Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Angelika Neuwirth, Dr. Ulrike-Rebekka Nieten

1) The Heritage of Jewish Tradition in the Iranian-Mesopotamian Area: Processes of Reception Observed in East-Syriac and Mandaean Recitations and Hymns. (Dr. Ulrike-Rebekka Nieten)

2) Iranian and Iraqi Qurʾān Recitation: Interaction with East-Syriac and Mandaean Vocal Traditions. (Dr. Stephanie Schewe)

The goal of the project is to show the close connection between Jewish, East-Syriac and Mandaean recitation traditions on one hand and Qurʾān recitation in the Iranian-Mesopotamian region on the other.

The concept in which recitation is studied with respect to melody, grammar and rhetoric which already was employed in the project “Recitation of Holy Texts - Formative Processes of Exchange between Syriac-Aramaic Vocal Traditions and Qurʾān-Recitation” is being applied to various forms of Jewish, Christian, Gnostic and Islamic recitation styles in the region of Iran and Iraq, which have not yet received a detailed musicological analysis.

In the previous project, recitations were studied by applying both philological as well as musicological methods. Correlations between the musical performance and the description of accents known from Syriac grammarians and the rules of recitation known as taǧwīd were demonstrated.

It became apparent that both in Syriac as well as in the Qurʾānic recitation, especially in ‘plain mode’, accents and stress are regular.

As in the case of the reading of the Torah, which could not have been studied without taking into account the accents, East-Syriac recitation cannot be investigated without taking into account the accent system which clarifies both the grammatical and rhetorical structure in all their detail. It is to be investigated if syntactical caesurae and rhetorical expositions, as indicated by the grammarians, are still being implemented in contemporary performance.

Texts of the Old Testament used in East-Syriac liturgy are to be compared with their Hebrew counterparts, as all texts of that latter tradition are fully accented.

The same approach underlies the study of Qurʾān recitation; here too, the taǧwīd rules indicate the precise pronunciation. Rhetorical aspects play a major role, since the performance is intended literally for an audience, i. e. people listening.

We were able to conclude, in the previous DFG-project, that rules of Syriac and Qurʾānic recitation follow similar patterns, e. g. in marking beginning and end of a verse etc.

Since the recitation in the Eastern regions - Iran and Iraq - are different from the traditions studied in the first project, one may assume that it is Jewish influence, rather than Greek, that can be found in Christian traditions. This is seen in the fact that melodies, like the Jewish rite, have not been systematized secondarily, unlike in the West where the system of the Oktōēchos has been applied throughout. The Eastern Christian melodies underscore the text in the manner of the psalmody.

Accordingly, most poetical genres are based on hemistichs, very similar to the Psalms. Some of the (Christian) poetical genres were taken over by Mandaeans: Syr. bāˁūṯā (prayer, hymn) Mand. buta; Syr. maḏrāšā (disputation, hymn, eulogy, didactical or polemical poem) Mand. draša; Syr. ˁenyānā (song, answer) Mand. eniana and Syr. tešboḥtā (praise) Mand. tušbihta.

From where the Mandaeans got their recitation schemata is still to be researched; they certainly show a relatedness with Eastern Syriac and Islamic traditions. As in the West, we find movements of exchange with concomitant transformations.

Given the closeness of the cultures involved, common forms of expression in Eastern Syriac, Mandaean and Islamic recitations are to be expected. The completed project “The Recitation of Holy Texts” lead to a clear understanding that there are parallels between the modes of recitation of Biblical texts and that of the Qurʾān: A transfer between confessions and cultures has taken place.

In Syriac recitation, the accentuation follows an accent system which indicates rhetorical and grammatical features. The performance of the textual recitation was an important part of liturgy. In the Iranian-Mesopotamian East, the links between the traditions of recitation practice seem to be even closer than in the Greek influenced West.

The traditional recitation of holy texts among Christians of the Middle East is gravely endangered. Traditional knowledge is being lost. As many Syriac Christians live in exile, the language of liturgy is often unknown. A thorough knowledge, however, is a prerequisite for the correct application of grammatical and rhetorical rules in recitation. Regarding the Qurʾān recitation, modern media further a general standardization. The style of good reciters from the internet is being imitated, regional diversity is reduced. Therefore, the time for documentation and scholarly investigation of the recitation of holy texts is now.