Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/887

 12TH CENT.] SYRIAC LITERATURE 851 win, brother of Godfrey of Bouillon, took his part. lie died of a fall from his horse, shortly after the death of the patriarch in 1129. 1 Though a good scholar and linguist, he does not appear to have written anything that has come down to our times. Assemani, it is true, ascribes to him three poejns in twelve-syllable metre on the capture of Edessa by ZengI ibn Ak-sunkur ; but, as this took place in 1144, 2 the writer must have been his successor, Basil bar Shumnii (1143-69). 3 John of John, 4 bishop of Harran and Marde or Mardin, had charge of Harran the Jacobite churches in the East, his diocese including Tell-Besme, and Kephar-tutha, Diira, Nisibis, Ras'ain, and the Khabhora or Khabur. Mardin. He was originally a monk of Edessa, was appointed bishop by Athanasius VII. in 1125, and was killed by a fall from his horse in 1165, at the age of seventy-eight. 5 He devoted himself chiefly to the restoration of the decayed churches and monasteries of his diocese, as may be seen from the autobiographical fragment in B.O., ii. 217 sq. From the same document, pp. 224-225, it appears that he was fond of MSS. , which he collected, repaired, and bound, and that he wrote with his own hand four small copies of the Gospels in gold and silver. He enjoyed a well earned reputation as a land- surveyor and practical engineer. 6 Bar-Hebrreus notes his great liberality in redeeming the captive Edessenes who had been carried off by Zengi's troops. 7 The fall of Edessa (1144), however, was an event that got him into a great deal of trouble. He was ill-advised enough to write a treatise on the Providence of God, in which he maintained that chastisements of that kind were not sent upon men by God, and that, if the troops of the Franks (Crusaders) had been there, Edessa would not have been taken by ZengI. Such rank heresy of course brought down upon him the whole bench of bishops. He was attacked by the priest Salibha of Kaiigarah (?), 8 by John bishop of Kaisfnn, 9 John bar Andreas bishop of Mabbogh, 10 and Dionysius bar Salibl. 11 He was also the compiler of an anaphora. 12 Jacob or The star of this century among the Jacobites is undeniably Jacob Diony- bar Salibl of Melitene (Malatiah). He was created bishop of sins bar Mar'ash, under the name of Dionysius, by Athanasius VIII. Salibl. (Yeshu 1 bar Ketrah, 1138-66), in 1145, and the diocese of Mabbogh was also placed under his charge. 13 Michael I. (1166-99) transferred him to Amid, where he died in 1171. 14 The list of his works, as quoted by Assemani from a Syriac MS., is very considerable, 15 and he has dealt with them at great length. 16 We may mention the following. (1) Commentary on the Old Testament, of which only one complete MS. exists in Europe. 17 The order of the books is the Pentateuch, Job, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, the twelve minor Prophets, and Ecclesiasticus. Each book has a material or literal and a spiritual or mystical commentary. Several of the books have two com- mentaries, one on the Peslntta, the other on the Hexaplar text ; Jeremiah has actually three, one on the Hexaplar, and two, a shorter and a longer, on the Peshltta. (2) Commentary on the New Testament, from which Assemani has given many extracts. 18 The order of the books is the four Gospels, the Revelation of St John, the Acts of the Apostles, the seven apostolic epistles, and the fourteen epistles of St Paul. 19 (3) A compendium of theology, of which we do not seem to have any MS. in Europe ; see B.O., ii. 163^ col. 1, 11. 13-15, and p. 170. (4) A copious treatise against heresies, dealing with the Muhaminadans, the Jews, the Nestorians, the Dyophysites or supporters of the council of Chalcedon, and the Armenians. 20 (5) A treatise on the Providence of God, against 1 See B.O., ii. 212, 358-359; Bar-Hebra-us, Chron. techs., i. 467-479. 2 B.O., ii. cli. (coin p. p. 317). 3 See Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Syr., p. 328 (transl., p. 335); Chron. Eccles., i. 497, 547. foot. 5 B.O., ii. 216, 226 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 531. 6 B.O., ii. 226 ; Bar-Hebrteus, Chron. Eccles., i. 525-527. 7 Chron. Eccles., i. 501. 8 Died in 1164, B.O., ii. 3(52. 9 B.O., ii. 3(54 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 501, 554, 559. Died in 1171. 10 Afterwards of Tiir-'Abhdin ; Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., i. 515. He com- posed both in Armenian and Syriac, B.O., ii. 360 coll. 1, 2, 362 col. 1 ; Bar- Hebrseus, C/iro/i. Eccles., i. 487. Died in 1156 ; B.O., ii. 362 ; Bar-Hebneus, Chron. Eccles., i. 517 ; see Brit. Mus. Orient. 1017 (Wright, Catal., pp. 897-898). " B.O., ii. 207 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 503. 12 B.O., ii. 230. 13 B.O., ii. 362; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 513-515. 1 4 B.O., ii. 363, 365 ; Bar-Hebraus, Chron. Eccles., i. 559. is B.O., ii. 210 ; comp. Catal. Bill. Laur. et Palat. Medic., p. 79. 16 B.O., ii. 157-208. 17 At Paris, Suppl. 92, in Zotenberg's Catal., No. 66. There are fragments in Ane. fonds 3 (Zotenberg, Catal., No. 9) ; see also Cod. Vat. xcvi. 29, 4-', 43 (Psalms), 30 (on the Prophets). 18 B.O., ii. 157-170. 19 The Gospels are in Brit. Mus. Add. 7184 ; Cod.Vat. civ. 19-24, clvi., cclxxv.- ix.; Paris, Anc. fonds 33, 34 (Zotenberg, Catal., Nos. 67-68); Bodl. Or. 703, 2. St Matthew, Bodl. Hunt. 247. Revelation, &c., Brit. Mus. Add. 7185 ; Bodl. Or. 560. Dudley Loftus was the first to make use of these commentaries in his two works, The Expnsition of Dionysius Simts, written above 900 years since, on the Evangelist St Mark, translated bi/D.L. (Dublin, 1672), and A Clear and Learned Explication of thff History of our Blessed Saviour J. C.,. . . by Dionijsitu .S.yni*, . . . translated by D. L. (Dublin, 1695); see Payne Smith, Catal., p. 411, notes d and f. Loftus's manuscript translations are in the Bodleian Library, Fell 6 and 7. 20 B.O., ii. 170, 211. The section against the Muhammadans is contained in Cod. Vat. xcvi. 19, and that against the Nestorians in Paris, Anc. fonds 125 (Zotenberg, Catal., No. 209, 2). There is an extract from the latter in Bodl. John, bishop of Mardin, 21 apparently no longer extant. (6) tions of the Eucharistic service, 22 of the Nicene creed,- 3 of the con- secration of the chrism, 24 of the services of consecration, 25 and of the Jacobite confession of faith. 26 (7) Canons on confession and absolution. 27 (8) Two anaphora or liturgies. - 8 (9) Various prayers, procemia, and sedras.'-' 9 ( 1 0) Homilies, e.g., encomium on the patriarch Michael the Elder, 30 on the Passion of 'our Lord, 31 and on withhold- ing the sacrament from those who abstain from communicating for a period of more than forty days. 32 (11) A commentary on the six Centuries ofEvagrius. 33 (12) Two poems on the fall of Edessa (1144), 34 three on the fall of Mar'ash (1156), 35 and two on another incident 1159). 36 Among the works mentioned in the list in B.O., ii. 210- 211, we cannot find any traces of the Comwentarius in Scripta Doctorum, the Compendium Historiarum Patrum et Sanctorum et Martyrum, and the Compendium Canonum Apostolicor urn, nor of the commentaries on the books of Dialectics, ibid., col. 1. Of the epistles two are extant in Arabic, Berlin, Sachau 61, 1, 2. From a treatise Qn the Structure of Man there are two short extracts in Bodl. Marsh. 361, f. 39. Dionysius appears also to have revised the Jacobite order of baptism, 37 and to have drawn up a volume of services for the days of the week. 38 Michael the Elder, 39 the son of Elias, a priest of Melitene, of the Michael family of Kindasi, 49 was abbot of the convent of Bar-sauma, near I. Melitene, 41 which we find him supplying with water, with the help of John, bishop of Mardin, in 1163. 4 - He was elected patriarch in 1166, and held office till 1199. 43 He revised the Jacobite pontifical and ritual, arranging its contents under forty-six heads, as exhibited in Cod. Vat. Ii., 44 drew up an anaphora, 45 wrote a tract setting forth the Jacobite confession of faith, 4(i a treatise against a Coptic schis- matic, Mark the son of Konbar, on the question of confession, 47 and a poem on a case of persecution in 1159. 48 He also revised in 1185 the life of Abhhai, bishop of Nicrea, having found most copies of it in a very disordered state. 49 His most important work was a Chronicle, from the creation to 1196 A.D., which was trans- lated, with other works of his, into Armenian, and apparently exists in that language alone. 50 Some extracts from it were published by Dulaurier in the Journal Asiatique for 1848, p. 281 sq., and 1849, p. 315 sq., and the whole has been edited in a French trans- lation by V. Langlois, Chronique de Michel le Grand, 1868. Accord- ing to him the translator of the first part of the work was the vartabed David, and it was finished by the priest Isaac, who com- pleted his task in 1248, continuing it down to his own day. A third person engaged in translating the works of Michael into Armenian was the vartabed Vartan. 51 Appended to the Chronicle is an extract from a treatise of his " On the Sacerdotal Order and its Origin," or " On the Origin of Sacerdotal Institutions," with a con- tinuation by Isaac and Vartan, 52 which is followed in the MSS. by the Jacobite "confession of faith." 53 Michael appears also to Or. 467 (P. Smith, Catal., p. 561). From it is extracted the list of the Jacobite patriarchs in B.O., ii. 323, note 1. 21 B.O., ii. 207 ; see above. n B.O., ii. 176-208 ; Cod. Vat. cii., ccclxi. ; Brit. Mus. Or. 2307 (partly Arabic) ; Paris, Anc. fonds 35, 69, 125. 23 Coil. Vat. clix. 4 ; Bodl. Marsh. 101. ' ., . ., , or patriarch. Cod. Vat. Ii. 26, ccciv. ; Paris, Suppl. 23. 31 Cod. Palat. Medic, xl. (Catal., p. 78). 32 Cod. Palat. Medic. Ixii. (Catal., p. 107). Berlin, Alt. Bestand 37, 1. 34 B.O., ii. 317 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Syr., 328 (transl., p. 335). 35 B.O., ii. 317 ; Bar-Hebrreus, Chron. Syr., 346-347. 36 B.O., ii. 451-452 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., ii. 351. 37 Brit. Mus. Arund. Or. 11 (Rosen, Catal., p. 62, col. 2). 38 Cod. Vat. ccccxxv., in Mai, Scriptt. Vett. Nova Coll., v. 3 " So called to distinguish him from his nephew Michael the Younger, Yeshu' Sephethana or "Big-lips," who became patriarch at Melitene (1199-1-215), in opposition to Athajiasius IX., Salibha Keraha (the Bald), at Mardin (1199-1207), and John XIV., Yeshu' the scribe (1208-20). ' 4 Bar-Hebrteus, Chron. Eccles., i. 537. J> m of patriarchs at p. 323 does not give the word [i A 9, though he repeats it in the translation (No. 100). In the Dissert, de Monophysitis, p. xcviii., he makes Michael belong to the convent near Melitene, and merely mentions another convent of Bar-sauma at " Sena " (see also the Index, p. 532). Langlois, in the preface to the Chronique de Michel le Grand, p. 3, thinks ofa convent near Mardin, such as that restored by John, bishopof Mardin (B.O., ii. 222, 1. 19). We believe, however, that the convent near Melitene is meant, as John of Mardin had acquired a certain reputation in what Abbeloos calls the " ars gromatica " (Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., i. 526, note 1), wherefore it is said that Michael sent for him (shaddar bdthreh), and that John " returned to his diocese because the winter was at hand, meaning to come back in April " (p. 527). 43 Bar-Hebraus, Chron. Eccles., i. 525. 43 B.O., ii. 363-369 ; Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., i. 535-605. 44 Assemani's Catal., ii. 314 sq.; B.O., ii. 155. 55 Cod. Vat. xxv. 8 ; Paris, Anc. fonds 68 (Zotenberg, Catal., p. 49) ; Leydcn, Cod. 1572 (Catal., v. 73). 46 Bar-Hebneus, Chron. Eccles., i. 549 ; Langlois, p. 331. 47 Bar-Hebrans, Chron. Eccles., i. 573-575 ; B.O., ii. 155, No. iii. 3 Bar-Hebrseus, Chron. Eccles., ii. 351. 49 See Brit. Mus. Add. 12174, No. 8 (Wright, Catal., p. 1124); Cod. Vat. xxxvii. 12 (Catal., ii. 247); B.O., ii. 505, col. 2. But the account of the death of the emperor Constantius, and the lives of Jacob of Serugli and of Mar Aha, appear to be wrongly ascribed to him in Catttl. Vat., ii. 248-249. 50 The present writer has been recently informed that a copy of the original Syriac exists in the library of the convent of az-Za'faran near Mardin. 61 Langlois, Preface, p. 10, and note 2. 5 2 Langlois, p. 363 sq. 53 Langlois, Preface, p. 8, at the top ; Bar-Hebreeus, Chron. Eccles., i. 600, note 1, 6.
 * His baptismal name was probably Jacob; see B.O., ii. 230, col. 1, at the
 * l Assemani expressly says ' ' at Shenna " (read A, 5), B.O., ii. 154, but the list