Status Updates From The Syriac World: In Search...

Heirs of the martyrs, ascetics were the new athletes of the Christian life in the 5th century after the end of the Roman persecutions, when the struggle shifted from state persecutors (except in the Persian Empire, until its fall in the 7th century) to the ultimate enemy, Satan, in a spiritual combat. (61)

Heirs of Mesopotamian poetry and archival practices, of Jewish interpretation, of both Christian and secular Greek literature, Syriac writers blended their Greek and Semitic roots to create a unique Christian literature based on typological, symbolic, and literary imagery. (1)