MEDYAD (MIDYAT), Tur Abdin — The Tur Abdin Institute hosted two international scholars this week for discussions centered on Semitic languages and recently discovered Syriac stone inscriptions, reflecting growing international academic interest in the linguistic and historical heritage of the Tur Abdin region.
The visitors were Dr. Simon Brelaud, a researcher at the French Institute of the Near East (InstitutFrançais du Proche-Orient, IFPO) whose work focuses on Semitic languages and the ancient Near East, and Dr. Jimmy Daccache, a faculty member at Yale University. The two scholars visited the institute’s research office in Medyad, where they were received by institute coordinator and Syriac scholar Adem Coşkun.
During the meeting, participants reviewed recent developments in Syriac studies and examined newly discovered Syriac stone inscriptions identified in Eshtrako village in Tur Abdin. The discussions focused on the inscriptions’ potential significance for understanding the area’s historical development, cultural heritage, and the morphology of the Semitic languages. The scholars also exchanged views on future academic cooperation, including potential joint research projects aimed at documenting, analyzing, and preserving Syriac epigraphic and linguistic heritage.
The Tur Abdin Institute has become an important center for research on Syriac studies and Semitic languages, bringing together scholars from around the world to advance the study of one of the Middle East’s oldest linguistic and cultural traditions. The visit underscores continuing international collaboration in the documentation and preservation of the Syriac heritage of Tur Abdin, a historic region long regarded as one of the principal centers of Syriac Christianity and the Syriac language.