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The Canadian Society for

JOURNAL

Volume 17 2017

● Robert Kitchen - Canadian Society for Syriac Studies ● Khalid Dinno - Canadian Society for Syriac Studies ● Nima Jamali - University of Toronto ● Amir Harrak - University of Toronto ● Vincent van Vossel - Babylon College, Enkawa, ● Tala Jarjour - Yale Institute of Sacred Music

Toronto - Ontario - Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies/ de la Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques

The JCSSS is a refereed journal published annually, and it contains the transcripts of public lectures presented at the Society and possibly other articles and book reviews Editorial Board

General Editor Amir Harrak, University of Toronto

Editors , Oxford University Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America Craig E. Morrison, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome Lucas van Rompay, Duke University Kyle Smith, University of Toronto Alexander Treiger, Dalhousie University

Copy Editing Antoine Hirsch, Colin S. Clarke

Publisher 180 Centennial Avenue, Suite 3 Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA

The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies La Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques

Society Officers 2016-2017

President: Amir Harrak Vice-President : Khalid Dinno and Secretary-Treasurer: Arlette Londes

Members of the Board of Directors:

Marica Cassis, Khalid Dinno, Geoffrey Greatrex, Amir Harrak, Robert Kitchen, Kyle Smith, Ashoor Yousif

The aim of the CSSS is to promote the study of the Syriac culture which is rooted in the same soil from which the ancient Mesopotamian and biblical literatures sprung. The CSSS is purely academic, and its activities include a series of public lectures, one yearly symposi- um, and the publication of its Journal. The Journal is distributed free of charge to the members of the CSSS who have paid their dues, but it can be ordered by other individuals and institutions through Gorgias Press (www.gorgiaspress.com).

Cover 19th century from the town of Tellesqof (Iraq) miraculously rescued from war Photo Amir Harrak The Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

Table of Contents

From the Editor 1

Robert A. Kitchen, 3 Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age: Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896)

Khalid Dinno, 21 The and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox in the Second Millennium – An Overview

Nima Jamali, 37 The Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the

Amir Harrak, 49 The Code of Law of Simeon, of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and

Vincent van Vossel, 69 A Christian Icon Rescued from War

Tala Jarjour, 77 Syriac as Music in Culture: A New Approach

Members of the CSSS for 2016-2017 89

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FROM THE EDITOR

CSSS 17 (2017) contains four papers of the Church of the East” is written by Nima presented in last year’s CSSS Sympo- Jamali, a lawyer by profession and a doctoral sium pertaining to the symposium’s candidate in Syriac Studies at the University J theme: Probing Two Millennia of Syr- of Toronto. The canons of the Church of the iac Legal Literature. A fifth paper details a East, before and during the Islamic period, rare nineteenth-century icon rescued from largely deal with family and inheritance is- Tell-Esqof, northern Iraq. sues of Christian communities in , the Robert Kitchen’s “Trying to Fix what is Gulf, and Iraq, stressing their legal rights and Broken in a Broken Age: Syriac Orthodox obligations. The author notices that the 8th Synodical Canons (628-896)” deals with five century metropolitan Īšō‛-bokht changes ac- early collections of Syriac Orthdox canons. cent in one part of his Code of Law, where he Synods reflect the historical and social shows some level of executive authority to conditions of their times. Occuring during enforce legal decisions. By doing so, he dif- the advent of Islam, unsurprisingly, these fers from other authors who set up a potential canons do not include sticky theological model for a comprehensive Christian legal issues, but rather focus on safeguarding system Christian communities threatened by Islamic Amir Harrak’s “The ‘Law Code’ of Sime- conversion and hostility. on of Rev-Ardashir, Presentation and Analy- Khalid Dinno’s “The Synods and Canons sis,” offers an overview of a law code origi- in the Syrian in the Second nally written in near the ad- Millennium – An Overview,” continues vent of Islam in Iran. The original document, chronologically where Dr. Kitchen stopped. now non-extant, fortunately survived in a This millennium saw the Omayyad Caliphate Syriac translation written by a monk from the commence and the succeeding Abbasid Cali- region of Qatar. The Code is divided into two phate collapse. In the few synods that occurred parts: the first part is theoretical; the second during these two caliphates, systematic theolo- part consists of twenty-two cases pertaining gy was quasi absent, and canons dealt with to family law, namely inheritance. Interest- internal and external threats. During the sec- ingly, a few cases deal with slaves within the ond half of the millennium, thanks to the Ot- community: slaves that can be manumised by toman system which gave the Church their masters to marry free partners and to some autonomy, canonical legislation reflected join ecclesiastical ranks. sophisticated ecclesiastical organization in The last article is by Vincent van Vossel, both the and Syrian Orthodox . professor at the Babylon College of Bagdad, “The Sixth Book of Īšō‛-bokht’s Corpus who published extensively on Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws and architecture in Iraq. His article entitled

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From the Editor ______

“A Christian Icon Rescued from War,” dis- argues for an ethnographic approach that does cusses an interesting piece of art owned by not solely take into consideration the aural the Christian town of Tell-Esqof in the north value of musicality but also the living culture of Iraq. The painter is a 19th century Armeni- of the people who brought about this musical an who has left us a number of all bear- heritage, heritage marked by centuries-old ing Armenian touches, but executed for Or- spiritual, literary, and living experiences. thodox and Catholic Churches. The Tell- We are very thankful to all the participants Esqof’s icon and the painter’s other icons in the 2016 CSSS symposium, to the authors, share figures of martyrs, themes that may re- and to the Editorial Committee for making flect the Ottoman of the Chris- this issue possible. tians in during the 19th century. The publication of JCSSS is financially Jarjour’s article, “ as Music in supported by the Social Sciences and Humani- Culture: A New Approach,” addresses domi- ties Research Council of Canada, through its nant scholarship on the and of “Aid to Scholarly Journals” program. the Syriac church. Critiquing early sources in A. H. terms of methodology and scope, the author September 2017

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TRYING TO FIX WHAT IS BROKEN IN A BROKEN AGE: SYRIAN ORTHODOX SYNODICAL CANONS (628-896)

ROBERT KITCHEN CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

n early 1947 the were Religious people construct all manner discovered near Khirbet Qumran. With of regulations to retain or revive what is I the Jewish-Arab War beginning shortly perceived to be the charisma and genius of after, it took a while before some of the the origins of a specific faith and its com- scrolls were brought to the American munity – a classic exemplification of Max School of Oriental Research in . Weber’s concept of ‘the routinization of Two junior fellows, John Trever and Wil- charisma.’1 I will present a set of synodical liam Brownlee, saw them first and recog- canons that point to occasional, as well as nized that they were something important. abiding problems in the life of the church. One of the manuscripts, 1QS, now entitled While issues that energized patriarchs and the Community Rule, was originally called in the mid-7th- to late-9th-centuries the Manual of Discipline, the name of the in the may not be hefty constitution and rules of The Meth- ours, we may understand and have sympa- odist Church. As a minister of the United thy for the circumstances and impassioned Church of Canada, whose rulebook is motives that gave rise to certain canons called The Manual, due in part to the during that period and ours today. These Methodist component of the 1925 merger can shed some light on the principles and of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Con- procedures we still employ today in organ- gregational Churches in Canada, I believe izing and disciplining our faith communi- Qumran deserved better. ties. Rules, laws, and canons have been a My venture into this legal territory part of the Judeo-Christian heritage since comes from involvement in a much larger almost the beginning: the Torah, Haus- project, the monumental Conciliorum Oe- tafeln, Qumran’s Manual of Discipline, cumenicorum Generaliumque decreta the Rule of St. Benedict, the Seven Ecu- (COGD), often referred to as “Mansi,”2 menical Councils, and innumerable others. whose first work was presented to Rules, laws and canons, however, do John XXIII at the beginning of the Vatican change relative to the people who enact II Council in 1962. This eventually evolved them and the times and environment in into an ambitious project to publish all the which they live. conciliar canons of the Christian Church, ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 3

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______not just in Rome, but throughout Christen- work of one writer. The Rule of St. Bene- dom. Four volumes have been published dict, for instance, would not qualify, nor thus far, the fourth on the canons of Ortho- would the Canons of Simeon of Bēt- doxy.3 Volume Five treats the canons of Qaṭrāyē, being presented by Amir Harrak the Oriental Orthodox Churches – Syriac, as well in this journal. That leaves out a lot Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian – and is being of interesting and valuable material, but it completed under the editorial leadership of allows us to carefully focus on the motiva- Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Gio- tions and circumstances that gave rise to vanni XXIII (FSCIRE), Bologna, Italy.4 these canons issued on these specific occa- The canons for the Syriac Orthodox sions, all of which follow the consecration Church are found in a single manuscript, of a new Syriac Orthodox . 8/11, Patriarchal Library of the The three centuries during which these Syriac Orthodox Church, Ma‘aret Saydna- canons were written were not irenic, and ya, , the so-called ‘Synodicon of the perhaps among the most conflicted in Syri- West Syrian Tradition.’ An edition and Eng- an Orthodox/Miaphysite history. Following lish translation was prepared by Arthur the ascendancy of Chalcedonian Christolo- Vööbus in the CSCO series.5 Originally, gy in the 520’s, many adherents of Mi- the manuscript was compiled and recorded aphysite, Syrian Orthodox, or popularly at the of Ḥenanya or Deir “Jacobite” Church, moved eastward across al-Za‘farān in the year 1204 by Daniel bar the border into the Persian Empire where Yawsep bar Sargis bar Tūma of Barṭeli or they encountered two unfriendly challenges Bēt-Saḥrayē.6 This Synodicon contains a – the , staunchly Zoroas- large number of synodical and conciliar acts trian and suspicious of the allegiance of the and other cycles of canons, many unattested Christian population during the last era of elsewhere, beginning with sources claiming intense warfare with the rival Roman em- apostolic origin – “The Testament of our pire; and the larger and long-resident Lord Christ,” “the Canons of the Church of the East which had secured a Apostles,” “the Order of the Apostles given slightly more comfortable position among through Hippolytus,” and the Syriac Did- the Sasanians. In the two decades prior to ascalia.7 The manuscript itself has suffered the first in question, the Roman- significant damage, losing a number of foli- Persian conflict seemed to foster increased os from various quires. Other damage to the strife and rivalry between the two Christian text is sporadic, but is evident in different camps. Khosrow II refused for twenty places in the text of the Synod of the Mon- years to permit a Church of the East Ca- astery of Mar Mattai. Fortunately, these il- tholicos to be consecrated, so that Babai legible sections do not undermine the sense the Great and two other monastic leaders of the narrative and of the canons. There were commissioned to take on de facto are some minor errors in both the CSCO episcopal pastoral and administrative Syriac text and its English translation, so we roles.8 It was during this period that the are waiting upon the digitalization readings Shah’s court physician was Gabriel of Sin- and entries, currently under the aegis of Hill jar, a Miaphysite, whose influence along Museum & Manuscript Library, St. John’s with that of the Shah’s wife , also a University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Jacobite, enabled the Syrian Orthodox to The canons included in the COGD pro- survive and even grow in numbers and in- ject are limited to those conciliar/synodical fluence. Church of the East historians natu- gatherings which produce new rules and rally presented a less gracious interpreta- canons in consensus, not purportedly as the tion of Gabriel’s activities and influence.9 ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 4

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______

In 628 the disastrous and final defeat of back seat to the situation that formed them, the Sasanian forces by Heraclius altered all and in this case the needs of the writers of the balances. Khosrow II was assassinated the canons seem to have overridden the shortly after the defeat, the Church of the events that did take place. East was finally granted a , Both Michael Rabo in his Chronicle10 Išo‘yahb II, and the Syrian Orthodox and Bar Ebroyo in the Chronicon Ecclesi- Church moved to a new consolidation of asticum11 recount the general outline of the power and position, to which the synod of events, relying upon the sources available the Monastery of Mar Mattai is testimony. to them. Arthur Vööbus raises some ques- Within the following decade the Islamic tions about the historical accuracy of the movement and conquest would once again events reported in several footnotes of his change the equations. English translation and Syriac edition of The five Syriac Orthodox synods from the Canons, but does not appear to question which these canons emerge make little the authenticity of the work.12 J.-M. Fiey, mention of the political and ecclesiastical however, did raise concerns in a short ex- events and circumstances that coloured cursus in a long 1974 article13 and later in their deliberations and decisions. The table 199214 details the problems of dating and in the Appendix summarizes the canons of the authenticity of events as recorded. The the five synods – Mar Mattai 628, Diony- twenty-four canons adamantly declare that sius Qalliniqos 817, Yoḥannān at Mar Šīlā under no circumstances is the metropolitan 846, Ignatios at Mar Zakkay 878, and Dio- of Tagrit permitted to criticize, challenge nysius at Mar Šīlā 896. The dates for most or discipline the metropolitan of Mar Mat- of these synods are debatable by a year or tai (canons 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24). two, but do not affect the content and im- What you read in the history books – it is portance of the canonical legislation. The not necessarily so. Let us first review the exception is the first, the Canons of the narrative of events and personalities around Monastery of Mar Mattai. which the Canons were reputedly written. Those tumultuous years with the defeat MAR MATTAI of the Sasanian Empire and chaotic after- math make dating a problem. The reunion The Canons of the Monastery of Mar Mat- of the see of with the Eastern tai were significant for several reasons. church at Tagrit was initiated by the Patri- One was the event itself of the gathering of arch of Antioch, Athanasius Gamālā (the Miaphysite leaders to consolidate the reun- Camel Driver) (595-631), who sent his ion with the of Antioch syncellus, the monk John of Beth Alaya, as through the creation and regulation of the envoy. John would succeed Athanasius as metropolitanate of Tagrit, still reputedly in patriarch in 631 and be known as John subordination to the metropolitan of the Sēdrā (after the liturgical composi- Monastery of Mar Mattai. Second was the tions/sēdrē for which he was renowned).15 emergence and consecration of Marutha as John was not sent at first to Mattai, but to the Metropolitan/ of Tagrit who the Shah’s court “after peace was af- would become one of the major figures firmed,” which implies the peace reached involved in the transition under Islamic between Heraclius and Shirow in rule. This is what the canons and introduc- March/April 628 and finally in July 629. tory materials in the document project to Khosrow II had been assassinated on 9 the reader. As is often the case, the im- February 628, with his successor Shirow portance of the canons themselves takes a crowned on 25 February. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 5

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______

Michael Rabo and Bar Ebroyo refer to was Ardashir a young boy soon to meet a Ardashir III who succeeded his father Shi- violent death, but in the chaos after the as- row as Shah, but was assassinated after 18 sassination of Khosrow and the Byzantine months, being only seven years old. Bar victory, the Byzantines occupied Tagrit Ebroyo notes that the mission of John to until the capture of the city by the in the Shah was regarding “interior affairs of 637.17 The text of the Canons several times the community” – the implication being the names “, the city of God,” although reunion of Mattai and Antioch. But of what the city did not acquire that name concern would such a matter be to the Shah until after the Arab conquest, i.e. in the midst of a dire military situation? 637/638.18 The real reason for the selection John then met with the metropolitan of Tagrit, Fiey concludes, is that the city Christophoros and Addai, the superior of was the administrative district of the lieu- Mar Mattai, regarding reunion, for Mar tenant of the Roman emperor.19 Heraclius Mattai’s isolation and separation from the was adamantly opposed to , see of Antioch had gradually weakened its although he did attempt to negotiate a vitality. Christophoros gathered together compromise that recognized Miaphysite five miaphysite bishops from the region concepts without explicitly condemning and took along with them as well three Chalcedon and was almost successful.20 monks of the monastery so that they would Ironically, Jacobites retained some good be ordained bishops by the patriarch. Fiey memories of Heraclius, celebrating No- sees the five bishops and syncellus return- vember 10 in memory of the “pious em- ing to Tagrit first, then to Antioch and back peror Heraclius.”21 again to Tagrit. If the visit to Antioch and Elias of Nisibis (975-1040) assigns the union were made prior to 628 and the end- date of the synod and consecration of ing of hostilities, the promotion of Tagrit to Marutha as 624 A. D.22 Fiey, therefore, the great metropolitanate would need to determines that there were two events sepa- have happened much later in 628. rated by a few years: first when the syncel- Christophoros insisted upon certain dio- lus John convinced Christophoros with the ceses remaining under the aegis of Mar support of the Persian court to rejoin the Mattai, although he acknowledged that the Antiochene union in 624; and second, after patriarch had hesitated a long time before the peace of 628/629, the Byzantine gov- granting these privileges. Athanasius sug- ernment established itself in Tagrit and ar-coated the message with praise for Mar affirmed the priority of the new metropoli- Mattai, but the decision to make Tagrit the tanate at the expense of Mar Mattai.23 Giv- great metropolitanate was firm.16 Two rea- en the manuscript’s date of 1204, Fiey sons are presented in the narrative of the suggests a possible date of 1172 for the Canons to justify the new situation: first, writing of these Canons.24 the continuing presence of barbari- The twenty-four canons, read in the ans/pagans of Tagrit who were converted light of these historical developments, to by Mar Garmai of Mar Mat- now appear transparent in their purpose. tai, with the exception of a few tribes con- All the canons are written to support the verted by Marutha while he was still a position of the metropolitan of the monas- monk. No mention is made of the suprem- tery of Mar Mattai, commencing with the acy of Tagrit over Mattai. declaration that the metropolitan of the The second implies that Ardashir want- monastery is declared to be on an equal ed Tagrit as a central base because that was basis with the metropolitan of Tagrit where his garrison was located. Not only (canon 1). A subtle acknowledgment of ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 6

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______the Tagrit maphrian’s priority, which fol- DIONYSIUS I AT QALLINIQOS lows as Canon 2, insists upon the presence of the metropolitan of Mar Mattai in every The second collection of canons reviewed matter, seated at the right hand of the met- here from the West Syrian (Miaphysite) ropolitan of Tagrit. Canon 4 also stipu- Synodicon is identified with the Patriarch lates that the monastery’s metropolitan of Antioch, Dionysius of Tel-Maḥrē (ruled will administer the domain of Tagrit in the 818-845), at the beginning of his tenure as case of the latter’s death or extended ab- patriarch.28 These canons are from the sence, but there is no corollary perhaps Synod of Qalliniqos and dated 817 (1129 because the metropolitan of Tagrit already of the Greeks), but as was the case with is granted authority over the monastery. Mar Mattai, there seems again some confu- The remainder of the canons, however, sion regarding the precise date of the Syn- conjure up every conceivable situation in od and its resultant canons, perhaps be- which the metropolitan of Tagrit is not cause the manuscript and text were written allowed to encroach upon the prerogatives at such a great removal of time from the of the monastery’s metropolitan. Fiey events. surmises that the rigorous and bitter de- Dionysius was from Tel-Maḥrē and tails of these prohibitions emanate from would become a monk in the monastery of previous litigious disputes between the John bar Aphtonia at . After that communities.25 The libellus of signatures monastery was burned down by rebel Arab at the bottom of the document notably has raiders in 810, Dionysius moved to the Christophoros signing first, and only then Monastery of Mar Jacob at Kayshun. He Marutha, simply as the “metropolitan of was elected on August Tagrit.”26 Taken at face value, the canons 1, 818, at a synod in Qalliniqos.29 The date emphatically insist upon the priority of the of the canons to be examined is given as metropolitan of the monastery, a reality October 817, one year before Dionysius not supported by any other witnesses. became patriarch. He is identified as the The resolution of these incongruities is patriarch in these canons, but these appear not finally determinable. The discrepan- to be later disciplinary canons targeted cies and anachronisms of the canons im- against the encroachment of some bishops ply that they were written at some signifi- into the territory and authority of others.30 cant time later so that the author misinter- Dionysius is well-known beyond his in- preted and confused the persons, locations volvement in this synod as a renowned his- and dates involved. The sources of the torian and chronicler. He had written a principal Syriac historians who record two-part chronicle – the first part treating these events – Michael Rabo (d. 1199) and ecclesiastical affairs and the second turning Bar Ebroyo (d. 1286) – are not evident, so to secular matters – covering two and a half the precise circumstances that would have centuries from the accession of the Byzan- led to and allowed the recording of these tine emperor in 582 up to the “pseudo-canons,” as Fiey classified them, deaths of the emperor Theophilus and the are not evident either.27 Certainly, con- Caliph Abū-Isḥāq al-Mu‛taṣim in 842. Un- flict between the monastery of Mar Mattai fortunately, his historical works are lost and the ecclesiastical forces of Tagrit and except for excerpts, particularly in the Mosul were background to this apparent Chronicle of 123431 and in the Chronicle of attempt to rewrite history from the per- Michael Rabo32 for whom Dionysius’ work spective of those who perceived them- was a significant source. Dionysius argua- selves as the losers. bly is better known for something he did ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 7

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______not write. J. S. Assemani misinterpreted a nysius’ diplomacy was effective, gaining reference to Dionysius in the Chronicle of him and his see protection and legitimacy Zuqnin and inferred his authorship of the over his opponents.38 work. It was not until the end of the 19th The canons under examination here re- century that two scholars independently flect many of these conflicts and conun- recognized that he did not write the anon- drums. There are only 12 canons, but each ymous work.33 Until recently the chronicle one is multi-faceted, primarily addressing still carried the awkward title of the Chron- issues of episcopal boundaries and inap- icle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel Maḥrē.34 propriate marriage and sexual behaviour The background for these canons lies in that point strongly at the abuses abounding the conflicted situation of the Syrian Or- in a schismatic church where authority is thodox Church in early 9th century Syria, always up for debate. by then long under Islamic rule. Dionysius inherited two difficult schismatic factions YOḤANNAN III AT MAR ŠĪLĀ from his predecessor Quryaqos that contin- ued to disrupt not only the order of the Jac- The canons enacted at the Synod assem- obite Church itself, but also its relation- bled on the occasion of the election of ships with the Muslim leadership.35 The Yoḥannan III as Patriarch of Antioch, No- chief opposition came from Abraham (to vember 21, 846, comprise most of what is whom Dionysius referred to as Abiram, cf. known about Yoḥannan. He became a Numbers 16:1-40), a monk of the monas- monk at the Monastery of Mar Zakkay near tery of Qartmin, and his followers from the Qalliniqos, and was elected at the Monas- monastery of Gubba Barraya. Abraham tery of Mar Šīlā, located in the region of ordained his own bishops and held dissent- Sarug. He is mentioned only in passing in ing views, especially in the use of the litur- Michael Rabo’s Chronicle, although his gical formula panem calestem frangimus reign as patriarch was a lengthy 27 years. (‘we break the heavenly bread’)36 which he The Chronicle of 1234 summarily reports: wanted to impose upon the entire Syrian “he served 27 years in tranquility for there 39 Orthodox Church. Dionysius attempted to was for him no obstacle or evil event.” mediate a solution, but was not able to Nevertheless, Yoḥannan’s introductory make any progress. The Synod of Qal- letter notes afflictions and rebellions that liniqos at which Dionysius was elected de- he has apparently inherited from his prede- termined that the usage of this divisive li- cessor, Dionysius of Tel-Maḥre. Bar turgical formula was up to the discretion of Ebroyo observed that Yoḥannan had an the local bishop. This was still too permis- ongoing conflict with Basil, Maphrian of sive for Abraham, although such permis- the East, whom he had appointed, a former siveness did win over the monks and stylite known as La‘zar of Bet Batin. The of who had previously supported dispute would be brought before the Caliph 40 Abraham.37 Mutawakkil, and internal rivalries contin- In addition, there was a concerted oppo- ued so that some opponents of the patriarch sition from the eastern bishops, the main harboured thoughts of establishing a coun- 41 figure being Basil of Tagrit, one of the suc- ter-patriarch. cessors of Marutha, the initial maphrian of Aphrem Barsoum adds several events during his reign: Tagrit, just prior to the entrance of Islam. Both Abraham and Basil attempted to cur- Yoḥannan called a second Synod at ry favour with the Muslim leadership Kafr Tut in 869 where he published against Dionysius, but in the long run Dio- eight canons for the offices of Pa- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 8

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______

triarch and the Maphrian, an natios II as Patriarch of Antioch, June 5, abridgement of these being found 878, present once again a significant piece in the Hudōyō (Nomocanon). of the information regarding this patriarch. Yoḥannan wrote a synodical letter The previous Patriarch Yoḥannan III had to Joseph, Patriarch of , died in 873, but the lengthy delay in the and received a reply. He ordained 86 metropolitans and bishops dur- election and of Ignatios II were ing his reign and died on January 3, reputedly caused by the chief bishop, 43 873.42 Sargīs of Tagrīt. Yoḥannan’s rule had Twenty-six canons constitute the ac- been marked as well by internal conflict tions of this Holy Synod, again found only prior to his election and throughout his in the Damascus 8/11 manuscript (ff. 124b- reign. Ignatios would only rule a little less 130a). This sizeable collection of canons than five years, dying March 26, 883, in comes during a conflicted period in which Morebā Q’asṭrā, near Labargūh. the appearance of counter-patriarchs be- Little has been recorded regarding his came a tendentious solution to disputes. patriarchy and even those reports reflect These canons concern internal matters of some confusion and ambiguity. Different sources have him consecrating 26 or 16 clerical discipline, as well as correct litur- 44 gical and religious practice for both clerical bishops, and the 12 Canons from the and lay Christians. There is no mention of Synod at the Monastery of Mar Zakkay the Syrian Orthodox Church being engaged (Zacchaeus), again extant only in Damas- in any fashion with the Islamic Caliphate, cus 8/11, are missing from that manuscript nor with other Christian churches, although folios 134 and 135, thus Canons 1 and 2, the “heretics” referred to in several canons and part of Canon 3. may be the factions rejecting the authority Ignatios, however, appears not to have of the Patriarch. been part of the in-fighting of those aspir- The tenor of the canons indicates an ec- ing to the patriarchal throne, at least until clesiastical environment in which the Syri- after he became the Patriarch. His birth an Orthodox Church had difficulty control- date is unknown, but he was a monk, stud- ling the ambitions of some clergy who ying at the Monastery of Harbaz. The were able to operate as they wished, ignor- Chronicon 1234 gives his name as Īshō‘ ing traditions and previous canonical and reports that he was summoned from an anchoritic cell near the in the standards. The Patriarch, amidst discipli- 45 nary chaos, may have been attempting to of Šemīšaṭ (Samosata). Aphrem Barsoum has a brief paragraph on Ignatios, rein in ‘rebellious’ clergy who either 46 through ignorance or obstinacy had deviat- but adds no extra information. ed from ethical standards. The addendum The Patriarchal Letter that Ignatios in- to a number of the canons is an admonish- cludes before the canons begins with the ment of the bishops to be more assiduous Biblical and historical overview of the ne- in supervising the clergy under their charge cessity of divinely given law for human be- in various matters of liturgy and practice so ings. In the last paragraph he addresses the that these irregularities and abuses not oc- recent problems and failings of the church cur so readily. and society, and then his remaining thoughts were apparently located on the lost folios IGNATIOS II AT MAR ZAKKAY which included Canons 1 and 2. His con- cerns can be viewed as typical and eternal The canons enacted at the Synod assem- problems of the church, although given the bled on the occasion of the election of Ig- context of several decades of internal con- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 9

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______flict in the church, with counter-patriarchs numbered total of 99 canons, with two being installed and his complaint of an inor- canons and a portion of a third missing. dinate period of time without a patriarch, his There are a number of discernable themes concerns appear to be current dilemmas. that span the nearly three centuries of these Pastoral vacancies in many parishes, too synods. Some problems never change or many ecclesiastical rules and canons being leave, and are probably afflicting Christian ignored and defied, as well as the wandering churches around the world today in similar astray of a flock without a shepherd (cf. fashion and frustration. Without being ex- Judges 21:25) that “everyone does what is haustive, several threads recur in multiple right in their own eyes” indicate Ignatios’ synods. awareness of a church in disarray. (1) Ecclesiastical Trespassing DIONYSIUS II AT MAR ŠĪLĀ (2) Taking refuge with and support from outsiders and hostile factions The Canons established following the con- (3) Myron only in the right places secration of Patriarch Dionysius at the (4) Betrothal Requirements Monastery of Mar Šīlā in Sarug in April (5) No women lamenting at funerals 896 are found only in this Damascus 8/11 (6) ’ bones and ashes manuscript. There are also canons against betrothal Dionysius had been a monk in the Mon- practices, second marriages, unethical and astery of Bēt-Bātin of Ḥarrān, his former unsavoury marriages; various liturgical name attested by one source as Nūḥ.47 He irregularities and omissions; prohibition of died in April 909 in the Monastery of Bēt- usury and other financial malpractices to Bātin. There is confusion among several take advantage of debtors; manipulation of chronicles regarding both the date of the church donations; forbidding involvement synod and its location without certain reso- in secular government; no baptizing of her- lution.48 etics, and no women should marry or Along with the 35 bishops assembled, Magians. And finally, emphatically, no Dionysius established 25 canons treating a men are allowed in the convents of nuns. range of problems. As with several previ- ous synods, the ecclesiastical environment (1) Ecclesiastical Boundaries appears to be in flux, if not disarray, as the Arguably, the primary concern for most of canons address a number of issues previ- these synods, held irregularly after various ously confronted, but apparently not re- lengths of time, is the violation of ecclesi- solved. As well, very few canons present astical boundaries. Distance and the lack measures that offer any practical solutions of institutional authority by Christians or enforcement. The Syriac Orthodox under Islamic rule enable strong-willed Church still found itself with limited reli- bishops to go outside their appointed re- gious, legal and political authority in its gions to ordain, baptize, and generally regions to enforce its standards and sanc- flex their desire for power in other re- tion its opponents at the turn of the gions. In his first canon, Yoḥannān III at ninth/tenth centuries. the Monastery of Mar Ṣīlā (846) rebukes RECURRING THEMES those bishops who are lusting for a more IN THE CANONS desirable appointment and location, and not remain in the backwaters districts Nevertheless, there is always an occasion where they have been presumably unjustly for canons and these five synods issued a assigned. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 10

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Indeed, because we have seen some concern that some bishops are ordaining of the bishops despise their own dio- people from outside their regions without ceses and abandon them, whether on thorough examination, a practice which account of their smallness or poverty, could legitimize imposter elders and . or for [their own] comfort and opu- A different kind of problem, but one not lence, or perhaps they imagine a much larger diocese, and so then the without precedence in Christian monastic diocese to which they were conse- and ascetic history, is discussed in Ignatios 5: crated is despicable. Transgressions Now there are many who wear the have increased and perversions [have monastic garment although previ- occurred] many times. It seems fair to ously were neither examined nor this holy synod [to declare] that any recognized in the ways of excel- of the bishops who has abandoned his lence. There are some among them diocese – without [encountering] per- who have not even attained the lev- secution – is not permitted to serve as el of full stature. Being seized by a bishop in any manner until he re- some kind of impetuosity, they turns to the diocese which was re- rush to stand upon a pillar which is served for him by God. truly an angelic way of life rising The Canons of Mar Mattai emphatically above the world. But sometimes, declare from the first word that the two met- when their hope is disappointed, ropolitans of the Monastery and of Tagrit they descend from the heights to will keep to their own side of the fence, and which they had not ascended in Dionysius at Qalliniqos and Dionysius at their mind, and from then on they become a mockery and a cause of Mar Šīlā also begin their canons with similar scandal for many. remonstrations. Only Ignatios does not spe- Therefore, no one has the au- cifically mention this problem, but then the thority to ascend the pillar apart manuscript is missing the folios on which the from the knowledge and permis- first two and a half canons are recorded. His sion of the bishop. If he descends, abbreviated introductory letter does not paint except from persecution or the ne- a more optimistic picture either. cessity of illness, he has no authori- There is an allied problem to bishops act- ty to serve in the priesthood. More- ing out of place. Several synods note the over, they will not be offering occurrence of people circulating in some judgments and disturbing the bish- regions pretending to be elders and deacons ops, [nor] become involved in – claiming to be from another region – min- those matters in which they are not given permission, or to use com- istering to the faithful, but without any cre- mon letters and exact sentences. dentials (Yoḥannan 2, Ṣīlā 4). Bishops are admonished to keep an eye on such things, This Fifth Canon regards another local but there is no reflection here on the cause occurrence which the bishops wish to cur- of such imposters. Other problems involving tail – the pretension of some people to as- clergy are the disgrace of those monks who pire to the status and honour of monasti- abandon their calling and return to the world cism without having progressed through for a less desirable lifestyle (Yoḥannan 3). proper stages of spiritual education, exami- Apparently, some elders have moved to an- nation and achievement. Although the lan- other region as free-lancers, but Šīlā’s 3rd guage is somewhat vague, the transgressors canon requires a letter of permission from are those who claim to be stylites and their own local bishop before practicing climb up on to columns or pillars before ministry elsewhere. Qalliniqos 9 raises the they have spiritually matured. Many fail ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 11

Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______and descend defeated from the column Our problem now is, who were these which scandalizes the whole Church, for characters, whom everyone knew during the vocation of the stylite is evidently high- the synods, but now have slipped into ano- ly valued and honoured. Now only those nymity? There were instances of counter- receiving the permission of the bishop are patriarchs being established, so that ex- allowed to undertake this exalted form of plains some situations. The outsiders . The Desert Fathers already (barāyē) are not identified in any of these knew the problem: “The elders used to say, synods. Were they schismatics, mercenary ‘If you see a young monk ascending to and violent pagans, or Muslims? Possibly heaven of his own free will, seize him by all three, but for the embattled Syriac Or- the foot and drag him down, for it is to his thodox Church these opponents were advantage.’”49 “them” against “us.” It reveals a tense pe- The patriarchs and bishops are not able riod of uncertain authority and necessary to solve this swarm of problems. Their so- compromise. Patriarch Dionysius of Tel- lutions at best are to call the supervising Maḥrē (818-845) sought out an agreement leaders to higher accountability, but there with the Caliph al-Ma’mūn that non- are no other apparent means to enforce legitimate/counter-patriarchs would not such accountability. The sanctions against receive official approval from the Muslim the trespassers are clear, but catching them government, which may have been the in a society which is no longer Christian- most effective strategy as long as good re- oriented is another matter. lations were maintained with the Caliphate.

(3) The Consecration of Myron (2) Refuge with and Use of Outside Forces Another instance of insidious decentraliza-

tion in the Syriac Orthodox Church is ad- A second cluster of canons reveals some- dressed in only one synod and canon. In thing about the status of authority during Yoḥannān 24, the problem of Myron in all this period. Several synods refer to the sit- the wrong places is cited: uation in which an elder/ /bishop/ monk has a serious disagreement with their Because many, attracting honour to local bishop or patriarch – the person in themselves, confuse and destroy the customs and rules which were handed case has been sentenced to a certain pun- down by the holy fathers in every city ishment by the bishop, or simply that an and region, that is, the cities and places individual or faction opposes the rule of the that anciently were assigned [where] patriarch – and the person or groups seeks the divine Myron should be consecrat- refuge and assistance from an outside ed, and wish that it be consecrated in group (Qalliniqos 3-4; Yoḥannan 18; Igna- villages which were not permitted this tios 4; Šila 10, 11, 19). In several instances, custom. It is apparent to all of us that the outside group is observed to have uti- no one – if he does not [want] to trans- lized violent force, ostensibly to force the gress the decision of God, and no per- bishop to annul the punishment or even secution is occurring – is authorized to consecrate the Myron, except in these change his judgment. There were apparent- places in which it was previously con- ly incidents when the bishop under siege secrated in the time of that one who is had to submit to force and relent, but the among the saints, the blessed Patriarch synods were adamant that no matter what, Mar Quryaqos. We have determined in God would not relax the punishment this decision that anyone who opposes against these despicable characters. the bishop or leads him by force to

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consecrate where it had not been conse- all adhering to this establishment of crated [before], that we hinder and law and are determining that it shall eliminate this attack in as much as it has be so (Yoḥannān at Šīlā, 15).

become and still is the cause of disturb- We have all decided unanimously ances and divisions and conflicts. by the awesome word of God, What is at stake is not in the first place which the Lord gave to his holy whether the Myron is properly made, but apostles and from which opposing who gains authority by controlling its con- powers tremble, that there is no au- thority for father or mother, or for secration and distribution. This is the peri- brother or sister, or for any one of od when counter- and other the household, whether a boy or a schismatic factions have worked to under- girl, to betroth a boy or to betroth a mine the traditional ecclesiastical seats. girl before they attain the age of fif- Note that Yoḥannān considers the reign of teen years, and in that case [only] Patriarch Quryaqos (793-817) to be the by the agreement of the boy and the girl (Ignatios 11). canonical standard of authorized sites for the consecration of the Myron, indicating A betrothal which occurs without that these unauthorized sites are specific the blessing of the ring and the me- instances of recent or current interloping. diation of a , and [the couple] having not yet reached the age of (4) Betrothal Standards fourteen years, and does not have Betrothal practices and requirements were the agreement or will of their two persons – if it happens that there is a major part of many synods for centuries, a dispute – we have adjudged that East and West, particularly under Islamic [the betrothal] should be complete- rule. The Syriac Church wished to maintain ly terminated (Dionysius at Šīlā 7). its own values and practices in the face of the dominate society’s customs. A canon Three matters are at hand here. The appearing three times with only minor var- Church should be involved in the blessing iations concerns the proper boundaries for of the betrothal, and apparently it often was a betrothal agreement between a young boy avoided or ignored in a secular agreement. and girl. No mention is made, but apparent- The boy and girl must mutually agree that ly arranged marriages tried to bypass a they want to be betrothed – it is not a deci- number of conventions which the Church sion made by parents without their consent found inappropriate, if not abusive. or even knowledge. And there is a mini- Yoḥannān 15 (846), Ignatios 11 (878), and mum age for a legitimate betrothal of 15 Šīlā 7 (896) demonstrate that half a century years old, then lowered to 14 years old two finds Syriac society still stuck in the same decades later. dilemma: The Synod of Yoḥannān at Mar Šīlā was also concerned about the number of In order that a betrothal should take years for different situations. It placed a place lawfully, it has been previ- limit on the number of years, seven, that ously determined in the canons of one could be betrothed without getting those holy fathers who preceded us married (Yoḥannān 17), which was a [in which] they decided that when there is a betrothal there should measure to protect the woman from mis- first be an agreement of the boy treatment. The Synod established a mini- and the girl, and then the ring shall mum age for a person being ordained a be blessed and the betrothal will be priest – 30 years old – and for a deacon – confirmed by the testimony. We are 20 years old (Yoḥannān 7). Competence,

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Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______maturity, and what would be called today tombs with tambourines, timbrels life experience were the primary goals. and dances angering God and ex- pressing mockery shall be inhibit- (5) Mourning, Festivals and Fashion ed by a sentence from this despic- In a society in which one is no longer the able activity. If they dare to do this th they shall also be kept out from majority or in the 9 century bereft of the Church and participation in the much political power, the Church needed holy mysteries. The should to maintain its identity by not adopting or be watchful so that they are not slipping into non-Christian customs and present at all in the funeral proces- mores. Ignatios 8 and Šīlā 23 proscribe for sion or in the houses of those who Christians the practice of pagan customs, make the lamentations angering God (Ignatios 9). participation in their festivals, and wearing licentious or provocative clothing fashion- Thirty-two years later the language is able among non-Christians. Yoḥannān 22 similar and the problem remains the same. also issues a prohibition of Christians The priests were not doing their job, and availing themselves of sorcerers and sooth- the canons imply that they sometimes be- sayers. The use of the term ‘pagan’ came too involved in the local culture. (ḥānpāyā) in some instances is likely a metaphor for Muslim, along with ‘gentiles’ (6) Bones and Ashes (‘ammē) and ‘outsiders’ (barāyē), although The penultimate theme to be examined re- traditional did not disappear and gards the relics of saints, and in particular, could be the target here as well. Yoḥannān their bones and ashes. Two synods, both 22 and Ignatios 9 condemn the practice of taking place at Mar Šīlā, under Yoḥannān women participating as mourners at funer- in 846 and then under Dionysius in 896, als in a manner which mocks the dignity of find these relics at the center of their con- Christian funerals: cern, but not the problem. Yoḥannān 21 Now, the women who dance or turns to a liturgical practice in some con- make lamentations for their de- gregations. ceased and go out to the graves with tambourines and dances en- Moreover, there are others who rage God and are full of mockery from ignorance and lack of cultiva- shall be specifically inhibited from tion baptize their sons and daugh- entering the church and participa- ters in a church in which the urns tion in the holy mysteries. Let the of the saints are set in order. In- priests be watchful not to be pre- stead of a godparent, they place the sent in places where such things as one who is being baptized upon the these are being done. In the same urn of a holy one, and omit the way, every faithful man or woman godparent. Therefore, we are order- who go to sorcerers and soothsay- ing that no one should operate in ers, or utter incantations or speak this way because it is foreign to ec- secretly, are not allowed to enter clesiastical customs. the Church nor to participate in It is right that every baptized per- the holy mysteries for one year, son should have a godparent, a although the canons prescribe five male for a male, a female for a fe- years (Yoḥannān 22). male, and one for one, not two or Regarding those women who are many, as the renowned teachers mourning in a pagan manner for command. But after that godparent their deceased, and go out to the receives the boy from the ,

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if his parents wish to place him up- of Dionysius at Šīlā is simply: do not eat on the urn of the saints, it may be meat on Fridays, nor drink wine during the done according to their wishes. Great Fast (Šīlā 25). There is an anti- There is nothing wrong with a ’s climactic tone to this reminder of dietary ashes, as the final statement of the canon discipline, as if they were about to sign and affirms. To place the child upon the urn of a seal the document, and someone called out saint can be interpreted as an appropriate act about untimely meat and wine – and they of piety, dedicating the child to the same all nodded and tacked it on to the end of kind of holy life as the saint. What the Syn- the document. Such a canon, nevertheless, od is calling for is the need for a living hu- witnesses to the deterioration of fundamen- man being to care for the child spiritually. tal by this time. We do not hear why a family does not have Both Ignatios 7 and Šīlā 6 are insistent, or want a godparent for this . perhaps the real last word – no males sleep- Fifty years later, saints’ bones are the ing in the nuns’ convents! relics in trouble, but not because of their own character. Dionysius at Mar Šīlā af- NON-CANONICAL CONCLUSIONS firms two short canons, 17 and 18, about Firm conclusions about the nature and char- the person(s) carrying the bones: acter of these Synodical canons are not sim- (17) The elders or deacons or who- ple. The situation in the Syriac Church was ever they may be who circulate the one of being quietly under siege. Mounayer bones of the saints in [various] plac- observed that in many instances the Church, es, in order to beg [alms] through bereft of its former social and political in- them, shall be prohibited from their fluence, fell in upon itself and dealt with the ministry if they do not cease. matters with which they could deal.50 A (18) The elders and deacons who diachronic scan, however, of the subjects of place the bones of the saints in their these canons, largely negative and punitive, houses as for a business and not for th the praise of God – we have ad- shows that the 9 -century Syriac Orthodox judged that they shall abstain from Church could not deal with or solve these this. But if they are not persuaded, perceived problems. Certainly, a significant they will not be allowed to serve the part of the problem was that the leadership ministry of the priesthood if they do was not able to effectively enforce these not avoid the anathema of God. canons, and relied largely on remonstrations

This may be a back-handed way of pro- of the bishops, priests and deacons to keep hibiting magical practices, but it is quite alert and monitor these transgressions more consistent with other canons prohibiting vigorously. elders and deacons from engaging in non- The occasion for these Synods is logi- monastic, secular activities – becoming cal: the ordination of a new Patriarch and pastoral leaders of congregations (Ignatios the consequent gathering of bishops in 6; Šīlā 5), serving as the town representa- numbers difficult to reproduce on more tives and advocates (Šīlā 5b), or becoming mundane occasions. But the agenda never a godparent (Šīlā 6). seems to be clear. Several of the ordina- tions of new patriarchs marked a time to FINAL CANONS mend fences, resolve previous conflicts, or just move on. A few of the canons reflect There are two emphatic sets of prohibitions some of those problems, especially the is- in our last two Synods. The very last canon sues of episcopal trespassing, as the result

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Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______of strong personalities. Most of the canons world of their own church. No explicit men- appear to be occasional, the result of brain- tion is made of Islam, which is not surpris- storming among some bishops raising con- ing. One assumes there was much talk about tinuing or new problems of territorialism, the problems and successes of coping with marriage and betrothal issues, liturgical the Muslim leadership off to the sides and irregularities, money-lending abuses, re- likely through the use of euphemisms. puted embezzlement of donations to the Christianity in the 9th-century Near East had churches and . been returned to the status of the pre- The more distressing matters, such as Constantinian church in which Christians dissenters, rebels, and those under disci- were intended to be seen and not heard. pline resorting to outside factions and forc- One’s imagination can have free rein es to alter properly arrived at episcopal examining these canons and trying to line judgments, are raised, likely with ire and them up with the specific current issues the alacrity, but without real ability to influ- bishops saw around them. These canons, ence and rectify. These ‘outsider’ canons nevertheless, do make us re-examine for are the only matters in which the Patriarch which reasons and circumstances we estab- and bishops venture to a degree outside the lish our own current laws.

West Syriac Orthodox Synodical Canons: 628-896 CE

Mar Mattai Dionysius Yoḥannan 846 Ignatios 878 Dionysius 628 Qallinqos 817 Šīlā 896 1 Metropolitans No bishop may No bishop lusting Missing… Procedures for of monastery of act in another for other dealing with Mar Mattai & bishop’s region accusation of Tagrit equal bishop

2 Metropolitan of Bishops not al- Imposter priests, Missing No bishop has Mattai at right lowed to enable deacons authority in hand of metro- second marriages other area politan of Tagrit besides his own 3 No judgment Bishop takes ref- Regarding monks Missing 1st part No elder given without agree- uge only with who abandon … ministry in ment of the two local bishop’s habit, live in no 2nd marriage other area metropolitans consent world or adultery for without his priest bishop’s con- sent 4 Metropolitan of Excommunicated must be Condemnation of Prohibiting Mattai adminis- not to take refuge celebrated with revenge against imposter el- ters Tagrit in with others to consecrated tablet bishops using ders, deacons absence of its force bishop to of Christ violent outside from ministry metropolitan absolve his sen- groups tence 5 Tagrit metropol- Christian aban- Rules for proper No stylites with- Monk not itan does not dons church for eucharist out bishop’s per- allowed to be encroach on worldly life & mission leader of con- monastery circumcision gregation 6 Tagrit metropol- Christian in adul- Not reciting pray- No monks lead- Monk cannot itan makes deci- terous marriages ers of inclining & ing churches or be godparent; sions only with testing competen- involved in busi- no male laity Mattai metro- cy of liturgists nesses eating in con- politan vent ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 16

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7 Tagrit metro- Manipulation of Minimum age for No male enter- No betrothal under politan deals church property consecration of ing, sleeping 14 without priest, with monastery to one’s own elders & deacons inside convent of and consent of area only with benefit nuns couple permission 8 Tagrit metropo- Clergy intoxica- Baptism without No Christians Donations to litan cannot tion & gluttony anointing oil not allowed to use church entrusted entrap Mattai allowed pagan customs to stewards, not metropolitan private hands 9 Tagrit metro- Bishop ordaining Bishops who No Christian Condemning those politan cannot alien el- consecrate blind women mourn- who prevent epis- judge Mattai ders/deacons elders ing in pagan copal letters being metropolitan without examina- manner read tion 10 Tagrit metro- Ordination under Priest who in- Condemning Condemning dis- politan appoints pressure of unex- stead of wine use lending & with- ciplined one who bishops only by amined people is some other drink holding docu- seeks refuge with mediation of void ments to cheat violent group Mattai metro- debtors politan 11 Tagrit metro- Factions forming No wives for Betrothals must Condemnation of politan appeals against church priests after con- be through factions formed to to Antioch only order & authority secration priests with full oppose bishop with Mattai’s assent of couple consent 12 Tagrit metro- Regulations for Prohibited mar- Condemning Prohibition of politan not monks living far riages elders who marry usury, & business allowed … from cities & own widows activities among lacunae … bishop elders/deacons without Mattai metropolitan 13 Tagrit metro- Premarital sex by Proper manage- politan not deacons con- ment of church allowed … demned donations/property lacunae 14 Tagrit metro- Elders/deacons Christian cannot politan cannot cannot lend mon- take relative as administer ey wife monastery dio- cese 15 Tagrit metro- Prior betrothal Proper procedures politan cannot agreement be- for lenders record- veto choices of tween boy & girl ing paid bills Mattai metro- affirmed politan 16 Tagrit metro- Taking brother’s Prohibition of politan cannot betrothed after giving episcopal absolve anath- death letter to others to emas by Mattai forbidden read metropolitan 17 Tagrit metro- Limit betrothal Condemning us- politan cannot period to 7 years; ing saints’ bones annul judg- afterwards wom- to beg alms ments of Mattai an free from metropolitan blame

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18 Tagrit metro- Condemnation of Condemning us- politan cannot anathematized ing saints’ bones lay penalty on who seeks violent as a business Mattai metro- aid politan 19 Tagrit metro- Appropriation of Condemnation of politan cannot estate by trustee those compelling overturn con- condemned bishop to revoke viction of Mat- discipline tai metropolitan 20 Tagrit metro- No participation Prohibition of politan stands in heretic’s baptizing active when Mattai church heretics metropolitan enters 21 Tagrit metropo- Saint’s urn used Proper marriage litan cannot in baptism instead procedures for demean Mattai of godparent deacons metropolitan 22 Tagrit metro- No lamentations Funerals during politan cannot & dancing at Fast of 40 days seek help from graves; going to only on Satur- other rulers vs sorcerers forbid- day/Sunday Mattai metro- den politan 23 Tagrit metro- No Christian Prohibition of politan not woman to be- provocative cloth- allowed to come wife of ing in non- anathematize pagan, Jew or Christian festivals Mattai metro- Magian politan 24 Tagrit metro- Myron to be con- Condemnation of politan not secrated only in those leaving allowed grudge approved places church due to vs Mattai met- conflict & seek ropolitan judgment from outsiders 25 Reaffirmation of Prohibition of prohibition of meat consumption second marriages on Fridays, and of wine during Fast 26 Bishops cannot ordain outside own region.

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NOTES the Christian patriarch. Cf. Michael Philip Penn, “John and the Emir: A New Introduction, 1 Weber, Maximilian, The Theory of Social Edition and Translation” Le Muséon 121.1-2 (2008) 65-91. and Economic Organization. Chapter: “The 16 Nature of Charismatic Authority and its Rou- The body of this letter is in, Joseph tinization,” translated by A. R. Anderson & Mounayer, Les Synodes Syriens Jacobites, 18- Talcott Parsons (: Oxford University 22. 17 Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 120. Press, 1947). Originally published in 1922 in 18 German under the title Wirtschaft und Gesell- Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 115. 19 Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 121. schaft, chapter III, §10. 20 2 Cf. http://www.fscire.it/en/work-progress/ W.H.C. Frend, The Rise of the Monophy- cogdmansi/. site Movement: chapters in the history of the 3 The Great Councils of the Orthodox church in the fifth and sixth centuries (Cam- Churches: Decisions and Synodika from Con- bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), stantinople 861 to 2016, ed. A. Melloni 345-348; Michael Rabo (the Great), Chronique (Corpus Christianorum Conciliorum Oecumen- de Michel le Syrien, patriarche jacobite icorum Generaliumque Decreta [CCCOGD 4]; d’Antioche 1166-1199, vol. II (French), ed. J.- Turnhout, : Brepols, 2016). B. Chabot (Paris, 1899-1910), 412-413, vol. IV 4 (Syriac) 410. http://www.fscire.it/en/work-progress/ syr- 21 iac-christianity/ F. Nau, Martyrologe et ménologes sy- 5 riaques, PO 46 (10.1) (1912), 35 & 47. A. Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West 22 Syrian Tradition, I: Textus (CSCO 367/Syri La Chronographie d’Élie Bar-Šinaya, Me- 161; Louvain, 1975); Versio (CSCO 368/Syri tropolitaine de Nisibe, trad. L.-J. Delaporte (Bi- 162; Louvain, 1975); II: Textus (CSCO) bliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études 181; 375/Syri 163; Louvain, 1976); Versio (CSCO Paris: Librairie Honore Champion, 1910) [29r] 79. 376/Syri 164; Louvain, 1976). 23 6 Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West Syrian Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 124. 24 Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 125. Tradition I: Textus, xii. 25 7 Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West Syrian Fiey, “Les Diocèses…,” 377. 26 Fiey, “Les Diocèses…,” 376. Tradition I: Versio, 2-4. 27 8 Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux,” 125. Cf. “Babai the Great,” R. A. Kitchen, in 28 The Orthodox Christian World, edited by Au- Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West Sy- gustine M. Casiday (Routledge, 2012), 237-243. rian Tradition II: text (CSCO 375/Syri 162: 9 Cf. “Assyrian Church of the East,” R. A. Louvain, 1975) 25-34; versio (CSCO 376/Syri Kitchen, in The Orthodox Christian World, 164; Louvain, 1976) 27-36. 29 edited by Augustine M. Casiday (Routledge, Witold Witakowski, “Dionysius of Tel 2012) 78-88. Maḥre” in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of 10 Michael the Great, Chronicle, Book 15, the Syriac Heritage, edit. Sebastian P. Brock, et chapter 4, 411-413. al., (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), 127- 11 Bar Ebroyo, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, 128. Cf. also, Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, III, col. 120. Chronicle, Part III, Witold Witakowski, transl. 12 A. Vööbus, Synodicon II, Versio 197-208. (Translated Texts for Historians 22; Liverpool: 13 Jean-Maurice Fiey, “Les Diocèses du Liverpool University Press, 1996), esp. xix- ‘Maphrianat’ Syrien 629-1860,” ParOr 5.2 xxiii. 30 (1974) 331-393, esp. 373-377. Cf. Arthur Vööbus, Syrische Kanones- 14 J.-M. Fiey, “Syriaques Occidentaux du sammlungen: Ein Beitrag zur Quellenkunde. 1: ‘Pays des Perses’: Réunion avec Antioch et Westsyrische Original-urkunden (CSCO 307, ‘Grand Metropolitat’ de Takrit en 628/629?” Subs. 35, 38. (Louvain, 1970) I, 1, A., 46f. 31 ParOr 17 (1992) 113-126. Anonymi auctoris Chronicon ad A.C. 15 John Sedrā also is the central character in 1234 pertinens, II, A. Abouna & J.M. Fiey, eds. a reputed contact between the Muslim emir and (CSCO 354; Louvain, 1974), 198-206.

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Trying to Fix What is Broken in a Broken Age Syrian Orthodox Synodical Canons (628-896) ______

32 Michael Rabo (the Great), Chronique de 39 Chron. Ad ann. 1234, II, p. 274. ܐ̈ ܘ Michel le Syrien, patriarche jacobite ܐܒ ܐܓ ܘܐܿ ܐ ܐܬܒܒ ̄̄ . d’Antioche 1166-1199, vol. I–IV, ed. J.-B. 40 Bar Ebroyo, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum Chabot (Paris, 1899-1910). III, col. 195, 197. 33 S. E. & J. S. Assemani, Bibliothecae 41 Chron. Eccl, III, col. 203. Apostolicae Vaticanae codicum manuscripto- 42 Ignatios Aphrem Barsoum, The Scattered rum catalogus, I:3. Complectens reliquos co- Pearls: The History of and dices Chaldaicos sive Syriacos (Paris, 1926 = Sciences, trans. Matti Moosa (Piscataway, New Rome, 1759), 328f; Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel- Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2003) 394-395. There is Mahre, Chronicle, Part III, Witakowski, esp. some debate regarding which Yoḥannān this xix-xxiii. The scholars were François Nau and patriarch is. Vööbus identifies him as Theodore Nöldeke. Yoḥannān III, while Barsoum lists him as 34 Chronicon Anonymum Pseudo- Yoḥannān IV. There was a Yoḥannān III of Dionysianum vulgo dictum, II, Robert Hespel, Qalliniqos who was a disputed counter- ed. (CSCO 507; Louvain, 1989); The Chronicle patriarch, ca. 760, and the Yoḥannān who fol- of Zuqnin, Parts III and IV: A.D. 488–775, lowed was sometimes identified as III, some- transl. Amir Harrak (Mediaeval Sources in times IV, and subsequent Yoḥannāns are also Translation 36; Toronto: Pontifical Institute of assigned a double designation. Mediaeval Studies, 1999). 43 35 Witold Witakowski, “Quryaqos” in Gor- Chronicon ad ann. 1234, II, 276. gias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac 44 Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West Syri- Heritage, 347-348. Cf. Mikael Oez, Cyriacus of an Tradition, vol. II (versio), 54n2. Tagrit and His Book on Divine Providence 45 Chronicon ad ann. 1234, 276. (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2012). 46 Ignatios Aphrem Barsoum, The Scattered 36 ܐ ܐ. This formula was perceived Pearls: The History of Syriac Literature and as a ‘nestorianizing’ innovation. Cf. J.-M. Sau- Sciences, trans. Matti Moosa (Piscataway, New get, “Vestiges d’une célébration Gréco-syriaque Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2003) 395. de l’Anaphore de Saint Jacques,” in After Chal- 47 Chronicle ad ann. 1234, II, 276. cedon: Studies in Theology and Church History 48 Cf. Vööbus, The Synodicon in the West Offered to Professor Albert Van Roey for His Syrian Tradition, II, 61f6, 62f13, 63f17. Joseph Seventieth Birthday, edit. Laga, Carl, Munitiz, Mounayer, Les Synodes Syriens Jacobites Joseph A. & van Rompay, Lucas (Orientalia (Beyrouth, 1963) 76-77, follows Bar Ebroyo’s Lovaniensia Analecta 18; Leuven: Peeters, dating and location – April 897 when after 1985), 309-345, esp. 335-344. “To break the death of Patriarch Theodore in 896, the election ‘heavenly bread’ already consecrated and conse- was conducted at Bēt Bātin of Ḥarrān; Diony- quently having become the , in sius’ consecration at Achit, a village in the re- the name of the Father, of the Son and of the gion of Sarug, and then the Synod at Mar Šīlā. , is equivalent to dividing, to doubling 49 the person of Christ, since one recognizes that The Anonymous Sayings of the Desert the ‘heavenly bread’ is virtually another Son, Fathers: A Select Edition and Complete Eng- different from the Second Person of the Holy lish Translation, edit./transl. John Wortley ,” 337. Cf. , Exposi- (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, tio Liturgiae, edit./transl. Hieronymus Labourt, 2013), no. 111 and 244 (pp. 79 & 169). Also, CSCO Syri 13-14 (Louvain, 1903) Syriac, vol. The Book of the Elders. Sayings of the Desert 13, Chapter XVI, lines 8-17; and Chronique de Fathers: The Systematic Collection, ed- Michel le Syrien, edit./transl. J.-B. Chabot, vol. it./transl. John Wortley (Trappist, Kentucky & III (Paris, 1905), Chapter II, 5-8. Collegeville, Minnesota: Cistercian Publica- 37 Witakowski, “Dionysius of Tel Maḥre,” tions & The Liturgical Press, 2012) no. 173 (p. 127. 184). 38 Witakowski, “Dionysius of Tel Maḥre,” 50 Mounayer, Les Synodes Syrien Jacobites, 127-128. 10-11.

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THE SYNODS AND CANONS IN THE SYRIAN (SYRIAC) ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM: AN OVERVIEW

KHALID DINNO

CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

nearly four centuries under the Ottoman 1. INTRODUCTION rule, which effectively ended shortly after WWI. The third period covers the remain- he development and the imple- ing decades of the twentieth century. mentation of canon law is closely The main sources for considering can- T linked to prevailing social condi- on law development in the first period are tions. The position of the Oriental comparatively rich compared with those Christians in society, which had been un- for the second period. These sources in- stable particularly over the last two centu- clude: the chronicle of Michael the Great ries of the first millennium, worsened dur- (), Patriarch (1161 to ing the first half of the second millenni- 1199); the chronicle of the Anonymous um. The impact of these developments on Edessan, (known as Anonymous 1234), the social conditions and, in consequence, and ’ chronicles and other on canon law development calls for a publications, in particular his Book of brief consideration of the historical devel- Guides (Hudoye) or Nomocanon. After opments in the region, particularly as they Bar Hebraeus (d. 1286), the sources for affected the fate of the Syrian Orthodox the succeeding centuries became extreme- and other Christians. ly scarce as the entire region was mired in For the purpose of this review the sec- wars and destruction. The sources for the ond millennium is divided into three peri- Ottoman period are based largely on the ods. In the region where the Syrian Ortho- information from the manuscripts that dox communities lived, the first period Aphram Barsoum collected before WWI. covers the five centuries that preceded the As a young monk at the monastery of Mor Ottoman era in that region beginning in Ḥanania (monastery of al-Za‛faran / Saf- 1516 following the victory of Sultan Salim fron) from 1905, Barsoum made it his I over the Safavids at the battle of Chal- mission to search for and to document the diran in 1514. This victory resulted in the Syriac heritage that had been left unat- inclusion of eastern and most of tended in the churches and the monaster- the Arab lands within the ies of Tur-Abdin and of surrounding re- in 1516. The second period covers the gions. With the - and de- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 21

The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______struction that befell that region during en of its monks to Constantinople, where WWI, Barsoum’s search proved to be they were martyred. The next patriarch, very timely and particularly important. Yuhanon Bar-Abdoun (1004-1033) was Many of these findings became known arrested with a number of his clergy and through several publications that appeared sent to Constantinople. From there, he was in the ensuing years.1 exiled to a mountain monastery in Bulgaria where he died. The next Patriarch, Diony- 1. THE FIRST PERIOD: sius IV Yahya (1034-1044), based on FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE complaints from the local Chalcedonians, SECOND MILLENNIUM UNTIL was to be arrested by a warrant that was THE START OF THE OTTOMAN issued in Constantinople. However, to pro- RULE IN 1516 tect him from Byzantine abuse, his com- munity was able to smuggle him to Amid

for protection that was provided by the 2.1 Historical Background: Living Under Muslims.3 This is a sample of the kind of Byzantines, Crusaders, Turks and Mongols difficulties that were encountered in that At the turn of the eleventh century, the period in order to merely have a safe patri- Syrian Orthodox were thinly spread out archal administrative seat. over large regions in Syria, northern Iraq, In the meantime, a major change was but mainly in Asia Minor in an area that underway in the Abbasid region with the extended from Tur-Abdin in the southeast, arrival of the Turkic Saljuqs from the to Miapharqin and Hattakh, located close East, a change that affected demographic to the northern ends of the Euphrates and makeup and the power structure in the the rivers, and to Melitene and the region. The Saljuqs formed their own sul- surrounding region to the west and south tanate in . While still ostensibly towards Antioch, as well sporadically in operating under the , the .2 In particular, the Saljuqs took control of major parts of many lived in the Melitene region, where Iraq, Syria and . Their victory they had several monasteries including the over the Byzantines in the historic battle historically famous monastery of Mor Bar- of Manzikart (located near Lake Van in sawmo, which was often a patriarchal seat eastern Asia Minor) in 1071 brought Asia until the end of the twelfth century, that is Minor under their rule, as another sultan- after the death of Michael the Great in ate, the Rum Sultanate, so that by 1092 1199. they had occupied a significant part of At the turn of the eleventh century most Asia Minor. of the region referenced above was under One of the Turkic dynasties that ruled Abbasid rule, except for the region around under the banner of the main Saljuq dynas- and to the west of Melitene, which was ty was the Zangi Atabegs. The Zangis still under Byzantine rule. The patriarchal ruled over northern , the tra- seat was not at any one fixed location, alt- ditional homeland of many Syriac Chris- hough always in a monastery. Avoiding tians. Their rule coincided with the cam- Byzantine harassment was one of the de- paign and invasion by the Crusaders start- ciding factors in the choice of that seat. We ing in 1096. The ensuing battle for are informed that during the reign of Patri- and the victory of the Zangis spelled disas- arch Athanasius IV (986-1002) the Chal- ter for the Christians in that region and cedonians took over the Syrian Orthodox elsewhere who, until these events, were Church in Melitene, arrested and sent sev- looked upon as a “tolerated minority” but ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 22

The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______who now became the subject of enmity and A further example of revenge against revenge because of the actions of their co- local Christians was after the re-taking of religionists, the Crusaders. We are informed Jerusalem from the Crusaders by Salah al- that 30000 of Edessa’s Christian inhabitants Din al-Ayyubi () in 1187. The au- were killed and 16000 were taken captive. thor of the Anonymous Edessan‘s Chroni- Michael the Great describes the destruction cle 1234, a monk in the Syrian Orthodox of Edessa at the hands of the Zangis in 1146 Church was himself witness to this.5 in a manner akin to that of the prophet Jer- The Middle Eastern Christians were al- emiah in his Lamentation.4 so harassed by the Crusaders who had a monochromatic view of Christianity. The What tongue could speak, and what ransacking of the monastery of Mor Bar- finger would not tremble if it tried to sawmo by Prince Jocelyn in 1148 demon- relate the calamity which befell Edessa strated this.6 The arrival of the Mongols, on the third hour of the Sabbath, 3 of December. The Turks with rattling marked by their invasion of Baghdad in swords and lances entered the city to 1258 and their subsequent spread through- drink the blood of old men and chil- out most of Syria, created further chaos in dren, of women and men, of priests and the region. Their subsequent adoption of deacons, of monks and anchorites, of Islam as their official religion in 1294 re- nuns and virgins, of children of tender sulted in further persecution of the Chris- years, and of bridegrooms and brides. tians throughout the region. The invasion They slaughtered old men, children, by Tamerlane, who ransacked the region men and women, suckling babes, between 1392 and 1402, added to the mis- priests, deacons and monks, brides and ery of its people. Many towns with large bridegrooms. The Assyrian pig has gained control and crushed with the Christian populations such as Arbil, Mo- foot the delicious grapes. What a pain- sul, Edessa, and Tur-Abdin were ful story! The city of Abgar, the friend devastated. One of the accounts that con- of Christ, was trodden because of our vey the sense of devastation and misery sins. The priests were killed and the that befell the region and its Christian in- deacons slaughtered, the servants (sub- habitants, is that by priest Addai of Basi- deacons) mangled, the churches looted brina, written around 1500, and was ap- and the altars destroyed. What a calam- pended to Bar Hebraeus’ Ecclesiastic His- ity! Fathers deserted their own children tory. The following is a brief extract from and mothers lost compassion for their this text: children. The sword continued to kill. Some fled to the mountain, while oth- The Persian Mongolian Huns attacked ers gathered their children like a hen the country of Diarbakr. When Timur and her chicks, waiting to die or be tak- (Tamerlane) reached the region of en captive. Some older priests carried Baՙarbaya (the Arab district of Rabiՙa) with them coffins containing relics of the lord of Hisn Kifa, al-Malik al-Adil saints and martyrs. When they saw this Sulayman, received him with great affliction, they repeated the word of the honour. Tamerlane returned to Mosul Prophet (Micah 7:9): "I will bear the but his older son, Amir Shah, marched indignation of the Lord, because I have against Amid and the Tur-Abdin plun- sinned against him." They did not es- dering, killing and devastating. …. In cape but kept praying until they were the Monastery of Mar Gabriel (of silenced by the sword. Their bodies Qartmin) he had three hundred souls, were found later, stained with their own thirty-two monks and their metropoli- blood while their hands clung to the tan Yuhanna strangled. He then coffins of relics of saints. marched against a small village in ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 23

The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

Tur-Abdin called Bet-Ishaq, whose The fact that the dioceses were thinly citizens had found refuge in its citadel. spread out over large geographic areas that (…) the perpetrators attacked the in- fell under largely warring entities made habitants like blood thirsty wolves and communication and the enforcement of killed the men and took the women 7 discipline exceedingly difficult. At the and children captive. same time the patriarch had no civil au- Following Tamerlane, his vassals: the thority that would help him enforce church (the Black Sheep), who were laws among his senior clergy. Disobedi- Oghuz Turk Shia Muslims, ruled from 1411 ence by senior clergy, violation of ecclesi- to 1468. They were followed by the Aq astic boundaries, and cases of corruption Qoyunlu (the White Sheep), who were became recurring problems with which Oghus Turk Sunni Muslims who ruled the many patriarchs had to deal. Many local region until 1508. The Persians then invad- bishops used their association with local ed the region briefly but were defeated at Muslim leaders to challenge patriarchal Chaldiran in 1514, a defeat that paved the orders. Even prominent patriarchs such as way for the Ottoman occupation of the en- Michael the Great had considerable diffi- tire region, by sultan Salim I in 1516. culty in maintaining authority over some A glimpse at the Christian communities bishops such as Bar-Wahboun of Melitene. in that period is offered in a colophon, in Further, the political and social disrup- Syriac, in one of the manuscripts from tions throughout the region had the effect Amid and Mardin discovered by Barsoum of sowing the seeds of division at the ec- during his search for material relating to clesiastic and community levels. At one Syriac heritage just before WWI: point the ensuing divisions within the ec- This book on baptism, blessing of the clesiastic body of the church led to the weddings and funerals has been com- formation of two additional patriarchates: pleted in 1451 by me the weak, the one of Mardin and one of Tur-Abdin, in undeserving of the mercies of God, addition to the main patriarchate of Anti- Metropolitan of Baqrothfort and och. The patriarchate of Mardin was start- Karkar and the lands to the North. I ed in 1293 by Bar-Wahib of Mardin. This ask whoever finds this book to pray patriarchate was re-united with the mother for my weakness. This was in the days patriarchate of Antioch in 1445 through the of Mor Ignatius the Antiochian Patri- arch, the saint, Behnam (Al-Hadli efforts of Patriarch Behnam al-Hadli. The 1445-1454), and in response to the re- split involving the patriarchate of Tur- quest of the priest Augin al- Abdin, which started in 1364, lasted much Farthaforth al-Bartilli. When I scribed longer, until it was finally ended in 1839, this book in Baqrofroth, the people of as will be noted later. Qarthaforth were in a dire state be- 2.3 Synods and Canon Laws in this Period cause of the invasion of their lands by the cursed Turks and the entry of near- During this troubled period, synods were ly 30000 of them who destroyed all seldom held. We are, however, informed villages, leaving nothing behind.8 of the following patriarchs who called synods where canon laws were reviewed 2.2 Resulting Effect on the Church or enacted: Because of all these circumstances and a. Patriarch Yuhanon Bar-Shushan events, the Church as a whole was engaged (1063-1073) – twenty-four canons in 1063.9 in a permanent quest for the survival of its b. Patriarch Athanasius VII (1138- people, its churches, and its monasteries. 1166) in a synod in the monastery of Mor ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 24

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Barsawmo in 1155 where forty canons lands, 21) liens, 22) the finding of lost were enacted that aimed at church reform, things; 23) the finding of lost children, 24) but which were largely ignored in the cha- liberation of slaves, 25) larceny, 26) felo- otic atmosphere that engulfed the Church nies, 27) the slaughtering of game, 28) in that period. Bar Hebraeus noted that the oaths, 29) vows, 30) litigation and legal patriarch and the Western bishops ignored power, 31) testimony and witnesses, and these canons, and continued to sell the 32) the case without exception. priesthood for money as they had done In an introductory note Bar Hebraeus before, like the Armenians.10 informs the reader that regarding the eccle- c. Patriarch Michael the Great (1166- siastical canons, he, in addition to follow- 1199) when twenty-nine canons were en- ing the canons of the Apostles, the Teach- acted in the monastery of Mor Hanania ings of Addai and the Decrees of the Ecu- (also known as the Zaՙfaran monastery). menical Synods, borrowed suitable clauses However, these laws were lost.11 from sources which are not accepted by the d. Patriarch Yuhanon XIII (1252- Church, namely, the twenty-five canons 1263) in which 7 canons were enacted.12 laid down by the Arians in Antioch, the twenty canons established by the Macedo- 2.4 Bar Hebraeus and Ktobo d-Hudoye13 nians in the city of Gangra and the twenty- (Nomocanon or Book of Guides) seven canons promulgated by Leon and his followers at Chalcedon.15 His inclusion of Bar Hebraeus wrote Nomocanon-Hudoye this material is indicative of his broad- as a collection of canon law and a digest of minded and ecumenical vision. The fol- past Syrian Orthodox Church canons. lowing is a brief list of Bar Hebraeus’ However, he augmented this collection sources regarding the first two sections of with rules and canons he selected from the ecclesiastical canons: other schools of thought. He made a dis- tinction between the two groups by label- On the Church and its Administration: ling the second as Hudoye (or Guides).14 Hudoye considers seven sections as fol- The book is comprised of forty chapters of lows: which the first eight are ecclesiastic canons Section One: on the expulsion of illegal and the remaining 32 are about laws which assemblies; deal with secular issues. Section Two: on the properties and the The ecclesiastic canons in ktobo d- income of the Church; Hudoye bring into practice church beliefs Section Three: Regarding the first concerning: 1) Church and its administra- fruits, gifts and alms; tion, 2) Baptism, 3) Holy , 4) the Section Four: Regarding the stewards; Eucharist, 5) and feasts, 6) funerals, Section Five: The utensils of the altar; 7) office of priesthood, and 8) marriage. Section Six: The decrees regarding the The secular laws cover: 1) wills, 2) in- consecrated altars; and heritance, 3)selling and buying, 4) credit, Section Seven: The consecration of the 5) mortgage, 6) damages, 6) reconciliation, altar and the Church. 7) transmission of money, 8) inheritance, Each of these sections is expanded to 9) bail, 10) partnership, 11) power of at- provide the source and the text upon which torney, 12) admission, 13) deposit materi- it relied. For Section One reference is als, 14) loaning of objects, 15) gifts, 16) made to the general canons of the Apos- religious bequests, 17) pre-emption, 18) tles,16 of Paul17of Antioch,18 and of Gan- loans, 19) sharecropping, 20) desolate gra.19 For Section Two reference is made

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______to the canons of the Apostles, of Antioch, and Chalcedon. It also included the works of Chalcedon, of Patriarch Cyriacus, and of Clement, Dionysius of Athena, Cyprian, so on. Dionysius of Alexandria, Eustathius, Ath- On Baptism: Hugoye considers five sec- anasius, Basil, Theologos, Evagrius of tions as follows: Constantinople, Rabbula, Cyril of Alexan- Section One: on rightful and false bap- dria, Timothy, Philoxen of Mabbug, John tisms; of Tella, , a letter of Section Two: regarding spurious bap- certain bishops to the abbots of two mon- tisms; asteries in , Theodosius of Alexan- Section Three: why there should be dria, Quryaqos of Amid, miron for baptism, and regarding the water (from whom he adopted forty-two canons), for baptism; Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch Section Four: on the time for baptism; George I, Quryaqos, Dionysius I, John IV, and Ignatius II, Michael I, and decrees of Byz- Section Five: On the celebration of bap- antine emperors , as well as unknown tism. sources in addition to his own ideas.21 Again, each section quotes from and relies on multiple sources, which are large- 1.5 After Bar Hebraeus ly referenced in Arthur Vööbus’ West Syr- Considering the turmoil through which the ian Synodicon I. entire region lived following Bar Hebrae- With the extensive coverage of church us’ time, it is not surprising that there was issues and its reference to multiple sources little addition to canon law in the remain- in the consideration of each issue, Hudoye ing 330 years of this first period, except for has stood as a rich source for understand- ten clauses that were enacted by Ignatius ing the background and the thinking be- Bar-Wahib Patriarch of Mardin in 1304, church canons their evolution over which, according to Barsoum, were of mi- past centuries. nor importance.22 As for the secular laws, Bar Hebraeus informs the reader that he adapted many laws of the Greek kings as well as material 3.0 THE SECOND PERIOD: from sources that he considered to be in THE OTTOMAN ERA accord with the spirit of justice. 3.1 Under the Ottoman Umbrella According to Barsoum, the Hudoye also included the lost canons of George of the Under the Ottomans, the Christians and the Arabs (d. 725) as well as those by Michael Jews lived under the umbrella of the Otto- the Great, as well as canons from the Syn- man millet system. Two millets were rec- od of Kafartut held by Patriarch Joseph IV ognized for the Christians (the Greek in 869 to regulate the relations between the (Rum) millet and the Armenian millet), and and the Mapherianate of the one for the Jews. When eastern Anatolia East and to which he added some clauses and the Arab lands came under the Otto- of his own composition.20 Barsoum notes man rule in 1516, the Chalcedonian Chris- that Barhebraesus’ 147 chapters draw on tians came under the jurisdiction of the sources of canons ascribed to the apostles, Rum millet and all others, including the reproduced in the eight books of Clement, Syrian Orthodox, came under the Armeni- the Doctrine of Addai, the Councils of An- an millet. Irrespective of affiliation, the cyra, New Caesarea, Nicea, Antioch, Gan- millet system offered the Christians auton- gara, Laodicea, Constantinople, Seleucia, omy in dealing with their own internal af- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 26

The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______fairs. Further, with the appointment of the whole. The 1856 reforms in particular in- patriarch having to be ratified by the Sul- cluded provisions for the democratic repre- tan, the kind of disarray that had existed in sentation of people in the internal affairs of the previous centuries, with divisions and their millet. These reforms saw early adop- challenges to authority, came, to a large tion by the Greek and Armenian millets, degree, to an end.23 In this new environ- which were ready for such reforms because ment of marked stability, patriarchal au- of their close proximity to Europe where thority was largely maintained, with the major trends toward such reforms had been patriarch being looked upon with great underway for more than a century. For the respect and reverence.24 The monastery of Christian communities living at the outer, al Za‛faran was generally recognized as the and largely neglected, eastern edge of the official seat of the patriarch.25 It may be Ottoman Empire, progress was much noted that the ratification of the patriarchal slower. For the Syrian Orthodox the result- appointment by the highest authority in the ing reforms finally came in the form of the land existed even during the troublesome 1914 Nizamname, see later. period that preceded the Ottoman rule; we are informed that the appointment of 3.2 Bond within the Church Survives Behnam al-Hadli in 1445 received the Despite the lack of formal democratic rep- formal approval of the Persian Shah.26 resentation within the Church during the Three important events that occurred in nineteenth century, there was a strong this period deserve specific mention: common bond among the communities a. The ending of the separation of the which helped them face the challenges Patriarchate of Tur-Abdin in 1839 from the around them. This bond grew out of the main church (the Patriarchate of Antioch), respect and reverence in which the patri- a separation that had started 475 years ear- arch was held. This provided stability with lier in 1364. Efforts had been underway respect to the position of the church as an over the centuries to end this separation, institution and with the patriarch as its of- the latest of which was by the Encyclical ficially recognized leader. Clear evidence by Patriarch Jirjis V (1819-1836) on May of this has been demonstrated in the thou- 29, 1821. sands of letters that were brought into fo- b. The ending the position of cus recently.27 The letters were from Maphrianate by a synod that was convened groups as well as from individuals, many by Patriarch Jacob II in 1860, a position of whom sought the help of the Patriarch in that was first held by Marutha of in resolving community as well as personal 628. It may be noted that this position was issues (one wrote to the patriarch from a revived by a Synod held by Patriarch Ja- prison). These letters provide a clear cob III in 1964 and was awarded, with the demonstration of the bond and direct inter- title Basilius, to the highest-ranking met- action between ordinary individuals and ropolitan in the Syrian Orthodox Church their patriarch whom they, at the same in India. time, viewed with great reverence c. At the broader level, the nineteenth 3.3 Canons in this Period century saw a significant development in 3.3.1 General the Ottoman social scene. The Reforms of the Edict of Gulhane in 1839 1. Patriarch Abdullah I (1521-1557) and the Hatt-i-Humayun of 1856 led to- held a synod in in 1523 in which wards democratization of society as a two canons were issued in Arabic that ad-

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______dressed unacceptable matrimonial practic- 3.3.2 In India es that had developed in that region of Syr- In the course of his two-year visit to India ia. Further, in order to restore ecclesiastic starting in 1875, Patriarch Peter III/IV34 integrity, it was also decided in that synod worked hard to introduce ecclesiastical that two clergy were to serve simultane- reform into a church that had suffered ne- ously in a particular church in order to en- glect and division for such a long time. sure better observance of canon law.28 With his strong personality and his lifelong 2. Ignatius Buṭrus Daoud Shah (1576- experience in dealing with church and 1591) held a synod at the Hanging Mon- community problems, he was able to bring astery in Hattakh29 in 1579, where matri- considerable order into church practices monial laws were reviewed and modi- and administration. One of the first tasks fied.30 he undertook was to confirm the excom- munication of the controversial Matthew 3. Patriarch Shukr-Allah (1723-1745) (Athanasius) whose deceitful inauguration convened a synod in Amid in 1724 to re- in the first place was what had precipitated affirm the document of faith.31 The docu- the nearly four decades of division within ment contains a manifesto of the the Indian church. Through relentless zeal which Shukr-Allah had written in 1716, and determination, Patriarch Peter fought while still a bishop, to explain the veracity for the historical right of the Patriarchate of the faith of the Syrian Orthodox and was able by March 1876 to in response to a request from a number of convince the Maharajah to issue a decree Syrian elites in Jerusalem. This manifesto abrogating the previous decrees that had had been endorsed by the previous patri- been issued to Athanasius Matthew, arch Ishaq upon his visit to in through which he practiced his disobedi- 1718.32 ence.35 4. Patriarch Jirjis IV (1768-1781). This One of the landmarks of Patriarch Pe- patriarch was elected by a synod that was ter’s mission was convening a synod in convened at the monastery of al-Za‛faran Mulanthuruthi in 1876. This Synod enact- on August 17, 1768. We are told that in ed a number of reform edicts that aimed to 1769 he convened a synod that was at- regulate the working of the church and its tended by ten metropolitans and bishops local councils. One of the edicts was for to discuss church affairs.33 This patriarch the re-organization of the communities into and those who succeeded him well into seven dioceses, each headed by a bishop the nineteenth century were not engaged who was to be ordained by the Patriarch. in canon law review and development but Another reform was the establishment of rather in addressing the emerging major two councils: a consultative council com- problem of conversion to Catholicism. prised of 130 ecclesiasts and lay members; Patriarch Jirjis’s encounters with Metro- the other an executive council headed by politan Mikhail Jarwa, who was the Syri- an with a membership of twen- an Orthodox bishop of Aleppo at that ty-four, one third of whom were to be ec- time, fall into this category and merit a clesiasts. The members of the executive separate discussion which is outside the council were to be elected by the consulta- scope of our discussion on canon law. The tive council. The underlying reason for this synod which Patriarch Matta of Mardin broad representation was stated to be as (1782-1817) held in Tur-Abdin in 1782 follows: “The church had in the past en- falls into this category. dured bitter results of division when no

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______challenge could be mounted against the duties. Copies of the first and last pages of absolute authority of the Metropolitan. For the manuscript, with the last page showing this reason, executive and consultative the names and signatures of the partici- councils have been formed”.36 pants, are attached (figs 1-2). The various articles of the Nizamname deal with the following issues:41 4 THE THIRD PERIOD: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 1. The office of the patriarchate, Arti- cles 1-9. 4.1 Before WWI: The Nizamname - Milla 2. The obligation of the patriarchate, Constitution Articles 10-15. The main progress in the application of the 3. The election of the patriarch, and on millet regulations in the Syrian Orthodox the status of the bishop of Jerusalem, Arti- Church was the development of the much- cles 16-22. awaited regulations for the internal gov- 4. The office of the , bish- ernance of the Church and its community. ops, chorescopi, priests and monks, Arti- The Milla Constitution (Nizamname was cles 23-41. finally drafted in 1914 by a milla board 5. The ‘mixed’ Patriarchal Council, that was particularly set up for the purpose. called majlis mukhṭalaț, a legislative body Six ecclesiasts and six lay dignitaries that consists of clergy and lay persons, Ar- formed the board.37 The drafting board ticles 42-50. completed its work, the milla Constitution 6. The General Assembly called majlis (Batriarkana Nizamname ‘Mumi -1330),38 ‘Umūmī, Articles 51-55. on March 18, 1914 and sent a draft to the 7, 8. A number of organizational and Patriarch for approval. This approval was financial issues, Articles 56-64. 39 reported in Al-Hikmat. The accepted draft Some of the main issues addressed by was sent to the Porte for final approval and the Nizamname are: enactment. With the Porte being engaged • in the upcoming war, it is unclear whether Promoting the religious education at the Nizamname was enacted. However, the Syrian Orphanage in and on the this became a moot point, as the events on opening of Sunday Schools in every Syrian the ground in the years that followed pre- church to teach the young religious princi- vented a meaningful application of the ples and church choral, (Articles 1 and 2). document for many years. This notwith- • The permission to use an organ dur- standing, upon his election, Patriarch Elias ing Holy Liturgy, (Article 7). III signed a memo that was attached to the • A resolution to permit young women Nizamname document, undertaking to fol- to participate in the chanting of hymns in low its provisions.40 the church, outside the Altar, (Article 8). The Nizamname, which was dated 18 • Every written or translated religious Mart 1330 (March 31, 1914) consists of book or tract in print for the Church should eight chapters, each called fașl, which in be submitted to the Patriarch turn consists of sixty-four articles, each and his religious office for examination termed maddah that stressed the democrat- and approval, (Article 9). ic representation of the milla in decision • The correspondence between mem- making at the level of the individual dio- bers of the clergy should be in Syriac or in cese, as well as regulating the appointment its script in order to preserve this precious of bishops and clergy and defining their (linguistic) heritage, (Article 10).

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

• The formation of a spiritual commit- the Ottomans and the Persians were not.42 tee to scrutinize the canon of monasticism, The publication of this article indicates (Article 13). awareness, at least among the educated • Concerning the church calendar, the layer of society, at that time that the mere Synod resolved to keep the Eastern calen- enactment of law is insufficient to bring dar as it is in all the Eastern countries. fruitful results. However, and for utmost necessity, it per- In this period, too, Patriarch Abdullah mits the Syrian churches in the two Ameri- II enacted thirty-nine canons at the Syn- cas to follow the local calendar of specific od of Aluva (Alwaye) in Malabar in Au- festivals provided that Easter should be gust 1911.43 In this trip Patriarch Abdul- observed according to the Eastern calendar lah II added another diocese to the seven in accordance with the decisions of Nicaea, that Patriarch Peter had decreed in 1876. (Article 21). The new diocese carried the name the 44 • The Patriarchal See to delegate at Diocese of the Kan‘anites. The different times an apostolic representative Kan‘anites have always prided them- with the rank of bishop to the two Ameri- selves with being among the pioneering cas to inspect the conditions of the Syrian Syriac communities that settled in India. people living there, (Article 22). This goes back to the fourth century • The Synod resolved that negotia- when a Syriac community of 400 Ra- tions be initiated with the Metropolitan of hawi’s (from Urhoi, Edessa) immigrated Malabar who is under the jurisdiction of to Malabar, headed by a bishop and by a the Apostolic See of Antioch, in order to merchant named Thomas the Kan‘anite, promote settlement of the present contro- who claimed ancestry from Jerusalem. versy by inviting both sides to a general This community claimed not to have in- council to be held in Syria or Palestine fol- termarried with the local population but lowing next Easter in order to reach a final that, despite that, its population increased 45 settlement with the Malabarians, (Article markedly over the centuries. 25). 4.2 After WWI An interesting article appeared in the July 1914 issue of Al-Hikmat in the context The onset of WWI made the implementa- of providing a progress report on issuing tion of the Nizamname largely irrelevant in the much awaited Nizamname. The article that devastating period. However, the spirit indicates that there was a clear awareness with which it was initiated became alive that the mere enactment of a law does not again after the War. Following the partial by itself yield reform; that the spirit of re-settlement of the Sayfo-genocide refu- change must be mobilized to effect the de- gees in Greater Syria and Iraq, efforts to sired change. To demonstrate this point, enact church canon law were renewed. the article draws a stark comparison be- Several versions of canon law were formu- tween the French and the Japanese revolu- lated in the short period from 1927 to No- tions, on the one hand, and the Ottoman vember of 1933. One of these was the ver- and the Persian ones on the other. It draws sion proposed by Aphram Barsoum in attention to the difference in degrees of 1927 when he was Bishop of Syria and success between these contrasting exam- .46 Many of the provisions of that ples, clarifying that while the French and version became part of the landmark canon the Japanese were ready to exploit the op- law approved by the Synod of the monas- portunities presented by their revolutions, tery of Mor Mattai (near Mosul) of 1930.

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

4.2.1 The Synod of the Monastery of Mor ) was likely a first-time deci- Mattai - 1930 sion. Review of these articles points to the The monastery of Mor Mattai Synod, degree of awareness for the need to move which was convened over the period from forward that had been building up within October 11 to 25, 1930 Julian (October 24 the Church and its communities over the to November 7, 1930 Gregorian), passed short period following WWI and its tragic 30 canon resolutions that addressed vari- outcome. This was part of the campaign ous facets of church activities and clergy that was led by few inspired key reformers duties. It also enacted a general parish (lay) to expel the lethargy inherited over the council law of 32 clauses to regulate the centuries and to rebuild church and com- shared responsibilities between parish munity following the Sayfo-genocide. bishops and the elected representatives of the community. In addition to bishops, the 4.2.2 Ḥoms Synod Constitution of 1933, Mor Mattai Synod was attended by lay and its Modifications of 1946 and 1957 dignitaries including representatives from the dioceses of Mosul, Mor Mattai, Syria, The active pursuit of canon law develop- Aleppo, Jerusalem, and America. ment from 1927 to 1933 was symptomatic Some of the Synod resolutions of par- of the spirit of change for something better ticular interest are the following:47 that commenced before WWI and was the • The need to coordinate between the hallmark of subsequent periods. The 1933 liturgies adopted by various regions that Synod saw an expansion of the provisions had seen significant divergence over the of the monastery of Mor Mattai Synod decades and centuries. A committee was Constitution with considerable increase in formed for this arduous task that was com- scope and detail to comprise 144 canons.48 prised of Aphram Barsoum, Yuhanna Do- The canons of this synod acquired some- labani and Ni‘matallah Denno (Article 4). thing of a constitutional importance for the • Recognition of the need to work on rest of the twentieth century and beyond the documenting the words and music of with very limited subsequent modifications the Bet-gazo (the traditional melodies of in synods that were held in Ḥoms 1946 and the various historical schools of Edessa, in 1957.49 Mardin and Tikrit (Tigrit) (Article 5). • A decision to print various liturgical 4.2.3 Maՙarrat Ṣayyidnaya Synod Constitu- books and to perform careful translation of tion of 1998 their contents into Arabic (Article 6). The last issue of canon law in the twentieth • Emphasis on the teaching of the Syr- century, which was comprised of 158 arti- iac language in Church-run schools (Arti- cles, entitled “The Constitution of the Syr- cle 16). iac Orthodox Church of Antioch” was ap- • Various articles to modernize church proved by the Holy Synod that was held in prayers and to encourage lay participation September 22-26, 1998 at St. Ephraim in Church affairs. Seminary, Maՙarrat Ṣayyidnaya, Damas- The canons resulting from this synod cus. The underlying principles of the Con- feature a clear emphasis on preserving, not stitution are summarized in the Preface least through education, the Syriac charac- which states: teristics, language and contents, of the tra- ditional Church. Allocating a separate role “The Syrian/Syriac Orthodox Church for chanting by young ladies (later termed of Antioch” is the official name of our

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

sacred Church. It refers to “Antioch” tive authority of the Syrian Orthodox because of the that was es- Church of Antioch. tablished in that city by St. Peter, head of the Apostles, in 37 A.D. In Antioch 4.2.4 Synod of 2000 – The Unified of “the Disciples were first called Chris- the By-Laws tians” (Acts 11:26). Our Church con- firmed the apostolic Orthodox faith In addition to canon law, the Constitution and spread it all over the world. It specified the establishment of parish coun- used the language of our cils within each diocese with membership Lord, His Holy Mother, and His right- consisting of laity, under the presidency of eous apostles, in all its liturgies. This the metropolitan or bishop of the diocese. Church embraces a group of believers Parish councils or boards have been strong in our Lord, Jesus Christ, The God In- features of lay participation in the twenti- carnate, Savior of the world, and in His Father and His Holy Spirit, The eth century church, and by-laws regulating Holy Trinity, One God. An unshaken their functions were enacted and modified faith based upon the commandments over the years. The By-Laws enacted by of the , the teachings of the the monastery of Mor Mattai Synod in Apostles, the opinions and views of 1930 were subsequently updated to better their legitimate successors, and the serve community needs. The last version decisions of its Holy Synod as well. issued in the twentieth century was “The All of which represent the Sacramen- Unified By-Law of the Local Parish Coun- tal Body of Christ. Its spiritual affairs cils adopted at all Archdioceses of the Syr- are managed by its spiritual fathers iac Orthodox Church of Antioch”, which who were given authority by Jesus was decreed by the Holy Synod on March Christ in order to fulfill its evangelical 51 mission. By authority they guide and 31, 2000. The by-law embodied a century stress upon Christian teachings, justi- old tradition of a functioning civil partici- fications, consecration, preserving the pation in non-theological church matters, holy , and achievement of and communal activities working in close justice for all mankind.50 coordination with church leadership. This tradition in joint administration found par- The first three clauses of the General ticular relevance in the where this Statutes, which provide further definition is a common tradition. of the Church, state: Article 1. The SYRIAN/SYRIAC OR- 5. THE HISTORICAL SOURCES OF THODOX CHURCH OF ANTIOCH is CANON LAW: A REFLECTION One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic AND AN OVERVIEW Church, whose Apostolic See was estab- lished in Antioch (Syria) by , While interest here has been confined to Head of the Apostles, in the year 37 A.D. the Second Millennium, clearly sources of Its headquarters are in Damascus, Syria. canon law go back to early Church.52 Article 2. His Holiness (H.H.) the Patri- Aphram Barsoum left for us, unpublished arch is the Supreme Head of the Church and at the time but later published by Zakka its Holy Synod, the General Supervisor of Iwas, an extensive account of the historical all religious and administrative affairs. basis of the present-day Church canons Article 3. The Holy Synod, headed by taking into account all levels of jurisdic- H. H. the Patriarch, is the supreme reli- tion.53 This account enumerates the histori- gious, spiritual, legislative and administra- cal sources of these canons, starting with

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______the Old and New Testaments, the laws 6. Laws enacted by various councils enacted by the Ecumenical Councils of and synods at:54 Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus of a. Carthage in 254 – twenty-four laws, 431, acceptable laws from the otherwise b. Ancyra in 314 – twenty-four laws, rejected councils of Antioch of 341 and c. Neo-Caesarean in 315 – fifteen Chalcedon of 451; letters and homilies laws, from early church theologians and fathers d. Sardiqi in 343 – twenty-one laws, such as (the e. Ghankara in 364 – twenty laws, Apostolic), followed by laws from thirty- f. Latakia in 364 – fifty-nine laws, four synods from 786 to 1933, as well as g. Seleucia- in 410 – twenty- from encyclicals that were issued over the four laws, centuries. Together, this material defines h. Monastery of Mor Mattai in 628 - 3 the historical and theological scope of laws, current day canon law. Article 155 of this i. Kafar Nabbo in Sarug by Gewargi I treatise, in particular, provides an exten- in 786 – twenty-two laws,55 sive list of the sources of canon law in the j. Beth Batib in Sarug by Cyracus in Syriac Orthodox Church over the centu- 794 – forty-six laws, ries: Below is a translation of a summary k. by Cyriacus in 813 – twenty- that I have made: six laws, 1. The Holy , l. by Dionysius I in 818 – twen- 2. The teachings of the Twelve Apos- ty-six laws, tles, as well as those of Mor Addai, m. Monastery of Mor Shīla II by 3. Laws based on the proceedings of Yuhanna IV in 846 – twenty-five laws, the three Ecumenical Councils of: Nicaea n. Kafartoot by Mōr Yuhanna IV in (325) -20 laws, Constantinople (381)-3 869 - 8 laws, laws and Ephesus (341)-2 laws, o. Monastery of Mor Zakkai (Raqqa) 4. Laws accepted from otherwise re- by Ignatius II in 878 – twelve laws, jected Councils: Councils of: Antioch p. Monastery of Mor Šīla II by Diony- (341)-25 laws and Chalcedon (451)-27 sius II in 896 – twenty-five laws, laws, q. Monastery of Mor Ḥanania I in 1153 5. Epistles and homilies by early – forty laws, : (The r. Monastery of Mor Ḥanania III by Illuminator), Mar Peter of Alexandria, Ignatius V in 1303 – ten laws, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysos- s. Monastery of Mor Ḥannnia IV by tom, Gregorius of Nusia, Cyril of Alexan- Abdullah I in 1523, dria, Philoxen of Mabbug, Severus of An- t. Alwayi in Malabar, India, in 1911 – tioch, Timotheus I of Alexandria, Basil of thirty-nine laws, Caesarea, Rabbula bishop of Edessa, Ser- u. Monastery of Mor Mattai II in 1930 gius bishop of Harran, Jacob of Edessa (d. – 61 laws, 708, and who enacted 123 laws), Gorgeous v. Homs I by Aphram I Barsoum in Bishop of the Arabs (d. 725, who enacted 1932-1933 – 144 laws, and thirty-three laws), Yuhanon Bishop of w. Homs III by Aphram I Barsoum in Mardin who enacted thirty-one laws in 1946 with its canon law amendments. 1154, and Dionysius Bar-Ṣalibi (d. 1171) who enacted seventy laws, in addition to 7. Laws and Encyclicals by Individual several others. Patriarchs on particular issues:

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

The list of fourteen items deals mainly dioceses that were spread out over the with local issues, often but not always re- , upper and lower Mesopotamia, lated to marriage. The matters related to and as as Sigistan, shrank by the Second Millennium include: the aggressive war-torn environment in a. Encyclical by Jirjis V to Diyarbakir which it existed, to fewer than a dozen in June 1820 concerning ecclesiastic rights, dioceses in the nineteenth century. As b. Encyclical by Jirjis V to the church a result of this troubled history canon fathers in Tur-Abdin in May 29 1821, urg- law development beyond Bar Hebrae- ing unity with the Apostolic See, us’ time was reduced to very minor is- c. Encyclical by Jirjis V to the com- sues that directly and immediately af- munities of Homs and three nearby villag- fected peoples’ lives, which were es- es, and d. Laws that Patriarch Peter III/IV sentially related to matrimonial mat- formulated in Mulanthuruthi, India in 1876 ters. It was not until the very late nine- In the foregoing publication, Barsoum teenth and early twentieth century that augments his historical review of sources canon law received its share of revival with a philosophical review of powers and as part of the revival of this church priorities of enforcement, quoting from throughout the twentieth century. One sources such as Bar Hebraeus’s Ethicon of the main personalities of this revival, and Hudoye, Patriarch Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum, brought into focus the rich cultural her- 6. CONCLUSION itage of his church and the deep spir- This Church which in its heyday in the itual, historical and ecumenical founda- ninth and tenth centuries had over eighty tion of its canon laws.

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

NOTES Bar-Hebraeus, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, 174, 176. 1 Broadly speaking, the main sources for 7 Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum, The History this article include: of Tur-Abdin, Matti Moosa (trans.) (Pisca- • Works by Aphram Barsoum and taway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2008), 68. Yuhanon Dolabani, 8 Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum, Omid and • Articles appearing in al Hikmat, first Mardin Manuscripts, published by Ignatius published in Mardin in 1913, interrupted by Zakka Iwas (Damascus: Deir Mar Ephrem the war and hardships following the War and re- Syrian Monastery 2008), 306-308. issued from Jerusalem from 1927-1931, 9 Ishak Saka. Kanīsatī al-suryāniya [My • Articles in the Patriarchal Journal from Syrian Church] (Aleppo: The Syrian Bookshop, its first issue in 1933 until present, 2006), 191. • Articles appearing in al-Mashriq and 10 Bar-Hebraeus, The Ecclesiastical Chron- Lisān al-Mashriq journals published by Bishop icle, 178; Saka, Kanīsatī al-suryāniya [My Syr- Poulus Behnam in Mosul from 1946-1951, ian Church], 193 • Tur-Abdin Manuscripts, published in 11 Saka, Kanīsatī al-suryāniya [My Syrian 2008, Church], 194. • Deyrulzafaran Manuscripts, published in 12 Ibid., 198. 2008, 13 Bar-‘Ebraya, Hudoye/Nomocanon of • Amid and Mardin Manuscripts, pub- Bar-Hebraeus, (ed.) Yeshuՙ Cicek (Enscheda: lished in 2008, St. Ephrem Monastery, 1986). • Material published by Iskandar Bcheiry, 14Bar-Hebraeus, Book of Guides (Hudaye) Ishak Saka, Ṣaliba Shmoun, and others relating or Nomocanon, trans. B. Varghese (Malankara to the history of the region, and Orthodox Church Publications, 2014), 9-11. • A large number of archival material that 15 Bar-Hebraeus, Book of Guides (Hudaye) was documented in Mardin, monastery of al or Nomocanon, 21-22. Za‛faran (2006-2010), Bab-Tuma, in 2009 and 16 Chabot, Synodicon I, 75. in St. Mark’s Monastery in Jerusalem in 2013. 17 Ibid., 87. 2 Dorothy Weltecke, “The Syriac Orthodox 18 Ibid., 113. in the Principality of Antioch During the cru- 19 Ibid., 109-111. sader Period,” in East and west in medieval 20 Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls, 133. eastern Mediterranean , ed. K. Ciggaar (2006), 21 Ibid., 472. 95-124. 22 3 Bar-Hebraeus, The Ecclesiastical Chron- Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls, 134. 23 icle, trans. by David Wilmshurst (Gorgias Except, of course, for division in later Press, 2016), 148, 150. centuries as a result of conversions to Catholi- 4 Michael Rabo, The Syriac Chronicle of cism, and, to a lesser extent, to . 24 Michael Rabo (the Great): A Universal History Khalid Dinno, The Syrian Orthodox from Creation, trans. by Matti Moosa Christians in the Late Ottoman Period and Be- (Teaneck, NJ: Beth Antioch Press, 2014), 665- yond: Crisis the Revival (Piscataway, NJ: Gor- 666; Michael Rabo, Tāriḵ Mar Michael al- gias Press, 2017), 70-71. Suryani al Kabeer (History of Michael the Syr- 25 One exception to this was Patriarch Jacob ian the Great), vol. III, trans. Ṣaliba Sham‘un II (1847-1871) who resided at Mariamana (Damascus: Dar Mardin, 1996), 235. Church in Diyarbakir. 5 J.B. Chabot, (ed), Anonymi autoris 26 Saka. Kanīsatī al-Suryāniya, 200. Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 perinens, 27 Dinno, The Syrian Orthodox Christians, Part II, CSCO 82/37 (Paris: J. Gabalda), 1916. 110-120. 6 Matti Moosa, The Crusaders, Conflict be- 28 Dolabani, Yuhanon, Phatriarkhe d- tween and Islam (Piscataway, NJ: Antiokhya [Patriarchs of Antioch] (Holland: Beth Antioch Gorgias Press, 2008), 663-667; Bar-Hebraeus Verlag, 1990), 228 (in Syriac).

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The Synods and Canons in the Syrian (Syriac) Orthodox Church in the Second Millennium ______

29 Hattakh, a fortress town in Diyarbakir 43 Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls, 134. near Miyafarqin, was a diocesan seat until the 44 Tuma Severus Yacoub Al-‘Uṣārā al- middle of the nineteenth century. Naqiyya fī Tārikh al-Kanīsa al-Suryāniyya al- 30 Dolabani, Phatriarkhe d-Antiokhya, 231; Hindiyya [The Pure Essence of the History of Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls, 134; Saka. the Syrian Church in India], 102-103. Kanīsatī al-suryāniya, 203. 45 Ibid. 46 31 This document was found in the manu- Chiqqi (ed.), “Lamḥa Milliyya [Glance at scripts of Edessa, (MSS Mingana 460-495). the Milla],” al-Hikmat 1 (1914) 341-342. 32 (History of the Syriac Dioceses -30-31- Kiraz, “Canons Prepared by Afram Bar- referring to Manchester-MSS Mingana, 460 soum…” 225-257. 47 and 495). Murād Fu’ād Chiqqi, (ed.), “Khulāṣat 33 History of the Syriac Dioceses, 117-119). Muqarrarāt Majma‘ Dayr Mār Matta al- 34 Peter III was the title used until 1920s Muqadass bil-Mawṣil” [Summary of the Reso- when re-consideration of names of past patri- lutions of the monastery of Mor Mattai’s Holy archs led to re-naming Peter III as Peter IV. Synod in Mosul], al-Hikmat 4 (1930) 551- 35Tuma Severus Yacoub (Ignatius Jacob 530. III), Al-‘Uṣārā al-Naqiyya fī Tārikh al-Kanīsa 48 Iwas, “Qawānīn Majma‛ al-Suryāniyya al-Hindiyya [The Pure Essence Ḥoms al Awal sanat 1933 m. wa ḍimniha al- of the History of the Syrian Church in India], Ta‛dīlāt allatī Dakhalat Majma‛ Ḥoms al (Damascus, 1973), 355-360. Khamis sanat 1957 m. [The Laws of the First 36 Ibid. Synod of Ḥoms of 1933 including the Modifi- 37 The six ecclesiasts were: Timothy Bishop cations that were Inserted by the Fifth Synod of Paulus, the Patriarchal Vicar at the Porte; Cyril Ḥoms of 1957]”, Patriarchal Journal 171-173 Bishop Jirjis, the Patriarchal Vicar in Mardin; (1998) 17-36. Evanius Bishop Elias (later Patriarch Elias III), 49 Ibid. Head of the Diocese of Mosul; Athanasius 50 Elia Bahi, (ed.), “Akhbār Baṭriarkiyya Bishop Tuma, Head of the Diocese of Diyarba- [Patriarchal News],” Patriarchal Journal 180 kir; Cyril Bishop Mansour, Head of the Diocese (1998) 756-759. of Kharput; and monk Ephram Barsoum (later 51 This version of this By-Law, which com- Patriarch Ephram I Barsoum), head of the mon- prises 35 Articles has been amended by the astery of al-Zaՙfaran. The lay dignitaries were decrees of the Holy Synods held in September Mansour Kan‘o, Naoum Shahristani, Hanna 2003 and in December 2005, Patriarchal Jour- Siri Tchikki, Yousuf Raji, Hanna al Qass, and nal, Nos 277,258, 2006, pp. 390-402. Hanna Hanasha. 52 See, for example, The Synodicon in the 38 Based on a copy in my possession of the West Syrian Tradition, I, trans. Arthur Vööbus, draft document penned by Bishop Yuhannon CSCO 568 SS 162 (Louvain, 1975); II, CSCO Dolabani. 373 SS 163 (Louvain, 1976). 39 Michael H. Chiqqi (ed.), “Niẓāmkhānā al- 53 Ignatius Aphrām I Barsoum, “Kitāb al- Baṭriarkiyya al-Suryāniyya [Rules of the Syrian Ḥaqq al-Qānūnī [The Book of Canon Law],” Patriarchate],”al-Hikmat 1 (1914) 336. Patriarchal Journal 251-253 (2006) 251-253; 40 Based on the copy in my possession. 254-256 (2006) 252-264; 257-258 (2006) 403- 41 George A Kiraz. “Canons Prepared by 410; 259-260 (2006) 564-573—published by Afram Barsoum in 1927 and Other Legal Doc- Ignatius Iwas, Zakka I. uments,” in Peter Burns and Heinz Otto Luthe 54 The list excludes the synods whose laws (eds.), Orientalia Christiana, Festschrift fur were lost such the Synod at Mar Bar-Ṣawmo’s Hubert Kaufhold zum 70 Geburstag (Weis- Monastery by Patriarch Michael the Syrian (the baden: Harrassowitz, 2013), 225-257. Great) in 1155 whose 40 laws were lost. 42 Michael H. Chiqqi (ed.), “Lamḥa 55 See also Mikael Oez, Cyriacus of Tagrit Milliyya [Glance at the Milla],” al-Hikmat 1 and his Book on Divine Providence (Pisca- (1914) 341-342. taway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2012).

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BOOK VI OF ĪŠŌ‘-BOKHT’S CORPUS JURIS AND THE EMERGENCE OF PROCEDURAL LAWS IN THE CHURCH OF THE EAST

NIMA JAMALI UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

PROCEDURAL LAWS IN THE franca of the Christian East, Syriac. Con- CHURCH OF THE EAST FROM THE trary to Syriac, which was the language of 6TH TO THE 8TH CENTURIES AD the elites of the Church of the East, Middle Persian was the language of commoners rom Mār Abā’s reforms (540 and secular elites in Persia, where Īšō‛- AD)1—an early example of legal bokht was a metropolitan. In this respect, Fthought within the Church of the the choice of language would address dif- East—to the time of Īšō‘-bokht’s ferent types of target audiences, and this Corpus Juris2 (eight century), East Syriac could indicate the author’s intention. jurists almost exclusively addressed sub- Therefore, to understand the context in stantive laws, a set of laws that determine which Book VI and its unprecedented con- the rights and obligations of the local tent was written, one should examine the Christian community. With Book VI of author’s choice of language. Here, I would Corpus Juris (hereafter CJ), there is an un- like to deal with these two interrelated expected shift from substantive to proce- questions by contextualizing Book VI dural laws,3 raising an essential question within the tradition of the East Syriac legal since procedural laws presuppose some thought. level of executive authority to enforcing Mār Abā I, who was Patriarch of the legal decisions.4 The present paper thus Church of the East from 540 to 552, was aims to tackle the following important responsible for one of the earliest attempts question: Did Īšō‛-bokht enjoy enough au- in the Church of the East at developing a thority to enforce his legal decisions, or is Christian legal system within the Sasanian his discussion of them in Book VI of the Empire.5 In 541, these attempts led to his CJ just a theoretical debate set up to pre- trial by the Sasanian supreme judge and the sent a potential model for a comprehensive highest priest of the time, the mowbedān Christian legal system? mowbed.6 Mār Abā was accused of acting In order to address this question, it is against Zoroastrianism, the official religion necessary to bear in mind that the author of the Empire, and disobeying the king.7 wrote CJ in his native language, Middle He set new laws concerning marriage and Persian (Pahlavi), rather than in the lingua diet for his Christian followers, both lay- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 37

Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______men and ecclesiastics.8 He prohibited the inally organized to ease the tensions be- Christians from marrying certain in-laws, tween the prefecture of Fars and Bēt- and banned Christians from participating in Qaṭrāyē, and the catholicos-patriarch in a Zoroastrian rite in which meat was Ctesiphon.14 Nevertheless, one of the nota- served.9 The prohibition targeted a special ble outcomes of the synod was that: “in Zoroastrian type of marriage (stūrīh) which accordance with the word of our Lord, it is provided an heir for a male who had died not permitted that anyone of the faithful, heirless.10 The propagation of this law sug- through his own authority, usurp the judg- gests that Christians during that period of ment of the cases of the faithful without the the Sasanian Empire had been practicing command of the bishop and general con- this type of marriage, and that Mār Abā sent, as long as the necessity of the com- took measures to stop Christian elites from mand of worldly rulers does not arise.”15 practicing some Zoroastrian rituals and This tendency towards having exclusive codes. Mār Abā’s legal reforms concern legal authority, especially among the bish- solely substantive laws. He never mentions ops of , paved the way for procedural laws since he lacked the power Īšō‛-bokht to undertake his agenda. While to impose his legal prescriptions upon these previous efforts had, however broad- Christians in the Sasanian Empire. ly, addressed the matter of procedural laws, Among Mār Abā’s successors to the CJ went into great details developing a le- office of the catholicos-patriarch, several— gal apparatus based on a rigorous system of most notably Īšō‘-yahb I (582-595), Išō‘- interrelating procedural laws. yahb III (650-58), and Ḥananišō‘ I (685- 693)—contributed to the legal tradition of CJ AND ITS LOCATION IN THE the Church of the East. They all confined their legal teachings chiefly to inheritance TRADITION OF LEGAL THINKING and marriage laws, and one can hardly find IN THE CHURCH OF THE EAST any trace of procedural laws in their works. Mār Simeon, the bishop-metropolitan of Īšō‘-bokht,16 born in Rev Ardashir, was an Rev-Ardashir11 was another notable figure East Syriac ‘Nestorian’ metropolitan of Fars in the field of legal literature who, around and jurist of the eighth century.17 The Mid- the downfall of Sasanian Empire and the dle Persian original of his CJ, dated between rise of Islam in the mid-seventh century, the years 775 and 779, is lost but survives in compiled his code in Middle Persian. Alt- a ninth century Syriac translation done at the hough he was also mostly concerned with behest of the Catholicos-Patriarch Timothy the philosophy of law, and marriage and I.18 The extant Syriac version contains six inheritance laws, one can recognize some books with a preface by the translator. In early indications of procedural laws in his Book I, Īšō‘-bokht underpins the theoretical canons: “The believers have no right, if framework of his legal ideas,19 attempting in they have dispute against members of their sixteen chapters to define some technical faith, to declare it before a judge outside terms concerning law and justice per se. He the Church.”12 Exploiting the power vacu- is mainly concerned with creating technical- um following the collapse of Sasanian Em- ly precise legal terminology, including such pire in 651, the Church of the East set this terms as dīnā “judgement” and nāmūsā notion as one of the objectives of the Syn- “law,” in order to set a solid base for his od of Dayrin that took place in 676 under later assertions.20 In the first chapter, Īšō‘- the leadership of the catholicos-patriarch bokht explains his intentions in writing his George I (661-680).13 The synod was orig- work, a point addressed below. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 38

Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______

The Church of the East legal tradition the defendant to trial. As for us, we is concerned with family stability; thus, distinctly know that many people Books II, III, and IV focus on marriage exchange (things) between them- and inheritance.21 In Book V, Īšō‘-bokht selves in secret, with no one aware extends his concerns beyond these tradi- of them. Once the plaintiff is prov- en to be without falsehood, dis- tional subjects and discusses wills, testa- honest accusations, and inclination ments, gifts, loans and mortgages, deposit to lay complaints against others, and interest, slavery, sales and purchases, even if he is without document and donations to monasteries, contracts, and witnesses, we consider his claims partnerships and companies. Although the and, as it ought to be, we run the trial for that [case].25 author’s interest shifts in Book V, all these still fall into the category of 22 He also underlines the methodologically substantive laws. In these books, Īšō‘- different procedures which Christian and bokht explains what is right and what is secular judges carry out for evaluating wrong, what is just and what is unjust pieces of evidence: with respect to the topics he takes up. He does not expound how these laws and We accept an old and damaged document with a valid seal as a judgments can be enforced and executed true document, if a copy is taken of in society. it. Secular judges26 suspend judge- The matter of enforcing laws and ment on the basis of a copy of a judgments was left for Book VI with its document (nor is it) as valid (for radical shift from substantive laws to pro- them). As for us, we accept it as a cedural laws. The book includes six chap- valid document. Now a copy of a ters on plaintiff and defendant, on valid and bill of debt is another matter: we dubious documents, on forged and false do not take it as a valid [document] but as a dubious one.27 documents, on the certain and doubtful re- tention of a property, on oaths, and on wit- Elsewhere, dealing with other legal sys- nessing and testimonies.23 As the chapter tems, Īšō‛-bokht claims jurisdiction over titles demonstrate, in Book VI, Īšō‘-bokht Christians through sanctioning against ap- approaches the legal matters from a proce- pealing to a pagan judge: dural viewpoint. When the defendant goes to a pa- Following Simeon and the Synod of gan judge28 and sues his fellow in a Dayrin, Īšō‛-bokht also addresses juridi- lawsuit, and (when) he appeals cal limits and the conflict between Chris- against him (=his fellow) and tian and other legal systems in terms of brings the latter to him (the judge), dominance. In the first chapter, On Plain- this leads to failure and harm for tiffs and Defendants, he singles out a dif- the plaintiff. The failure, harm, and ference in the context of the legal proce- effort will be incurred on the one dure between Christian and other legal who sues his fellow before pagans. systems, collectively referred to as exter- He will be imprisoned and ban- 29 nal judges: ished.

Judges outside (the Church)24 will Theses passages indicate that the Church not accept the [complaint] of a court lacked exclusive authority for settling plaintiff who does not have with disputes between Christians: there were him a document—valid or doubt- also pagan, secular-Christian, and external ful—and witnesses—reliable or judges, although conflict over jurisdiction untrustworthy—and will not take between the Church and the pagan court ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 39

Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______existed. Nonetheless, the Church was in- Additionally, Corpus Juris secures a posi- clined to have supremacy in jurisdiction for tion for an agent or representative in the Christians, and thus CJ criminalizes violat- trial: ing this supremacy. This penal law is pre- Someone has a case against anoth- ceded by a thorough list of offences against er and makes an appointment to the order of a court and their designated stand before the judge, for whatev- punitive reactions to preserve ecclesiastical er reason. Before (the trial) takes legal authority: place, the plaintiff appoints some- one to represent him, giving him A judge calls a defendant for trial authority at the trial, just as he is due to a plaintiff's complaint, but authorized to go to the trial and re- he does not go to the judge, or ceive judgment. If he gives him (both the defendant and the plain- (=the representative) a document tiff) come to fight, or revile one containing the matter and allows another, or dishonour the judge, or him [to stand] in his place at the quarrel, or disobey the judge. Giv- trial,33 this representative has the en these offenses, we do not con- authority to stand against the de- demn the offender or turn to judge fendant. If the defendant does not him. Rather, in light of the quantity attend, he will lose the trial.34 and quality of his offences, we will CJ addresses the statute of limitation: treat him with rebuke, imprison- ment, and banishment.30 Someone sues someone else with In this passage, the author explains that regard to a previous lawsuit, bring- judgment for the case would be unaffected ing an old document before the by any offence against the order of the court. This previous lawsuit does not prevent us from making judg- court. Rather, these offences against the ment. Rather, we observe, investi- order of the court are considered as sepa- gate, and examine the old docu- rate wrongdoings which would deserve ment that is with him, and then we separate punishments. make judgment.35 The procedural laws in CJ cover other Thus, even though there are no statutes of aspects of trial process. A hearing should limitations, two lawsuits by the same plain- be scheduled at mutual convenience for tiff cannot be filed against the same de- both plaintiff and defendant: fendant concurrently: Someone sues his opponent who is Someone sues someone else before preparing for an expedition, a judge. The defendant cannot whether far or near. If the man launch a counterclaim against the does not know the trial date, it is plaintiff until the first case comes inappropriate to prevent him from to an end and judgment given con- (going on) his expedition; rather a cerning the disputed matter. If he trial date should be given to him as sues,36 it is not accepted from him. far as possible. If the defendant But when the first case is resolved, says: “Given my many duties, I am [the new] case will be accepted unable to keep going for ruling and judged.37 against my opponent,” this state- ment is impermissible. Rather, he Īšō‘-bokht establishes detailed procedural must be given an acceptable time, laws concerning the evaluation of different and their31 trial will be done as is pieces of evidence. In the second chapter of proper.32 Book VI, “On the Valid and Dubious Doc-

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Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______ument”, he deals with written documents aged; rather it is dealt with as a valid and divides them into two main : one.40

A valid document is one which is Furthermore, with the exception of docu- sealed by members of the Church, ments of sale, a certified copy of a valid or by kings, or by elected and ap- document is equally valid:

pointed governors. A dubious doc- When a copy of a testament has a valid ument is one which is sealed by seal on it, we deal with it as valid; like- witnesses. When a valid document wise a copy of a deed of manumission is brought before the judge, it is too. We deal with a copy of a sale doc- dealt with according to [its] validi- ument as dubious, and we make investi- ty. The one with the seals of wit- gation about it.41 nesses is investigated: if the wit- nesses who sealed the document In cases of dubious documents, judges are are believers, known in their lo- in charge of investigation: cality and their church for their fear of God, and enjoy good testi- We consider valid the conclusion an in- mony, we deal with [the docu- vestigative judge makes regarding the ment] as valid one; if this is not the case. If another judge has made an inves- case, we are doubtful.38 tigation concerning it, we also consider that.42 In this system of evaluation, valid docu- ments are regarded as the most reliable, In addition to the formal investigation by and the opposition cannot refute them by the judges, CJ introduces some penal laws denial alone. The opposition must submit in order to protect the legal system from forged documents: at least a dubious document against a valid one in order to introduce a trial: Anyone found with an altered doc- ument will be punished by shaving Someone brings a valid document his hair and beard, and for a time to the judges and his opponent dis- less than a month,43 he shall stand putes it, saying: “I sold this proper- at the church gate in sackcloth and ty, but I have not received its ashes. price.” If he has with him a valid document, or a dubious one, or Someone found with a zūr-gird,44 witnesses, it is accepted from him which means a fraudulent docu- and judgment is made appropriate- ment. If the one whom this docu- ly. But if there is neither a docu- ment was written against incurs ment nor witnesses, this would not damage because of the document, be accepted from him. And also if every incurred cost and spoil he borrows (money) and says “I caused by document will be paid it,” if there is neither witness- claimed from the one who wrote es nor declarations, it is not ac- that document and will be given to cepted from him. But if he has the former. If the defendant does witnesses and dubious declara- not incur loss, the sum of money tions, it is accepted from him, and written in the document, as much judgment will be made appropri- as it is, will be claimed from the ately.39 one who has written the document and will be given to monasteries, In terms of statute of limitation, this validi- hospitals, and charity. The one ty would last forever: with whose seal the fraudulent An old and long-aged document of sale document is sealed, will be ex- is not rejected because it is old and long- pelled and imprisoned, and thereaf-

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Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______

ter his testimony will not be ac- or it is favorable to his opponent is 46 cepted, and he will not be trusted considered truthful. in anything. The final chapter in CJ entitled “On When a document written in deceit Oaths” is about the last category of and guile is discovered, it is unre- proofs. Although initially condemning garded. Those who made it and the oath taking on the basis of theology rooted one who possesses it will be treat- in the Bible, the author eventually con- ed in the church with rebuke and sents to include oaths in the list of legiti- disgrace, and also with imprison- ment and expulsion. mate proofs, albeit only when no other proof is available: Someone says about a document that his opponent possesses: “This Someone sues his fellow because document is written in forgery.” If of money or because of something he cannot prove the truth of the else, but he has neither an official statement that he makes, he will document nor truthful witnesses. not be heeded. But if he has truth- (When) the judgment reaches (the ful indications and witnesses for it, time of) taking an oath, if the de- he will be heeded and the judg- fendant wishes, he can take the ment will be made appropriately.45 oath, and if he requires, the accuser will have to take an oath. If the de- In Chapter V “On Truthful and Doubt- fendant confesses and says: “I took ful Testimony,” Īšō‘-bokht introduces tes- the money or took something else, timonies as the second category of proofs. but I returned it,” the oath shall be taken by the accuser.47 He does this after a relatively long theolog- ical argument about whether or not there This approval of oath taking is reluctantly should be one witness or two in this regard. given since an oath is sometimes a neces- He concludes: sary evil:

A trustworthy witness is one who We advise people involved in legal is known to have faith, fear of proceedings not to swear as much God, and a sense of justice; with- as possible, but to reconcile with out cupidity and hypocrisy, with- one another and use the integrity of out enmity toward the one for the law. Especially when someone whom he gives testimony, and not sues his fellow and wants to take inclined towards family ties. Such an oath, we advise him to avoid a man, even if there is only one, is oath taking whenever possible, but confirmed for testimony. If he does to endure the injustice done to him not have all of these [qualities], but on the hope of divine compensa- he is known to many people for his tion. Nevertheless, if he requires integrity, without cupidity, but judgment, we do not prevent him. with faith, then // there should be As for the defendant, we cannot of- two or three [of this kind of man] ten command him not to take an in order that their testimony be ac- oath because generally things re- cepted. If these [qualities] are lack- quired from him are beyond his ing [in witnesses], their testimony power.48 is considered doubtful. Whoever is The judgment based on this set of proofs is known as having falsehood, and his testimony is untruthful and un- not absolute, and CJ secures the right of just, his testimony is not accepted appeal in case a previous judgement was even as doubtful. A testimony that unjust. The following two examples are a incurs loss to the one who gives it, case in point: ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 42

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1. Someone sues another over a correction method by opening the possibil- property. The defendant, con- ity of appeal. This procedural apparatus out- cerning the thing that he is sued lined in Book VI implies the existence of for, says “I have associates (in some level of executive power for the this matter).” If he does not Church to establish its jurisdiction, to secure provide documents or witnesses at the trial, he loses (the case). its procedure, to enforce its laws and judg- As the plaintiff wins, the prop- ments, and to punish whomever violates its erty is surrendered to him. Lat- jurisdiction, its procedure, its laws and er, the defendant's associates judgments in the form of imprisonment or appear. Another trial is held, prohibition. This cannot be done without a and the defendant wins. Be- relatively high level of tangible power. Now cause their colleague had previ- the question is: did Īšō‛-bokht enjoy such ously lost, the plaintiff was authority to enforce his legal decisions, or is awarded the property. Now hav- Book VI a theoretical work offering a po- ing lost (the case), the plaintiff tential model for a comprehensive Christian surrenders the property with its benefits and accessories to the legal system? defendant.49

2. A trial of one against an- PROCEDURAL LAW AND THE other had taken place and the LEGAL AUTHORITY IN judge observes and examines THE CHURCH OF THE EAST that the (then) judgment was prejudicial. If the plaintiff has no document, it is not right to The question of the Church of the East's accept his accusation, and the legal authority was addressed by Eduard trial will be suspended. But if he Sachau. In his 1907 article, “Von den has a document which he had rechtlichen Verhä ltnissen der Christen im sent to another judge, the first Sasanidenreich,” he argues that the Church judge, as a witness, will make a of the East was able to enforce its judicial testimony concerning him.50 decisions on the Christian community of Based on these laws, the legal procedure the East through a web of episcopal which Īšō‘-bokht has established in Book VI courts.51 According to Sachau, this legal can be outlined as follows: the court has authority was exclusive, autonomous, and ultimate and uncontested jurisdiction over based on the Syro-Roman legal system. His all Christians residing under its dominion. argument was recently confronted by Rich- The court protects its jurisdiction by sanc- ard Payne, who, in his 2014 article entitled tioning those who violate it; the court also “East Syrian Bishops, Elite Households, secures its order by criminalizing any of- and Iranian Law after the Muslim Con- fence against its dignity. The legal system quest,” highlights three defects in Sachau’s has developed a procedure for evaluating theory.52 First, Walter Selb and Hubert different categories of evidence, namely Kaufhold proved that the Syro-Roman le- documents, testimonies, and oaths and set gal texts had not been introduced to the them in a hierarchy of credibility. In addi- Church of the East before the mid eighth tion, this system safeguards its method of century.53 Second, both Christian54 and Zo- evaluation of proof by setting punitive reac- roastrian sources give evidence of Chris- tions for forgery. The judgments and docu- tians who used legal services provided out- ments in this system are everlastingly valid. side the Church.55 Third, it was just after Nevertheless, the procedure develops a self- the Synod of Dayrin in 676 that the East ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 43

Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______

Christians were banned from appealing to there is no one dīnā, and we will non-Christian courts (see above). Payne discuss the reason for that after- 57 concludes that “in place of the abstract no- wards. tion of an autonomous, coherent East Syri- Īšō‘-bokht judges this discrepancy as an legal system, we should consider the not only spatial, but also temporal: legal pluralism that emerges from the work 56 Furthermore, we learned that even of Ishobokht as the norm.” Payne’s ar- in a same place the dīnās were in gument is persuasive, and I would here like various ways different from those to add that to have an exclusive and auton- of early generations, and these omous legal system running, the existence from earlier ones, each person ac- of a procedural apparatus is sine qua non. cording to his knowledge and ac- Nonetheless, almost no trace of this proce- cording to his will. Therefore, I dural apparatus is found before Book VI of wanted to gather as much as possi- CJ in Syriac legal literature. ble the things that I have learnt Explaining his agenda, Īšō‘-bokht, in from the tradition of early genera- tions, whether the fathers who Book I, Chapter 1: “The reason due to were in our church, or those who which the author came to the writing of were in the other churches, or the this Corpus,” argues that there was no uni- things that I have understood out versal and consistent legal system for of proper reasoning. I have placed Christians. Hence, he wrote his Corpus to them into this Book for my own propose one such legal system: discipline and for those who, like me, need this instruction.58 I came towards this Corpus for the following reasons: I saw, indeed, This regional and intergenerational in- that there were many differences consistency concerned other bishops of between people regarding the mat- Fars as well, leading Īšō‘-bokht to com- ter of dīnā, not only between one pile his Corpus Juris in order to bridge faith and another, and between one gaps: language and another, and between one nation and another, but also in This is also true that I am writing each and every faith, nation, and this [Book of law] not completely language, such as the faith of for my own desire. I came to- Christianity. While there is one wards this Corpus through the en- dīnā for the Jews who reside in couragement of many friends, every land, likewise, there is one mostly through the persuasion of for the heretic Magians (Zoroastri- the holy bishops who are in our ans) and another for those who are prefecture. They are, likewise, ruling over us now (the Muslims). afraid of the different dīnās which Among the Christians, the dīnās in existed within the Christian com- the Roman land are different and munity and wished for one dīnā in vary from those in the Persian all our prefecture, if it is not in land, and also from those in the every church which is under the land of the ; it is differ- sky.59 ent in Bēt-Hōzāyē (Ahwaz), in Meshan, and similarly in other Consequently, Īšō‘-bokht and the bish- lands. There are many differences ops of Fars attempted to design a universal in the matter of dīnā, district by legal system within the Church, for both district and between one city and ecclesiastical and secular issues, which was another. And while there is one na- applicable in Fars, if not in every church ture for the faith of the Christians, worldwide. This explanation leads us to the ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 44

Book VI of Īšō‘-bokht’s Corpus Juris and the Emergence of Procedural Laws in the Church of the East ______problem of language. As stated above, Īšō‘- reconciliation between the bishops of bokht lived after the collapse of the Sasa- Fars, Bēt-Qaṭrāyē, and the Catholicos- nian Empire, when Middle Persian began Patriarch in Ctesiphon were written in its rapid decline, surrendering its realms to Syriac, not in Middle Persian.61 There Arabic (for the court and administration) seems to be contradiction between Īšō‘- and to Modern Persian (for daily commu- bokht’s aim to write a legal treatise for his nication in the region). In the preface, the Church and the language of writing, Mid- unknown Syriac translator of the Corpus dle Persian, that he chose to write that Juris explains the lingual arrangement: treatise!

You ordered me to translate the CONCLUSION Book of dīnā, compiled by Mār Īšō‘-bokht, Metropolitan of Fars, I have endeavoured to explain why and how from the Persian language into the the unprecedented emergence of the proce- . Because I am not dural laws in Book VI of CJ and the lan- educated and capable for this task, guage choice of the text indicate a new and also because the Persian lan- phase within the history of legal theory and guage is not helpful (lit.: does not practice in the Church of the East. The give hand)—in many places, its emergence of the procedural laws in Book statements cannot easily and accu- VI shows that Īšō‘-bokht, as the Metropoli- rately be translated into Syriac—I tan of Fars, enjoyed a certain level of legal beg the greatness of your wisdom that wherever in this Book you authority to enforce his judgments. His find something that needs correc- choice of language excludes the theory of a tion, you would correct it as you purely hypothetical universal legal system have promised me.60 within the Church of the East. The choice of language, Middle Persian over Syriac, also Thus, the only possible reason for pre- implies that this judicial authority was lim- ferring Middle Persian over Syriac is that ited to the Fars province. Moreover, Book the author enjoyed some executive power VI proves that this authority was not exclu- in his prefecture that enabled him to en- sive to the episcopal office. Church authori- force his judgments, for Middle Persian ty over legal matters was challenged by oth- was the language of laymen and other er legal powers, such as pagan courts. The Christians of the Fars province. This ex- tension between the bishops of Fars and the planation is supported by the content of Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Book VI and the emergence of the proce- embodied in the Synod of 676, could ex- dural laws. plain the unique situation of the legal theory On the other hand, if Īšō‘-bokht, as he and practice in Fars—both Simeon and Īšō‘- himself explained, intended to produce a bokht wrote their codes in Middle Persian. theoretical universal legal system for the The Syriac translator of CJ emphasizes the Church, why did he write his CJ in Middle incongruity between the prefecture of Fars Persian? One would expect him to write and the rest of the Church of the East: his work in Syriac, the language of schol- arship in the Church of the East. This In many cases those who occupied the priestly seat of Fars were found would have enabled him to communicate deficient, because they were ap- his theory to all the Christian elites in the pointed metropolitans by the bish- Church who are assumed to be his audi- ops of their province. As for him ence. The Acts of the aforementioned (=Īšō‘-bokht), he pleasantly sub- Synod of Dayrin in 676 that aimed at the jected himself to the yoke of the

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patriarchal throne, and bowed legal authority, but also a pilot version, down his head for the ordination of limited to his prefecture, an ideal of a uni- the virtuous and holy Mār Ḥenān- versal legal system within the Church of Īšō‘, Catholicos-Patriarch.62 the East. One can assume that Īšō‘-bokht fol- Despite the tension between Fars and lows a bilateral agenda: He was not solely Ctesiphon, his subjection “to the yoke of concerned with enforcing his judicial deci- Ḥenān-Īšō‘” persuaded the next Catholi- sions on the Christians of Fars but, as he cos-Patriarch, Timothy I, to order a Syriac himself mentions in Book I, Chapter 1, he translation of his Corpus Juris.63 This took steps to set up a theoretical universal translation could posthumously serve Īšō‘- legal system, at least for Fars, if not for the bokht’s ideal of unifying “the different entire Church of the East. His authority in dīnās which were within the Christian Fars and the tension between his prefecture community, and they wished one dīnā to and the Catholicate excluded Syriac from be in all our prefecture, if it is not possible his language choice. For Īšō‘-bokht, the for this to be in every church which is un- Corpus Juris was not only a book of practical der the sky.”

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NOTES his 65th Birthday on 6 December 2002, edited by Carlo G. Cereti et al. (: Reichert, 1 2003), 231-246. For the text and German translation see Ed- 11 uard Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol.3 Rev Ardashir, in Persian Rēw-Ardaxšēr, is (: G. Reimer, 1914), 255-285. For Mār located around the modern city of Bushehr in the south of Iran. Abā’s biography see Histoire de Mār Jabalaha, 12 de trois autres patriarches, d’un prêtre et de For the translation see Amir Harrak, “The deux laïques Nestoriens, ed. P. Bedjan (Paris: Code of Law …,” in the current issue of JCSSS. Otto Harrassowitz, 1895), 206-87. For a de- For the Syriac text and German translation see tailed account and a new analysis of Mār Abā’s “Erbrecht oder Canones des persischen Erzbis- legal teaching see Richard Payne, A State of chofs Simeon,” in Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol. Mixture: Christian, Zoroastrian and Iranian 3, ed. and trans. Eduard Sachau. (Berlin: Georg Political Culture in (Oakland: Reimer, 1914), 203-253. 13 Synodicon Orientale, 215-226. University of Press, 2015), third 14 chapter. Richard Payne, “East Syrian Bishops, Elite Households, and Iranian Law after the Muslim 2 The title in Syriac is ܐܕ ܕ ܐܬܒ, lit- Conquest,” Iranian Studies 48:1 (2015) 11-12. erally “writing on judgement.” 15 Ibid., 12. For the original text see Synod- 3 Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol.3, 183- icon Orientale, 220. 201. 16 Marc Aoun, “ Jésubokt, métropolitain et ju- 4 For a theoretical and historical study on the riste de l’Église d’Orient (Nestorienne), auteur nexus between executive authority, procedural au VIIIe siècle du premier traité systématique law and the machinery of justice see Mirjan R. de droit séculier,” in Tijdschrift Voor Damaška, The Faces of Justice and State Au- Rechtsgeschiedenis 73, no.1 (2005) 81-92. thority: A Comparative Approach to the Legal 17 For the original text and a German transla- Process (New Haven, Yale University Press, tion see Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, Vol.3, 1986). 2-201. Zachau also has a brief account on him 5 Payne, State of Mixture, 100. in the introduction to his edition and translation 6 The text records his name as Dādhormizd (VII-XVIII). (ܕܪܗܕܕ) in the Histoire de Mār Jabalaha, 226. 18 7 Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol.3, 2. Ibid., 227; nonetheless, king Khosraw I 19 Ibid., 1-23. (501-579) did not accept the accusations 20 Particularly in chapters 2-4. brought forward by Dādhormizd. 21 8 Ibid., 25-127. Ibid., 228-229. After the king went to the 22 Ibid., 129-179. North to fight the Khazars, the Magians ex- 23 Ibid., 181-201. ploited his absence and brought Mār Abā I on 24 In this book the author uses different terms trial. to refer to the legal authorities outside of the 9 In certain passages, his accusations are lim- Church: ܒܕ ܐܕ “outside judgement” which is a ited to converting people from Zoroastrianism short form for “judgement to Christianity, forbidding Christians from ܐܬ ܼ ܒܕ ܐܕ practicing stūrīh with Zoroastrians, and preach- outside the Church” (cf. Simeon chapter III, p. ing Christianity; Ibid., 238 and 254. 231 in Sachau’s edition) and ܐ ܐܕ “pagan 10 For Stūrīh see Maria Macuch, “The Pahla- judgement” (CJ §183). One can assume that the vi Model Marriage Contract in the Light of first term refers to any sort of non-Christian judges whiles the second one specifies solely the Sasanian Family Law,” in Iranian Languages ̈ and Texts from Iran and Turfan, ed. M. Zoroastrian judges. Īšō‛-bokth juxtaposes ܐܕ ܘ Macuch et al. (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, (Jews) once with ܐ (CJ §20) and once with 2007), 183-204, and “Zoroastrian Principles ܐܬܓܕ ܪܗ, lit.: the Magian heresy; see and the Structure of Kinship in Sasanian Iran,” CJ §8. He also uses the term ܐܕ ܐܕ, lit. in Religious Themes and Texts of pre-Islamic “judges from the world,” which presumably re- Iran and Central Asia: Studies in Honour of fers to Christian lay judges and arbiters outside Professor Gherardo Gnoli on the Occasion of the Church. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 47

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25 For the Syriac text see Sachau, Syrische 52 Richard Payne, “East Syrian Bishops, Elite Rechtsbücher, vol. 3, 182. Households, and Iranian Law after the Muslim 26ܐ ܕ ܐܕ Conquest,” 7. 27 Ibid., 188. 53 Das Syrisch-Römische Rechtsbuch, ed. and 28 ܐ ܐܕ trans. by Walter Selb and Hubert Kaufhold, 29 Ibid., 184. (: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie 30 Ibid., 182, 184. der Wissenschaften, 2002), vol. 1. 31 Written “your”. 54 For the Christian sources, passages from 32 Ibid., 186. Book VI of Corpus Juris are good examples. 33 The Syriac is not clear and the translation is 55 For a list of examples see Richard Payne, based on the Arabic version: ܕ ܒ op. cit., 7 note 11. .Ibid., 335 (notes). 56 Ibid., 7 ;ܐܬܗ = ﻳﻘﻭﻡ ﺑﺎﻟﺧﺻﻭﻣﺔ (ﺑﺩﻟﻪ) 34 Ibid., 184. 57 Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol. 3, 8. 35 Ibid., 184. For his explanation on this diversity see chapter 36 Written “if he is accused”. 13 of the first book (page 20): .ܬܕ ܐܪ 37 Op. cit., 184-186. .ܐܨܪ̈ܘܬ ܢܘ ܕ :ܐ ܕ̈ ܢܗ ܦܐ [ܐ] ܕ 38 Ibid., 186-188. ܝܗܘܐ ܡ ܕ .ܐ ܒ ̈ ̈ ܕܒ ܒܐ ܐ ܐ: ܐܘ ܒ ̈ ܒܐ ܐܬܒ ِ ̈ ܐ .Ibid., 188 39 َ 40 Ibid., 188-190. ܐܒܕ ܐܒܘ ܐ ܒܐ̤ ܐ .ܐ 41 Ibid., 188. ܐܒܨܘ ܐܕ ܐܪܘ ܐ ܬܘ ܐܬܕ 42 Ibid., 188. .ܐܕܕ ܐܙ ܫܘ ܦܐ .ܢܘ ܕ 43 Plural in Syriac. “Chapter Thirteen: Why are the dīnās that we 44 This Middle Persian term is altered in Syri- call just not identical among the Christians? Be- cause either they are not in the divine Scripture, ac as ܕܓܘܙ. In his note, Sachau edited the or because they were transmitted in writing from term correctly (page 338). For a summary of arguments on this term see C. A. Ciancaglini, early generations to later generations. Thus, they Iranian Loanwords in Syriac. (Wiesbaden: Dr. were left to the knowledge of and investigation by the administrators of the church, following Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2008.), 172-3. 45 Op. Cit., 190. the different and distinct knowledge and will of each one of them, in which case the genre of 46 Ibid., 194-196. 47 dīnā differed and diverged.” Ibid., 198. 58 48 Ibid., 198. Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol. 3, 8- 10. 49 Ibid., 184. 59 50 Ibid., 184-186. Ibid., 10. 60 51 Eduard Sachau, “Von den rechtlichen Ibid., 4. Verhä ltnissen der Christen im Sasanidenreich,” 61 Synodicon Orientale, 130-196. Mitteilungen des Seminars fü r Orientalische 62 Sachau, Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol. 3, 4. Sprachen 10 (1907) 69–95. 63 Ibid., 2.

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THE LAW CODE OF SIMEON, BISHOP OF REV-ARDASHIR: PRESENTATION AND TRANSLATION

AMIR HARRAK UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

he 14th century writer ‘Abd-Īšō‛ of SIMEON OF REV-ARDASHIR Nisibis, in his Catalogue of Authors,

Tlists the authors who produced law Simeon is called by the translator “Mār codes as follows: Simeon the priest and teacher,” and the introduction to the codes identifies him as The dīnē-laws of Simeon and Īšō‛- “Mār Simeon Bishop-Metropolitan of Rev- bokht, Metropolitans of Fars; of Ardashir.” The latter appellation immedi- ‘Abd-Īšō‛ and George, Metropoli- ately brings to mind a rebellious metropoli- tans of ; two parts of the collection of Gabriel of ; an- tan of the same name and title, mentioned other of Mār Elijah, the first Ca- in the letters of the patriarch Īšo‛-yahb III tholicos, and four of Elijah of Nis- whose seat was in Seleucia-Ctesiphon in ibis, who is known as Bar- southern Mesopotamia. This patriarch, who Šennāyā.1 witnessed the advent of Islam, faced seced- ing tendencies that marked the Church of The first author in the list, Simeon the Persia and the Gulf already before his time. “Metropolitan of Fars,” is the focus of the Lamenting the dissolution of the ecclesias- present paper, since this author produced tical authority bestowed by the Apostles an interesting collection of laws in Middle themselves, and sensing the dangers posed Persian, but later translated by a monk of by the aggressive new religion before Bēt-Qaṭrāyē (modern Qatar and the west Christianity, he wrote several letters plead- coast of the Gulf) into Syriac. As with the ing the metropolitan to maintain unity and code of the Metropolitan Īšō‛-bokht, both Christian presence in Persia and the Gulf.2 original Middle Persian codes are lost, but Fortunately, some of the patriarch’s letters they fortunately survive in extant Syriac to “Mār Simeon Bishop-Metropolitan of translations. Before presenting the transla- Rev-Ardashir” (Letter XIV and XVI) and tion of the code of Simeon of Rev- to the bishops, monks, and people of Bēt- Ardashir, a few words on the identities of Qaṭrāyē (XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, and the author and the translator, on the sources XXI)3 managed to survive to this day. of the codes, and the significance of the Rev-Ardashir, modern Zaydun in Iran, codes are worthwhile. was the seat of the highest ecclesiastical ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 49

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______authority in Persia and the Gulf, but it was text must be real since he took pains to turn subject to the patriarchal seat of Seleucia- the excessively long sentences of the origi- Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia. By the early 5th nal into shorter sentences for clarity. He century, Christianity in Persia was already warns the reader “that if there are state- a highly organized institution: the signature ments that do not reflect the style and beau- of Bishop Elijah of the Gulf city of ty of the elegant Aramaic language, do not Mashmahig is on the Acts of the Synod of blame the translator!” the year 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon;4 Bish- op Yazdad of Rev-Ardashir was present at SOURCES OF THE CODE the Synod of the year 424.5 The lack of mention of any metropolitan named Sime- The Code consists of two large sections: on suggests that there were no metropolitan one theoretical, aiming at clarifying the Simeons. Nonetheless, Simeon mentions nature of Christian law; the other legal, the code of the “late Īšō‘-yahb the Catholi- relating mostly to inheritance cases. cos” (§20), who must be Īšō‘-yahb of Ar- In the theoretical section, the author zen who died in 595 (see below), and thus comments on the limitation of the Mosaic our author must have lived after this date. Law as an acceptable legal source, for it He may well be the one who rebelled to was instituted in a given historical period secede from the patriarchal seat of Ctesi- for a specific nation (=Hebrew people). phon. Thus the law “communicates to its adher- ents earthly and worldly practices, although THE TRANSLATOR it considers the legal matters as something base… it is not suitable to all the nations The title of the law code gives the transla- and to all times, but are rather needed for tor as being “of the aksēnāyē-brothers of that (biblical) time and for that (Jewish) the region of Bēt-Qaṭrāyē.” The term nation.” For the Christians, the Mosaic aksēnāyā, literally “stranger,” refers to Law is not a legal source, because it was monks; Bēt-Qaṭrāyē, literally the “land of geared “toward the expectation of the ad- Qaṭar,” refers to modern Qatar and the Gulf vent of Christ,” which eventually took territories. Many monasteries were found place in history. Even the Gospels are not a in that region, some of which have been code of law stricto sensu, for it is “higher recently exhumed by archaeologists. In his and more sublime than the practices of this letter, the monk dwells on the fact that he world and all the deeds of virtuous con- was totally unfit to translate the code from duct”. It gives admonitions when it prohib- Middle Persian into Aramaic, and that the its adultery and forbids breaking oaths, but one who requested the translation had too its goal is to purify the soul, which is in- much confidence in him. This type of ver- clined toward evil and not to systematically biose letter reflects an epistolary genre at- regulate human behaviour. tested elsewhere.6 These formal letters Chapter three of the first section dis- share such common features as the inapti- cusses the origins of Christian law, but no tude of the writer or translator to undertake concrete sources are given. Rather, in a works requested by superiors, who unduly long discussion he talks about the trans- think highly of the former; these in turn mission of legal codes from unnamed an- accept the commission, but require divine cient “experts, famous in prophetic vision, assistance. who distinguished the truth from false- Nonetheless, the translator’s complaint hood.” Ultimately, the Divine is the source about the difficulty of the Middle Persian of all laws, for even Moses could not be ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 50

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______the source of all legal cases but “he would link this “true fact” to ’s admonition: ask instruction from God about them.” “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ Theodore of Mopsuestia, “the Blessed In- loved the church and gave himself up for terpreter of the Divine Scriptures,” is her to make her holy…” (Eph. 5:25). brought as witness to what the author says Equivalent Retaliation (lex talionis): on those made wise by the Spirit (1 Corin- The “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” atti- thians 12:8). tude is found in the question of whether a In the second section, that containing son who converts to a religion other than specific legal cases, the author mentions that of his father has the right to inherit. the following sources: The law among “pagans” denies the son Acts of Synods: In the question as to from inheriting, and Simeon adds: “… so whether or not one born of a slave can be too the son of a Christian man who con- ordained by the Church (§11), the answer verts to another religion ought not to be is the negative “as is also written in the given a share from his father’s asset” (§18). synods of the episcopal fathers.” In a pluralistic society in Persia and Meso- Code of Īšō‘-yahb the Catholicos: “Al- potamia, this case must have been familiar so I saw that it is decided in the canons and and Simeon seems to admit that this is a laws of the late Īšō‘-yahb the Catholicos, “practical” decision, adding: “About this and thus written in the synods of the an- matter, I know of no other explanation to cient, concerning monks… (§20)”. The bring and to compare with.” named Catholicos is probably Īšō‘-yahb of Arzen (582-595), who wrote his law code CONTENTS OF THE CODES at the request of James Bishop of the Island of Darai in the Gulf.7 Simeon’s Code of Law covers family mat- Consensus: In at least one case (§15) ters, mostly inheritance. Slavery, namely the author admits common sense as a legal in the context of inheritance and in rela- source “In the Church it mostly seems to tionship with ecclesiastic order, is also me that when the son dies, his assets are covered. Questions about the assets of the equally divided between his mother and his father after he dies arise, and who has the brothers… this matter is (not) confirmed right to inherit the assets if he has a wife, by a judgment but by consensus.” “Practic- a mother, brothers and sisters, and chil- es” and “customs” are also consensus: dren, whether these are minor or adults. It “…The man has authority over his proper- is interesting to notice that by and large ty, but in this world there are customs and the verdicts given by the Code of Simeon laws that are held and are valid: it is not are in favour of young children and of lawful that a man… leaves his wife without needy wives and mothers. When the support…” (§3); “Now the husband is Church intervenes in inheritance ques- obliged to respond to the need of his wife tions, it imposes its power so that people at all times, and the wife is required … to in need are protected. The subjects of in- serve and obey her husband. We under- heritance in relation with members of stand this from true facts, in that the hus- family in each code is indicated as follows band and the wife form one house and one (for codes 11-12, and 22 see the second family…” Strangely, the author does not chart):

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The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______

§ wife mother brother Son daughter kin in defense of the daughters when the inher- sister grandson itance is not of great amount: “Because the 1 X son is provided with additional (share), the 2 X 3 X ecclesiastical leaders decided that the addi- 4 X tional share compared to that of the daugh- 5 X ter be given to her.” This additional deci- 6 X X sion is so that deprivation would not lead 7 X X to moral misbehaviour, and that why “it 8 X X was thus judged and sanctioned, justly and 9 X X 10 X compassionately.” 13 X X The following chart includes codes re- 14 X X lated to slaves and their role in the legal 15 X X system within the Christian community: 16 X 17 X § clergy Church Inheritance 18 X 11 X X 19 X X X 12 X 20 X 22 X 21 X

The question of slavery seems at first As the chart shows, most of the ques- intriguing, given Paul’s assertion: “There is tions relate to inheritance not with regard neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor to the wives but to children. Although free, nor is there male and female, for you codes claim that when the husband dies, are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28), but his wife becomes “stranger within her hus- slavery was part of the social fabric in Sas- band’s family because her association with sanian Persia and Mesopotamia. Clergy her husband is dissolved” (§15, 19), she cannot marry a slave woman unless she is actually has the right to inheritance if she freed (§11), otherwise the marriage turns has no children (§1). Even if she decides to into adultery. The same code asserts that a remarry after the death of her husband, in male slave cannot be ordained into the which case she would be supported by her priesthood unless he is freed “as is written new husband, “it is not lawful that a man, in the synods of the episcopal fathers” at the time of his death, leaves his wife (§11). In two places it is firmly stated that without support” (§3). Mothers have also slave children cannot inherit from their free the right to inherit half of the assets of her father, and here Theodore of Mopsuestia is deceased son if he has no children, and the brought in as a witness (§12), but if these other half goes to his brothers (§15). children are crippled “they ought to be giv- The discrepancy between what sons en some share from whatever their begetter and daughters get after the death of their has” (§22). father is defended by the Code: “Although the Scripture does not clearly explain this EDITION AND TRANSLATION matter, it is evident that everywhere it is the sons not the daughters who hold the The manuscript containing Simeon’s Code inheritance of the parents. And because the of Law, housed at the Vatican Library un- sons get the inheritance of their parents in der the siglum Cod. Borg. sir. 81, f.12r to greater proportions, therefore, a full share 24r, is now available online.9 It was edited is given to the sons and half a share goes to and translated into German by Edward Sa- the daughters…(§13).”8 Simeon intervenes chau, whose notes and comments are still ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 52

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______valuable.10 Simeon is often quoted in a me- thers) what is in nature, and also what is in dieval collection of Christian Arabic codes the Will, and they found in your succession of law, especially in the Code of Patriarch a diligent and faithful heir in both body and Timothy I, and these quotations were con- spirit, for you are related, in virtue and per- sulted by Sachau, and we made use of them fection, to their brotherhood concretely and in our translation. This collection is in the mystically. This is indeed an inheritance Vatican Library under the siglum Vat. Ar- that can be acquired, and thus, you admon- ab. 153, and is available online.11 ish with the scepter14 of all virtues in the Church of God; in it the Lord the Spirit TRANSLATION established you, like a sun, through His OF SIMEON’S CANONS conferred grace and radiant rays. To those near you give delight through the lushness /209/ Various chapters on frequent cases of of words—like the holy ones—and with church laws are given in clear terms by the your attractive interaction; you appeal to illustrious in apostolic teaching, Mār Sim- those distant through the wonder that is in eon Bishop-Metropolitan of Rev- Ardashir, you, thanks to the news of your heroic translated from Persian to Aramaic by one deeds. of the aksēnāyē-brothers12 of the region of /211/ What was said by the Apostle fits Bēt-Qaṭrāyē.13 you: You are a pleasing aroma to God in Christ.15 You have given the proof of this The apology of the one who was asked by with what you have done to me at this the latter to translate this book from Per- time. You wanted to show in these events sian to Syriac the reality of the truthfulness of your com- “Your honourable order enticed me to be plete love—it showers everyone unstint- entangled with a matter which goes beyond ingly in the same way as it happened to my ability, O virtuous and God-loving Mār me. You selected me from among the many Simeon the priest and teacher. It made me persons who walk according to and are greatly admire your will, which utters spir- managed by your special love, to accom- itual things, in that you had acquired such plish this work. For you requested I trans- high opinion of me. As for me, whenever I late into Aramaic complicated Persian es- considered my lack of knowledge, I feel says expressed by people respected in di- compelled to excuse myself from fulfilling vine matters and wealthy in the apostolic your order; but I am afraid lest I be found teaching, and which you have handed over ungrateful and defrauding the profusion of to me when I was near you. This matter your divine love. With your love, your rev- distressed me much, for you advised me to erence, so full of virtues, is glorified as walk a road untrod. But because your be- with a wonderful crown bejewelled with loved order is dear to me, I accepted with precious stones, and so too your excellen- entire readiness your advantageous request cy—shaped by heavenly conducts worthy that I should complete the deed. I am of our glorious and learned holy Fathers of ready, but I inform you and anyone else good memory—is praised. The latter shep- who loves truth, who falls upon these es- herded virtuously the intelligent flock says, that if there are statements that do not which Christ, the Lord of shepherds, en- reflect the beauty and elegance of the Ara- trusted to them, and through providential maic language, not to blame the translator dispensation, you succeeded them lawfully too harshly. Let the reader know in love and humanely, by a virtuous and honoura- that this is due to the difficulty of the Per- ble lot. For you took from them (the Fa- sian language, and that the reader should ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 53

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______not stick to the Aramaic translation in eve- not corporeal ways of life, nor did He hon- ry place. I shall be as diligent as possible to our or despise the doings of things human, make the essays meaningful without alter- but it seemed pleasing to Him that the will ing definitions found in the original text. If of the soul would first need to be sanctified I am forced by the style thus to translate it, and purified, and thus, He established the disordered words (in the original) will be definition of sin and righteousness. Beyond cut down (to accommodate) the need of the adultery, the very intention of committing (Syriac) language, but that is not due to the adultery He rejected and declared unclean: ignorance of the translator. Anyone who looks at a woman in order to It is now time to begin the work. While lust after her already has committed adul- counting on the prayers and petitions of my tery in his heart;16 beyond committing brothers and companions, I call upon the murder, the very thought of it, and so too heavenly power—the eternal Teacher who hatred and enmity: Anyone who is angry is accustomed to make His power shine in with his brother in vain shall be liable to the weak—to assist my weakness and to judgement;17 beyond false oath, the very communicate to me from His unfathomable indication of falsehood He uprooted18 de- store of wisdom, the shiny beam of under- claring: You have heard that it was said to standing. In this way, this work will be the ancestors, ‘Do not break your oath,’19 completed at my hands, following the re- with other such words He ordered and con- quest of your love, perfect in divine mat- firmed. He taught us not only these things, ters.” but also that we may take care to eliminate and stop in our bodily members repugnant Forward of the Book: Justification of (Sim- actions and sin committing. But we ought eon) addressed to the one who requested especially to take care of the soul,20 to puri- from him to put in writing the book. fy it from the will inclined to evil, and this The questions which your holiness asked is the main and highest element for a hu- me that concern matters of ecclesiastical man being. As the aim of our Lord’s incar- law: /213/ Why did our Lord not deliver nation not to give us ephemeral and perish- them in establishing His laws? What is the able life, his teaching appears to be much reason that we do not treat legal matters more transcendent than physically visible following the Law of Moses? From where matters. Therefore, it was not fit for the did we obtain our traditional laws? Con- greatness of that admirable and divine cerning other held legal questions, and how economy to set a law concerning the ques- they are usually applied, I shall write, as tion of trade, a matter that suits the state much as I understand and am able to /215/ of the mortal conduct. Even though through the Divine Grace. He taught about lawsuits and quarrels rele- vant to worldly possessions and properties, Chapter One: What goal does the teaching He in reality commanded to totally uplift of our Lord have, and why He did not lay our minds from all these things—(secular) down any law concerning juridical deci- judicial cases and the adornment21 of this sions? visible mode of life, and only to seek and The goal of our Lord’s teaching is higher emulate heavenly ways. We ought to think and more sublime than the practices of this about and restrict our minds to it, just as world and all the deeds of virtuous con- He said: Where your treasure is, there your duct. This is clear to everyone without say- heart will be also.22 And how could the ing, and on that account, He intended to following sayings not be opposite of the deliver to the people in setting down laws, established law about lawsuits and quar- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 54

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______rels: If anyone wants to take your shirt, bles, entanglements, and intense troubles. hand over your coat as well; if anyone Therefore, to rectify and regulate the slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him course of our earthly life, He sanctioned the other cheek also;23 and this: Do not and placed in His wonderful laws take revenge, but leave room for [God’s] and suitable instruction that are fit for and wrath;24 and this: Sell your possessions and which do not deter us from heavenly con- give alms?25 duct, but rather help us and benefit us. These (rules) do not fit the of peo- About the (dead) man’s inheritance who ple, but are appropriate for the Church has no wife and sons, who has right over leaders to whom (our Lord) entrusted their his inheritance? applications, just as He said: If your broth- About the (dead) man’s inheritance for er sins against you, go and rebuke him be- the sons and the daughters: should it be tween you and him alone,26 along with oth- divided equally or should the sons get more er similar sayings. But although it says re- and the daughters get less? buke any person within the community We notice that the Law of Moses dic- wherever he is situated, without any dis- tates to its adherents worldly practices, alt- tinction, what comes after, let him be to hough it considers legal matters as some- you as a Gentile and a tax collector,27 is thing base. But the one who wants to know said about the leader of the church. Our exactly why our Lord did not set laws con- Lord entrusted to him that guidance, be- cerning trade, it is easy to know from (His) cause He knew that such an (admonition) actions. For our Lord and Saviour was not does not only merely deter from heavenly concerned about possessions and proper- conduct, but mainly teaches about the per- ties, but about teaching people the perfec- fection of righteousness. tion of righteousness and true conducts, It seemed unfitting to (our Lord) to de- and to eliminate from the people oppres- liver to the followers of His holy teaching sion, fraud, quarrel, and falsehood, and the written law codes concerning questions of like. Because of the foreknowledge of His possession and disputes about mundane divinity He was aware that if love alone is owning, debated and disputed among peo- found in someone, it would be able to ple, namely how one ought to decisively break and dismiss all hatred, oppression, manage such lawsuits. This is to not con- and falsehood; on this matter, more than tradict His teaching with His own person anything else, he was admonishing us and and with His Paschite economy, for He urging us about love and peace. He knew taught us to reject the love of visible that it (=love) was for us in lieu of salt with things, and to bring our attention to heav- which the whole foulness of sin is purged enly things, to direct it and set it in the from our souls. It purifies and cleanses heart of His perfect teaching full of life. Humanity from the defilement of passions Matters related to disputes, lawsuits, and and wicked desires to be suitable for the property of husband and wife, of brother Lord’s use and to be ready for every good and sister, and of son and daughter do not deed. He was aware that after the comple- fit in any way that admirable and divine tion of His economy in flesh and His as- teaching and the greatness of the world cension to heaven /317/ those who believed hereafter about which our Lord taught us. in Him would remain in this world for a (His teaching) releases us from sicknesses, long time. And He knew it was impossible, passions, lusts, desires, necessities, and while we are mortal and behave like hu- vexations of this perishable world. Our mans, for our conduct to be without stum- Lord shouted, saying: Repent, the kingdom ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 55

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______of heaven is approaching.28 Into what scorn of property? If all of humanity is meant, and deficiency would His teaching fall if laws and regulations would be required for He would (also) say: If a man dies, /219/ it, confirmed and delivered. Clearly, if laws having no wife and children, his property and regulations that (God) confirmed and should be given to his brothers and sisters, placed into the hands of the blessed Moses or to his elder brother? Or how would this were required for the whole world and for be possible: Do not take any gold or sil- all times, /321/ He would have delivered ver,29 with: a brother’s property—if he has them to and confirmed them for humanity a mother, the inheritance should go to the from the beginning. If we indeed diligently mother and not to his brother? The wise consider the Law of Moses and the regula- and discerning can easily understand on the tions that are confirmed in it, we would basis of what we have said that it would learn that the majority of them are only for draw no small insult and scorn to the laws the need of the Jews. If you wish, observe of our Lord, if He ever and in any way the beginning of the laws—laws set before concerned Himself with worldly lawsuits. them—written as follows: If you buy a He- Concerning this matter, anyone who wish- brew servant, he is to serve you for six es can draw from the Gospels ample evi- years, but in the seventh year, he shall go dence to discuss and compare between the free from your place;30 is this not clearly extensive sayings. It seems to me that these said on account of the Hebrew? And when statements that are made, even if short, are they speak of the land, that it must not be enough, not only to not lengthen the ac- sold whatsoever,31 this does not apply to count, but also because I know that your the whole world nor does it concern every wisdom, after reading most of what is writ- place. Even today’s Jews do not keep this ten, is able to easily understand (even) the law, because the statement’s goal concerns things that are not written here. the Promised Land, which was given by God to the Children of in inheritance, Chapter Two: Why Do We Not Practice so that this inheritance would not change Law on the Basis of Mosaic Law? tribe after tribe, and generation after gener- ation. Many similar statements, clear and Your Reverence asked: Why do we not well-known, are found in the Book of Mo- practice law based on the Law of Moses? It ses that are not suitable to the whole world is easy to learn from the following. The and to all ages. The things that are con- whole goal of that law was this: to guide firmed in the first Law were to be observed and direct people toward the expectation of by that (Hebrew) people, and were needed the advent of Christ. Many laws and regu- at that time. The blessed Paul teaches about lations are placed and confirmed in it, not this very thing, saying: Regulations of the suitable to all the nations and times, but are flesh are set until the time of .32 rather only needed for that (biblical) time On this account, we cannot find evi- and for that (Jewish) nation. If one believes dence in Mosaic Law to use on every court that it is not the way I said it, let him know matter, to readily give judgment according and understand this: How could this be up- to what is commanded and confirmed rightly done by God, that, leaving all the there. Nor is everything that occurs in court world’s nations, He chooses but one to care written expressly in the Mosaic Law; while for, giving them laws and regulations with there are just a few cases, much has not which they would be accustomed, while been recorded. But we cannot apply even the rest (of nations), He would not teach those cases that are mentioned in the Law, nor give even one regulation about matters in light of what is said there. For if we are ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 56

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______required to judge and sanction according to God known in comparison with the false the Law of Moses, we ought to do this be- idols, he showed the true God, the Lord of fore everything: He who sells his house, he all, through an amazing and wonderful shall also return to it after fifty years;33 this deed.36 Henceforth, in matching the matter, is commanded by the Law! (philosophers) did their best to imitate and Thus, we are unaccustomed to practice make an altar, a ditch, and other things, in law on the basis of the Law of Moses. The view of duplicating and performing (Eli- details in this essay are enough, consider- jah’s deed). But because they could not ing your full and competent knowledge. perform the Blessed Elijah's miracle in bringing down fire, they made fire so that (Chapter Three):34 Concerning the origins through it they hoped to ascertain truth of past and present laws of the Church from falsehood.37 This shows that we were You asked me: The laws that were prac- able to do and examine many things in ticed in the Church, and that are practiced comparison with the Law of Moses. today, from where do they derive? This is But today’s Church laws are proceeded what I think, /223/: Clearly, even in the and transmitted /225/ not by intellectual Law of Moses, not many cases are record- invention, nor by chance, carelessly and ed but only a few of them. Among state- superficially. We received them not as a ments (found) here and there in the Book tradition from simple and deficient people, (of Moses) concerning truth and justice, but from experts famous in prophetic vi- some are written metaphorically and sym- sion, who distinguished truth from false- bolically. Now when we compare and con- hood. The tradition with its introduction trast between them, we find many cases and subject matter was transmitted to us that we can understand whenever we reach from them. We can demonstrate the truth court issues. Now we say diligently that of this from the divine scriptures, despite although (all) the issues are not clearly the fact that it appears to many that it is documented in the Scriptures, we can form new. After the blessed Moses brought the judgements about numerous cases, by Israelites from through miracles and comparing between and matching the bib- with mighty deeds, he judged them for for- lical statements in every detail. ty years in the desert. According to Scrip- We also say that the pagans, although ture,38 there were sixty thousand39 men on they do many things wrongly and unduly, foot. After twenty years, the men, not derive all their judgments and sanctions counting women and children, were of the from the Law of Moses. Some obtain their same number; perhaps from this we can counterparts from the statements of Greek even better understand that no minor judg- philosophers, but even these philosophers es among them were brought forward, (to drew matters and materials from the Law deal) with the disobedience, crudeness, of Moses. A relevant example which con- gluttony, and cruelty of the Israelites dur- firms this is: Until now, not every person ing all that forty-year period with such understands clearly what is called in their density of population. Not only could they (Greek) language ‘Archetype,’35 through not bind themselves by and interpret the which, as they claim, truth can be ascer- law expressly, they also among themselves, tained from falsehood. Preserved in the opposed each other with quite a bit of con- Prophet Elijah is something quite similar to tention and quarrels. this, for here there was also dispute and It is easy to learn about this matter from inquiry concerning the fear of God. When the Scriptural account, which says: Now the Prophet of God wanted the truth of his Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came to ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 57

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______him, and saw him seated during the whole cial power, they received the gift of proph- day and the people standing before him ecy. They were not able to judge by virtue from the morning to the evening on ac- of their mind, but were instructed by divine count of the intensive contentions and revelation, which they received in a hidden quarrels that they had against each other.40 manner. Likewise, it is said about Deborah: The blessed Moses did not pass sentence on The prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,47 people according to his mind and as he was judging Israel at that time,48 and also wished, but according to what he was in- Samuel the blessed Prophet, following the structed through divine revelation, as we divine knowledge that instructed him, con- learn from what his father-in-law asked him: tinued to judge and lead the Israelite peo- What is this thing that you are sitting alone ple all the days of his life.49 Four hundred while the whole people stand above you and fifty years after Moses, judgement pro- from morning till evening?41 He answered ceeded in this manner over the people, but him fittingly: Because the people come to thereafter, kings were elected and ruled me to beg God. Whenever they have a dis- over the people. We find David, who great- pute, they come to me, and I made judge- ly excelled in the divine knowledge, and ment between a man and his brother, and I after him we notice his son Solomon to show them the path of God /227/ and his whom clearly great wisdom was granted by decrees.42 At this point his father-in-law God. His wisdom was so great and sublime advised him in wisdom: You will be made /229/ that he spoke about all the created by God the people’s teacher.43 natures: beasts, creeping animals, flying Based on what is said (above), all the creatures, fish, and about all kinds of trees, legal cases brought before the blessed Mo- beginning with the cedars of Lebanon and ses were clearly beyond his mental power, down to the green plants that come out of and he would ask for God's instruction. As the wall.50 he was instructed by the divine revelation, Thus by means of such men as those thus would he sanction and judge. For ex- (Judges), the sanctions and laws that the ample, it is clearly ordered in the Law by Church now holds and applies were trans- God that the one who works on the Sab- mitted to us as tradition and custom. And if bath would be killed. When someone was they were transmitted in writing, brought before the blessed Moses for col- either because they were not recorded or lecting wood on the Sabbath, the latter did because, if they were recorded, the written not sanction that he be immediately killed records have not survived, what is sure is according to the command of the Law, but that they reached us today as custom and he asked God a second time concerning the tradition. man.44 At the same time, Moses brought When I suggest that although these rec- before God the matter of the son of the Is- ords may not have reached us, it is not that raelite who insulted and reviled the name we could not receive many books without of God.45 Also regarding the verdict of the proof, for we find that many books were daughters of Zelophehad, he asked for in- lost and destroyed at different times during struction from God, and the command over seditions and captivities endured by the Zelophehad's daughters was that they Jews, and they never came to light. This is spoke rightly.46 what is written concerning Solomon who Long after the time of the blessed Mo- produced three thousand sayings and one ses, we notice that laws and sanctions were thousand and five odes,51 most of which handed down from the hands of those men never reached us. We no longer possess (=minor Judges), and that, along with judi- The Book of the Acts of the Kings of Isra- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 58

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______el, although it is clearly mentioned in the as follows: The Word of Wisdom is a gift Scriptures. The Treaty of the Kings and the of the (divine) Grace, given to people who Commentary of Iddo the Prophet, along excel in the knowledge of human wisdom. with other books known to have existed, If they are in a position to deliberate mat- are no longer found. I do not intend to ters in which wise counsel is required, or if show that these lost books contained sanc- a listener is needed for lawsuits regarding tions and laws, but I spoke (above) to indi- any matter, or if they reflect about physical cate that even though they had been written things, or if they wish to pass knowledge by the ancients, they did not reach us. on to others— this grace bestows much Nonetheless, we say with certainty, that benefit in such and other cases to those even if the laws were not transmitted to us who are dependent on human wisdom. in writing, we can know that what we pos- Solomon acquired it and excelled in judg- sess was transmitted by the ancients and ing and in wisdom-counselling, in such a that they reached us. way that his teachings were written down. It is not only from the ancestors that People like these lived during the days much of what we have was proceeded and of the Apostles, and they used to make de- transmitted, but also from after the advent cisions in juridical cases that befell them. of our Lord Christ, when churches were Ecclesiastical law was long under their established in every place and the number control, as is our case, which is practiced of the believers increased everywhere. The today, being handed down as tradition. It grace of the (Holy) Spirit did not allow proceeded from them and was passed down those believers to set aside the truth of the successively to us. Church when trade lawsuits befell them, If anyone believes that these legal deci- and when they had to conduct judgment sions are new, let him know that not only with their brethren before corrupt judges, these, but also many other things heard in who are strangers (=non-Christians). On the ecclesiastical ministry, did not distinc- account of this, along with the distinct tively reach us through rules or books /233/ grace /231/ that our Lord gave and settled (made) by prophets and Apostles. Rather, on those who believed in Him, He gave to just as we received them as a tradition, so many revelations and knowledge enabling we duly apply them, knowing that those them to identify just judgments though who accepted and organized them were not truthful examinations. The believers have simple people, but were people who at- no right, if they have dispute against mem- tained them through the revelation of the bers of their Faith, to declare it before a Spirit. I say this as proof: when believers judge outside the Church. The blessed Paul depart from this world, they are honoured clearly teaches us, saying: If any of you has by prayer and service. This is not written in a dispute with another, do you dare to take any book. But we know that this (practice) it for judgment before the wicked ones and is not sought and invented by simple peo- not before the holy ones?52 ple, but was transmitted by people who That there also are in the Church virtu- learned, through the Spirit of God, the aim ous men who have received such graces of the economy of our Lord. Although this from the graceful Spirit, we can learn from practice is not written in our Lord's or the the blessed Apostle who says: To one Apostles’ teaching, it is known as a beauti- (there is given) through the Spirit a mes- ful custom held in the Church, which has sage of wisdom.53 This sentence, the been carried on to this day. It is not a nov- blessed Theodore (of Mopsuestia), the In- elty, I mean, not foolishness concocted by terpreter of the Divine Scriptures, explains the human mind. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 59

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______

The same is true of the rite of Baptism, church leaders, while in other places justice that is standing on a sackcloth, undressing is applied in another way. This is not sur- to the point of nakedness, being barefoot, prising, nor does it refute what we have stretching the hands, genuflection, and said, since even the liturgical services in such other things. We have not received in the Church underwent much change in writing that we should do likewise, but the some places and times, and it is not possi- blessed Interpreter (Theodore) said: This is ble to think or to say that they have not a tradition passed down to us from earlier been established by the Apostles through generations, namely, that we should do so the grace of the (Holy) Spirit. And if the with those who come forth for holy Bap- laws underwent some change, so much tism. We learned from the blessed Diony- more did the other things! sius, a deacon during the days of the Apos- Now I have spoken and written about tles,54 about honouring the dead and about this subject that fell upon me (to discuss), this rite of Baptism; he said that he did not but if there is someone else who has an invent these practices out of his own mind, account newer than this, or he is more able but wrote that they proceeded and were to write and teach (about it), I have no ob- delivered to him in this way. We find many jection. other practices, which while they were not BEGINNING OF ALL LAWS delivered to us by the ancients in writing, they reached us by way of actions. §1 I made these statements so that you You wrote: From where is it known that would not think that what I said is novelty, if a man dies childless, but has a wife and a namely that laws and sanctions that are brother, his asset ought to go to his wife, practiced today in the Church, even though not to his brother? they were not delivered to us in writing, I reply to this: From the beginning, God they nonetheless are the same as those created woman to help man, not only as an which were confirmed and delivered by the assistant, but also as a helper like himself; ancients, and which progressively arrived He made her one flesh with the man: That to us. We can clearly learn about this from is why a man leaves his father and mother the scriptures, as in the matter of Ananias and is united to his wife, and they become /235/ and Sapphira (which) was revealed to one flesh.57 Following the words of Scrip- Simon Peter;55 and as the blessed Stephen ture, woman was created for man, but the and his companions who were selected to brother was not created for his brother. resolve the quarrel between Greeks and During their life (together), man and wom- Jews concerning the service of the widows, an own a living place, and not only is their and how with the assistance of the gift and property common, but it also belongs to the grace of the Spirit administered the each other. During her lifetime, the wom- matter as it fitted the truth.56 Thus many an’s property is under the man’s control, other legal matters went before them, and and therefore, /237/ it would be a flagrant they, through the same wisdom of the Holy injustice if during her lifetime, while her Spirit, examined them and decided about property is her husband’s and she has no them, and in the same way their tradition control over it, at the time of her husband’s proceeded until it came to us. death he would will that her property Also, (the legal practices) are some- should go to someone else other than his times fulfilled differently, and the practice wife—if she has no sons. varies depending on the person, time, and If someone considers this matter dili- the opinion and the mind of individual gently [….].58 Leave the fact that she has ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 60

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______full control over her property at the time of the time of his death, /339/ leaves his wife her death. If he (husband) does not own without support. It is also not lawful that he sufficient property and possessions to sup- gives (in his will) some of his property in port his wife and children, no one else is alms and to other venues, except that, de- bound by his word—not in his life, nor in pending on the size of what he owns, he his death. This cannot be said of brothers, assigns to his wife sufficient support and since not every time a brother complains gives it to her. that his brother would not provide him with But I say another thing more important food and support do we enforce him to re- than this. Notwithstanding what your holi- spond to his need. ness wrote that the husband has authority Now the husband is obliged to respond to deprive his wife of his asset so that she to the needs of his wife at all times, and the would not marry another man, I truly say wife is required, as long as she lives, to that she is partner in his entire asset, and serve and obey her husband. We under- (while) the Church wholly excludes adul- stand this from the truth of the facts that tery and debauchery, a second marriage is husband and wife form one house and fam- permissible by the Apostle.59 I am aware ily, but the husband’s brothers are from a that if a woman is without provision for different house and family. On account of remarriage, how many times, under the this, the property of the husband who is pressure of natural desire, is she drawn to- childless but has brothers should be inher- ward fornication which divine law wholly ited by the wife and not by his brothers. abhors! Therefore, a portion seems to me

§2 (appropriate) even if (her husband) is un- You wrote: If a daughter gets married willing to give her the full share. It is bla- during her father's lifetime, and her father tantly unjust if he does not give her a por- gives her something from his asset, but tion of his property with which she can later he dies without writing a testament, remarry. (Deprivation) is the cause of adul- does the daughter have share in her father’s tery and fornication for the woman, a mat- asset along with the other inheritors or not? ter that we occasionally face. Just as we I reply to this: Once a daughter gets mar- sanctioned that sustenance and support ried, she is separated from her father and is should be given to her, so too we decreed in submission to her husband. If her father, that whatever share she can be provided while alive, made a promise to her to give with should be given to her if she decides her something and later on, through his to remarry. This also prevents her from promise, she receives a portion, with regard bringing into the Church fornication, adul- to her father’s inheritance, she has no part- tery, and impurity on the pretext of the lack nership whatsoever. This is clear to every- of possessions. Pagan people do one and does not require much inquiry. make law concerning this matter because for them an adulterous and fornicating §3 woman is not rejected,60 but in the Church Concerning this: If a man is about to of Christ adultery and fornication are whol- die, does he have authority to deprive his ly banished. It is not proper to do injustice wife from his asset because she would be to the woman, and to achieve this issue, married to another man? that (sanction) takes place. I answer the following: The man has au- thority over his property, but in this world §4 there are customs and laws that are held You wrote: A Christian husband has a and are valid: it is not lawful that a man, at partnership with his wife in his current and

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The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______future assets; if he does not have a partner- dying, signed an agreement with them, be- ship with her, (after he dies) what portion queathing something for them.61 would she get from her husband’s asset: §6 great, small, or nothing? You wrote: A man divides his assets My answer: Any husband lacking part- among his children, and while alive, one of nership with his wife in his asset, but his sons dies, having no wife and children, providing her a portion from it for her sus- who inherits the asset of the deceased son? tenance—as the Church sanctions—this is My answer: All the asset of the son who enough for her. (After he dies) it is lawful, dies while his father is alive was derived if she wishes, to remarry, but she does not from his father, but if the son gathered it get a full portion. /241/ If he makes an out of his own work, (in these cases all) agreement with her, sharing with her his goes to his father. entire assets, then he has no right to make another agreement outside the one made §7 with his wife. You wrote: A husband has a partnership with his wife in his assets, and begets chil- §5 dren from her, but later this wife dies; the You wrote: A man who has a wife and man marries another woman and also from sons, as well as daughters who, while he is her he begets children, and then he dies alive, are married; some of the sons have without leaving wills. How to divide the wives and children, but others do not. Later assets between the sons of the wife who on, this man, along with the sons who have had partnership (in the assets) and the sons wives and children, and the ones who are of the other woman? childless, are killed either in war or at (My answer:) It seems to me that this king’s order. Do the sons who have wives case ought to be decided as follows: /243/ and children get a share from the assets of the document signed by the husband for the their father or not? first wife must be produced and the way My answer: If the sons who have wives she had a partnership with him (in the as- and children die before their father, the sets) must be known. If it is written: ‘the share of these fathers goes to their chil- assets that I have attained during my life dren. will be yours and the children that I will If the (married sons) die their have from you; you are my partners;’ and if father or not very long time after him, this the wife departs from the world during the enables them to inherit the assets of their lifetime of her husband, her asset and share father; (otherwise,) it is clear that they do go back to her husband. After the father not inherit anything. And if they do not dies, the sons from the wife who had no receive anything, it is also clear that the partnership (in the assets) and those of the shares of the inheritance go to no one else wife who had partnership divide the asset (among the children). Rather, one half of of their father equally. If an agreement was the assets of the father is due to his wife, done with different terms, it ought to be and another half (is due) to the children and decided and reckoned according to what is widows of his sons. signed.62 As for the daughters (of the deceased man), it is done as I wrote above (§2): if §8 they are married, they have no part and no You wrote: A man has a mother and sis- partnership (in their father’s assets), unless ters; the mother (after the death of his fa- their father, (while alive) or while he is ther) and some of the sisters get married,

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The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______and the (unmarried) remainder are still of freedom, it is not right to admit him into alive. When the man dies, to whom is his any ecclesiastical rank, as is also written in asset due? the synods of the episcopal fathers. As for (My answer:) This is how it ought to be the (the slave) whom his master frees, ac- decided: A man who has no wife, children, cording to the custom that runs in the and brothers, while he has a mother and Church, and depending on his education, sisters, his asset is not due to his sisters but age, and conduct, he is fit for episcopacy, to his mother. to be accepted and honoured along with his other colleagues. §9 On this issue, it is wrong to write a rul- You wrote: A man owns much wealth ing, as each case differs with every place and his brothers and sisters are poor. He and person. Nonetheless, that a slave has a wife, but he dies without writing a should in no way be accepted into (a rank) will. Despite the advice of the Church to in the Church is commanded by the early give to those poor ones (some of the as- fathers. sets), his wife, willingly, does not want (to give). How does this case be solved? §12 My answer: If she will not be persuaded You asked: A man has a wife and chil- through advice and admonition on behalf dren according to the law. Later on, the of the poor (so as to help), it is not right to wife dies and he begets children from his make against her any juridical decision. slave, but eventually he dies without leav- ing a will. The slave-born children dispute §10 with the free-born children over the assets You wrote: A man says to his father: of their father. What is right to do? Divide your assets and give me the share This is how it should be sanctioned: that falls to me from your estate. There is no mingling between the children This is what I say: The father, as long as of the slave and those of the free woman, he remains alive, has the right not to give as Scripture clearly states. The blessed him any share. But if he has a child or a Theodore (of Mopsuestia), in his Commen- crippled son, who cannot live without the tary on the Letter to the Romans,64 elabo- father’s asset, the (father) is compelled un- rating on the verse: the children of the flesh 63 der law to let him inherit from his asset. are not the children of God, indicates that

in the world (the rule) not only functions as §11 explained above,65 but also that one slave- On whether it is lawful for a member of born remains a slave and enslaved, unless the clergy to marry his slave, and if he mar- his master grants him manumission. ries her, if his sons through her are eligible for ecclesiastical ranks, I say: §13 If the member of the clergy does not On the division of paternal inheritance free his slave, he has no right to marry her, among sons and daughters: because if he does not free her, (by marry- I say what is just: Half of the asset ing her) he would commit adultery with goes to the daughter from her father. Alt- her. But /245/ if he marries her in legal hough the Scripture is unclear on this mat- matrimony, that woman would not be his ter, it is evident that sons, not daughters, slave. everywhere hold the inheritance of the par- On whether one born of a slave can be ents. As sons receive a greater portion of ordained by the Church, I answer: Any the inheritance, a full share is given to the slave whose master does not give him a bill sons, and a half share goes to the daugh- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 63

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______ters, for their household, provisions, and truth and their testimony is not accepted (in clothing. court). On this matter, even pagan judges But I have noticed that often when the rule thus: When the asset of the father is not daughter’s asset is not /247/ sufficient for distributed among the brothers, and while her sustenance and clothing and to be pro- none of them has received for himself inher- vided so as to get married, the ecclesiasti- itance, and one of these brothers dies; be- cal leaders have decided that the additional cause the asset is still common, they say, the share be given to the daughter. They did inheritance (of the deceased brother) ought this not without reason. For under no cir- not be for the mother, but it goes to the cumstances, does the Church permit adul- brothers. As long as the asset is still in the tery and fornication. Offering no room to family and their common inheritance is still such things on the pretext of deprivation,66 undivided, the woman from the day /249/ it was thus judged and sanctioned, justly her husband dies becomes a stranger both in and compassionately.67 her husband’s family and toward (her) asso- ciation with him. §14 But if the inheritance is already divid- You wrote: Is it lawful that an elder ed and one of the brothers dies while the son, or a crippled one, or a monk, or one mother is alive, all his asset goes to the who is his brother’s personal support, be mother. This is justified because his asso- given a greater part from his father’s inher- ciation with his brothers is ended. Thus his itance? asset is no longer in the family, but it was My answer: I have not seen in the his. And on account of the closeness of Church an elder brother to whom a greater kinship, so it is said, the inheritance (of the share is given. As for the crippled who deceased son) ought to go to his mother, cannot earn money in his support, if a share because she is the closest to him. is not assigned to him with which he can In the Church, it seems to me general- live, an additional beneficial share should ly that when the son dies, his asset is equal- be given to him. ly divided between his mother and his §15 brothers. If this matter did not thus func- You wrote: A dying man has a mar- tion until now,69 it indeed does function ried sister, a mother, and brothers born of now, because this matter is (not) confirmed the (same) mother. Who inherits his assets? by a judgment, but by consensus. This is my decision: What I said about §16 the sister, this is what is done: A married A man or a woman dies without a sister is not given any share—we faced this will, and has no close kin except for a pa- issue twice or three times, and the early ternal uncle or a nephew: the inheritance (Church) leaders did not issue any (rele- ought to be mostly for the nephew. vant) sanction. It occurred in our days and A woman who departs from the world this is how we decided, when many took place; we decreed that a sister from her daughter, or a brother: the inher- already married has no share. itance ought to be mostly for the grandson With regard to the mother: The Chris- from her son.70 tian woman once her husband dies becomes a stranger within her husband’s family, be- §17 cause her partnership with her husband is A man dies while he has a grandson dissolved. Christians do not recognize kin- from the daughter and71 a nephew: the in- ship through these women,68 as they lack heritance of asset ought to be for his grand- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 64

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______son. Both boys are equal in terms of kin- the ancient, concerning monks, that it is not ship, but in terms of generational succes- lawful for a monk to take money from sion, the grandson is the closer (of the someone else, and to engage in trade and two).72 profiting unless it is permitted by a bishop

§18 for the sake of orphans. A man departs from the world having a But if a dying man entrusts the care of son who is not of his religion. The tradition his children to another man, and this man in the world runs as follows: the one who surrenders the care to another man, this is shifts from paganism to another religion is not prohibited by the ecclesiastical canons. not given a share from his father’s inher- Nonetheless, the leaders of the Church itance, and the Law of Moses too sanctions ought to show diligence over the property the death penalty upon those who serve of orphans and children so that it is not idolatry and iniquity. Just as the son of a scattered and wasted. If the first guardian pagan man who converts to Christianity is establishes another one (in his stead) and if not given from his father’s inheritance, so the latter dies, the leaders of the Church too the son of a Christian man who con- ought to follow closely the matter. If the verts to another religion ought not to be children have a close relative, let the affair given a share from his father’s asset. be entrusted to him. But if someone like Concerning this matter, I know of no him cannot be found whatsoever, a guardi- other explanation to bring and compare it an ought to be established. In any case, the with. leaders of the Church must be diligent not to leave orphans and children without a §19 guardian and manager. A man dies having a wife and sons who are not from this woman, and before divid- §21 ing the asset the wife73 /251/ dies without a A man gives something from his asset will. Because the wife whose husband dies with a deed to his son, but since the man becomes a stranger within the family of her did not sign the deed to show if he gave it husband, she gets whatever reached her as his personal property, or if the son took while she was still under his authority. This it to solely benefit (from it), the remainder same asset that befell her from her husband of the asset, (the value of which) is un- known, belongs to his father. ought to be for her closest in kinship if she lacks children.74 §22

§20 A man dies while he has a mother, and A man entrusted his young children to a brother or a sister, and having no wife, he the care of another man at the time of his has children only /253/ from his slave. His death, and then the man under whose care estate belongs to his relatives, for his chil- they were entrusted was also dying, and he dren from the slave have no inheritance, appointed another man in support of those unless their father considers them as his children. I realize that the leaders must not (free) children. If they are still young or leave without investigation the affair of suffer from a handicap, and are unable to entrusted children, but rather they must earn money for their own support, they constantly show care, concern, and dili- ought to be given some share from whatev- gence toward them. er their begetter has. Also I saw that it is decided in the can- With the help of our Lord, the judge- ons and laws of the late Ishu‘yahb the Ca- ments written by Mār Simeon, the Arch- tholicos, and thus written in the synods of bishop of Rew-Ardashir, are completed. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 65

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______

NOTES 14 Ms. ܐܒ: This puzzled Sachau who also wondered if it was not , Greek 1 ܐ J.S. Assemanus, Bibliotheca Orientalis, σκηπτρον, but in this case the translator could vol. III/1 (Rome: Typis Sacrae Congregationis not use ܐܒ? de Propaganda Fide, 1728), §192, p. 279. ‘Abd- 15 2 Corinthians 2:15. Īšō‛ of Nisibis was himself the author of a 16 Matthew 5:28. “Collection of Synodical laws” to which, some- 17 Matthew 5:22. time later, he added the “Order of church laws;” 18 ܐ : Lit. “he extirpated from on this Collection see A. May, Scriptorum Vet- the middle,” an infrequent expression. erum Nova Collectio X (Rome, 1838), and on 19 Matthew 5:33. the Order see J. Vosté, Ordo iudiciorum eccle- 20 Ms ܐܕ instead of ܐܕ. siasticorum, FCCO II, XV (The Vatican City: 21 Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1940). ܐܒܨ is possibly a corruption of ܐܨ 2 J. M. Fiey, « Diocèses syriens orientaux “solicitude for.” 22 du Golfe persique, » in Mémorial Gabriel Khu- Matthew 6:21. 23 ri-Sarkis (Louvain, 1989), 177-218 (repr. J. M. Matthew 5: 40, 39. 24 Fiey, Communautés syriaques en Iran et Iraq Romans 12:19. 25 (: Variorum, 1989), #2. Luke 12:33 (paraphrased). 26 3 R. Duval, Išo‛yahb patriarcha III: Liber Matthew 18:15. 27 Epistularum, CSCO 11-12, SS 11-12 (Paris: E Matthew 18:17. 28 Typographeo Reipublicae, 1904-5), successive- Matthew 3:2. 29 ly 247-255, 256-260, 260-283 (Syriac), 179- Matthew 10:9. 30 184, 185-188, 188-204 (translation). Exodus 21:1. 31 4 J. B. Chabot, Synodicon orientale ou re- Leviticus 25:23. 32 cueil de synodes nestoriens (Paris, 1902), p. 36 Hebrew 9:10. 33 (Syriac), p. 275 (translation). See Leviticus 25:13, 31. 34 5 Ibid., p. 43 (Syriac), p. 285 (translation). The title is not in the text but is neces- 6 A. Harrak, The Chronicle of Zuqnīn I-II sary. In this long discussion about the origins of (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2017), 354- the legal system in the Church of the East, as 361. well as in the list of legal questions, except for 7 The code is translated by Chabot, Snod- §11 and §18, the author does no refer to the icon, 424-451. ecclesiastical synods; these discuss a variety of 8 Currently in Iraq this rule is still applica- legal cases throughout several centuries; see ble among the Christians but they attribute this also Sachau p. 348. 35 tradition to Islamic laws not to Church law! The hybrid term ܘܪ ought to be ܪ 9 http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Borg.sir.81. ܐ, a partial transliteration of the Greek This manuscript does not contain a date but it is adjective ἀρχέτυποϛ, the noun being probably a 19th century copy of 169; ἀρχέτυπον. The term occurs in Dionysius the Lucas van Rompay, “Synodicon Orientale,” in Areopagite but not in the sense given by Sime- Encyclopedia Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage on of Rev-Ardashir. On the term in Dionysius (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), 388. see C.E. Rolt, Dionysius the Areopagite: On the 10 The Syriac text is in Sachau’s Syrische Divine Names and the Mystical Theology (Lon- Rechtsbücher, vol. III (Berlin: von Georg don: Macmillan, 1920), p. 72 et passim. Reimer, 1914), pp. 209-253 (all odd numbers) 36 1 Kings 18. and the German translation is on pp. 207-252 37 Probable reference to ordeal by fire, an (all even numbers). We follow Sachau’s excel- ancient judicial practice, not limited to the lent editorial notes, both in footnotes and in his Greek culture. Anmerkungen in pp. 347-362. 38 Exodus 12:3; Numbers 1:45. 11 http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat. ar. 153. 39 One version: ‘six thousand’. 12 The familiar term refers to monks. 40 Exodus 18:1, 13. 13 This toponym refers to modern Qatar 41 Exodus 18:14. and other territories of the Gulf as well. 42 Exodus 18:14-15. ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 66

The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir: Presentation and Translation ______

43 Exodus 18:19. daughters, and if some of the sons have wives 44 Numbers 15:32-36. and children, while others have not; it hap- 45 Leviticus 24: 10-12. pened that this man and his children, both who 46 Cf. Numbers 27:1-7 have children and those who are childless, are 47 Written ‘Lappidor’—dōlat and rīš are killed in a war, the killed ones having children often confused with each other. and wives [their share goes] to their wives and 48 Judges 4:4. children if the (sons) are killed after or with 49 1 Samuel 7:15. their father. If they are killed before him 50 1 Kings 5:13. (=their father), their estate are for their chil- 51 1 Kings 5:12. dren. And those (sons) who do not have chil- 52 1 Corinthians 6:1. dren, there is nothing...” ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ :Corinthians 12:8. 62 Arabic text in Sachau, p. 355 1 53 ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺭﺳﻲ: ﺍﺫﺍ ﺍﺧﺘﻠﻂ ﻣﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﺮﺟﻞ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺮﺃﺓ ﻭﺍﻥ ﻟﻪ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ Dionysius the Areopagite ; see Acts 54 ﻭﻣﺎﺗﺖ ّﻭﺗﺰﻭﺝ ﺑﺎﺧﺮﻯ ﻭﺍﻭﻟﺪﻫﺎ ﻭﻣﺎﺕ ﺑﻐﻴﺮ ﻭﺻﻴّﺔ ﺍﺫﺍ ﻅﻬﺮﺕ 17:34 ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺍﻓﻘﺔ ﺑﻴﻨﻪ ﻭﺑﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﺰﻭﺟﺔ ﺍﻻﻭﻟﻰ ّﻭﺍﻥ ﻣﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﻭﺍﻭﻻﺩﻫﺎ ﻟﻪ ﻭﺍﻥ .Acts 5:1-6 55 ﻣﺎﺗﺖ ﻳﻌﻮﺩ ﻣﺎﻟﻬﺎ ﺍﻟﻰ ﺯﻭﺟﻬﺎ ﻭﺍﺫﺍ ّﺗﺰﻭﺝ ﺑﺎﺧﺮﻯ ﻭﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻗﺘﺴﻢ Cf. Acts 6:1-7 56 57 Genesis 1:24. “Simeon of Persia: If the estate of the husband 58 Sachau suggested to fill the gap as fol- and wife is common, if he has children from lows: “man findet, dass der Ehemann zwar der her and then she died, and if he married anoth- Verwalter der Habe seiner Gemahlin ist, sie er woman and begot children from her and aber die Eigentümerin, dass daher seine Ver- then he died without writing a will, when the waltung ihrer Habe gewissen Beschrän-kungen agreement between him and the first wife unterliegt “one finds that the husband, although shows that her estate and children are his, if he is the administrator of the property of his she dies, her possession returns to her hus- wife, is but the owner, and that therefore his band. If he marries another woman and she administration of her possessions is certainly dies, they divide …” subjected to restrictions.” This reconstruction 63 Arabic text in Sachau, p. 356 does not ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ ﺍﺫﺍ :makes sense within the general discussion of reflect exactly the Syriac original ﺍﻟﺘﻤﺴﺖ ﺍﻟﺰﻭﺟﺔ ﺍﻭ ﺍﻻﺑﻦ ﺳﻬﻤﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻴﺎﺓ ﺍﻟﺰﻭﺝ ﻭﺍﻻﺏ ﻓﻠﻬﻤﺎ ﺍﻻ .this first legal question ﻳﺪﻓﻌﺎ (ﻓﻠﻪ ﺍﻻ ﻳﺪﻓﻊ؟) ﺍﻟﻴﻬﻤﺎ ﻓﺎﺫﺍ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻓﻲ ﻭﻗﺖ ﻣﻮﺗﻪ ﻟﻪ ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ .Romans 7:3; I Corinthians 7:39 59 ﺍﻥ ﻻ ﻳﺪﻓﻊ ﺍﻟﻴﻬﻤﺎ ﻓﻜﻢ ﺍﻭﻟﻰ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻴﻮﺗﻪ ﻭﺍﻥ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻟﻼﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﻭﻟﺪ ﻫﻮ For Sachau, the term “pagan” refers to 60 ﺻﺒﻲ َﺯ ِﻣﻦ ﻭﻻ ﺣﻴﺎﺓ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻻّ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎﻝ ﺍﺑﻴﻬﻢ ﻓﻼ ﻳﺠﻮﺯ ﺍﻥ ﻳﻤﻨﻌﻪ -Zoroastrians but noticed that for Mazdeism adul Simeon: If the wife or the son requested“ ﻣﻴﺮﺍﺛﻪ -tery was a sin; Sachau p. 236. Nonetheless, Sim eon possibly refers to paganism in general which an inheritance during the lifetime of the hus- is considered immoral in any case. Jacob of Sar- band and father, they are (for: he is) able not give to both of them. If he has authority not to ug, commenting on the statue which Nebuchad- give them at the time of his death, how much nezzar established to be worshipped by people as more does he have during his lifetime. But if an opportunity to commit fornication; Homiliae the man has a child who is either young or Selectae Mar-Jacobi Sarugensis edited by Paul chronically ill and cannot live without the state Bedjan (Paris-Leipzig, 1902, 2nd ed. Piscataway: of his father, the latter cannot refuse his inher- Gorgias Press, 2006), vol. 2, p. 103. itance to him.” 61 This clause is translated unto Arabic, 64 Romans 9:8. but the disturbed content is reported here as in 65 Ms. ‟thus,” means “no mingling between the children of the slave and those of the free ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺭﺳﻲ: ﺍﺫﺍ ﻛﺎﻥ ﻻﻧﺴﺎﻥ :Sachau, pp. 353-54 ”.woman ﺑﻨﻮﻥ ﻭﺑﻨﺎﺕ ّﻣﺰﻭﺟﺎﺕ ﻭﺍﻟﺒﻨﻮﻥ ﻣﻨﻬﻢ ﻣﻦ ﻟﻪ ﻧﺴﺎء ﻭﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻭﻣﻨﻬﻢ .See also §3 66 ﻣﻦ ﻟﻴﺲ ﻟﻪ ﻭﺍﺗﻔﻖ ﻟﻬﺬﺍ ﻭﺍﻭﻻﺩﻩ ﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﻟﻬﻢ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻭﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﻟﻴﺲ ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ :Arabic text in Sachau, p. 357 67 ﻟﻬﻢ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻗﺘﻠﻮﺍ ﻓﻲ ﺣﺮﺏ ﻓﻬﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﻘﺘﻠﻴﻦ ﻭﻟﻬﻢ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻭﻧﺴﺎء ﻳﺮﻯ ﺍﻥ ﺗﺰﺍﺡ ﻋﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺖ ﻓﻲ ﺣﺎﺟﺎﺗﻬﺎ ﻭﺟﻬﺎﺯﻫﺎ ّﻭﺗﻔﻀﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻟﻨﺴﺎﺋﻬﻢ ﻭﺍﻭﻻﺩﻫﻢ ﺍﻥ ﻗﺘﻠﻮﺍ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺍﺑﻴﻬﻢ ﺍﻭ ﻣﻌﻪ ﻭﺍﻥ ﻗﺘﻠﻮﺍ ﻗﺒﻠﻪ Simeon“ ﺍﻻﺑﻦ ﺣﺘﻰ ﻻ ﺗﺤﺘﺎﺝ ﺍﻥ ّﺗﺘﺨﻄﺎ ﺍﻟﻰ ﻏﻴﺮ ﻭﺍﺟﺐ Simeon“ ﻓﻤﺎﻟﻬﻢ ﻻﻭﻻﺩﻫﻢ ﺣﺴﺐ ﻭﺍﻟﺬﻳﻦ ﻻ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻟﻬﻢ ﻭﻻ of Persia: If a man has sons and married believes that the need of the daughter should

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ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ :be fulfilled in terms of her necessities and 72 Arabic text in Sachau, p. 359 ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺭﺳﻲ ﺭﺟﻞ ﻣﺎﺕ ﻭﺧﻠّﻒ ﺍﺑﻦ ﺑﻨﺖ ﻭﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﺥ ﺍﻟﻤﻴﺮﺍﺙ ﻻﺑﻦ clothing. She should be preferred over boys ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺖ ﻭﺍﻥ ﻣﺎﺗﺖ ﺍﻣﺮﺃﺓ ﻭﺧﻠﻔﺖ ﺑﻦ ﺑﻨﺖ ﻭﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﺑﻦ ﻭﺍﺑﻦ ﺍﺥ so that she would not need to take unduly Simeon the Persian: If a man“ ﻓﺎﻟﻤﻴﺮﺍﺙ ﻻﺑﻦ ﺍﻻﺑﻦ ”.steps 68 Unlike in Judaism. dies leaving the son of (his) daughter and the 69 This phrase is repeated twice. son of (his) brother, the inheritance goes to the son of (his) daughter. If a woman dies leaving ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ ﺍﻥ :Arabic text in Sachau, p. 359 70 (the son of (her) daughter, and the son of (her ﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﻭﻻ ﻗﺮﻳﺐ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻻّ ﺍﺑﻦ ّﻋﻢ ﻭﺍﺑﻦ ﺧﺎﻝ ﻓﻤﻴﺮﺍﺛﻪ ﻻﺑﻦ son, and the son of (her) brother, inheritance ّﺍﻟﻌﻢ ﻭﺑﺎﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ ﺍﺫﺍ ﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻻﻧﺴﺎﻥ ﺑﻼ ﻭﺻﻴّﺔ ﻓﻤﻴﺮﺍﺛﻪ ﻻﻭﻻﺩﻩ ”.goes to the son of (her) son ﻭﺍﻥ ﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﻟﻪ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﺗﻘﺴﻢ ﺗﺮﻛﺘﻪ ﺛﻠﺜﺔ ﺍﺳﻬﻢ ﺳﻬﻢ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻟﺒﻴﺖ -This phrase is repeated almost identi 73 ﷲ ﻭﺳﻬﻢ ﻟﻠﺰﻭﺟﺔ ﻭﺳﻬﻢ ﻻﻫﻠﻪ ﻓﺎﻥ ﻣﻨﻊ ﺯﻭﺟﺘﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻮﺻﻴّﺔ .Simeon: If a man dies cally“ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻴﺮﺍﺙ ﻻ ﺗﻘﺒﻞ ﻭﺻﻴّﺘﻪ ﺷﻤﻌﻮﻥ :with no close relative except for a cousin 74 Arabic text in Sachau, p. 360 ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺭﺳﻲ ﺍﻣﺮﺃﺓ ﻳﻤﻮﺕ ﺯﻭﺟﻬﺎ ﻭﻟﻪ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ ﻻ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻭﻗﺒﻞ ﺍﻥ ﺗﻘﺴﻢ from the father’s side and a cousin from the ﺍﻟﺘﺮﻛﺔ ﺗﻤﻮﺕ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺃﺓ ﺑﻐﻴﺮ ﻭﺻﻴّﺔ ﻓﺎﻧّﻬﺎ ﻟﻤﻮﺕ ﺯﻭﺟﻬﺎ ﻏﺮﻳﺒﺔ ﻣﻦ mother side, his inheritance belongs to his ﻗﺒﻴﻠﺔ ﺯﻭﺟﻬﺎ ﻭﻣﺎ ّﻳﺨﺼﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺯﻭﺟﻬﺎ ﺍﻥ ﻟﻢ ﻳﻜﻦ ﻟﻬﺎ ﺍﻭﻻﺩ cousin from the father’s side. In general, if a Simeon the Persian: A woman“ ﻓﻼﻗﺎﺭﺑﻬﺎ ﻳﻜﻮﻥ man dies without a will, his inheritance goes to his sons and if he does not have sons his whose husband dies having children not from estate must be divided into three shares: one her. Before dividing the asset the woman dies share for the church, one share for the wife, without a will. Because the wife whose hus- and one share for his relatives. If he deprives band dies becomes stranger within the family of his wife from inheritance in his will, his will her husband, her property is from husband, and not be accepted.” if she does not have children, the property goes 71 Written “or”. to her relatives.”

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A CHRISTIAN ICON RESCUED FROM WAR

VINCENT VAN VOSSEL BABYLON COLLEGE, ENKAWA (IRAQ)

WAR AGAINST CULTURE ed turning his sword above his head, ready for the blow. The modern executioners raq has become a country where every- might have recognized themselves in the thing is threatened, not only the people, representation. This painting was brought but also the monuments. The most re- to for restoration, but other paintings I have been lost, due either to neglect or lack grettable loss is the monastery of Mar Behnam, near Mosul, a unique monument of respect or understanding by their own- of Christian art from the twelfth century1. ers. Already in the years long before the Barbarious hands have blown up the 6th invasion of Mosul and the Plain of century martyrion, and in the monastery, by the Islamic State, the local Christians the sublime carvings on the marble door did not appreciate their own art works; if lintels are all broken and hammered away something became old, it could not be re- beyond possible restoration. The fate of the stored and was thrown away. This was un- old churches of Mosul and the monuments fortunately the general situation among the of the Atabeg and Jalili periods is not yet Christians in the years 1950-1970. known. Despite this gloomy cultural sce- nario, some rare paintings miraculously THE ICON OF TELESQOF survived the barbarism. The small church built over the shrine Around the year 1980, a student of the of Saint Barbara in Kermeleys2 (fig. 1) was Chaldean seminary on vacation in his vil- completely ruined, all the statues broken, lage, Telesqof3, accidently found a small even the gravestone of the saint, but after piece of wood amongst rubbish. Though cleaning up a huge pile of rubbish, deep the wood was all black from the dust, the under the dust, an old painting of the saint student had the foresight to bring it to the was rediscovered. The painting is very seminary for inspection. It seemed to be damaged, without the frame, but the paint- only a part of a larger piece, about half of a ed theme could still be recognized. It was painting on canvas attached to wood. He the only painting that survived, probably went back to the village and was able to because it represents the beheading of the find the other part, and putting them to- saint, by a brute executioner who is depict- gether and restoring the whole, the out- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 69

A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______come was a lovely small icon painting paintings were very damaged, the St. John (about 50 by 35 cm in size). Although very had more than thirty holes in it, and the damaged, one could recognize the repre- face had already been repainted several sentation of the Virgin Mary seated with times. Fortunately, the priest allowed for a the child Jesus (fig. 2), under the presence restoration and these paintings were saved of the Holy Trinity in a cloud, and flanked and again hung up in the church. Actually, on both sides by two martyrs, each holding they have been transferred to (north his own head in his hands. Fortunately, of Iraq) before the invasion of Telkef by after the occupation of the village by the the Islamic State. Unfortunately, other Islamic State in 2014, this painting sur- paintings were not as lucky, for some had vived and it is in the possession of the already disappeared while others were par- Church of Telesqof where it is now found.4 tially damaged. A St. Giwargis (St. At a closer look, the painting of George) in the Church of Mar Esha‛ya, and Telesqof seemed to be Armenian, given the another in the church of Mar Giwargis, cylindrical towers on both sides of the both in downtown Mosul, had disappeared cloud, the facial features of the holy per- in the 1960s. A smaller one discovered sonalities, and of course the Armenian in- among a collection of thirty paintings in scription above the head of John the Bap- the old Chaldean bishopric of Mosul, was tist. In fact, a very similar painting is kept destroyed in the explosion of the new in the museum of Edzmiadzin5, and several Chaldean bishopric in 20047. A large won- details of the picture appear also on Arme- derful painting with St. George on his nian paintings from the 18th-19th centuries. horse, kept in the convent of Mar Giwargis The two saints on the Telesqof painting (Mosul), was for the most part ruined by a represent Saint James the Intercis (fig. 3) devotee who put her candle too close to the on the left and John the Baptist on the right painting, so that even St. George was not side of Our Lady. Both have their names able to extinguish it in time. written on top of them in clumsy Arabic, A close examination of all the afore- but John the Baptist has a small scroll over mentioned paintings shows the hand of the his head, which contains a beautiful Arme- same artist, and thus they go back in one nian inscription which reads: “A voice call- way or another to the same painter, an Ar- ing in the desert …”. Very likely this paint- menian who was working for the Chaldean ing was made towards the end of the 19th churches around the year 18808. century for the church of the village which The key to explain the origins of all was dedicated to Jacob the Intercis, proba- paintings mentioned above is none other bly at the moment when an extension was than the small icon of Telesqof. When one added to the original church, a second nave tackles these “Chaldean” paintings, one that was dedicated to John the Baptist. would ultimately ask the question: how The figure of John the Baptist in the could such a painter who seemed to know painting (fig. 4), dressed in a simple brown the old orthodox icon traditions be Chalde- tunic, holding a stick in his right hand, re- an, because nothing is known about Chalde- sembles a painting of the same saint on a an artists being trained as icon-painters. The canvas in Telkef6 (fig. 5), a village about Telesqof icon is the answer: the painter was 10 km to the south of Telesqof. In 1970, Armenian not Chaldean. But one would also this large painting, together with another, wonder how could an Armenian be allowed representing the martyrdom of Saint Ste- to paint for more than six Chaldean phen, was rolled up under the roof of a churches in the Mosul region. It is evident church waiting to be thrown away. Both that the painter had met the expectations of ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 70

A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______those believers, who had a great reverence tion. But it contains Armenian letters in for their local saints. They must have liked the title and on the arms of the cross, and his paintings which were close to their own next to the skull, at the foot of the cross, popular venerations. What a difference be- there is a monogram which reads “Bap- tween this high regard to art at the end of tist” (not Stephen)9. Here hangs also the the 19th century and the indifference toward great canvas of the Forty Martyrs and Mar it in the mid-twentieth century. The only Behnam, and some Madonnas which exception is Mgr. Suleiman as-Sayigh, who might be from his hand, but they all have as bishop of Mosul had collected many undergone drastic restorations. The most paintings belonging to his diocese into his impressive painting hangs next to the bishopric (between 1945 and 1962), proba- Royal Doors and represents the martyr- bly for the purpose of restoration. dom of St. Stephen (fig. 7). This painting shows clearly the same hand that painted AN ARMENIAN ARTIST that scene in the Chaldean village of FROM MARDIN Telkef, with a similar king on his throne and a copy of the executioners' faces and A question remains: from where did the attitudes. A very large painting in the Armenian painter come? Did he belong to abandoned Armenian Orthodox church the Armenian community in Mosul, or representing a local saint and his sister could his roots be traced back to further might be from his hand too. But in the remote places? Catholic Armenian church hang his most In the Chaldean church of Mardin, neglected old paintings dating back to the dedicated to St. Hormizd the martyr, some 1820s. They all show traces of his youth- large paintings are carefully kept, and re- ful hands. Among them also is a represen- cently restored, and in some the same tation of the Stoning of St. Stephen, not hand of the Mosul painter can be recog- with reminiscences of the Telkef one, but nized and detected. The faces and the with the vision of the Holy Trinity, just hands are very similar in all these paint- like that of Telesqof’s canvas, and even ings. Here also the local saints are repre- with the cylindrical church towers on the sented: Mar Hormizd, in Armenian dress, incensory of the martyr deacon. Even fur- next to Mar Pethion, the saint of the Chal- ther in the Orthodox church of Our Lady dean Diarbakr church, in a Latin chasuble in Diarbakr, some of the well-kept paint- (fig. 6), dated 1823; the Forty Martyrs at ings could go back to the same artist, or to the moment when the soldier takes the someone working close to him. One place of the one who leaves (fig. 7); the should keep in mind that the paintings child Quriaqos (Cyriacus) on top of the kept in the Orthodox churches have all scenes of the martyrdom of his mother been restored, probably in the same work- Julietta (fig. 8). On this canvas, the repre- shop, and are kept in a splendid way. sentation of the Holy Trinity appearing in a half circle cloud, is very similar to the CONCLUSION one on the icon of Telesqof. But also in other churches of the city, his paintings According to the dated paintings from the are kept: in the Orthodox church of the 1820s in the Mardin region, and from the Forty Martyrs and Mar Behnam, the cruci- 1880s in the Mosul environment, one could fixion tableau is very peculiar. It is rich propose the following: a young Armenian with theological meaning and the persons artist from Mardin, acquainted with the are represented in the attitude of medita- traditional Armenian manner of painting, ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 71

A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______had been working there for his churches, of Mardin (around 1820; fig. 9), then in the the Catholic as well as the Orthodox, and Syrian Orthodox (dated 1850; fig. 7) and he was so good that he was asked also by finally in the Chaldean Telkef village the Chaldeans and the Syrian Orthodox to (around 1880). decorate their churches with his tableaux. The small icon of Telesqof tells us This shows something about the ecumeni- something about an ecumenically minded cal spirit among those churches at that painter, who could adapt himself to the time. Later on, when the Ottoman persecu- needs of several denominations, and rep- tions of the Christian communities gradual- resent their beloved saints and scenes of ly increased, with the ravages of 1860- the life of Christ that were especially pre- 1915, some Armenians left the dangerous cious for them. Interestingly he was im- country for the safer region of Mosul, pressed by the martyrs, probably because where a sizable Armenian community was he himself lived in a period of horrible constituted. His three paintings of the Ston- martyrdom for all those churches in the ing of St. Stephen trace in a visible way region. Unfortunately, history repeats it- this evolution, first in the Armenian church self till today.

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A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______

 Fig, 2  Fig. 1

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A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

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A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______

Fig. 6

Fig. 8

Fig. 7 Fig. 9

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A Christian Icon Rescued from War ______

NOTES 5 Treasures of Etchmiadzin, 1984 (Un- known Armenian painter, Virgin with St. 1 See A. Harrak, L’art au service de la Hakbos and St. Nahapet, 1771); cf. O. Ave- foi : Le Monastère de Mār-Behnām à la pé- dissian, Peintres et sculpteurs arméniens du riode atabeg (Paris: Société des études sy- XIX s. à nos jours (Le Caire 1959). riaques, 2017); forthcoming. 6 Telkef is mostly Chaldean and its Arama- 2 Karamlēs is a Christian town located be- ic name “Mound of stones”, derives from the tween the Tigris and the Upper Zāb, some 15 km archaeological Tell beside which the town lies. south-east of Mosul. The church of St. Barbara is It may be that the painting of “St. Stephen, with built on the top of an ancient Assyrian tell, and a heap of stones” was inspired by that name. contained a coffin of the 3rd century martyr in the 7 This new bishopric was built by the late shape of a sarcophagus. The origin of the church Bishop Garmo in front of the church of al- is unknown, but in 1764 it was rebuilt by the Tahra (the Virgin Mary) in Mosul. While the Catholics as one of their first churches. It was bishopric was destroyed, one would hope that completely renovated some 10 years ago. On the the magnificent church of al-Tahra, the only town and St, Barbara see J. M. Fiey, Assyrie complete building of the Jalili period (mid-18th Chrétienne, II (Beyrouth 1965), 412. century), is kept intact. 3 Telesqof is a large Chaldean village, locat- 8 The year 1889 appears on the scroll ed some 10 km north-east of Mosul, and St. which John the Baptist holds in his hand on the James to whose name the church is dedicated is Telkef canvas. James the Dismembered. This holy man was 9 It could be an abbreviation of the painter’s martyred in the second year of the reign of Bah- name, but more probably it is an identity stamp ram V (421-439). His passion appears in the of the restorer’s workshop, because the mono- oldest manuscripts and was translated in Arme- gram appears only on canvasses in the Orthodox nian and other languages; see P. Devos, “Le dos- churches. This monogram at the bottom of the sier hagiographique de S. Jacques l’Intercis,” in: Crucifixion painting near the skull of Adam is AB 71, (1953) 157-210; AB 72 (1954), 213-256. Armenian Մկրտիչ Mkrtich, “Baptist”. Dr. Ar- 4 The photographs of the icon were taken man Akopian of the University of Yerevan was by Amir Harrak in May 2017. All other photo- kind enough to decipher this monogram and the graphs in this article were taken by the author. inscription on the Telesqof icon.

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SYRIAC CHANT AS MUSIC IN CULTURE: A NEW APPROACH*

TALA JARJOUR YALE INSTITUTE OF SACRED MUSIC

his article stems from a combina- context, and will hopefully find resonance tion of admiration and dissatisfac- among liturgically and musically minded tion relating to the study of what readers within the field of Syriac studies. T some sources call ‘Syriac music’, To put it in disciplinary terms, having others ‘Syriac chant’, or a variety of names attempted to study Syriac chant as a musi- involving the liturgical and musical aspects cologist (i.e. using the intellectual tools of of .1 Despite appearing ‘Western’, historical musicology), I have deceivingly simple, Syriac chant has been a concluded that, before we can achieve any remarkably impenetrable musicological realistically descriptive approximation of enterprise.2 For musicologists who desire this complex musical enterprise we com- to connect the literature on the subject with monly call Syriac chant, we need to rethink the sounds they hear in church, the more our hermeneutical toolkit. While ‘we’ here one tries to understand this musical conun- includes, for the most part, those academics drum, the more fascinated one becomes among us who have not been raised in the with it as a dynamic, living musical tradi- Suryani church but who are attempting to tion, but the more dissatisfying existing understand how this music works, it also scholarship on the subject becomes. Being includes Suryani men and women who are neither the first nor the only musician to increasingly taking one of their most inti- find European musicological scholarship mate cultural properties, their music, into on the subject lacking in local representa- the sanctuary of the academe, or more pre- tional value, I hope in this article to raise cisely, into Western academe.3 the issue within Syriac studies. The aim is What I would like to have achieved by to suggest new directions for studying Syr- the end of this short article, then, is a form iac chant that may be more connected to of intellectual stimulation. Without setting the tradition and its norms than they may out to disqualify some two-hundred years be concerned with conforming to European of musicological scholarship, I would like musicological paradigms. The interdisci- to analyze – in scholarly terms, of course – plinary alternative the argument proposes my passionate dissatisfaction with, or per- to existing musicological scholarship is haps my dissatisfied admiration of, availa- directly informed by the chant’s particular ble knowledge on Syriac chant and how its ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 77

Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______music continues to be studied. I do so in ry, and the second had to wait until after the hope that in addressing a specialized the First World War to be printed in Beirut. audience for all things Syriac, such as the Central to both books are musical tran- readership of The Journal for the Canadian scriptions, which the authors tell us they Society for Syriac Studies, the quest to un- made of chants that local cantors sang for derstand Syriac chant in ways different them. Although the former publication, an from those of traditional scholarship may example of early-nineteenth-century schol- gain currency, and that a contextual con- arship on Syriac chant, displays problems versation may begin. common to early musicology, which sub- There are a number of ways in which to sequently have been largely addressed, it present the argument in musical-theoretical shares basic commonalities with the latter terms, and they involve much technical source. Those commonalities will be dis- language appropriate for specialized musi- cussed in what follows to demonstrate the cological platforms. Therefore, rather than need for an altogether radically different addressing questions of modal theory, approach to the subject. What is worth not- problems of intervallic inconsistencies, and ing at this point is that the methodical is- notoriously bottomless arguments concern- sues those two sources display were not ing musical-theoretical details of Syriac (or exclusive to them, nor to French musicolo- neighbouring) types of modality (such as gy on Syriac chant. The problems that will those in Arab and Turkish musics), the be discussed below (or variations of them) strategy for the purposes of this article is to apply to most published works on the sub- demonstrate the centrality of other ele- ject, including some that have started to be ments of Suryani musicality to the process produced by Suryani musicians from the of theorization. Scholars in music studies since the second half of the may like to speak about ‘the music itself’, twentieth century. but they also acknowledge the existence of The earliest work we have from Europe a varied array of formative elements in any on Syriac chant is Book 14 in Description musical process. What may be conceived de l’Egypte which Napoleon Bonaparte as extra-musical elements, are aspects of commissioned in preparation for his mili- Suryani life and culture which are forma- tary campaign in Egypt. Guillaume-André tive to the musical enterprise and central to Villoteau (1759-1839), a tenor who studied understanding the essence of singing in the oriental languages at the Sorbonne and be- Suryani church. This choice belongs to an came a leader of the Opéra chorus after the intellectual stance that perceives music as a Revolution, wrote the section on music. He cultural construct, and pursues a local her- reported on the music of the Syriac people meneutics in order to understand the local (or ‘nation’ as he put it), the Armenians, musical enterprise.4 the Copts, and the Jews, which he consid- ered to be the of the era. Beside MUSIC BOOKS the fact that Villoteau’s scholarship was AS BOOKS ABOUT MUSIC not admired for long,5 his account of Syriac music displays a number of errors, some of Besides early Syriac sources, namely Bar- which have not left the musicological can- hebraeus’s Ethicon, the earliest printed ac- on. A full explanation of the problems in counts on Syriac chant came from Europe Villoteau’s work falls beyond the scope of and were written by French scholars. I will this article; suffice to say that the obscurity touch on two, the first of which was printed of his sources, the lack of key information in Paris at the start of the nineteenth centu- and some basic linguistic misunderstand- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 78

Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______ings have led to an imagined binary system gists. Another point worth making here is that was far from being accurate or ade- that a number of German musicologists quately described.6 have also written on Syriac chant later in Fortunately, subsequent musicology the twentieth century, and, like their French was better informed on matters historical counterparts, they too have relied heavily and textual. Later musicologists who went on musical transcriptions. However, if it to Lebanon to study chant worked closely exists, the influence of German scholarship with philologists and local clergy, which is more difficult to ascertain in local cir- allowed them to correct Villoteau’s misun- cles, partly because of the lack of contact derstanding and offer an account that dis- with Eastern churches in the area, but played greater accuracy, particularly on the mostly because it is generally difficult to linguistic aspect of poetry and meter. The access in the francophone (and increasingly result was the second publication on Syriac Anglophone) region. chant in French, a two-volume study that While residing in the monastery of has been reprinted twice since its first issue Charfé, Jeannin encountered many Suryani in Beirut.7 The 1925 publication was a col- priests and monks whose singing he used laborative effort mostly between two Ben- to create his transcriptions, and whom he edictine monks, Jules Cécilien Jeannin hoped might subsequently benefit from his (1866-1933) and Julien Puyade (1882- book in terms of their learning and instruc- 1914). Mélodies Liturgiques Syriennes et tion. Interestingly, and even though his Chaldéennes came out in two volumes: the project was generously endowed by vari- first was a liturgical introduction, Introduc- ous sources at the time of publication,9 tion Liturgique, and the second, Introduc- Jeannin did not make use of the recording tion Musicale, was a musical study that technology which, at the time, would have included transcriptions of over 900 pieces, been commercially available in the form of most of them Bēt-Gāzō chants.8 the early phonograph. One cannot help There are a number of reasons for se- wondering what a treasured source it could lecting these two sources as examples to have been, had Jeannin deposited a few discuss here. I will mention the following wax cylinders with the monks in Charfé. four, the relevance of which will emerge as But he did not. Accordingly, we have a the article progresses. First, both French collection of transcriptions that we know scholars belonged to a European tradition was made thanks to a number of monks in which historical-musicological encoun- and chant students from the Catholic semi- ters with the Levant were not rare but were nary at the monastery, but we have very considered. Second, French colonial inter- little else to suggest anything about the est in the region was growing throughout sounds of these chants. We do know, how- the nineteenth century and took the form of ever, that most of the cantors were pupils direct and military control at the turn of the of the Patriarch Georges Shelhod, who had twentieth century. Third, the Benedictine some years earlier established a reputation monks lived in Lebanon when they worked as a knowledgeable chant teacher at the on their collection and were thus in direct seminary.10 But besides this information, contact with the Suryani people, which en- we must deduce the rest to discover at least hances the relevance of the next reason. from which regional schools the cantors Fourth, the work of French musicologists came.11 Given the variety of places in was, and remains, accessible in these fran- which Jeannin tells us Shelhod learned the cophone lands; and Jeannin’s in particular chant, his influences are likely to have been is well known among Suryani musicolo- mixed, which creates some confusion, giv-

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______en the significance of regional variety for ture of musical transcription and notation chant experts. But this was not the only systems for microtonal types of music, that aspect in which Jeannin’s account might the musicologists effectively study the mu- not prove helpful to the modern-day reader. sic they themselves write. As this is a mu- I had seen Jeannin’s book briefly on a sical tradition that has no known form of visit with Bishop Youhanna Ibrahim in transcription into musical text, then any Aleppo in the early 2000s. But since the system of notation that does not emanate Aleppo edition had gone out of print, I from it, and has not withstood the test of searched for the book in libraries, and time and the trial of practice, will fall short found it in a special collection in the Music of representing it fully. Therefore, creating Room at the Cambridge University Li- a system that is based on a given set of brary. Holding the 1925 book like an his- transcriptions is necessarily confined to the toric artifact, I asked the librarian who de- limitations of these transcriptions and dic- livered it on special request whether I tated by the choices their creators made in should sit in a particular place to read it. He the process. For this reason, it is logical, said, ‘No. You can even take it home if you and even natural, that all studies based on want’ (the only thing that was needed was musical transcription display limitations, for an adhesive piece of paper to be fixed comprehensive and impressive as those inside the book cover where a member of studies may be (and normally are).15 staff at the issue desk would stamp the due In producing a written version of a large date). Acquired in 1926 and 1928, as the body of musical pieces which have been Library stamps indicated, Jeannin’s heavy passed down from generation to generation volumes had first been checked out some via oral transmission (such as those the eight decades after publication. So far as texts for which are found in the Bēt-Gāzō), my research has yielded, the transcriptions scholarship that relies on transcription is are not in use for chant instruction in attempting to turn this aural musical cul- Charfé or elsewhere in the Syrian Catholic ture into musical text. Considering that church, and I have not observed them being Western scholarship has traditionally given used in the Syrian Orthodox or the Maro- primacy to the visual, exemplified by text nite contexts.12 On the contrary, clerics and as a sign of literacy and civilized musicians who seem to know the book knowledge, then the production of these have found the musical transcriptions, as I musical texts is a form of cultural transla- have, of little representational value. In his tion, or interpretation, which subscribes to book on Syriac music Ibrahim quotes the conception of culture as text.16 Here, I Ni‘matallah Danno criticizing would take Geertz’s concept further and them as “regrettably ill and rude.”13 suggest that transcribing Syriac chant in- volves a form of cultural transformation.17 A PROBLEM OF TEXTUALITY Turning the sounds into symbols on paper emphasizes the visual at the expense of the Scholarship on Syriac chant continues to aural, which is a dramatic alteration in this rely, just as Villoteau’s and Jeannin’s work case, given the predominance of aurality as did, on the meticulous production and in- the primary mode of operation in the Syri- tensive study of musical scores.14 In this ac musical context. The fact that those texts process, musicologists write the chants have not gained practical currency in down, and then they study them. In other Suryani circles, even when they have been words, scholars study what they have writ- produced by local experts (e.g. Nouri Is- ten, which means, given the complex na- kandar’s two versions of the Bēt-Gāzō), is

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______highly indicative and must be borne in musicological studies, reveals issues of ap- mind when studying this oral/aural musical proach which relate to Orientalist musicolo- culture. gy. Without discussing the issue of modality Another level of complication is the here, the discussion must touch on the ques- persistent idea of a musical system.18 Apart tion of Orientalism. As the eighteenth centu- from Barhebraeus’s instruction concerning ry dawned, European modernism and posi- good singing in the Ethicon, we have no tivism looked eastwards in search of new written record in the west Syriac tradition material for knowledge. The hierarchies of containing musical instruction before the power and knowledge in place at the time twentieth century (to my knowledge). Even were not considered as the new intellectual Barhebraeus, be it by choice or for some approaches developed, but would emerge other reason history may continue to con- later as elements of colonialist and Oriental- ceal, makes no reference to the modal na- ist discourses. The following section will ture of in the sense of inter- discuss some implications of Orientalism in vallic and scalar description. Most studies French musicology for Syriac chant (which since, however, have either suggested a by no means represents a comprehensive musical-theoretical system or employed discussion of the issue or the literature). neighbouring systems to describe a sample of melodies, and in many cases, have de- FRENCH ORIENTALIST vised a composite system combining the MUSICOLOGY AND SYRIAC 19 two. This analytical strategy has been CHANT problematic on many levels, but to adhere to the non-technical-musical aspects of this French Orientalism is closely affiliated to argument, I would mention cultural attribu- French colonialism: both appeared as con- tion as a case in point. I mentioned above sequents of modernist . Following that Villoteau came up with a binary sys- the Enlightenment, France perceived her- tem of categories for Syriac chant. In ex- self as the leader of modernity and the plaining his prescribed categories, he at- epitome of civility.20 French musicology, tributed them to and Arabia, fa- and particularly Orientalist musicology vouring the former, which, according to his were no exception; to a large extent, musi- view, was more refined and sophisticated cology and its treatment of the Orient in compared to the rude character of the latter. France escaped fundamental challenges Such speculative cultural attributions not until very recently. Accordingly, the work only engender problematic conclusions, of the musicologists who wrote on Syriac they also exemplify a teleological approach chant reflects many aspects of their train- to the question of musical systems. While ing, which can be traced to the conception Villoteau’s is one, admittedly crude, exam- of French musicology as a product of the ple, the Imperial envoy’s system was not Enlightenment. The rationalism that the only instance of teleological systemati- emerged in Enlightenment France pro- zations. duced new traditions in the study of music, While decidedly not involving technical which were particularly evident in the pro- musical-theoretical detail in this article, ref- duction of encyclopaedias and dictionar- erence must be made to one musical- ies.21 Equally significant were the aesthetic theoretical concept briefly before moving on writings that considered music as an imita- to the next point. The treatment of Syriac tion of nature. During that period, a Bene- chant, particularly the problematic question dictine monk, Philippe-Joseph Caffiaux of Syriac modality, in the earliest European produced in 1756 a seven-volume system- ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 81

Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______atic history of music from pre-historic to to the disorientations of direct encounters contemporary times.22 The Benedictine with the human.”31 His disappointment monks in the present article were certainly with human nature may be justified in view aware of Caffiaux’s work, as they were of of the textual orientation of European mu- that of their encyclopedic and aesthete pre- sicological analysis. However, there is decessors.23 more to this point, to which I will return in By the end of the eighteenth century, a moment. Another implication of Said’s modernist methods started in historical mu- theory is the notion that local knowledge sical writings along with an interest in an- becomes determined by what the Oriental- tiquity and the East.24 In the first half of the ists prescribe. This notion applies in the nineteenth century, François-Joseph Fétis sense that local scholars have indeed fol- (1784-1871) competed for the European lowed in the footsteps of their European centre-stage with Raphael Kiesewetter, predecessors (albeit with various degrees who had written the first and most compre- of strictness), despite the fact that they hensive work on Arab music to date.25 De- faced problems – even deadlocks – compa- spite Fétis’s prominence, other musicolo- rable to those the Western pioneers had gists, such as Adrien de La Fage (1805- encountered. On the other hand, what ren- 1862), succeeded in drawing attention to ders this notion limited in relation to ancient and oriental musical practices.26 La Suryani chant is the fact that knowledge Fage’s focus on plainchant and the music wrought by the European authors has of the Near East underlined the contempo- found little currency with Suryani priests rary French interest in church music per- and cantors. The problem of accessibility, formance and chant, and established a tra- mentioned above, applies even in the dition for these fields.27 The musicologists French case as the writings remain in whose work is mentioned here belonged to French and therefore are only accessible to this scholarly climate: it situated the meth- the French-educated minority of Suryanis. odologies and contextualized the antholog- What is more, even in cases where Suryani ical nature of their work within an intellec- experts on chant gained access to European tual environment that sought encyclopaedic material, they did not make use of it in knowledge by various means, one of which their practice and even criticized it at times involved looking to the East in search of as I also mentioned earlier. What was in- information on the past. Additionally, most teresting as far as my observations record- of the leading ‘musicologists’ until to the ed, however, is that ‘Orientalists’ continue latter half of the nineteenth century were to be a welcome presence in modern amateurs who earned their living as doc- Suryani circles where the term has not been tors, lawyers or civil servants.28 This was tainted by postcolonial theory; I cite the another circumstance shared by the musi- words of a Suryani scholar and community cologists mentioned in the current article member as a case in point. In a personal who were priests, teachers, and, as in the conversation in Aleppo (2006), the late case of Julien Puyade, army officers.29 senior deacon Abrohom Nouro praised the Evoking Orientalism calls for a brief work of Sebastian Brock in furthering Syr- note on Edward Said’s theory30 and two of iac scholarship, describing him, both in its implications in the Suryani context, French and in Arabic, as Orientaliste and which are interconnected. One implication mustashriq (respectively). The human fail- relates to the matter of textuality. Said ing Said notes, then, becomes less univer- writes: “It seems a common human failing sal when the scholar’s efforts make an im- to prefer the schematic authority of a text pact on the communities whose traditions

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______they study (textually or otherwise). The theoretical concept, the question of hegem- deeply impactful scholarship of Sebastian ony, is most evident. It appeared in the mu- Brock (to continue to use Deacon Nouro’s sical product just as it did in the interna- example) on the living traditions of the tional relations between the peoples in- Syriac church was not only based on its volved. Examining the intellectual premis- academic and scholarly merits, but also on es of these studies, and those of the meth- its recognition of the living and breathing odological trends they established in study- nature of this textual material and of the ing the Suryani sonorities, is therefore nec- people who carry it through continuous essary before new directions may be sug- practice. gested. Without attempting diachronic cross- disciplinary comparisons, my aim here is to A RADICALLY DIFFERENT highlight finer nuance in the dynamics of APPROACH textualizing orality with respect to the au- thority of music knowledge in the chant The new approach this article suggests to tradition. Non-deferential as it may be to Syriac chant would be to follow in the the perceived authority of nineteenth- and footsteps of Allan Merriam (1923-1980), a twentieth-century European musicology on leading ethnomusicologist, whose ap- Syriac chant, this brief survey of two proach to studying music with the help of sources and their intellectual environment anthropological methods was foundational does not constitute a post-colonial critique in terms of what many scholars concerned of European musicology on Syriac chant with music do today. Merriam is best either. The intent behind this argument, known for his book The Anthropology of rather, is to convey a sense of context, Music,32 in which he issued an invitation to which highlights a certain focus present in approach all kinds of musics in all parts of these studies on things that mattered to the world by attempting to approximate their scholarly discourses. A lack of focus local musics as accurately as possible with- is also revealed on things which matter to in their respective contexts. In doing so, the Suryani people, those whose music has Merriam was building on the work of pre- been the subject of study. No regular reader vious scholars, most significantly that of of this Journal needs reminders of what the Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), one of Suryani people have endured during the the most influential social anthropologists decade or two either side of 1900. The mu- in the field, whose work is largely consid- sicologists themselves suffered too as they ered to be foundational to ethnographic lost an essential member of their linguistic research as we know it. As his thought de- team in battle as the First World War broke veloped during the latter half of the twenti- out, so Jeannin tells us in the opening pag- eth century, Merriam proposed that a fruit- es of the book. Yet, they make no mention ful approach to the study of music, be it of the traumatic events that those Suryanis (i.e. the music) Western or otherwise, whose oral tradition they were turning into would be concerned with studying ‘music written text were enduring, or of the fact in culture’. Soon after, he modified this that contemporaneous with the develop- seminal proposition to ‘the study of music ment of their musicological work, the as culture’. Those six words continue to Suryani existence was receiving such vio- serve as the least problematic explanation lent blows that shook its core and changed of the ever-evolving and fundamentally its history dramatically. It is in this sense interdisciplinary field of ethnomusicology, that the imbalance of power, or to use a a field that has evolved immensely since ______Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 17 (2017) ― Page 83

Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______the time of Merriam. But what else makes mer, no matter how large a sample it tran- ethnomusicology relevant to Syriac chant? scribes or how precise an analysis it pro- Like its sister subfield of musicology, duces, does not convey a real representa- both of which fall under the larger disci- tion of the latter. What is more, the musical plinary umbrella of ‘the study of music,’33 sounds of Syriac chant do not lend them- ethnomusicology is frequently associated selves to anatomical intervallic analyses, with non-Western cultures. While ‘eth- such as those traditional studies attempt. nomusicology’ (an evolution from its hy- Chanting in the Suryani church is not a phenated predecessor ‘ethno-musicology’) thing; it is something that happens. Syriac became recognized within the wider field chant is not (only) a set of books, it is an in the 1950s, studying music in relation to occurrence in time and place; it is carried culture was by no means a new invention out by people with faith, experience, and at that point, nor was the consideration of active musical participation. Syriac chant is culture restricted to non-Western con- a musical event that people realize within a texts.34 However, what ethnomusicologists complex spiritual experience, which carries have been keen to explore is the multitude a great deal of historical significance. Ac- of ways in which studying – and under- cordingly, a fundamental methodological standing – how any type of music inter- notion here would be the difference be- acts with the culture to which it belongs tween music as object (score, recording, might develop. This, as many ethnomusi- musical work, instrument, musical system) cologists would stress, is best done and music as process: in worship, as event; through immersing themselves in the cul- in communal participation, as social act; in ture, in the same way that anthropologists dissemination through memory, as a dy- do when they conduct ethnographic re- namic and living musical enterprise; and in search. Accordingly, in the process of execution as deep and shared experience. writing ethnographies about music, many Music here should be seen as an aspect of ethnomusicologists would consider field- human life, which has a strongly reciprocal work to be one of the main features that relationship with all aspects of social life: it distinguishes ethnomusicological research is an expression of a people’s understand- from its musicological counterpart. They ing of life, one that is continuously affected understand fieldwork as a form of active and changed by many things which make a immersion in, and daily involvement with, people who they are, including history with the lives and the musical practices (i.e. the its dramatic turns and steep valleys.35 This culture) of the people whose music they is why the word ‘culture’ is strongly perti- want to study. nent, ineffable as it may be. Constraints on scope do not allow the In showing some limitations of a dis- current discussion to demonstrate how eth- course based on the musical object, this nomusicological methods might be more article has submitted the necessity for a fruitful, but having shown some of the lim- discourse grounded in the sonorities and itations of traditional musicological meth- accounting for their organic relationship ods, I will propose why an ethnomusicolog- with the living culture of this rich and ical perspective might be more appropriate complex tradition. It has made a case for for an aural tradition such as Syriac chant. considering a radically new approach to One thing I have noticed in my attempt to Syriac chant, which, approximately 200 try to make sense of existing literature in years after the first European study ap- relation to what I was hearing in church as peared in print, invites a new consideration a musician and researcher, is that the for- of Syriac chant as a living enterprise of

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______negotiable premises. This approach seeks a knowledge with those who originally pos- thick description of the music as part of that sess it, an outlook that stands to be cor- ‘complex whole’ known as culture, and rected and revised in its pursuit of considers it within its own history and set of knowledge and understanding, and affords complexities.36 This is a deferential scholar- to ask, and to be asked, all the culturally- ly approach that aims to share the power of specific questions.

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______

7 Subsequent prints came out of Dār-Mārdīn, NOTES Aleppo in 1994, and Gorgias Press, in 2009. * Tala Jarjour is a music scholar who specializ- 8 The original edition does not show a pub- es in music and religion, and whose current lication date. Vol. 1 shows that the Nihil ob- work focuses on music in and from the Middle stat was given in 1923, and the Catholic Im- East. She is currently Visiting Fellow at the primatur in 1924. Given the date of the book Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Her forthcom- review by Gastoué in 1926, the date of the ing book, titled Sense and Sadness: Syriac Cambridge University Library acquisition on Chant in Aleppo, will be published by Oxford the 1st September of the same year, and the University Press in 2018. time needed for transition between Europe and 1 I prefer ‘Syriac chant’ for its simplicity and Beirut and the printing process, a publication clarity: it consists of two uncontested terms. date in 1925 is a plausible estimate for the But I also use on occasion ‘chanting in the first volume. The second volume might have Suryani church’ for reasons that will become appeared later as it was acquired by the Li- apparent at the end of this article. brary in 1928. 2 An earlier version of this article was pre- 9 A. Gastoué, “Mélodies Liturgiques Sy- sented as a paper, under the same title, at the riennes et Chaldéennes by Dom Jeannin,” Re- Sixth North American Syriac Symposium “Syr- vue de Musicologies 7:18 (1926) 95-98. iac Encounters” at Duke University (26-29 June 10 Shelhod was Patriarch from 1874 until his 2011). A previously published article shares death in 1891, see J. C. Jeannin, Mélodies some points with the current article; see Tala Liturgiques Syriennes et Chaldéennes. Vols 1,2 Jarjour “Syriac Chant at the Negotiation of (Paris: Leroux, 1925). Source and Method in the Two Music- 11 Ibrahim and Kiraz suggest the existence of ‘ologies’,” Yearbook for Traditional Music 47 six regional schools in the west Syriac tradi- (2015) 45-63. Due recognition for that publica- tion; G. Y., Ibrahim and G. Kiraz “Ephrem’s tion may be in order. Madroshe and the Syrian Orthodox Bēt-Gāzō: 3 The term ‘Suryani’ is the Arabic attributive A Loose, But Fascinating, Affinity,” Hugoye denoting that which belongs to the Syriac lan- 2:1 (1999). guage and liturgy. It is the most common appel- 12 I have been told recently that one Catholic lation by which members of this church are priest in Iraq uses them to accompany church known as a people in modern-day Syria (and singing on the piano. Unfortunately I do not much of its diaspora); the community uses this have the name of the said priest or his wherea- term when referring to itself and in reference to bouts. the church, language, and culture. As most of my 13 G. Y. Ibrahim, Syriac Music (Aleppo: Dār- research has taken place within this community, Mardīn, 2003; in Arabic al-Mūsīqā al- I prefer this local appellation. This choice also Suryāniyya), p. 59. has the purpose of avoiding name complications, 14 H. Husmann and P. Jeffery, “Syrian although by no means does it exclude those who church music,” in Grove Music Online. Ox- prefer other terms (e.g. Assyrian, Aramean). ford Music Online (2008): http://www. ox- 4 On local hermeneutics, see G. Tomlinson, Music in Renaissance Magic: Toward a Histo- fordmusiconline. com/subscriber/article/grove/ riography of Others (: University of music/27274; L. Hage, Recueil de Chants Sy- Chicago Press, 1993). ro- (Kaslik, Liban: Université Saint- 5 J. Mongrédien and K. Ellis, “Villoteau, Esprit de Kaslik, 2001); N. Iskandar, in Ibra- Guillaume André,” in Grove Music Online, him, Syriac Music; E. Kisrouani, Le Bet-Gazo Oxford Music Online (2008): (Thesaurus) et L’Octoïchos Dans la Liturgie http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/ de L’Eglise Sévérienne (Paris IV: Université article/grove/music/29399. de Paris-Sorbonne, 1989; unpublished), G. 6 For more see Jarjour “Syriac Chant...” As‘ad, Syrian Music across History (Qāmish-

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______lī, 1990; in Arabic al-Mūsīqā al-Sūriyya ‘ibr http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/ al-Tārīkh). article/grove/music/46710pg3. 15 For more on textuality in the context of 23 While Caffiaux’s history was never pub- Syriac chant see Tala Jarjour, “Texting Musi- lished, it is considered the second largest histor- cality, Writing Sound,” Cambridge Literary ical work in France. Review 6(10) (2017) 165-172. 24 Such as François-Louis Perne (1772-1832) 16 C. Geertz, The Interpretation of Culture on antiquity. Most famous with regard to the (New York: Basic Books, 1973). East is the work of André Villoteau, mentioned 17 Owing to the limited scope and the ex- earlier in this article, whom Napoleon Bona- pressed purpose of this article, it does not prob- parte selected as a member of a scientific com- lematize the concept of culture nor does it en- mission, and who wrote a volume on Arab mu- gage analytically with critical literature on the sic. subject (such as the work of Clifford Geertz, 25 P. V. Bohlman, “R. G. Kiesewetter’s Die James Clifford, and others does), which none- Musik Der Araber: A Pioneering Ethnomusico- theless does not suggest that it employs the logical Study of Arabic Writings on Music,” concept of culture simplistically. Asian Music 19:1 (1987) 164-96. 18 All accounts, including Villoteau’s, which 26 This was particularly the case in La Fage’s comprised 16 notated pieces, suggest a musical collaboration with his teacher Choron, the system that governs the chant. prominent post-Revolution musicologist (1771- 19 In the case of Husmann, his system was 1834), on the master’s Nouveau manuel com- predominantly borrowed from , plet de musique vocale et instrumentale (1838- with some references to Middle-Eastern modal- 9), as well as in La Fage’s own Histoire gé- ity (see the New Grove entry on the subject nérale de la musique et de la danse (1844). revised by Husmann and Jeffery. “Syrian 27 It also encouraged the appearance of an- church music.”); in the case of Iskandar, it was thologies and collections of chant and early Arab and Turkish modal theory based on their vocal music; V. Duckles, et al. “Musicology,” various conventions concerning the measure- ment of the divisions of the tone, and in the Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online case of As‘ad, it was reconstructed ancient (2008) http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/ Mesopotamian scales. subscriber/article/grove/music/46710pg3. 20 J. Pasler, “Race, Orientalism, and distinc- 28 Duckles et al., “Musicology.” tion in the wake of the ‘Yellow Peril’,” Western 29 French musicologists did not embark on Music and its Others:Difference, Representa- recognisable ethnomusicological research as tion and Appropriation in Music, ed. G. Born such until the 1950s, when musicologists be- and D. Hesmondhalgh (Berkeley, CA: Univer- gan collaborating officially with the Centre sity of California Press, 2000), p. 86-118. This National de la Recherche Scientifique, follow- view was challenged throughout modernity, ing the establishment of the Department of particularly in the wake of the cholera pandem- Organology at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris ic in 1832; P. Rabinow, French Modern: by André Schaeffner in 1929; Gribenski, Norms and Forms of the Social Environment “France.”. (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of 30 E. Said, Orientalism (London: Penguin Technology, 1989). Classics, 2003). 21 Most remarkable is the famous eight- 31 Ibid., 95. eenth-century great Encyclopédie of Diderot 32 A. P. Merriam, The Anthropology of Music and D’Alembert, which included entries on (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, music. 1964). 22 Dates, names and historical facts on French 33 G. Born, “For a Relational Musicology: musicology are found in J. Gribenski, “France,” Music and Interdisciplinarity, Beyond the Prac- in Vincent Duckles et al., “Musicology,” Grove tice Turn,” Journal of the Royal Musical Asso- Music Online. Oxford Music Online (2008) ciation 135:2 (2007) 205-243.

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Syriac Chant as Music in Culture: A New approach ______

34 B. Nettl, Nettl’s Elephant: On the History of music in social life, see T. Turino, Music as of Ethnomusicology (Urbana: University of Social Life: The Politics of Participation (Chi- Illinois Press, 2010). cago: University of Chicago Press, 2008). 35 For more on the ethnomusicological concept 36 Edward Burnett Tylor on culture.

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