Gabriel Sionita
From Maronite History
Jibrael al-Shahyuny (1577-1648) known in the West as Gabriel Sionita.
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Birth and life
Born in Ehden, in northern Lebanon, in the year 1577. In 1584 he was sent to the Maronite College in Rome, where he studied Arabic, Italian, Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Syriac and French.
Death
Sionita died in 1648. His name was engraved at the entrance of the Royal College of France in Paris.
Career
After brilliant studies, he was appointed professor at the College Sapienza in Rome, where he acquired a great reputation that Louis XIII king of France called him to teach Oriental Languages at the Royal College of France. The King gave the title of Royal Interpreter. Sionita collaborated with Michael Lejai in the year 1645 in the publication of the Parisian Polyglot Bible in seven languages: Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldean, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Latin. Preponderant was the work of Sionita in this gigantic work of universal scope and influence. In 1657, the famous British philosopher Brian Walton published in London the Polyglot Bible in nine languages, using Parisian Polyglot as basis and imitating Sionita in his method and work.
Work of Sionita
- 1592-1596, The Maronite Liturgy, revised and translated.
- 1613, The translation from Italian into Arabic of the Roman Catechism of Bellarmine.
- 1614, The translation from Arabic to Latin of the book of Psalms. Published in Paris.
- 1616, Arabic grammar published in paris.
- 1619, The translation from Arabic into Latin of the geography of the Arab geographer, Al-Edrissi, published in Paris.
- 1619, A treatise on oriental cities, religious and customs, published in Paris then later in Amsterdam in 1925.
- 1928, The translation from Syriac into Latin of a collection of mystical poems, published in Paris.
- 1634, Settlements, contracts and testaments between Muhammed and the Christians, published in Paris.
- Documents related to the legal suit produced between Sionita and Lejai.
- 1645, worked in the Parisian Polyglot Bible
Sources
- Butros Dau - Religious, Cultural and Political History of the Maronites (Lebanon, 1984)
