British Academy award for Dr Sebastian Brock

The Edward Ullendorff Medal is awarded annually for scholarly distinction and achievements in the field of Semitic Languages and Ethiopian Studies. Dr Brock is an Emeritus Fellow at Wolfson and Emeritus Reader, Syriac Studies, at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford.

The British Academy is the UK's national body for the humanities and social sciences the study of peoples, cultures and societies, past, present and future. The 2016 prize and medal winners include acclaimed historian Dame Hilary Mantel and Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Professor Sir Stanley Wells.

Dr Brock's research focuses on Syriac literature between 4th-7th centuries AD and he is particularly interested in translations between Greek and Syriac. Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent and Eastern Arabia. His publications include The luminous eye: the spiritual world vision of St Ephrem, 1985 and Treasure-House of Mysteries: Explorations of the Sacred Text through Poetry in the Syriac Tradition, 2012 (Yonkers NY).