Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/878

 842 SYRIAC LITERATURE [~TH, 8TH CENT. George of Be'el- than. Mar Matthew, who died in 1241. 1 Cardahi (Liber Thesauri, p. 40) quotes the rendering of Iliad ii. 204, but without saying where he found it. Theophilus is often spoken of as the first to use the Greek vowels in pointing Syriac words, but we have seen above (p. 840, note 21) instances of their occurrence in MSS. older than his time. ' Perhaps, however, he may have finally settled some details of the system and assisted in bringing it into more general use. 2 George of Be'elthan, a village near Ilims, was educated at the convent of Ken-neshre, and became the syncellus of Theodore, bishop of Saiiiosata, who prophesied great tilings of him. On the death of Athanasius III. a synod was held at Mabbogh, at the close of 758, when a large majority of those present raised George, who was only a deacon, to the see of Antioch. 3 At the instigation of the anti-patriarch David, the caliph al-Mansur scourged him and threw him into prison, where he remained for nine years, till he was set free by his son and successor al-Mahdi. He was taken ill during one of his diocesan journeys at Kalaudiyah (Claudia), in the far north of Mesopotamia, and died in the convent of Bar-sauma near Melitene (Malatyah), in 790. 4 During his long imprison- ment George is said to have composed many discourses and metrical homilies. He was also the author of a commentary on the Gospel of St Matthew, the unique but imperfect MS. of which has been described by Assemani in Catal. Vat., iii. 293. Cyriacus. Cyriacus, a man of Taghritan family 5 and a monk of the convent of Bizona, otherwise called the convent of the Pillar, near Calli- nicus, was ordained patriarch of the Jacobites in 793, and died at Mosul in 817. The record of his troubled life may be read in Bar- Hebneus's Chron. Ecdes., i. 329 sq. ; B.O., ii. 116, 341-344. In the year 798 he endeavoured to effect a union with the Jnlianists, whose patriarch was Gabriel, and a creed was drawn up and signed by them and sundry other bishops, which has been preserved in Brit. Mus. Add. 17145, f. 27b. 6 Besides an anaphora 7 and canons, 8 he wrote a homily on the parable of the vineyard 9 and a synodical epistle on the Trinity and the incarnation addressed to Mark, patriarch of Alexandria, which is extant only in Arabic. 10 The number of Nestorian writers during the 7th and 8th cen- turies is relatively much larger than that of Jacobite, and the loss of many of their writings is much to be regretted, especially those bearing on ecclesiastical and political history. Want of space compels us, however, to omit many names which Ave would other- wise gladly have noticed. Babhai Our list begins with the name of Babhai the archimandrite, 11 called thearchi- Babhai the Elder, to distinguish him from the later Babhai bar mand- Nesibhnaye. He was a native of the village of Beth 'Ainatha or rite. Ba-'ainatha in Beth Zabhdai, and succeeded Mar Dadh-jsho' (see above, p. 838) as abbot of the great convent on Mount Izlii. On the death of the catholicus Gregory of Kashkar in 607 (see above, p. 837) a time of persecution followed, during which the Nestorian Church was ruled by Babhai with a firm and skilful hand. The bishops of Nisibis, Hedhaiyabh, and Karkha dhe-Beth Selokh (or . Beth Garmai) entrusted him with the duties of inspector of con- vents, with the express object of rooting out all who held the doc- trines of the MSsalleydne, 1 * as well as the followers of Hannana of Hudhaiyabh and Joseph of Hazza. 13 So well did he acquit himself in this post 14 that, after the murder of Khosrau II. in 628, when his successor Kawadh II. Sheroe permitted a synod to be held, he would have been unanimously elected to the dignity of catholicus, had he only given his consent, in default of which the choice fell upon Isho*' -yabh of Gedhala (628-644). As a writer Babhai would seem to have been very prolific, for no less than eighty-three or eighty-four works are set down to his account. 15 The principal of these, as enumerated by 'Abhd-isho', are a commentary on the whole text of Scripture ; on the commemorations of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John, and other commemorations and feasts throughout the year ; on the reasons of the celebration of Palm Sunday and of the festival of the holy cross 16 ; a discourse on the union (of the two natures in our Lord, against the Monophysites) 17 ; exposition of the Centuries of Evagrius 18 ; exposition of the discourses of Mark the monk (on the spiritual law) 19 ; rules for novices ; canons for monks ; (controversial) letters to Joseph Hazzaya ; history of Diodore of Tarsus and his followers ; on Matthew the wanderer, Abraham of Nisibis, and Gabriel Katraya. 20 To these must be added an account of the life and martyrdom of his contemporary 1 E.g., Iliad, i. 225, 226; vi. 325; xvi. 745; (W.i/.w.v, xviii. 2*5; see The Academy for October 1, 1871, p. 467. 2 Compare B.O., i. 64. 3 The minority appointed as anti-patriarch John of Callinlcus (ar-Rakkah), who held office for four years (B.O., ii. 340, col. 2) and was succeeded by David, bishop of Dara (ibid.). 4 B.O., ii. 340 ; Baethgen, I-'ragmente, pp. 57, 128 ; Bar-Hebranis, Chron. Ecdes., i. 319 sq., ii. 175. 6 Bar-Hebnens, Chron. Eccles., i. :M3. 6 See Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Ecdes., i. 335. 7 Wright, Catal., pp. 206, 210. 8 Wright, Catal., p. 222, col. 2 ; Zotenberg, Catal., p. 28, No. 54. 9 Brit. Mus. Add. 14727, f. llOa (Wright, Catal., p. 887). M B.O., ii. 117. H See B.O., iii. 1, SSs<]., 472 ; Hoffmann, Auszuge, pp. 121, 161, 173. 12 See B.O., iii. 1, 101 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 573. 13 See above, pp. 837, 838. See B.O., iii. 1, 88, 89, 473. 15 -B.C., iii. 1, 94, and note 1. J 6 See next paragraph. 17 See Catol. Vat., iii. 372. 18 Jbid., iii. 367 sq. 19 Brit. Mus. Add. 17270 (Wright, Cattd., p. 482). 20 That is, of Katar, on the coast of al-Bahrein. George, a convert from Zoroastrianism, whose heathen name was Mihrfunguslinasp,'-' 1 and a few hymns, contained in Nestorian psalters.* 1 The successor of Babhai was, as we have jnst mentioned, Isho'- Isho'- yal.ih II. of Gedhala,'- 3 who was elected in 628 and sat till 644. 24 yabh II. He studied at Nisibis, and was bishop of Balad at the time of his of Ge- elevation to the patriarchate. He was sent in 630 by Boran, the dhalii. laughter of Khosrau II., on an embassy to Heraclius, the emperor of Constantinople, whom he met at Aleppo, and to whom, we arc told, he restored the holy cross, which had been earned off by the Persians when they captured Jerusalem in 614. 25 Foreseeing the downfall of the enfeebled Persian monarchy, IshS'-yabh prudently made conditions on behalf of his flock with the Muhammadan ruler, it is said through _the intervention of a Christian chief at Najran and of Yeshu' (or Isho'), bishop of that place. 26 The deed or ordi- nance containing the terms of agreement was renewed and confirmed by 'Omar ibn_al-Khattab. 27 According to 'Abhd-isho', the principal writings of Isho'-yabh were a commentary on the Psalms and sundry epistles, histories, and homilies. A hymn of his occurs in the Nestorian psalter Brit. Mus. Add. 14675. 28 Sah dona of Halamiin, a village in Beth Nuhadhre, 29 was educated Sahdona at Nisibis, and became a monk under Mar Jacob, the founder of of Hala- the famous convent of Beth 'Abhe. 30 Here he composed a treatise mun. in two volumes on the monastic life, besides a history of his master, and a funeral sermon on him. 31 He became bishop of Mahoze dh'Arewan in Beth Garmai, 32 and was one of the Nestorian clergy who accompanied Isho'-yabh of Gedhala on his embassy to Heraclius. Whilst halting at Apamea, Isho'-yabh, John the Nestorian bishop of Damascus, and Sahdona tried their hand at converting the monks of a neighbouring (Jacobite) convent, the result of which was that Sahdona himself was converted, 33 and afterwards wrote several heterodox works. This incident caused much scandal in the East, as may be seen from the numerous letters which Isho'- yabh of Hedhaiyabh, another member of the embassy, found it necessary to write upon the subject. 34 This Isho'-yabhwas the son of a weal thy Persian Christian named Islio'- Bas-tuhmag, of Kuphlana in Hedhaiyabh or Adiabene, who used yabh II I. often to visit the convent of Beth 'Abhe. 35 He was educated at the of 116- school of Nisibis, became bishop of Mosul, and afterwards metro- dhaiyabh. politan of Hazza (Arbel or Irbil) and Mosul. The chief event of his rule at Mosul seems to have been that he hindered the Jacobites from building a church in that city, 36 notwithstanding that they were supported by all the weight and influence of the Taghritans. 37 Bar-Hebrseus declares that he bribed right and left to effect this. 33 He was one of those who accompanied Isho'-yabh of Gedhala on his embassy to Heraclius, 39 and stole a very costly and beautiful casket, containing relics of the Apostles, from a church at Antioch, the which he conveyed (apparently quite openly and shamelessly) to the convent of Beth 'Abhe. 40 On the death of Mar-emmeh 41 (who sat 644-647) 4 - he was elevated to the dignity of catholicus, 43 which he held till 657-658. 44 In his desire to do something for the promotion of learning he wished to found a school in the convent of Beth 'Abhe, where he had built a magnificent church, but the abbot Kam-isho' and the rest of the lazy brotherhood would have none of this, and preferred to quit the convent and withdraw to the neigh- bouring village of Hcrpa in Saphwipha. 43 Hereupon the catholicus gave up this part of his plan and built his college in his father's village of Kuphlana (or Kulpanii). 46 Soon afterwards he found himself involved in another and more serious dispute with Simeon, 21 Brit. Mils. Add. 7200, f. 14 ; Hoffmann, Ausziigc, pp. 91 s?., 173. 22 E.g., Brit. Mus. Add. 7150, 17219 ; see Bickell, Conspectus, pp. 37, 33. 23 Judal, near Mosul. 24 B.O., ii. 416-418, iii. 1, 105, 475 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Ecdes., iii. 113 and note 1, 127 and note 3 ; Baethgen, J-'nnjniente, pp. 13, 19, 108, 111. -5 This, however, seems to have been given bac-k by Ardasher III. in 028-629, ns the festival to celebrate its restoration took place at Jerusalem in 629 ; sir Bar-Hebneus, Chron. Ecdes., ii. 113 ; Ji.O., iii. 1, 96 note 3, 105-106 ; NSldeke, Gesch. d. Perser 11. Amber, pp. 391-3'JL'. 26 75.0., ii. 418, iii. 1, 108, col. 1 ; Bar-Hobnrus, Chrnn. Ecdes., ii. 115. Bar- Ilelmeus names Muliammad himself, but it was more likely Abu Bakr ((532-633). 27 See B.O., iii. 1, 108, col. 1. 2* Wright, Catal., v. r.iO, col. 2. 29 Hoffmann, Ausziiijf, p. 215. 30 Ibid., p. 226. 31 /;.o., iii. 1, 453, 462. 32 See B.O., iii. 1, 116, col. 1, at the foot. Assemani pronounces the name Aryun, but Are wan is more likely to be correct. See Hoffmann, Aiisziige, p. 277. B;i We cannot see that Assemani has any ground for assorting that Sfilidona was converted "aberroribns Nestori.-uiisad Catholieam mtatvm" (1J.O., iii. 1, 107, col. 1 ; comp. col. 2, 11. 10-12, and p. 120, col. 2, 11. 11-13). 34 H.O., iii. 1, 116-123. Bar-Ilebneus (Chron. AV,7'.--.,ji. 113) spitefully im- proves the occasion by making out that the catholicus Isho'-yabh of GCdhala himself was the pervert. 35 B.O., iii. 1, 472 ; Hoffmann, Ausziiye, p. 226. 36 j?.o., iii. 1, 114-115. 37 Taghrith was always strongly Jacobite, and the Xcstorians had no church there till 767 (see B.O., iii. 1, 111, note 4; Hoffmann, Ausziige, pp. 190-191; Bar-Hebrssus, Chron. Ecdes., ii. 155-157). 38 Chron. Eccles., ii. 127. 39 B.O., iii. 1, 106, col. 1. 4 There is no reason to doubt the circumstantial recital of a Negtorian writer, B.O., iii. 1,100, col. 2, 475. Strange to say, Assemani does not improve thia occasion ! 41 Properly M:>r(I)-emnieh (see B.O., ii. 389, col. 2, No. 2i>). 42 According to others, 647-650 ; B.O., ii. 420, iii. 1, 113, 615. In 647 or 648. 44 Or, according to the other reckoning, till 660, B.O.Jocc. citt. He predeceased the maphrian Penha, who died in 660 ( Har-Hebrteus, Chrnn. Eccles., ii. 129, 131). See Hoffmann, Auatige, pp. 223, 227. <6 B.O., iii. l, 124-125.