Story of Ahikar

Meticulously assembled, this edition of The Story of Ahikar contains the Armenian, Old Turkish, Syriac, and Arabic versions of the story in their original source language with English translations.

F. C. Conybeare (Author)

9780521117432, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 16 July 2009

412 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.3 cm, 0.77 kg

The story of Ahikar has appeared in various forms and numerous languages over the course of the last two and a half millennia. Long known to readers of the Arabian Nights, it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that scholars began to suspect that the legend had semi-biblical origins. Cambridge University Press had already published the first edition of The Story of Ahikar in 1898 when an enlarged and corrected second edition was prompted by the discovery of a series of Aramaic papyrus fragments on the island of Elephantiné, dating from the fifth century before Christ. It is the second edition of The Story of Ahikar, first published in 1913, which is reproduced here. Meticulously assembled, this edition contains the Armenian, Old Turkish, Syriac, and Arabic versions of the story in their original source language with accompanying English translations. Also included are translations of the Slavonic, Ethiopic, and Aramaic versions, as well as fragments of the sayings and parables of Ahikar and the Greek text of the story.

1. Introduction
2. Slavonic translation
3. Armenian translation
4. Translation of Old Turkish text
5. Translation of Old Turkish text
6. Syriac translation
7. Aethiopic translation
8. Arabic translation
9. Greek text
10. Aramaic translation
11. Fragments of the sayings and parables of Ahikar
12. Introduction to the Armenian and Turkish texts
13. Old Turkish text
14. Armenian text
15. Syriac text
16. Arabic text.

Subject Areas: Buddhism [HRE]