Abdallah Zakher
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Abdallah Zakher
Abdallah Zakher el-Shammas () (1684–1748) was a Syrian-born typographer and Catholic deacon who set up the first printing press in the Middle East. His printing press used Arabic movable type and was installed in 1733 in the motherhouse of the Basilian Chouerite Order, the monastery of Saint John the Baptist at Choueir in Mount Lebanon, where it still can be visited. Zakher was also an accomplished writer and craftsman. He was a Melkite Christian at the time of the Church's reaffirmation of communion with the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am .... References Sources “The First Arabic Script Printing Press in Lebanon” an article by Pascal Zoghbi, with pictures from the Zakher foundry.Tourist attractions report of Lebanon mentioning Zakher< ...
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Syrians
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to inhabit the region of Syria over the course of thousands of years. The mother tongue of most Syrians is Levantine Arabic, which came to replace the former mother tongue, Aramaic, following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century. The conquest led to the establishment of the Caliphate under successive Arab dynasties, who, during the period of the later Abbasid Caliphate, promoted the use of the Arabic language. A minority of Syrians have retained Aramaic which is still spoken in its Eastern and Western dialects. In 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic had an estimated population of 19.5 million, which includes, aside from the aforementioned majority, ethnic minorities such ...
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Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Scandinavian Lutheran Churches, the Methodist Churches, the Anglican Communion, and the Free Church of England, view the diaconate as an order of ministry. Origin and development The word ''deacon'' is derived from the Greek word (), which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "servant", "waiting-man", "minister", or "messenger". It is generally assumed that the office of deacon originated in the selection of seven men by the apostles, among them Stephen, to assist with the charitable work of the early church as recorded in Acts of the Apostles chapter 6. The title ''deaconess'' ( grc, διακόνισσα, diakónissa, label=none) is not found in the Bib ...
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Printing Press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the cloth, paper or other medium was brushed or rubbed repeatedly to achieve the transfer of ink, and accelerated the process. Typically used for texts, the invention and global spread of the printing press was one of the most influential events in the second millennium. In Germany, around 1440, goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press, which started the Printing Revolution. Modelled on the design of existing screw presses, a single Renaissance movable-type printing press could produce up to 3,600 pages per workday, compared to forty by hand-printing and a few by hand-copying. Gutenberg's newly devised hand mould made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities. His tw ...
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Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European part of Turkey), Egypt, Iran, the Levant (including Ash-Shām and Cyprus), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and the Socotra Archipelago (a part of Yemen). The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and has been viewed by some to be discriminatory or too Eurocentric. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of Western Asia (including Iran), but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sinai Region) and all of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace). ...
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Arabic Language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston, 2011. Having emerged in the 1st century, it is named after the Arab people; the term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula, as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece. Since the 7th century, Arabic has been characterized by diglossia, with an opposition between a standard prestige language—i.e., Literary Arabic: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Classical Arabic—and diverse vernacular varieties, which serve as mother tongues. Colloquial dialects vary significantly from MSA, impeding mutual intelligibility. MSA is only acquired through formal education and is not spoken natively. It is the language of literature, official documents, and formal wr ...
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Movable Type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation marks) usually on the medium of paper. The world's first movable type printing technology for paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around AD 1040 in China during the Northern Song dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990–1051). The earliest printed paper money with movable metal type to print the identifying code of the money was made in 1161 during the Song dynasty. In 1193, a book in the Song dynasty documented how to use the copper movable type. The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty. The spread of both movable-type systems was, to some degree, limited to primarily East Asia. The development of the printing press in Europe may hav ...
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Basilian Chouerite Order Of Saint John The Baptist
The Basilian Chouerite Order of Saint John the Baptist ( la, Ordo Basilianus Sancti Iohannis Baptistæ) is a Melkite Greek Catholic monastic order of Pontifical Right for Men. The members of the Order add the nominal B.C after their names to indicate their membership in the Order. History The order was founded in 1696 by five monks (including Neophytos Nasri) who left the Balamand Monastery to look for a quiet place where to better follow the rule of Saint Basil. They settled in 1710 in the village of Choueir (or ''Dhour El Shuwayr'', near ''Khinchara'') in Mount Lebanon using the little church of Saint John the Baptist, from which they took the name and that is still their motherhouse (). In 1733 Abdallah Zakher set up an Arabic language printing press using movable type at the monastery of Saint John at Choueir, the first home made press in Lebanon. In 1757 Pope Benedict XIV approved their particular rules, and the final approval from Rome was given in 1772. The Basilian Chou ...
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Dhour El Choueir
Dhour El Choueir ( ar, ضهور الشوير), sometimes Dhour Shweir, is a mountain town in Lebanon ('dhour' meaning 'summit, top f a mountain) located in the Matn District. It lies slightly north of the main Beirut - Damascus highway, overlooking the city of Beirut and the Mediterranean sea, some 30 km from Beirut and 42 km from Beirut International Airport in Khalde. This mountain town is one of Mount Lebanon's favored summer resorts, known for its extraordinary fresh air and is also important for its August yearly carnival, honoring Lebanon's emigrants. It is linked to Beirut via the Matn Express Highway, also known as the M90 through Baabdat. Demographics The inhabitants of Dhour El-Choueir are predominantly Christians, with half of the population being Eastern Orthodox, while the other half is mostly Melkite and Maronite. History The Greek Catholic monk Abdallah Zakher set up an Arabic language printing press using movable type at the monastery of Saint John at C ...
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Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Lebanon range extends along the entire country for about , parallel to the Mediterranean coast. Their highest peak is Qurnat as Sawda', at . The range receives a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around deep.Jin and Krothe. ''Hydrogeology: Proceedings of the 30th International Geological Congress'', p. 170 Lebanon has historically been defined by the mountains, which provided protection for the local population. In Lebanon, changes in scenery are related less to geographical distances than to altitudes. The mountains were known for their oak and pine forests. The last remaining old growth groves of the famous Cedar of Lebanon (''Cedrus libani'' var. libanii'') are on the high slopes of Mount Lebanon, in ...
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Melkite Greek Catholic Church
el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviation = , type = Antiochian , main_classification = Eastern Catholic , orientation = Melkite , scripture = , theology = Catholic Theology , polity = Episcopal , governance = , structure = , leader_title = Pope , leader_name = Francis , leader_title1 = Primate , leader_name1 = Patriarch Youssef Absi , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Cyril VI Tanas , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , fellowships_type = , fellowships = , fellowships_type1 = , fellowships1 = , division_type = , division = , division_type1 = , division1 = , divisi ...
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the ...
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Jules Leroy
Jules Leroy (Ablis, 1903 – Chaptal, 1979) was a French priest and researcher in the domains of Syriac, Coptic and Ethiopian manuscripts, art and architecture. As a novice he joined the French Benedictine congregation of Solesmes in their exile on the Isle of Wight. From 1930 to 1933 Leroy studied at the Pontificio Istituto Biblico in Rome. Leroy's early researches in iconography of Pre-Chalcedonian Christian churches were guided by Henri Seyrig in the Lebanon and by the historian of art, André Grabar. A researcher in the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Leroy was attached to the Institut d' Etudes et de Recherches d' Ethiopie in Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t .... Sources * René-Georges Coquin, Necrologie, Syria, Vol. 57 (1980), ...
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