Kabbala und Grammatik. Teseo Ambrogios Introductio in Chaldaicam linguam, Syriacam atque Armenicam (1539)

The article presents the Introductio in Chaldaicam linguam, Syriacam atque Armenicam of the Augustinian monk Teseo Ambrogio degli Albonesi, which appeared in print in Pavia in 1539. It is often purported as the first grammar of the Syriac (and of the Armenian) language to appear in print but in fact the book is rather a general introduction into the alphabets of these and of some other „Oriental“ languages, presented with a stunning display of erudition. A special focus is reserved to the Kabbalistic aspect of the book, since already from the title page Ambrogio promises to reveal „occult mysteries“ to the readers of his introduction. In actual fact, the Kabbalistic materials presented in the book are almost entirely derivative: they are found in Egidio da Viterbo's then unpublished Libellus de litteris Hebraicis. The originality of Ambrogio's work is twofold: as a collection of alphabets, thus expressing and nourishing a typical search for universal knowledge, characteristic of the Renaissance, and, on the other hand, as a first attempt at a comparative study of several languages. In the article the peculiar dialectics between belatedness and excessive anticipation is elucidated and explained as a peculiar feature of Ambrogio's personality, of his way of reacting to the events of his epoch, such as the war, which compromised or retarded many of his publication plans, and as a permanent structure of his work in itself: being too late for the high season of Hebraistic and Christian Kabbalah and too early for a full-fledged comparatistic perspective. The article shows, by analysing a few instances of this dialectical structure, how decisive Ambrogio's influence has been, directly and indirectly, through his readers, his pupils and their pupils, for the origins of Syriac studies in the West no less than for the beginnings of Syriac lexicography. The knowledge of the contents and ideological context of this curious work proves thus indispensable for understanding the background of the Antwerp polyglot Bible but also for the very beginnings of Semitic studies.