This dissertation examines how Syriac literature portrays and perceives the Turkic peoples of Central Eurasia prior to the Seljük invasion of the Middle East. It spans approximately 500 years of history, from the mid-6^th to the mid-11^th centuries, and addresses over 100 extracts from 32 Syriac sources in which Turkic peoples are mentioned. Although several of the passages examined have been analysed in scholarly articles, many have never been addressed and few translated into English thus far. This dissertation presents a comprehensive survey of all pertinent references, gathering them together in chronological order, in order to build a composite picture of the subject. The findings make a significant contribution to our understanding of the interactions that took place over five centuries between Syriac Christianity and Turkic culture, both in the Central Eurasian homeland of the Turks and the Middle East. This dissertation explores why and how Syriac writers prior to the Seljük invasion were motivated to write about Turkic peoples. It examines the sources they used and addresses how these sources influenced their perception of the Turks. It further charts how these perceptions changed over the course of five centuries, including differences between East and West Syriac sources, as well as the ethnonyms used. Finally, it evaluates the contribution of Syriac literature to our knowledge of Turkic peoples. The Introduction provides basic background information on Turkic peoples. Chapters 1-3 cover Syriac sources from the pre-Islamic period (before 632), the Patriarchal and Umayyad Caliphates (632-750), and the early <Abbasid Caliphate (750-850), respectively. Chapter 4 examines references from the lost work of Dionysius of Tell Mahre (842), preserved in the <i>Chronicle of Michael the Great </i>and the <i>Anonymous Chronicle to 1234</i>. Chapter 5 addresses Syriac sources from the later <Abbasid Caliphate (850-1055).

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This study is devoted to an analysis of structure and theme in the composition of the Aqhat text. In chapter one an approach to the analysis of the text is developed and outlined on the basis of an emanation of the discussion of structure, theme and composition in the fields of the theory of oral formulaic composition and the structural analysis of the folktale. The approach developed in this chapter involves a distinction between three different levels in the Aqhat narrative at which structure and theme may be analyzed: the levels of ground-theme, theme and theme texture. In chapter two the text and translation upon which the subsequent discussion will be based is set forth. This is followed in chapter 3 by a basic analysis of the narrative whose objective is to identify and define the structural units pertaining to the three levels. Thereafter chapters 4, 5 and 6 are devoted to the analysis of structure and theme and an investigation of the nature and extent of any recurring structural patterns in the composition of the narrative at the levels of ground-theme, theme and theme texture respectively.

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