account of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Yūḥanun Bar Šay Allāh (1483–1492) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 88
ISBN: 9781463202132
Pub Date: 08 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Description:
This volume provides an analysis of a late fifteenth century document, a hitherto unpublished narration of the life and accomplishments of Yūḥanun Bar Šay Allāh, a fifteenth-century Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. It includes considerable unique historical information, shedding light on the history of the Syriac community in relation to other communities. It also supplies descriptions of events that brought important changes to the Syriac Church in Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt.
Early Christian Attitudes to War, Violence and Military Service Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 402
ISBN: 9781611434866
Pub Date: 08 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
The early Christians were not of one mind when it came to war, violence and military service. There was a bewildering variety of opinion as to how they understood their place in the world. It seems however that generally they did not stand apart from society.
Arabia: The Cradle of Islam Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 490
ISBN: 9781617196386
Pub Date: 03 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
This book describes the Arabian peninsula on the eve of the First World War.
Exegetische Studien zum Septuagintapsalter Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 97
ISBN: 9781463200305
Pub Date: 03 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
A series of exegetical studies on the Septuagint psalter, focusing particularly on the extent to which the religious ideas and practice of the translators have influenced the translation and distinguished it from the Hebrew original.
The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 29
ISBN: 9781611438314
Pub Date: 03 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
This work retells the life of the Bishop Marutha of Maipherkat, or Martyropolis, as translated from the Armenian text.
Yezidi Texts Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 50
ISBN: 9781611434965
Pub Date: 03 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Analecta Gorgiana
Description:
This paper provides an Arabic text and English introduction on the holy works and literature of the Yezidi faith.
Catalogue of the Arabic MSS. Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 156
ISBN: 9781611430660
Pub Date: 02 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Kiraz Historical Catalogues Archive
Description:
This catalogue is a brief report of Arabic and Syriac manuscripts found at Saint Catherine's Monastery, compiled by Margaret Dunlop Gibson and her sister.
Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies (2013) Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 95
ISBN: 9781463202828
Pub Date: 01 Jan 2013
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies (1759-1953)
Description:
Melilah is an interdisciplinary electronic journal concerned with Jewish law, history, literature, religion, culture and thought in the ancient, medieval and modern eras.
Untersuchungen über die Geschichte des Königreichs Osroëne Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 55
ISBN: 9781617194177
Pub Date: 30 Dec 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume is a good quality reprint of the 1887 edition of Alfred von Gutschmid's classic text. It will be of interest to scholars in the Syriac-speaking kingdom of Osroene (or Edessa).
Rome et l'Église syrienne-maronite d'Antioche (517-1531) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 201
ISBN: 9781617195006
Pub Date: 15 Dec 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume constitutes a documentary history of the Maronites and their relationship to Rome from the 6th to the 16th century. The author provides texts in Latin, Arabic, Syriac, and French to illustrate this history.
The Filioque Impasse Cover The Filioque Impasse Cover
Format: 
Pages: 286
ISBN: 9781463202552
Pub Date: 15 Dec 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Pages: 286
ISBN: 9781463204037
Pub Date: 04 Jul 2014
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
A fascinating study of the underlying reasons for the disagreement over the clause “and the Son” in the Western version of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed, which contributed to the schism between Eastern and Western Christians. Coetzee argues that there has been a great deal of misunderstanding of the positions of each tradition by the other, partly due to the fact that East and West imbue certain key words, such as ‘person’ and ‘unity’, with different meanings which Coetzee believes come from different understandings of Hellenic philosophy. Against this backdrop, Coetzee sets about clearing up some of the misunderstandings.
Ephrem the Syrian's Hymns on the Unleavened Bread Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 117
ISBN: 9781463201593
Pub Date: 10 Dec 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
In this set of homilies Ephrem (306-373) invites the reader into a world of symbolic interpretation filled with imagination brimming beneath the surface of word-plays, alliteration, and typological comparisons. These hymns thrust the reader into the middle of a context in which Christians and Jews maintain competing practices of a Passover service to the extent that Ephrem feels the need to distinguish between the symbol and the reality. These homilies are presented in their Syriac original alongside an annotated English translation.
Histoire de la Siounie (Vol 1-2) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 500
ISBN: 9781611430936
Pub Date: 23 Nov 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Description:
The history of the Armenian province of Syunik is related here by its thirteenth-century bishop, a member of the local family of princes; it includes an extensive introduction by the translator, and an archaeological survey.
Histoire de la Siounie (Vol 2) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 190
ISBN: 9781611430950
Pub Date: 23 Nov 2012
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Kiraz Chronicles Archive
Description:
The history of the Armenian province of Syunik is related here by its thirteenth-century bishop, a member of the local family of princes; it includes an extensive introduction by the translator, and an archaeological survey.