Christian Neo-Aramaic manuscripts from northern Iraq

This chapter examines the manuscript tradition of Christian Neo-Aramaic literature from northern Iraq, with particular attention to its linguistic, literary, and cultural significance. Before the introduction of missionary printing presses in the nineteenth century, Neo-Aramaic texts circulated mainly in handwritten collections of religious poems known as durəkyaṯa. The chapter also discusses manuscripts commissioned by European orientalists, especially Eduard Sachau, which preserve biblical translations, folktales, songs, and prose narratives in different dialects. Although Syriac orthography and scribal interference limit their value for synchronic dialectology, these manuscripts provide important evidence for the historical development of Neo-Aramaic morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. From a literary perspective, they document the continuity and adaptation of Classical Syriac genres, themes, and textual traditions in the vernacular. At the same time, genres such as love songs, mirabilia, fables, and Arabian Nights narratives reveal sustained interaction with Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, and Ottoman cultural environments. The manuscripts therefore reflect both the preservation of Christian Syriac heritage and the acculturation of Neo-Aramaic-speaking communities within a multilingual regional culture. The chapter concludes by identifying priorities for future research, including cataloguing, critical editions, comparative dialectology, and the study of oral and musical performances.