The collective work of three authors on « Noms propres syriaques d´origine iranienne » is here published as a new fascicle of the « Iranisches Personennamenbuch » within a New Series called « Iranische Onomastik ». The authors have collected all Syriac anthroponyms for which Iranian origin could be presumed. This involved reading or rereading all the dictionaries, chronicles and other works of Syriac literature. The number of entries of the present fascicle amounts to approximately 500. Most of the names were already known from Middle Persian epigraphy and have therefore already been analysed in the two previous IPNB fascicules published by Ph. Gignoux. However, some new names were discovered for which Professor Rüdiger Schmitt suggests an etymological explanation. Some of the attempted interpretations of course remain doubtful and are open to reconsideration. This book will constitute a very valuable tool for Sasanian history and is evidence of the remarkable acculturation of the Syro-Oriental Christians in the Persian world. Iranian onomastics thus testifies to the multilingualism of the Syriac-speaking « Christians of the Orient ».
