Hasan bar Bahlul
Hasan bar Bahlul, also called al-Ḥasan ibn Bahlul al-Awāni al-Ṭirhāni ' was a 10th-century Church of the East bishop, scholar and lexicographer from near Baghdad. Among his many works, he is best known for his Lexicon'', a comprehensive Syriac reference work of technical, theological, and scientific terms that was widely circulated, edited, and translated.
Life
Not much is known about his early life. Hasan Bahlul was born in Awana, nearly 60km north of Baghdad. The region was called [Tirhan (East Syriac language|Syriac diocese)|Tirhan], which gave him his nisba. He spent most of his life in the Abbasid capital, interacting with various Christian and Muslim scholars in his lifetime, as the Christian intellectual milieu of the time was thoroughly bilingual in Syriac and Arabic. He supported Abdisho I's ascent to the patriarchy of the Church of the East in 963 AD.Works
Bar Bahlul authored many works in his life, but two particularly stand out: his Lexicon and ''Book of Signs.''Lexicon
He is most famous for the composition of a lexicon. It involves scholarly and technical terms, including both Syriac words and Greek words in Syriac transliteration. The explanations are usually in Syriac but include equivalents and brief comments in Arabic. Ordinary Syriac words are typically not included. The terms originate from the Bible in addition to theological, philosophical, and scientific literature. A few proper names are also included. The words are organized alphabetically, although Bar Bahlul sometimes clusters together the Syriac words derived from the same root.Bar Bahlul also provides uncommon information on dialectal variation within the Syriac language in his own period, covering a range of regions such as Upper Mesopotamia, Lower Mesopotamia, Mosul, Edessa, Harran, and more. Many words, phrases, names, and titles of works are known only on account of his Lexicon, which was thus given the title of "linguistic and cultural encyclopedia”. Much of the information in the Lexicon comes from manuscripts from both the East- and West-Syriac traditions, and significant portions benefitted the modern dictionaries of R. Payne Smith and Carl Brockelmann.
The Lexicon signifies the apex of the Syriac tradition of lexicography. In its composition, Bar Bahlul drew heavily upon two works of Hunayn ibn Ishaq, one on homographs and a lexicon now lost, and the lost lexicon of Henanisho' bar Seroshway. Bar Bahlul utilized these primary sources and his own individual expertise to include many diverse selection of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic authors and works into his Lexicon. These includ Jacob of Serugh, Jacob of Edessa, and Moses bar Kepha, with non-Christian works like Story of Ahikar and Kalīla wa-Dimna.