The Syriac Chronicle

Because of this shortage of grain, mice, which are a nuisance to men, increased beyond measure, because the ܫܘܢܪ̈ܐ cats were missing, having long since been eaten by men. Since by universal consent ܫܘܢܪܐ shunra are mice-catchers original: "mures" — likely a slip in the author's Latin text, referring to cats as the predators, it is manifest, without my pointing it out, that ܫܘܢܪܐ shunra signifies the cat, than which no animal is more hostile to mice, and of which, although I do not deny that weasels also hunt mice, everyone will think as soon as the question arises as to which kind of animal is lacking when mice multiply. This meaning also fits perfectly with the biblical passage in which חלד chaled is similarly joined with עכבר achbar (mouse). At the same time, it is understood that the Seventy the Septuagint translators rightly translated it as γαλῆν weasel/polecat, a word which signifies a cat no less than a weasel. — Now we will provide another example from the New Testament. The Apostle John, in chapter 19:39 of his Gospel, recounts that Nicodemus brought a hundred litrae units of weight of aromatics to wrap the body of Christ, and this very weight, a large part of which would seem useless, has never failed to cause much trouble for interpreters. There were indeed those who attempted to resolve the issue in various ways, and some of them suggested that perhaps Nicodemus used some portion of the aromatics to fill the place of the sepulcher with a sweet odor. They also added that it was the custom to burn aromatics during burials. But others objected that the sacred text is entirely silent about burnt aromatics, and, as far as the first point is concerned, the words of the Evangelist contradict it, who does not say that the aromatics were placed in the sepulcher, but that Christ's followers "σωμα Ἰησου δησαι ἐν ὀθονιοις μετα των ἀρωματων bound the body of Jesus in linen cloths with the aromatics." So that this difficulty might be lessened, in our times the illustrious Michaelis, in his History of the Resurrection, did not hide on this passage that such a weight also displeased him, and that it was little short of stating that a litra was equal to two medical drachmae. Disagreeing with this, the most learned