Syriac sources for Byzantinists: an introduction and overview

This article provides a brief overview of early Syriac sources useful for researchers in Byzantine history and late antiquity. As a guide for finding relevant material, it seeks to introduce the non-Syriacist to the contribution of Syriac literature in the transmission of Greek texts, preserved only in extant Syriac translations. It explains the characteristics of the Syriac language, including various alphabets and doctrinal terminologies, and offers an annotated bibliography of reference materials, along with a brief survey of Syriac literature up to the seventh century CE.