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.
Missionary Researches in Armenia Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 554
ISBN: 9781611436037
Pub Date: 27 Sep 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
The present work is the travelogue compiled from the notes and letters of Eli Smith and Harrison Dwight who traveled to the Middle East to interact with Armenian Christians in the early nineteenth-century.
Barhebräus und seine Scholien zur heiligen Schrift Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 199
ISBN: 9781611436068
Pub Date: 27 Sep 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Johann Göttsberger presents a detailed study of Gregory Bar Hebraeus’s Commentary on the whole Bible with special attention to the biblical version(s) that Bar Hebraeus uses for his citations.
Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 11 Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 84
ISBN: 9781463201531
Pub Date: 16 Sep 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies
Description:
Volume 11 includes articles by Robert Mason, Alessandro Mengozzi, Mar Emmanuel J. Emmanuel, Shawqi Talia, Edward Odisho, and Kyle Smith and is archaeology and Neo-Aramaic.
The Reception and Remembrance of Abraham Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 160
ISBN: 9781463200541
Pub Date: 04 Aug 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts
Description:
This book explores the role of the biblical patriarch Abraham in the formation and use of authoritative texts in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. It reflects a conference session in 2009 focusing on Abraham as a figure of cultural memory in the literature of these periods. Cultural memory is the shared reproduction and recalling of what has been learned and retained.
The Two Syriac Versions of the Prayer of Manasseh Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 279
ISBN: 9781463200503
Pub Date: 03 Aug 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies
Description:
The authors present a detailed philological and linguistic comparison of two versions of The Prayer of Manasseh. Combing state-of-the-art computational tools together with traditional philology, the texts are compared at all linguistic levels, from their vocabulary up to their discursive structure, with a special emphasis on their morphology and syntax. The results are revealing not only for the question of the relationship between the two versions, but they also illuminate various debates pertaining to Syriac syntax.
Introduction to Syriac Reading and Writing Cover
Format: Paperback
Pages: 56
ISBN: 9781463200855
Pub Date: 01 Aug 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Gorgias Handbooks
Description:
This volume introduces the letters of the Syriac alphabet a few at the time, and each set of letters is accompanied by guides to pronunciation and the correct way to write the letters, including helpful charts and illustrations. Practice exercises at the end of each section provide the user with copious opportunities for review to facilitate rapid acquisition. This volume will be helpful to all who want to learn the basics of Syriac pronunciation and orthography without being inundated with technical linguistic jargon.
Bibliothecae Syriacae Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 266
ISBN: 9781611434736
Pub Date: 28 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Most of the Bible in Syriac, with eight fragments in Greek.
The History of the New Testament Canon in the Syrian Church Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 77
ISBN: 9781611433562
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
In this volume, Julius Bewer attempts to construct a coherent history of the tramsission of the New Testament documents in the early Syriac tradition.
The Semitic Alphabets Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 376
ISBN: 9781611436815
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Kiraz Historical Grammars Archive
Description:
Isaac Taylor (1829-1901) is best known for his archaeological and philological works, especially his detailed study of the alphabets published in 1883. This book on the Semitic alphabets comprises the first volume of Taylor’s 1883 study. Taylor begins with a discussion on the invention of writing and the origin of the alphabet, then gives a discussion of three alphabetic families, what he calls the Phoenician alphabet, the Aramean alphabets (covering Palmyra, Hebrew, Syriac, Mongolian, and Arabic), and the south Semitic alphabets (covering Sabean and Ethiopic).
The Religions of Modern Syria and Palestine Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 372
ISBN: 9781611436044
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
This volume represents the Bross Lectures given by Frederick J. Bliss in 1908 in which he describes the religious practices of Christians and Muslims in Syria and Palestine.
A Catalogue of Articles on Syriac Subjects in the Arabic Periodicals (vol 2) Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 450
ISBN: 9781607243403
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Kiraz References Archive
Description:
A comprehensive catalogue of articles relating to Syriac studies published in Arabic-language periodicals up to the 1970s. Volume 1 covers articles published in the journal Al-Mashriq, while Volume 2 covers articles published in all other journals.
Les origines de l’église d’Édesse et des églises syriennes Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 161
ISBN: 9781617192289
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Beginning with the letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles, Martin follows the course of Christianity into its becoming so important in Edessa and its branching out from there to other regions.
Auszüge aus syrischen Akten persischer Märtyrer Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 349
ISBN: 9781611436273
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Georg Hoffmann provides here a German translation of several extensive excerpts from the Syriac Acts of the Persian Martyers.
Christians in China Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 354
ISBN: 9781611436051
Pub Date: 21 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
A. C. Moule presents here a survey of the sources for Christianity in China prior to 1550 in order to construct a history of Christianity in China prior to the modern missions of the sixteenth century.
Homonyme Wurzeln im Syrischen Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 122
ISBN: 9781617191701
Pub Date: 12 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Semitist Friedrich Schulthess (d. 1922) here presents a study of forty-nine homonyms in Syriac considered in light of comparative Semitics. Language indices conclude the study.
The Principles of Syriac Grammar Cover
Format: Hardback
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9781617192456
Pub Date: 12 Jul 2011
Imprint: Gorgias Press
Series: Syriac Studies Library
Description:
Cowper, having reasoned that English students of Syriac deserve an affordable and complete, yet not too cumbersome and detailed, guide to the language, here offers an abridged and edited English version of Hoffmann’s grammar, originally published in Latin in 1827.