Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/314

260 ever, in order to show the superior authority which was exercised by the Coordish chiefs.

In former times it was customary for the Patriarch and Emeer to sit in judgment conjointly whenever disputes arose between a Coord and Nestorian; but this custom ceased after the quarrel which took place betwixt the two people, the particulars of which will presently be recorded.

Part of the Patriarchal revenue, like that of the Bishops, is derived from a Resheeth, or poll tax, amounting to three pence of our money, which is paid him once in three years by all the Christians of his diocese who have attained to manhood. Besides this, he sometimes commutes with pecuniary fines, to be applied to his own use, the much-dreaded sentence of excommunication, which he passes upon those who are found guilty of any grievous crime, whether committed against the laws of the Church or state. An instance of this occurred just before my arrival at Asheetha: Mar Shimoon had fixed the dowry to be paid to the parents of a bride at 200 piastres (about £2.) A father refused to give his daughter in marriage to one who sought her hand for less than 500 piastres, and was accordingly excommunicated for his disobedience. He bore this sentence for a short time, but finding it intolerable relented, and the culprit was restored to the communion of the Church, and to the society of the villagers, for the sum of 100 piastres. Now although the nature of this punishment is ecclesiastical in its name and origin, yet inasmuch as it was awarded to crimes which in other countries are not taken cognizance of by the ecclesiastical courts, and being inflicted and removed at the will of the Patriarch, proves that he exercised a civil as well as spiritual jurisdiction over all such as submitted to his authority.

Another source of the Patriarch's revenue is derived from the Gheweeth, or first-fruits, which the people present every year from the produce of their land to the different churches in his diocese, of which a tenth part is set apart for his private use. This custom, however, does not prevent his receiving directly from the more wealthy, an annual Gheweeth, the amount of which is left to the discretion of the donor.

Prom the above statement, it results that the mountaineers