East Syriac Poetry Embedded in the Manuscript Decoration: 17th—18th Centuries

East Syriac poetry embedded in the manuscript decoration has not been studied despite its large popularity in this tradition. Such verse pieces, mostly quatrains, are known at least since the 16th century. The poems being discussed in the present paper represent a further development of this particular text group. It seems to have first appeared in the Gospel lectionaries. Later on, the other types of liturgical manuscripts also obtained different kinds of “decorative” scribal poetry. This process went on alongside the growth of the poetry's popularity in the East Syriac tradition during several centuries of the Ottoman period.