ZAC 2015; 19(1): 137–148 Grigory Kessel “Life is Short, the Art is Long”: An Interpretation of the First Hippocratic Aphorism by an East Syriac Monk in the 7th Century Iraq (Isaac of Nineveh, Kephalaia gnostica 3,62) DOI 10.1515/zac-2015-0011 Abstract: The so-called Second Part of monastic writings composed by the 7th century East Syriac author Isaac of Nineveh contains a paraphrased citation from the famous beginning of Hippocrates’ Aphorismoi. The article tackles the issue of Isaac’s awareness of the aphorism and tries to reconstruct its interpretation by the author. Though medical texts were available in the East Syriac monastic milieu of that time, it is not likely that Isaac had at his disposal a complete Syriac translation of the Aphorismoi, but rather his acquaintance with the aphorism was mediated by a source that would more likely have been read in monastic context. A good example offers the treatise De anima by the early 5th century monastic author John the Solitary, whose works exercised profound influence upon the entire East Syriac monastic tradition, including Isaac of Nineveh. The given case of a monastic interpretation of a piece of secular wisdom is an illustrative show- case that provides an opportunity to observe a particular sensitivity of the Syriac tradition to medicine and its power to embed it within an appropriate context. The works of Isaac of Nineveh (7th century) gained a widespread popularity dur- ing the Middle Ages, being translated into various languages of both Eastern and Western Christendom. Up till today they serve as a fresh source of spiritual edification not only among the monks, but also among the lay people. 1 The entire corpus of Isaac was transmitted in a number of collections, but the available ac- 1 On Isaac and his works see Sebastian P. Brock, “Isḥaq of Nineveh (late 7th cent.),” in idem et al., The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of Syriac Heritage (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2011), 213−214; and Grigory Kessel and Karl Pinggéra, A Bibliography of Syriac Ascetic and Mystical Literature (Eastern Christian Studies 11; Leuven: Peeters, 2011), 103−122. Grigory Kessel: Philipps-Universität Marburg, Fb. Evangelische Theologie, Lahntor 3, 35032 Marburg, e-Mail: grigory.kessel@staff.uni-marburg.de bzw. gregorykessel@yahoo.com Authenticated | grigory.kessel@staff.uni-marburg.de author's copy Download Date | 9/5/15 1:50 AM