Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/875

 7lH CENT.] SYRIAC LITERATURE 839 John I. Muliarn- rnadun conquest of Syria. Jacob of Edessa. Persians, 1 and was the first real inaphrian (maphreyuna) and < rganizer of the Jacobite Church in the East, which so rapidly in- creased in numbers and influence that he was called upon to ordain bishops for such remote regions as Segestan (Sistan) and Harew (Herat). Marutha died in 649. His life was written by his suc- cessor Denha. 2 Marutha compiled a liturgy and wrote a comment- ary on the Gospels, both of which are sometimes wrongly assigned to the elder Marutha of Maiperkat, 3 He was also the author of .short discourses on New (or Low) Sunday, and on the consecration of the water on the eve of the Epiphany, as well as of some hymns and sedras. 4 Contemporary with Marutha, under the patriarch Athanasius Ganimiila (died in 631 5 ) and his successor John, flourished Severus Sebokht* of Kisibis, 7 bishop of the convent of Ken-neshre, at this time one of the chief seats of Greek learning in western Syria. 8 He devoted himself, as might be expected, to philosophical and mathe- matical as well as theological studies. 9 Of the first we have speci- mens in his treatise on the syllogisms in the Analyticn Priora of Aristotle, his commentary on the Ilepi epiJ.tjvda.'i, and his letters to the priest Aitilaha of Mosul on certain terms in the Hfpl cpfj.T)i>fLas, and to the periodeutes Yaunan or Jonas on some points in the logic of Aristotle. 10 Of his astronomical and geographical studies there are a few examples jn Brit. Mus. Add. 14538, ft. 153-155, 11 such as whether the heaven surrounds the earth in the form of a wheel or sphere, on the habitable and uninhabitable portions of the earth, on the measurement of the heaven and the earth and the space between them, and on the motions of the sun and moon. 12 In the Royal Library at Berlin there is a short treatise of his on the astrolabe. 13 More or less theological in their nature are his letter to the priest and periodeutes Basil of Cyprus, on the 14th of Nlsan, A. Gr. 976 (665 A.n.), 14 a treatise on the weeks of Daniel, 15 and letters to Sergius, abbot of Shiggar (Sinjar), on two discourses of Gregory Nazianzen. 16 He is also said to have drawn up a liturgy. 17 John I., Jacobite patriarch of Antioch, was called from the con- vent of Eusebhona at Tell-'Adda to the archiepiscopal throne in 631, and died in December 648. 18 Bar-Hebrreus tells us that he translated the Gospels into Arabic at the command of the Arab emir 'Amr ibn Sa'd. He is better known as the author of numer- ous sedras and other prayers, whence he is commonly called Yohau- nan de-sedhrau(hi), or "John of the Sedras." He also drew up a liturgy. Ia During the second quarter of this century, from 633 to 636, the Muhammadan conquest of Syria took place. The petty Arab king- doms of the Lakhmites (al-Hirah), the Tha'labites and Kindites, and the Ghassanites, as well as the wandering tribes of Mesopotamia, were absorbed ; and the Persians were beaten back into their own country, quickly to be overrun in its turn. The year 638 witnessed the last effort of the Greek empire to wrest Syria from the invaders ; the Muslim yoke was no longer to be shaken off. The effects of this conquest soon begin to make themselves manifest in the litera- ture of the country. The more the Arabic language comes into use, the more the Syriac wanes and wastes away; the more Muham- madan literature flourishes, the more purely Christian literature pines and dwindles ; so that from this time on it becomes necessary to compile grammars and dictionaries of the old Syriac tongue, and to note and record the correct reading and pronunciation of words in the Scriptures and other books, in order that the understand- ing of them may not be lost. Among the small band of Monophysite scholars who made them- selves conspicuous during the latter half of the 7th century the most famous name is that of Jacob of Edessa. 20 He was a native of 'En-debha (the Wolfs well), a village in the district of Gumyah (al-Jumah), in the province of Antioch. The date of his birth is not mentioned, but it may have been about 640 or a little earlier. 21 He studied under Severus Sebokht at the famous convent of Ken- neshre, where he learned Greek and the accurate reading of the 1 The circumstances are given in detail by Bar-Hebrseus (Citron. Ecdes., ii. 119 ,*<7.) and Assemani (B.O., ii. 419). 2 See Brit, Mus. Add. 14645, f. lOSa (Wright, Catal., p. 1113). 8 See above, p. 829. From the commentary are taken the passages quoted in the Catena of Severus. See Assemani, Catal., iii. 11 (on Exod., xv. 25), 24, and Wright, O'tnl.. p. 910. 4 See Brit, Mus. Add. 14727, f. 140a; 17207, f. 17b; 17254, f. 164a; 1712S, f.91b. "> According to Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Ecdes., i. 275 ; B.O., ii. 334. Dionysius of Tell-Mahre gives 644. 6 On the Persian name Scboklit see Noldeke, Gesdi. des ArtachSir il'i'ijuiMii, in r>otrdge z. Kuiule d. indogerm. Spracltex. iv. 49, note 4; Gesrh. d. J'crser u. Amber, p. 396, note 1. " s,. e Wright, Catal., p. 598, col. 1. 8 See B.O., ii. 335 ; Bar-Hebra-us, Chron. fades., i. 275. 9 Compare Renan, fie Plains. I'crijxtt. ap. Suros, pp. 29, 30. 10 See Brit. Mus. Add. 14660 and 17150 (Wright, Catal., pp. 1100-63), and the Catal. of the Royal Library of Berlin, Sachau 226, 6, 9. 11 Wright, Catal., p. 1008. 12 See Sachau, Ined. S;/r., pp. 127-1.34. 13 Alter Bestand 37, 2 (Kitrzes Test' :  Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Ecdes., i. 289 ; B.O., i. 468, ii. 335. Assemani tries hard in vol. i. to prove that lie was not a Monophysite (p. 470 sq.), but in vol. ii. 337 he gives up the attempt in despair. Compare Lamy, Dissert, de Syrorwn Fide, &c., p. 206 sq. 21 The dates given in B.O., i. 469, seem to be utterly wrong. Scriptures. Thence he went to Alexandria, but we are not told how long he remained there. After his return to Svria he was appointed bishop of Edessa in 679-680 w ; but Bar-Hebrseus says that he was ordained by the patriarch Athanasius II., 684-687, which seems more probable, as they were intimate friends. If he was appointed in 684, the three or four years for which he held this office would terminate in 687-688, in which latter year Julian Komaya (or " the Soldier ") 23 was elected patriarch. Apparently Jacob was very strict in the enforcement of canonical rules, and thereby offended a portion of his clergy. He would seem to have appealed to the patriarch and his fellow -bishops, who were in favour of temporizing ; whereupon Jacob burnt a copy of the rules before the gate of Julian's convent, at the same time crying aloud, " I burn with fire as superfluous and useless the canons which ye trample under foot and heed not." He then betook himself to the convent at Kaisiim, a town near Samosata, and Habbibh was appointed to Edessa in his stead. After a while the monks of Eusebhona invited Jacob to their convent, and there he taught for eleven years the Psalms and the reading of the Scriptures' in Greek, the study of which language had fallen into desuetude. Owing to disputes with some of the brethren "who hated the Greeks, "he left this house and went to the great convent at Tell- 'Adda, where he worked for nine years more at his revised version of the Old Testament. 21 On the death of Habbibh Jacob was re- called to Edessa, where he resided for four 'months, at the end of which time he returned to Tell-'Adda to fetch his library and pupils, but died there on 5th June 70S. 25 In the literature of his country Jacob holds much the same place as Jerome among the Latin fathers. He was, for his time, a man of great culture and wide reading, being familiar with Greek and with older Syriac writers. Of Hebrew he probably understood very little, but he was always ready, like Aphraates, to avail himself of the aid of Jewish scholars, whose opinion he often cites. He appears before us as at once theologian, historian, philosopher, and grammarian, as a translator of various Greek works, and as the indefatigable correspondent of many students who sought his advice and assist- ance from far and near. As a theologian, Jacob wrote commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, which are cited by later authors, such as Dionysius bar Salibi 26 and Bar-Hebrseus, as well as in the large Catena, of the monk Severus 27, further, scholia on the whole Scriptures, of which specimens may be found in S. Ephracmi Opera Syr.' 1 * 8 and in Phillips's Scholia on some Passages of the Old Testament (1864 ). 29 His discourses on the six days of creation are extant at Leyden and Lyons. 30 This was his latest work, being unfinished at the time of his death ; it was completed by his friend George, bishop of the Arab tribes. Like many other doctors of the Syrian Church, Jacob drew up an anaphora or liturgy, 31 and revised the liturgy of St James, the brother of our Lord. 32 He also composed orders of bap- tism, 33 of the consecration of the water on the eve of the Epiphany? 1 and of the solemnization of matrimony, 35 with which we may con- nect his translation of the order of baptism of Severus 36 and the tract upon the forbidden degrees of affinity. 37 The Book of Treasures 3 * contained expositions of the Eucharistic service, of the consecration of the water, and of the rite of baptism, probably identical with or similar to those which are found separately in MSS. 39 He likewise arranged the horologium or canonical hours of the ferial days, 40 and drew up a calendar of feasts and saints' days for the whole year. 41 Of his numerous canons, 42 those addressed to the priest Addai have been edited by Lamy, Dissert, de Syrorum Fide, &c., p. 98 sq., and De Lagarde, JtcUquiie Juris Ecdes. Antiquissimfe, p. 117 sg. 43 22 According tn the calculation of Dionysius of Tell-Mahre, 677; see B.O., i. 426. 23 So called because he had in his younger days served along with his father in the imperial army. 24 See above, p. 825. 25 According to Dionysius of Tell-Mahre, B.O., i. 426, A.D. 710 ; but Elias bar Shlnaya confirms the earlier date. See Baethgen, Fragmtnte syr. it. c.rab. Ilis- toriker, pp. 40, 121. 26 See Bibl. Med. Laurent, et Mat. Codd. Orientt. Catal., p. 85, No. xlviii. 27 B.O., i. 487-488 ; Cod. Vat. ciii. (Catal., iii. 7) ; Brit. Mus. Add. 12144 (Wright, CalaL. p. 90S). The former MS. contains a brief exposition of the Pentateuch, Job, Joshua, and Judges by Jacob, loc. cit., pp. 9-11. B.O., i. 489-493. 29 See Brit. Mus. Add. 14483 and 17193, ff. 55a, 61a ; compare Cod. Vat. v. (t",if'il., ii. pp. 12, 13). so Leyden, Cod. 66 (1) Gol. (see Catal. Codd. Orientt., v. 69, and Land, Anted. Add. 14731, f. 98b (Wright, Catal., p. 854, col. 2, at the foot), and in the Bod- leian Catal., p. 462, No. 5. Another Paris MS. (Zotenberg, Catal., p. 213) con- tains the punctuation and explanation of difficult words and phrases in this work 31 B.O., i. 476. It is extant in many MSS. 32 md.; Brit. Mus. Add. 14691, f. 2b, and elsewhere. Whether he was the translator of the anaphora of Ignatius, we are unable to affirm or deny. 33 7J.O., i. 477. 34 tMd., 486, col. 1. S3 E.g., Zotenberg, Catal, pp. 66, 67. 36 E.g., Rosen, Catal., p. 61, col. 2. 37 Cod. Vat. xxxvii. (Cutal., ii. 244). 3 B.O., i. 487. 39 E.g., the Eucharist, Berlin, Sachau 218, 4 (addressed to the Stylite George 41 See Ctl. Tnt., ii. 250-272; and comp. Berlin, Sachau 39, 4. 43 73.0., i. 477. 43 See also Kayser, Die Canones Jacob's von Edessa iibersetzt itnd erlautert, gum fheil aitch zuerst im, Grundtext veriifentlicht, 1886.