The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

JOURNAL

Volume 7 2007

●Judith H. Newman - University of Toronto ●Frederick McLeod - St. Louis University ●George Bevan - Queen University ●Sidney Griffith - Catholic University of America ●Mat Immerzeel - Leiden University ●Mary Hansbury - Philadelphia, PA ●George Kiraz - Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute

Toronto - Ontario - Canada The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

Table of Contents

From the Editor 1

Judith H. Newman, Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer 3 in the Didascalia

Frederick McLeod, Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia 18

George Bevan, The Last Days of Nestorius in Syriac Sources 39

Sidney H. Griffith, Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam: 55 Faith, the Philosophical Life, and the Quest for an Interreligious Convivencia in Abbasid Times

Mat Immerzeel, Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria): 74 Art and Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages

Mary Hansbury, Obituary: Professor Robert Beulay, OCD (1927-2007) 99

George Kiraz, Report on North American Syriac Studies Symposium V 103

Members of the CSSS for 2006-2007 105 © The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 2007

ISSN 1499-6367

Cover Picture

The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saydnaya to the north of Damascus, Syria: Entrance and Outer Walls; photo and courtesy Dr. Mat Immerzeel, Leiden University. See also pp. 75ff.

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FROM THE EDITOR

t is my pleasure to introduce JCSSS 7, East “stresses a functional, soteriological which includes various articles pre- Christology that is arguably complementary sented either at CSSS symposia or as to Cyril’s essentialist approach.” CSSS public lectures. Another paper given at the 2006 CSSS IThe first article, “Three Contexts for Symposium is entitled “The Last Days of Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didas- Nestorius in Syriac Sources,” written by Pro- calia,” was originally given by Judith H. fessor George Bevan, of Queen’s University. Newman, of the University of Toronto, at a The author brings together a variety of special symposium organized by the CSSS Syriac sources, both Nestorian and anti- on Liturgy on May 17, 2006. Manasseh, the Chalcedonian, that intriguingly suggest that Israelite king whose reputation in the Bible is Nestorius was recalled to the council of tarnished, is portrayed in his apocryphal Chalcedon but died before he left Egypt. prayer as repenting and even as a model of Scholars have typically dismissed these sto- the penitent sinner. While some believe that ries as anti-Chalcedonian propaganda. Bevan the prayer is an expansion of II Chr. 33, Prof. makes a strong case, however, taking into Newman argues that it was composed as part consideration their remarkable consistency, of the Didascalia, that it was possibly used and points to a significant precedent: in the in penitential practices, and that it may have 4th century no less a figure than Arius him- been part of the liturgy of the word, ad- self was summoned by Constantine for ques- dressed to the entire Christian community. tioning, and the latter deemed him orthodox. Professor Frederick McLeod, from St. At the 5th Syriac Studies Symposium in Louis University, draws special attention to Toronto last June, Professor Sidney Griffith, Mār Narsai, “the Harp of the Holy Spirit,” in of the Catholic University of America, ad- a paper he gave at the 2006 CSSS Sympo- dressed the participants in the first plenary sium, filling some gaps in the study of this session, with a paper entitled “Syrian Chris- major Syriac poet and theologian. While tian Intellectuals in the World of Islam: Narsai is by all means original in his Syriac Faith, the Philosophical Life, and the Quest poetry and theological expressions, he is at for an Interreligious Convivencia in Abbasid the same time a committed follower of Times.” The paper reflected the Sympo- Theodore of Mopsuestia’s exegetical and sium’s main theme, Syriac as a Bridge Cul- Christological ideas. The author concludes ture, for it highlighted several prominent that the rich tradition of the Church of the Syriac-speaking Christian intellectuals in

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Baghdad who not only exploited Greek phi- Syriac mysticism, particularly John Dalia- losophy and logic for the elucidation of their tha, died in Normandy on August 7, 2007. own Christian beliefs, but also engaged in Nearly a year ago he accepted the invitation philosophical conversations with their Mus- of the CSSS to attend Syriac Studies Sym- lim counterparts, which led to a certain de- posium V, sending the title and abstract of gree of peaceful convivencia among Chris- his proposed paper. He fell gravely ill two tians, Jews, and Muslims. months before the symposium, which pre- The last paper, originally a CSSS public vented his travel to Toronto. His loss will be lecture given in 2007, is by Dr. Mat Immer- felt in Syriac Studies, since, as the obituary zeel, Leiden University, “Monasteries and by Dr. Mary Hansbury shows, he was not Churches of the Qalamun (Syria): Art and only original in his research, but also par- Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.” The author ticularly prolific. May he rest in Peace. surveys several monumental monasteries At the end of this issue, you will find a and churches built on the mountains to the report by Dr. George Kiraz on the 5th Syriac north of Damascus, and decorated with Studies Symposium, which took place June magnificent mural paintings, images of 25-27, 2007, in Toronto. which are appended to the article. Here too, I take this opportunity to thank the au- some monasteries witnessed a level of inter- thors who contributed to the present issue of religious acceptance among Christians, the JCSSS, enriching it with their research Jews, and Muslims, who venerated an icon and insights. I am also thankful to the Edito- of the Virgin once found in the monastery of rial Committee for their contribution to the Saydnaya, and from which they sought production of another excellent issue! blessing. The fame of this icon spread as far as medieval Europe. A.H. Father Robert Beulay, an authority in November 2007

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THREE CONTEXTS FOR READING MANASSEH’S PRAYER IN THE DIDASCALIA

JUDITH H. NEWMAN UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

he Prayer of Manasseh is some- was included in the Didascalia in response thing of an orphan in relation to and in reaction to the Jewish-Christian ten- the scripture of contemporary reli- sions of Syria in the early third century. gious communities. It is excluded The Didascalia is a work of twenty- Tfrom the Tanakh as a non-Hebrew work, and seven chapters in length which is addressed the text lies outside of the Protestant and to the entire Christian community including Roman Catholic canons. It is regarded as lay women and men. It treats such topics as authoritative only in certain Orthodox the duties of the bishop, the nature of pen- Churches, but then not in all. Most who en- ance, liturgical worship, the role of widows counter the Prayer of Manasseh do so in the and deaconesses in the Church, the resolu- context of one of the critical editions of the tion of disputes, and the administration of Bible in the apocrypha or deuterocanonical offerings. section, in which the prayer appears by itself The scholarly consensus holds that the or in worship as a canticle. Yet there is no Didascalia was written in the early third unambiguous evidence for the Jewish litur- century most likely in North Syria, a region gical use of the prayer independent of its in which Jews and Christians struggled and context, and the two contexts in which we competed with each other, and is especially find it, in the early church orders and in a directed against those Christians who still list of Odes appended to the book of Psalms observed Jewish law.1 Unlike the Marcio- in three manuscripts of the Greek Bible, are nites, the authors of the Didascalia were suggestive of two different uses. The pur- only selectively anti-nomian. Indeed, they pose of this essay is to illuminate the earliest affirmed the law, but on their own terms, narrative context in which we find the because the Didascalia distinguishes two Prayer of Manasseh, the Didascalia Apostol- parts to the law. The Didascalia contains orum. I would like to argue on that basis lengthy polemic against those who observe that this pseudepigraphic prayer, whoever the “second law.” While embarking on an composed it and whenever it was composed, analysis of the Didascalia in its socio-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 3 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______historical setting is beyond our scope, it is THE PRAYER possible to sketch some of the most salient IN ITS IMMEDIATE CONTEXT aspects of the Didascalia so as to begin to understand the nature and function of the We may begin with the prayer’s immediate prayer. context, chapters six and seven of the docu- As I will argue, this strain of anti-Jewish ment. These chapters centrally concern the polemic seems to be the preeminent factor Didascalia’s teaching on repentance and in the choice and use of Manasseh as an ex- forgiveness which involves a penitential emplar of a sinner who offers a confessional process. While the topic is treated elsewhere prayer.2 The Prayer of Manasseh functions in the Didascalia, chapters six and seven especially to rehabilitate Manasseh as a outline in particular the role of bishops in penitent idolater. In the larger context of this regard. Chapter six is titled “Concerning tension between Christians, Jews, and those transgressors and those who repent.” The caught betwixt and between, that is, those bishop is charged at the outset in this way: Jews who desired to join the Christian fold, “Judge therefore O bishop, strictly like God or even more likely, those Christians Almighty, but those who repent receive with whether of Jewish birth or not, who were mercy like God Almighty received. And drawn to the worship and practice of Juda- rebuke and exhort and teach with an oath ism, the successful penitence of an idola- promising forgiveness to those that have trous king would have great significance. sinned as he [God] said in Ezekiel...” The For the latter group, the assured forgiveness chapter then contains a quote from what we of Manasseh’s idolatrous behavior in wor- know in the Masoretic text as Ezek 33:10 ff. shipping other gods would have been a reas- that exhorts Israel to repent: “Turn back, surance to them, who were being exhorted turn back from your evil ways; for why will to turn from Jewish worship and practices. you die, O house of Israel?” There is a long I would like to consider then in turn quote from Ezekiel 18:1-32 with its stress the different contexts in which the Prayer on individual punishment meant to chal- of Manasseh is imbedded: first, within lenge the concept of trans-generational pun- chapters six and seven, which concern ishment. “Son of Man, what do you mean practices of penitence in the early Church by repeating this proverb concerning the and in which we find the scriptural re- land of Israel, ‘The parents have eaten sour counting of Manasseh’s sin and punish- grapes, and the children's teeth are set on ment; second, within the larger frame of edge’? As I live, says the Lord GOD, this the composite Didascalia itself, which will proverb shall no more be used by you in also take us further abroad to consider the Israel.” The message that the sincerely peni- greater Jewish and Christian textual tradi- tent sinner must be mercifully received is tions about Manasseh; and finally, the lar- repeated in different ways throughout chap- ger rhetorical functioning of the discourse ter six. In fact, the emphasis on such neces- of the Didascalia within the warp and woof sary reincorporation of penitents suggests of early third century north Syria, with its that there may have been a practice of exclu- complex interrelationships among Jewish, sion or expulsion of such members from the Christian, and pagan populations. community.

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Chapter six also outlines the process by rebuke, and loose by forgiveness. And know which the sinner is to be treated and ulti- your place, that it is that of God Almighty, mately reincorporated into the community. and that you have received authority to for- The bishop should admonish the transgres- give sins.” The chapter goes on to consider sor, prevent the individual from entering the the great responsibility invested in bishops Church, and allow others to intercede with as a result. The bishop himself should take the bishop on his or her behalf. The bishop care not to warrant reproach, even while is then to talk to the sinner to see if she is acknowledging that all are subject to sin. sufficiently repentant and worthy to con- Like the sixth chapter, chapter seven tinue the process. Then the offender is contains copious use of scripture, especially charged with fasting as penance, for a period long passages from Ezekiel. For example, in ranging from two to seven weeks. After that reference to the bishop’s authority, we find affliction, the bishop is to receive the sinner, interpolated a section from Ezekiel, equiva- if sufficiently penitent, back into the lent to what appears now in the Hebrew Church. It is interesting to note that as one Masoretic text (MT) as Ezek 34. The pas- scriptural precedent for the practice of put- sage concerns the responsibility of shep- ting someone outside of the church, the Di- herds for the flock. The shepherds are refer- dascalia refers to the episode in the book of ences to Israel’s kings in the original con- Numbers, in which Miriam and Aaron have text, but here are understood as referring to challenged Moses’s leadership. Miriam (not the role of bishops. “For the Lord spoke thus Aaron!) is placed outside the camp for seven in Ezekiel concerning those bishops who days. The Didascalia states that Miriam’s neglect their people: ‘And the word of the repentance caused her to be brought back Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, within the camp, yet Miriam’s “repentance” prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, is a narrative detail absent from the biblical and say to them: Thus said the Lord God: text of Numbers. Here is but one example of Woe unto the shepherds of Israel, who feed the phenomenon that we see throughout the themselves, and my sheep the shepherds Didascalia; there is no sense of a fixed ca- have not fed.” I note the use of Ezekiel here nonical text, no clear distinction made be- and in chapter six, because we will return tween scripture and tradition, but rather tra- below to the significance of the use of Eze- ditions of scripture are garnered in order to kiel in discussion of the “second law.” make the rhetorical case of the authors/ First let us attend to the inclusion of compilers. Didascalia 6 ends with a verse Manasseh as exemplar in this chapter. The from Isaiah (58: 36) “Loose every bond of immediate context of the story of Manasseh sin, and sever all bands of violence and ex- exhorts the bishops to learn from ancient tortion;” which is understood as the respon- days “...that from them you may make com- sibility of the bishop toward the people who parison and learn the care of souls, and the have sincerely repented. admonition and reproof and intercession of The same theme continues in Didascalia those who repent and have need of interces- chapter seven in which we find the Prayer of sion.”3 Manasseh, which is also addressed directly The tale of Manasseh is then introduced to bishops. “Therefore, O bishop, teach and as if taken directly from the text of scripture:

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“Hear therefore, O bishops, regarding these as a means of conveying its contemporane- things as an example that is fitting and help- ous relevance for the third-century Syrian ful. It is written in the fourth Book of King- audience. doms and likewise in the second Book of After this account of Manasseh’s idola- Chronicles, thus: ...” Yet the tale does not trous malefactions, the text in the Didas- accord with any single tradition, either the calia relates God’s condemnation of Manas- Hebrew or Greek of 2 Kgdms 21 or 2 Chr seh. But whereas the biblical account in 33, but rather represents a paraphrastic ac- Kings and Chronicles has God speaking di- count that draws on traditions found in the rectly to Manasseh, the Didascalia incorpo- targums and shared by Samaritan and Greek rates the targumic tradition that God spoke sources.4 Thus, “It is written” may be a tech- to Manasseh, not directly, but through the nically correct statement on the part of the hand of the prophets. Manasseh’s lack of author, but what is left unsaid is that the tra- remorse calls down divine wrath and pun- ditions about Manasseh were written in ishment, so that Manasseh is carried off by many places, and not simply in one book. the Assyrians in chains to Babylon. Up to It is worth pointing out some interesting this point, these features of the story corre- differences both between the parallel ac- spond more or less to a combined account of counts we know in Hebrew and differences Kings/Chronicles. Didascalia includes an from the biblical account: many of Manas- additional account of Manasseh’s treatment seh’s “crimes” mentioned are the same in in Babylon, how he was fed with a small both MT Kings and Chronicles, such as ration of bread and water mixed with gall to building shrines and setting up pillars to afflict him. It was only after this point of Baal. Manasseh made his sons pass through affliction in the story that Manasseh shows the fire, that is death through immolation, contrition, entreats God, and offers his presumably as part of the cult of Molech, prayer. While the prayer is mentioned in 2 and he is generally blamed for shedding Chronicles, the text of the prayer does not much innocent blood in Jerusalem. One dif- appear. Rather the editors of Chronicles re- ference between Kings and Chronicles: fer their readers to two different sources for whereas 2 Kings 21 narrates that among this information: “The Annals of the Kings Manasseh’s sins he placed an image of of Israel,” and the “records of the seers.” Asherah in the Temple, Chronicles mentions The summary point to be made about -a sculpted this conflation of scriptural sources and tra ,(פסל הסמל ) only a pesel hassemel image that Manasseh had made, rather than ditions in chapter seven of the Didascalia is specifying that which was no longer likely a that in its overall shape the story of Manas- threat in post-exilic Judaism, the worship of seh matches in broad terms the actions ex- Asherah. The Greek translation of 2 Chr pected of a bishop in the restoration of a 33:7 states that Manasseh placed a carved sinner. It includes admonition by God (or as and molten image (ὁ γλυπτὸν καὶ τὸ in Chronicles, the prophets) whose role will χωνευτόν εἰκόνα) in the Temple. The Didas- be played by the bishop; it includes exhorta- calia also adopts the more general term for tion, banishment from the temple and land, idol rather than specifying the name of an reread as the Church, and affliction by idolatrous god that was worshipped, likely means of fasting, all this before conversion,

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 6 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______repentance, and restoration can occur. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, At this point in the narrative of the Di- who did not sin against you, dascalia, the Prayer of Manasseh is incorpo- but you have constituted repentance for me, who am a sinner. rated. The text of the prayer is preceded by a 9 superscription, “Prayer of Manasseh” which For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of interrupts the flow of the narrative. The Di- the sea; dascalia reads: “and he prayed before the my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord God and said: Prayer of Manasseh. O Lord, they are multiplied! Lord God of my fathers, …” The Prayer of I am not worthy to look up and see Manasseh seems therefore to be an inser- the height of heaven because of tion, not an original part of the composition. the multitude of my iniquities. 10 I am weighted down with many an Prayer of Manasseh5 iron shackle, so that I am rejected 1:1 O Lord Almighty, God of our ances- because of my sins, and I have no tors, relief; of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and for I have provoked your wrath and of their righteous offspring; have done what is evil in your 2 you who made heaven and earth with sight, setting up desecrations and multiplying abominations. all their order; 11 3 who shackled the sea by your word And now I bend the knee of my of command, heart, begging you for your kind- ness. who closed the abyss and sealed it 12 with your terrifying and glorious I have sinned, O Lord, I have name; sinned, and I acknowledge my 4 transgressions. at whom all shudder, and tremble 13 before your power, I earnestly beg you, forgive me, O 5 for the magnificence of your glory Lord, forgive me! cannot be endured, Do not destroy me with my trans- and the wrath of your threat to sin- gressions! ners is intolerable; Do not be angry with me forever or 6 yet immeasurable and unfathomable store up evil for me; is your promised mercy, Do not condemn me to the depths of 7 for you are the Lord Most High, of the earth. great compassion, patient, and mer- For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, ciful, and relenting at human evil. 14 aO Lord, according to your great and in me you will manifest your kindness you have promised re- goodness; pentance and forgiveness to those for, unworthy as I am, you will who have sinned against you, and save me according to your great mercy, in the multitude of your mercies 15 you have constituted repentance and I will praise you continually all for sinners, for salvation. a the days of my life. 8 Therefore you, O Lord, God of the For all the host of heaven sings righteous, have not constituted your praise and yours is the glory repentance for the righteous, for forever. Amen.

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The prayer has three main sections: sion of this prayer in relation to the Didas- 1-7: an invocation in which God is in- calia’s greater rhetoric against observing the voked as the ancestral God of Abraham, “second law.” Isaac and Jacob, and extolled as the creator A second observation concerns the one of the cosmos (1-4) and as the righteous yet verse that appears here in the Syriac Prayer merciful judge of sinners who institutes re- of Manasseh, and that is also contained in pentance (5-7). the Greek version in the fourth century Ap- 8-13a: an acknowledgement and confes- ostolic Constitutions but does not appear in sion of sin and petition for forgiveness. the two earliest Greek Manuscripts of the 13b-15: a third section in which the peti- Odes, Alexandrinus and Turinses: tioner acknowledges the goodness and mercy of God and pledges to praise God 7b O Lord, according to your great forever just as the angels sing God’s praise. kindness you have promised repen- tance and forgiveness to those who Two observations about the prayer are have sinned against you, and in the worth comment before continuing with our multitude of your mercies you have discussion of its contexts. The first is to note constituted repentance for sinners, for one of the interesting ways in which the salvation. prayer breathes interpretive scripturaliza- tion. In verse 7, we see a clear reference to While we cannot know if this verse the liturgical divine attribute formula of appeared in the prayer before its inclu- Exod 34:6-7. It begins in Exod 34:6: “The sion in the Didascalia, it is certainly the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, case that it accords well with the exhorta- “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and tion to the bishops to bring penitent gracious, patient, and abounding in steadfast sheep back into the fold. And so, accord- love and faithfulness,” and continues in ing to the Didascalia, after the prayer is Exod 34:7 to enumerate the divine traits of offered, Manasseh is duly heard and ab- covenant loyalty and justice over genera- solved by God. Manasseh’s rescue and tions. In the formula’s reuse in later texts, return to the land is decidedly more dra- particularly in penitential contexts, just the matic than in Chronicles, with flames of first clause or an adaptation of it normally fire dissolving the brass case and chains appears.6 So indeed in the Didascalia the in which he was secured, perhaps bor- form is closer to the modified form found in rowed from the account of the three the post-exilic contexts of Jonah 4:21 and youths in the book of Daniel. The Didas- Joel 2:13 in which divine mercy is stressed calia’s editorial comment after this long over the retributive aspect of divine justice. scriptural account of Manasseh’s reign The verb “relent” also recalls God’s willing- and repentance brings the point home: ness to change course in Exod 32:14 and not “You have heard, beloved children, how to destroy the people as God had first in- Manasseh served idols evilly and bitterly, tended as punishment for their idolatry. and slew righteous men; yet when he re- Thus the hearkening back to the Mosaic pented God forgave him, albeit there is law-giving at Sinai, here after the breach no sin worse than idolatry, which is why, with the golden calf, is a significant dimen- there is granted a place for repentance.”7

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THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH IN was vilified in most post-exilic Jewish lit- ITS LARGER CONTEXT erature as an idolater who shed innocent blood, a portrait that stands closer to his In order to shift from consideration of the negative profile in the Deuteronomistic his- prayer in its immediate literary context to its torian’s book of 2 Kings than that in 2 broader context both within the Didascalia Chronicles.9 While the tale of his repentance and the discursive world of Jewish and Chris- is included in a few texts, in most of the ac- tian texts, we might begin by asking the ques- counts, Manasseh was the perpetrator of tion, why is King Manasseh singled out for murder resulting in a prophet’s martyrdom. use as an exemplar of penitence? Scripture His chief crime according to many of the has a perfect penitent it would seem in the sources was his murder of Isaiah by sawing person of King David, reflected both in story him in two. Though not explicit, we see a and in prayer. The superscription of Psalm 51 hint of this in Heb 11: 37, the catalogue of in the book of Psalms offers King David as a faithful heroes including the prophets, some singularly penitent David in the face of his of whom were “sawn in two.” We see the double sin of adultery with Bathsheba and story of Isaiah’s murder explicitly in the murder of Uriah, a contravention of two of the first verse of the first century CE “Lives of great ten commandments. Moreover, the nar- the Prophets,” which reads: “Isaiah, from rative recounting both David’s episode with Jerusalem, died under Manasseh by being Bathsheba and Nathan’s subsequent accusa- sawn in two, and was buried underneath the tion of him in 2 Sam 11-12 would have been Oak of Rogel, near the place where the path ideal texts to draw upon for an ideal penitent. crosses the aqueduct whose water Hezekiah In the Bible, David is depicted as the most shut off by blocking its sources.”10 So, too pious of kings in the DtrH, who offers more in the oldest part of the Martyrdom and As- prayers than any other character. Moreover, cension of Isaiah, Isaiah in fact prophesies confronted with his misdoing, David ac- his own death at Manasseh’s hands during knowledges his wrongdoing forthrightly, “I the reign of Manasseh’s father, King Heze- have sinned,” and accepts his due punishment. kiah.11 Ascen. Isa. 5: 1-5 recounts in rather So why Manasseh instead of David? A more gruesome detail Isaiah’s death by partial answer was provided above. Manasseh woodsaw at the hand of Manasseh, who was was an idolater and as such could serve as a said to be inspired by the evil spirit of Beliar reassurance to errant Christ-followers who rooted in his heart. Both Babylonian and had strayed from the path in observing Jewish Jerusalem Talmuds preserve similar depic- practices. To put the case more strongly, Ma- tions of Manasseh. Manasseh’s list of sins nasseh’s rehabilitation along with the peniten- are expanded in 2 Baruch which recounts tial practices described served as a kind of Israel’s history in terms of contrasting virtu- counter-discourse to his general reputation in ous and wicked leaders. While 2 Bar. 64-65 other Jewish tradition of the time.8 mentions Manasseh’s prayer, the passage asserts that God did not listen to his prayer, MANASSEH because Manasseh’s fate was already cast. IN THE PSEUDEPIGRAPHA In the rejection of Manasseh’s prayer, 2 Ba- Manasseh was not, shall we say, embraced ruch is in accord with the targum to 2 in the bosom of Jewish tradition. Manasseh Chronicles 33, in which the angels are said

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 9 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______to have tried to prevent God from hearing bonds, as they were deserving. But do Manasseh’s prayer, so incensed were they at not therefore lay them upon yourself; his behavior. Josephus’ Antiquities is one of for our Savior came for no other cause the few Jewish accounts that draws a more but to fulfil the Law and to set us sympathetic portrait of Manasseh in drawing loose from the bonds of the Second Law. from both accounts in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, but in the main, the consensus There is another such clear statement of verdict in Jewish tradition was that Manas- supercessionism in chapter 26 of the Didas- seh was an anti-exemplar, distinctly not calia, a chapter titled, “On the bonds of the worthy of emulation. Second Law of God,” which states even more explicitly that “[Jesus] renewed, ful- THE PRAYER IN THE CONTEXT filled, and affirmed the Law; but the Second OF THE DIDASCALIA: Legislation he did away with and abolished. THE “SECOND LAW” For indeed it was to this end that he came, that he might affirm the Law and abolish the With this suggested notion of “counter- Second Legislation and fulfill the power of discourse” in mind, let us consider now the human free will, and show forth the resurrec- “Second Law” also called “Deuterosis” in tion of the dead.”12 If these descriptions of the Greek text of the Apostolic Constitu- anti-nomianism are not sufficient to convey tions, referred to in the Syriac of the Didas- the anti-Jewish position of the author, it is calia by tenyān nāmōsā. In considering the also evident in the designation used for Jews. idea of the “second law” we must take into The point to be made is that the term “the account not only its use in the Didascalia, Jews” or “Israel” is never used outside of but also the resonance of this term in Jewish scriptural quotations. Rather, there are singu- and Christian discourse generally of this era. lar references to the “former people” as in Given the name of the fifth book of the Pen- this verse from the beginning of Chapter 9: tateuch, one might expect the “Second Law” “Hear these things then, you laity also, the to refer to the contents of Deuteronomy in elect Church of God. For the former people which Moses recounts the Sinai law-giving was also called a church, but you are the to the next generation of Israelites on the catholic church, holy and perfect, ‘a royal plains of Moab. This is not so. Within the priesthood, a holy assembly, a people for Didascalia itself, the “Second Law” is un- inheritance, the great church, the bride derstood as that part of the law delivered adorned for the Lord God.” The chapter con- after the idolatrous episode of the worship tinues in that vein, stressing the newly elect of the golden calf in Exodus 32. The second status of the church in its replacement of Is- chapter of the Didascalia includes the fol- rael’s institutions with its own. lowing exhortation: This is not to say that there was a single

So the first law is that which the Lord mind in early Christianity about the role of God spoke before the people had the law in the life of Judaism and Christian- made the calf and served idols, which ity. The Didascalia’s understanding of the consists of the Ten words and the law as comprising two separate and distinct Judgements. But after they had served parts of the Sinai legislation stands in con- idols, he justly laid upon them the trast with other early Christian understand- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 10 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______ings of the law. In Gal 3:24-25, we see ob- utes that were not good and ordinances by servance of torah as a custodian or helpful which they could not live.” He does not discipline until the advent of Christ makes mention the subsequent verse in Ezekiel, its practice no longer necessary. This per- which as we will see, is relevant to our dis- spective is later echoed in the writing of cussion of Manasseh who was said to have Irenaeus. Or to take another perspective, in sacrificed his sons by immolating them. the Epistle of Barnabas, the nature of the Ezek 20:26 reads: “I defiled them through whole law is asserted to be misunderstood their very gifts, in their offering up all their by the Jews. Barnabas makes no division firstborn, in order that I might horrify them, within the narrative frame of scripture itself, so that they might know that I am the Lord.” but holds only that the true meaning of the The “laws that were not good” were law is its spiritual or allegorical sense. The understood to be the “second law”, that is, letter of James, dismissed by Martin Luther the law given to Moses after his second trip as that “most strawy epistle,” offers yet an- up Mt. Sinai. Van der Horst argues that such other view, the most law-affirming of all. an anti-Jewish reading of Ezekiel 20: 25 had But we are still left wondering how such already begun in the final decades of the an understanding of a dual Sinai legislation second century in which the stakes were should develop. A straight narrative reading high for claiming the position of the Jews as of Exodus 32 and following does not sup- the covenanted people of God. Irenaeus is port such a reading, because in fact, the re- the first to draw such an interpretation in his newed covenant that God makes with Israel Adversus Haereses (4.15.1). Quoting not in Exodus 34 on the second set of tablets only Ezek 20:25, but a long passage from includes not only the “ten words” or the dea- Acts 7: 38-43, in which Israel’s worship of calogue but much more legislation. There is the golden calf is portrayed as a spiritual no indication whatsoever that God imposes return to Egypt, Irenaeus depicts the com- the renewed covenant with its gift of law as mandments as an intentional punishment for a punishment for idolatry, but rather, God their sins. While Irenaeus’s interpretation seems to have been softened by the pro- may have predated the Didascalia, our au- phetic intercession of Moses in this regard thor pressed the “second law” concept to his and restores the law tablets as a gift to the full advantage in making his rhetorical case. people. We should now return to a point made The origins and evolution of the Didas- earlier in the paper, which was to note the calia’s construal of the “second law” are not extensive use of Ezekiel in chapters six and completely clear and a thorough considera- seven of the Didascalia. There is also a quo- tion is not possible here, but Pieter van der tation of Ezek 20:25 in the twenty-sixth Horst has drawn attention to a verse in Eze- chapter of the Didascalia with its condem- kiel 20 that helps to understand its origins. nation of the second law. In contrast to the According to van der Horst, the “second Christian deployment of the prophet Eze- law” is rooted in a reading of the account of kiel, Pieter van der Horst has pointed out the the apostasy of the golden calf in Exod 32 significance of the spare use in general of coupled with the exilic prophetic text from Ezekiel in Jewish texts among the rabbis.13 Ezekiel 20:25: “Moreover I gave them stat- Although Ezekiel 1 and 10 were drawn upon

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 11 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______for apocalyptic and esoteric writings, Eze- dascalia, so too, an important living dimen- kiel does not figure prominently in rabbinic sion of the “law” as practiced in the Jewish writings. Van der Horst also suggests the community is effaced by the author of the rabbinic dispute over Ezekiel’s inclusion in Didascalia. No mention is made of the de- the Bible. What was, if not anathema, then velopment of the legal tradition, the ongo- questionable scripture, among the Jewish ing mishnah authorized by the learned lead- community, became an important source for ers of the Jewish community. It is likely the the aims of this Christian or Jewish- rabbis as the bearers of the halakhic tradi- Christian author of the Didascalia in repudi- tion would possess a similar status and level ating Judaism. Whether the status of Ezekiel of authority within their community as the in rabbinic Judaism was actually a result of bishops in the Christian community who are this Christian polemic, is a question we will addressed in the document. Thus what is leave unanswered for now. left unstated about the “second law” may be But whereas we have one construal of as important as understanding what is ex- the “second law” or Deuterosis, that obtains plicitly said about it in the Didascalia in in the Didascalia, we must consider the terms of understanding its rhetorical force resonance of this legal language in the lar- among culturally literate Jews, Christians, ger Jewish discursive context. Up to this and Jewish-Christians. In its rhetoric, the point, we have been using the Greek term Didascalia thus suggests both that the post- “Deuterosis” or an English translation golden calf Sinai legislation is null and “second law.” Connolly suggests that the void, but also that the oral halakhic tradition notion of the Greek Deuterosis is derived of the rabbis which would about this time from the shanah, the repetition of the law come to roost in writing in the Mishnah was understood to be part and parcel of the oral similarly obsolete. tradition of reciting the law in Jewish tradi- tion.14 The Syriac translator of the original THE USE OF THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH WITHIN THE Greek used the term tenyān nāmōsā, or CONTEXT OF THE DIDASCALIA “repetition (or double) of the Law,” which in fact is the Syriac title of the book of In establishing contexts for the Prayer of Deuteronomy, taken from the Greek Manasseh, we have now reviewed the role δευτερονοµιον. The contrast to “mishnah”, of the Prayer in its more immediate literary that which is repeated orally, the tradition context in chapters six and seven of the Di- of the rabbis, then, would be “miqra’”, that dascalia, its larger context with the church which is read aloud from what is written. If document as a whole, and the broader liter- we are to understand the Syriac use of the ary contextual environment which it inhab- term tenyān nāmōsā, as actually rendering ited as part of traditional Jewish and Chris- the usual sense of “mishnah” in Jewish tra- tian scriptural interpretations such as we dition, then what we see in the Didascalia reviewed in the pseudepigrapha, targums, may be a usurpation of that halakhic prac- and New Testament. It remains to make tice in the Syriac Jewish community.15 some tentative suggestions about the Didas- Just as “Israel” or the Jews as a living calia’s social context and function in the life community of people is effaced in the Di- of the early Syriac Christian community.

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Perhaps because it seems self-evident, to as a bema in one of Ephrem’s works little has been said in scholarship about how (eighth memra on Nicomedia) and corrobo- the Didascalia was actually used in antiq- rated by later sources making the North Syr- uity. In his introductory essay on the Prayer ian churches distinct from the churches of of Manasseh, James Charlesworth says only mainland Syria in which the ambo was the this: “Its appearance in the Didascalia (3rd central feature of the church. He suggests a cent. A.D.) and especially in the Apostolic relationship between the plan of these North Constitutions (4th cent. A.D.), a manual for Syrian Churches and that of the synagogues instruction in the post-Nicene Church, re- as they existed in Palestine and the Diaspora: veals that the Prayer of Manasseh was from “At least from the second-third century C.E. early times used ecclesiastically.”16 some synagogues were provided with plat- Charlesworth’s statement is doubtless true, forms that were intended for the reading and but not helpful in its vague generalization the explanation of the Scriptures, i.e., the because it isolates the Christian community Torah and the Prophets, and what is still from its pagan and Jewish surroundings and more striking they were called bemas.”18 influences. Questions remain about how We know from later commentaries on exactly the Didascalia was read, who heard the liturgy that the first part of the Eucharist, it, how frequently and how it thus shaped that is, the liturgy of the word, the reading, (or did not) those who heard its rhetoric. preaching and singing of scripture in psalms, Without overt description of the Didas- was offered on the bema, before the clergy calia’s use in any of our sources from antiq- descended to the altar for the liturgy of the uity, the answers to these questions must sacrament. While the Didascalia makes no remain tentative. In any case, it is possible reference to the actual building in which to proffer one suggestion rooted in the ob- worship took place, in chapter 10 there is servations by Gerard Rouwhorst about Jew- clear reference to two parts of the service, ish liturgical traditions in early Syriac Chris- the first referred to as “the word” and the tianity.17 Although we cannot pinpoint either second referred to as “the prayer” in which the geographical provenance of the Didas- communion is offered. Didascalia chapter calia or its subsequent circulation after com- 10 makes clear that unrepentant sinners position, the general consensus would have might participate in the first part of the ser- it in northern Syria, in which region lived a vice, the liturgy of the word, but only repen- sizable Jewish community, a community tance, confession, and conversion could al- moreover that may have been bilingual, us- low entrance into the Eucharistic assembly. ing both Greek and Syriac. A second point of significance is the Rouwhorst points out two features of lectionary tradition among Syriac-speaking Jewish influence on early Syriac Christian- Christians which from the majority of ac- ity. One is in the architecture of churches in counts included two readings from the Old north Syria. In these, he notes the absence of Testament, and two from Christian writings. the usual seats for clergy in the apses of the Drawing from several Syriac sources, the building. Rather, seats for clergy are found so-called Doctrine of the Apostles, the Apos- in the middle of the nave, which contained a tolic Constitutions, as well as the Doctrine large, walled-in platform, which is referred of Addai, we learn of the following four dis-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 13 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______tinct readings: “the Torah, or (Old Testa- few ways. First, in its immediate context of ment), the Prophets, the Gospel, and the chapters six and seven, the Prayer and the Acts of the Apostles.” What is intriguing is story of Manasseh serve as a model for the that specific books are not specified but the penitent sinner for even the worst sins imag- authors are presumed, the Torah inable. The Didascalia offers Manasseh to (presumably issuing from Moses), the the bishops as an example of the efficacy of Prophets with their unique authority, the repentance as part of a penitential process, Gospels which are each attributed to one of even to those convicted of the worst sin, four disciples of Jesus, and the apostolic idolatry. As part of a tale of “olden days” witnesses. the Prayer of Manasseh is not overtly litur- It seems plausible that the fourth source gical, though the puzzling inclusion of the mentioned, “the Acts of the Apostles,” superscription strongly hints at another life might also include readings from such so- outside the Didascalia. As these chapters called “pseudo-apostolic” “church teaching are addressed to bishops, we might venture documents” as the Didascalia Apostolorum to say as well that the prayer was employed or the Apostolic Tradition or the Apostolic in penitential practices at that time within Constitutions. In this way, the Syriac the church, and depending on its first com- Church would be in continuity with reading poser, perhaps it was used in Jewish pen- the letters of Paul in the Churches, letters titential practice prior to that. Yet the docu- that dealt with concrete problems that vari- ment as a whole, or in chapters, may well ous congregations were having. If such sup- have been read regularly as part of the lit- positions are correct, then portions of the urgy of the word, the first half of the weekly Didascalia, including polemic against the worship gathering in the churches. Because “second law” and exhortations to penitence the Didascalia is addressed to the entire akin to that of King Manasseh, would have Christian community, its exhortatory role been heard regularly in the churches in order would extend not just to the leaders, but to to safeguard their membership and to build those in the congregation who were tempted walls between competing Jewish communi- to continue their Jewish practice and partici- ties in hopes of solidifying a contested Chris- pation in the Jewish community. The Didas- tian identity through counter-discursive texts calia relies heavily on the positive portrait and practices. of Manasseh in Chronicles’ counter- discourse as fully redeemed sinner, rather CONCLUSION than on the traditional Jewish view of Ma- nasseh as idolatrous prophet-slayer. The Having ventured a bit far afield and on less practice of penitence, which as rituals nor- firm ground in order to contextualize the mally do, likely preceded its justification Prayer of Manasseh within its broadest con- through written text, also shaped the way in text, it is necessary to bring together a few which the story of Manasseh was appropri- threads of the argument in summary. The ated from the various scriptural traditions use of the Prayer of Manasseh in the Didas- available to the author of the Didascalia. calia sheds light on inter-religious polemic We thus see the fluidity of “biblical canon” as a counter-discourse that functions in a still in the third century.

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Within the context of the Didascalia thor/compiler of the Didascalia would not itself, we hear the Prayer of Manasseh in let such individuals have it both ways. The relation to the condemnation of the so-called closeness of the communities of Jews and “second law” of the Jews. If we can assume Christians, their shared use of some texts and that the Didascalia Apostolorum was regu- traditions, and contested identities, also larly read in churches as part of the liturgy of caused a threat. In the face of such perceived the word, part of the “Acts of the Apostles,” danger to community cohesion, it was we can also hear the Prayer of Manasseh as “either/or” never “both/and” among some of part of the larger rhetorical world of Judaism the leadership. There is no effacing the leg- and Christianity in antique Syria, in which acy for Jewish-Christian relations in subse- leaders of the Church were working hard to quent centuries of such stark rhetoric and retain members in the face of competing antagonism so clearly inscribed in the third temptations for Judaizers attracted to the century, but continued critical examination worship life of synagogues as well as contin- of such sources may help to shape a future of ued participation in other aspects of Jewish clearer mutual understanding for those community life of northern Syria. The au- standing in such living streams of tradition.

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NOTES

1 This is reflected in the Didascalia’s admo- (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000). nitions to believers not to follow the “second 3 Translations from the Didascalia in the law.” The Didascalia contains a conception of article, except where noted, are adapted from two givings of the law: the first was the Deca- Arthur Vööbus, The Didascalia Apostolorum in logue; the second contained the cultic and ritual Syriac I (CSCO 401/402; Leuven: Peeters: 1979) legislation that was given as punishment after with occasional consultation for felicitous style the incident with the Golden Calf. For a discus- to the edition of R. Hugh Connolly, Didascalia sion of the “second law,” see Pieter van der Apostolorum: the Syriac version translated and Horst, “I Gave Them Laws that Were not Good: accompanied by the Verona Latin fragments Ezekiel 20:25 in Ancient Judaism and Early (Oxford: Clarendon, 1929; repr. 1969) on whom Christianity,” in Hellenism, Judaism, Christian- Vööbus too was reliant. ity: Essays on their Interaction (Kampen: Kok 4 Vööbus, Didascalia, 50-51 Pharos, 1994), 122-145, esp. 138-40. For the 5 There are few textual variants among the evidence on dating the Didascalia, see F.X. major Syriac and Greek manuscripts. The most Funk, Die Apostolische Konstitutionen, Didas- significant occurs in verse 7. The earliest calia et Constitutiones Apostolorum (2 vols.; Peshitta manuscript dates from the ninth century Paterdorn: Schoeningh, 1905) 1:50-54. and preserves a form only slightly different from 2 The work of Hindy Najman has caused me the Syriac of the Didascalia; for a review of the to reflect in greater depth on the role of exemplars Syriac manuscripts of Pr Man, see the introduc- in early Judaism; see her “How Should We Con- tion to the “Prayer of Manasseh” in The Old Tes- textualize Pseudepigrapha? Imitation and Emula- tament in Syriac According to the Peshitta Ver- tion in 4 Ezra,” in Flores Florentino: Dead Sea sion Part 4/fasc. 6 (ed. W. Baars and H. Schnei- Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour der; Leiden: Brill, 1972), ii-vii. of Florentino García Martínez (ed. A. Hilhorst, E. 6 For discussions of the use of this formula Puech, E. Tigchelaar; JSJSup, Leiden: Brill, forth- within the Bible, see J. Scharbert, coming). From a different perspective, the work “Formgeschichte und Exegese von Ex 34:6-7 of Adolf Lumpe remains a touchstone, und seiner Pallelism,” Biblica 38 (1957) 130- “Exemplum” RAC 6.1229-1257 and informed my 150; Robert C. Dentan, “The Literary Affinities earlier work on positive and negative exempla of Exodus XXXIV 6f.” VT 13 (1963) 34-51; and found abundantly in early Jewish literature, par- Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in An- ticularly in prayers; see J.H. Newman, Praying by cient Israel (New York: Oxford University Press, the Book: The Scripturalization of Prayer in Sec- 1985), 335-350. For a discussion of its early ond Temple Judaism (SBLEJL 14, Atlanta: Schol- interpretation, see James L. Kugel, Traditions of ars Press, 1999), esp. 159-172. There has been the Bible (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University much scholarship in recent years on the role of Press, 1998), 721-727. saints, hagiography, and other ritual practices in 7 The assertion that idolatry is the worst of forming Christians in late antiquity; an influential sins is not a unanimous perspective in Christian- work in this regard is Peter Brown’s “The Saint as ity or Judaism. We might contrast this view with Exemplar in Late Antiquity,” in Saints and Vir- the author of Jubilees, in which it is intermar- tues (ed. J. Hawley; Berkeley: University of Cali- riage. In Jub. 33:20 such a high degree of value fornia Press, 1987), 1-14; and a more recent study, is placed on preservation of the people of Israel Georgia Frank, The Memory of the Eyes: Pilgrims as a holy seed that intermarriage is considered to Living Saints in Christian Late Antiquity the worst pollution, “because Israel is a holy

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 16 Three Contexts for Reading Manasseh’s Prayer in the Didascalia ______nation to the Lord his God, and a nation of in- 1133-1149. “Laws that were not good,” 99. heritance, and a nation of priests, and a royal 14 See the discussion of Connolly, Didas- nation and a special possession. And there is calia, lvii-lxix. nothing which appears which is as defiled as this 15 In a related vein, Charlotte Fonrobert has among the holy people.” referred to the Didascalia as a “counter-Mishnah” 8 I use the idea of counter-discourse as em- for the followers of Jesus. She argues the case that ployed by Carol Newsom in her work on the the Didascalia itself represents “one of the voices Community Rule (1QS) and the Hodayot from of Judaism” at a time when the construction of Qumran. The term discourse, following Fou- Christian and Jewish identities were still in flux. cault, comprises the intermeshed world of text She argues cogently that the spectrum of Jews and and social, or in the case of Pr Man, ritual, prac- Christians inhabit the same “discursive space” tices; see her The Self as Symbolic Space: Con- desiring to claim the authority of the scriptural structing Identity and Community at Qumran tradition to support their rival claims to ortho- (STDJ 52; Leiden: Brill, 2004), esp. 23-76. praxis or orthodoxy. Less convincing is her argu- 9 See y. Sanh. 10 (28c.37); b.Yebam. 49b, ment that the compilers of the Didascalia knew of Apoc. Ab. 25, Jos. Ant. 10.3.2. a compiled Mishnah and were consciously writing 10 The passage about Isaiah is concerned not in order to counter its role in a Jewish community so much with Manasseh’s treatment of the given the considerable differences in genre be- prophet as with the connection of Isaiah to the tween the two. Whereas she rightly suggests a miracle of the ever-flowing Siloam spring and degree of fluid community identity, she wrongly Isaiah’s role in safeguarding Jerusalem and its assumes a degree of stability and canonicity with water source through prayer during the reign of scriptural texts than was the case, given our as- Hezekiah and the Assyrian onslaught. The al- sessment of the non-“biblical” story of Manasseh most off-handed mention of Isaiah’s death at in chapters six to seven. She does not consider the Manasseh’s hands may well suggest its already issue of the Didascalia’s composition but ana- secure position in Jewish tradition by this point. lyzes it as a unified composition, nor more signifi- 11 By Michael Knibb’s assessment, Ascen. cantly from the perspective of understanding the Isa. 1:1-3:12 and 5:1-16 comprise the oldest origins of the Prayer of Manasseh, does she ad- parts of the work which are no later than the first dress the notion of the independent circulation of century CE but probably earlier; “Martyrdom parts of the Didascalia prior to its redaction; and Ascension of Isaiah,” OTP 2:149-150. Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, “The Didascalia 12 In Connolly’s words, “To the author of Apostolorium: A Mishnah for the Disciples of the Didascalia, the Deuterosis was something of Jesus,” JECS 9 (2001) 483-509. which the only fulfillment lay in its complete 16 “Prayer of Manasseh,” OTP 2:632. abrogation. He definitely excludes it from fulfill- 17 Gerard Rouwhorst, “Jewish Liturgical ment;” Didascalia, lxii. Traditions in Early Syriac Christianity,” VC 51 13 Van der Horst cites E. Dassmann’s work (1997) 72-93. “Hesekiel,” RAC 14 (1988) 1132-1191, especially 18 Ibid., 76.

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NARSAI’S DEPENDENCE ON THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA

FREDERICK MCLEOD ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY

arsai stands out as the preemi- a much wider vein, more interested in the nent theologian among the fifth- overall spiritual and occasionally polemical century East Syrian Christians. themes that a scriptural passage might con- N While acknowledged as an ar- tain or suggest. In today’s context, Theodore dent defender of Theodore of Mopsuestia would be viewed as a systematic theologian, and hailed as both the founder of the School and Narsai a gifted, poetic popularizer.3 of Nisibis and an unusually skilled poet, Because our time is limited, I intend almost no attention has been paid—until now to restrict my comments to two areas recently—to his writings and to his person. where both Theodore and Narsai can be Fortunately, some 80 of his homilies are clearly shown to be close, if not identical, in extant,1 but with only a few having been their thought, despite their other differences. translated into modern languages. These The first will treat in detail how they under- nevertheless provide more than ample stand Adam and Christ’s humanity to be grounds for justifying the critical judgement God’s “image.” This will provide insight that Narsai is indeed a committed follower into how they both interpret scriptural texts of Theodore of Mopsuestia’s christological and how they understand salvation as a thought and well honored with the title “the transformation from a state of earthly mor- Harp of the Spirit.”2 To spell out in some tality, to one of immortality as well as how detail how Narsai mirrors Theodore’s out- baptism plays a central role in this drama. look will now be the object of this paper. The second stress will center on the mean- While Theodore and Narsai overlap in ing Theodore and Narsai attach to the chris- their theological positions, they do differ in tological terms that they use to express their purposes, styles and the audiences to Christ as being one person (prosôpon/ and for whom they were writing. Theodore parsôpâ) with two hypostaseis/qnôme and was a biblical theologian who wrote well- two natures (physeis/kyane). Afterwards we reasoned commentaries in Greek that re- will expand upon this to illustrate how their mained faithful to what any given Scripture functional understanding has impacted upon text actually states. While Narsai followed their usual ways of speaking about Christ. In Theodore’s literal, historical and rational developing these points, we will discover method of interpreting Scripture, he wrote in how Theodore and Narsai enrich our under-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 18 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______standing of what each other holds, espe- truth, but also by his teaching instructed cially Theodore’s influence upon Narsai’s churches far distant.”8 Two years later in understanding of Christ. But first, they need 451 the fathers at the council of Chalcedon to be placed in their own historical relation- restored Ibas to his see. At his rehabilitation, ship to one another. he insisted that his letter praising Theodore be read to the council as a probative sign 9 THE HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP that he as well as his letter were orthodox. Ibas is also credited with having played a Theodore lived from ca. 350 to 428, mostly pivotal role in translating Theodore’s works at Antioch, possibly staying at Tarsus with from Greek into Syriac.10 The point here is Diodore from ca. 383 to 3924 and later on that Narsai would have known of Ibas’ de- until his death at Mopsuestia as its bishop.5 fense of Theodore during the time he spent Narsai’s life span may have briefly over- at Edessa and doubtless read Theodore’s lapped with Theodore’s—depending on works in Syriac.11 whether Narsai lived 90 or 100 years and This brief historical summary is meant whether he was born about 400 or ca. 410 to to focus attention on how Narsai doubtless 420.6 We know that he was raised in the came into contact with Theodore’s writings Persian empire, studied at Edessa (then un- and thought during the formative years of der Byzantine control) and eventually be- his life. But not only was Narsai acquainted came the head of the Persian school there with Theodore’s works, he also affirms how for twenty years until he was forced to flee firmly committed he was to Theodore’s for safety to the Persian empire. With the thought and his method of interpretation: assistance of Bishop Barsauma, he founded a school at Nisibis that soon became the in- All who have grown rich from the tellectual and religious center and a source treasure of his books have been very of vocations for the East Syrians in the Per- well rewarded and have acquired an ability to interpret as he has done. I sian empire. As regards what most interests who learned [to do] this in a stammer- us, Narsai lived—at least for some time at ing way have learned from him, and Edessa either as a student or the head of its by my involvement with him I have school or both—when Ibas was the bishop acquired a way to be involved in the there from 436 to 457.7 The fathers at the study of [scriptural] words. I consider Second Council of Ephesus condemned Ibas [my] study of him has guided me to in 449 for being a staunch defender of Theo- [interpret rightly] what has been writ- 12 dore, citing as evidence Ibas’ controversial ten (there). letter to Mari the Persian in which he praises “the blessed Theodore [as] a preacher of the THEODORE’S AND NARSAI’S truth and teacher of the faith [as] he not only METHOD OF INTERPRETING subdued the heretics by the true faith while SCRIPTURE alive, but also after his death he left behind in his writings spiritual weapons to the chil- Theodore is acknowledged as one of the two dren of the Church…who through zeal for outstanding biblical interpreters in patristic God not only changed his city from error to times, Origen being the other. He is recog-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 19 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______nized as the foremost proponent of the An- thor of the Scriptures, he believes that what- tiochene literal, historical and rational ap- ever God reveals there must be true. This proach to exegesis, while Origen is ac- became a major concern for Diodore and claimed as the leading exponent of a Chris- Theodore when the emperor Julian in the tian allegorical interpretation. Many factors early 360’s attacked the Christian Scriptures likely influenced Theodore in arriving at his as being mythic creations whose value lay in final hermeneutical stance, specifically his their underlying universal philosophical rhetorical education, his training in the An- meanings. Julian claimed that the Christian tiochene tradition under Diodore, his own Scriptures ought to be interpreted for their temperament and the evolution within his hidden spiritual meanings as the philoso- own thought.13 He believed that his method phers were doing with Homer. In his Reply was the best way to interpret what God was to the Emperor Julian,15 Theodore sought to revealing in a divinely inspired Scripture. justify the Gospels as having an actual basis He insisted that the only assured way to in fact. He realized that a faith commitment know God’s real intent was to center on ought to be based on what has truly hap- what the words explicitly state and mean in pened. A contemporary issue may help to the text itself.14 He, however, was not a fun- exemplify why Theodore was so adamant on damentalist. For he admitted that words can this point. Today many believe that Christ’s have a metaphorical as well as a strictly lit- bodily resurrection was a figment of Peter’s eral sense. While he was opposed to and imagination. While this happening cannot be rejected an allegorical interpretation, he was proven according to modern scientific his- open to the presence of a spiritual meaning torical methods, this does not mean that it when it arises out of a true typology. He did not actually occur. When a believer ac- disapproved of allegory because it employs cepts it as factually true, then one ought to the use of one’s imagination to discover a reflect on its implications, as St. Paul has meaning that may be inspiring but is, in fact, done, to realize its full significance for one’s wholly subjective, lacking any rationally life and one’s relationship to God. acceptable way to prove itself. Who is to say While Narsai faithfully adheres to Theo- that this possibility rather than innumerable dore’s literal, historical and rational methods other imaginative ones is what God intends? of interpreting the Scriptures, he applies In other words, Theodore insists on a stan- these in a different way because his purpose, dard that interpreters can agree upon as not medium of expression and audience are not merely explaining a text but justifying it in a the same as Theodore’s. Narsai’s metrical way that reasonable people can agree as to homilies are written in verse form with a what a text is actually asserting in its own greater thrust aimed at instructing, exhorting context. This is what he means by a literal and defending a scriptural message than interpretation. Theodore’s close theological scrutinizing of Besides seeking a meaning that can be lines or passages that are difficult to inter- explicitly warranted by the wording of a pret. Because it is a vast undertaking to sub- text, Theodore insists that at least its narra- stantiate how Narsai depends upon Theo- tive parts must contain historical or factual dore’s exegetical method, and since our time information. Since God is the ultimate au- is circumscribed, I want chiefly to discuss at

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 20 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______this point two areas of dependence: namely, [united] to his body and likewise rational how Narsai mirrors Theodore’s understand- beings to his soul.”19 Theodore and Narsai’s ing of the ways Adam typifies Christ’s hu- understanding of “image” differs from that manity as God’s true “image”, and how the of most non-Antiochene Fathers who under- sacrament of baptism typifies the salvation stood “image” to be somehow spiritual and to be attained in an immortal heavenly exis- located in the human νοῦς. They argue that tence with God. the human body cannot image the transcen- The most striking and the easiest exam- dent Creator. Theodore, however, responds: ple to illustrate Narsai’s close dependence It is impossible that an image be made on Theodore is how Adam’s and Christ’s 16 such that it is not seen, since it is evi- humanity are God’s “image.” When com- dent that images are customarily made menting on the Genesis passage where among those who make them either Adam is said to be God’s “image,” Theo- for honor or affection, on this account dore affirms: so that they may be a remembrance of those unseen for those who neverthe- So also has the Artisan of creation less can see.20 made the whole cosmos, embellishing it with diverse and varied works and What is interesting for this study is how at the end established a human being Theodore and Narsai–and for that matter all to serve as the image for his house- the Antiochenes–accept what the Scriptures hold, so that all would render the explicitly state about Adam being made honor due to God by their care for and God’s image as a human being as such. veneration toward him.17 They reject the view of those who hold It is important to note that Theodore consid- “image” to be somehow a spiritual reflection ers “image” applicable not to Adam as an of God as not taking into account what God individual but to human nature as such has explicitly revealed in the text. Yet the whose head is Adam: Antiochenes differ among themselves. Dio- dore, John Chrysostom and Theodoret asso- So also when pondering upon God’s word, (Moses) interpreted ‘He made ciate the meaning of “image” with the au- the human being’ in a general sense, thority that God has bestowed upon humans 21 namely that it refers in a generical for rule over the material world. Since way to man and woman together. For Narsai follows Theodore’s rather than their after he said in the narrative account thought on this point, it is clear what is his that ‘God made a human being in the source. While Theodore and Narsai do not image of God,’ he added ‘He made deny that God’s bestowal of “image” upon them male and female,’ thereby Adam entails some authoritative role over [affirming] that the generic nature is material creation, they also teach that being what is designated.18 God’s “image” means that Adam has a reve- We see the same kind of generic under- latory and a binding role to play in the uni- standing in Narsai where he too applies verse.22 For Adam reveals God’s existence “image” to the whole human being: “The and will to the rest of creation and stands as Creator) depicted the power of His creator- the visible bond uniting the spiritual powers ship in him as an image, mute beings and the material world together as one, the

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 21 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______spiritual powers to his soul and the material will, all of creation experiences peace. world to his body, thus enabling them to be When, however, Adam sins, he undermines joined to God through their unity with hu- his dignity and role as God’s “image,” with mans: grievous repercussions for all. He is the cause of his human nature remaining mortal. Indeed the one universal bonding was seen to be made for this purpose: be- This in turn affects his offspring and all the cause of the kindred relationship that rest of creation. For what he does as head the universe has to the human being, affects the members of his body. When, all come together so that by their so- therefore, the human body separates from its licitous care they might render with soul at death, it also severs the bond, uniting one consent their worship due to the spiritual and material worlds with human 23 God. nature, depriving them thereby of their ap- Narsai is even more explicit in that he pointed way to be one with God in peace. links the revelatory role of “image” to that This chaotic situation appears to be utterly of the “bond” of the universe: hopeless to the angelic powers, although God provides throughout the Hebrew Testa- (God’s) nature is immeasurably more ment hopeful signs that He has chosen from than created things and does not pos- all eternity another to be his true perfect sess a visible image as mortals have. With the name of image, He has mag- “image.” nified His image so as to bind the Theodore sees the restoration of all universe in order that (all) might ac- creation coming through Christ. Likely quire love [for God] by knowing Him inspired by Colossians 1:13-20 and Ephe- by knowing His image. sian 2:13-22, Theodore accepts these pas- sages as affirming in a literal, historical Theodore and Narsai reflect the same way God’s own revelation of how salva- functional outlook on “image” that is not tion is to be attained through Christ as his only revelatory but mediating. For if all perfect “image” within creation. These creation is bound together in Adam’s human verses proclaim Christ to be His Son and nature, then he serves both as the head of all His visible “image” for whom, through creation uniting them among themselves and whom and in whom all things in heaven as their mediator with God. Narsai expresses and earth are bound and recapitulated as this well when affirming how Adam as well the head of his Body, the Church and the as Christ fulfills this role: head of all creation. Theodore appears Through a human being I accomplish then to have seen how St. Paul’s remark in My transcendent will, and I make him Romans 5:14 that Adam is a type of the to be the one mediator between Me one to come can be applied to the Scrip- and human beings. By his mediation I ture’s revelation that both Adam and show my love before all creatures, Christ are God’s “images.” As a type, just as I showed it in the fashioning Adam must possess similarities to Christ’s [of Adam] at the beginning of the archetypical and perfect role as God’s ages.24 visible “image.” However to grasp Theo- As long as Adam remains faithful to God’s dore’s and Narsai’s thought here, we need

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 22 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______to understand the relationship he sees ex- rooted in a reality that will take place in the isting between a true type and its archetype. future. Finally, Theodore requires a typical/ First, Theodore believed that a true type archetypical relationship to be explicitly ac- and its archetype had to be historical; that is, knowledged in the Scriptures. For God’s to both be real persons, events, places or revelation guarantees that a type will achieve situations that are actually existing, have its end. existed or will exist in the future. One of the If Colossians is accepted as the source reasons he rejected allegory is that the ar- of Theodore’s understanding of “image,” chetype would exist only in the imagination then it makes eminent sense that Theodore of the interpreter. This means that he re- (and later Narsai) attaches the notion of garded Adam and Christ to be real as well as bond to Adam’s role as “image.” For all his the two states of which they are heads. Sec- requirements for typology are met. Adam ondly, there must exist some real similarities and Christ qua man are both historical fig- between a type and its archetype, with the ures. So too is Adam’s role as “image” simi- archetype being the actual fulfillment of the lar to Christ’s, with Christ’s role being the type; in Theodore’s words: completion of Adam’s. Theodore expresses this when he is commenting on how “Christ This was the reason why he made a in the flesh” will recapitulate the universe: great number of dispositions in the Old covenant that the happenings both Therefore in our renovation when the provided the people of the time with interconnection of all creation is rein- the greatest benefit and also contained tegrated, our first fruits is Christ ac- a revelation of the developments that cording to the flesh in whom the per- would emerge later, as well as the fact fect and, as I have said, the compre- that the excellence of these latter hensive re-creation of all creatures would be seen to surpass the former. will be accomplished....Well, there- In this way the events in the former fore, did he state ‘in him are created times were found to be a kind of type all beings,’ not only because we have of what came later containing some all obtained through his deeds the outline of them as well as meeting promise of future benefits, but also needs at the time, while suggesting by because the perfect binding together the events themselves how far they of all beings will be preserved in him were inferior to the later ones.25 because of the divine nature dwelling Thirdly–and this is critical for understand- [within him], so that nothing can cut us off from what is common to us.26 ing the effects of baptism and the eucha- rist—there exists a dynamic bond existing In other words, for Theodore and Narsai, between and uniting the two in the sense “image” needs to be grasped as indicating that a type is like a seed being destined to how Christ’s humanity reveals the visible attain its flowering in its archetype. The rea- way that all creation can know and be united son for this certainty is that God is the Lord to God through the mediating role his hu- of history and can bring about its fulfillment manity plays because of its close union with in a mysterious but effective way. In this the Word of God. sense, a type can be said to have a spiritual Narsai likewise clearly affirms, as Theo- meaning but it is one that is dynamically dore does, the type/antitype relationship be-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 23 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______tween the roles of Adam’s and Christ’s hu- BAPTISM AS A TYPE manity as God’s visible “image”: Theodore and Narsai also refer to baptism He called the First Adam by the name and the eucharist as types and symbols. But of ‘image’ in a secondary sense, and because of our time limitation, we will dis- the ‘image’ was, in fact, in the Mes- cuss only baptism, though what we say is siah, the Second Adam. Thus [the applicable in general to the eucharist.29 In his words] “Come. Let us make man in our image” were fulfilled in that the Catechetical Homilies, Theodore is instruct- Creator took His ‘image’ and made it ing adults who are preparing for baptism, a dwelling place for his honor. The while Narsai is more interested in explaining promises to Adam came to be, in fact, the underlying meaning of the ritual in- in the Messiah; the one whom He volved. As Theodore affirms, those seeking called His ‘image’ but who was cor- to be baptized need instruction if they are to rupted has returned and been renewed understand what they are doing and entering 27 in the Messiah. into: “A revelation and an explanation are

Narsai also affirms that Christ’s humanity is required for these, if the one coming forward to receive [baptism] is to know the power of the mediating way for other humans and 30 angels in heaven to be joined with each these mysteries.” Theodore and Narsai do other and to be able to know, worship and this by showing how baptism fulfills what a be united with God: true type requires. First, one’s baptism and the heavenly resurrection it symbolizes are Angels and human beings will be actual events in the sense that Christ’s hu- united together by the yoke of his manity now enjoys immortal life with God— love, and they will celebrate him as a state that the baptized are assured too of the ‘image’ of the transcendent achieving if they remain faithful to the new King....They continually worship in life they received at baptism. There also ex- the temple of his body that One who ists a real similarity between the life attained is hidden in him and they offer at baptism and the future immortal life to be therein the pure sacrifices of their minds. In the haven of his body acquired in heaven. One’s baptismal life come to rest their thought impulses, shares even now in an inchoative, dynamic as they become worn out in search way the immortal life promised by the Holy of the incomprehensible hidden Spirit for a future heavenly life with God, in One. For this reason, the Fashioner Theodore’s words: “When we also receive of the universe chose him from the ‘the first fruits of the Holy Spirit’ by sharing universe, so that by his visible body in the mysteries, we believe that we already he might satisfy the need of the uni- exist in these realities;”31 and in a more ex- verse. A creature needs to search out plicit way: “(Believers) regard the first fruits what is hidden and discover its se- [to be] the small amount of grace [bestowed] cret meaning and intent. Because it in the present life [accepting them] as a con- is impossible that the hidden One’s 32 nature appear in an open way, He firmation of the things to come.” Narsai limited their inquiries to His visible expresses this too as being a certainty when ‘image’.28 he writes: “For what we possess in a myste-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 24 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______rious way by faith in the matter of types and way through baptism, Paul states that signs is assuring us that we will pass from we have also become a member of one [state] to the other.”33 Christ’s body because of our com- It is important to realize and stress that munion [with him] in his resurrection both Theodore and Narsai say that the im- the type of which we believe is being brought to fulfillment in baptism.36 mortal life a baptized person acquires and shares in ought to be considered as really Theodore insists that those baptized are as- existing on the level of a potentiality that is sured that they are no longer under the spell actively affecting one’s life in a radical way of Adam, the head of mortality, but are now here and now: “When one has become bap- under Christ, who is the head of an immortal tized and has received the [Spirit’s] divine life that the members of his Body now and spiritual grace, he has become totally share: “Therefore they will no longer be other in an absolute sense... The one who thought of as part of Adam but of Christ; descends into the water is reformed by the and they will no longer name Adam their grace of the Holy Spirit and is born again to head but Christ the one renewing them.”37 another superior human nature....You set Christ not only bestows a new life with the aside the former mortality and take on a na- Spirit but also nourishes those who are ture that is wholly immortal and incorrupti- members of his Body and unites them indi- ble.”34 Theodore likens this “new superior rectly to God because of his humanity’s me- nature” to the potentiality laying dormant in diating direct union with the Word: a new born baby: Therefore God the Word was united Just as one born of a woman pos- to His Father according to nature. So sesses the power to speak, hear, walk too through the union with Him, the and work with his hands but is now assumed man also receives a union completely undeveloped for all (these with the Father. And we in a similar actions), but afterwards with time he way with the natural union we have will receive these according to the with Christ in the flesh, receive, inso- divine decree. So likewise the one far as it can be done, a spiritual par- now born at baptism possesses in ticipation with him and become his himself all the power of an immortal body, [with] each one of us truly a and incorruptible nature and possesses member. So we hope to rise at the end all these, although he is not now capa- [of time] as he has, and be regener- ble of operating them and making ated into eternal life. So by going them work and act until the moment through him to God, we possess nec- that God has determined for us.35 essarily a family relationship with the 38 Connected with this idea of an inchoative Father. sharing in Christ’s immortal life is another result of baptism: to become bonded as a THEODORE AND NARSAI’S living member of Christ’s Body. Theodore UNDERSTANDING OF CHRIST’S relates this to his understanding of typology: PERSONAL UNION

Since we believe that we have been Theodore and Narsai are identical in their generated in these matters in a typical christological positions. This is especially

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 25 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______evident in the terms they use to describe the ity.43 The term physis signified “nature” but union. Theodore sums up his position thus: with all the unique properties belonging to it as this concrete nature and not another. For when we distinguish the natures (physeis), we assert that the nature of Ousia and physis can be generally differenti- God the Word is perfect and [His] ated as being the genus and the species. Yet prosôpon is perfect. For it is not it is not clear how the Fathers distinguished [possible] to affirm that there exists a between hypostasis and prosôpon in the hypostasis without a prosôpon. The Trinity other than the terms suggest the dif- human physis is perfect and likewise ference between the inner and outer aspects [its] prosôpon....But when we look to of an existing individual. When Cyril chose the union, then we say one hypostasis as the term to express the unity in prosôpon.39 Christ, this appears to have been an innova- Narsai asserts the same position, in a tion. Theodoret chided Cyril: “We are en- slightly different way: “Our Lord, it is said, tirely ignorant of the union according to a possesses two natures (kyane) and two hy- hypostasis regarding it to be alien and for- postases (qnômê) in one person (parsôpâ) of eign to the divine Scriptures and to the Fa- the Godhead.”40 In fact, Narsai is careful to thers who have interpreted them.”44 In other insist that he does not hold for the existence words, up to this time, hypostasis was a of two parsôpe in the sense of two individu- term used in trinitarian theology, not Chris- als: “I am not introducing two parsôpe like tology. It would appear that Cyril saw hy- the unjust do. The Word of the Father and postasis as a term that any and all human the Body41 which is from us—I know as beings could relate to as expressing a unity one.”42 When both Theodore and Narsai’s that they knew about from their own experi- statements are assessed together, their stance ence, specifically that a human being is one on the union is that there are two natures, and the same despite accidental changes. each with its own hypostasis and prosôpon Such an understanding of a person as a sub- united in one prosôpon. But what do they stantial unity Cyril saw would also justify mean by these terms, especially when they the position of the Nicene Creed when it state that two prosôpa become one asserts that the Word was born of the Virgin prosôpon—a statement that is certainly con- Mary, suffered and died. fusing, if not contradictory. While Cyril saw hypostasis as express- While there was a lack of clarity in the ing the substantial unity present in Christ, late fourth century as to what is exactly yet he initially failed to grasp fully that the meant by the christological terms, there was term connoted the presence of a rational a general agreement by the fifth century re- “nature.” It is only later that the terms garding the terms ousia and physis for “person” and “nature” were distinguished “nature,” and hypostasis and prosôpon for from one another. Nestorius and the Mono- “person,” though, of course, with nuances. physites, however, both understood Cyril’s After the Council of Nicaea, the Trinity was hypostasis as asserting there was only one regarded as having three hypostaseis and nature in Christ, that of the divinity.45 Even- prosôpa in one ousia, with ousia being the tually the Orthodox agreed to the formula fundamental substance of a specific real- that there was one Person (hypostasis) in

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Christ but with two complete natures has its own prosôpon, he simply means that (physeis). As regards the term prosôpon, every existing concrete nature can manifest Cyril avoided it as the Antiochenes did hy- itself externally according to its natural postasis. Cyril doubtless rejected the term powers.47 As such, it is a functional term in because it connoted the exterior appearance Theodore and Narsai’s Christology. of a person. He also suspected that Nesto- When, therefore, Theodore and Narsai rius’ willingness to affirm the presence of assert that the prosôpon of the Word and two hypostaseis in Christ meant that Nesto- that of Christ’s humanity comprise one com- rius held for two separate existing individu- mon prosôpon, they are simply affirming, als who are united under umbrella term as the Synoptics do, that Christ’s external, prosôpon in some sort of a moral union. visible acts are visibly revealing how his Doubtless reflecting Theodore’s thought, natures are inwardly acting together as one Nestorius exemplifies his understanding of reality. This means that a prosopic union all the christological terms by appealing to should be regarded as expressing not a per- the example of a king who exchanges his son in a metaphysical sense but rather the regal clothing for that of an ordinary sol- ways Christ’s human and divine wills can dier.46 The king’s ousia is his generic nature operate together as one in such a mysterious as a human being. Physis adds to ousia all way that one can rightly say there is truly that is proper to the king as this unique indi- one will and one “person.”48 In other words, vidual. Hypostasis then expands upon this, according to the way that Theodore and by denoting that this king is really existing Narsai conceive of the unity, the salvific within his own specific nature. The term roles that Christ plays throughout his earthly prosôpon primarily connotes the external life disclose the mystery of who he is in- aspects of a person. Nestorius brings out wardly as a true person. It highlights why a what is at the heart of prosôpon’s meaning functional, soteriological approach ought to when he distinguishes it from skêsis. The be joined to a metaphysical, Christological latter indicates what is the temporary ap- one. For both are necessary and essential to pearance that a person may have at this understand each other. time. In Nestorius’ example, the term signi- To summarize briefly, when Theodore fies how the king appears externally when asserts that Christ possesses two hypostaseis, he puts on an ordinary soldier’s attire. each with its own prosôpon, he is not affirm- Prosôpon, however, would denote how the ing two existing “persons” in Christ, but king’s actions reflect who he is as this par- rather the presence of two existing realities ticular king. It connotes how a nature will with their own natural properties and abilities manifest itself in ways wholly consonant to express these in outward ways.49 To high- with its nature, so that one can argue from light the difference between Theodore and one’s exterior deeds and speech to one’s Cyril’s approaches, it is helpful to see these inner self. While a person can deceive others in relationship to the various ways that the as to what is one’s true intent, still there term “person” is understood in our contem- does exist an essential relationship between porary culture. Some understand a “person” one’s outer and inner self. So when Theo- in a philosophical sense as a complete, in- dore states that each hypostasis and physis communicable, individual “substance” with

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 27 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______a rational nature. This metaphysical empha- sons of the Trinity are necessarily relating as sis is manifested in the abortion controversy Persons to each other, the humanity of today. Those insisting that a “person” is pre- Christ has been destined to find its fulfill- sent from the first moment of conception are ment as a person in the Person of the Word. convinced that the mass of cells formed The last two aspects of “person” are arbi- there with its own DNA and dynamic thrust trary moral and legal determinations towards growth fulfills the definition of a whereby a corporation is considered to be “person” in a substantial sense. Many reject like a person and can be treated as if it were this emphasis upon an individual “sub- morally responsible for its actions and can stance” because it cannot be seen and evalu- be sued. The other is exemplified today by ated in a true scientific way. Others prefer to the Roe v. Wade and Roe v. Bolton Su- hold that a “person” becomes known from preme Court decisions that have established his or her activity on the presumption that as a constitutional fact that a fetus is to be the outer nature of every person can func- considered a “person” with legal rights only tionally reveal one’s inner nature as a per- when it is viable outside his or her mother’s son. A person can also be understood to be womb. such in a psychological sense when an indi- Thus when one speaks of the meaning vidual is conscious in one’s ego of being a of “person,” one may emphasis one dimen- true unity and the source of one’s acts of sion or aspect but not necessarily reject an- reasoning and willing to the point of being other. For Cyril, hypostasis signifies the responsible for what one intends. When un- substantial union of the Word and Jesus in a derstood in this way, the Word as the Person metaphysical sense. Its value is that it shows of unity in Christ may be regarded as the that what is said of Jesus can be asserted of One who is the ultimate cause and/or source the Word; for example that the Word truly of Christ’s divine and human operations. suffered and died. But for Theodore and The central question then becomes whether Narsai, such a statement means that the the “ego” of the unity or the will of each Word has actually suffered in His divine nature is the principle of its own operations. nature. For they believe that the act of suf- “Person” can also be taken as it is in the fering belongs to Christ’s human nature and Trinity as a real relationship existing be- not to the Word’s hypostasis. Such a rejec- tween persons. This accentuates a necessary tion is understood by Cyril as a clear denial element often overlooked when speaking of of the substantial unity of Christ’s natures. the meaning of the term. “Person” is so Theodore and Narsai, on the other hand, stressed as a free, responsible individual that were totally convinced that to avoid confu- one can overlook that the idea of “person” sion over the natures, one ought to refer to contains an essential communal dimension the unity as “one common prosôpon.” For and that a “person” becomes a “true person” this signifies that the subject of unity must only in relationships with others. In other always include both natures somehow oper- words, a “person” is not merely a self- ating as one. This is why they insist on those sufficient individual but also one who must titles that express this functional unity relate to others in a family, community, and (presuming that in some mysterious way the society. Perhaps one can say that as the Per- divine and the human wills act as one will).

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This is conveyed by such titles as “Christ,” slave exists in the form of God, not the “Lord Jesus Christ,” the “assuming that the One assuming is the one as- One,” the “assumed one,” and, if Theodore sumed. The unity of the assumed one were aware of its use, the “Incarnate Word.” with the assuming One is inseparable, But while asserting this, Theodore and Nar- incapable of being sundered in any way.52 sai are adamant that human attributes can be applied only to Christ’s human nature and Narsai expresses the same outlook: not at all to the divine. For Christ’s human (The natures) are like the soul and the acts flow from his human nature, not his body which fit together and are called divine nature. Theodore justifies this by ap- one parsôpâ, the soul being the vivi- pealing to how the soul and body are differ- fying nature, and the body, the human ent natures50 but function as one: nature; and the two which are distinct from one another are called one When (Paul) spoke of the two natures parsôpâ. The Word is the nature of as two diverse realities, aptly accord- the divine essence, and the body the ing to the difference of natures, he human nature, one being the Creator posited this “I” [as belonging] to each and the other the creature.53 They are one of them as one; i.e., he speaks of one by their union… The soul does the two of them as [pertaining] to not suffer in the body when its limbs [his] common person (prosôpon). To are scourged, and the Divinity did not make known that he is speaking in suffer in the sufferings of the body in these instances not of one and the which it dwelt. If it is true that the same nature, he showed [this] by dis- soul which is something created like tinguishing his words.51 the body does not suffer, how then He expands upon what he means by the does the divine essence suffer whose need for distinctions: nature is exalted above passions? The soul suffers with the body in love and In the same way, even though some not by nature. And also the sufferings natures differ by nature, it [can] hap- of the body are predicated of the soul pen that they are truly united in an- in a secondary sense.54 other way. Thus they do not lose their distinction as natures [while still] hav- Narsai is holding here, as Theodore does, ing their own unity, just as the soul is that the soul and the body and the divine united to its body, [with] one human and human natures in Christ are each a real- being resulting from both… A human ity in se that can act fully according to its being in se is never affirmed to be in own natures without any diminishment and an absolute and proper sense to be one yet be considered truly one in the overall [the soul] or the other [the body], unity. They also regard a concrete nature to unless perhaps with some addition, such as an ‘interior man’ and an be the source of its own activity—as com- ‘exterior man,’ not a human being in monly accepted in regard to the Trinity an absolute sense but [one who is] where the activity of the triune Persons interior and exterior. So we also say flows from their common nature. How in the case of Christ our Lord, O Christ as a unified “person” can act in and amazing one, that the form of the through His two natures is the fundamental

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 29 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______mystery in Christology—an issue that the ture in Christ, the divine nature of the Word council fathers have not addressed in their and that the Word qua God can be said to definitions.55 have really been born of Mary and suffered on the cross. Since Theodore cannot sepa- CONCLUSION rate hypostasis from a concrete existing nature, he has opted rather for the phrase the Although limited in scope, the present paper “one common prosôpon” which should be has fleshed out two areas that corroborate understood as a soteriological approach to Narsai’s declared commitment to Theo- the mystery of who Christ is as a person. It dore’s exegetical and theological inspira- is the way that the Synoptics portray Christ tion.56 The first reveals how Narsai closely as acting as one in human and divine ways. followed Theodore’s literal understanding of Theodore and Narsai presume that their the functional ways Adam’s and Christ’s functional understanding of “person” accu- humanity serve as “images of God.” Both rately reflects the ways Christ’s two natures Theodore and Narsai accepted what the act and are one internally. The consequences Genesis and Colossians texts actually state of this, of course, reveal themselves in the about how Adam and Christ in the flesh ful- ways that Cyril and Theodore express how fill the roles of “image.” We have argued properties can be attributed to Christ. Theo- that they derived their views by regarding dore does allow that the “I” of the common Adam’s roles as “image” as a type of prosôpon can speak as one in divine and Christ’s humanity, which acts as the true, human ways insofar as it comprises both perfect, visible “image” of the invisible natures. But when one wants to speak of the Word. They both apply “image” to Adam’s natures separately, one must attribute human human nature in two ways: first, Adam as acts to the humanity and divine to the divine the head of mortal existence reveals the ex- nature. This explains why Theodore wants istence and will of God and serves as the to qualify Cyril’s statement that Mary is the visible way for other creatures to show their mother of God by asserting that she is the praise and worship of God by caring for hu- mother of Christ in whom the Word dwells. man needs, and second, Theodore connects This, of course, opens Theodore and Narsai Adam’s role as “image” with his nature’s to the charge that they have so separated the role as the bond uniting the spiritual powers natures that they have made Word and Jesus to his soul and the material worlds to his to be two completely different individual body and, in this recapitulating way, ena- “persons.” bling all to share in his union with God the In conclusion, this paper does not want Word.57 merely to sketch the dependence of Narsai Our second major area for comparison upon Theodore but also to indicate the rich- was Theodore and Narsai’s understanding of ness of their theological thought. Too often Christology. They reject or at least do not they are cited for their positions on Christ understand Cyril’s stress upon the term hy- and solely evaluated in light of Cyril’s postasis as the best way to express the union Twelve Anathemas and his understanding of of Christ’s natures. They believe that Cyril what the christological terms mean. Much is holding for the presence of only one na- more needs to be said beyond the limited

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 30 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______boundaries of this paper, especially regard- dore, Theodore and Nestorius. Unfortu- ing Narsai’s role in forming the Church of nately other Christian traditions—the Ortho- the East’s theological outlook and express- dox, the various non-Chalcedonian commu- ing this metrically in far-ranging spiritual nities and the Christian West—have failed themes. Narsai may not be an original theo- to fully understand the Church of the East’s logical thinker but he is certainly a gifted own rich tradition that stresses a functional, poetic composer who has assimilated Theo- soteriological Christology that is arguably dore’s thought and language and applied complementary to Cyril’s essentialist ap- them in his writings. He is a valuable source proach. Such a misunderstanding has re- too for understanding the Antiochene tradi- sulted in a centuries-long, tragic ecclesial tion as represented in the writings of Dio- separation and alienation.

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NOTES

1 Alphonse Mingana provides a listing of the 5 For a recent well-documented summary of homilies attributed to Narsai in his Theodore’s life and works, see Teodoro di Mop- “Introduction,” to Narsai doctoris syri homiliae suestia: Replica a Giuliano Imperatore, trans. et carmina, 2 vols., ed. A. Mingana (Mosul, Augusto Guida (Firenza: Nardini, 1994), 9-30. 1905), 1, 26-31. His two volume work, however, 6 Unfortunately scholars have had to draw does not include the memre that he considers to their biographical data on Narsai mainly from be doctrinally suspect. For a critical edition and two sixth century contemporaries who have the translation of five of these, see Frederick G. exact first name but are cited as coming from McLeod, ed. and trans., Narsai’s Metrical Homi- different cities: Barhadbšabba of Arbaye and lies on the Nativity, Epiphany, Passion, Resur- Barhadbšabba of Halwan. While these two ac- rection and Ascension, PO XL, 182 (Turnhout: counts agree, more or less, on the skeletal outline Brepols, 1979). For a discussion of the memre of Narsai’s life, scholars are frequently unable to manuscript history and a listing of the primary verify their details and, in fact, when these schol- sources about Narsai’s life and published studies ars compare their accounts with one another and about him up to 1979, see McLeod, 7-34. Wil- with other sources, they find them to be confus- liam Macomber provides a comprehensive list- ing and even contradictory. For an exhaustive ing of manuscripts containing Narsai’s memre in (but unpublished) dissertation study of all the his article “The Manuscripts of the Metrical sources dealing with Narsai’s life, see Ibrahim Homilies of Narsai,” OCP 39 (1973). Ibrahim Ibrahim (1-84). Ibrahim also examines all the Ibrahim, in his unpublished dissertation, La doc- internal evidence present in Narsai’s metric trine christologique de Narsai, Thoma Aquino, homilies as well as the opinions of those who Rome, 1974-75, offers brief summaries (97-222) have speculated on how to reconcile all the con- of all the memre in Mingana’s listing. He also flicting data about his life. Ibrahim believes that considers 84 and 85 as authentic and strongly Narsai was born ca. 415 in a village northeast of argues for Narsai’s christological orthodoxy. the present Mosul, went for schooling at Edessa 2 A. Scher, ed., Histoire Nestorienne in 422, returned to his uncle’s monastery in Ke- (Chronique de Seert, PO VII [Turnhout: Brepols, far-Mari around 441-442, spent another 10 years 1910]), 114. at Edessa, returning to Kefar-Mari for a year 3 The different emphases are even evident in after which he returned to Edessa to become the Theodore’s Catechetical Homilies and Narsai’s director of the school in 452. After being ex- most doctrinal works, his liturgical homilies. pelled sometime after 471, he then helped Narsai is more concerned to sum up and eluci- Bishop Barsauma to establish the School of Nisi- date the spiritual meaning contained in the ritual bis in the Persian empire. He died ca. 502-503. symbolism of baptism, whereas Theodore is 7 The fathers at the Second Council of Ephe- more interested in explaining the theological sus (better known as the “Robbers’ Council”) thought contained in the verses of the Nicene deposed Ibas in 449. He was restored to office in Creed, the “Our Father” and the sacraments of 451 at the Council of Chalcedon. baptism and the eucharist. 8 For an English translation of the letter, see 4 See the entry on “Theodore of Mopsuestia” Robert Doran, trans., Stewards of the Poor: The in Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Man of God, Rabbula, and Hiba in Fifth-century Sects, and Doctrines, ed. W. Smith and H. Wace, Edessa, Cistercian Studies 208 (Kalamazoo: IV (London: Murray, 1887). The articles is un- Cistercian, 2006), 171-72. signed but appears to have been written by H. B. 9 The Non-Chalcedonians regarded the fact Swete. that the fathers at Chalcedon accepted Ibas’ let-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 32 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______ter, when taken together with the language the Psaumes 138-148), CSCO, Scriptores Syri 190 fathers used to express their formula of faith, as (Louvain: Peeters, 1982), 1-18, esp. 10-18. clear proof that the Council was undoubtedly 15 See Augusto Guida, trans., Teodoro di Nestorian. In the sixth century when the emperor Mopsuestia: Replica a Guiliano Imperatore Justinian vainly attempted to reconcile the non- (Florence: Nardino, 1994). Chalcedonians with the Orthodox at the Second 16 For a treatment of Theodore’s understand- Council of Constantinople in 553, he was able to ing of the “image of God,” see Frederick have Theodore and—what he dubbed the “so- McLeod, The Image of God in the Antiochene called”—letter of Ibas condemned. He claimed Tradition (Washington: The Catholic University that the letter lauding Theodore was not the true of America Press, 1999), 62-70; and Roles of letter read at Chalcedon but one that is fraudu- Christ’s Humanity, 124-43. lent. For a discussion of this letter, see, Alois 17 Theodore of Mopsuestia, “L’homme créé Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition from ‘à l’image de Dieu’: quelques fragments grecs the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), 2 vols. inédits de Théodore de Mopsueste,” ed. and 2nd rev. ed., trans. J. Cawte and P. Allen trans. Francoise Petit, Le Muséon 100 (1987) (Atlanta: John Knox, 1975), 2:414-15. 276. The same view is expressed in Theodore, 10 See the article “Ibas” in the Encyclopedia CH 12:8: “Our Lord God made a human being in of the Early Church, ed. Angelo Di Berardino, His image from the earth and honored him in trans. Adrian Walford (New York: Oxford, many other ways. He then conferred especially 1992). From a comment that James of Sarug on (Adam) the honor of being His image makes about the years he spent as a student at whereby a human being alone is called God and Edessa (see G. Olinder, Jacobi Sarugensis Epis- the Son of God.” The same thought is expressed tolae quotquot supersunt, CSCO 110, 58-60), it in E. Sachau, ed. and trans., Theodori Mop- appears that Diodore’s writings were also trans- suesteni Fragmenta Syriaca (Leipzig: Engel- lated about the same time. mann, 1969), 27 (Latin) / 15 (Syriac); also in H. 11 Narsai makes no mention of Ibas in his B. Swete, ed., Theodori Episcopi Mopsuesteni in extant works, possibly because Ibas assented to Epistolas B. Pauli Commentarii, 2 vols. the condemnation of Nestorius at Chalcedon. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1880, 1882), I, 12 Narsai also mentions Theodore when he 261-62: “Well does (Paul) add ‘invisible’–not affirms: “Thus does all the Church of the ortho- that God may also be visible but for the manifes- dox confess this [view]; so also have the ap- tation of His greatness. If, nevertheless, we will proved doctors of the Church taught: Diodore, see that invisible nature in Christ as though in an Theodore and Mar Nestorius” (Connolly, 14); he image, in that he has been united to God the also refers to Theodore when speaking about the Word and will judge the whole world when he Eucharist: “The great teacher and interpreter appears according to his own nature, as is right, Theodore has handed down the tradition that our coming in the future age from heaven with great Lord spoke thus when he took the glory, he maintains for us the rank of image. It is bread” (Connolly, 16). evident that we all attribute the divine Nature, to 13 For a treatment of Theodore’s method of which is referred the greatness of whatever is interpretation, see Frederick McLeod, The Roles effected, to him as though to some image, al- of Christ’s Humanity in Salvation: Insights from though we do not impute authority [to be] the Theodore of Mopsuestia (Washington: The judge to a visible nature. I am amazed, however, Catholic University Press, 2005), 20-57. at those who have accepted this [as applicable] 14 For an understanding of Theodore’s exe- to the divine nature… For blessed Moses also getical thought, see Lucas van Rompay, trans., says of man ‘God made him to [His] image;’ and Théodore de Mopsueste: Fragments syriaques likewise blessed Paul, ‘man ought not indeed to du Commentaire des Psaumes (Psaume 118 et cover his head, being the image and glory of

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God.’ For this could never be said of man, if it 29 Briefly Theodore emphasizes the role of were proper to the divine nature.” the eucharist as a necessary means to remain 18 Sachau, 28 a-b/16. This passage indicates faithful to the new state achieved at baptism. For that Theodore believed that “image” refers to this new inchoative life can be lost as long as a human beings, not merely to men as males. persona is free to turn from God’s will during 19 Mingana, 2:239. See also 2:251: “(The one’s earthly life. As an aid to avoid falling in Creator) fashioned and skillfully made a double this way, the eucharist nourishes a baptized per- vessel: a visible body and a hidden soul—one son’s spiritual life within the Body of Christ: human being.” For a treatment of Narsai’s view “When all of us are nourished by the same body of “image,” see McLeod, Image of God, 70-74, of our Lord, we participate in him by means of and The Soteriology of Narsai (Rome: Institutum this nourishment. All of us become the one Body Orientalium, 1973). This is an offprint of a chap- of Christ and receive thereby a participation in ter from my unpublished dissertation that treats and union with him as our head.” Theodore lik- of Narsai’s view on the “image of God.” ens this nourishment to what a mother provides 20 Swete, 1:262-63. for her newborn child: “For every animal born 21 Diodore, Chrysostom and Theodoret naturally from another animal receives its nour- likely drew their understanding from the Genesis ishment from the body of the one giving it birth. story where God allows Adam to name the ani- So also from the beginning God has ordered this mals and perhaps also from Paul’s remark in 1 to take place among created beings that every Corinthians 11:7 where the notion of “image’ is female animal engendering life has within her- associated with that of authority. self the nourishment befitting those she has en- 22 For a treatment of this view, see McLeod, gendered. It is necessary then that we who have Image of God, 58-61 and 78-80; and R. A. Nor- partaken of divine grace in a typical way also ris, Jr., Manhood and Christ: A Study in the receive our nourishment from above” (CH 1:4). Christology of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Oxford: While it is difficult to show a direct link between Clarendon, 1963), 140-48. Theodore and Narsai because they are both re- 23 Swete, 1:lxxx. flecting Paul’s thought, Narsai appears to be 24 Mingana I, 7. closely dependent on Theodore’s language. For 25 Robert C. Hill, trans., Theodore of Mop- instance, Theodore asserts: “It is well, then, that suestia: Commentary on the Twelve Prophets when giving the bread, (Jesus) did not say: ‘This (Washington: The Catholic University of Amer- is a type of my body,’ but ‘This is my body’; and ica Press, 2004), 186. likewise with the chalice [of wine], [he did] not 26 Swete, 1:269. Theodore leaves no doubt [say]: ‘This is a type of my blood,’ but: ‘This is that the Son as the visible “image” is Christ in my blood.’ For after these have received the his human nature: “For it is evident that these grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit, he things [God’s bestowal of the divine plerôma wanted that we too not regard their own nature and universal domination upon Christ qua man] but take them as being the body and blood of our pertain to the human nature which receives Lord” (CH 15:10). Narsai writes in a similar domination over everything by [its] union with vein :“The (Lifegiver) did not express them as a God the Word;” J.-M. Vosté, ed. and trans., type or a similitude, but as his Body in reality Theodori Mopsuesteni Commentarius in Evan- and Blood in truth.... Wherefore the bread is gelium Johannis Apostoli, CSCO 15-16/Syr. 62- strictly the Body of our Lord, and the wine is His 63 (Louvain: Officina orientali, 1940), 83/59. Blood properly and truly” (Connolly, 17). Both 27 Mingana II, 190. Theodore and Narsai are emphatic that the bread 28 McLeod, Narsai’s Metrical Homilies, and wine are truly transformed by the Spirit into 176/77. the body and blood of Christ’s humanity.

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30 Theodore, CH 12:2. Theodore has an es- encompassing two states or ages: the present life chatological understanding of salvation but one of mortality that will continue until the end of possessing an incarnational aspect. Wilhelm de this world and the heavenly, immortal and im- Vries, in his “Der Nestorianismus’ Theodors von mutable life to which all the faithful will rise. Mopsuestia in seiner Sakramentenlehre,” OCP 7 We see this expressed in the excerpts #55-61 (1941) 91-148, maintains that Theodore consid- presented to the Second Council of Constantin- ered baptism as simply providing only forgive- ople; to cite but one: “What pleased God was to ness of sins, special graces to live a good life and divide the creation into two states: the one which a mere hope for the attainment of a future life. is present in which he made all things mutable; Ignatius Oñatibia, in his “La vida christiana, the other which is future, when he will renew all tipode las realidad celestes. Un concepto basico things and bring them to immutability,” Concil- de la teologia de Teodore de Mopsuestia,” Scrip- ium Universale Constantinopolitanum Sub torum Victoriense 1 (1954) 107; and Luise Iustiniano Habitum, ed. Johannes Straub, Acta Abramowski in her “Zur Theologia Theodors Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, tom. 4, vol. 1 von Mopsuestia,” Zeitschrift für Kirchen- (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1971), 44-72. see excerpts geschicte 72 (1961) 263-93 insist that de Vries’ #55-61. Straub, I: 14, and PG 66:1009. view misses the implications present in Theo- 34 Theodore, CH 14:9-11. dore’s understanding of how a type participates 35 Ibid., CH 14:10. in the reality of its archetype. This can be seen in 36 Staub, 124. See also Vosté, 80-81/57: Theodore’s statement that “It is through this “(God) made everyone a sharer in the Spirit mystery which you are about to receive that from whereby we are reborn in a spiritual way. And as now on you will share without doubt in these we possess a union of nature with him by a simi- future goods” (CH 14:2). While Theodore does lar birth, so we receive by his means a household not hold for a divinization in the sense that one relationship with God the Word.” can share directly in the life of God, he does 37 Theodore, CH 1:4. hold that one can share inchoatively in the im- 38 Vosté, 315-16/225-26. I have translated mortal life one will attain fully in the next life. οἰκειότης as “a family relationship” as a better Oñatibia points out that the sacraments and their way to express the kind of communion and part- heavenly fulfillment are two poles bound to one nership existing between a baptized person and another as a type to its archetype in a way that the Word. reveals the unity of God’s plan for salvation. 39 Swete 2:299. Abramowski observes that if de Vries’ interpre- 40 Mingana I:17. The Syriac word ithay tation was actually the correct one, Syriac trans- means existence in se, and kyana “nature” as lators would not have used the word physis has been just described. Hypostasis ap- “participation” and “sharing” but rather such pears to denote an existing inner self: “It is not phrases as “in the name of” and “under the ap- the hypostasis that carnal eyes have seen, but the pearance of” to express Theodore’s thought here. sign of its visible image” (Mingana I, 73). 31 Theodore, CH 16:30. 41 Like Theodore, Narsai refers to Christ’s 32 Swete 1:132-33. See also Theodore, CH humanity as the “Body.” It exemplifies too how 12:6: “(The assumed man) mounted to heaven in the concrete and the abstract can be used inter- order that henceforth we might have a surety of a changeably for one another. possessed participation because of [our] sharing 42 McLeod, Narsai’s Metrical Homilies, in [his] nature.” 64/65. 33 Theodore, CH 14:28. See also CH 12:2: 43 The term prosôpon is cited together with “For every sacrament is an indication in signs hypostasis in the case of the Trinity. In a Syn- and mysteries of invisible and ineffable things.” odal Letter that most likely expresses the official Theodore and Narsai regard salvation history as Tome of the First Council of Constantinople

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(381), the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are said to leper, “I will it: be clean,” He showed here that possess “a single Godhead and power and… there exists one will and one operation according three most perfect hypostaseis or three perfect to one and the same power. This takes place not prosôpa” (Norman Tanner, ed., Decrees of the on the level of nature but on the level where he Ecumenical Councils 1: Nicaea I to Lateran V was honored to be united to God the Word. For [Washington: The Catholic University of Amer- in accordance with God’s foreknowledge, he ica Press, 1990], 28). The two terms appear to was made a man from the seed of David, pos- have the same or very similar meaning, though sessing an affectionate kindred relationship with hypostasis is said to be most perfect, perhaps to the Word from [his time of conception in] the indicate that no divine Person is greater than the womb” (PG 66: 1003). others as they are all most perfect. 49 Those asserting that Theodore’s willing- 44 Straub, I: 14. ness to assert the presence of two hypostaseis in 45 Narsai expresses Theodore’s view that Christ means that he is holding for two separate one cannot separate hypostasis (qnôma) from persons must confront the use of the term to ex- nature physis (kyana) when he states that the press the three Persons in the Trinity, The term Word cannot become flesh in his qnôma: “If it is indicates that there are existing real substantial true that His qnôma became flesh and did not relational differences between the Father, Son assume flesh from Mary, how did it help our and Spirit but not that there are three separate nature that He became flesh in His own nature?” Gods. This is evident in the way that Theodore This is found on p. 5 of the 69th memra con- regards the soul to be a hypostasis: “The soul of tained in the Syriac manuscript 5463 of the Brit- men, however, is not like this, but it resides in its ism Museum. Mingana lists it as Memra 81 but own hypostasis and is much higher than the body did not publish it in his two volume work. seeing that the body is mortal and acquires its 46 Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heracleides, ed. life from the soul and dies and perishes when- and trans. Godfrey L. Driver and Leonard Hodg- ever the soul happens to leave it. As regards the son (Oxford: Clarendom Press, 1925), 20-23. [human] soul, when it goes out, it remains and 47 See Sachau, 51-52/92-93. Sachau trans- does not perish but lasts forever in its own hy- lates the last word of this section as naturae, postasis. For it is immortal” (Swete, 2:318). So while the Syriac has parsôpa. The sense is that understood, Christ’s human hypostasis ought not the actions of the two natures are united and ex- to be considered in Theodore’s thought a sepa- pressed as one parsôpa: “For there is a unity of rate individual from the Word, just as the body all [attributes] when they are asserted about our ought to be viewed as an individual existing Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but when the na- apart from its soul. Since each hypostasis has its tures are examined separately as to what each own prosôpon, this explains why Jesus’ existing expresses, [one must note] how this coheres with human nature was bodily capable of dying on the its nature and how this accords with the rule as cross. But as Theodore continually insists, this to how things are to be said of each of the na- nature is so intimately united with the Word’s tures. But when they are joined together in a divine nature in a true prosopic unity that wor- unity of person (parsôpa), both of the natures are ship can be shown it, but not to Christ’s human- said to be [united] in a participatory way in a ity in se but because his humanity serves as the case where they are in an agreement because of true “image” of God: “For such was the dignity the unity. For in this situation, what is distinct by of the assumed man that God dwelt in him; and nature is also affirmed to be clearly existing in a believing this, we also adore him. Otherwise conjoined way [to the other nature] because of who would be so mad that he would adore the the unity of the person (parsôpa).” man separately?” (Swete, 2:222). 48 Theodore expresses this unity of will 50 Theodore’s opposition to Apollinaris’ use when he asserts: “When our Savior said to the of the analogy shows that he is aware of its seri-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 36 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______ous limitations: to express the true unity in not enter into the question of how the two func- Christ. Three are especially telling: 1) the na- tion together as one other than the fact that they tures of the soul and the body are incomplete; 2) ultimately do form one will. the soul comes into existence out of necessity, 56 The time and space limitations placed whereas the Word preexists Christ’s humanity upon this paper prevent an elaboration of what from all eternity; and 3) the Word has freely Theodore and Narsai mean when they speak of entered into His union with the humanity of Je- the union as being an “indwelling.” For an in- sus. depth study, see McLeod, Roles of Christ’s Hu- 51 Staab, 167-68. manity, 176-204. Theodore’s choice of the 52 Swete 2:318-19. phrase “an indwelling of good pleasure” must be 53 Theodore and Narsai have no problem in interpreted, in my opinion, in light of Colossians interchanging an abstract term with a concrete 1 and 2, especially 2:9 where the divine fullness one and vice versa, such the divine nature for the (plerôma) is said to dwell in Christ “in a bodily Word, and the human nature for “Body.” way.” Theodore expresses this when he says: 54 Mingana II, 229. It is interesting to point “For the entire grace of the Spirit has been given out here how Theodore and Narsai follow the to me because I am joined to God the Word and Jewish manner of speaking and writing that have received true Sonship… This cannot hap- looks upon the abstract as contained in the con- pen to you, as you can acquire a small share but crete and the concrete as revelatory of the ab- not at all equal to mine” (Vosté, 297-98/213). stract. In other words, one recognizes the ab- Narsai expresses a similar outlook in Memra 4: stract as being real only when it exists visibly in “God formed him by the Spirit, and the Spirit the concrete. Narsai expresses the soul/body filled him with the power of His will, so that he analogy also in Memra 81 (see McLeod, Nar- might give life from his fullness and vivify all. sai’s Metrical Homilies, 27 for the Syriac text He made him whole and perfect in body and and an English translation): “When I say that the soul, so that through him He might free the body Word and the Body are two in nature, it is like and the soul from slavery” (McLeod, Narsai’s (saying) that the body and the soul within it are Metrical Homilies, 48/49). Norris sums up in- one man. The soul with the body and the body sightfully the relationship between Theodore’s with the soul are distinct but fit together and prosopic unity and his stress on an “indwelling every one testifies that they are two but called of good pleasure” when he affirms: “The union one.” For a carefully worded passage where Nar- [by indwelling] is logically prior both to the pro- sai qualifies his statements about the Word, see sopic unity which it effects, and to the sort of co- Mingana I, 336: “He has revealed before all operation to which, as we have seen, Theodore creatures His divinity thanks to his humanity. He alludes in other passages” (222). This co- has showed that even if He has suffered qua operation occurs in the prosopic union. man, he is the Son of God. The Jews have cruci- 57 The initial peace that all creation enjoyed fied the Son of God in a corporeal sense. They is presaging the universal peace that Christ is to have not crucified the Word of the Father who is establish in the future when he will recapitulate generated from Him.” all creation within his humanity and unite all to 55 The Third Council of Constantinople God. Because the fullness of God dwells in (680-681) does address the issue of whether Christ in a bodily way (Col. 2:9), he serves as there are two or only will in the union of Christ’s the mediator whose humanity contains and sums natures. Because so many identified the notion up all creation and whose intimate union with of “nature” with that of “person,” the fathers the Word enables all creatures to be at one with insisted on the presence of two will faculties and God. It is easy, therefore, to detect how Theo- operations, in order to safeguard the integrity of dore, relying on Pauline thought, has found Christ’s human nature. But wisely the fathers did traces of these revelatory, mediating and unify-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 37 Narsai’s Dependence on Theodore of Mopsuestia ______ing roles in Adam as a type of Christ’s humanity immortal life that Christ’s humanity now pos- and why he has proposed salvation to be a move- sesses in heaven. He is now the first fruits that ment from a state where Adam acts as the head anticipates the future immortality that awaits all of mortality to one where Christ’s humanity is who remain vitally united to his Body and the head of an immortal existence. It is within through his human nature also to God. Since such a salvational framework that Theodore such a world view is mirrored in Narsai’s writ- seeks to explain how baptism and the eucharist ings, there exists grounds for asserting that he typify a real participation in Christ’s death and was indeed close to Theodore’s method of inter- resurrection and provide those who become preting the scriptural passages that treat of the members of his Body a true initial sharing in the “image” of God, the sacraments and salvation.

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THE LAST DAYS OF NESTORIUS IN THE SYRIAC SOURCES

GEORGE A. BEVAN QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY

f the theological debates of the first ture”, precisely to exclude the Antiochene half of the fifth century haunt the “two natures”.4 sixth, then the Council of Chalcedon While the doctrine produced at Chal- hangs as a sort of specter over the cedon may differ subtly from Nestorius’ JustinianicI Church. Although Chalcedon own teaching—I refer here to the affirma- was ostensibly a legitimately constituted tion of the one prosopon and one hypostasis general council, the legitimacy of its doc- of Christ—, the core of the council’s doc- trinal decisions were questioned and even trinal pronouncements fundamentally agreed excoriated by many in the East.1 The inter- with the Antiochene tradition. It was within pretation (hermenaia) of the faith imposed this tradition that the bulk of Nestorius’ be- on the assembled bishops by the imperial liefs lay. Nestorius was in full agreement representatives spoke in no uncertain terms with Theodore of Mopsuestia on the need of Christ’s two natures after the incarnation, for a human and divine nature in Christ in and the Tome of Leo I (Ep. 28) clearly ar- order to avoid the danger of an Apollinarian ticulated the independent functioning of “mingling” or “mixture” inherent in the each nature in the single person of Christ.2 “one nature”, although some of Nestorius’ The principle charge made against Chal- speculative flights might well not have met cedon by its opponents was that it revived with Theodore’s approval.5 the heresy of Nestorius, which had been de- Yet Nestorianism was never defined in cisively condemned, so it was believed, at 431 at First Ephesus in terms of natures; the Council of Ephesus in 431. Considerable Nestorius was condemned as the “New Ju- scholarship has been dedicated to disproving das” with no reference at all to the number the Nestorian underpinnings of Chalcedon, of natures of Christ.6 Nestorius’ position and to proving that the formula “in two na- was only caricatured for advancing the “two tures” was cyrillian.3 Suffice it to say that sons” and for rejecting Theotokos as a these attempts have had to work around the proper appellation for Mary. The reality, as fact that the bishop of Alexandria never has been shown in various studies, was quite himself used the formula. In fact, after 433 different: Nestorius accepted Theotokos with Cyril tended strongly to the formulations only a few quibbles, and he adamantly de- “out of two natures” and “one incarnate na- nied that his talk of the two natures and two

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 39 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______prosopa of Christ entailed the “two sons”, discovered near Lake Van in the early the heresy of Paul of Samosata.7 1880s.10 The work is not, however, without When Cyril, in ignorance of Nestorius’ its problems. First, the language of the trans- theological pedigree, assented to an Antio- lation is often unclear and garbled due to an chene statement of belief in a letter of 433, overly literal rendering that frequently omits Laetentur Caeli, the two natures were given names in favour of pronouns. Second, there the imprimatur of the bishop’s prestige and are sections of the text missing and other authority, recently won by his defeat of Nes- surviving sections that are clearly dislocated torius.8 With the “two natures” now cast as within the manuscript that Paul Bedjan, its superficially cyrillian in the so-called editor, worked from. Third and perhaps “Symbol of Reunion,” it could be used by most worrying is that the unity of the sur- Flavian of Constantinople in 448 to convict viving work, and the authenticity of several the archimandrite Eutyches for teaching the of its sections, has been called into question, “one nature” and that Christ took his body particularly by Luise Abramowski.11 from heaven. When Second Ephesus, the so- Let us begin with what can be gleaned called Latrocinium, convened in the next of Nestorius’ life after the Council of Ephe- year to rehabilitate Eutyches, they put aside sus in 431. The emperor Theodosius permit- Cyril’s Laetentur Caeli and the Antiochene ted the deposed bishop to return to his mon- statement in favour of Cyril’s post-433 writ- astery just outside of Antioch as a free man ings. In 450, when the new emperor in the fall of 431. But an edict of the em- Marcian and his consort Pulcheria con- peror Theodosius II formally condemned ceived of an eastern council to undo the ap- Nestorius and proscribed his writings sev- parent injustices of Second Ephesus, it was eral years later.12 With this imperial order, a to the affirmation of the “two natures” in formal legal category was created for Nes- 448 that they turned. Fortuitously, pope Leo torians, or rather Simonians (after Simon had written a treatise, his Tomus ad Flavi- Magus), to be added to the list of banned anum, that independently and in complete heresies that had accumulated since the time ignorance of eastern developments and of Constantine the Great. By 435 Nestorius Cyril’s work, insisted unequivocally on the and his friend Irenaeus were officially sent independent function of two natures in the into exile and first went to Petra in Arabia.13 person of Christ that most would have re- How long the two remained in Petra is un- garded as very uncyrillian.9 known, but Irenaeus seems to have escaped It was through this circuitous route that from exile and in 446 or thereabouts he re- the essence of Nestorius’ beliefs, without his appears in Tyre as its ordained bishop. name attached to them, came to be affirmed There was no imperial order to recall at the Council of Chalcedon under a cyril- Irenaeus and Theodosius deposed him in lian guise. What is often not discussed with February of 448, when he learned to his sur- respect to Chalcedon is what Nestorius’ own prise that this determined follower of Nesto- views would have been on the decisions of rius had not only returned but become a the council. We are most fortunate in pos- bishop.14 Irenaeus’ illegal return was doubt- sessing a Syriac translation of Nestorius’ less due to the influence of Theodoret of apologia pro vita sua, the Liber Heraclidis, Cyrrhus and Domnus of Antioch. It is tell-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 40 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______ing that Irenaeus, a man so closely associ- rial authority. But of these events in Egypt, ated with Nestorius, could still find friends Nestorius gives virtually no hint at all in his in Syria as late as 447. apologia. But Nestorius did not so easily escape Nestorius picked up his pen to resume his exile and was moved from Petra to the Liber Heraclidis as early as the year Egypt. Because there is a hiatus of a decade 449. This last section, the second part of between the years 438/9 and 449 in the nar- Book II in Paul Bedjan’s edition, is ap- ration of the Liber Heraclidis, one suspects pended to the other text of the Liber with no that he was moved to isolation in Egypt at evidence that Nestorius went back to revise the former date. Evagrius scholasticus, writ- his earlier writings in light of new develop- ing at the end of the sixth century, is one of ments contained therein. Nestorius says that very few ancient authors who can claim to he was encouraged to begin writing again as have detailed information about Nestorius in he received news of recent events in the East exile. He appears to have consulted at least from his friends.16 Nestorius discusses the two book-length works of Nestorius as well trial of Eutyches in the fall of 448 and the as a collection of letters.15 The excerpts of subsequent persecution and condemnation Nestorius’ letter to the controller of the The- of Flavian of Constantinople for his efforts baid in Egypt show that Nestorius had been against the “one nature”. By his quotations moved to the Oasis in Western Egypt. Now and references, Nestorius demonstrates that known as the Kharga Oasis, Nestorius’ he had access to a copy of the acta of at place of exile lay 100 miles west of the Nile least the first session of Second Ephesus in and encompassed an area about 15 miles 449 and good information about the Home wide and 100 miles long with a concentra- Synod of Constantinople in 448. tion of watered areas. The letters quoted by In the fall of Flavian Nestorius saw a Evagrius also tell us that Nestorius had been distinct parallel for his own plight and yet moved around considerably in the Oasis and further evidence of the wickedness of his had been captured by marauding barbarians, erstwhile supporter, the emperor Theodo- who are identified as “Nobades”. Nestorius sius, towards the orthodox. The section con- was released by his captors in Panopolis on cludes with a prophecy, clearly a vaticinum the Nile, 100 miles to the east. He sought to ex eventu, of the misfortunes that he predicts justify this move to the civil authorities in will befall the empire because of its em- Egypt so as not to be thought a fugitive from peror’s impiety. Among these he includes exile. Later, soldiers moved him to Elephan- the Vandal sack of Rome in 455, the last tine, 200 miles to the south, but the control- datable event in all of the Liber Heraclidis.17 ler of the Thebaid changed his mind yet Yet there is a mystery here. If Nestorius again and moved Nestorius back to the out- lived as late as 455 or 456 and had good skirts of Panopolis. At a loss to explain just information of events in the East, why does why Nestorius was exiled in 436 and not he include no references whatsoever to the earlier, Evagrius presents this pitiful petition Council of Chalcedon in 451, a massive of Nestorius, complaining of his treatment change in ecclesiastical politics that could in Egypt, as conclusive proof of the deposed not have escaped his notice? The next latest bishop’s arrogance and contempt for impe- event reported by Nestorius is the death of

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Theodosius at the end of July 450.18 I would prejudice against my person. But I was strongly suggest that the final prophecy of content to endure the things whereof the Liber must be set aside as a later addi- they accused me, in order that, while I tion by one of Nestorius’ supporters. There- was accused thereof, they might accept fore the terminus post quem and terminus without hindrance the teaching of the Fathers; for I have no word [to say] ante quem for the Liber can be set quite pre- concerning what was committed cisely by the death of Theodosius and the against me. And further I wrote not for accession of Marcian respectively in late the purpose that I, to whom for many August. If it took at least two months for years there was not one [moment of] news of Theodosius’ death, and of repose nor human solace, might not be Marcian’s accession to reach Egypt, Nesto- suspected of surely fleeing from the rius must have finished what has come contest, fearing the labors [thereof]; for down to us in September or October of 450. sufficient are the wrongs that have But just how long after this time did Nesto- come upon the world [and] which are rius live, and what might he have thought of more able than I to make the oppres- sion of the true faith shine forth in the Chalcedon? eyes of every man.19 Nestorius had seen a copy of Leo’s Tome, a letter written to Flavian by the pope From the Liber Heraclidis we also learn in the summer of 449, which laid out a that Nestorius fully approved of the strongly dyophysite christological state- “Symbol of Reunion” of 433, although he ment. Nestorius heartily approved of the did question the legitimacy of the diplomacy document and saw it as fully in line with his that led to it, especially the assent of many own belief, but despite the requests of his Eastern bishops to his deposition.20 Thus it unnamed supporters, he declined to involve must have been clear to Nestorius’ support- himself in the struggle: ers in 450 that Marcian and Pulcheria’s plan to approve Leo’s Tome along with a But, because many were blaming me strongly dyophysite statement of faith at a many times for not having written unto general council the next year was an oppor- Leo, bishop of Rome, to teach him all the things which were committed, such tunity for the deposed bishop to prove his as came to pass, and the change of orthodoxy before his death. Nestorius im- faith, as if unto a man who is correct in plies as much when he talks of his support- his faith, especially when there had ers pushing him to re-enter ecclesiastical been given unto me, [even] unto me, a politics. With the death of Theodosius and part of the letter relating to the judg- the accession of an emperor committed to ment concerning Flavian and both Leo’s Tome and overturning the results Eutyches, wherein it was revealed that of Second Ephesus, his vindication must [he feared] not the friendship of [his] have seemed close at hand. majesty (i.e. Leo did not fear to con- If Nestorius agreed with the substance front Theodosius), for this reason I wrote not, not because I am a proud of Chalcedon, can we go further and claim man and senseless, but so that I might that Nestorius was himself recalled to the not hinder from his running him who council? Nestorius says nothing about such was running fairly because of the a possibility, and the voluminous acta of

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Chalcedon also make no reference at all to successor did not imitate his ardent any summons. Almost without exception all zeal for the faith; and all the affairs of modern scholars have rejected this possibil- the Church were troubled and were ity out of hand. Their argument is a sort of contrary to the law against heretics simple syllogism: Chalcedon was orthodox; (i.e. CTh. 16.5.66), which was brought by the venerable and notable Nestorius was a heretic; therefore Chal- Theodosius. From then up to the pre- cedon could not have vindicated Nestorius. sent those who fear God have been To countenance the reality of Nestorius’ persecuted, and every blasphemous recall is to imagine Chalcedon as something and rash tongue can in complete free- other than it turned to be; to do this we must dom speak against Christ. For, after abandon any sense that the decisions of Marcian was on the throne, he sent to Chalcedon were part of a natural evolution Egypt a tribune of the guardsmen to in orthodoxy and the perfect via media be- recall Nestorius and a certain Doro- tween the heretical extremes of Nestorian- theus, who had been a bishop and had ism and Eutychianism. Chalcedon was gone into exile with Nestorius out of his own volition. And as some people rooted in the demands of the moment, and say, Dorotheus was very well known seen in light of these contemporary contin- and much beloved by he who was gencies, not idealized historical hindsight, then reigning. When the tribune had the recall of Nestorius indeed makes consid- been sent, he arrived in the Thebaid— erable sense. The evidence for his recall this is as far as most people know, comes mostly from sources hostile to Chal- because this fact was not made known cedon; as such they have been largely dis- publicly—he found Nestorius in the missed as fanciful and even deviant. Yet place named after Pan (i.e. Panopo- taken together they present a consistent and lis), a city of the Thebaid, under guard compelling picture of the elderly Nestorius’ in a fort (castrum) and afflicted by a terrible illness. It happened that Nes- return from exile. torius had been captured by barbari- The accounts of John Rufus’ Plero- ans from the Oasis, where he had phories and Zachariah of Mitylene’s Eccle- been exiled by the venerable emperor siastical History, written a little over 50 Theodosius, and that, in the city of years after Chalcedon, both survive in Pan, he was sold by them [the barbari- Syriac and are the earliest sources that speak ans] to the inhabitants. When the of Nestorius’ recall by Marcian. First Rufus comes Andrew, who was then in the claims that his version of events derived Thebaid, learned of this, while the directly from the now lost Ecclesiastical emperor Theodosius was still living, History of Timothy Aelurus, a miaphysite he instructed him [Nestorius], after he had bought him back, to remain and bishop who had been a contemporary of to live in the fort and to do nothing Nestorius during his exile in Egypt: and to say nothing rash. As soon as At this time, by the permission and the envoy of the emperor [Marcian] will of God, it happened, because of found Nestorius sick in the city of our numerous sins, that our venerable Pan, as has already been said, with emperor Theodosius died, a year after Dorotheus, he made known the orders the Second Council of Ephesus. His that he had received and, on account

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of the Egyptians, he announced to of God speedily overtook him (as he them by a sign that there was no trap had been the case formerly with in their recall. But Dorotheus asked Arius, who blasphemed against the the tribune to take into account the Son of God). Accordingly he fell weakness of Nestorius, as his condi- from his mule, and the tongue of this tion was deteriorating day by day; for Nestorius was cut off, and his mouth his tongue was rotting and had gone was eaten by worms, and he died on out of his mouth, while the tribune the roadway. And his companion was present there; his speech had be- Dorotheus died also. And the em- come unclear and each day his tongue peror, hearing of it, was greatly rotted and thus became more de- grieved; and he was thinking upon tached, so that he became an object of what had occurred, and he was in fright and horror, as the tribune at- doubt as to what he should do. tested afterwards to many. God was However, written directions from the author of that which we have told, Marcian the emperor were delivered for the [tribune] reported that he by John the Tribune to Dioscorus and urged that tried drugs be brought from Juvenalis, calling upon them to meet all the cities that were in the neigh- in Council, and John also informed bourhood of Panopolis, but they were them of what had happened to Nesto- not able to remedy the illness. For it rius and to Dorotheus. was God who had struck him down And when the bishops of every and who made known his terrible place, who were summoned, were death to many through the report [of preparing to meet at Nicea, Provi- the tribune] and by means of [the call dence did not allow them; for the for] the medicines. After the death of king issued a new order that the as- Nestorius, Dorotheus buried him in a sembly should be convened to Chal- certain spot, while the tribune sent by cedon, so that Nicea might not be the the emperor was with him and, after meeting-place of rebels. this man’s death, the tribune went Then the Nestorian party earnestly back to go to the court.21 urged and besought the king that Theodoret should be appointed the Zachariah’s account survives in epitome president of the Synod, and that, ac- and shows signs of compression by omitting cording to his word, every matter some of the details found in Rufus: should be decided there.22

This Marcian favoured the doctrine of According to both authors, Nestorius Nestorius, and was well disposed to- was accompanied in Egypt by a fellow exile, wards him; and so he sent John the Dorotheus of Marcianopolis, who had been Tribune, to recall Nestorius from his among his earliest supporters in Constantin- place of banishment in Oasis; and to ople and exiled among the “14 Irreconcil- recall also Dorotheus, the bishop who ables” in 434, those bishops who refused to was with him. And it happened while re-enter into communion with John of An- he was returning, that he set at tioch once he accepted the deposition of naught the holy Virgin, the Theoto- 23 kos, and said, “What is Mary? Why Nestorius. Following the death of Theodo- should she indeed be called the The- sius, according to Rufus and Zachariah, otokos?” And the righteous judgment Marcian moved to recall Nestorius. Consis-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 44 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______tent with the letter of Nestorius quoted in ciliar acta and the Tomus ad Flavianum. Evagrius, Zachariah states that the envoy of This last claim is quite remarkable as it Marcian found Nestorius in a military fort (a shows that either Philoxenus or his infor- castrum) in Panopolis. Unfortunately Nesto- mant had access to a copy of the Liber rius, probably in his seventies by then, was Heraclidis. Philoxenus, like the other gravely ill. The description of his illness in sources, reiterates that Nestorius died before both authors may be a deliberate fiction to he could reach the council. prove that he was suffering a God-sent pun- Over a century after Zachariah and ishment for heretics: his blasphemous Rufus, the Nestorian bishop Barhadbeshebba tongue was being eaten away by worms. In wrote an ecclesiastical history in which he both Zachariah and Rufus, despite the impe- gave a long biographical treatment of Nesto- rial recall, Nestorius was either too sick to rius. As best as can be determined, Barhad- make the trip back or, in the case of Rufus, beshebba did not know of Zacharias’ or fell from the back of his mule and died on Rufus’ work, and had before him as a guide the side of the road en route. Similar stories only Socrates scholasticus’ Ecclesiastical are found in two other miaphysite sources History and a collection of Nestorius’ own from Egypt in Coptic: the famed monk writings, which included his lost Tragoedia. Shenute and a text purporting to be the ex- Like the non-Chalcedonian Miaphysites, iled bishop Dioscorus’ eulogy for his fellow Barhadbeshebba also claims that Nestorius Egyptian bishop Macarius.24 Neither source was summoned to return by the emperor adds significant or reliable detail. Marcian, but he differs in saying that he re- A letter of the famous miaphysite fused to leave his place of exile: bishop Philoxenus of Mabbug of the early After the death of Theodosius the 6th century adds yet further confirmation of Younger, by whose weakness the il- these stories: lustrious one [Nestorius] had been And this25 came to pass at the end of deposed and so many ills have be- Nestorius’ life, as is said. And every- fallen the church, the victorious and thing was written and sent to him faithful Marcian succeeded him and while he was in exile: the act [drawn] ordered that Nestorius be recalled before Flavian, and also the Letter of immediately. His friends and high Leo. And had the judgment of the officials wrote him to let himself re- Lord not come quickly and taken him turn; they sent to him a beast of bur- away before the council convened, he den and all that was necessary, and was summoned to come together with they informed him that the emperor the other bishops. And I say these had ordered an oecumenical council things not simply from hearsay, but to take place. But Nestorius wrote because I learned them in truth from back in response that he refused to the one who was sent after him.26 return and said: “The solitude, in its desolation, delights me; the desert, Philoxenus is clear that he had informa- with its flowers, pleases me, and in- tion about the recall of Nestorius from the teraction with the animals is agreeable unnamed official sent to summon him and to me. But I refused to enter into com- that Nestorius had in his possession con- munion with those wicked men of the

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present time.” The emperor ordered the Liber has deliberately suppressed the that he be conducted by force, but, story of the recall, and indeed any mention when they had put him on a litter, he of Chalcedon, but has retained Nestorius’ departed to Christ, his beloved, while poetic words as a sort of seal of authorship fatigued and in haste. Cyril and John on the obviously falsified final prophecy. of Antioch had died before him, be- cause they were involved in the de- Why, if the editor of the Liber Heraclidis ceits of the Sons of Syria and had worked after the Council of Chalcedon, was boldly committed murder behind the not a mention of the recall inserted into the door (2 Kings 3:37). When the patri- text of the Liber as evidence for his ultimate cian returned and recounted to the vindication? One suspects that the eventual emperor the predictions and the dem- condemnation of Nestorius at Chalcedon onstrations Nestorius had made, the would have made his recall a sort of pitiful emperor recalled immediately all the anticlimax to this strident work of self- bishops who had been driven into defense. The redactor’s silence about Chal- exile with Nestorius. Nestorius re- cedon, when he knew full well about it, is mained for three years in Constantin- ople and four years in Antioch, when made to fit with all the other reports that he had returned from Ephesus, and placed Nestorius’ death before Chalcedon, was in exile in Oasis for 18 years. All All of these anti-Chalcedonian sources, the years of his episcopate are 25 both Miaphysite and Nestorian, however years.27 consistent they may be, may seem to be only the fabrications of over-active imaginations. Barhadbeshebba’s version of the recall For the Miaphysites the story of Nestorius’ is followed by the anonymous Syriac legend recall only served to prove what they al- of Nestorius, which consequently has little ready believed of the council’s dyophysite independent value.28 statements, that it was a “Nestorian coun- Barhadbeshebba’s depiction of Nesto- cil”, while for the supporters of Nestorius rius’ refusal to leave Egypt and his prefer- the stories of his death before the council at ence for the solitude of the desert may ex- once proved that he was fundamentally or- plain the puzzling final sentence of the con- thodox, and served to explain why, if that cluding prophecy in the Liber Heraclidis: were the case, he was not personally vindi- “Rejoice for me, O desert, my beloved and cated at Chalcedon. Yet there remains a fi- my foster-parent and the home of my habita- nal source to consider, the pro-Chalcedonian tion, and my mother, the land of my exile, Evagrius who inadvertently provides deci- who even after my death will guard my sive evidence in support of these stories that body unto the resurrection by the will of would otherwise be dismissed as anti- God.” The final sentence of the prophecy in Chalcedonian propaganda. the Liber is eerily similar to the words of When Evagrius wrote in the late sixth Nestorius reported by Barhadbeshebba. If century, his main source for the years 450 Barhadbeshebba actually had before him a and 451, apart from the acta of Chalcedon, text of Nestorius that spoke of Marcian’s of which he had a full text, was the Ecclesi- offer to return and phrased Nestorius’ re- astical History of Zachariah. Evagrius went fusal in just this way, then the redactor of out of his way to contest many of Zacha-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 46 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______riah’s statements, and in particular he sought cording of Eutyches’ statements, the notary to disprove the story of Nestorius’ recall. sent to speak with Eutyches, when con- His argument is less than convincing: fronted with the notes from individual bish- ops that differed from his own transcription, Zacharias the rhetor indeed, through bias (ἐµπαθῶς), says that even Nesto- protested that even the best tachygraphists rius was summoned from his exile. or “speed writers” could not record all the statements made: But the fact that Nestorius was consis- tently anathematized by the Synod John the notary said: “Your magnifi- demonstrates that this was not the cence and the most God-beloved and case. This is also quite clearly re- holy synod know that, when someone vealed by Eustathius, the bishop of is sent to go and convey a message to Beirut, writing in these words to a others, it is impossible to report back bishop John and to another John, an the exact words; not even any of the elder, concerning what had been most reputed orators could do this, to transacted at the Synod: ‘Those who convey and transmit to people the sought the remains of Nestorius ob- exact words of another person… I ask jected once again and shouted against not to be required to repeat the exact the Synod, “Why are the saints words he used, since no one can do anathematized?”’ The result was that this, to transmit someone’s words the emperor in anger instructed the verbatim (αὐτολεξεὶ); but order the guardsmen to drive them away.29 reading of what is written in my aide- memoire (ἐν τῶι ὑποµνηστικῶι).”31 The condemnation of Nestorius at Chal- cedon, Evagrius thought, contradicted any The best that a scribe could do is take order to recall him. But there was yet further short-hand notes in his notebook and then evidence that Evagrius knew about aside later reconstruct the full statements accord- from Zachariah that obviously troubled him. ing to his memory. The notary Aetius, at the Evagrius adduced a letter of Eustathius of same investigation, also stated that it was Beirut, who had been among the leaders of not uncommon at councils that when many Second Ephesus and who complained that he bishops were shouting out, the statements of had been forced to subscribe at Chalcedon, only one or two would be taken as the state- that purported to prove that Nestorius could ment of the whole: 30 not have been recalled. Eustathius says that Aetius deacon and notary said: “It some bishops at Chalcedon asked for the often happens at these most holy gath- return of Nestorius’ remains, a request the erings that one of the most God- emperor flatly refused. Since the emperor beloved bishops present says some- seems to have been present at the council, thing, and what one man says is re- the incident must have occurred at the sixth corded and counted as if everyone session or later. alike had said it. This is what has hap- Although the acta of Chalcedon contain pened from time immemorial: for no such demands, we are still not justified in instance, one person speaks and we write, ‘The holy council said…’”32 thinking that the apparent candor of the acta precludes their historicity. In the investiga- It is easy to infer from what Aetius says tion held in 449 into the accuracy of the re- that the statements of a few bishops could

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 47 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______easily be overlooked. This must apply a for- unencumbered by Evagrius’ need to justify tiori to Chalcedon, for unlike previous coun- Chalcedon. cils secretaries from the imperial consistory, When Marcian came to power in August not the secretaries of individual bishops, 450 he had no ties to the family of Theodo- recorded the meetings.33 It is quite conceiv- sius and little to justify his selection beyond able that the notaries were instructed to ex- the favour shown him by the barbarian gen- clude from their record the protestations erals Aspar and Zeno; indeed he was consid- about Nestorius that could prove embarrass- ered by the western Augustus, Valentinian ing to the emperor, as Eustathius indicates III, nothing less than a usurper who should that they were to Marcian. be removed at the first opportunity.34 A careful reader will realize that the Marcian took as his consort the 52-year old upshot of Evagrius’ quotation of Eustathius sister of Theodosius to establish some sort is not the definitive rebuttal of Zachariah of continuity with the Theodosian line. By that he had hoped for. Evagrius has not so doing he committed himself to acquiesc- shown that Nestorius was not recalled, but ing to the demands of Pulcheria and pope only that Nestorius died before Chalcedon, Leo that he reverse the decisions of Second precisely what all the sources, both Ephesus. This entailed the rejection of Miaphysite and Nestorian, agree upon. If Cyril’s post-433 writings that asserted the this is the best response that Evagrius can sufficiency formulae “one incarnate nature” come up with, then one should seriously and “out of two natures”, the rehabilitation reconsider the stories of Nestorius’ recall. of Antiochene dyophysites like Theodoret of To understand Nestorius’ recall, though, we Cyrrhus, and the approval of Leo’s Tome in have to reconsider the aims of Chalcedon the East. If all these conditions were met itself. Like modern historians, Evagrius sees Leo and Pulcheria would intercede on Chalcedon only for what it was, a reality Marcian’s behalf with Valentinian to ensure that attained even in antiquity the level of his recognition in the West. historical necessity. Evagrius sought to dis- To produce the desired outcome parage Nestorius so as to entirely disassoci- Marcian conceived of a council to meet at ate the work of the Council of Chalcedon Nicaea in September of 451 under the strict from the deposed bishop; it was unthinkable supervision not of bishops, but of imperial that Nestorius should have been involved in officials bound by his orders. But the coun- the slightest with a council that produced cil had to steer a very difficult, if not impos- such a definitive statement of christological sible course between the Scylla and Charyb- orthodoxy. The argument for the recall of dis of the balkanized Eastern debate. On the Nestorius assumes, by contrast, that Chal- one side were the large number of bishops cedon was a contingent, not a necessary satisfied with Cyril’s “out of two natures” event and could consequently have turned and “one incarnate nature”. On the other out otherwise than it did. Once Chalcedon is were those who still tried to uphold the looked at in this light, the stories in Rufus, Peace of 433, the substance of which was an Zacharias and Barhadbeshebba assume a Antiochene statement of belief that posited new historical reality, for these earlier writ- the two natures of Christ after the incarna- ers can speak of Nestorius’ exile and recall tion. To the former, the latter were Nestori-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 48 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______ans, and to latter, the former were Eutychi- of possibility that Nestorius’ friends, who ans. There was no obvious common ground had been in communication with him, were on which the two sides could meet without effectively blackmailing Marcian with Nes- accusations of heresy from one or other of torius’ endorsement of the Tome as early as the sides. the fall of 450. If Marcian did not rehabili- From the evidence of the Liber Hera- tate Nestorius at the council they would dis- clidis, Nestorius fully endorsed the Tome of close that exiled bishop’s approbation of the Leo and the “two natures” of the Peace of Tome, a very embarrassing revelation for 433. Nestorius’ return would crown the ac- Marcian and Pulcheria when the political complishment of the Council and finally put situation demanded they force it upon the to rest the christological controversy that had unwilling bishops. Who these friends were begun in 428. It is to be imagined that Nesto- is not hard to guess at. Ibas of Edessa and rius would enter the church and walking in Irenaeus of Tyre were surely two. Theodoret the aisle between the assembled bishops and of Cyrrhus may also have been involved.37 kneel before Marcian and Pulcheria at the Though the extant collections of his letters head of the church, where he would ask their contain no letters to Nestorius after about forgiveness for disrupting the peace of the 434, there are letter fragments of Theodoret church and give his unqualified assent to the to Nestorius in Syriac that seem to suggest Tome of Leo, the definition of faith where continued contact between the two men.38 Christ was “in two natures”, Cyril’s Second To many it may seem impossible that a Letter to Nestorius and to the title Theotokos. condemned heretic could ever be recalled to Once Nestorius recanted, Theodosius’ legis- a council, but there is in fact a very clear lation against the “Simonians” would be ab- precedent in the fourth century that is often rogated and talk of “two natures” could not overlooked. Constantine summoned a coun- be legally condemned as in any way hereti- cil to meet in Constantinople during the cal. In this way, the dyophysite position of summer of 336, with the emperor present.39 Chalcedon could not subsequently be dis- When Arius was questioned by Constantine, credited by accusations of Nestorianism. In- he found him orthodox and the emperor stead, the decrees of Chalcedon would op- planned to force Alexander of Constantin- pose a single heresy, that of Eutyches, which, ople into communication with him. But be- unlike Nestorianism, had a clearly defined fore Arius could officially be readmitted form, thanks to the efforts of Basil of Seleu- into communion with the Catholic church, cia and the patrician Florentius at the Home he collapsed and died in the most unpleasant Synod of Constantinople in 448, that is, the of circumstances—on the toilet from an ex- rejection of Christ being “in two natures” plosive bout of diarrhea—according to ec- after the incarnation.35 By showing that even clesiastical historian Socrates (HE 1.38): a confirmed heretic could be drawn back to It was then Saturday, and ... going out the true faith, Marcian would illustrate to all of the imperial palace, attended by a that the Council of Chalcedon had a compel- crowd of Eusebian partisans like 36 ling claim to the truth. guards, he [Arius] paraded proudly There was another likely pressure ex- through the midst of the city, attracting erted on Marcian. It is not beyond the realm the notice of all the people. As he ap-

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proached the place called Constan- ken heretic was not destined by God to re- tine’s Forum, where the column of turn. With Nestorius’ not physically present porphyry is erected, a terror arising to recant, there was no other option than to from the remorse of conscience seized anathematize Nestorius at Chalcedon. A Arius, and with the terror a violent posthumous rehabilitation would have been relaxation of the bowels: he therefore enquired whether there was a conven- a very hard sell, and Nestorius’ friends did ient place near, and being directed to not push the issue, beyond the shouts re- the back of Constantine’s Forum, he corded by Eustathius, much as Arius’ sup- hastened thither. Soon after a faintness porters melted away after his death. came over him, and together with the When news of his death reached the evacuations his bowels protruded, fol- capital, Marcian must have had to think lowed by a copious hemorrhage, and fast to plan a new course for his council. It the descent of the smaller intestines: may well be that the delayed opening of the moreover portions of his spleen and council and Marcian’s own late arrival liver were brought off in the effusion have much to do with his uncertainty over of blood, so that he almost immedi- ately died. The scene of this catastro- how to proceed. That Marcian was com- phe still is shown at Constantinople, as manding an army in the field against the I have said, behind the shambles in the Huns in Thrace seems unlikely, when At- colonnade: and by persons going by tila was focused on the West. The eventual pointing the finger at the place, there is transfer of the council to Chalcedon, much a perpetual remembrance preserved of closer to the capital, meant that Marcian this extraordinary kind of death. could have even closer oversight of its con- To his enemies, the Nicene Christians, troversial progress. this was a sign from God and an answer to With Nestorius dead the architects of their prayers, or at the very least proof that the council recast their strategy. The Tome an enterprising opponent had managed to of Leo and the dyophysite definition of faith poison him before he could taint the church would instead become the artificial via me- with his communion. Arius’ inglorious dia between the heresies of Nestorianism death meant that not even his close support- and Eutychianism. This presentation of the ers chose to push the issue of his rehabilita- issues, however, grossly misrepresented the tion after 336.40 Yet Constantine is not com- status quaestionis in 451. For many in the monly remembered as sympathetic to Arius; East, if not the majority, the later work of indeed, the devout in succeeding centuries Cyril enunciated the orthodoxy of the for- would have recoiled at the thought. mulas “out of two natures” and “one incar- The case of Arius bears a strong similar- nate nature”; any talk of “two natures” was ity to that of Nestorius, a parallel certainly by definition Nestorian. Thus to distinguish not lost on opponents to Chalcedon like Chalcedon’s “two natures” from Nestorian- Zachariah in the passage quoted above. The ism rang false to such staunchly conserva- death of the exiled bishop on the road from tive cyrillians. It was imperative to disasso- Egypt, and the stories circulating of his ciate the “two natures” of Chalcedon from tongue rotting out of his mouth, must have what Nestorius had earlier taught and, for struck many as a sure sign that this outspo- this reason, all formal references to his re-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 50 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______call were suppressed. The evidence for this lent and intractable opposition to it subse- imperial order survived only in gossip circu- quently proved. Whether Chalcedon would lating among Nestorius’ friends and those have been more palatable with Nestorius near Panopolis, where Nestorius died. Only present is doubtful, but the evidence, much the pressure of the imperial commissioners, of it preserved only in Syriac, is clear and and doubtless a combination of threats, consistent on the attempt to recall Nestorius. bribes and peer pressure not recorded in any Rather than marginalize such sources as formal records, permitted the Chalcedonian propaganda, it would behoove scholars of statement of belief to meet with approval by the fourth ecumenical council to regard the assembled bishops. This was not the them as preserving events otherwise unre- council Marcian had hoped for, as the vio- corded in the official acta.

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NOTES

1 For the troubled reception of Chalcedon, 9 Cyril’s Third Letter to Nestorius was not see P.T.R. Gray, The Defense of Chalcedon in even known in the West until the sixth century. the East (451—553), (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1979), See N.M. Haring, “The Character and Range of pp. 17-43. Influence of St. Cyril of Alexandria on Latin 2 For the so-called definitio fidei, in reality Theology (430-1260),” Medieval Studies 12 only an interpretation of the faith, see Actio V 34 (1950) 1-19, and E. Schwartz’s remarks at ACO ACO II.1.2, pp. 128-130. For a clear summary of I.5(2), p. 236, and praefatio ACO I.5 IIII-V. the controversy, see now P.T.R. Gray, “The Leg- 10 Liber Heraclidis (text): Le Livre d’Hera- acy of Chalcedon. Christological Problems and clide de Damas, P. Bedjan ed., (Paris and Leip- their Significance,” in M. Maas (ed.), The Cam- zig: O. Harrassowitz, 1910). English translation: bridge Companion to the Age of Justinian G.R. Driver and L. Hodgson, The bazaar of (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), Heracleides, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925). pp. 215-22. French translation: F. Nau, Le livre d’Héraclide 3 See especially A. de Halleux, “Le Concile de Damas, (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1910). For de Chalcédoine,” Revue des Sciences Religieuses the story of this text’s discovery, see H. 67 (1993) 3-18. Chadwick, Review of Abramowski 1963, JTS ns 4 See Cyril’s Second Letter to Succensus 16 (1965) 214-216. ACO I.1.6, pp. 151-157. While the ἕνωσις 11 L. Abramowski, Untersuchungen zum φυσίκη of Cyril’s Third Letter to Nestorius Liber Heraclidis des Nestorius, CSCO 242, (ACO I.1.1, pp. 33-42, CPG 5317) implies one Subsidia 22 (Louvain: Secréteriat du Corpus nature in retrospect, there is no evidence that SCO, 1963). Cyril himself understood it this way until after 12 CTh 16.5.66. 433 when Acacius of Melitene and others alerted 13 Coll. Vat. 110 ACO I.1.3, p. 67 and Coll. him to the dangers implicit in the “two natures” Cas. 277+278, ACO I.4, p. 203. of the Antiochenes. 14 Coll. Vat. 138, ACO I.1.4, p. 66. 5 For Nestorius’ innovation within the tradi- 15 Evagrius HE 1.7. Text: The ecclesiastical tion of Theodore, see R.C. Chestnut, “The Two history of Evagrius, J. Bidez and L. Parmentier Prosopa in Nestorius’ Bazaar of Heraclidis,” eds., (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1964), pp. 13-16. JTS ns 29 (1978) 392-409. English translation: M. Whitby, The Ecclesiasti- 6 Coll. Vat. 63 ACO I.1.2, p. 64. cal History of Evagrius Scholasticus (Liverpool: 7 The classic defense of Nestorius is still M. Liverpool University Press, 2000), pp. 20-25. Anastos, “Nestorius was orthodox,” Dumbarton 16 Liber Heraclidis, Bedjan, 518-19, Driver Oaks Papers 16 (1962) 119-40. For a sensitive and Hodgson, 378, and Nau, 330. treatment of Nestorius’ condemnation and his 17 Liber Heraclidis, Bedjan, 519, Driver and doctrine, see A. de Halleux, “Nestorius. Histoire Hodgson, 379, and Nau, 331. et doctrine,” Irenikon 66 (1993) 38-51, 163-177; 18 Liber Heraclidis, Bedjan, 506, Driver and and idem, “Nestorius. History and Doctrine,” in Hodgson, 369, and Nau, 322. First Non-official Consultation on Dialogue 19 Liber Heraclidis, Bedjan, 520, Driver and Within the Syriac Tradition (Vienna: Pro Ori- Hodgson, 378-79, Nau, 330-31. There is no in- ente, 1994), pp. 200-215. ternal reason whatsoever to believe this passage 8 Cyril to John of Antioch, Ep. 39, Coll. Vat. an interpolation. 127, ACO I.1.4, pp. 15-20, CPG 5339. 20 Liber Heraclidis, Bedjan 452-3, Driver

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 52 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______and Hodgson, 330-31, Nau, 290-91. 29 Evagrius HE 2.2, J. Bidez and L. Parmen- 21 John Rufus, Plerophories 36 (PO pp. 83- tier eds., The ecclesiastical history of Evagrius, 85). The translation is my own. For discussion of p. 39. English translation: Whitby, The Ecclesi- John Rufus and Zachariah (see infra) viz. Chal- astical History, p. 62. For brief discussion of cedon, see now M. Whitby, “The Church Histo- this passage, see P. Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus, rians and Chalcedon,” in G. Marasco ed., Greek the Church Historian (Leuven: Spicilegium sa- and Latin Historiography in Late Antiquity crum lovaniense, 1981), pp. 99-100. Allen, while (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2003), pp. 447-93. P. making the point that Evagrius does not disprove Mouterde, “Le Concile de Chalcédoine d’après the recall per se, errs in identifying Eustathius as les historiens monophysites de langue syriaque,” a diophysite. in A. Grillmeier and H. Bacht, Das Konzil von 30 According to Zachariah HE 3.1, (trans. Chalkedon: Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol II Hamilton and Brooks, 47). (Würzburg: Echter-Verlag, 1962, c1954.), pp. 31 Cognitio de Gestis contra Eutychen 644 581-602, despite its title, does not deal at all with ACO II.1.2 p. 160. Translation: R. Price and M. the stories of Nestorius’ recall. Gaddis, The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, 22 Zachariah of Mitylene, HE 3.1, F.J. Ham- Vol. 1 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, ilton and E.W. Brooks trans., The Syriac Chroni- 2005), pp. 242-43. For Evagrius and Zachariah, cle Known as That of Zachariah of Mitylene see Pauline Allen, “Zachariah Scholasticus and (London: Metheuen and co., 1899), p. 43. the Historia Ecclesiastica of Evagrius Scholasti- 23 Coll. Cas. 279, ACO I.4, pp. 203-204. cus,” Journal of Theological Studies 31 (1980) Dorotheus had pronounced an infamous anath- 471-88. ema on all those who used the title theotokos. 32 Cognitio de Gestis contra Eutychen 767 ACO Coll. Vat. 144, ACO I.1.5, p.11: εἵ τις λέγει II.1.2 p. 170 (trans. Price and Gaddis, vol. I, 257). θεοτόκον εῖναι τὴν Μαρίαν, οὗτος ἀνάθεµα 33 For an important study of the identities of ἔστω. He was removed by Nestorius’ successor, the imperial commissioners, see. R. Delmaire, Maximian, shortly after his accession. “Les dignitaires laïcs au concile de Chalcédoine: 24 Dioscorus, A panegyric on Macarius, notes sur la hiérarchie et les préséances au milieu bishop of Tkôw, D.W. Johnson ed. and trans., du Ve siècle,” Byzantion 54 (1984) 141-75. CSCO 415, Script. Coptici 41 (Louvain, Sécre- 34 R.W. Burgess, “The Accession of Marcian tariat du Corpus SCO, 1980), pp. 79-8. For the in the Light of Chalcedonian Apologetic and story in Shenute, see J.F. Bethune-Baker, “The Monophysite polemic,” Byzantinische Zeitschrift Date of the Death of Nestorius: Schenute, Zacha- 86/87 (1993/1994) 47–68, and C. Zuckerman, rias, Evagrius,” Journal of Theological Studies “L’Empire d’Orient et les Huns; notes sur Pris- ns. 9 (1908) 601-5. cus,” Travaux et Mémoires Byzantines 12 (1994) 25 i.e. the dissemination of Leo’s Tome in the 159–182. East in 450. 35 See G. Bevan and P.T.R. Gray, “The Trial 26 Philoxenus of Mabbug, Letter to the of Eutyches: A New Interpretation,” (forth- Monks of Senun, André de Halleux ed., CSCO coming). 231, (Louvain: Sécretariat du Corpus SCO, 36 The only modern historian to take seri- 1963), p. 18. I thank Iuliana Viezure for bringing ously this scenario of recall was G.E.M. de Ste. this passage, along with a translation of it, to my Croix in “The Council of Chalcedon,” in Chris- attention. tian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, 27 Barhadbeshebba, HE 30 (PO 9, 585-586). Michael Whitby and Joseph Streeter eds., The translation is my own. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 28 M. Brière, “La Légende Syriaque de Nesto- 280-81. Ste. Croix, however, underplayed the rius,” Revue de l’orient chrétien 15 (1910) 24-25. role of secular pressures behind the council, and

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 53 The Last Days of Nestorius in the Syriac Sources ______by extension the recall (272) and instead saw it Heracleides, pp. 382-83. only as an expression of imperial fiat. 39 For the Council of Constantinople and the 37 For Theodore’s support of Chalcedon af- recall of Arius, see T.D. Barnes, Athanasius and ter 451, see P.T.R. Gray, “Theodoret on the ‘One Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Con- Hypostasis.’ An Antiochene Reading of Chal- stantinian Empire, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard cedon,” Studia Patristica 15 (1984) 301-304. University Press, 1993), p. 137. 38 F. Loofs ed., Nestoriana (Halle: M. Nie- 40 T.D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius meyer, 1905), nos. 310, 226, 243 and 253. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Translated in Driver and Hodgson, The bazaar of 1981), pp. 241-42.

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SYRIAN CHRISTIAN INTELLECTUALS IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM: FAITH, THE PHILOSOPHICAL LIFE, AND THE QUEST FOR AN INTERRELIGIOUS CONVIVENCIA IN ABBASID TIMES

SIDNEY GRIFFITH CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

I cerns.3 By far the most well-known of these is the patriarch’s account of his debate with he earliest Christian intellectual the caliph al-Mahdī (775-785) on the beliefs on record to enjoy a regular entrée and practices of the Christians.4 to the highest levels of the Patriarch Timothy’s account of his de- Abbasid elite in Baghdad was un- fense of Christian doctrine and practice in Tdoubtedly Patriarch Timothy I (727-823) the majlis of the caliph al-Mahdī, sometimes who for forty-three years (780-743) served listed among his works as Letter LIX, was as the major hierarch of the so-called destined to become one of the classics ‘Nestorian’ Church of the East,1 first in among the Christian apologies of the early Seleucia-Ctesiphon and then in Baghdad.2 Islamic period. It circulated in its original While the patriarch was no doubt fluent in Syriac in a fuller and in an abbreviated Arabic, he wrote in Syriac. And among the form,5 and it was soon translated into Ara- many works ascribed to him, most of which bic,6 in which language the account of have not survived to modern times, some Timothy’s day in the caliph’s court has en- fifty-nine letters are still extant, of the ap- joyed a long popularity, extending well into proximately two-hundred he is known to modern times. But it is not the only one of have written altogether. While they are ad- the patriarch’s letters which takes up what dressed to friends, mostly church officials, we might call Islamic issues. Several others they are more than personal correspondence, discuss questions which were obviously being on the order of public letters, or letter- posed with Muslim challenges in mind. Sev- treatises, perhaps best thought of as essays. eral cases in point are: a letter (XXXIV) on They discuss a number of liturgical, canoni- the proper understanding of the title cal and theological topics, and several of ‘Servant of God’ as an epithet for Christ;7 a them have to do with issues of Mus- letter in defense of the doctrine of the Trin- lim/Christian interest, including letters in ity (XXXV); and a letter against the opin- which Timothy describes in some detail the ions of those who demean the majesty of responses he has given to questions put to Christ (XXXVI).8 Another little known let- him by Muslims or inspired by Muslim con- ter (XL), which the patriarch addressed to

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 55 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______his former academic colleague Sergius, di- works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, rector of the school of Bashosh and soon to and in Greek mathematical, scientific and be the bishop of Elam,9 presents a somewhat medical texts by other writers, ushered in a detailed account of Patriarch Timothy’s col- whole new era for Christian intellectual life loquy with an interlocutor whom he met one in Baghdad. And since the Abbasid caliph’s day at the caliph’s court; Timothy says the capital was located in the historical heart- man was a devotee of the philosophy of Ar- land of the Assyrian Church of the East, it is istotle.10 But the course of the conversation no surprise that so-called ‘Nestorian’ Chris- which the patriarch reports, on the ways to tians, including Patriarch Timothy himself, know the one God, the three persons of the found their way into Baghdad to take advan- one God, the doctrine of the Incarnation and tage of the opportunities offered by the new the significance of various Christian reli- intellectual movement. Soon other Chris- gious practices, reads much like an account tians too, ‘Jacobites’ and ‘Melkites’ among of a conversation with a Muslim mutakal- them, would appear on the intellectual scene lim, rather than a philosopher.11 in the Islamic capital. Some were physi- The mention of Aristotle and of philoso- cians, some were philosophers, and some phy calls to mind the fact that Patriarch were logicians, mathematicians, copyists or Timothy was called upon by Muslim pa- translators. All of them contributed some- trons to arrange for the production of Arabic thing to the newly flowering culture of the translations of Greek logical and scientific early days of the first flourishing of Islamic texts, often from intermediary translations civilization. But in no society-wide enter- into Syriac. No less a personage than the prise did these ‘Nestorian’ and other Chris- caliph himself called upon the patriarch to tians take a more prominent role than they arrange for a translation of Aristotle’s did in the famed translation movement. For, Topica into Arabic, and Timothy discussed as Dimitri Gutas has rightly noted, the vast the undertaking in two very interesting let- majority of the translators of Greek and ters which have survived,12 in which the Syriac texts into Arabic were Christians.14 reader gains a lively sense of the multifac- As a matter of fact, for some generations eted processes involved in the enterprise. In previously many Christian scholars had been this connection, and in connection with the engaged in a translation movement of their beginnings of Christian involvement in the own of texts from Greek into Syriac, and Abbasid translation project, what John Watt latterly from Greek and Syriac into Arabic. has recently written about Patriarch Timo- Interest in Greek learning had been thy’s translation is noteworthy. He says: widespread in both the ‘Jacobite’ and the so- “The earliest unambiguous evidence of inter- called ‘Nestorian’, Syriac-speaking commu- est in Aristotelian philosophy in the upper nities from the sixth century onward.15 The levels of Abbasid Muslim society is the story begins back in the days of John Philo- commission of al-Mahdī to the East Syrian ponos (ca. 490-ca.570), a ‘Jacobite’ Chris- Catholicos Timothy I for a translation of Ar- tian student of the Neoplatonist Ammonius, istotle’s Topics from Syriac into Arabic.”13 son of Hermeias, in Alexandria.16 Philopo- This interest on the part of the Abbasid nos functioned both as a philosopher and as elite in Arabic translations of the logical a defender of Christianity. It was one of

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Philoponos’ students in Alexandria, Sergius known members of the Bukhtīshū family, of Resh‛ayna (d.536), a fellow ‘Jacobite’ with their connections with Jundīsābūr, from the environs of Edessa, who later Hunayn ibn Ishāq (808-873), who hailed switched his ecclesial allegiance to the from the ‘Nestorian’ capital of the Lakhmids, ‘Melkites’, who became the first-known link al-Hīra, and Abū Bishr Mattā ibn Yūnus between the enthusiasts for Aristotle in Neo- (d.940), from the flourishing monastery of platonist Alexandria and the Syriac- Dayr Qunnā, not far from Baghdad, who be- speaking communities in northern Syria.17 came “the founder of the Aristotelian school In Syria, the study of the works of “the Phi- in Baghdad early in the tenth century,”23 all losopher” and of other Greek thinkers al- soon came to be among the dominant Chris- ways involved translation into Syriac as the tian scholars in the Graeco-Arabic translation first step in the enterprise. From the time of movement in early Abbasid times. Sergius of Resh‛ayna onward, until well into It was within this context of the Graeco- Islamic times, the fortunes of Aristotle and Arabic translation movement of Abbasid Greek philosophy and science grew steadily times that a number of Christian intellectu- in the Syriac-speaking world, initially espe- als involved in the translation enterprise cially among the ‘Jacobites’. One thinks in came to the fore in their several communi- this connection of scholars such as Severus ties with a new approach to the Christian Sebokht (d.666/7), Athanasius of Balad encounter with the Muslims. Unlike their (d.696), Jacob of Edessa (633-708), George, predecessors, who were concerned primarily Bishop of the Arabs (d.724), and Theophilus in the Islamic milieu with composing apolo- of Edessa (d.785), to name a few of them.18 getic texts in Syriac and Arabic in response In the meantime, among the East Syri- to Islamic challenges, Christian translators ans and the so-called ‘Nestorians’, interest and scholars such as Hunayn ibn Ishāq (808- in Aristotle and the Greek sciences did not 873) in the ninth century, Yahyā ibn ‘Adī lag far behind that of the ‘Jacobites’. Paul (893-974) in the tenth century, and Elias of the Persian (fl. 531-578), a younger contem- Nisibis (d.1046) in the eleventh century, to porary of Sergius of Resh‛ayna who like- name only those with some name recogni- wise had connections with Alexandria, culti- tion in the modern west, turned their atten- vated a strong interest in Aristotelian tion also to philosophical, social and ethical thought, and although in the end he became questions. In particular, they sought a theo- a convert to Zoroastrianism back home in retical way, in tandem with contemporary Persia, at the court of Kusrau Anūshirwān Muslim thinkers, to commend a philosophi- (r.531-579), he seems nevertheless to have cal way of life, the cultivation of virtue and successfully championed Aristotle and Greek the pursuit of happiness, in a way that would philosophy among the Syriac-speaking, East promote a measure of convivencia in the Syrians in his homeland.19 Subsequently, it inter-religious, Islamo-christian atmosphere was in the ‘Nestorian’ school system, in cen- in which they lived. They were undoubtedly ters such as Nisibis,20 al-Hīra, the monastery inspired in this undertaking by the works of of Dayr Qunnā21 and Jundisābūr22 that Greek early Muslim philosophers such as Ya‛qūb learning flourished. By the mid-eighth cen- ibn Ishāq al-Kindī (ca.800-867) and Abū Nasr tury, ‘Nestorian’ scholars such as the well- al-Fārābī (ca.870-950). This new line of Chris-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 57 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______tian thinking sought to promote a reason-based, mans. As a noted physician, Hunayn was a social ethic for the world in which Christians familiar presence in the intellectual circles and Muslims lived, which would be open both of the caliph’s court from the time of al- to the claims of the Christian and the Islamic Ma’mūn (813-833) to that of al-Mu‛tamid scriptures, and which would also foster the ac- (869-892), enjoying a particularly high- quisition of personal and public virtues on the profile career during the days of the caliph part of the leaders of society, whose charge it al-Mutawakkil (847-861), whose sometime was, they argued, to work for the common good personal physician he was. Hunayn was one of everyone in the body-politic, especially the of the first Christians whose stories are scholars, ascetics and religious teachers of both widely told in the Arabic annals of Muslim the church and the mosque.24 In what follows learning in Abbasid times, by both medieval we shall briefly consider the contributions of and modern authors.27 In short, Hunayn ibn Hunayn, Yahyā, and Elias to this new under- Ishāq was a public intellectual of record. taking in the Christian response to the pressures Modern scholarship on Hunayn and his of life in the Islamic world. works has largely focused its attention on his professional activity, his translations of II logical, philosophical, medical and scientific texts, and on some of his more colorful per- Unlike Patriarch Timothy, who for all his sonal exploits, the knowledge of some of accomplishments as a Christian apologist which is even said to come from his own was primarily a churchman engaged in ec- pen.28 Relatively little attention has been clesiastical affairs, Hunayn ibn Ishāq was a paid to Hunayn’s own ideas, either in the professional scholar who circulated in the realm of philosophy or of theology. And yet highest levels of Baghdad’s learned elite. there is ample evidence that these were of While he remained dedicated, like Patriarch the greatest importance to him. Like his Timothy, to the task of the systematic de- somewhat older Muslim contemporary, the fense of the veracity of Christian doctrine philosopher al-Kindī (ca.800-ca.867), of and practice, and made major contributions whom Gerhard Endress has said that for al- to Christian apologetic literature in Arabic Kindī “philosophy was to vindicate the pur- as well, Hunayn was also engaged whole- suit of rational activity as an activity in the heartedly in the scientific, medical, and phi- service of Islam,”29 so one might say of losophical interests of the contemporary unayn that for him the cultivation of sci- Muslim intellectuals.25 ence and philosophy was to promote the Hunayn ibn Ishāq is well known to his- claims of reason in service of both religion torians as the founder and central figure in a and public life. ninth-century Baghdadī school of translators Compared to other contemporary Chris- of Greek medical and scientific texts.26 In tian intellectuals, Hunayn did not write his day, he was also celebrated for the dog- much on religious topics that has survived, gedness with which he studied the Greek but what he did write spoke to the major language and pursued manuscripts from city topics of the day, both Christian and Is- to city, and perhaps even beyond the borders lamic. It is notable that, unlike other Chris- of the caliphate into the territory of the Ro- tian writers of his own time and later, he did

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 58 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______not engage in the church-dividing, inter- dria / Sa‛īd ibn Batrīq (877-940).31 Later confessional, Christian controversies then still, Elias bar Shināyâ of Nisibis (975- currently flourishing; he did not, for exam- 1046), another Christian writer whose works ple and so far as we know, write polemical we will discuss below, like Hunayn a mem- tracts against the doctrinal views of the ber of the so-called ‘Nestorian’ Church of ‘Melkites’ or the ‘Jacobites’, or in support the East, carried on this same tradition of of the Christological teaching of his own, historical writing in Arabic, in his Chrono- so-called ‘Nestorian’ church. Rather, in graphy (Kitāb al-Azminah).32 works which we know for the most part Luckily, one of Hunayn’s principal con- only by title, Hunayn addressed himself to tributions to Christian apologetics in the Is- issues such as why God created man in a lamic milieu, his discussion of the reasons state of need (muhtājan), how one grasps the (al-asbāb) for which people might consider truths of religion, how to understand God’s any given religion to be true or false, has sur- fore-ordainment of the affairs of the world vived in at least two forms, with some varia- (al-qadar) and the profession of monothe- tion between them. In one form, the text was ism (at-tawhīd), and what are the criteria preserved by the medieval Coptic scholar, al- according to which the true religion might Mu‛taman ibn al-‛Assāl (fl. 1230-1260), who be discerned. The latter was a particularly included it in his magisterial Summary of the important topic for both Muslims and Chris- Principles of Religion, together with a com- tians in Hunayn’s lifetime, as we shall see. mentary on it by the twelfth century Coptic In addition, in some sources Hunayn is said writer, Yuhannā ibn Mīnā, who, according to to have composed a history of the world Ibn al-‛Assāl, gathered his material “from the from Adam to the time of the caliph al- books of the scholars (ulamā’) of the Chris- Mutawakkil (d.861), including the kings of tian sharī‛ah.”33 The other form of the text Israel, the Roman and Persian kings up to is included in Hunayn’s contribution to a the time of Muhammad, and the Muslim Christian apologetic work in Arabic which caliphs up to his own time. Unfortunately, presents itself as the correspondence be- this book has not survived. However, one tween Hunayn and a Muslim friend of his at should not underestimate the apologetic and the caliph’s court, Abū ‛Īsā ibn al-Munajjim even the polemic agenda of such books of (d.888), who had summoned him and their history in the ‘sectarian milieu’ of the time, younger ‘Melkite’ colleague at the court, when Muslim authors from Ibn Ishāq (d. ca. Qustā ibn Lūqā (d.ca.912), to embrace Is- 767) and Ibn Hishām (d.834) to al-Ya‛qūbī lam.34 It seems to have been the case that (d.897) were presenting Muhammad and his contemporary and later Christian apologists, prophetic claims in terms of just such bibli- as we shall see below, made use of unayn’s cally inspired, historical narratives.30 Hunayn discussion of these matters in their own fur- may well have been the first Christian to ther and rather original elaborations of the write such a history from a Christian per- negative criteria, which they claimed are in- spective in Arabic in the Islamic milieu, an dicative of the true religion. They argued that enterprise which would not be taken up the true religion is that one of the contempo- again by an Arab Christian writer until the rary options which is not accepted for any time of the ‘Melkite’, Eutychios of Alexan- one or all of the six or seven, unworthy and

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 59 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______therefore negative reasons for which people principal concern of the compiler of each might accept a religion.35 individual work. In Hunayn ibn Ishāq’s Finally we must briefly discuss what is Ādāb al-falāsifah, the narrative speaks of perhaps the most significant of Hunayn’s the founding of philosophy, of its various works from the point of view of highlighting branches, of the coming to be of ‘houses of the new element in the intellectual culture of wisdom’ among various peoples at the insti- the Christian scholars of Baghdad from the gation of kings, not only among the ancient ninth to the eleventh centuries. The work is Greeks, but also among Jews, Christians and Hunayn’s Ādāb al-falāsifah, or Nawādir al- Muslims, and of the sages who transmitted falāsifah, as it is sometimes called, a com- what Hunayn consistently speaks of as posite work, perhaps put together in the ab- ‘knowledge’ (‘ilm) or ‘wisdom’ (hikmah), breviated form in which it has survived by and ‘disciplinary practice’ (adab). For him, one of Hunayn’s disciples, the otherwise the pursuit of ‘ilm and adab constitutes the unknown Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Ansārī, philosophical way of life; it will bring hap- whose name appears as editor in the two piness and harmony for both individuals and extant manuscripts of the single recension of society as a whole.38 the text that has survived.36 Most commen- In the context of the burgeoning Chris- tators on this work have characterized it as tian intellectual life in Arabic in the ninth belonging to a well-known and popular century, unayn’s Ādāb al-falāsifah gave genre of the time, the collection of gno- voice to a new line of thinking which would mological, aphoristic sayings attributed to be developed even further by Christian in- the ancient philosophers and wise men, in- tellectuals in the next generations, as we cluding Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander shall see. In addition to the customary the Great, Galen, the Persian Luqmān, and, apologetic concerns, it involves the appro- in Hunayn’s case, Solomon, son of David.37 priation of the Late Antique ideal of the This characterization is certainly true as far philosophical way of life, as commended as it goes; Hunayn’s text is one of a number by the Neoplatonic Aristotelians of Athens of Greek and Arabic compilations of wis- and Alexandria in the sixth Christian cen- dom sayings attributed to the ancient sages. tury, as part and parcel of the Christian in- The individual aphorisms, which in the en- tellectual agenda in the caliphate. Now semble have been the focus of most schol- Christian thinkers would be taking part in a arly attention so far, can indeed be traced conversation with contemporary Muslim from one compilation to another and the intellectuals who were similarly developing contents of the several collections can be an interest not only in the improving litera- compared with one another to show a con- ture of the old ‘mirror for princes’ tradition, tinuing tradition in the collection of gno- but in moral development, the acquisition mological sayings. But each compilation can of virtues, and the beginnings of a political also be studied in its own right, with atten- philosophy,39 which would eventually bear tion paid to each compiler’s particular inter- fruit in such works as the philosopher al- ests and concerns. Often the aphorisms are Fārābī’s Principles of the Opinions of the quoted within the context of an overarching Inhabitants of the Virtuous City,40 and in narrative framework which expresses the the growth in the tenth and eleventh centu-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 60 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______ries of what modern commentators have founded by his teacher Abū Bishr in the ca- called Islamic humanism.41 liph’s capital city. He attracted numerous disciples of his own, both Christian and III Muslim, not a few of whom went on to be- come eminent scholars in their own turn. A generation after the time of Hunayn ibn Because of this obviously successful schol- Ishāq, the Christian logician and translator arly career, Yahyā and his circle of intellec- of the works of Aristotle and his commenta- tual associates have come to be seen by later tors, Abū Bishr Mattā ibn Yūnus (d.940), a historians as important participants in the ‘Nestorian’ from the monastery of Dayr cultural revival during the Buyid age that Qunnā, became one of al-Fārābī’s two Joel Kraemer has described as the humanis- Christian teachers of logic and philosophy, tic renaissance of Islam in its fourth cen- the other one being Yuhannā ibn aylān tury.44 And it is for this reason that bibliog- (d.910). Abū Bishr was also the teacher of raphers both medieval and modern have one of al-Fārābī’s own star pupils, the made every effort to keep track of Yahyā’s ‘Jacobite’ Christian, Yahyā ibn ‘Adī (893- works. In the tenth century his friend, the 974). Modern scholars claim Abū Bishr as Muslim bio-bibliographer of culture in the the real “founder of the Aristotelian school world of Islam, Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn in Baghdad early in the tenth century.”42 As an-Nadīm (d.995) recorded Yahyā’s works such he is often remembered as the defender and discussed his many scholarly accom- of philosophy and of the universal validity plishments in his famous reference work of Aristotelian logic against the counter called simply the Fihrist, or ‘the catalog’; claims of contemporary Muslim mutakal- and in 1977, Gerhard Endress published a limūn in a debate with their spokesperson, very helpful, analytical inventory of all the Abū Sa’īd as-Sīrāfī in the majlis of the ca- known works of Yahyā ibn ‘Adī.45 liph’s vizier in the year 937/8.43 Then in the In addition to his work as a translator tenth century, Abū Bishr’s student, Yahyā ibn and as a philosopher and logician, who ‘Adī, became for a time Baghdad’s most no- translated many Greek works of Aristotle table Christian intellectual and, like Hunayn and his commentators from Greek and ibn Ishāq in the previous century, Yahyā was Syriac into Arabic, Yahyā also wrote origi- one of the major proponents of the philoso- nal works in philosophy and theology. Like phical way of life as a guarantor of interre- Hunayn, his concerns included issues of ligious harmony and of logic and philoso- public morality, the ethical value of the phy as the most important tools for the Christian practice of celibacy, and the larger Christian theologian and apologist in the question of the human pursuit of happiness Islamic milieu. and the avoidance of sorrow. Of particular By the mid-940’s Yahyā ibn ‘Adī had interest in this connection are his treatise on become a major figure in a new generation the improvement of morals, Tahdhīb al- of intellectuals in Baghdad. While he earned akhlāq, and his colloquy on sexual absti- his living as a professional scribe, he was nence and the philosophical life.46 But of also for a while one of the leading exponents course, in addition to his philosophical work of the ‘Peripatetic’ school of thought Yahyā was also a prolific writer in the more

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 61 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______traditional areas of Christian theology and posed considerable difficulties for the new apologetics.47 While many of Yahyā’s theo- Christian intellectuals of Abbasid Baghdad, logical works have received considerable as well as for those Muslims of the time attention from modern scholars, especially who were engaged in the serious study of those in which he addressed the traditional philosophy. topics of Christian theology and apology in In the Colloquy on Sexual Abstinence, the Islamic milieu, this has not been the case Yahyā ibn ‘Adī entered into a debate with with his ethical texts and his ideas about the contemporary Muslim scholars about the philosophical way of life. Yet it is in them place of sexual abstinence among the spiri- in particular that we can follow in more de- tual exercises proper for the philosophical tail his engagement with other public intel- life. In fact, the issue of acceptable sexual lectuals in Baghdad in his day. behavior and sexual morality more generally In his Reformation of Morals, Yahyā ibn was one of the major, divisive issues be- ‘Adī promoted the cultivation of virtue eth- tween Muslims and Christians, albeit that ics toward the realization of an ideal which for the most part it figured in the earlier con- he called simply ‘humanity’ (al-insāniy- troversial texts only among the polemical yah),48 by which he meant not ‘humanism’ barbs which Christian writers aimed at the in the modern sense of the term, but, follow- Muslims53 and it had no place in the more ing his teacher al-Fārābī’s understanding of doctrinal discussions. Yet on the practical the word, he meant “the quality that human level this issue remained a major one, espe- beings have in common, or human nature; ... cially sexual abstinence for religious rea- being truly human, in the sense of realizing sons, and the concern of the new Christian the end or perfection of man qua man, often intellectuals for cultivating public and pri- synonymous with the exercise of reason.”49 vate morality offered them the opportunity Yahyā in fact viewed the cultivation of the to discuss this matter in a forthright way and life of reason as the very summit of human on the basis of a shared interest in philoso- perfection. He speaks of mankind’s distin- phy. As we shall see, it was in the genera- guishing virtue and defining form as the ra- tion after Yahyā ibn ‘Adī that the tional power or soul,50 and according to ‘Nestorian’ Elias of Nisibis (975-1046) ad- Yahyā its perfection consists in the acquisi- dressed this same issue in some detail in his tion of what he calls ‘true science’ (al-‛ulūm Risālah fī fadīlat al-‛afāf.54 al-haqīqiyyah)51 and ‘godly wisdom’ (al- hikmah al-ilāhiyyah), or as he sometimes IV also put it, “the acquisition of science (al- ‛ulūm) and knowledge (al-ma‛ārif) in act,” In his own time, Yahyā ibn ‘Adī became the this being the virtue, he says, which “brings central figure of a philosophical circle in one closest to God.”52 Yahyā’s clear avowal Baghdad which included Muslims as well as of his devotion to the life of reason as the Christians of all denominations among his highest human good raises the question of colleagues and disciples.55 Some of them, his thought on the relative claims of reason like the ‘Jacobite’ ‘Īsā ibn Zur‛a (943-1008), and revelation in the exposition of Christian followed closely in Yahyā’s wake. He be- doctrine. This issue was in fact one which came a public, Christian intellectual like his

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 62 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______master, with an interest in science, philoso- the vizir Abū l-Qāsim al-Husayn ibn ‘Alī al- phy and the systematic defense of Christian Maghribī (981-1027), a notable scholar in doctrines against the challenges of Muslims his own right, who was in the service of the and Jews, as well as being himself an ardent Buwayhid emir of Diyârbakr and May- apologist for the orthodoxy of his own yâfâriqîn, Nasr ad-Dawlah Ahmad ibn Mar- church’s ‘Jacobite’ Christology.56 But one wān, when Elias was metropolitan in nearby of the most accomplished Christian intellec- Nisibis.58 The sessions are said to have been tuals of the eleventh century in the Islamic held in Nisibis in July of the year 1026, with milieu was undoubtedly the ‘Nestorian’ subsequent meetings in December 1026 and Elias Bar Shinaya, the bishop of Nisibis June 1027. In the ensemble, this work, (975-1046). which is still not completely published in a Although he was one of the most crea- modern critical edition, is a masterpiece of tive and productive of Christian authors in popular, Christian controversial literature in the Arabic language, Elias of Nisibis has not Arabic; it seems to have had a wide circula- received nearly as much attention from tion among Arab Christian readers well into modern scholars as his works deserve. His modern times.59 But for the present pur- bibliography includes a world chronicle, as poses, two other works of Elias of Nisibis we mentioned above, numerous treatises, will claim our attention, the aforementioned letters and commentaries on all the major Treatise on the Virtue of Chastity and his topics of interest to Christians, and most of book On Dispelling Anxiety. In these texts them seem to have enjoyed a wide circula- Elias joins the ranks of the Christian intel- tion in medieval times. Born in the year 975, lectuals in the caliphate who in dialogue Elias was ordained a priest in the year 994. with their Muslim contemporaries promoted After a number of years of study in the mo- the exercises of the philosophical way of life nastic communities of northern Mesopota- as a humane program for interreligious har- mia, notably in and around Mosul, he was mony in the body politic. consecrated bishop of Bayt Nûhadrâ in the Elias of Nisibis’ Kitāb daf‛ al-hamm, year 1002. Then, on December 26, 1008, the Book on Dispelling Anxiety, is in the Elias was nominated the metropolitan of form of an extended essay of twelve chap- Nisibis for the ‘Nestorian’ Church of the ters, dedicated to the same vizir, Abū l- East, and from this date, until his death on Qāsim al-Maghribī, with whom Elias had July 18, 1046, Elias was actively engaged in been in conversation in the sessions re- the task of commending Christian doctrine ported in the Kitāb al-majālis. As a matter and practice in Arabic, in response to the of fact, Elias mentioned his work on the multiple challenges of Islam.57 text of ‘Dispelling Anxiety’60 in his corre- Undoubtedly, Elias’ most notable work spondence with the vizir al-Maghribī, a in connection with Christian/Muslim contro- circumstance which has allowed Samir versy is the one entitled Kitāb al-majālis. It Khalil Samir to conclude that Elias was is a compendium of Christian apologetics, busy composing the treatise in August of cast in the literary form of seven accounts of the year 1027, but that when the vizir died as many conversations on Christian doc- in October of that year the text was still trines and other matters between Elias and unfinished. In Samir’s judgment, Elias fin-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 63 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______ished the work in November or December the present context is that in his Kitāb daf ‛ of 1027.61 al-hamm, Elias of Nisibis, at the request of a Immediately upon the modern publica- Muslim notable, wrote in response to a work tion of Elias’ treatise on ‘Dispelling Anxi- on the same topic by a Muslim philosopher, ety’ in 1902, a colorful controversy devel- and that in his work Elias, like al-Kindī, ap- oped among scholars about its authenticity peals to reason as the rightful arbiter not as a work of Elias of Nisibis; some, led by only of one’s personal behavior but of pub- the formidable Louis Cheikho, were con- lic morals as well. vinced that its true author was Gregory Similarly, in his Treatise on the Virtue Abū l-Faraj Bar Hebraeus (1226-1286) and of Chastity, Elias addresses himself to a sub- that the text attributed to Elias was but the ject broached originally by a Muslim author, Arabic version of Bar Hebraeus’ well- this time the famed essayist, Abū ‘Uthmān known Syriac work, The Book of Laughable ‘Amr ibn Bahr al-Jāhiz (777-868). In July Stories.62 In fact, as Samir Khalil Samir has 1026, at the time of his first session in the shown, Cheikho and his associates were majlis of the vizir al-Maghribī, Elias ad- misled on this point by a careless copyist’s dressed the new treatise to his own brother, gloss on a list of Bar Hebraeus’ works Abū Sa‛īd Mansūr ibn ‛Īsā, who was a phy- copied in the sixteenth century. Now, due to sician in the entourage of the emir Nar ad- Samir’s detailed studies, the attribution of Dawlah of Diyārbakr.66 Abū Sa‛īd had read the Kitāb daf‛ al-hamm to Elias of Nisibis is a passage in the famous book Kitāb al- once again secure.63 hayawān in which al-Jāhiz spoke of a well In the introduction to the Kitāb daf‛ known eunuch, Abū l-Mubārak as-Sābī by al-hamm, Elias explains that he was inspired name, who had boasted that throughout his to compose this work as a result of his medi- long life, in spite of his emasculation, he tations on the themes raised by the Muslim never ceased to be aroused by the longing philosopher Ya‛qūb ibn Ishāq al-Kindī (ca. for women. In his book, al-Jāi recalled the 800-ca.867) in his widely-read and very story to support his contention that lifelong influential essay called, Risālah fī hīlah li sexual continence is impossible. Further- daf‛ al-ahzān, or ‘The Art of Dispelling Sor- more, he argued that such a practice is rows’.64 As a matter of fact, a number of against God’s will. He said, other Christian thinkers had also read al- Kindī’s work before Elias and at least two of God, who is most compassionate to- them also wrote works of their own in Ara- ward His creatures and most just to- bic on the same subject. Their principal pur- ward His servants, is too exalted to encumber them with foregoing any- pose was to introduce Christian religious thing He had bestowed on their hearts themes into the consideration of the best and confirmed.67 means of dispelling anxiety.65 Elias explains that he composed his treatise on the subject Disturbed by this argument, Abū Sa‛īd at the insistence of the vizir al-Maghribī, wrote to his brother, the metropolitan of who had requested that he address himself Nisibis, for guidance in regard to al-Jāhiz’ to the topic of the rational management of seeming anti-Christian contention and Elias human anxieties. The point to emphasize in responded with the treatise, ‘On the Virtue

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 64 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______of Chastity’. In it he argued systematically, Christians like Hunayn ibn Ishāq and his with an appeal to reason and to historical associates to hire out their translation ser- human experience that the virtue of chastity vices to Muslim patrons who bought their is both possible and even preferable for any- contributions to Islamic scientific and phi- one who would lead a life of reason and the losophical interests.69 But historians have pursuit of wisdom. With this treatise Elias been slower to recognize that these same entered a controversy already underway Christian translators were also building on among Muslim philosophers about the req- earlier traditions in their own communities. uisite degree of the suppression of the natu- They used their skills not only to translate, ral appetites that could be considered consis- but also to employ philosophical and logical tent with one’s determination to acquire thought in support of their faith commit- knowledge and to practice virtue, which is ments and to commend the philosophical to say, to live the philosophical life. For ex- life itself as a fruitful development which ample, one finds this discussion most elo- might provide the social possibility for har- quently put already in Abū Bakr Muham- mony between Christians and Muslims in mad ar-Rāzī’s (850-925) Kitāb as-sīrah al- the caliphate. falsafiyyah.68 Here ar-Rāzī defends himself According to Gerhard Endress, “The against a charge leveled against him by his undisputed master of philosophy for the adversaries to the effect that his lifestyle Christian schools of late Hellenism as well was not characterized by a sufficient degree as for the Muslim transmitters of this tradi- of asceticism and the requisite suppression tion, was Aristotle: founder of the para- of the appetitive and irascible desires neces- digms of rational discourse, and of a coher- sary to qualify him as a true philosopher and ent system of the world.”70 This was cer- disciple of Socrates. Like Yahyā ibn ‘Adī tainly a point of view shared by a medieval before him, Elias entered this discussion and Syriac-speaking chronicler from the argued that the doctrines and practices of ‘Jacobite’ community about the role of Aris- Christianity are actually more likely to dis- totle among his fellow ‘Jacobites’ long be- pose a person to the life of reason than any fore Islamic times. At the point in the other religious allegiance. anonymous Syriac Chronicon ad Annum Christi 1234 Pertinens at which the chroni- V cler comes to the discussion of what he calls the ‘era of the Greeks’, by which he means The new Christian intellectuals of Baghdad the time of Alexander the Great (356-323 in early Abbasid times, who came to promi- BC) and his Seleucid successors in the nence in the heyday of the translation move- Syriac-speaking frontier lands between the ment, made an unprecedented bid to partici- Roman and Persian empires, he has this to pate in the intellectual life of the larger Is- say about Aristotle and the importance of lamic society of their day. It was the transla- his works for the Christians: tion movement itself which provided them At this time, Aristotle, ‘the Philoso- with the opportunity. Heretofore, modern pher’, collected all the scattered kinds scholars have certainly recognized the fact of philosophical doctrines and he that the opportunity was one which allowed made of them one great body, thick

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with powerful opinions and doctrines, by Christians in the explication of the terms since he separated the truth from of their various doctrinal formulae and the falsehood. Without the reading of the systematic defense of their several theolo- book of logic [mlîlūthâ] that he made gies. Hunayn, Yahyā and the others moved it is not possible to understand the beyond the Organon into a larger Aristote- knowledge of books, the meaning of doctrines, and the sense of the Holy lian, philosophical frame of reference which Scriptures, on which depends the put a premium on the philosophical life it- hope of the Christians, unless one is a self, on the primacy of reason and the pursuit man to whom, because of the excel- of happiness not only personally and indi- lence of his [religious] practice, the vidually but socially and politically as well. grace of the Holy Spirit is given, the This was a new philosophical horizon for 71 One who makes all wise. Christians in the east, which under the impe- In Abbasid times there were more Chris- tus of the translation movement seems to tian thinkers interested in the philosophies have opened in the Baghdad intellectual mi- and sciences of the Greeks than just those lieu with the importation of Neoplatonic Aristotelians among the ‘Jacobites and the thought into the world of Arabic-speaking ‘Nestorians’ who took their texts and com- Aristotelianism. Perhaps its most eloquent mentaries from the Alexandrian tradition. marker is the so-called Theology of Aristotle, And there were more Muslims whose phi- a paraphrase of portions of Plotinus’ En- losophical and scientific interests reached neads, which also included some commen- well beyond a single-minded devotion to tary and a collection of wisdom sayings.73 Its Aristotle. Nevertheless these were the Chris- likely origins in its Arabic dress are probably tian and Muslim philosophers who shaped to be sought in the circle of the Muslim phi- the intellectual milieu in which Hunayn ibn losopher al-Kindī and his Syrian Christian Ishāq and Yahyā ibn ‘Adī pursued their ca- translators and associates. But the Muslim reers. And just as the Muslims among this scholar whose person and works most read- generation of philosophers wanted “to vindi- ily embodied the new intellectual profile was cate the pursuit of rational activity as an ac- undoubtedly the ‘Second Master’ (after Aris- tivity in the service of Islam,” so did Hunayn totle himself), Abū Nasr al-Fārābī (ca.870- and Yahyā and their Christian associates in- 950).74 Among Christian intellectuals, Yahyā tend to vindicate with the same philosophy ibn ‘Adī inherited al-Fārābī’s mantle. the doctrines and practices of the Christians The Muslim religious establishment and the Christology of the ‘Nestorians’ and came ultimately to distrust the philosophers. the ‘Jacobites’ respectively.72 In the time frame of our considerations, this What one notices as different in the distrust was expressed most notably in Abū works of Hunayn ibn Ishāq, Yahyā ibn ‘Adī, āmid Muhammad al-Ghazālī’s (1058- and Elias of Nisibis, by comparison with the 1111) The Incoherence of the Philoso- works of earlier and contemporary Christian phers,75 where his contempt for what he per- apologists and theologians who wrote in ceived to be the arrogant rationalism of the Arabic, is their venture beyond the range of Muslim philosophers in matters of religious the logical works of Aristotle. The Organon belief and practice is abundantly clear.76 But and Porphyry’s Eisagoge had long been used among Christians as well, not everyone was

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 66 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______happy with the new direction in Christian worst of their coarseness, out of a intellectual culture which the Baghdad sense of solidarity with them, and to scholars introduced into their world.77 Evi- spare them. They gave them, as it dence for this displeasure is recorded in a were on loan, Islamic meanings and work of the late Mu‛tazilī scholar, ‘Abd al- interpretations which they did not have.79 Jabbār al-Hamdhānī (d.1025). In the course of his own remarks against the influence of Obviously, Yūhanna al-Qass did not the philosophers, he mentioned Hunayn ibn approve of the solidarity which the Christian Ishāq and Yahyā ibn ‘Adī by name, along philosophers associated with the translation with the names of other prominent Christian movement felt for Socrates, Plato and Aris- translators of originally Greek texts into totle. How widely this feeling was shared Arabic, whom he accused of helping to sub- among other Christians of the time is impos- vert the faith of the Muslims by the intro- sible to know at this remove. What we do duction of the books of Plato, Aristotle and know is that some modern commentators on others into Islam. He says these Christian the works of the likes of Hunayn, Yahyā and translators were few in number and he says their colleagues have perceived problems that “they hide under the cover of Christian- with the relationship between the claims of ity, while the Christians themselves do not faith and reason in their thinking. Neverthe- approve of them.”78 What is more ‘Abd al- less, all are agreed that some prominent Jabbār names a Christian source, the other- Christian intellectuals of Baghdad from the wise unknown Yūhanna al-Qass, a lecturer ninth to the eleventh centuries did think for on Euclid and a student of the Almagest, a season that on the basis of reason and the who, according to ‘Abd al-Jabbār, offered philosophical life, a measure of peaceful this criticism of the Christian translators: convivencia between Christians, Muslims Those who transmitted these books and Jews could be attained in the World of left out much of their error, and the Islam they all shared.

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NOTES

1 See Sebastian P. Brock, “The ‘Nestorian’ Literature (Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 229; Church: A Lamentable Misnomer,” Bulletin of Rome: Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orien- the John Rylands Library of the University of talium, 1987), pp. 367-382. Manchester 78 (1996) 23-35. 8 For brief descriptions of these letters see 2 See Hans Putman, L’église et l’islam sous Hurst, The Syriac Letters of Timothy I, esp. pp. Timothée I (780-823): Étude sur l’église nestori- 43-68. See also Sidney H. Griffith, “The Syriac enne au temps des premiers ‘Abbāsides, avec Letters of Patriarch Timothy I and the Birth of nouvelle édition et traduction du dialogue entre Christian Kalām in the Mu‛tazilite Milieu of Timothée et al-Mahdī (Beyrouth: Dar el- Baghdad and Basrah in Early Islamic Times,” Machreq Éditeurs, 1975); Harald Suermann, forthcoming in the Gerrit Reinink Jubilee vol. “Timotheos I, +823,” in Wassilios Klein (ed.), (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta; Leuven: Syrische Kirchenväter (Stuttgart: Verlag W. Peeters, 2007). Kohlhammer, 2004), pp. 152-167. 9 See Harald Suermann, “Timothy and his 3 See Thomas R. Hurst, “The Syriac Letters Concern for the School of Bašoš,” The Harp 10 of Timothy I (727-823): A Study in Christian (1997) 51-58. Muslim Controversy,” (Unpublished Ph.D. Dis- 10 See Hanna P. J. Cheikho, Dialectique du sertation; Washington, DC: The Catholic Uni- langage sur Dieu: Lettre de Timothée I (728- versity of America, 1986 – University Micro- 823) à Serge; étude, traduction et édition cri- films International, #8613464); Harald Suer- tique (Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 1983). mann, “Der nestorianische Patriarch Timotheos 11 See Sidney H. Griffith, “Patriarch Timothy I. und seine theologischen Briefe im Kontext des I and an Aristotelian at the Caliph’s Court;” Josef Islam,” in Martin Tamcke & Andreas Heinz van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. (eds.), Zu Geschichte, Theologie, Liturgie und Jahrhundert Hidschra: Eine Geschichte des re- Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen (Studien ligiösen Denkens im frühen Islam (6 vols.; Berlin: zur Orientalischen Kirchengeschichte, vol. 9; Walter de Gruyter, 1991-1997), vol. III, p. 23. Münster: Lit Verlag, 2000), pp. 217-230. 12 See Sebastian P. Brock, “Two Letters of 4 See Alphonse Mingana, “Timothy’s Apol- the Patriarch Timothy from the Late Eighth Cen- ogy for Christianity,” Woodbrooke Studies: tury on Translations from Greek,” Arabic Sci- Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic and Gar- ences and Philosophy 9 (1999) 233-246. shuni; Edited and Translated with a Critical 13 John W. Watt, “Syriac Translators and Apparatus (vol. II; Cambridge: Heffer, 1928), Greek Philosophy in Early Abbasid Iraq,” The pp. 1-162; idem, “The Apology of Timothy the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies Journal 4 Patriarch before the Caliph al-Mahdī,” Bulletin (2004) 15-26, p. 17. of the John Rylands Library of the University of 14 See Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Cul- Manchester 12 (1928) 137-226. ture, p. 136. 5 See Albert van Roey, “Une apologie 15 John Watt, “Grammar, Rhetoric, and the syriaque attribuée à Elie de Nisibe,” Le Muséon Enkyklios Paideia in Syriac,” Zeitschrift der 59 (1946) 381-397. Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 143 6 See Putman, L’église et l’islam. (1993) 45-71. 7 See Thomas R. Hurst, “The Epistle Trea- 16 See H.-D. Saffrey, “Le chrétien Jean tise: An Apologetic Vehicle: Letter 34 of Timo- Philopon et la survivance de l’école thy I,” in H.J.W. Drijvers et al. (eds.), IV Sympo- d’Alexandrie au VIe siècle,” Revue des Études sium Syriacum 1984: Literary Genres in Syriac Grecques 67 (1954) 396-410.

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17 See Henri Hugonnard-Roche, La logique this period to the works of contemporary Jewish d’Aristote du grec au syriaque: Études sur la scholars in the same Islamic milieu of Baghdad. transmission des textes de l’Organon et leur For example, in addition to some Arabophone interprétation philosophique (Textes et Tradi- apologetic and polemic writers of the earlier tions, no. 9; Paris: Librairie Philosophique J. period, Sa‛adyah Ga’ōn Yūsuf al-Fayyūmī Vrin, 2004). (882-942), who was a contemporary of noted 18 See Khalil Georr, Les catégories d’Aris- Christian thinkers such as Abū Bishr Mattā ibn tote dans leurs versions syro-arabes (Beirut: Yūnus (d.940) and Yahyā ibn ‘Adī (893-974), Institut Français de Damas, 1948), esp. pp. 1-32; wrote his famous Book of Beliefs and Practices Hugonard-Roche, La logigue d’Aristote. in this period, a book which discussed many of 19 See Dimitri Gutas, “Paul the Persian on the same topics we find in the works of his the Classification of the Parts of Aristotle’s Phi- Christian coevals, but they make no mention of losophy: A Milestone between Alexandria and it. See Samuel Landauer (ed.), Kitāb al-amānāt Bagdad,” Der Islam 60 (1983) 231-267; Javier wa l’itiqādāt von Sa’adja b. Jūsuf al-Fajjumi Teixidor, Aristote en syriaque: Paul le perse, (Leiden: Brill, 1880); Samuel Rosenblatt (trans.), logician du VIe siècle (Paris: CNRS, 2003). Saadia Gaon: The Book of Beliefs & Opinions 20 See G.J. Reinink, “‘Edessa Grew Dim and (Yale Judaica Series; New Haven: Yale Univer- Nisibis Shone Forth’: The School of Nisibis at sity Press, 1948). the Transition of the Sixth-Seventh Century,” in 25 On Hunayn’s life and works, see G.C. J.W. Drijvers & A.A. MacDonald (eds.), Centres Anawati, “Hunayn ibn Ishāq al-‘Ibādī, Abū of Learning: Learning and Location in Pre- Zayd,” in Charles Coulton Gillispie (ed.), Dic- Modern Europe and the Near East (Studies in tionary of Scientific Biography (vol. 15, supple- Intellectual History, 61; Leiden: Brill, 1995), pp. ment, 1: New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 77-89; Joel Walker, “The Limits of Late Antiq- 1980), pp. 230-234, and Albert Z. Iskandar, uity: Philosophy between Rome and Iran,” An- “Hunayn the Translator,” & “Hunayn the Physi- cient World 33 (2002) 45-69; Adam H. Becker, cian,” in Gillispie, Dictionary of Scientific Biog- Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom: The raphy, pp. 234-249; Bénédicte Landron, Chré- School of Nisibis and the Development of Scho- tiens et musulmans en Irak: Attitudes Nestori- lastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia ennes vis-à-vis de l’islam (Études Chrétiennes (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Arabes; Paris: Cariscript, 1994), pp. 66-71. 2006). 26 See Myriam Salama-Carr, La traduction à 21 See Louis Massignon, “La politique l’époque abbaside: l’école de Hunayn ibn Ishāq islamo-chrétienne des scribes nestoriens de Deir et son importance pour la tradition (Paris: Qunna à la cour de Bagdad au IXe siècle de Didier, 1990). notre ère,” Vivre et Penser 2 (1942) 7-14, re- 27 A case in point is the recent book pub- printed in L. Massignon, Opera Minora (ed. Y. lished by a Muslim scholar in Saudi Arabia: Moubarac, 3 vols.; Beirut: Dar al-Maaref, 1963), Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh Dubyān, vol. I, pp. 250-257. Hunayn ibn Ishāq: Dirāsah tarīkhiyyah 22 See Heinz Herbert Schöffler, Die walughawiyyah (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Malik Akademie von Gondischapur: Aristoteles auf Fahd al-Wataniyyah, 1993). dem Wege in den Orient (2nd ed.; Stuttgart: 28 For an English translation of portions of Verlag Freies Geistesleben, 1980). Hunayn’s so-called ‘autobiography’, see Dwight 23 Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, F. Reynolds et al. (eds.), Interpreting the Self: p. 14. Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition 24 It is notable that we find scant reference in (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), Christian texts in Syriac and Arabic composed in pp. 212 pp.

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29 Gerhard Endress, “The Circle of al-Kindī: Samir, “Maqālah Hunayn ibn Ishāq fī kayfiyyat Early Arabic Translations from the Greek and idrāk haqīqat ad-diyānah,” al-Machriq 71 (1997) the Rise of Islamic Philosophy,” in Gerhard En- 340-363. dress & Remke Kruk (eds.), The Ancient Tradi- 34 Khalil Samir & Paul Nwyia (ed. & tion in Christian and Islamic Hellenism: Studies trans.), Une correspondence islamo-chrétienne on the Transmission of Greek Philosophy and entre Ibn al-Munağğim, Hunayn ibn Ishāq et Sciences (Leiden: Research School CNWS, Qustā ibn Lūqā (Patrologia Orientalis, tome 40, School of Asian, African and Amerindian Stud- fasc., 4, no. 185; Turnhout: Brepols, 1981), pp. ies, 1997), p. 50. 686-701. 30 Already in the Syriac-speaking tradition, 35 See Sidney H. Griffith, “Comparative in the context of the doctrinal controversies of Religion in the Apologetics of the First Christian the fifth and sixth centuries, historians and Arabic Theologians,” Proceedings of the PMR chronographers were producing texts in this Conference: Annual Publication of the Patristic, vein, a development which may well have in- Mediaeval and Renaissance Conference, 4 spired Muslim authors to buttress their religious (1979) 63-87. claims in the same manner. See, e.g., the studies 36 See Abdurrahman Badawi (ed.), Hunain of Witold Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle of ibn Ishâq: Âdâb al-Falâsifa (Sentences des Phi- Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahrē: A Study in the losophes) (Safat, Koweit: Éditions de l’Institut History of Historiography (Acta Universitatis des Manuscrits Arabes, 1985). Upsaliensis, Studia Semitica Upsaliensia, 9; 37 See Dimitri Gutas, Greek Wisdom Litera- Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1987); Jan J. ture in Arabic Translation: A Study of the van Ginkel, John of Ephesus: A Monophysite Graeco-Arabic Gnomologia (American Oriental Historian in Sixth-Century Byzantium Series, vol. 60; New Haven: American Oriental (Groningen: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 1995). Society, 1975), esp. pp. 38-40. This tradition continued among Syriac-speaking 38 See Jean Jolivet, “L’idée de la sagesse et Christians well into the Middle Ages, with such sa function dans la philosophie des 4e et 5e works as the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, siècles,” Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 1 the Chronicon ad annum 1234, and the Chroni- (1991) 31-65, esp. 45-47. cle of Bar Hebraeus. 39 See Patricia Crone, God’s Rule: Govern- 31 See Sidney H. Griffith, “Apologetics and ment and Islam; Six Centuries of Medieval Is- Historiography in the Annals of Eutychios of lamic Political Thought (New York: Columbia Alexandria: Christian Self-Definition in the University Press, 2004), pp. 148-196. World of Islam,” in Rifaat Ebied & Herman 40 Muhsin S. Mahdi, Alfarabi and the Foun- Teule (eds.), Studies on the Christian Arabic dation of Islamic Political Philosophy (Chicago: Heritage: In Honor of Father Prof. Dr. Samir The University of Chicago Press, 2001). On the Khalil Samir (Eastern Christian Studies, 5; Leu- intriguing suggestion that the ninth-century, ven: Peeters, 2004), pp. 65-89. Christian intellectual Anton of Tagrit could have 32 See Samir Khalil Samir, “Élie de Nisibe paved the way for Alfarabi’s work, see John W. (Iliyyā al-Nasībī) (975-1046),” Bibliographie du Watt, “From Themistius to al-Farabi: Platonic dialogue islamo-chrétien,” Islamochristiana 3 Political Philosophy and Aristotle’s Rhetoric in (1977) 283-284. the East,” Rhetorica 13 (1995) 17-41. 33 Paul Sbath (ed.), Vingt traités philosophi- 41 See Joel L. Kraemer, Humanism in the ques et apologétiques d’auteurs arabes chrétiens Renaissance of Islam: The Cultural Revival dur- du IXe au XIVe siècle (Cairo: H. Friedrich et ing the Buyid Age (Leiden: Brill, 1986); Lenn E. Co., 1929), p. 186. Hunayn’s text is republished Goodman, Islamic Humanism (Oxford: Oxford in a modern, critical edition by Samir Khalil University Press, 2003).

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42 Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, p. Orientalistiek, 1983); idem, Abū ‘Īsā al-Warrāq, 14. See also G. Endress, “Mattā b. Yūnus Yahyā ibn ‘Adī: de l’incarnation (CSCO, vols. (Yūnān) al-unnā’ī, Abū Bishr,” in EI, new ed., 490 & 491; Louvain: Peeters, 1987). vol. VI, pp. 844-846. 48 He uses the term in two places in the 43 See Gerhard Endress, “Grammatik und book, Ibn ‘Adī, The Reformation of Morals, 2.15 Logik: Arabische Philologie und griechischer & 5.14, pp. 26 & 106. Philosophie in Widerstreit,” in Burkard Mojsisch 49 Kraemer, Humanism in the Renaissance of (ed.), Sphrachphilosophie in Antike und Mittelal- Islam, p. 10, n. 14, defining al-Fārābī’s under- ter (Bochumer Studien zur Philosophie, 3; Am- standing of the term. sterdam: Gruner, 1986), pp. 163-299. 50 Yahyā ibn ‘Adī, following the Neopla- 44 See Kraemer, Humanism in the Renais- tonic tradition he inherited, distinguishes three sance of Islam, pp. 104-139. For a brief survey faculties or powers (quwā) in the human soul, of the Christian participants in this movement which powers he says “are also named souls: the see Khalil Samir, “Rôle des chrétiens dans les appetitive soul, the irascible soul, and the ra- renaissances arabes,” Annales de Philosophie de tional soul.” Ibn ‘Adī, The Reformation of Mor- l’Université Saint-Joseph 6 (1985) 1-31. als, 2.1, p. 14. 45 See Bayard Dodge (ed. & trans.), The 51 See, e.g., Ibn ‘Adī, Traité sur la conti- Fihrist of al-Nadīm: A Tenth-Century Survey of nence, 1.3-4, 65.4, PP. 14 & 37 (Arabic); 65 & Muslim Culture (2 vols.; New York: Columbia 99 (French). University Press, 1970), vol. II, pp. 631-632 and 52 See Ibn ‘Adī, Traité sur la continence, sub nominee; Gerhard Endress, The Works of 33.2-3 & 34.5-7, pp. 25 (Arabic); 81-82 (French). Yahyā ibn ‘Adī: An Analytical Inventory 53 Christian polemicists often claimed that (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1977). Muhammad and Islam encouraged licentious 46 Samir Khalil Samir & Sidney H. Griffith behavior. Typically the topic came up in discus- (ed. & trans.), Yahyā ibn ‘Adī: The Reformation sions of the criteria for recognizing the true reli- of Morals (Eastern Christian Texts, vol. I; Provo, tion. See, e.g., the listings under this heading in UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002); Paul Khoury, Matériaux pour servir à l’étude de Vincent Mistrih, “Traité sur la continence de la controverse théologique islamo-chrétienne de Yahyā ibn ‘Adī; édition critique,” Collectanea langue arabe du VIIIe au XIIe siècle (4 vols., (no. 16, Études-Documents; Cairo: Studia Orien- Religionswissenschaftliche Studien, 11/1-4; talia Christiana, 1981); Sidney H. Griffith, Würzburg: Echter Verlag; Altenberge: Telos “Yahyā B. ‘Adī’s Colloquy on Sexual Absti- Verlag), vol. 1, pp. 190-300. See the motif also nence and the Philosophical Life,” in James E. discussed in Jason Zaborowski, The Coptic Mar- Montgomery (ed.), Arabic Theology, Arabic tyrdom of John of Phanijōit: Assimilation and Philosophy; from the Many to the One: Essays in Conversion to Islam in Thirteenth-Century Egypt Celebration of Richard M. Frank (Orientalia (The History of Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. Lovaniensia Analecta, 152; Leuven: Uitgeverij 3; Leiden: Brill, 2005), esp. pp. 11-31. Peeters, 2006), pp. 197-331. 54 The text is edited by George Rahmah, 47 See in particular the numerous studies of “Risālah fī fadīlat al-‘afāf li Iīliyyah an-Nasībīnī,” Emilio Platti, especially E. Platti, “Yayā b. al-Machriq 62 (1968) 3-74. ‘Adī, philosophe et théologien,” MIDEO 14 55 See Kraemer, Humanism in the Renais- (1980), pp. 167-184; idem, “Une cosmologie sance of Islam, pp. 104-139. chrétienne,” MIDEO 15 (1982), pp. 75-118; 56 See Georg Graf, Geschichte der chris- idem, Yahyā ibn ‘Adī: théologien chrétien et tlichen arabischen Literatur (vol. II, Studi e philosophe arabe; sa théologie de l’incarnation Testi, 133; Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apos- (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 14; Leuven: tolica Vaticana, 1947), pp. 252-256; Cyrille Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Departement Haddad, ‘Īsā ibn Zur‛a: Philosophe arabe et

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 71 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______apologiste chrétien (Beirut: Dar al-Kalima, 61 See Samir Khalil, “Le ‘Daf ‛ al-Hamm’ 1971); Kraemer, Humanism in the Renaissance d’Elie de Nisibe: Date et circonstances de sa of Islam, pp. 116-123. rédaction,” Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica 18 57 On Elias of Nisibis and his works, see G. (1987) 99-119; reprinted in Samir, Foi et Culture Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen en Irak, no. IV. Literatur (vol. II, Studi e Testi, 133; Città del 62 See E.A. Budge, The Laughable Stories Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1947), Collected by Mār Gregory John Bar Hebraeus: pp. 177-188; Emmanuel-Karim Delly, La The Syriac Text Edited with an English Transla- théologie d’Elie bar Šénaya: étude et traduction tion (London: Luzac, 1897). de ses entretiens (Studia Urbaniana; Rome: 63 See Samir Khalil, “Bar Hebraeus, le ‘Daf‛ Apud Pontificiam Universitatem Urbanianam de al-Hamm’ et les ‘Contes Amusants’,” Oriens Propaganda Fide, 1957); Bénédicte Landron, Christianus 64 (1980) 136-160; reprinted in Chrétiens et Musulmans en Irak: Attitudes Samir, Foi et culture en Irak, no. III. Nestoriennes vis-à-vis de l’islam, pp. 112-120. 64 The text is published, with an Italian See especially the collected studies of Samir translation, in H. Ritter & Richard Walzer, Khalil Samir, Foi et culture en Irak: Elie de “Studi su al-Kindī II: Uno scritto morale inedito Nisibe et l’Islam (Variorum Collected Studies di al-Kindī (Temistio Peri alupias?),” Atti della Series, 544; Aldershot, Hamps.: Ashgate Pub- Reale Accademia Nazionale de Lincei (Memorie lishing, 1996). della Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e 58 See the brief excursus on the vizir and his Rilologiche, ser. 6, vol. 8; (1938), pp. 5-62; Ab- background in Samir Khalil Samir, durahman Badawī, Rasā’il Falsafiyya li al-Kindī “Bibliographie du dialogue islamo-chrétien: Élie wa al-Fārābī wa Ibn Bājja wa Ibn ‘Adī de Nisibe (Iliyyā al-Nasībī) (975-1046),” Islamo- (Beyrouth: Dār al-Andalus, 1973), pp. 6-32. The christiana 3 (1977), p. 259; the article is in- most recent study, with a translation into French cluded in Samir, Foi et culture en Irak. See also is, Al-Kindī, Le moyen de chasser les tristesses the excursus on the emir Nasr ad-Dawlah in et autres textes éthiques (intro. & trans. Sou- Samir Khalil Samir, “Note sur le médecin Zāhid maya Mestiri & Guillaume Dye, Bibliothèque al-‘Ulamā’, frère d’Elie de Nisibe,” Oriens Maktaba; Paris: Fayard, 2004). An English trans- Christianus 69 (1985) 168-183, particularly pp. lation is available by Charles E. Butterworth, 181-183; reprinted in Samir, Foi et culture en “Al-Kindī and the Beginnings of Islamic Politi- Irak, no. V. cal Philosophy,” in C.E. Butterworth (ed.), The 59 For the manuscripts and publishing his- Political Aspects of Islamic Philosophy: Essays tory of this work, see Samir, Foi et culture en in Honor of Muhsin S. Mahdi (Cambridge, MA: Irak, I, pp. 259-267. For its comparison with Harvard University Press, 1992), pp. 11-60, esp. other works in the same genre see Sidney H. pp. 32-52. Griffith, “The Monk in the Emir’s Majlis: Re- 65 See Sidney H. Griffith, “The Muslim Phi- flections on a Popular Genre of Christian Liter- losopher al-Kindī and his Christian Readers: ary Apologetics in Arabic in the Early Islamic Three Arab Christian Texts on ‘The Dissipation Period,” in Hava Lazarus-Yafeh et al. (eds.), The of Sorrows’,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Uni- Majlis: Interreligious Encounters in Medieval versity Library of Manchester 78 (1996) 111-127. Islam (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999), pp. 13- 66 See Samir, “Note sur le médecin Zāhid al- 65, esp. pp. 48-53. ‘Ulamā’.” 60 The full Arabic text is published in Con- 67 Al-Jāhiz, Kitāb al-hayawān (vol. I; Cairo: stantin Bacha, Kitāb daf’ al-hamm li Ilīyyā al- Maktabat Mustfā al-alabī, 1938), p. 128. Nastūrī mutrān Nasībīn (Cairo: Matba‛ah al- 68 Charles E. Butterworth (trans.), “Abū Ma‛ārif, 1902). Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā’s The Book of

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 72 Syrian Christian Intellectuals in the World of Islam ______the Philosophic Life,” Interpretation 20 (1992), (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 134; Leuven: pp. 227-257. Uitgeverij Peeters, 2005), pp. 151-166. 69 See Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Cul- 73 See F. W. Zimmerman, “The Origins of ture, esp. 136-141. the So-Called Theology of Aristotle,” in J. Kraye 70 Endress, “The Circle of al-Kindī,” in En- et al. (eds.), Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts dress & Kruk, The Ancient Tradition in Chris- (XI, Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages; Lon- tian and Islamic Hellensim, p. 52. don: Warburg Institute, 1986), pp. 110-240; E.K. 71 I.–B. Chabot (ed.), Anonymi Auctoris Rowson, “The Theology of Aristotle and Some Chronicon ad Annum Christi 1234 Pertinens Other Pseudo-Aristotelian Texts Reconsidered,” (CSCO, vols. 82 & 109); Paris: J. Gabalda, 1920 Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 & Louvain: Imprimerie Orientaliste L. Durbecq, (1992), pp. 478-484; Peter Adamson, The Arabic 1952), vol. 81, pp. 104-105 (Syriac), vol. 109, P. Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of the Theology 82 (Latin). It is interesting to note the similar of Aristotle (London: Duckworth, 2002). line of thinking voiced about the science of logic 74 See I.R. Netton, Al-Farabi and His School in Sergius of Resh‘ayna’s still unpublished intro- (Arabic Thought and Culture Series; London & duction to Aristotle’s Categories: “Without all New York: Routledge, 1992). this neither can the meaning of writings on medi- 75 See al-Ghazālī, The Incoherence of the cine be grasped, nor can the opinions of the phi- Philosophers: A Parallel English-Arabic Text losophers be known, nor indeed the true sense of (trans. Michael E. Marmura; Provo, UT: Brig- the divine scriptures in which the hope of our ham Young University Press, 1997). salvation is revealed—unless a person receive 76 See Ebrahim Moosa, Ghazālī and the Po- divine power as a result of the exalted nature of etics of Imagination (Chapel Hill, NC: The Uni- his way of life, with the result that he has no versity of North Carolina Press, 2005), esp. pp. need of human training. As far as human power 172-176, 200-208. is concerned, however, there can be no other 77 Interestingly, even prior to the rise of Is- course or path to all the areas of knowledge ex- lam, and in the very early Islamic period, there cept by way of training in Logic.” Quoted from was some tension among the East Syrians be- Becker, Fear of God and the Beginning of Wis- tween the academic philosophers in the dom, p. 147, who in turn quoted the passage ‘Nestorian’ school system and the more spiritu- from Sebastian Brock, A Brief Outline of Syriac ally inclined scholars of the monastic communi- Literature (Moran Etho, 9; Kottayam, Kerala: ties. See Becker, Fear of God and the Beginning Saint Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, of Wisdom, pp. 178-194. 1997), p. 204. 78 ‘Abd al-Jabbār ibn Ahmad al-Hamdhānī, 72 See John W. Watt, “The Strategy of the Tathbīt dalā’il an-nubuwwah (2 vols., ed. ‘Abd Baghdad Philosophers: The Aristotelian Tradi- al-Karīm ‘Uthmān; Beirut: Dār al-‘Arabiyyah, tion as a Common Motif in Christian and Islamic 1966), vol. I, p.76; see also pp. 75-76 & 192- Thought,” in J. J. van Ginkel et al. (eds.), Rede- 193. fining Christian Identity: Cultural Interaction in 79 ‘Abd al-Jabbār, Tathbīt dalā’il an- the Middle East since the Rise of Islam nubuwwah, vol. I, p. 76.

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MONASTERIES AND CHURCHES OF THE QALAMUN (SYRIA): ART AND PILGRIMAGE IN THE MIDDLE AGES1

MAT IMMERZEEL PAUL VAN MOORSEL CENTRE, LEIDEN UNIVERSITY

he mountainous area to the north scape of the Qalamun through the ages. We of Damascus, known as the Qala- do, however, have to realise that this inten- mun (Djebel Qalamūn), has long tion is ambitious, as it requires a systematic been a Christian stronghold in the survey of the area and a detailed analysis of predominantlyT Muslim Middle East (fig. 1; the ancient buildings combined with a study all figures are by the author, unless men- of relevant literary sources. With this limita- tioned otherwise).2 Traditionally, the major- tion in mind, our point of departure will be ity of the Qalamun’s Christians were adher- the situation in the decades before and dur- ents to the Byzantine Orthodox (Melkite) ing the Crusader era (1099-1291), focussing Church, living in places such as Saydnaya, in particular on two interrelated subjects that Macarat Saydnaya, Macalula, Yabrud, Qara in recent years have raised scholarly inter- and Deir Attiya. The Syrian Orthodox est: the flourishing of church art in the Qala- Church was well established in Nebk, Qary- mun, and the impact of pilgrimage, in par- atain and Sadad in the eastern part of the ticular to the Monastery of Our Lady in Qalamun, owned two monasteries here (Deir Saydnaya.

Mar Musa and Deir Mar Elian), and had 1. HISTORY bishoprics in Damascus3 and Sadad.4 With the increasing importance of the Greek The Christians of the Qalamun lived in the Catholic Church in Damascus and its sur- shadow of the events that rocked the Levant roundings in the eighteenth century, the de- from time to time, yet they lived close nomination of several Melkite monasteries enough to Damascus and the Crusader states and churches changed from Greek Orthodox to experience the consequences of political to Greek Catholic.5 In the next century the and socio-economic changes, with their ad- two West Syrian monasteries were trans- vantages or disadvantages. From 970 on- ferred to the Syrian Catholic Church. wards, Damascus fell under the authority of This study aims at giving the initial im- the Fatamids in Cairo. The foundation of the petus to reconstructing the Christian land- Latin states around 1100 did not really pose

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 74 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______a threat to the Emirate of Damascus. Nur ad- headed by General Kitbuqa entered Damas- Din succeeded where the Crusaders had cus in the presence of its allies, the Arme- failed; he took Damascus in 1158. Saladin’s nian king and the Latin Prince of Antioch.9 capture of Jerusalem and the rural areas of Many Mongols were adherents of the East the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 resulted Syrian Church, which helps to explain why in a certain détente between the contesting the Christians of the cities that they con- parties. Under the Ayyubids (1174-1249) quered were occasionally spared. Feeling commerce and cultural life flourished. Da- strengthened by this changed state of affairs, mascus was a junction on the trade routes Damascene Christians went in public pro- connecting all quarters of the Islamic world cession through the streets on 31 August. and the Crusader states and apparently the Their joy was premature: three days later the indigenous Christians benefited from these Mamluks defeated the Mongol contingent at favourable conditions as well. Ain Jalud. The Muslims retaliated upon the In Damascus too, the Melkites formed Christians by demolishing the cathedral and the predominant Christian minority. By the Syrian Orthodox church.1 0 Soon after, contrast, for the Syrian Orthodox this city the cathedral was rebuilt, but it was de- was of minor importance. The Muslim au- stroyed again in 1400. Not a single post- thorities had imposed restrictions on the medieval source alludes to adorned churches number of churches within the city walls, inside Damascus. If there were any murals reducing it to a maximum of fifteen. This left, they must have disappeared during the amount the Christians had to share with the anti-Christian clashes in the summer of Jews, who had one synagogue. According 1860. Many Christians perished when their to Ibn cAsakir (shortly before 1169), most quarter in between Bab Tuma and Bab of the Damascene churches were either Sharqi was sacked and burned down.1 1 The ruined or turned into mosques.6 Two build- houses and churches were reconstructed or ings were still in use: the Melkite Cathedral replaced in the next years, and this was done of al-Mariamiya (St Mary’s), which the so thoroughly that next to nothing of the old Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr found deco- architecture survived. rated with ‘remarkable pictures that amaze Turning back to the Middle Ages, soon the mind and dazzle the gaze’ in 1184,7 after the defeat of the Mongols, the Mamluks and a Syrian Orthodox church near Bab started a series of campaigns against the Cru- Tuma. The restrictions did not apply to saders, ending with the fall of Tripoli in 1289 churches outside the city walls, like those and Acre in 1291. With the favourable atti- of St Paul and St George. The latter was tude of the Damascene Christian population mentioned as a property of the Monastery towards the Mongols in mind, the new rul- of St Catherine on Mount Sinai in a letter ers had good reasons to suspect the indige- of Pope Honorius III to Abbot Simeon of nous Christians of being the natural allies of this convent from 1217.8 their fellow believers from the West and In the mid-thirteenth century, the politi- East. The assault of Qara in 1266 illustrates cal and military balance in Syria changed the perceptibly deteriorating situation (see dramatically due to the Mongol invasions. below), and symbolises the end of the flour- On 17 February 1260, the Mongol army ishing Christian renaissance in West Syria.

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 75 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______

2. THE MONASTERY OF this church I saw a wooden panel measuring SAYDNAYA one el long and half an el wide, placed be- hind the altar in an embrasure in the wall of The most famous Christian monument of the sanctuary guarded by an iron grille. On the Qalamun is the Greek Orthodox Monas- this panel a likeness of the Blessed Virgin tery of Our Lady in Saydnaya, situated had once been painted, but now, wondrous about 30 km to the north of Damascus (figs to relate, the picture on wood has become 1, 2). The main reason for its celebrity was a incarnate and oil, smelling sweeter than bal- miraculous icon known as the Chaghoura, sam, unceasingly flows from it. By which Syriac for ‘The Illustrious’, ‘Celebrated’, or oil many Christians, Saracens and Jews are ‘Renowned’. The earliest sources on the often cured of ailments.... To this place on convent and the cult of the Chaghoura are the feast of the Assumption of the glorious from the final quarter of the twelfth century. Virgin and on that of her Nativity all the From this moment on the information is Saracens of that province flock to pray to- abundant, since visitors have left us their gether with the Christians, and the Saracens memories in travel reports, which today are perform their devotions there with great rev- essential for research on the history of the erence’.13 site and the tradition of the icon and its Burchard’s account of the inter-religious cult.12 Allegedly, the convent was founded veneration of the Virgin of Saydnaya during by the Emperor Justinian in A.D. 547. The the feasts of the Assumption (15 August) icon is also said to date from this period, but and Nativity (8 September) astonishes, but so far few efforts have been undertaken to finds support in ‘History of Churches and substantiate these apocryphal allegations on Monasteries’, a fourteenth-century compila- the basis of literary traditions and the sur- tion of Arabic texts attributed to the Coptic viving remains of ancient buildings. priest, Abū al-Makārim, and composed of material collected between 1171 and about 2.1. THE CULT OF THE 1210. The author discusses in detail the icon CHAGHOURA and its miraculous oil production, and quotes a priest from the monastery: ‘On this The absence of historical sources on the day gather to this place Christians, Muslims, monastery and the icon from before the later Nestorians, Melkites, Syrians, and others, twelfth century is all the more remarkable approximately four or five thousand peo- because the earliest writings reveal astonish- ple’.14 Obviously, the incarnation of the icon ing details of what appears to be a centuries- fascinated believers irrespective of their re- old and vibrant tradition of pilgrimage to ligion. The persisting attraction that Sayd- Saydnaya’s convent. The first reference oc- naya has held for Christians and Muslims curs in the account of Burchard of Strass- until our own times strengthens the credibil- bourg, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s am- ity of these accounts. bassador at the court of Saladin, who visited Evidently, these sources bear witness to Saydnaya around 1175: ‘In this church a tradition of uncertain age, which may at twelve virgin nuns and eight monks de- first have been local, but which seems to voutly serve God and the Blessed Virgin. In have expanded to an international level from

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 76 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______the late twelfth century onwards. In 1186, seemed to me that in one part of it some ves- holy oil from Saydnaya was brought to tige of red colouring might be discerned.’18 Europe for the first time. In the previous Ludolph von Suchem (approx. 1350) also year, an exchange of prisoners of war took saw the red traces, and left us more details place. Among the western prisoners released on what had originally been represented: was the Templar Walter of Marengiers, ‘(…) behind the altar, in a semicircular arch who, on his way to Jerusalem, had obtained in the wall, there is a figure of the blessed a bottle of oil when passing through Sayd- Mary suckling her child, painted from the naya. Shortly thereafter, Guido Chat brought waist upwards upon a wooden tablet, and a portion of this oil to the Abbey of Alta- fenced with iron bars; but the painting is so vaux (Haute-Vienne, France), and also re- black with age and kisses that one can vealed all details of the Chaghoura and its scarce make out that it was a figure, beyond miraculous workings to the French monks.15 that a little red colour can still be seen in the This was the beginning of the western inter- clothing’.19 est in Saydnaya and the involvement of the The suggested depiction of the suckling Knights Templar in promoting the cult of Virgin should be seen in light of the claim the Chaghoura.16 By the fourteenth century, that the healing oil which had made the the cult was so popular in the West that Chaghoura so famous had flowed from her European travellers continued visiting the incarnated breasts. This detail was men- place despite the loss of the Crusader states, tioned already in Guy Chat’s account and in a tradition that would continue for centuries. the inventory of the Abbey of Altavaux, to The Chaghoura was either held to have which he donated a phial of oil.20 In this been painted by St Luke, or brought by a matter, Ludolph must have relied on an ex- monk from Jerusalem or Constantinople in isting tradition rather than his own observa- the sixth century. In spite of the anecdotal tions, since by his own account he did not nature of these stories and the obscure his- see more than the same red traces remarked tory of the cult, the icon itself had already by his predecessors. reached a venerable age by the late twelfth The motif of the Virgin suckling the century. The arguments for this are testimo- Child is known as Maria Lactans or Virgin nies about the eroded appearance of the im- Galaktotrophousa. Westerners such as Lu- age reported by Abū al-Makārim and several dolph may have been familiar with this vari- fourteenth-century westerners. Abū al- ant, since it had become popular in Euro- Makārim alleges that just a few spots of red- pean art from the second half of the thir- dish paint had survived.17 His words are teenth century onwards.21 However, the tra- echoed by Wilhelm von Boldensele, who dition of the suckling Virgin is rooted in the was in the monastery in 1333: ‘Behind the Middle East. A grotto near the Church of the high altar of the church there is on view [set Nativity in Bethlehem was believed to be in] the wall a certain panel which is com- the place where the Virgin fed the Child, pletely black and damp. It is said that the and was known as early as the late seventh likeness of the glorious Virgin was formerly century.22 Powdered limestone from this site depicted on it, but on account of its age no was said to be dried milk, and found its way trace of a design is visible, except that it to the West in the luggage of returning pil-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 77 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______grims. The iconography of the suckling Vir- iron bars, about four feet above floor level, gin can also be traced back to pre-Islamic behind the large altar.25 The same basilical times, when it was depicted in Egypt and design, with two rows of six columns, was Palestine.23 Thirteenth-century representa- described earlier by Jacopo da Verona tions embellish the Church of Sts Sergius (1335).26 and Bacchus in Qara to the northeast of Two later accounts, however, differ fun- Saydnaya (fig. 8), and the Cave Chapel of damentally from these fourteenth-century Sayyidat Naya at Kfar Schleiman in Leba- observations. The Ukrainian monk, Vasily non.24 Thus on further consideration the in- Grigorovich Barsky, in Saydnaya in 1728, terpretation of the Chaghoura as a depiction counted four rows of five columns support- of the Virgin Galaktotrophousa may well be ing vaults in a church with five naves.27 less far-fetched than it might appear. Anec- Thus the church must have been a basilical dotal stories about the nature of the image construction consisting of a nave with two may have travelled to the West together aisles at each side. One might be inclined to with the phials filled with holy oil. believe that Barsky was referring to an en- Though the Chaghoura is still purported tirely different building than Verona and to exist, this claim is nevertheless impossi- Poggibonsi, but his words are confirmed by ble to verify, since scholars have no access the British traveller, Dean Richard Pococke, to the icon. It is said to be kept in a metal who came to Saydnaya in 1737 and also box inside the Chapel of al-cAdra, an annex describes the church as being ‘ruined and at the south side of the apse of the present repaired.’28 Barsky also furnishes interesting church. Some believe that the Chaghoura details about the eastern part of the church. was lost centuries ago, a suspicion nour- He noticed a stone altar below a canopy ished by the stipulation that only the bishop with four marble columns, some large can- and the abbess of the monastery are allowed dleholders containing candles, an iconosta- to see it. sis with a veil, and floor mosaics.29 Since floor mosaics are characteristic of many 2.2. THE CHURCH early Byzantine churches in the Middle East, it may be suggested that the monastery None of the medieval sources reveals any- was indeed the Justinian foundation claimed thing about the presence of wall paintings or by tradition. other icons inside the church. Naturally, the The church was damaged during an pilgrims’ eyes were mainly focused on the earthquake in 1759 and restored three years Chaghoura, which after all was the reason later. More radical changes occurred after for their visit. One exception is Niccolò da the aforementioned riots against Christians Poggibonsi, who was on pilgrimage be- in 1860, which left many churches in Leba- tween 1345 and 1350. He furnishes surpris- non and Syria ruined. It does not seem very ingly accurate details about the churches of likely, however, that the monastery suffered the Holy Land and their decoration, and of directly from this event. The Prussian con- the church of ‘Sardinale’ he states that it had sul, Johann Gottfried Wetzstein, summarizes three naves with twelve columns. The Chag- the destructions that occurred in the Damas- houra was placed in a window or niche with cus area. Concerning Saydnaya he only re-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 78 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______ports on the attacks on nearby Macalula and tury is plausible. Modest though this surviv- Macarat Saydnaya, forcing its populations to ing fragment is, its presence supports the find shelter in the Monastery of Our Lady.30 hypothesis of an integral decoration pro- Because of its fortress-like construction, the gramme in the first church similar to those convent appears to have been secure enough in other monastic churches in the Qalamun to be spared the worst. After the situation (see below). had calmed down, many damaged churches were restored or completely rebuilt. Appar- 3. OTHER ADORNED MONUMENTS ently this campaign was considered a good IN AND NEAR SAYDNAYA juncture to renovate the monastery and re- place the church with a new building. In It seems that the restrictions on the amount 1883 Emmanuel-Guillaume Rey wrote that of churches allowed in Damascus did not the chapel incorporated into the modern apply to places outside Syria’s capital. In building was the only surviving part of the 1697 Henry Maundrell counted no less than ancient church. Moreover, the mosaics that sixteen sanctuaries in Saydnaya, but these Barsky saw were still visible at that time.31 buildings were already in a bad state by Actually, the Chapel of al-cAdra measures then.33 Post-medieval reports allude to paint- about 6 m wide and 5 m deep, is semicircu- ings in the churches of St John, St Barbara, lar and covered over with a semi-dome, and St Saba, the Prophet Elijah, St Babylas, St therefore has all characteristics of the apse Nicholas, the Convent of St Thomas near of a fairly large basilica. Being the most Saydnaya, and in a ruined sanctuary near the holy place of the site, it was kept in honour road to Damascus.34 Although these sanctu- and renovated only superficially. aries have been modernized, a survey may The chapel is not the only part of the well be rewarding. Indeed, poorly preserved church that was spared. Visitors enter the fragments can be seen in the Church of Saint sanctuary through a small apsed room to its John the Baptist and the Greek Catholic south. As with other sections of the outer Church of St Sophia. In the first building wall, architectural elements belonging to two antique columns were embellished, per- earlier building phases are discernable from haps in the twelfth or thirteenth century. the outside (figs 2, 3). Renovation work in One recognizes Christ holding an open book the room in 1999 revealed a Syriac inscrip- with a few Greek letters, and traces of the tion near the south entrance and a painting coat of mail of a standing warrior saint.35 fragment on the west wall to its left. Unfor- In the modern Church of St Sophia is a tunately, with the incorrect association of niche that is in fact a doorway to its adjoin- Syriac with the Syrian Orthodox Church in ing medieval predecessor, which has fallen mind, the convent’s nuns had the inscription into disrepair and is hermetically sealed. removed immediately after its discovery, but The sidewalls of the doorway reveal frag- the painting remained visible until recently. ments of a prophet (Elijah?) and Daniel, It was possible to pick out details of an arch- who is identified by the Greek inscription angel (fig. 4).32 These traces do not allow a ∆[ANI]ΗΛ (figs 5, 6). A detailed analysis is reliable stylistic analysis, but a provisional hampered because in modern times the de- dating to the late twelfth or thirteenth cen- cayed scenes have been repainted, but by

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 79 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______their style it can be estimated that they were night to visit the Monastery of Our Lady, made in the thirteenth century. others headed home on their donkeys, after The best-preserved decoration is in the consuming their fill of the excellent wine of Cave Chapel of the Prophet Elijah (Mar the region.38 Yet in view of the inter- Elias) in Macarat Saydnaya, about 6 km to religious cult of Saydnaya, the tradition of the southeast of the monastery. This cave shared veneration may well have been much was held to be the place where Elijah hid in older. the desert near Damascus from the troops of The Middle East is blessed with many his persecutor, Queen Jezebel, and where he grottoes claiming to be Elijah’s dwelling anointed Elisha (I Kings 19:15). Hoof prints place, with the Cave of Elijah on Mount sculpted in the rock recall Elijah’s ascension Carmel as the best-known instance. All were into heaven on his chariot drawn by fiery important pilgrim destinations. In Jewish horses. Here we find a representation of this and Muslim circles in Greater Syria, the cult biblical event, which has been dated to the of Elijah/al-Khidr was very popular, espe- eleventh century, and a series of paintings cially in the vicinity of Damascus.39 The from the late twelfth century or first half of earliest account of his double identity in the thirteenth century, thus contemporary to connection with a sheltering cave here is the expansion of the cult of the Chag- attributed to Kacb al-Ahbar, a Jew who con- houra.36 The lower zone shows a procession verted to Islam in 636. At least from the of prelates with the Virgin and a deacon sur- twelfth century onwards, Damascus had a rounding the altar, while the upper zone pre- mosque, several oratories and shrines dedi- serves parts of three anonymous saints and cated to al-Khidr. Moreover, the thirteenth- the Virgin of the Deisis. A large niche in the century Muslim theologian al-Harawi writes north wall is adorned with several saints, about a place near Aleppo where many including Demetrius, George and Nicholas, prophets were buried, including al-Khidr. and the Virgin Enthroned with the Child on Here votive offerings were made by Mus- her lap (fig. 7). The style of these paintings lims, Jews and Christians.40 reveals the hand of a Cypriot artist, who ap- It is doubtful whether Jews participated parently could work in the Qalamun without in the veneration of the Chaghoura—as Bur- any problems, even though this part of Syria chard of Strassbourg suggests—and the was firmly in Muslim hands. Chapel of Mar Elias. They had their own Like the Monastery of Our Lady, the ‘Cave of Elijah’ in Jubar, less than 2 kilo- Chapel of Mar Elias is frequented by adher- metres from Bab Tuma. It was accessible ents of different Churches and Muslims, through the synagogue, the building history who come here to venerate the enigmatic of which Jubar’s Jews traced back to the wise man al-Khidr, identified with the prophet himself.41 The earliest references Prophet Elijah.37 The age of this inter- are to be found in the accounts of Rabbi confessional cult is uncertain. Alfred von Pethachia from Regensburg (1178) and Kremer witnessed the celebration of St Samuel ben Samson (ca 1210). It is signifi- Elijah’s feast on 1 August 1850, and de- cant that Arab-speaking Damascene Jews scribes the massive arrival of Damascene called their prophet al-Khidr as well. Christians and Muslims. Some stayed over- Concerning medieval Muslim sources

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 80 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______on the Elijah/al-Khidr tradition of the Da- saw, it is reasonable that the al-Khidr cult mascus area, Ibn cAsakir (d. 1176) briefly also flourished in Saydnaya alongside that mentions a cave where the prophet hid in the of the Chaghoura for centuries. mountains north of the city.42 Yet the most intriguing passage can be found in the jour- 3. QARA nal of Ibn Jubayr, who stayed in Damascus in the summer of 1184. He lists a number of In Saydnaya’s Melkite hinterland, the urge holy places near Mount Qasiyūn to the north for renovation has erased almost all murals. of Damascus: ‘At the edge of this mountain, Scarce traces testify to the church of the where the western plain with its gardens Greek Catholic Monastery of Sts Sergius comes to an end, is the blessed hill men- and Bacchus in Macalula being once deco- tioned in the book of God Most High as be- rated.44 The situation is, however, more fa- ing the dwelling of the Messiah and his vourable in Qara, situated along the ancient mother (…). It is one of the most remark- road connecting Damascus with Homs. Two able sights of the world for beauty, ele- embellished Christian buildings testify to gance, height, and perfection of construc- this village’s thriving Melkite culture in the tion, for the embellished plasterwork, and Middle Ages: the Church of Sts Sergius and for the glorious site. It is like a towering Bacchus inside the village, and a few kilo- castle, and one climbs to it by steps. The metres to the west of the present agglomera- blessed dwelling is a grotto in its middle, tion, Deir Mar Yacqub (Monastery of St like a small chamber, and beside it is an- James the Persian; fig. 1). The most dra- other room said to be the oratory of al-Khidr matic event in Qara’s history occurred in the (…). Men hasten forward to pray at those first years of the Mamluk campaigns against blessed spots, especially in the blessed the Crusaders. In September 1266, a Muslim dwelling. This has an iron door that closes force installed outside the village heard ru- on it. The mosque encloses the hill, where mours about the inhabitants having sold there are circular paths and a fountain than Muslim slaves to the Crusader contingent of which no more beautiful can be seen.’43 Crac des Chevaliers. When a delegation of One cannot resist the temptation to re- monks from Deir Mar Yacqub came to the late this admiring description to the Monas- camp to offer presents and food they were tery of Our Lady in Saydnaya. An argument captured. The soldiers did not take half for this daring identification is the Chapel of measures: the monastery was destroyed and Mar Elias and its inter-religious cult, but the monks and a number of villagers were there is another potential candidate: the massacred. Others escaped or were led away Cave Chapel of St George near the Monas- in slavery, and the early Byzantine Church tery of St George to the south of the Monas- of St Nicholas was turned into a mosque, tery of Our Lady. St George too is an alter which it still is today.45 Soon a Muslim ego of al-Khidr, and this oratory also attracts population filled in the empty village, but in Christians and Muslims alike seeking for the course of time Christians returned. In baraka (‘blessing’) up till the present. Be 1465 the Russian merchant Basil found Qara that as it may, even though it is hardly pos- populated with Christians again, whereas sible to establish which oratory Ibn Jubayr monks and Qara’s metropolitan, Macarius,

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 81 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______were living nearby, presumably in the mon- cocke found the convent entirely ruined.49 astery.46 With the installation of the Greek Catholic Today Qara still houses Greek Catholics Church in the Qalamun after 1724 it fell and Greek Orthodox. After the collapse of under the jurisdiction of the Greek Catholic the Church of St George in the nineteenth Patriarchate in Damascus. century, the only sanctuary with a medieval In 1970, the prospects of renovation of origin within the city is the Church of Sts the then still ruined church were nil. Con- Sergius and Bacchus. Its fragmented murals cerned about the preservation of the visible were restored in the 1960s. All that remains fragments of murals, the responsible au- is the upper half of five scenes fixed on the thorities decided upon their detachment. north wall.47 The central image is that of the They found new, temporary, homes in the aforementioned Virgin Galaktotrophousa Archaeological Museum of nearby Deir At- below a decorated arcade, flanked by the tyia and the Museum of Antiquities in Da- equestrian saints Theodore to the left and mascus. About two decades later, renovation Sergius to the right (figs 8, 9). To the ex- started to make the monastery suitable for treme left remains part of a depiction of a the accommodation of a community of nuns. female saint, to the extreme right St John the This included the uncovering and restoring Baptist. Noteworthy is that the saints’ names of the remaining fragments by the Deutsches are written in Greek and vertical Estrangela Archäologisches Institut Damascus and the alike. Sts Sergius and Theodore are dressed Directorate General of Antiquities and Mu- with a coat of mail (mail hauberk) worn seums in Damascus. Photographs taken be- over a long-sleeved tunic, are crowned, and fore the detaching of the ‘museum frag- hold a lance and a round shield, which is ments’ enabled the German scholar Stephan abundantly beaded and adorned with pre- Westphalen to determine their original set- cious stones. In addition, St Sergius carries a ting. Recently, these pieces returned to their red-crossed white banner, an attribute gener- original home, and, awaiting resettlement, ally associated with the Crusaders. We will they are exhibited in a room near the church. consider this typical element further below. In anticipation of their future restoration, an Although some parts of Deir Mar additional number of detached and deterio- Yacqub’s architecture testify to the antiquity rated fragments are also stored in the mon- of this monastery, history is silent on this astery.50 complex until the events of 1266. The age of On a regional level the construction of the dedication to St James the Mutilated re- the church building is unique, inasmuch as it mains a question as well; the oldest refer- consists of an upper and a lower church ence known is to be found in the colophon sharing the same apse construction. The ear- of an Arabic gospel from 1476/77 written by liest decoration in the upper apse consists of the Priest Yuwakim from this monastery.48 enthroned apostles with Greek inscriptions, Simultaneously, this source confirms Basil’s executed in reddish colours on a white back- allusion to the return of Christians, but in ground (fig. 10). These figures still have to the next centuries it had its ups and downs. be studied, but for their simplicity they can Deir Mar Yacqub was attacked again in the be assigned to another artist than the one early seventeenth century, and in 1737 Po- who decorated the nave of the lower church.

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Represented in the southwest corner are than the most recent murals in Deir Mar scenes from the Life of Christ, including the Musa from 1208/9 (see below) but prior to Baptism, the Cleansing of the Temple and the dramatic event of 1266.52 some miracles. On the south side of the tri- umphal arch is a saint holding a circular ob- 4. THE SYRIAN ORTHODOX ject in his right hand. Westphalen’s stylistic analysis reveals analogies with Byzantine art The eastern part of the Qalamun was popu- from the first half of the eleventh century.51 lated with Syrian Orthodox Christians, who At a certain point both churches were had two monasteries here: Deir Mar Musa repainted, in all likelihood by the same local (Monastery of St Moses) near Nebk and workshop or artist that decorated the Church Deir Mar Elian (Monastery of St Elian) near of Sts Sergius and Bacchus. In the apse of Qaryatain. Today both are inhabited by Syr- the upper church remain fragments of fron- ian Catholic communities, whereas the tally depicted saints, of whom St Nicholas is population of the village of Sadad is still identified by his name written in Greek and Syrian Orthodox. For its paintings, Deir Mar vertical Estrangela (fig. 11). The ‘museum Musa belongs to the most important ar- fragments’ originated from the lower apse. chaeological sites of the Christian Middle There, the upper zone contained a Deisis East. So far, no murals have been found in with two archangels, the twelve apostles and Deir Mar Elian, but judging from the re- two prophets or kings, the one to the ex- mains near the present complex the site has treme right being Solomon. The lower zone a long history.53 bears the images of Church Fathers, such as Deir Mar Musa is situated in a remote Sts Gregory, Athanasius, John of Alexan- valley across the mountains to the east of dria, and James. In between them was a Vir- Nebk, and is mentioned as early as the sixth gin Blachernitissa (now in storage). The century.54 Building inscriptions in Arabic thematic disposition on the triumphal arch commemorate the rebuilding of the church focussed on Old Testament scenes with a in A.D. 1058/1059, shortly after which the Eucharistic connotation. To the right is walls were adorned for the first time. The Moses Receiving the Law, and very likely convent led a sorry existence until a Syrian the Sacrifice of Isaac was represented on its Catholic community under the guidance of opposite. As in the village church, mounted Father Paolo dall’Oglio re-occupied the site saints dominated the sidewalls of the nave. in the 1980s. Their perseverance revitalized Recognizable are traces of a reddish horse the monastery and turned it into a widely heading toward the apse in the centre of the reputed spiritual centre. As the renovation of south wall and, further to the west, a frag- the buildings that had fallen into disrepair ment of a greyish mail hauberk. also required the restoration of the medieval The chronology of the most recent paintings inside the church, a conservation paintings follows from their stylistic and campaign was set up by the Istituto del iconographic kinship with murals in Deir Restauro in Rome and the Directorate Gen- Mar Musa (see below) and wall paintings eral of Antiquities and Museums in Damas- and icons made in the Tripoli area in Leba- cus, whose due intervention brought the im- non. They would have been painted later ages back to life.55

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The fortress-like complex is built on a inscription the artist presented himself as protruding rock overlooking the valley. The Sarkis (Sergius). He decorated the entire choice of this isolated place was not haphaz- nave and the apse. Noticeable are the An- ard; here rainwater found its way down to nunciation and Christ between the apostles the plain from the mountains and the con- on the triumphal arch, a Deisis-Vision and struction of a well gave the inhabitants ac- the Virgin Blachernitissa in between Church cess to abundant water. The church is lo- Fathers in the apse, and six mounted saints cated at the north side of the complex. Its and the four evangelists on the sidewalls. decoration appears as a puzzling patchwork Sarkis’ masterpiece is a huge Last Judge- of scenes and inscriptions on successive ment scene according to Byzantine fashion plaster coverings or directly on older im- on the west wall. Among the represented ages, and extends over the nave, the apse, riders are Sts George and Theodore as well and the two aisles. Arabic inscriptions fur- as Sts Sergius and Bacchus. As in Qara, nish clues to the chronology of three main both hold a crossed banner, which is white layers and the names of two artists. The first with a red cross in the case of St Sergius and layer was painted shortly after the renova- red with a white cross in that of St Bacchus tion of the mid-eleventh century (Layer 1), (figs 15, 16). the second dates from A.D. 1095 (Layer 2), As for this standard, direct Latin influ- and the third from A.D. 1208/9 (Layer 3). ence can be excluded since the Qalamun Part of Layer 1 can still be seen in both was never incorporated in any of the Cru- aisles and includes Samson Killing the Lion sader states. Rather, it demonstrates the sig- (south aisle; fig. 12), the angel of the Bap- nificant interaction between Qalamun’s tism of Christ (north aisle) and colourful Christians and their fellow believers within ornaments, all painted in reddish and yel- the neighbouring County of Tripoli lowish colours mainly on a white back- (Melkites, Maronites, and to a lesser extent ground. Inside the nave, details of this layer Syrian Orthodox). There, mounted banner- are visible on spots where later paintings carriers are also depicted in churches in have flaked off. On the side elevations one Deddé and Eddé al-Batrun, whereas two distinguishes the Ascension of the Prophet icons representing St Sergius with the ban- Elijah and fragments of the mounted saints ner in St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount George and Theodore. Traces of half-naked Sinai are attributed to artists working in this figures on the triumphal arch have been Crusader state.56 Deir Mar Musa’s Layer 3 identified as the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste also shares striking formal characteristics with the bust of the Archangel Michael (fig. with murals in the County of Tripoli and the 13). In A.D. 1095 an artist called Hunayn paintings in Qara. This ‘Syrian style’ typi- (diminutive of John) repainted several ear- fies the indigenous art of West Syria, and lier New Testament scenes on the extremi- gives proof to flourishing artistic activities ties of the aisles: the Baptism of Christ, the aiming at the embellishment of churches Presentation in the Temple (fig. 14), and the used by local communities. Inspiration for Three Women at the Empty Grave (Layer the iconography was found in the persisting 2). The third painting campaign took place oriental tradition, and contemporary Byzan- in A.D. 1208/9 (Layer 3). In a dated Arabic tine and Crusader art.

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Turning to the inscription languages in visit all backgrounds were painted in light Deir Mar Musa, the many contemporary blue and some scenes were entirely re- dedicative and commemorative inscriptions painted or covered over. Johann Georg are in Arabic, the lingua franca of the time. Herzog zu Sachsen came to Sadad in 1927, Surprisingly, the names of saints and scenes and was much displeased with the results of of Layer 1 are not in Syriac but in Greek, this intervention.61 In 2004, this church was except for the name of the Archangel Mi- being restored, resulting in damage to the chael on the triumphal arch, which is also bottom zone of the representations. This written in vertical Estrangela. Layer 2 con- allowed confirmation of the absence of older tains some Greek abbreviations, but Layer 3 decorations underneath. In the Church of the is inscribed in Syriac (vertical Serto). The Archangel Gabriel, however, one discerns Syrian Orthodox shared this linguistic shift traces of a blue background and red border- with their neighbouring Melkite fellow be- lines on the north wall, which, in view of lievers, even though the inscriptions in Qara our experience with other adorned monu- are bilingual and the only Syriac inscription ments in the area, are probably medieval. of Saydnaya has been erased. As a liturgical Noticeable is the discovery of a small sar- language, Syriac certainly gained ground in cophagus-like reliquary in a niche in the east thirteenth-century West Syria. It is true that wall of the Church of St Sergius. This object from the late twelfth century onwards, paint- is made of Proconnesian marble and on sty- ings in the Melkite churches of the County listic grounds can be dated to the fifth or of Tripoli bore Greek inscriptions, but those sixth century (fig. 18). Certainly Sadad is to in the Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus be a more than interesting field of research near the Monastery of Kaftun, are in both on the material history of the Syrian Ortho- horizontal Estrangela and Greek.57 On the dox Church in the Qalamun. other hand, Syriac predominates in contem- porary Maronite churches as well as in the 6. CONCLUSIONS Church of St Theodore in Bahdeidat near Jbeil, which had a Syrian Orthodox priest in This brief overview reveals the predominant 1256.58 position of Saydnaya as a reputed centre of Two of Sadad’s churches, dedicated to inter-religious pilgrimage and therefore the St Sergius and the Archangel Gabriel re- Qalamun’s gateway to the outer world. In all spectively, were adorned in the eighteenth probability, this city had more chapels, century.59 In the first church one finds, churches and monasteries than Damascus among others, images of equestrian saints, ever had, and there are enough testimonies patriarchs, the Last Judgement, and the Vir- to these buildings being decorated to con- gin enthroned with the Child, and in the sec- clude that it was a major centre of art pro- ond equestrian saints, the Nativity and the duction. In the case of the Chapel of Mar Dormition of the Virgin (fig. 17), all with Elias near Macarat Saydnaya, which must Syriac inscriptions. Theodore Ouspensky’s have been frequented by Christian and Mus- photographs of the murals inside the Church lim pilgrims as well, the artist came from of St Sergius from 1902 show a situation Cyprus. One imagines that the presence of different from the present one.60 After his such an important centre of pilgrimage had a

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 85 Monasteries and Churches of the Qalamun (Syria) ______impact on the entire region. Its art may have Saydnaya may have played a key role in the inspired artists in their design of church em- transition of concepts of embellishment. bellishment in other places. However, the eleventh-century murals in A striking feature of the paintings from Deir Mar Musa, Deir May Yacqub and the the early thirteenth century in Syrian Ortho- Chapel of Mar Elias prove that the Qala- dox Deir Mar Musa is their kinship with the mun had a thriving artistic tradition in the art of the County of Tripoli and contempo- pre-Crusader period already. It was the rary Byzantine traditions. Obviously, from combination of the old and the new that an artistic point of view the gaze of its shaped the thirteenth-century art of the monks was turned towards the West rather Qalamun. With the Mongol invasions and than the Syrian Orthodox homelands in Tur the Mamluk reactions in the 1260s, the Abdin and North Mesopotamia. Many of its flourishing of church adornment art was iconographic subjects can also be found in halted. Nevertheless, Saydnaya’s cultic im- Qara and the indigenous churches of the portance persists up to the present, and Tripoli area irrespective of their denomina- therefore is a shining example of continuing tion, accentuating the uniformity of Chris- religious traditions going beyond political tian art in West Syria. In this matter too, and military realities.

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1 This research has been funded by the Neth- (1849-1861): dargestellt nach seinen hinter- erlands Organisation for Scientific Research lassenen Papieren (Berlin: Schwarz; Islam- (NWO) and Leiden University. kundliche Untersuchungen 136, 1989); L.T. 2 For the history of the Qalamun in the Ro- Fawaz, An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in man and Early Byzantine periods, see: J. Nasral- Lebanon and Damascus in 1860 (London: Cen- lah, “Le Qalamoun à l'époque romano-byzantin,” tre for Lebanese Studies, 1994); Burns (2005), Les annales archéologiques de Syrie 6 (1956) 63- 251-54. 86; for traveller’s accounts, see: J. Nasrallah, 12 Main publications: G. Raynaud, “Le Mira- “Voyageurs et pèlerins au Qalamoun,” Bulletin cle de Sardenai” Romania 11 (1882), 519-37; P. d’Etudes Orientales 10 (1943-44) 5-38. Peeters, “La légende de Saïdnaya,” Analecta Bol- 3 L. Pouzet, Damas au VIIe/XIIIe siècle: vie landiana 25 (1906), 137-57; H. Zayat, Histoire de et structures religieuses d’une métropole islami- Saidnaya (Harissa, 1923) (in Arabic); P. Devos, que (Beyrouth: Dar El-Mashreq; Recherches T. “Les premières versions occidentales de la A 15, 1991), 306-10. légende de Saïdnaia,” Analecta Bollandiana 65 4 J.-M. Fiey, Pour un Oriens Christianus (1947) 245-78; D. Baraz, “The Incarnated Icon novus: ré́pertoire des diocèses syriaques orien- of Saidnaya goes West,” Le Muséon 198 (1995) taux et occidentaux (Beyrouth: Orient-Institut 181-91; B. Hamilton, “Our Lady of Saidnaiya; der deutschen Morgenländischen Gesell- An Orthodox Shrine Revered by Muslims and schaft, 1993), 261-62. Knights Templar at the Time of the Crusades,” 5 A. Schmidt, “Zur Geschichte des Bistums in The Holy Land, Holy Lands, and Christian Qara im Qalamun,” in Christliche Wandmalereien History ed. R.N. Swanson (Woodbridge/ in Syrien: Qara und das Kloster Mar Yakub, ed. Rochester, NY: The Boydell Press, 2000), 207- A. Schmidt, S. Westphalen (Wiesbaden: Reichert 15; M. Immerzeel, “The Monastery of Saydnaya Verlag; Sprachen und Kulturen des Christlichen and its Icon,” Eastern Christian Art 4 (2007), Orients 14, 2005), 13-68. forthcoming. 6 N. Elisséef, La description de Damas d’Ibn 13 Translation: Hamilton (2000), 207. cAsākir (historicien mort à Damas en 571/1176 14 S. Al-Syriany (ed.), Ta’rīk al-kanā’is wal- (Damas: Institut Français de Damas, 1959), 213- adyirah fī al-qarn al-tānī ‘ašar al-mīlādi li-‘Abī 25. al-Makārim Vol. 3 (Cairo, 1981), 47-48, fol. 7 R.J.C. Broadhurst, The travels of Ibn 142a-143a; translation: Baraz (1995), 189, and Jubayr: being the chronicle of a mediaeval Hamilton (2000), 209, n. 10. Spanish Moor concerning his journey to the 15 Devos (1947), 272-78; Hamilton (2000), Egypt of Saladin, .. Arabia, Baghdad .. Jerusa- 211. lem and .. Sicily (London: Jonathan Cape, 1952), 16 K. Ciggaar, “Painters, Paintings and Pil- 296. grims in Medieval Jerusalem: Some Witnesses 8 D. Pringle, The Churches of the Crusader from East and West,” Eastern Christian Art 2 Kingdom of Jerusalem. A Corpus, 2 Vol., (2005), 127-38. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993- 17 Al-Syriany (1981), 48. 1998), Vol. 2, 52. 18 Translation: Hamilton (2000), 208. 9 S. Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 19 A. Stewart (transl.), Ludo van Suchem: Vol. 3 (London: Penguin Books, 1990), 305-314. Description of the Holy Land, and the way 1 0 Pouzet (1991), 329-31; R. Burns, Damas- thither (London: Palestine Pilgrim’s Text Soci- cus. A History (London/New York: Routledge, ety 12, 1895), 132. 2005), 197-98. 20 Devos (1947), 272-73; for the inventory, 11 I. Huhn, Der Orientalist Johann Gottfried see: Hamilton (2000), 211. Wetzstein als preußischer Konsul in Damaskus 21 E. Cruikshank Dodd, “Christian Arab

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Sources for the Madonna Allattante in Italy,” Arte au XIIe et XIIIe siècles (Paris: Picard, 1993), Medievale II/2 (2003), 33-34; idem, “Jerusalem: 292. “Fons et Origo”: Sources in “Outremer” for the 32 M. Immerzeel, “The Decoration of the Development of Western Medieval Art,” in Inter- Chapel of the Prophet Elijah in Macarrat Sayd- actions. Artistic Interchange between the East- naya,” in Schmidt/Westphalen (2005), 155-82; ern and Western Worlds in the Medieval Period, Immerzeel (2007), Pl. 6. ed. C. Hourihane (Princeton: The Index of Chris- 33 T. Wright, Early Travels in Palestine, tian Art Occasional Papers IX, 2007), 11-27, comprising the narratives of Arculf, Willibald, esp. 22-24. For the tradition of this theme, see: A. Saewulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Cutler, “The Cult of the Galaktotrophousa in Maundeville, de la Brocquière, and Maundrell Byzantium and Italy,” Jahrbuch der öster- (New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1968), 498. reichischen Byzantinistik 37 (1987) 335-50; G.P. 34 Immerzeel (2005), 155-56; idem (2007). Bonani, S.B. Bonani, Maria Lactans (Rome: 35 Immerzeel (2007), Pls 10, 11. Scriptae Pontificiae Facultatis Theologicae 36 Immerzeel (2005). “Marianum” 49, nova series 21, 1995), 24-28. 37 P. Franke, Begegnung mit Khidr: Quellen- 22 Pringle (1993), no 62, 156-57. See also H. studien zum Imaginären im traditionellen Islam Leclercq, ‘Galactite,’ in Dictionnaire d’archéo- (Stuttgart: Steiner; Beiruter Texte und Studien logie chrétienne et de liturgie, T. 6/1, ed. F. Ca- 79, 2000); J.W. Meri, “Re-appropriating Sacred brol, H. Leclercq (Paris, 1924), 38-46. Space: Medieval Jews and Muslims seeking 23 For Egypt, see: Cruikshank Dodd (2007), Elijah and al-Khadir,” Medieval Encounters: 33; for a sixth-century description of this scene Jewish, Christian and Muslim culture in conflu- in the Church of St Sergius in Gaza, see: F.-A. ence and dialogue, 5/3 (1999) 243-64. Abel, “Gaza au VIe siècle d’après le rhéteur 38 A. von Kremer, Mittelsyrien und Charikios,” Revue Biblique 40 (1931) 5-31, esp. Damaskus: geschichtliche, ethnographische und 14; Immerzeel (2007). geographische Studien während eines Aufenthalt 24 Qara: Cruikshank Dodd (2003); idem daselbst in den Jahren 1849-1851 (Wien, 1853), (2007), 22-23, Figs 13, 14, with further references. 182-84. 25 Fra Niccolò of Poggibonsi, A Voyage Be- 39 Meri (1999). yond the Seas (1346-1350), ed. T. Bellorini, E. 40 Meri (1999), 255-26. Hoade (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Francis- 41 Meri (1999), 244-52; Immerzeel (2007). canum Collectio Maior, 2, 1945), 78. 42 Elisséeff 1959, 185. 26 Pringle (1998), 220. 43 Broadhurst 1952, 285-86. 27 V.G. Barsky, Stranstvovaniia Vasilia 44 J. Nasrallah, “La peinture monumentale Grigorovicha Barskago po sviatym mestam dans les patriarcats Melkites,” in Icônes Melki- Vostoka s 1723 po 1747 (Travels of Basil Grig- tes. Exposition organisée par le Musée Nicolas orovich Barsky in the Holy Places of the East Sursock, 16 mai - 15 juin 1969, ed. V. Cândea from 1723 to 1747), 4 vols, 1885-1887, vol. 2, (Beyrouth, 1969), 67-92, esp. 80, n. 2. 101-108. 45 Schmidt (2005), 27-37. 28 R. Pococke, A Description of the East, 46 Baronesse de Khitrowo, Itinéraires russes and some other Countries, Vol. II,1; Observa- en orient (Genève: Fick; Publications de Société tions on Palaestine or the Holy Land, Syria, de l’Orient latin, Série géographique 5, 1889), Mesopotamia, Cyprus, and Candia (London: 248. Bowyer, 1745), 133. 47 M. Immerzeel, “Holy Horsemen and Cru- 29 Quoted in Zayat (1932), 224. sader Banners. Equestrian Saints in Wall Paintings 30 Huhn (1989), 183, 216, 227. in Lebanon and Syria,” Eastern Christian Art 1 31 E.-G. Rey, Les colonies franques de Syrie (2004) 29-60, esp. 47, 56; S. Westphalen, “Das

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Kloster Mar Yakub und seine Wandmalereien,” Romeny, M. Immerzeel, S. Westphalen, “The in Schmidt/Westphalen (2005), 69-153, esp. Inscriptions,” all in Eastern Christian Art 4 117-18, 121-22, 124, 173, Taf. 12a/b 15b3-5; (2007). Cruikshank Dodd 2007, 22, 24, Fig. 13; with 56 Immerzeel (2004); idem, “Icon Painting in further references. the County of Tripoli of the Thirteenth Century,” 48 Schmidt (2005), 43. in Hourihane (2007) 67-83; N. Hélou, “A propos 49 Pococke (1745), 139. d’une école syro-libanaise d’icônes au XIIIe 50 Westphalen (2005). siècle,” Eastern Christian Art 3 (2007) 53-72. 51 Westphalen (2005), 91-95. 57 N. Hélou, M. Immerzeel, “Kaftun. The 52 Westphalen (2005), 120-24. Wall Paintings,” Polish Archaeology in the 53 For the history of both monasteries, see: Mediterranean 16 (2005) 453-458. H. Kaufhold, “Notizen über das Moseskloster 58 E. Cruikshank Dodd, “Mar Tadros, bei Nabk und das Julianskloster bei Qaryatain in Bahdeidat. Paintings in a Lebanese Church from Syrien,” Oriens Christianus 79 (1995) 48-119. the Thirteenth Century,” Journal of the Cana- 54 Kaufhold (1995), 60; (Cruikshank Dodd) dian Society for Syriac Studies 1 (2001) 61-83; 2001, 10-11. esp. 61; idem (2004), 20. 55 For the monastery and its paintings, see: 59 J.G. Herzog zum Sachsen, “Sadat, E. Cruikshank Dodd, The Frescoes of Mar Musa Karjeten und Harawim,” Oriens Christianus, al-Habashi. A Study in Medieval Painting in Ser. 3, 2 (1927) 233-42; E. Littmann, “Die Syria (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Gemälde der Serjios-kirche in Sadad,” Oriens Studies; Studies and Texts 139, 2001). Forth- Christianus, Ser. 3, 3-4 (1928-29) 288-91. coming: M. Immerzeel, “Some Remarks about 60 Th.I. Ouspensky, “Archeologiskjetskie the Name of the Monastery and an Enigmatic pamyatniki Sirii,” Izvestija 7,2 (1902) 133-39, Scene;” S. Westphalen, “Deir Mar Musa: Die Pls 17-21. Malschichten I – III;” J. den Heijer, B. ter Haar 61 Sachsen (1927), 235.

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1. Map of the Qalamun

2. Monastery of Saydnaya: entrance and outer walls

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3. Monastery of Saydnaya: Outside of the Chapel of al-cAdra and annex room

4. Fragment of an angel; Monastery of Saydnaya

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5. Prophet Elijah; Church of St Sophia; Saydnaya

6. Daniel; Church of St Sophia; Saydnaya

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7. Virgin with the Child Chapel of Mar Elias Macarat Saydnaya

8. Virgin Galaktotrophousa; Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus, Qara (Bas ter Haar Romeny)

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9. St Sergius; Church of Sts Sergius and Bacchus, Qara (Bas ter Haar Romeny)

10. Enthroned apostles; Deir Mar Yacqub, Qara

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11. St Nicholas; Deir Mar Yacqub, Qara

12. Samson killing the lion; Deir Mar Musa

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13. Triumphal arch with the Forty Martyrs; Deir Mar Musa

14. Presentation in the Temple; Deir Mar Musa

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15. St Sergius; Deir Mar Musa

16. St Bacchus; Deir Mar Musa

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17. Dormition of the Virgin; Church of the Archangel Gabriel, Sadad

18. Lid of a reliquary box; Church of St Sergius, Sadad

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OBITUARY

PROFESSOR ROBERT BEULAY, OCD (1927-2007)

obert Beulay was born in Paris in Jean de Dalyatha, form the core of his life’s 1927. His primary studies were work, which is also reflected in the publica- philosophy and music, which he tion (2007) of his pupil Nadira Khayyat’s felt sustained him in the midst of wonderful edition of the first part of the anR atheistic family life and nurtured in him a Homilies, with the second part to follow. deep love of the liturgy. He entered the Car- At the École Pratique he studied with melite order in 1945. Ordained as a priest in Antoine Guillaumont, who suggested that he 1953, he went to Baghdad in 1956 to join the Carmelite mission founded there in the 17th century. He was a professor of dog- matic theology at the Chaldean Pontifical Seminary. Later, at Babil college, he taught spirituality (both general and oriental), on- tology, and the philosophy of nature. In 1997, with the assistance of Nadira Khayyat, he began to teach Syriac theology as well. Having been initially encouraged by Massignon his teacher, he had hoped to study Islamic mysticism, but his community asked him to study the mystical writings of the Syriac Church. Thus, even before leav- ing for Baghdad he studied Oriental lan- guages for three years. He graduated from Photo Courtesy Nadira Khayyat the École Pratique des Hautes Études in 1971, and then presented his doctoral thesis concentrate his research on Isaac the Syrian. in 1974 at the Sorbonne. Both parts of this But P. Robert found Isaac to be too intellec- thesis have been published: La Lumière sans tual. On reading John of Dalyatha, however, forme in 1987 and L’Enseignement Spirituel he responded immediately, comparing him de Jean de Dalyatha in 1990. These, to- to Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross gether with La Collection des Lettres de whom he knew from his Carmelite back-

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 99 Obituary: Professor Robert Beulay, OCD (1927-2007) ______ground. Since none of John of Dalyatha had a broad survey of the Church of the East, been edited, P. Robert began the difficult Christoph Baumer chose John of Dalyatha task of assembling copies of the manu- as the most exemplary spiritual writer of scripts, including the Arabic versions—all that tradition. He points out how John of this in Baghdad, far from the resources “distinguished himself radically from the that western scholars are used to. The re- ideas of earlier asceticism, since he believed sults, according to Guillaumont, brought that the purified body could participate in immediate and enthusiastic approval from the mystical refreshment of the soul. ‘The his examiners (as noted by A. Guillaumont individual gains union with himself and in the Avant-Propos to L’Enseignement with the one who unites him. For the powers Spirituel). Lumière sans forme gives a well and sense of the body shall be united with referenced history of Syriac spirituality up the abilities of the soul and this with the to the 8th century. It includes the influence spirit. But the spirit sees in the soul the that certain authors may have had on John: glory of God” (Christoph Baumer, The Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius, the Macarian Church of the East: An illustrated history of writings, John the Solitary and Pseudo- Assyrian Christianity [London: I.B. Tauris, Dionysius. Also included are discussions of 2006] p.133). Such a holistic and transform- dogmatic influence: Theodore Mopsuestia, ing view of Christian life is truly a gift of Diodore of Tarsus, Theodoret of Cyrrhus the Spirit to our times. And for this we owe and Babai. Finally, eleven authors of the 7th great gratitude to P. Robert. and 8th centuries are examined in greater But through all this he never lost the detail. So it is not only a diachronic study connection between Syriac writers and their but also a cross-textual one showing for ex- Church. In addition to his publications and ample how Evagrian influence on Isaac the active involvement in seminars and interna- Syrian and on John of Dalyatha may differ. tional symposia, he gradually sought to The second part, L’Enseignement, is specific make this rich tradition of the prayer of the to the doctrine of John, incorporating in- heart available to the very people among sights from the Letters, Homilies and Chap- whom it had developed originally. In fact, ters, all edited by P. Robert. What comes John of Dalyatha was born in northwest Iraq through in this work is the luminous doc- and was a monk near the Turkish border. P. trine of John of Dalyatha, profoundly origi- Robert began by creating a fraternity for nal, all grounded in experience. Especially Christian students at the St. Joseph’s Center in the Letters one sees the personal, poetic in Baghdad. The Center became a meeting side of the man but even in the Homilies place for university students and graduates there is never a rigid systematization. from various Christian denominations in a Through it all there is an intense, unitive truly ecumenical spirit where all levels of approach so as to make one wonder about society could be found. And true to one of monism, yet scholars have ruled this out as his early loves, he worked hard at the liturgy they have the charge of Messalianism. On to make it spiritually meaningful, which reading the Letters, Sebastian Brock com- deeply affected his Iraqi students even when mented that he had never before seen God they did not always fully understand the sig- spoken of in human language as in John. In nificance. When the Baath party took over

______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) - Page 100 Obituary: Professor Robert Beulay, OCD (1927-2007) ______in 1968 and suppressed public meetings, he your grace. May the Father who begot and another Carmelite, Fr. Raymond Char- you, from his bosom where you were bonnier, with whom he had worked for fifty concealed from eternity, renew in me years, came back to their convent and the features of your likeness. Though founded there another fraternity principally I have forsaken you, do not forsake me; though I have abandoned you and for Scripture study. P. Robert left Iraq in gone away from you, come out to 2004, but his students from the diaspora in seek me and restore me to the fold. Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, Europe and Add me to the dear lambs of your most of the Arab countries always kept in flock, and feed me with them in the contact with him out of gratitude for having pasture of your holy mysteries, whose illumined their faith. He died on August 9, source is a pure heart wherein is seen 2007 in Normandy and was buried in the light of your revelations. That is Lisieux. the repose of the labourers who work This beautiful prayer from the Homilies to that end through sufferings and of John of Dalyatha serves to sum up the life torments of every kind. Our Saviour, may we all be counted worthy of it and labour of our brother Robert: through thy gracious loving-kindness. O Christ, treasure of all goodly things, (see Homily 18 “On flight from the grant me perfect repentance and an world,” trans. Brian Colless). aching heart that comes out in love to seek you. Without you I am a stranger Mary Hansbury* to everything; grant me, O Good One, Philadelphia, PA

*I am very grateful for the assistance of Nadira Khayyat in writing this article.

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLICATIONS ON MYSTICISM BY R. BEULAY Compiled by Mary Hansbury

Books

La Collection des Lettres de Jean de Dalyatha; PO 180 (Turnhont: Brepols, 1978).

L’Enseignement spirituel de Jean de Dalyatha: Mystique syro-oriental du VIIIe siècle; Théo- logie historique 83 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1990).

La lumière sans forme. Introduction à l’étude de la mystique chrétienne syro-orientale (Belgique: Éditions de Chevetogne, 1987).

Articles

“Le baptême du feu et de l’Esprit dans la mystique syro-orientale;” in Patrimoine Syriaque: Actes du colloque III (Antélias: CERO, 1996), pp. 189-201.

“La beauté de Dieu: transcendance et tendresse chez Jean de Dalyatha,” Carmel (1987-2) n.46.

“La beauté de Dieu et le visage du Père chez Jean de Dalyatha ;” Patrimoine Syriaque: Actes du colloque VII, vol. 1 (Antélias: CERO, 2001), pp. 67-73.

“Des Centuries de Joseph Hazzaya retrouvées?,” Parole de l’Orient 3 (1972) 221-262.

“Formes de Lumière et Lumière sans forme, Le thème de la Lumière dans la Mystique de Jean de Dalyatha,” in Mélanges Antoine Guillaumont: Contributions a l’étude des christianismes orientaux. Cahiers d’orientalisme 20 (Genève, 1988), pp. 131-141.

“Jean de Dalyatha,” in Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascétique et mystique, ed. Marcel Viller, Ferdinand Cavallera, & Joseph de Guibert, vol.1 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1974), columns 449-452.

“Jean de Dalyatha et sa lettre XV,” Parole de l’Orient 2 (1971) 261-279.

“Joseph Hazzaya,” Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 8 (1974) 1341-1349.

“Un mystique de l’Église syro-orientale au VIIIe siècle: Jean de Dalyatha,” Carmel (1977-3) 190-201.

“Précisions touchant l’identité et la biographie de Jean Saba de Dalyatha,” Parole de l’Orient 8 (1977/8) 103-116.

* * * More on Syriac Mysticism: Nadira Khayyat, ed. & trans., Jean de Dalyatha, Les Homélies I-XV. Sources Syriaques 2 (Beyrouth: CERO 2007). Mary Hansbury, trans., The Letters of John of Dalyatha (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2006).

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REPORT ON NORTH AMERICAN SYRIAC STUDIES SYMPOSIUM V

GEORGE KIRAZ BETH MARDUTHO: THE SYRIAC INSTITUTE

he Fifth North American Syriac very diverse, including sessions and papers Studies Symposium was held at on archaeology, neo-Aramaic, and the As- the University of Toronto, On- syrian Christians of the Middle East, among tario, between June 25th and 27th, other topics. The symposium was attended 2007.T The previous four symposia were held by over 80 individuals, and drew from local at Brown University, Rhode Island (1991), communities whose members often attend The Catholic University of America, D.C. and listen to papers. As expected, the num- (1995), Notre Dame University, Indiana ber of Canadian scholars was higher than (1999), and Princeton University, New Jer- previous symposia, though there were repre- sey (2003). Starting with the 1995 Sympo- sentatives of over 10 countries, giving the sium, sessions on Syriac computing were North American symposium an international held organized by Beth Mardutho: The look. Syriac Institute. There were 55 papers in total, five of Upon arrival in Toronto, attendees were which were plenary talks as follows: pleasantly surprised to hear that Toronto had 1. Sidney H. Griffith of Catholic Uni- a longer history of Syriac studies than what versity of America, “Syrian Christian Intel- one may have anticipated. The Symposium lectuals in the World of Islam: Faith, the program began with a brief history, written Philosophical Life, and the Quest for Inter- by the Symposium organizer Amir Harrak, religious Convivencia in Abbasid Times.” of Syriac studies at the University of To- 2. Elisabetta Valgiusti of the Associa- ronto that goes back to 1857. This important tion ‘Salva i Monasteri’, Rome, “Syriac brief history was published recently in Christianity in the Iraqi Exodus: A People of Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies (vol. 10, Prophets Between Hope and Hopelessness” no. 2). which included a film presentation. The Symposium’s theme was “Syriac as 3. John H. Corbett of University of To- a Bridge Culture.” Indeed, the symposium ronto-Scarborough, “The Ascetic Life as itself was a bridge for at least two reasons: Holy War: The Biblical Basis of the Book of this was the first time that the symposium Steps.” was held outside of the United States, and 4. Lucas van Rompay of Duke Univer- the presentations at the symposium were sity, “Severus, Patriarch of Antioch (512-

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538), in the Greek, Syriac, and Coptic tra- Amir Harrak, Lucas van Rompay, and a rep- ditions.” resentative of Beth Mardutho’s Dorushe 5. Craig E. Morrison of the Pontifical Graduate Student Association. The Dorushe Biblical Institute, Rome, “The Bridge from group later voted Jeanne-Nicole Saint- Judaism: The Jews in Ephrem’s Commen- Laurent to represent them. tary on the Diatessaron.” Gorgias Press exhibited at the sympo- The plenary papers will be eventually sium and co-sponsored with the Canadian published in the Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies a reception on Society of Syriac Studies. one evening. His Grace Mar Emmanuel, The Forum on Syriac Computing, Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East which usually took the form of an entire in Canada (and a doctoral candidate at the day in previous symposia, only occupied University of Toronto), hosted the sympo- one session. sium banquet at the Church’s Sharrukin At the business meeting it was decided Hall. that the 2011 symposium would be held at The participants owe a great debt of Duke University. The steering committee of gratitude to Amir Harrak, Chairman of the the Symposium—Sidney Griffith, Susan Symposium, whose organizational skills Ashbrook Harvey, Kathleen McVey, and played a major role in making this sympo- George Kiraz—was augmented to include sium a success.

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