Iranianate and Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period (Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Sitzungsberichte, 918 / Veroffentlichungen Zur Iranistik, 87) 9783700190066, 3700190069

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Chiara Barbati, PhD Sapienza University of Rome 2009, is senior researcher at the University of Pisa. In 2017 she obtained the Italian habilitation for Associate Professorship in Cultures of the Ancient Near East, Middle East and Africa. Her research focuses on Iranian languages and cultures along the Silk Roads, cultural translation studies, manuscript studies and eastern Christianity and has led her to specialise and work in Rome, Berlin and Vienna between 2006 and 2019. For the series Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik she published The Christian Sogdian Gospel Lectionary E5 in Context in 2016. Vittorio Berti is Associate Professor of History of Christianity at the University of Padua, with special interests in the Syriac churches during late antiquity and the early Islamic age. He studied the life and development of the intellectual elites of East-Syrian schools and monasteries, and their philosophical, theological and spiritual culture. Former secretary of the Italian Society of Syriac Studies (Syriaca), he is member of several international research projects. Author of more than thirty scientific contributions, he wrote two monographs: Vita e Studi di Timoteo I, patriarca cristiano di Baghdad, Peeters, Paris 2009 and L’au-delà de l’âme et l’en-deçà du corps. Approches d’anthropologie chrétienne de la mort dans l’église syro-orientale, Paradosis, Fribourg 2015.

ISBN 978-3-7001-9006-6

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Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik 87

It is by now widely acknowledged that between late antiquity and the first centuries of Islam, Syriac-speaking Christian communities were more than just scattered minority communities with little impact in geographical areas strongly shaped by the Iranian element. Iranianate and Syriac Christianity bridges across different specialized disciplines, first and foremost Iranian Studies and Syriac Studies and the History of Christianity, and assembles a range of authoritative voices on the subject. The 14 contributions are arranged in two sections, Mission, Conversion and Power and Languages, Texts and Concepts, representing a wide range of approaches and reflecting the complexity of the religious, political and cultural history of the Christian communities in the Eurasian area up to the year 1000 and beyond.

SBph 918 CH. BARBATI – V. BERTI (EDS.) ∙ IRANIANATE AND SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY

Chiara Barbati and Vittorio Berti (eds.) Iranianate and Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period

Chiara Barbati and Vittorio Berti (eds.)

Iranianate and Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period

CHIARA BARBATI AND VITTORIO BERTI (EDS.) IRANIANATE AND SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND THE EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD

ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN PHILOSOPHISCH-HISTORISCHE KLASSE SITZUNGSBERICHTE, 918. BAND

VERÖFFENTLICHUNGEN ZUR IRANISTIK HERAUSGEGEBEN VON BERT G. FRAGNER UND FLORIAN SCHWARZ

NR. 87

CHIARA BARBATI AND VITTORIO BERTI (EDS.)

IRANIANATE AND SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND THE EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD

Angenommen durch die Publikationskommission der philosophischhistorischen Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften: Accepted by the publication committee of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: Michael Alram, Bert G. Fragner, Andre Gingrich, Hermann Hunger, Sigrid Jalkotzy-Deger, Renate Pillinger, Franz Rainer, Oliver Jens Schmitt, Danuta Shanzer, Peter Wiesinger, Waldemar Zacharasiewicz

Diese Publikation wurde einem anonymen, internationalen Begutachtungsverfahren unterzogen. This publication was subject to international and anonymous peer review. Peer review is an essential part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press evaluation process. Before any book can be accepted for publication, it is assessed by international specialists and ultimately must be approved by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Publication Committee.

Die verwendete Papiersorte in dieser Publikation ist DIN EN ISO 9706 zertifiziert und erfüllt die Voraussetzung für eine dauerhafte Archivierung von schriftlichem Kulturgut. The paper used in this publication is DIN EN ISO 9706 certified and meets the requirements for permanent archiving of written cultural property.

Cover Design: Bettina Hofleitner Coverphoto: Inkwell with Crosses, 10th century, from Nishapur, Iran CC0 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1938 ISBN 978-3-7001-9006-6 Copyright © Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 2021 Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Layout: Institute of Iranian Studies, ÖAW Vienna Print: Prime Rate, Budapest https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/9006-6 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at Made in Europe

Contents Chiara Barbati and Vittorio Berti Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 7

MISSION, CONVERSION AND POWER Christelle Jullien Conversion to Christianity in the Sasanian Empire. Political and Theological Issues............................................................................................... 11 Manfred Hutter Intersection and Dependency of Christianity as a Minority Religion with and on Zoroastrian Dominance in the Sasanian Empire .................................................................... 33 Florence Jullien The East-Syrian Patriarch: Constructing Identity through a Community Leader.................... 53 Vittorio Berti Mar Aba in Ādurbādagān Leading a Church from Exile through the Iranian Landscape ................................................ 83 Alexey Muraviev In Search of the Lost Memoirs of the Persian mobed Converted to Christianity in the 4th Century .................................................................................................................. 105 Nathanael Andrade The Arrival of Iranian Christianity in the Indian Ocean ....................................................... 123 Harald Suermann The Mission of the Church of the East to South India and Sri Lanka ................................... 149

LANGUAGES, TEXTS AND CONCEPTS Simon Brelaud “The names give forgiveness of iniquity, not a man”. Some Outcomes on Sasanian Christians’ Onomastics .......................................................................................... 181 Chiara Barbati On the Iranian Lexicon in the Christian Old Uigur Texts from Central Asia ........................ 217 Andrea Piras “And you gathered me to your houses”. Gospel Quotations in Manichaean Texts: Adaptations and Remaking of Mt 25, 35–36 in the Šābuhragān ........................................... 229

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Lijuan Lin Preliminary Notes on the Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan .................................................................................................................... 245 Adrian C. Pirtea The Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Marian Traditions between the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia ................... 279 Camilla Insom and Gianfilippo Terribili In the Shade of a Tree. Holy Figures and Prodigious Trees in Late-Antique and Medieval NW Iran and Adjacent Areas .......................................................................... 333 Antonio Panaino Origenism and Manichaeism through the Lens of a Mazdakite Distortion ........................... 367

Indices .................................................................................................................................. 385 Notes on Contributors ........................................................................................................... 397

Preface The volume Iranianate and Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and Early Islamic Period emerges from a series of seminars and lectures held in Vienna, Padua and Rome in the years 2018–2019. Originating in a consonance of scientific interests among the editors of the volume, it reflects the increasing attention and rapidly growing number of publications that break down narrow disciplinary boundaries and promote dialogue between specialists with different academic backgrounds and scientific sensibilities. This fruitful and stimulating development encouraged us to offer a space for academically established and emerging authoritative voices from among Iranologists working on Syriac Christianity and experts of Syriac Christianity interested in Iranian contexts. The series that hosts this volume, Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik, since its inception fostered related themes and approaches and seemed the ideal place for such an enterprise. The Iranianate in the title of our volume concurs with the theoretical premise that informs the multiple lines of research of the institution that houses the series, the Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. It implies the aim to explore a geographical and cultural space that is, beyond the profoundly Iranian, in contact with the Iranian element, in all its nuances and graduations. The 14 contributions have been arranged in two sections. The first, Mission, Conversion and Power, revolves around the dynamics between political power and religious power in minority community settings. It focuses on the missionary context, which is essential for a Church that has always aimed at making proselytes. The second section, Languages, Texts and Concepts, analyses the processes of inculturation and acculturation deriving from the missionary disposition of the Syriac Churches, making use of a linguistic, philological and historical-religious approach. In order to respect the scientific sensibilities of each author, we refrained from interventions to standardise the transcriptions, in the conviction that the indexes at the end of the volume can help readers who are less familiar with conventions of the various fields represented in this volume to find their way around. For the compilation of the indexes we would like to thank, in alphabetical order, Michael Ethington, Anna Giaconia and Giovanni Gomiero, students at the University of Padua. Special thanks are due to Bettina Hofleitner for her unquestionable professionalism, proverbial patience and infinite sympathy during the editing and

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publishing phase. We thank the editors of the series Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik, Bert Fragner and Florian Schwarz, and the Austrian Academy Sciences Press for the professional cooperation and the uncompromising publication standards. We thank the anonymous reviewers for demonstrating what every evaluation process should be, an intellectually honest activity in which criticism is timely, constructive and respectful. Pisa – Padua, 20 November 2021 Chiara Barbati and Vittorio Berti

MISSION, CONVERSION AND POWER

Conversion to Christianity in the Sasanian Empire. Political and Theological Issues CHRISTELLE JULLIEN Summary – In the Sasanian empire, the relation to power of the different strands of Christianity (East-Syrian Dyophysite, West-Syrian Miaphysite, Chalcedonian) or Christian-oriented groups, partly derived from the landmark movements of deportation and missions starting in the East Roman lands, remained unsettled during the whole dynastic period (from the 3rd to the 7th centuries), moving from integration to defensive relation. Therefore, the question of the conversion to Christianity is naturally correlated to the notion of identity affirmation on the one hand, within a minority context and an ethnic, cultural and religiously plural environment, 1 and to that of political loyalty towards the Persian king on the other, seeing that adhesion to Christianity within the Iranian territory challenged the very unity of the political body incarnated by the Sovereign. Periods of persecution of religious minorities, and specifically Christian minorities, between the 4th century and the Arab period, led to a vast literary production that has fundamentally contributed to the shaping of identity in the Church of the East. Syriac sources present several types of accounts of conversion. The Acts of the Persian Martyrs often give priority to the conversion of great characters from the Mazdean society (from the 6th century onwards especially); some hagiographies in fact mention cases of collective and widespread conversion (over a whole region for instance). In these accounts, the Sasanian king appears as the defender of Mazdaism, the official religion of the Empire, who intervenes on different levels in the process of conversion through a contrasting political approach, sometimes coercive, and sometimes supporting towards religious movements. These ambiguities lead to questions regarding the underlying interests behind such royal behaviour, but also in parallel concerning the writing process leading Christians to rewrite the persecuting king into a Christianised Sovereign.

1

On this subject, see Jullien, F. (2012).

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THE KING, DEFENDER OF MAZDAISM The notion of “State religion” cannot apply to Mazdaism (or Zoroastrianism), given the interpenetration of religion and politics with the very concept of Iranity in its ethnic and religious sense. 2 Philippe Gignoux and Gherardo Gnoli had well shown that Mazdaism is first and foremost an ethnic religion: 3 an Iranian subject professes Mazdaism, and if his parents are Mazdean, he becomes so through birth. LOYALTY AND DISLOYALTY, OR “HOW TO BE ‘PERSIAN”? There is a tight correlation between political loyalty and practiced religion. The Sasanian rulers explicitly affirm their belief in the Mazdean religion, even in a divine ancestry, and legitimate their power as descending from the god Ahura-Mazda: reliefs depicting scenes of investiture show the sovereign (who possesses xvarrah, “the radiance of glory”) the same size as the divinities presenting him with the emblems of power. 4 In the Iranian empire, the notion of political loyalty towards the sovereign is at the heart of the problem of conversion: forfeiting one’s forefathers’ religion equated to renouncing the king’s religion, but also led to a statutory transfer; the Iranian Christian converted from Mazdaism broke away from the world of ērān, and became a foreigner in his own country in a way. 5 The polarity between Ērān and Anērān – between the Iranian empire and its subjects on the one hand, and the nonIranian world on the other – is a geo-strategic and politico-religious reality which explains, amongst others, in martyrological Syriac texts, the presence of recurring motives such as lese-majesty committed by Persian notability converted to Christianity. Abjuring Zoroastrianism in favour of another religion de facto led to social consequences, 6 and in particular forfeiture of any Sasanian administrative function, and sometimes even any privilege. The choice of a new name for those who converted – not always systematic, especially when the Middle-Persian family name remained significant from a Christian perspective – is also the public sign of such a renunciation, of a social break-away leading to conversion, as well as marking a change in 2 3 4 5 6

Wiesehöfer (1993). See Gnoli (1993: 1–31). Gignoux (1997a: 17); Gignoux (1997b). See Huyse (2005: 140–141). Wiesehöfer (2005). Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002). See also de Blois (2002). See Gignoux (1997a); Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006). Debié (2010); Payne (2015).

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allegiance, and the move towards a new and henceforth referring community. Names chosen are mostly Syriac – Syriac being the liturgical language of the Christians from the 4th century onwards, among others – or even a mixed composition between Middle-Persian and Syriac. That is the case for DādGušnasp, “given by Gušnasp”, who chooses Dād-Īšō‘, “given by Jesus”. 7 Nevertheless, some rare examples enable us to qualify this pattern of exclusion of those converted to Christianity within the king’s entourage. Indeed, high-ranking imperial officers occasionally kept their position some time after their conversion through royal consent, such as Grigor, Khusrō I’s army commander-in-chief, or Yazd-bōzēd, a courtier of the SeleuciaCtesiphon palace. This royal lenience was motivated by a rising awareness of the public use of such Christian notables in the service of a society they were perfectly integrated into. This dual perception stemming from an opposition between Ērān and Anērān particularly applies to relations between Iranian subjects and their Byzantine neighbours. Conniving with the rival empire is one of the classic themes in East-Syriac literature reproached to the Christian community. 8 Since the promulgation of the Edict of Milan in 313 by Constantine, the position of Christians within Sasanian society had become somewhat ambivalent. But the possibility that such an edict might have a direct impact on the persecutions put in place by Šābuhr II over more than 40 years starting from 339, when Persia was battling out borders with Byzantium, is still being debated. In hagiographical literature, Christians are often accused by Persian authorities of complicity with an emperor deliberately qualified as their “coreligionist”. 9 This perception is partly based on an extract from the Vita Constantini by Eusebius, who reports on a Letter sent by the Emperor to Šābūhr, a text translated early on into Syriac: its authenticity is not yet agreed on, even though it tends to be accepted, as the latest work by Kyle Smith seems to suggest. 10 According to Sebastian Brock, more than the Letter, it is 7 8 9 10

The History of Mār Yazdīn, see Bedjan (1891: 564). See Brock (1982). For example, see in The Life of Simeon Bar Ṣabba‘ē, Kmosko (ed.) (1907: 805–806). See Smith (2014). Constantine’s letter to Šābuhr II, of which Eusebius of Caesarea claims to give a Greek translation, emphazises the idea of a common destiny for Christians across the frontiers, under the authority of the Roman emperor who entrusts the protection of the Christian communities of Persia to the Mazdean king. Eusebius, De Vita Constantini, IV, 9–13. New

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Constantine’s status as universal patron of the Christians which was to contribute to an assimilation of these Persian communities to the Romans. In parallel, the hagiographical theme of the letter sent to the “Cesar” by the Christians of Persia in order to request his help spreads with a certain recurrence, since Persian epic literature still reproduced such a narrative (in particular the Šāhnāmeh by Ferdowsī in the 10th century). 11 Christians subjected to the Persian king, friends of the enemy, and potential disruptive elements, become a leitmotiv in Mazdeo-Christian polemics, which deal with the concept of Christian loyalty / disloyalty to the king – an accusation which targeted converted Mazdeans in particular.12 Such suspicions of unfaithfulness ran right into the 7th century in Syriac sources, despite the situation of Christian communities in the East evolving in the wake of the Christological quarrels and the dogmatic definitions of the Councils, which rooted them in the Iranian territory once and for all: between 451 and 486, Miaphysite and East-Syrian Churches in Iran had broken away from the official religious position of Byzantine power, which supported the Chalcedonian cause. From the mid-5th century onwards, converted Mazdeans had little choice other than political loyalty towards the king of kings. Therefore, the concept of heresiology remains at the core of the question of the political position of Christians in Iran (whether East-Syrian Dyophysites or West-Syrian Miaphysites) and of their relation to power and to the king himself. On the other hand, we know of several Christian conversions to Mazdaism thanks to scarce information given by Syriac writers. Middle-Persian literature had not conserved any trace of these facts. In Syriac hagiographical narratives, examples, very scarce, are generally rather topical, no doubt because the communities these texts were destined to were depicted unfavourably. 13 These former Christians generally appear as careerists or opportunists, who adopt

11

12

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approach and reinterpretation of the letter and its recipient in De Decker (1979). See also Raub (1997). Recently, Smith (2016: especially pp. 20–32); Frendo (2001). In the Šāhnāmeh (or Book of Kings) of Ferdowsī, see Anōšagzād’s letter to “Caesar,” the Roman emperor, to gain support against his father Khusrō I, Mohl (1877, repr. 1976: 180– 181). See also Jullien, Ch. (2015). See for example, in the context of the resumption of hostilities between Rome and Persia in 540, The History of Mār Abba, § 12, Jullien, F. (ed.) (2015: Syriac text pp. 14–15); French translation, ibid., pp. 15–17. When converting to Christian faith, former Zoroastrians have been accused of dual political loyalty by the Persians, Brock (1982). See Cantera (2010).

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the official religion out of frustrated ambition. The civil authorities’ reaction is not known; hagiographers underline that the power sought to deepen their new religious choice (considered as a renegade choice by their former coreligionists) by attributing administrative functions to them. Furthermore, some are described as the executioners of their former co-religionists’ sentence: would that be a topos? or perhaps a test of the authenticity of their conversion? 14 Hence, the writers of martyrological narratives gladly associate them with the apostle Judas. 15 Some elements from the Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church also mention defections. In 554 for instance, the first two canons feature the threat of adherence to Zoroastrianism of believers and clerics, disappointed not to have been considered by the ecclesiastic hierarchy, and seeking a better status amongst civil authorities. 16 IMPOSE AND RULE In a perspective where political loyalty and religion are intertwined, the imposition of Mazdaism was less the expression of a will to convert than a tool of power. One of the most relevant examples is no doubt the religious politics of Yazdgird II and his commander-in-chief (vuzurg framādār) MihrNarseh in the mid-5th century Armenia. In these borderlands of the empire, an influenced zone shared between Persia and Byzantium, the Sasanian believed he was winning over then mainly Christian populations by demanding (especially of the notables) that they adopt Zoroastrianism. Such a political intention aimed at detaching Armenia from the Byzantine (Christian) sphere thanks to a forced religious rallying; it would lead on to the great revolt of the years 450–451 which caused the defeat of the Armenian troops during the Avarayr battle and important human casualties on the Persian side. Such

14 15 16

See the examples given by Fiey (2004: 44–47, 54, 87, 111). The Chronicle of Seert, Scher (ed.) (1911: 159 [67]). See The History of Mār Abba, § 25, Jullien, F. (ed.) (2015). See The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church: “Ceux qui accuseront leurs voisins pour faire détruire [une] église et attirer à eux une communauté qui ne dépendait pas d’eux, en exposant les prêtres, leurs confrères, aux chaînes, au pillage de leurs biens et à l’apostasie du christianisme”, Chabot (ed.) (1902: Syriac text pp. 98–99; French translation pp. 355– 357).

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circumstances are reported by historians Łazar P‘arpec‘i and Ełišē Vardapet. 17 Many priests were arrested and tortured according to the Pseudo-Sebēos, which also mentions deportations to the Khorassān region around 454. 18 But would it not be appropriate to look beyond the writings of Christian hagiographers, and see in this episode more than a political blunder committed by the Sasanian sovereign, and its dire consequences? The reality seems more complex, as is suggested by Nina Garsoïan, who refutes the theory of a deliberately malevolent political line conducted by the Sasanians towards their Armenian subjects. She has shown that Yazdgird II, after the Great Revolt, did not seek to amplify the de-Christianisation policy of the country. He finally allowed the notables to practice their faith. Furthermore, the main noble families had accepted the Persian suzerainty over their country rather well. 19 Yazdgird, vulnerable to military difficulties on the Northern front with the Hephtalite Huns, had to show some sort of leniency and agree to revise his project of forced imposition of Mazdaism over the Armenian territory. It is also worth underlining along with Philippe Gignoux that proselytism in the Mazdean religion has not been proven for the Partho-Sasanian periods. Because of the notion of separation, judāgīh, a religious man could not have any relationships with non-Mazdeans or non-Iranians. 20 As such, the persecution of minorities does not per se imply forced conversion. Although Syriac martyrological literature mentions Magi forcing Christians to betray their faith in the king’s name, these essentially concern former Zoroastrians to bring back; in other cases, the Mazdean clergy mainly sought to oppose certain customs deemed unacceptable – especially the burial of the dead, which was contrary to the Zoroastrian laws of purity. Rallying around the king’s religion was thus perceived by the Mazdean authorities as contributing to bringing order into the world. 21 Examples of forced conversion must therefore be reinterpreted through the prism of context.

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18 19 20 21

Garsoïan (2009: 69). Łazar P‘arpec‘i, History, Thomson (ed.) (1991: 34–36); Ełišē Vardapet, History of Vardan, Thomson (ed.) (1982: VI, 1–9). French translation Langlois (1867: 220–221, 296–297). Russell (1987). Garsoïan (1999: 125 n. 261, 20 n. 79). (Pseudo-)Sebēos, History, Thomson (ed.) (1999: 64–65). See also Daryaee (2012). Garsoïan (2009: 72–74). Garsoïan (1998–2000: 314–318 and n. 39). See also McDonough (2006). Gignoux (1997a: 17, 21–22). On this subject, see Payne (2015: 30–33).

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THE KING AND HIS CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS: A CONTRASTED POLICY The Sasanian Persians’ policy vis-à-vis Christians was rather contrasted, wavering between open persecution (under Šāhbur II or Wahrām V’s reign), and benevolent tolerance on other occasions (under Yazdgird I’s or Khusrō II’s reign). THE AMBIGUITIES OF ROYAL BEHAVIOUR Royal interventionism The king’s direct interventionism at the high level of the Churches’ hierarchy perhaps betrays a will to limit the movement of conversion to Zoroastrianism. In a recent thesis, Richard Payne has shown that Mazdean power could tolerate Christian expansion in exchange for compensation helping to maintain coexistence and distribution of space.22 From the reign of Yazdgird I onwards, kings granted Christians the establishment of their own ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In return, bishops tacitly agreed to pay their allegiance to the sovereign, so as to maintain internal order and to cooperate with power. This theory of a modus operandi had already been looked into by Scott McDonough. 23 This tacit pact implied a ban on any opposition to the king’s authority, and therefore also on any conversion within the aristocracy. According to him, the recurrent violent acts committed against the Christian minority do not reflect an intolerant coercive power, but rather a tacitly established socio-religious balance, which ecclesiastical elites had to respect for the sake of the Churches’ survival and for their interests. Thus, the king presided over the “improvement” – that is to say the validation – of the newly elected patriarch, and could even appoint him, as was the case on several occasions when he wished to reward his Christian physicians: the Catholicos Elisha, personal physician to Kawād I, who was invested against the Persian Church’s candidate, provoking a thirteen-year schism in the first half of the 6th century (from 524 to 537); Joseph (552–566), also physician to the court of Khusrō I, who was disowned by his clergy and deposed by the king after a series of complaints; or also Grigor of Kaškar (605–609), chosen by the 22 23

Payne (2015). McDonough (2011: 303–305). See also Kalmin (2006); Widengren (1961).

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sovereign Khusrō II in spite of protests of the East-Syrian bishops. 24 The profiles of patriarchs are known thanks to Syriac sources and correspond to types of social categories: well-read, learned, often physicians. Similarly, by refusing to grant investiture after the Catholicosal election, the royal authority asserted its power over its subjects and imposed its control over a religious minority both dependent and weakened. Between 609 and 628, the intervention of the Miaphysite Gabriel of Singar with Khusrō II led to a vacancy of the catholicosal chair for almost twenty years. The influence of Christian queens on the king’s religious policy The influence of some royal wives sometimes contributed rather significantly to re-orienting the religious policy of the kings with regard to Christian religious minorities, and even to transforming their personal attitude. The historian Procopius mentions the Christian name of one of Khusrō I’s wives, Euphemia, a former deportee from Sura. Under her influence, the king proved to be more clement towards the elites of her home city, and even offered to liberate the prisoners he had sent into exile during the conquest. 25 In Khusrō II’s entourage was a Chalcedonian Christian, Maria, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Maurice, according to the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian. Another significant example of such an influence is queen Šīrīn, wife of Khusrō II (590–628). According to the Byzantine historian Evagrius Scholasticus (536– 590 – whose work was later picked up and amplified by Theophylact Simocatta at the beginning of the 7th century), it was no doubt Šīrīn who encouraged Khusrō II to offer ex-voto to the sanctuary of Saint Sergius in Reš‘ayna (in Eastern Roman territory), in appreciation of the future birth of the heir to the throne. Furthermore the king attributed through the intercession of the saint the protection of the dynasty upon the coup of Wahram Čobin. The dedication was written not in Middle-Persian but in Greek, the language of the Byzantines: 26 this royal gift was solemnly sent to the basilica through 24 25 26

The Chronicle of Seert, Scher (ed.) (1919: 521 [201]–523 [203]). Procopius, De Bello Persico II, 5, 28, Haury (ed.) (1963: 171–172). Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History VI, Whitby (ed.) (2000: 312–316 [236]– [240]). Theophylact Simocatta, History V, 14, 8, Whitby – Whitby (eds.) (1986). On the reliability of the sources and historical problems in Theophylact Simocatta’s work, see Peeters (1947: 5–56). According to Theophylact, Golindoukht, who was a fervent follower of Saint Sergius, played an important role in the Queen’s and Khusrō’s personal life; they

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the patriarch Gregory of Antioch, with the approval of emperor Maurice. His open-mindedness towards the Miaphysite Christian community which Šīrīn belonged to is well known. Should this initiative necessarily be qualified as philo-Christian however? A priori, it resembles an approach reaching out to the virtus of a powerful protector. Such an initiative went on to raise the interest of the West, as is shown by the correspondence between bishop Domitian of Melitene and pope Gregory, while the conversion of the king Æthelbert of Kent was under way. 27 These ex-voto could also reveal a political attitude of the Mazdean sovereign towards Arab tribes who came to the sanctuary of Reš‘ayna 28 and especially the Lakhmids, precious auxiliaries of the Persians on the limes. Here, the assertion of such an act also has strategic repercussions, aiming to strengthen adhesion to a political koinon. THE “PAGAN” KING, SUPPORTER OF RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS Religious communities sometimes managed to find in the supreme authority an ally and a support in favour of their expansion. Such a fact is well-known in the case of king Šābuhr I with Māni, who wrote in his honour the Šābuhragān, a kind of compendium of his doctrine around 240 (some MiddlePersian fragments of which have been found in Turfān). One of the acknowledged characteristics of this work, as Iris Colditz has shown, is the stylistic adaptation of its author to Zoroastrian terminology to present the theological elements of his religious system. 29 Such inclusive concern, which also pertains to a communication strategy, opened the possibility for dialogue with his Mazdean correspondent. Several Kephalaia mention the three audiences granted to Māni by the sovereign, enabling him to teach over the whole Persian empire. 30 Māni and his disciples were nevertheless made to revise

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met her several times, probably at Circesium and Hierapolis, Peeters (1947: 25–26). Schilling (2008: 154–158). Peeters (1947: 44–45 n. 1). On the devotion to Saint Sergius among the Arab tribes, see Fowden (1999: especially pp. 124–129.) Colditz (2005). It seems that a part of the Šābuhragān was read by the Manichaean community during a liturgical office: Yoshida (2000: 91). See also Reck (2010). MacKenzie (1979: 500–534); MacKenzie (1980: 288–310). Some regions of the Sasanian empire are mentioned: Fārs, Mayšān, Babylonia and Asūrestān. The first encounter took place around 240, Kephalaion I, 15, 31b–34; 16, 1–2;

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their itinerary, no doubt due to the opposition of the Mazdean clergy; they travelled to Media and to the regions bordering the Caspian Sea, as the Kephalaia and the Cologne Mani-Codex bear witness to. 31 Such a dichotomy between the interests of official authorities and the king’s motivations are to be found in other contexts. One could also mention in that respect the taste of Kawād (488–496/498–531) for the theologicopolitico Mazdakite movement, initiated in the 3rd century by Zardušt, son of Xwarag, often called Mazdak the Elder, who advocated for a new social order by rejecting any form of private property. This perspective was justified by an eschatological legitimation and considered as a deviance from Mazdaism. Therefore, Mazdak shook the very basis of Sasanian society, both nobiliary and religious, divided into classes, and questioned the government’s functioning via Mazdean clergy and the notables. 32 Kawād wished to strengthen royal power and to undermine the power of feudal families and of the Magi. Despite once being influenced by these teachings (during his first reign), he referred back to them in order to impose territorial reforms serving his own interests. His eviction from the throne in 496 finally drove him to contend with the support of notability and clergy, and to renounce his personal religious inclinations in order to win back power. The choice of his son Khusrō for an heir, instead of his elder, pro-Mazdakite son Kaūs, would pave the way for a violent repression of the movement. Syriac writers thus put forward initiatives taken by Sasanian princes against the actions of the Magi: some of the sovereign’s options might have jeopardised the cohesion of the empire (both Mazdean and Ērānian) and its unity. It could be said that the search for Royal consent by the Churches and religious movements was one of the conditions of their expansion. Within West-Syrian Christianity, 13th century Syriac historian and compiler Grigor Bar ‘Ebroyo relates how the missionary-bishop Simeon of Bēth-Aršam requested of king Kawād a free circulation permit through “the land of Sen‘ar” (Babylonia) and Fārs. Such authorization depended on one condition: Simeon

31 32

Kephalaion LXXVI, 184–186. Polotsky – Böhlig (eds.) (1940). Gardner (1995) Tardieu (1981), (19972). Römer (1994: 10–13). Sources about the history of Mazdak and Mazdakism are not first-hand accounts and have a lot of contradictory data. See Christensen (1925) and (1936, 19442: 317–320). Recently, Macuch (2015).

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was expected to transmit to the king the names of the newly-converted. Indeed Bar ‘Ebroyo underlines that bishop Simeon, wherever he went, obtained written commitments from the population, which he transmitted to the king, who “confirmed them with royal seal”. 33 The attribution of a circumscribed missionary territory, once the permit delivered, the validation sealed, in return guaranteed political authorities access to missionary activities. THE “CONVERSION” OF THE KING On another note, and perhaps fuelled by such contradictions, Syriac authors sometimes surprisingly portrayed the persecuting sovereign in a very favourable light, even Christianising him, through hagiographic devices. THE CHRISTIANISATION OF THE KING: A RHETORIC? Syriac sources, and more specifically official texts from the Persian Church such as the acts of the East-Syrian synods, feature a rhetoric suited to sovereigns, who are not always favourable to the Christian cause.34 Each report from a synodal assembly is preceded by a short eulogistic prologue, which reflects the allegiance of the Christian community to the master of the land, but perhaps also opportunism, since official documents provided by the ecclesiastical hierarchy were likely to be read by royal administration. Hence, Khusrō I was “the merciful and beneficent king of kings” in the preamble of the 544 synod 35 – even though at this time, Christians were being imprisoned and the Catholicos himself was under house confinement. Occasionally, such phraseology went further than simple agreed-upon discourse. Such vocabulary could even go very far and echo expressions usually attributed to God alone: in 598, the Assembly of Sabrīšō‘ presented Khusrō as “our adorable, victorious and merciful master,” wishing him “long-living prosperity in all his

33 34 35

Bar ‘Ebroyo, Ecclesiastical Chronicle, section II, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1877: 85–86). On this practice, see Jullien, F. (2011, especially pp. 55–56); Jullien, F. (2016). I allow myself to refer to Jullien, Ch. (2009) and (2011). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, ed. CHABOT, J.-B., Synodicon orientale ou recueil de synodes nestoriens, Paris, 1902, Syriac text p. 70; French translation p. 320.

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enterprises,” 36 he the “master for eternity”. 37 The king was also a mediator, a “new Cyrus ruling over all kings”. 38 This indirectly suggested that political power could serve the East-Syrian cause. THE CHRISTENING OF THE KING: A MESSIANIC IDEAL Some Syriac, Armenian or even Byzantine Greek sources have sought to christianise the sovereign more explicitly by associating him with the community of believers. Following the assertions made by Procopius, the anonymous author of a Syriac chronicle from the 8th century (Chronicon ad annum 724) curiously presents king Yazdgird I as “a Christian blessed among the kings”. 39 Yazdgird’s distancing himself from the Mazdean clergy and his attention to religious minorities 40 (two attitudes which earned him the nickname of “sinner” in later Arabo-Persian sources 41) probably explain his favourable depiction in the Syriac sources. The “Christian” king is by 36 37

38

39

40

41

The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, Chabot (ed.) (1902: Syriac text p. 207; French translation p. 470). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, Chabot (1902: Syriac text p. 200; French translation p. 461). From a Pauline perspective, political authority could be seen as an image of the divine authority on earth, cf. Rm 13, 1–2: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves”. See The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXXI, where such a position is justified, Scher (ed.) (1983: 502 [182]). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, Chabot (ed.) (1902: Syriac text pp. 69– 70; French translation p. 320). In a Muslim context, such a process of identification has been identified in narrative and epigraphic sources for the Mamluk Sultan Baybars for example, compared to Alexander the Great and to Moses, Eddé (2012). Chronicon ad annum 724, Brooks (ed.) (1904: Syriac text p. 107); Latin translation Chabot (ed.) (1904: 137). Procopius, De Bello Persico I, 2, 8. On Yazdgird I’s policy towards the Christian community in the Persian empire, and the mutual benefits each party received, see McDonough (2008b). After many years of persecution under the reign of Šābuhr II, the East-Syrian Church was strengthened and reorganized, and the Persian international and internal policy reinforced. For the author of the pahlavi text entitled Šahrestānīhā-ī Ērānšahr, Yazdgird is said to have married the daughter of the reš galūtha, the Jewish Exilarch, whose name was Šōšān-duxt. See the extract, edited by Daryaee (2002: 20). Some scholars have questioned this assertion, as Herman (2012: 60–61). See Secunda (2013: 169 n. 46). See Sauerbrei (1905) and McDonough (2008a). See also Mosig-Walburg (2009).

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definition he who has been anointed, blessed. The hagiographical, but also apologetic writing, thus remodels the “pagan” king through a Messianic perspective able to rally the community behind the Supreme authority, even when he was considered the enemy and the persecutor – as was the case for Yazdgird in the last year of his reign. 42 The most accomplished development in such a literary process is expressed in the sequences describing the christening of the dynast. In a noteworthy and richly documented study, Alexander Markus Schilling analysed the pattern for the 6th and 7th centuries amongst the different traditions of the Christians of the East. 43 Sebēos in Armenia or John of Nikiū in his Greek Universal Chronicle claim that Khusrō I and his father Kawād professed the Christian faith in secreto and got christened. 44 Sebēos extensively details the Christian actions conducted by Kawād, who ordered that the liturgy be celebrated in his palace and that the Gospel be read in his presence. The Armenian historian goes as far as to say that upon his death, Christians buried him in the “sepulchre of the kings”. 45 These presentations of pseudo-conversions also contribute to the Messiah-king theme, reflecting a communal hope and a political appeal. The conversion of blood princes These documents also mention tales of conversion to Christianity – and the subsequent martyrdom – of the children of royal blood. Several cycles can be mentioned when considering king Šāhbur II (309–379) who somewhat stood for the anti-Christian sovereign for generations to come, because of the 40year long persecution covering his reign. The best-known text is the Acts of Behnam and his Sister Sara, probably written around the 12th century – a 42

43 44 45

One may compare this conception with certain attitudes of Syriac authors to imperial power in the context of the Byzantine empire in Late Antiquity. Manolis Papoutsakis (2017) has explored the theme of ‘vicarious (Byzantine) kingship’ in Syriac political theology through eschatological pattern and Biblical models. But as we can see, in the Sasanian milieu, the exegetical reconstruction was rather an image and a support for the rewriting history strategy. My thanks to the editors for this reference. Schilling (2008). John of Nikiū, Chronicle, Charles (ed.) (1916, repr. 1981: 154–155). See Schilling (2008: 185–189). Jullien, Ch. (2009). (Pseudo-)Sebēos, History, chapter IX, Thomson (ed.) (1999: 9–10); French translation Macler (1904: chapter II).

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novelistic passion, as has been shown by Bollandist Paul Devos. 46 Behnam is curiously presented as the son of Sennacherib, king of Nineveh. During a hunting game, he met a hermit named Mattai, who converted him and cured the young Sara who was a leper. 47 Both were baptised and had their throats slit by their own father who, following miraculous events, converted also. The very first lines mention a discreet reference to “Constantine, the victorious emperor,” opposed to Julian the Apostate and Šāhbur II, the shamed emperors under whose reign the narration takes place. Such a reference motivates the narrative and reveals the author’s intention to see Christian masters rule over the Sasanian empire as well as over the Eastern Roman empire. A true narrative motive transpires through these writings, as other parallel examples show: the History of Aḥudemmeh, which reports the circumstances under which a child of royal descent was converted then christened, a son of Khusrō I’s, potential heir to the throne; 48 the Acts of Gubralaha and of his Sister Qāzō, 49 said to be the children of Šābuhr II, who both were converted and converted in turn. Nikephoros, the patriarch of Constantinople (806–815), preserves in his Breviarium (Ἱστoρία σύντομος) the narrative of one of the last sovereigns to govern the Sasanian empire, Šahrvaraz (for just a few months in 629). He was one of Khusrō II’s generals (spāhbed), to whom he was related through his wife. Nikephoros presents the pact concluded between Šahrvaraz and Heraclius: the former had to hand back the lands won over the Romans as well as the relics of the Passion of Christ, taken by Khusrō II in 614, whereas the latter had to acknowledge and the usurper general, to support his illegitimate accession to the throne. He also welcomed his children into the Byzantine empire by associating them through marriage to the imperial 46

47

48 49

Devos (1966). Syriac text edited by Bedjan (1891: 397–441). See Bruns (2008) and (2011). For the date, see now Saint-Laurent – Smith (2018). For studies on the text, see Wiessner (1978). Younansardaroud (2002) and Holm (2014: 314–317). There are obvious biblical parallels, especially the healing of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, who was afflicted with leprosy, and whose skin had become white as snow, Nb XII, 10–15; cf. also Lc XVII, 11–19; Lc V, 12–15. Aḥudemmeh sent him at once to the Roman territory for security reasons. Nau (ed.) (1909: 33 [33]–34 [34]). Gubralaha and his sister Qāzō are presented as the son and daughter of king Šābuhr II; they were converted under the influence of their Christian teacher, Dādōy, who also was put to death for his faith and became a martyr; formerly, Dādōy, member of the royal family, was a Magus. They were executed in 332. Syriac text edited by Bedjan (ed.) (1894: pp. 141– 163; BHO 325).

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family. 50 Cyril Mango in a study of the period has shown how this event had been prepared by the Byzantine chancellery and exploited by Heraclius, whose universalising ideology sought to impose over the Orient a policy close to the interests of the empire, whilst still maintaining the prospect of a conversion of Persia to Christianity. 51 For this reason, some scholars suppose that Šahrvaraz’s two children might have become Christians.52 Mirror-modelling Several models seem paramount to these presentations: first the christening of Constantine, the image par excellence of the Christian king, who finds his theoretical support with Eusebius of Caesarea, whose historical work serves as a literary framework to many Syriac chroniclers (the Zuqnīn Chronicle, Chronicon ad annum 1234, the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, etc.). 53 The figure of Constantine appears throughout the favourable descriptions of sovereigns in Christian historiography. 54 The conversion of the Lakhmid king No‘mān III, christened by bishop Simeon of Ḥīra in 593, had a strong impact 50

51 52 53

54

Nikephoros of Constantinople, Breviarium VI, 8, Mango (ed.) (1990, § 17, p. 64): Heraclius gave the dignity of Patrice to Nicetas, son of Šahrvaraz, and gave his daughter Nike in marriage to Theodosius, the son he had with the empress Martina; he also gave his son Constantine [III] in marriage to Gregoria, the daughter of Nicetas. According to (Pseudo-)Sebēos, Šharvaraz decided to favor Christian communities as his intention was to conclude a close alliance with Heraclius; but the historian does not mention any conversion of his children to christianity. Heraclius only recognized in him and in his son the legitimate heirs to the throne of Persia. (Pseudo-)Sebēos, History of Heraclius, Macler (ed.) (1904: chapter XXVIII). Mango (1985: 117). Schilling (2008: 295–296). Kaegi (2003: 188–206). Concerning the diffusion and the Syriac translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Church History, see Wright – McLean (1898). Duval (1907, repr. 1970: 188–191). About the importance and transmission of Eusebius’s work in Syriac historiography, especially for the author of the Zuqnīn Chronicle, see Debié (2015: 297–300; 350–352). The apocryphal Acts of Sylvester, bishop of Rome, written in this city, may be known in the Syrian East since the 6th century as one of the metrical homilies ascribed to Jacob of Sarug mentions the theme. Frothingham (ed.) (1883: 167–242). For the figure of the emperor Constantine as a literary theme in the East-Syrian hagiographical literature in the Persian empire, and the influence of his conversion, see Barnes (1985), Smith (2016), McDonough (2008a). See Lieu – Montserrat (1998). Conterno (2013) my thanks to Vittorio Berti for reminding me of this article.

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in Christian spheres. 55 It is also worth recalling that one of the key models behind these literary compositions stems from the New Testament tradition of Evangelical magi developed in the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum as well as in subsequent Syriac narratives (particularly the Zuqnīn Chronicle and the Revelation of the Magi), which tell, among other things, how the Magi upon arriving in Bethlehem from Persia to venerate the child Jesus were then baptised by Thomas the Apostle who came to the Iranian land as a missionary. 56 In the Syriac tradition, the authors intentionally gave these characters the family names of Sasanian dynasts. In these descriptions of christenings, the Persian kings who adopt Christian faith are thus implicitly associated with these figures shown to be their forefathers. 57 These idealised presentations of the Messiah-king, loaded with political theology, have a very specific aim, which reflects identity issues. Different Christian communities from the Sasanian empire, rivalling over a missionary territory, and henceforth linked to the Persian land by their theological separation options, had little choice but to enter the political game to ensure their expansion, their permanence, their survival even. Whilst claiming their right to a deep insertion into the empire’s society, administration and state apparatus, Christians developed narrative constructs as a prophylaxis meant to reassure, to create an idealised space within the empire, perhaps also to get even with an authority with ambivalent, almost persecuting motivations. Hagiographical writing thus becomes a formidable instrument to cast a favourable light onto a new political order in the Iranian world.

55 56 57

See Jullien, F. (2009). On these traditions, see Monneret de Villard (1952); Panaino (2012). Ri (ed.) (1987); see Minov (2013) and (2017), and Schilling (2008: 159–185). Panaino (2020); Jullien, Ch. (2014: 99–109); Jullien, Ch. – Gignoux (2009: 323–346).

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Gignoux, Philippe – Jullien, Christelle (2006) “L’onomastique iranienne dans les sources syriaques. Quand les chrétiens d’Iran changent de nom (IVe–VIIe s.)”, Actes du Symposium Syriacum IX, Parole de l’Orient, 31, pp. 279–294. Gignoux, Philippe – Jullien, Christelle (2009), “Les mages christianisés. Reconstruction historique et onomastique des listes nominales syriaques”, in Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi – Jean-Daniel Dubois – Christelle Jullien – Florence Jullien (eds.), Pensée grecque et sagesse d’Orient. Hommage à Michel Tardieu, Bibliothèque de l’É cole des Hautes É tudes, 137, Turnhout, pp. 323–346. Gnoli, Gherardo (1993) Iran als religiöser Begriff im Mazdaismus, Vörtrage / RheinischeWestphälische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Geisteswissenschaften, 320, Opladen. Haury, Jacob (ed.) (1963) revised by Gerhard Wirth, Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia I. De Bellis Libri I–IV, Leipzig. Herman, Geoffrey (2012) A Prince without a Kingdom: The Exilarch in the Sasanian Era, Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum, 150, Tübingen. Holm, Tawny L. (2014) “Memories of Sennacherib in Aramaic Tradition”, in Isaac Kalimi – Seth Richardson (eds.) Sennacherib at the Gates of Jerusalem: Story, History and Historiography, Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, 71, Leiden. Huyse, Philip (2005) La Perse antique, Guide Belles Lettres des civilisations, Paris. Jullien, Christelle (2009) “Christianiser le pouvoir. Images de rois sassanides dans la tradition syro-orientale”, in Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 75(1), pp. 119–131. Jullien, Christelle (2011) “Martyrs en Perse dans l’hagiographie syro-orientale: le tournant du VIe siècle”, in Joelle Beaucamp, Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Christian J. Robin (eds.), Juifs et chrétiens en Arabie aux Ve et VIe siècles. Regards croisés sur les sources, Centre de recherche d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, Monographies, 32, Le massacre de Najrân II, Paris, pp. 279–290. Jullien, Christelle (2014) “Une question de parenté autour des rois mages”, in Studia Iranica, 43, pp. 99–109. Jullien, Christelle (2015) “La révolte des chrétiens au Hūzestān (551): modèles narratifs d’une historiographie”, in Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 25, pp. 107–120. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2002) “Aux frontières de l’iranité: “nāṣrāyē” et “krīstyonē” des inscriptions du mobad Kirdīr. Enquête littéraire et historique”, in Numen, 49, pp. 282–335. Jullien, Florence (2009) “La ‘triade’ d’al-Ḥira”, in Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi – Jean-Daniel Dubois – Christelle Jullien – Florence Jullien (eds.), Pensée grecque et sagesse d’Orient. Hommage à Michel Tardieu, Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études, 137, Turnhout, pp. 329–339. Jullien, Florence (2011) “Stratégies du monachisme missionnaire chrétien en Iran”, in Christelle Jullien (ed.), Itinéraires missionnaires. Échanges et identités, Studia Iranica, Cahier, 44, “Chrétiens en terre d’Iran”, IV, Paris, pp. 49–69. Jullien, Florence (2012) “Eastern Christianity: a Crossroads of Cultures”, in Florence Jullien (ed.), Eastern Christianity: a Crossroads of Cultures, Eastern Christian Studies, 16, Louvain, pp. 1–45. Jullien, Florence (ed.) (2015) The Histoire de Mār Abba, catholicos de l’Orient. Martyres de Mār Grigor, général en chef du roi Khusro Ier, et de Mār Yazd-panāh, juge et gouverneur, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 658, Script. Syr., 254, Louvain; transl., ibid. (2015) Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 659, Script. Syr., 255, Louvain.

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Jullien, Florence (2016) “Les controverses entre chrétiens dans l’empire sassanide: un enjeu identitaire,” in Flavia Ruani (ed.), Les controverses en syriaque, Études syriaques, 13, Paris, pp. 209–238. Kaegi, Walter E. (2003) Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium, Cambridge. Kalmin, Richard L. (2006) Jewish Babylonia between Persia and Roman Palestine, Oxford. Kmosko, Michel (ed.) (1907) Narratio de beato Beati Simeone Bar Sabba‘e, Patrologia Syriaca, I(2), Turnhout. Langlois, Victor (1867) Collections des historiens anciens et modernes de l’Arménie I, Paris. Lieu, Samuel N. C. – Montserrat, Dominic (eds.) (1998) Constantine: History, Historiography and Legend, London – New York. MacKenzie, David N. (ed.) (1979) “Mani’s Šābuhragān (I)”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 42(3), pp. 500–534. MacKenzie, David N. (ed.) (1980) “Mani’s Šābuhragān (II)”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 43(2), pp. 288–310. Macler, Frédéric (ed.) (1904) Histoire d’Héraclius par l’évêque Sebêos traduite de l’arménien et annotée, Paris. Macuch, Maria (2015) “Legal Implications of Mazdakite Teaching According to the Dēnkard”, in Christelle Jullien (ed.) Husraw Ier – Reconstructions d’un règne. Sources et documents, Studia Iranica, Cahier 53, Paris, pp. 155 – 174. Mango, Cyril (1985) “Deux études sur Byzance et la Perse sassanide. II: Héraclius, Šahrvaraz et la vraie croix”, in Travaux et Mémoires, 9, pp. 91–118. Mango, Cyril (ed.) (1990) Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople. Short History, Corpus Fontium Byzantinæ, 10, Washington D.C. McDonough, Scott J. (2006) “A Question of Faith? Persecution and Political Centralization in the Sasanian Empire of Yazdgard II (438–457 CE)”, in Harold A. Drake (ed.) Violence in Late Antiquity Perceptions and Practices, Aldershot, pp. 67–80. McDonough, Scott J. (2008a) “A Second Constantine? The Sasanian King Yazdgard in Christian History and Historiography”, in Journal of Late Antiquity, I(1), pp. 127–141. McDonough, Scott J. (2008b) “Bishops or Bureaucrats? Christian Clergy and the State in the Middle Sasanian Period”, in Derek Kennet – Paul Luft (eds.) Current Research in Sasanian Archaeology, Art and History. Proceedings of a Conference held at Durham University, November 3rd and 4th, 2001, Bar International series, 1810, Oxford, pp. 87–92. McDonough, Scott J. (2011) “The Legs of the Throne: Kings, Elites and Subjects in Sasanian Iran”, in Johann P. Arnason – Kurt A. Raaflaub (eds.) The Roman Empire in Context. Historical and Comparative Perspectives, West Sussex, pp. 290–321. Minov, Sergey (2013) “Syriac Christian Identity in Late Sasanian Mesopotamia: The Cave of Treasures in Context”, Diss., Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Minov, Sergey (2017) “Date and Provenance of the Syriac Cave of Treasures: A Reappraisal”, in Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, 20(1), pp. 129–229. Mohl, Jules (ed.) (1877) Le livre des rois par Abou’lkasim Firdousi VI, repr. 1976, Paris. Monneret de Villard, Ugo (1952) Le leggende orientali sui Magi Evangelici, Studi e Testi, 163, Rome, Città del Vaticano. Mosig-Walburg, Karin (2009) “Yazdgerd I., „der Sünder“”, in Philippe Gignoux – Christelle Jullien – Florence Jullien (eds.) Trésors d’Orient. Mélanges offerts à Rika Gyselen, Studia Iranica, Cahier, 42, Paris, pp. 245–268.

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Nau, François (ed.) (1909) Histoires d’Aḥoudemmeh et de Marouta, métropolitains jacobites de Tagrit et de l’Orient, Patrologia Orientalis, 3, Paris. Panaino, Antonio (2012) I Magi e la loro stella. Storia, scienza e teologia di un racconto evangelico, Milano. Panaino, Antonio (2020) I nomi dei magi evangelici: un’indagine storico-religiosa, Iranica et Mediterranea, 4, Milano. Papoutsakis, Manolis (2017) Vicarious Kingship. A Theme in Syriac Political Theology in Late Antiquity, Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity, 100, Tübingen. Payne, Richard (2015) A State of Mixture. Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity, Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 56, Oakland. Peeters, Paul (1947) “Les ex-voto de Khosrau Aparwez à Sergiopolis”, in Analecta Bollandiana, 65, pp. 5–56. Polotsky, Hans J. – Böhlig, Alexander (eds.) (1940) Kephalaia I/1. Hälfte, Stuttgart. Raub, Vivian M. (1997) “Eusebius and Constantine’s Letter to Shapur: Its Place in the Vita Constantini”, in Studia Patristica, 29, pp. 164–169. Reck, Christiane (2010) “Sābuhragān”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica online: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sabuhragan. Ri, Su-Min (ed.) (1987) La Caverne des trésors. Les deux recensions syriaques, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 487, Script. Syr., 208, Louvain. Römer, Cornelia (1994) Manis frühe Missionsreisen nach der Kölner Mani-Biographie, Opladen. Russell, James R. (1987) Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Saint-Laurent, Jeanne-Nicole – Smith, Kyle R. (2018) The History of Mar Behnam and Sarah: Martyrdom and Monasticism in Medieval Iraq, Persian Martyr Acts in Syriac: Text and Translation, 7, Piscataway. Sauerbrei, Paul (1905) “König Jazdegerd der Sünder, der Vormund des byzantinischen Kaisers Theodosius des Kleinen”, in Festschrift Albert von Bamberg, Gotha, pp. 90–108. Scher, Addaï (ed.) (1911) Histoire nestorienne inédite (Chronique de Séert), II/1, Patrologia Orientalis, 7, Paris. Scher, Addaï – Griveau Robert (eds.) (1919) Histoire nestorienne inédite (Chronique de Séert), II/2, Patrologia Orientalis, 13, Paris – Turnhout. Schilling, Alexander M. (2008) Die Anbetung der Magier und die Taufe der Sasaniden. Zur Geistesgeschichte des iranischen Christentums in der Spätantike, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 621, Subsidia, 120, Louvain. Secunda, Shai (2013) The Iranian Talmud. Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context, Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion, Philadelphia. Smith, Kyle R. (2016) Constantine and the Captive Christians of Persia: Martyrdom and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity, Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 57, Oakland. Tardieu, Michel (1981, 19972) Le manichéisme, Que sais-je? 1940, Paris. Thomson, Robert W. (ed.) (1982) History of Vardan and the Armenian War, London. Thomson, Robert W. (ed.) (1991) The History of Łazar P‘arpec‘i, Atlanta. Thomson, Robert W. (ed.) (1999) The Armenian History attributed to Sebeos. Historical Commentary I, Translated Texts for Historians, 31, Liverpool. Whitby, Michael (ed.) (2000) The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus, Translated Texts for Historians, 33, Liverpool.

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Whitby, Michael – Whitby, Mary (eds.) (1986) The History of Theophylact Simocatta. An English Translation with Introduction and Notes, Oxford. Widengren, Geo (1961) “The Status of the Jews in the Sasanian Empire”, in Iranica Antiqua, 1, pp. 117–162. Wiesehöfer, Josef (1993) “ ‘Geteilte Loyalitaten’. Religiöse Minderheiten des 3. und 4. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. Im Spannungsfeld zwischen Rom und dem sāsānidischen Iran”, in Klio, 75, pp. 362–382. Wiesehöfer, Josef (2005) Iraniens, Grecs et Romains, Studia Iranica, Cahier, 32, Paris. Wiessner, Gernot (1978) “Die Behnâm-Legende”, in Gernot Wiessner (ed.) Synkretismusforschung: Theorie und Praxis I, Wiesbaden, pp. 119–133. Wright, William – McLean, Norman (eds.) (1898) The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius in Syriac. With a collation of the ancient Armenian version by A. Merx, Cambridge. Yoshida, Yukata (2000) “Sute wen kao shi (Studies in the Sogdian texts)”, in Studies in the New Manichaean Texts Recovered from Turfan, Pekin. Younansardaroud, Helen (2002) “Die Legende von Mar Behnām”, in Martin Tamcke (ed.) Syriaca: Zur Geschichte, Theologie, Liturgie, und Gegenswartslage der syrischen Kirche II. Deutsches Syrologen-Symposium (Juli 2000, Wittenberg), Münster – Hamburg, pp. 185– 196.

Intersection and Dependency of Christianity as a Minority Religion with and on Zoroastrian Dominance in the Sasanian Empire MANFRED HUTTER Summary – The Sasanian Empire, quite from the beginning, developed a strong interrelation between the politics and religion. From the last quarter of the 3rd century onwards, politics and religion grew into a ʻsiblings statusʼ. Zoroastrian priests gained a dominant role in political decision making. Thus, scopes of actions of religious minorities – Christians and others – were gradually limited their influence on norms and ethics in society declined. For the paper, some questions of research should be investigated and (hopefully) answered: How dependent were Christians of norms and ethics of the Zoroastrian priests conflicting with their own religion norms? This question can be focused on a macro-, meso- and micro-level. (1) Conflicting norms and their impact on social action will be investigated on the macrolevel: From the point of view of the dominating Zoroastrian policy, Christian norms and ethics were closely related to the East Roman Church and Empire. Opposite to this, Christians in the Sasanian Empire perceived themselves as part of the Empire. (2) On the meso-level, the situation grows even more complex. Scopes of agency of the Christian minorities that differed in local and temporal perspectives will be in the focus on this level. (3) Since the 5th century, individuals from Christian background were able to launch careers at the Sasanian court, while those Christians having converted from Zoroastrianism sometimes were severely persecuted. Thus intersections, contacts and dependency varied on a sliding scale. (1) CHRISTIANS IN IRAN: THE GENERAL BACKGROUND The Sasanian Empire, quite from the beginning, developed a strong interrelation between politics and religion. From the last quarter of the 3rd century onwards, politics and religion grew into a “siblings’ status”. Zoroastrian priests gained a dominant role in political decision making. Though the literary form is from a later – Islamic – period, the contents of the so-called “Letter of Tansar” clearly refer to this. In this letter, Tansar, the chief

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hērbed of the Sasanian king Ardaxšīr (226–241), replies to a former vassal king of the Parthians who complained that the Sasanians destroyed the former religious traditions of the Parthians as follows: 1 Do not marvel at my zeal and ardour for promoting order in the world, that the foundations of the laws of the faith may be firm. For Church and State are born of one womb, joined together and never to be sundered.

Therefore, the religious reforms of Zoroastrianism undertaken by the priest on behalf of Ardaxšīr, are not only a religious restoration of religion, but also an action for propagating and stabilising the newly emerging Sasanian Empire. So Zoroastrians – that is mainly their priests – started to play an important role within the state. During the reign of Šābuhr I the number of Christians, who had lived in Syria and Mesopotamia since the 2nd century and within the borders of the Sasanian Empire, increased due to Šābuhr’s political and military encounters with the Romans and the on-going deportation of many Christians to the Sasanian Empire. 2 Towards the end of the 3rd century, the Zoroastrian priest Kerdīr not only presents an overview of the religious pluralism of Iran, but also clearly notices his own restrictive view about nonZoroastrian religions. In his inscription at the famous Kacba-ye Zardošt in Naqš-e Rostam he tells about his zeal for his religion and his persecution of other religions as follows: 3 And in every province and place of the whole empire the service of Ohrmazd and the yazads was exalted, and the Mazda-worshipping religion and its priests received much honour in the land. … And the creed of Ahreman and the dews was driven out of the land and deprived of credence. And Jews and Buddhists and Brahmans and Aramaic and Greek-speaking Christians and Baptisers and Manicheans were assailed in the land. And images were overthrown, and the dens of demons were (thus) destroyed, and the places and abodes of the yazads [i.e. fire temples] were established.

1 2

3

Quoted from Boyce (1984: 109). On the relationship between politics and religion see also Hutter (2019: 206f.) with further bibliographical references. On the spread of Christianity in Iran cf. Chaumont (1988); also Frenschkowski (2015: 464– 469). For the deportation of Greek speaking Christians to Iranian areas in the 3rd century see Jullien (2006: 110–113). Quoted from Boyce (1984: 112). The translation “Aramaic and Greek-speaking Christians” refers to the deported Christians from the Roman Empire and the “local” Syriac Christians of the western parts of the Sasanian Empire, cf. with further literature Hutter (2018: 102); Brock (2008: 65f.).

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We have no direct sources if or how Kerdīr’s stance against religious pluralism resulted in active and real persecutions of Christians, but this propagandistic text makes it obvious that the scope of actions of religious minorities – Christians and others – was gradually limited and their influence on norms and ethics in Sasanian society became or was weak. One passage of the Dēnkard mentions that both Šābuhr II (4th century) and Khosrow I (6th century) were actively fostering their religion. 4 Šābuhr is eager to stop the propagation of the bad religion (agdēn): After having been informed about this religion, he judges – most probably due to the interference of the priest Ādurbād – that wrong religions cannot be tolerated anymore. In a similar way, Khosrow also fosters the “good religion” and supports the mobedān’s fight against heresies. Despite this limited situation the available sources show some dynamics of religious contacts. 5 Zoroastrian texts in Middle Persian and Christian sources in Syriac and Greek present the point of view of various agents – Zoroastrian priests, Christian clergy-men – and reports by Romans about Christianity in the “foreign land of the Persians” of course have different positions in presenting Christianity in the Sasanian Empire. Looking at these different sources, we clearly not only find multiple contacts between the “Zoroastrian State” and the “Christian Church” – thus also posing a problem to Tansar’s idea that the state and the religion are siblings – but we also see a plurality within Iranian Christianity and the necessity to look at social differences. “Iranian” Christianity in the Sasanian Empire was a mixture of people of different backgrounds: the most important group were the Syriac Christians as part of the autochthonic population in the western parts of the empire – that is, a group with its own identity differentiating itself from the Greek Church in the Eastern Roman realm. But due to the military campaigns against the Roman Empire Greek speaking Christians also came to Iran – with a Greek cultural background and focussing on theological differences against the “Syriac” Christianity – at the latest starting with the various Christian synods in the 4th century. 6 In later centuries, maybe with seizable numbers only starting in the 6th century, converts from Zoroastrianism to Christianity also added to the plurality of Christianity in Iran – partly upholding traditions from 4 5

6

See DkM 413.7ff. with the translation of Zaehner (1955: 7–9); see also Asmussen (1962: 10); Frenschkowski (2015: 472). See the articles in Herman (2014) and the collection of papers by Gignoux (2014). For the spreading of Christianity in the Sasanian history see the information provided by Frenschkowski (2015: 457–475). See Jullien (2006: 129–136) for some differences between “Iranian” and “Greek” Christianity.

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their original Zoroastrian milieu which might have brought slight tensions with Syriac Christians on the one side, and with cultural interactions and integration of Christianity to Iranian traditions on the other side. Thus one has to ask how large was the Iranian impact on Christians in Iran. Though only poorly preserved we must not underestimate the importance of the translation of the Bible into Middle Persian. In his “Homily to the Gospel of John” (PG 59.32) John Chrysostom mentions that the doctrines of Christ had been translated into the language of the Persians. Several decades later, Theodoret of Cyrus wrote that the teachings of the Apostles and the Prophets had been translated for all the languages under the sun, also into the language spoken by the Persians (PG 83.1945). 7 But the only extant portion of the Middle Persian Bible are the sections of the so-called Pahlavi Psalter, found in the ruins of a Christian monastery in Bulayïq in Eastern Turkestan (now in the northwest of the People’s Republic of China) which might have already been translated in the early 4th century – or in case Bishop Macna is the translator, as suggested by K. Thomas, the translation can only be done in the second half of the 5th century. 8 The available manuscript of this Psalm-book also includes some canones of Mār Abā (died 552), so we can assume that this book was also used for studying the psalms and Christianity including Church law, maybe also as a first study tool for converts from Zoroastrianism. That the Bible was known in Middle Persian, also becomes obvious from quotations of and allusions to Biblical texts in the Zoroastrian treatise Škand Gumānīg Wīzār, especially in Mardān-Farrox’s refutation of the Jews (chapters 13–14) and Christians (chapter 15). 9 For the anti-Jewish section Mardān-Farrox relied most probably on a Jewish translation which originated 7

8

9

These references of course refer to Christian translations of the Bible. But there might also have been Middle Persian translations of the (Hebrew) Bible by Jews in the Sasanian time. Many centuries later the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides still remembers that Persian was one of the languages into which the Torah had been translated already before the coming of Muhammad; see Thomas (2015: 16); Panaino (2007: 74). Thomas (2015: 37–41); see further Baumstark (1922: 105) and Durkin-Meisterernst (2006). Only Psalms 94–99, 118 and 121–136, based on the Syriac Pešitta, are preserved. – Besides this Middle Persian translation of the Psalms, there are also some (younger) Sogdian and Early New Persian translations of the Bible available; see Sims-Williams (2014: 10f.); Barbati (2016: 15f.), both with references. But these translations originated in Eastern Iran – and probably only after the collapse of the Sasanian Empire. Shapira (2001); Panaino (2007); Gignoux (2008): Thrope (2012) and Cereti (2014) focussed on several passages in recent studies.

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still in the Sasanian period, and for the use of quotations from the New Testament, it is obvious that Mardān-Farrox’s quotations originate from more than one Middle Persian source. While generally it seems quite reasonable to assume that the main source text for the New Testament might have been the Pešitta, some passages in the Middle Persian text are closer to the Vetus Syra or to the Diatessaron. 10 Bishop Macna of Shirāz – like several other Syriac bishops – is also credited with the translation of Syriac Christian and liturgical texts. The catholicos Aqaq (died 495/96) has also translated texts about Christian doctrines on behalf of the Sasanian ruler Kawād I. (cf. PO 7.117f.). Another – at least indirect – evidence for Middle Persian texts (or quotations) of the Bible are the Law Books of the metropolitan bishops Šemcōn of Rew-Ardašīr (7th century) and Īšōcbōxt (end of 8th century). Both texts are only available in Syriac as the original Middle Persian books had been translated and are lost nowadays. 11 While both Christian authors are deeply involved into Sasanian law, they always support the arguments with Biblical references – which were also written in Middle Persian in the original text. Such references make it obvious that Christianity in Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iran interacted with Iranian culture and language, even if the Syriac language and culture were the dominant milieu of Christianity there. This short overview of the relevant source materials shows that we cannot take Christianity of Iran as a unified tradition but when we ask for interaction and dependencies, we should have in mind that various traditions of Christianity – that is of Greek, Syriac or Iranian backgrounds – also resulted in different ways of interaction. And regarding the “siblings’ theory” this also leads to different forms of dependency as Christians have to define their position of dependence or independence from the “state” and “religion” – which is Zoroastrian religion. (2) CONFLICTING NORMS AND THEIR SOCIAL IMPACT For Christians, norms are first of all taken from the Bible, and these Biblical laws and norms are also the base of some Christian Law Books, which were mentioned above. Sometimes one can observe that some of the laws show 10

11

On the quotation of the “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9ff.; Luke 11:2ff.), see Panaino (2007: 74). Harrak (2019); see also Sachau (1914). – See on some connections between Christian law books and Middle Persian law (and Early Islamic law) the recent studies of Scheunchen (2019) and Payne (2015).

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intersections with Zoroastrian laws, so at least some Christians have not seen unsurmountable conflicts between their own Christian norms and the Zoroastrian or Iranian norms in some situations. This might have been the case both among Syriac Christians living in contact with Iranian culture since the late Parthian period, but also with those Christians who had converted to Christianity from Zoroastrianism. But from the point of view of the dominating Zoroastrian policy, Christian norms and ethics were closely related to the Eastern Roman Church and Empire – and maybe Greek Christians also saw a rising conflict between their own laws (based on “Greek” Christianity) and the “foreign” Iranian norms. So one has to avoid to simplify or generalise the possible different levels of “conflicting” norms. That such different norms lead to conflicts between Christians and Zoroastrians, can be seen from several accounts about Christian martyrs in the Sasanian Empire. Referring to the acts of bishop cAqqebšmāc (died in 379), Peter Bruns summarised these conflicting topics mentioned in the acts which Zoroastrians oppose against Christians a few years ago as follows: 12 The Christians venerate only one god; they do not pray to the Sun and the Fire; they pollute water; the ascetic lifestyle of monks and priests and the avoidance of military service disturb social peace; they ignore dietary rules; the interment of the dead pollutes the purity of earth; they believe that also noxious creatures have been created by god; they say that the Zoroastrians’ sacred scriptures are used for magical spells. From the Syriac description of the life 13 of Mār Abā who was the catholicos of the Church of the East from 540–552, we learn other arguments which the mowbedān mowbed, Dād-Ohrmizd, raises against the catholicos: Mār Abā destroys the religion of the magians which has been created by the god Ohrmazd and which is the main foundation of the Sasanian Empire. Further he converts a growing number of Persians to Christianity and does not honour 12

13

Bruns (2014: 52) writes as follows: “Die Verehrung des einen Gottes, die Weigerung, Sonne und Feuer anzubeten, die Verunreinigung des Wassers, die Askese der christlichen Bundessöhne und Kleriker, die Kriegsdienstverweigerung, die Verwerfung der Speisegebote, die Erdbestattung der Toten, die Vorstellung, die ahrimanischen Kreaturen wie die Kriechtiere etc. gingen auf den einen (guten) Schöpfer zurück, sowie schließlich der von den heiligen Schriften ausgehende ‘Schadenszauber’.” – A German translation of these acts was done by Braun (1915: 116–138). German translation by Braun (1915: 188–220). New edition and French translation by Jullien, F. (2015). On Mār Abā’s contacts with (and critique of) Zoroastrianism see Hutter (2003).

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the Zoroastrian priests and officials at the court anymore. Mār Abā therefore must be a friend of the Byzantine Empire, but he also becomes a threat for Sasanian society and politics when he interferes in juridical matters and settles lawsuits concerning Christians, which also clashes with the (financial) interests of the mowbed. As a consequence, in 542/43, the Zoroastrian priests forced the catholicos to an interrogation. Here again he is accused of converting Zoroastrians to Christianity by two high officials. 14 Another topic of dispute is the Zoroastrian xwēdōdah, the next-of-kin-marriage which Mār Abā – using his authority as catholicos – forbids for Christians who had converted from their Zoroastrian religion but still stick to this practice.15 In the middle of the 6th century the catholicos applies to King Khosrow. 16 Noteworthy are two charges which the king raises against Mār Abā: He prohibits Christians from practising next-of-kin-marriage and he holds juridical authority over the Christian community and disregards the magians’ authority. These charges also make obvious that conflicting norms have a social impact as they lead to disagreement among the members of a society. And taking the idea seriously that “state” and “religion” are siblings, then the catholicos’ authority in matters of law cannot be accepted by the Zoroastrian priesthood. – We could easily go on in mentioning further points of criticism against Christianity raised by Zoroastrians; a few more were added by Marco Frenschkowski: 17 He correctly notices that dualism is no central topic in the polemics and disputes, but Christians strongly oppose the divine nature of the king, contradicting the dogma of god’s transcendence. Even if aspects of Zoroastrian law were partly similar to Christian laws as the law books of Šemcōn and Īšōcbōxt show some differences cannot be reconciled, and they remain disputed points throughout Sasanian times. One of the main points which could not be accepted by Christian law was the Zoroastrian institution of the stūrīh, the “substitute successorship” 18 and even more the next-of-kin-marriage (xwēdōdah). Mār Abā’s encounter with 14

15 16 17 18

Adorpareh bears the title šahr dādwar, the (highest) “judge of the country”, see Gignoux (1983: 255). The other official is called “rād of (the province) Persia”; his religioadministrative function seems to be important, but is far from being clear, see Gignoux (2014: 532f.). Braun (1915: 200–202 § 17); see Braun (1900: 131f.). Braun (1915: 210f. §§ 27–38). Frenschkowski (2015: 462–466); see also Rezania (2015). On stūrīh see Scheunchen (2019: 51–53).

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Zoroastrianism concentrates on marriage which was dealt with by the catholicos at the synod, but there also exists a law book written by the catholicos with paragraphs concerning marriage. It is worth mentioning that Mār Abā is regarded as the starting point of Syriac literature on law. 19 Besides the general importance of marriage in Christianity following Biblical law, our sources related to Mār Abā have again their special background in Zoroastrian society. In the description of his life, the catholicos is accused not only of prohibiting Christians from practising next-of-kin-marriage as is done by Zoroastrians, but also of being eager to oblige his bishops to let nobody remain within the church whose marriage is not accepted. Obviously this refers to a kind of “Zoroastrianised Christianity” – and in his dispute with Mār Abā 20 the highranking mowbedān mowbed suggests to the catholicos that he should leave those Christians unharmed who already practised – as Zoroastrians – next-ofkin-marriage and did not want to abandon their custom and divorce after becoming Christians. But the catholicos only answers in this dispute that he cannot change divine law; nobody practising this Zoroastrian custom can therefore remain a member of the church. For Mār Abā it was necessary to refute that practice because the Zoroastrians founded next-of-kin-marriage on their mythological tradition and the creation of the world.21 In his treatise on laws concerning marriage and sexual intercourse,22 Mār Abā quotes a Zoroastrian tradition that creation came into existence according to the sexual intercourse of Ohrmazd with close female relatives; therefore all people who like Ohrmazd also marry close female relatives, are slaves of the devil and cannot share the community of the true god. Whoever leads such a conjugal life and has sexual intercourse must be divorced within a maximum time-span of one year – otherwise he and his wife will be banned from all contacts with the Christian community. 23 Of course, Mār Abā was not the only Christian author who opposed this practice fiercely. Already Theodoret of Cyrus in the 4th century had handled 19 20 21 22 23

See Sachau (1914: xxii–xxvii); Scheunchen (2019: 37f.). Braun (1915: 202 § 17). On xwēdōdah in general see the study by Macuch (1991); further Scheunchen (2019: 54f.). On the cosmological foundation of such a marriage see also Panaino (2008: 77–83). See Sachau (1914: 265); the translation has been reproduced by Zaehner (1955: 437f.); see further Braun (1900: 143f. n. 2). That this was a central topic for the catholicos is further visible in one of his letters, see Braun (1915: 131f.), and in two canones prohibiting such a marriage, see Braun (1915: 140, 143); see further Panaino (2008: 74f.); Scheunchen (2019: 68f.).

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this topic: 24 But contrary to Mār Abā who relates this custom to cosmology, Theodoret does not see these connections, but simply refers to it as an example of lust of the Persians who are worse than other heathens who – in case they have desire to copulate with their sister, mother or daughter – can resist such a perverted practice (affect. III 96f). He and contemporary Christians often refer to this Zoroastrian practice as a topic in separating their own values from those of Zoroastrians. But Theodoret appreciates those Iranians who have left the “Law of Zoroaster” after accepting the gospel and then live in chastity according to Christian norms (affect. IX 33). That Christians do not venerate the fire is mentioned several times in the acts of Persian martyrs. As we know from some sources this is not only a theological point of discussion but it also leads to social unrest, especially when Christians – basing themselves on their own norms – destroy Zoroastrian places of worship. One such account – also the reason for a persecution of Christians at the end of the reign of Yazdgird I (r. 399–420) 25 – is documented by Theodoret in his “History of the Church”. 26 A certain bishop, Mār cAbdā, destroyed a Zoroastrian fire temple (πυρεῖoν). When the magians accused him at the royal court, the Sasanian king imposed the death penalty on the bishop who refused to rebuild the fire temple as compensation. Some other Christians were also sentenced to death then. Theodoret’s reaction to this is interesting: On the one hand he does not accept Mār cAbdā’s action, because also the apostle Paul did not destroy the temples in Athens when he was there (h.e. V 39,3f). But Theodoret appreciates the bishop’s refusal to rebuild the temple – because it was a place where the Zoroastrians venerated the fire as divine 27 – and this is idolatry incompatible with the veneration of the one and only god. Also in the Acts of Narsai, another martyr during the reign of Yazdgird I, the discussion about the destruction of a fire-temple plays an important role. 28 Earlier this temple had been a church, which was built by the former Zoroastrian Ādur-Farro who had converted to Christianity; but after his return to the faith of his birth, he also took the church and changed it 24 25 26

27

28

Hutter (2002: 289). See Colpe (1983: 939f.); Herman (2016: xx). See Hutter (2002: 288). On the episode see Theodoret, historia ecclesiastica, V 39 and the Acts of Mār Abda, translated by Braun (1915: 139–141); see also Bruns (2014: 57f.). In the Acts of Mār cAbdā the magians impeach him and his fellow Christians, because they blaspheme against the Zoroastrian gods and they ridicule the fire and the water; see Braun (1915: 139). For edition and translation see Herman (2016: 2–27) and the German translation of Braun (1915: 142–149). – For a short discussion see Herman (2016: xvii–xxv).

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to a Zoroastrian temple. When Narsai saw this, he extinguished the fire and destroyed the cultic paraphernalia of the Zoroastrians. Narsai then is arrested by Yazdgird’s authorities, and when he refused to substitute the temple, he was sentenced to death. – Mār cAbdā’s and Narsai’s stories are close to each other and in both cases one can see the conflicting dispute about venerating “foreign” or “false” gods (the fire) – based on Biblical traditions and polemics against “false gods”, also as a response to the Zoroastrian criticism of Christians who do not venerate the fire. Further conflicting values can be seen in the disputes about the interment of the dead – thereby polluting the purity of earth as Zoroastrians say. 29 Theodoret opposes this Zoroastrian custom saying that they expose their dead to dogs and birds of prey; here the Christian author uses already long-known arguments from Greek literature against the Zoroastrian practices of the disposal of their dead. But he also adds a theological note to his arguments (affect. IX 33): Zoroastrians who have converted to Christianity now bury their dead in the graveyard and they are no longer scared for polluting the earth. Because not the act of burial and the contact with the dead is a reason of pollution or a reason to be afraid of death, but burying the dead ones is an act of piety – fear is only suitable towards the judgement of Christ, but not towards dead matter. So Theodoret counteracts the Zoroastrian idea of purity and discards it by referring to Christian ethics instead of keeping purity regulations. 30 But it is also visible that Theodoret refers to Christian values – contrary to Zoroastrian values – to share these values with the Zoroastrians in order to make them accept the gifts which Christ has bestowed on his followers (Historia ecclesiastica, V 39,19f.). (3) SELF-PERCEPTION OF A MINORITY IN OPPOSITION TO THE STATE-CHURCH-RELATIONSHIP The conflicts just mentioned may not only show some “internal” differentiation of Christian agents – with pro and contra arguments of taking Iranian traditions into account as a Christian – but they also show the differences between kinds of self-perception(s) of the Christian minority vs. the perception of the Zoroastrian priests. Against the background of the Sasanian “state-religion relationship” conflicting interest in norms could occur. As some of these conflicts were already mentioned above, here I only want to 29 30

Hutter (2002: 289). On Zoroastrian purity laws see Hutter (2019: 62–64).

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refer to some theological topics as a matter of dispute arising from a Christian self-perception contrary to Zoroastrian perceptions. I restrict myself to three short examples. In Dēnkard 5.23, Bōxt-Mārē asks the following question: 31 Why did god proclaim this religion in unknown and hidden utterances, known as Avesta? Why did he not consider (to bring) a complete written text, but ordered to memorise it (only) orally.

The answer given by Ādur-Farrobag to Bōxt-Mārē (Dk 5.24) mentions the higher value of the oral text compared to the written text, and also the high importance of the Zand compared to the Avesta. 32 But on a level of selfperception we can say that this is a clash of the Christian understanding of the importance of the Bible as the basis of values and norms, being understandable to everybody, while the Avesta is “unknown and hidden” to the general audience. From the Christian point of view this results in superiority over Zoroastrian priests – despite their claim of the truth of the Avesta. Another criticism of questioning the value of the Avesta – and thus the relevance of Zoroastrian values – is expressed by Christians who oppose the magians who only “murmur” (tamtem) their scriptures, as mentioned several times in Syriac texts. 33 On the other hand, Zoroastrian criticism of some Christian doctrines also indirectly helps to understand the Christian self-representation better. The anti-Christian section in the Škand Gumānīg Wīzār – although written only in the Islamic period – sheds some light on it: One of the topics discussed there is the virgin birth (ŠGW 15.5ff.) questioned by the Zoroastrian author who has taken it most probably from Jewish anti-Christian polemics. 34 Taking into account the generally good contacts between the Jewish community and the Zoroastrian authorities during the Sasanian era, one can assume that the motif presented by Mardān-Farrox in the ŠGW against the credibility of Christians and Jesus’ origins gives a hint to Christian superiority: The miraculous birth of Jesus is a proof of their superior religion compared to Zoroastrians. Jesus, born in a wondrous way from a human mother, does not pollute god’s purity 31 32 33

34

Amouzgar – Tafazzoli (2000: 72f.); see Bailey (1943: 162); Gignoux (2014: 429f.). Bailey (1943: 164). See Gignoux (2014: 584f.). – On the way of learning the Avesta by heart and the Christians’ claim of superiority of learning and studying the (written) Bible see further Dilley (2014: xxif.). See Hutter (2018: 99f.).

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or reduce god’s divinity, as the Zoroastrians suppose according to MardānFarrox’s words. He argues against this Christian doctrine – from his strictly dichotomic viewpoint of contrasting purity and pollution – that god would never leave his heavenly throne to descend to a dark and impure womb of a human being (ŠGW 15.31ff.). Further, Mardān-Farrox’s discussion – and rejection – of Jesus’ divinity is connected with such an argument. If Jesus indeed is divine, he would never have died, as everyone being born like Jesus also must die. But god cannot die and therefore Jesus cannot be god’s offspring (ŠGW 15.29f.). – As there is no Christian response to MardānFarrox’s arguments, we can only hypothetically suppose that the presentation of their own doctrine by Christians dealt with Jesus as the “true” son of god – contrasting Zoroastrian doctrine that Ohrmazd also had sons, e.g. the Fire. The central theme that Jesus is god’s son is referred to in several Zoroastrian passages, again combined with the discussion that god – contrary to the death of the Messiah – cannot die. Manuščihr (9th century) focusses in his treatise “Dadestān ī dēnīg” (36.76–79) on this issue, 35 but says that Christians contradict each other. As god can never die, those Christians who say that Jesus as son of god was crucified and died on the cross are liars, and other Christians say the opposite. These discrepancies among Christians are for Manuščihr a suitable proof of the truth and superiority of the Mazdayasnian religion over Christianity. 36 Such examples clearly show the conflicts of Zoroastrian vs. Christian selfrepresentation of their respective doctrines which can hardly be reconciled with each other. From these different doctrines both religions deduced their norms and values which set them apart from each other in the social field with the minority in a weak and dependent position against the Zoroastrian “religion of the state”. (4) CRITICISM OF CHRISTIANITY BY ZOROASTRIANS AS A FORM OF DOMINANCE AND SUPERIORITY The Zoroastrians’ self-representation as adherents of an “Iranian” religion led themselves to the separation from non-Iranian traditions which often resulted in the efforts of the priesthood to prohibit their co-religionists of apostasy and 35 36

See the edition and translation of Jaafari-Dehaghi (1998: 138–141). See further Dk 3.40, translated by de Menasce (1973: 53); see also Hutter (2018: 101).

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contacts with un-believers. Dēnkard 3.140 describes this situation as follows. 37 An exposition of the good religion about the union and the separation—that is, there are many forms of union and separation. One (example) of them (is that) among mankind, there is union in Iran because of (their) Iranian character, (and) the separation from non-Iranians because of (their) non-Iranian character. Another (example is that) in Iran, there is union among the followers of the Good Religion because of the law of the Good Religion, (and) there is separation from the infidels because of (their) law of evil religion. Another (example) among the followers of the Good Religion (is) the union among good people because of (their) benefactions and worship, (and) the separation from bad people because of (their) lack of benefactions and worship. Another (example) surpassing these three (is) the union with the gods by dint of worship which is also benefactions, (and) the separation from the demons by dint of the lack of worship which is also a lack of benefactions.

It is noteworthy to observe the different grades of union and separation: between Iranians and Non-Iranians; between people of the good religion (hudēn) and those of bad religion (agdēn); between people of the good religion and evil-doers or heretics in it. The author thus makes a difference along ethnic lines as well as inter-religious or intra-religious lines and arguments – giving a hierarchy: Iran and Non-Iran are separated and within Iran the separation lies first of all between Zoroastrianism and other religions which are subordinated as “bad religion(s)” to the good religion – which is a stronger case of Zoroastrians’ superiority and dominance over “un-believers” (which means adherents of other religions) than the inferiority of heretics within the own Zoroastrian fold. This form of dominance is – in my point of view – the result of the “siblings’ theory” that the Iranian state and the Iranian religion must be on a par like twins – leaving no way for Non-Iranian ethnic groups (say e.g. “Syriacs” or “Romans”) and no way for Non-Iranian religions (say e.g. “Christians” 38). This parallelism of ethnicity and religion is also reflected in Dēnkard 3.29, where the religion of the Messiah is connected with “Rome” (i.e. the Byzantine Empire). 39 37 38

39

Quoted from Mokhtarian (2015: 112); see also the translation by de Menasce (1973: 145). The same – of course – can be said of other religions, e.g. Hindus, Buddhists or Jews as can be seen from Kerdīr’s inscription mentioned above or also – in later times – of Arabs (tāzīg), see Mokhtarian (2015: 100f.). – The case of Manicheans in Iran is more complex, as they can – generally speaking – also be taken as Non-Iranians (cf. Dk. 3.29 when Mani’s religion is geographically linked to Turkestan) but more often they are close to the third category of “intra-religious deviation” as they are “heretics” (zandīg) for the reason of presenting their own deviant interpretation (zand) of the (“good” – Iranian/Zoroastrian) religion. Translated by de Menasce (1973: 46f.); see further Frenschkowski (2015: 472f.).

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Taking Christianity as a “foreign” – and thus inferior – religion, conversions of Christians to Zoroastrianism are not really welcome by the priesthood. Of course there were single cases that a Christian joined the Zoroastrian faith, but such a person remained a “Zoroastrian of second rank”. Scepticism against such converts are reflected in some texts as can be seen in the 12th chapter of the Hērbedestān which discusses some aspects of the conversion of an “infidel” (agdēn) who had come to the “good religion” (wehdēnīh). 40 One of the questions deals with the problem if the son of a convert is allowed to pursue his study of the Zoroastrian religion. Another question relates to the topic if the wife of such a convert is to be divorced and if her husband is further responsible to care for her. 41 And his wife is not dismissed from wifehood, for proper care of her is endorsed by (religious) judgements which are not less valid (than any contrary judgements); but he may not have intercourse with her, for that is sinful. … And he is obliged to provide sustenance for her, and he may not leave this to the Christians; thus her sustenance is our responsibility.

For the relation between Zoroastrianism and Christianity this passage tells three aspects: The provision of sustenance for the wife from the side of the Zoroastrian community seems to show that one wants to avoid that this wife remains in close connection to her old religion(ists). But one can also deduce from the passage that there is no wish for the conversion of the wife to Zoroastrianism. And at last, one also is eager to care for the sustenance to avoid that Christians do this and thus could claim their moral superiority over Zoroastrianism. This short passage makes the dominance and the position of subalterns in Iran obvious again. (5) CONVERSION, INTERACTION AND EXCHANGE: LIBERALISATION OF DEPENDENCY A visible change of the subaltern situation of Christians started in the 5th century, when individuals from Christian backgrounds were able to launch careers at the Sasanian court. From the analysis of seals and seal impressions 42 we can learn that Christianity at that time started to become an important 40 41 42

See Mokhtarian (2015: 106f.). Quoted from Kotwal – Kreyenbroek (1992: 63 § 12.3). See Lerner (1977); Gyselen (2006: 17–78). – On the growth of Christianity see also Frenschkowski (2015: 465).

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factor of religious and cultural pluralism in the Sasanian Empire, 43 a situation which lasted until the early Islamic period of Iran. But at the same time Christians who had left their original Zoroastrian faith for the “new” religion were sometimes persecuted severely. Thus intersections, contacts and dependency varied on a sliding scale. These interactions – and the growing pluralism of religions – also lead to new developments within Zoroastrianism by sharpening the differentiation between the “right” and the “wrong” teachings and doctrine and by creating some kind of uniformness of the “good religion”. This again resulted in tensions between Zoroastrian authorities and converts to Christianity and the persecution of some high-ranking Christian converts in the 6th and 7th centuries, because an apostate from Zoroastrianism was considered a sinner who had to be punished or – at least – theologically rejected. 44 The conversion to Christianity in these two centuries started to challenge the Zoroastrians’ claim of superiority and exclusiveness, especially in cases when high-ranking mowbedān and well educated lay-persons left the religion of their forefathers to join the “bad religion” from the point of view of Zoroastrian authorities. The separation of the good religion from the bad religion and the function of the good (Iranian and Zoroastrian) religion to stabilise the society and uphold Iranian identity became shattered by such conversions. As a result, the disputes of Zoroastrians with Christianity also reached a legal level when apostasy became considered a crime and sin leading to death (margarzān) – not only in a theological sense that after death such a person will go to hell, but also by death penalty. This kind of punishment – as can be easily seen from the Acts of Syriac martyrs – was in several cases executed. But it is noteworthy that obviously many Zoroastrian priests and judges were not deeply interested in creating martyrdom, but in keeping the superior “Iranianness” alive – that means to struggle more for reconversion of former Zoroastrians than of executing them. So many of these Syriac texts show attempts of the Iranian authorities to reconcile the apostate 43

44

Also Judaism was part of this pluralism – at least in the core areas of Iran; on the Jewish situation see e.g. the overview by Neusner (1983: 909–923); see also the detailed study of Jewish-Iranian interactions of Secunda (2014). – The situation of the Manicheans differs as they heavily lost ground since the 5th century in the Iranian core lands; see in general Hutter (2015: 479f.). See Mokhtarian (2015: 113f.) who also mentions that this theological judgement about apostates also lived on until the 9th century, when the rising number of converts to Islam (instead of Christianity) became a severe challenge for the religion.

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again with the “good religion” – often through promises of worldly benefits (which of course also were rejected by the martyrs-to-be) and through the delay of the execution, because the martyr-to-be is often brought back to jail after an interrogation. 45 Also later texts – like the Dadestān ī dēnīg (ch. 40.5) 46 – discuss the possibility that a convert renounces the “bad religion” and reconverts to Zoroastrianism; but the acceptance of such a re-conversion can be combined either with some kind of atonement or with physical penance imposed on this “sinner” by the religious authorities. Even if this section of the Dadestān ī dēnīg refers to the Post-Sasanian era when – because of the political dominance of Islamic authorities – Zoroastrian priests could no longer execute the death penalty, it shows the ways how Zoroastrian priesthood was more interested in the re-conversion than in the execution of sinners. Only persons – after many efforts which had no success in re-conversion – did not renounce Christianity were finally considered as fiends of the religion belonging to the realm of Ahreman. One clearly symbolic (and for Zoroastrians impressive) example tells how the corpse of an executed Christian was fed to rats, because this Christian can be compared to rats – thus both being creatures of Ahreman. 47 But also for Christians such a symbolism made sense within the literary genre of the acts of martyrs: The martyr shows his firm and superior belief not only through his rejection of the allurement of material goods, but also the kind of cruelness by feeding the rats shows the moral inferiority of Zoroastrianism in the eyes of the Christian authors.

So we can conclude: The struggle between the two religions is always fostered by the ideal which religion is superior to the other. For Zoroastrians their superiority is combined with the idea of Iranness which by itself includes that the “Non-Iranness” or foreignness of Christianity is inferior. Besides this the siblings’ status of religion and state during the Sasanian period also presents the framework that everything outside this model is marginalised – in theory at least. In practice the situation was more complex as pluralism of religions and interactions of religions always challenge such theoretical concepts that a minority is exclusively dependent on the majority. To keep Christians in dependency surely was of interest for the political and religious 45 46 47

For the magians’ attempts to reconvert apostates see Rezania (2015: 174, 177); Dilley (2014: xxif.). On the whole chapter 40 and the discussion of apostasy, renouncement and re-conversion, see Jaafari-Dehaghi (1998:168–171, 212–214). See Frenschkowski (2015: 471).

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authorities in the Sasanian era – as long as they could take “Christians” as a Non-Iranian entity. This dependency became questioned when Christians – especially converts from Zoroastrian background – tried to keep some Iranian traditions also after their conversion – thus being Iranian and Christian, and therefore no longer accepting a subaltern status as Christians as an inferior “Non-Iranian” minority in the state.

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Harrak, Amir (2019) The Law Code of Simeon Bishop of Rev-Ardashir, Piscataway, New Jersey. Herman, Geoffrey (ed.) (2014) Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. Religious Dynamics in a Sasanian Context, Piscataway, New Jersey. Herman, Geoffrey (2016) Persian Martyr Acts under King Yazdgird I, Piscataway, New Jersey. Hutter, Manfred (2002) “Die Auseinandersetzung Theodorets von Kyrrhos mit Zoroastrismus und Manichäismus”, in Manfred Hutter – Wassilios Klein – Ulrich Vollmer (eds.) Hairesis. Festschrift für Karl Hoheisel zum 65. Geburtstag, Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum. Ergänzungsband 34, Münster, pp. 287–294. Hutter, Manfred (2003) “Mār Abā and the Impact of Zoroastrianism on Christianity in the 6th Century”, in Carlo G. Cereti – Mauro Maggi – Elio Provasi (eds.) Religious Themes and Texts of Pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia. Studies in Honour of Professor Gherardo Gnoli on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday on 6th December 2002, Wiesbaden, pp. 167–173. Hutter, Manfred (2015) “Manichaeism in Iran”, in Michael Stausberg – Yuhan Sohrab Dinshaw Vevaina (eds.) The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, Chichester, pp. 477–489. Hutter, Manfred (2018) “Rivalität und Konflikte zwischen Christen und Zoroastriern”, in Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 112, pp. 91–104. Hutter, Manfred (2019) Iranische Religionen. Zoroastrismus, Yezidentum, Bahā’ītum, Berlin. Jaafari-Dehaghi, Mahmoud (1998) Dādestān ī Dēnīg. Part 1. Transcription. Translation and Commentary, Studia Iranica, Cahier 20, Paris. Jullien, Christelle (2006) “La minorité chrétienne ‘grecque’ en terre d’Iran à l’époque sassanide”, in Rika Gyselen (ed.) Chrétiens en terre d’Iran. Implantation et acculturation, Studia Iranica, Cahier 33, Paris, pp. 105–142. Jullien, Florence (2015) Histoire de Mār Abba, Catholicos de l’Orient, Martyres de Mār Grigor général en chef du roi Khusro Ier et de Mār Yazd-Panāh, juge et gouverneur, 2 vols., Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Syri 254 & 255, Louvain. Kotwal, Firuze M. – Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1992) The Hērbedestān and Nērangestān. Vol 1: Hērbedestān, Studia Iranica, Cahier 10, Paris. Lerner, Judith A. (1977) Christian Seals of the Sasanian Period, Istanbul. Macuch, Maria (1991) “Inzest im vorislamischen Iran”, in Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, 24, pp. 141–154. Mokhtarian, Jason (2015) “The Boundaries of an Infidel in Zoroastrianism. A Middle Persian Term of Otherness for Jews, Christians, and Muslims”, in Iranian Studies, 48, pp. 99–115. Neusner, Jacob (1983) “Jews in Iran”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 3(2): The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge, pp. 909–923. Panaino, Antonio (2007) “The Pāzand Version of the Our Father”, in Arafa Mustafa – Jürgen Tubach – G. Sophia Vashalomidze (eds.) Inkulturation des Christentums im Sasanidenreich, Wiesbaden, pp. 73–90. Panaino, Antonio (2008) “The Zoroastrian Incestuous Unions in Christian Sources and Canonical Laws: their (distorted) Aetiology and some other Problems”, in Christelle Jullien (ed.) Controverses des chrétiens dans l’Iran sassanide, Studia Iranica, Cahier 36, Paris, pp. 69–87. Payne, Richard (2015) “East Syrian Bishops, Elite Households, and Iranian Law after the Muslim Conquest”, in Iranian Studies, 48, pp. 5–32.

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Rezania, Kianoosh (2015) “Einige Anmerkungen zur sasanidisch-zoroastrischen Religionspraxis im Spiegel der interreligiösen Dialoge der Christen und Zoroastrier” in Claudia Rammelt – Cornelia Schlarb – Egbert Schlarb (eds.) Begegnungen in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Beiträge dialogischer Existenz. Eine freundschaftliche Festgabe zum 60. Geburtstag von Martin Tamcke, Münster, pp. 172–180. Sachau, Eduard (1914) Syrische Rechtsbücher. Bd. 3: Corpus iuris des persischen Erzbischofs Jesubocht. Erbrecht oder Canones des persischen Erzbischofs Simeon. Eherecht der Patriarchen Mâr Abhâ, Berlin. Scheunchen, Tobias (2019) Cosmology, Law, and Elites in Late Antiquity: Marriage and Slavery in Zoroastrianism, Eastern Christianity, and Islam, Baden-Baden. Secunda, Shai (2014) The Iranian Talmud. Reading the Bavli in its Sasanian Context, Philadelphia. Shapira, Dan (2001) “On Biblical Quotations in Pahlavi”, in Henoch, 23, pp. 175–183. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2014) Biblical and Other Christian Sogdian Texts from the Turfan Collection, Turnhout. Thomas, Kenneth J. (2015) A Restless Search. A History of Persian Translations of the Bible. With a Contribution by Ali-Asghar Aghbar, Atlanta. Thrope, Samuel F. (2012) Contradictions and Vile Utterances. The Zoroastrian Critique of Judaism in the Škand Gumānīg Wizār, unpublished PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley. Zaehner, Robert Ch. (1955) Zurvan. A Zoroastrian Dilemma, Oxford.

The East-Syrian Patriarch: Constructing Identity through a Community Leader FLORENCE JULLIEN Summary – The emergence of strong identities within the different Christian currents in the Near and Middle East was a long process that stretched from the 5th century until the 7th or the 8th century, shaping specificities in the Syriac churches. As Michael G. Morony argues, memory was in this process a powerful factor of preservation. Christian religious minorities contributed to the blossoming of their christological position, and consequently forged their autonomy and its characteristics based on their own experience, perception of events and relationships with one another. Each of the competing Churches sought to construct an image of the primate, in a sort of “paternity proceedings”, and this process was one of the main elements which illustrates how these identity and memory have been preserved. The patriarch, in fact, alone represents his community of faith, whose cause and destiny he embodies in a way. Indeed, the great significance of his function, his crucial position within his Church, as well as his public role, explain that he has been at the core of a symbolic imagery, not only his person, but also his attributes and the places where he asserted his authority. In a study looking at how the specificities of Syriac Churches were shaped, Michael G. Morony pointed out that marked identities within the various Christian movements in the Near and Middle East emerged during a long process stretching from the 5th century until the 7th or 8th century. Remembering and maintaining those identities constituted a powerful means of preservation. 1 Each religious group constructed an image of its independence and its characteristics based on its experience, its perception of events, and its relationship with others. 2 An essential aspect of this preservation of memory and identity was the construction of an image of the primate—in a “quest for

1 2

Morony (2005: 1). In Sasanian context, see de Jong (2004).

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paternity”—in each of the Churches competing with one another at the time. 3 Indeed, in himself, the patriarch represented his Christological community, embodying, as it were, its cause and its future. The eminence of his position, his internal functions within his Church, and his public role explain why his person was the object of a symbolic rendering, not only in and of itself, but also as regards his attributes and the places where his authority was affirmed. A NECESSARY POSITIONING WITH REGARD TO POLITICAL AUTHORITIES One way for the Christian minority to express its identity in Sasanian territory, whether East-Syrian or West-Syrian, was to seek royal recognition and to position itself with respect to the empire’s official authorities, thus enhancing its visibility. While most patriarchs sought to integrate court society and gain influence, they were not an exception. Already in the Jewish community, the reš galutha had developed a support network within the circles of power; it was probably further consolidated at the time of Yazdgird I, one of whose spouses was, indeed, the exilarch’s daughter. For many years, research into the position of the exilarchate relied on rabbinical sources. A few studies, including Geoffrey Herman’s recent thesis, have helped to expand our knowledge of the subject, in particular by examining other corpuses of Jewish and Christian sources through comparative methodology. 4 Marie-Joseph Pierre has also emphasised the extent to which both religious authorities shared similar traditions and claims: the importance of their Davidic lineage, a desire for autonomy as regards cross-border communities, and residence in the empire’s capital as imperial civil servants under the direct surveillance of the king of kings. 5 Without speaking directly of officialisation, we can in fact suggest a similar status as regards the governmental administration and their respective clergies (priests and bishops on one side, rabbis and Talmudic academies on the other). If we follow G. Herman’s assertions, however, the 3

4 5

On the patriarchal function and its historical evolution in the Church of the East, see de Vries (1964) and (1984); Fiey (1967). See also, Hage (2014, repr. 2016). See Detlef – Müller (1969); Macomber (1968); van Esbroeck (1991); Abramowski (2011). The term “Patriarch” is used here in a large way as a synonym for “Catholicos”; concerning the period before the 5th century, we prefer the word “Primate” for the sake of historical coherence. Levine (1996); Herman (2012). See also Kalmin (2006); Widengren (1961). Ed. and transl. Pierre (1988: 89).

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structure of the exilarchate also seems to have been an administrative body embedded in the Sasanian state apparatus, beyond the strict framework of an exclusively religious institution,6 unlike the catholicosate. This difference also explains a distinct approach in terms of social and political integration. On the Christian side, the need to be well established at court remained a means of affirming their existence, and the head of the hierarchic government had to impose himself as a special intermediary with the king, to whom he represented his community—just as he would with the caliph later. Ultimately, this situation added a political dimension to the position of the patriarch, who was no longer only, in the Mazdeans’ eyes, the religious affairs administrator for a minority, but also an essential player in the social life of a segment of the empire’s population. In this vein, Louis Sako has highlighted the role of East-Syrian patriarchs in diplomatic missions and official delegations, especially between the 5th and 7th centuries: for example, Yahbalaha I, sent to Byzantium in 418; Acacius, sent in 486/487 under Balaš; and Īšōʿyahb I, dispatched by Ohrmazd IV in 581 and 587 to the border area in Arzanene to work with the emperor Maurice towards peace negotiations. Īšōʿyahb I had already taken part in a diplomatic mission in 546/547 when he was still a teacher at the School of Nisibis. In addition, Īšōʿyahb II worked in 630 as an emissary for Queen Borān to update the Roman-Persian peace treaties concluded two years earlier. People close to the catholicos also actively participated in those legations. 7 The choice of such high-ranking Christian figures can be explained by their command of different languages, and above all by the trust that the Byzantines had in them, a factor that the Sasanians sought to use for their diplomacy, often successfully. More rarely, some diplomatic missions could fail, resulting in political setbacks, which sparked reprisals directed at the primate himself. For example, Īšōʿyahb was imprisoned with his whole escort and freed in exchange for a large sum of money. 8 Other types of missions were also entrusted to them. According to what is written in The Chronicle of Seert, we know, for example, that under the reign of Yazdgird I (399–420), the catholicos Mār Aḥai (410–414) was sent by the king to the south-eastern part of the empire to conduct an investigation into the theft of merchandise by pirates operating on the seas between China and India (the second term here understood in the broad sense 6 7 8

Herman (2012: 11–16). On this subject, see the exhaustive presentation in Sako (1985: 59–129). Garsoïan (1973– 4). Historical context in Rubin (1986). Sako (1985: 102); he mentions John of Ephesus, The Ecclesiastical History, VI, 38.

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that it had in Late Antiquity, i.e., the Erythraean Sea from the Red Sea, including the coasts of Makran and the Persian Gulf, as far as peninsular India). That mission was in reality a very delicate undertaking because the king’s own nephew, then governor of the region of Fārs, was implicated in the affair and suspected of theft. The involvement of a royal family member gave this action an eminently diplomatic aspect. Aḥai was therefore entrusted with the task of finding the missing items and the culprit(s), at the risk of pointing the finger at a governor and weakening his position. The Christian Arabic compilers of the Book of the Tower also relayed this story. A second account about Aḥai in The Chronicle of Seert describes the mediation by the catholicos, who was carrying a “missive from the kings” to the nephew-governor, whom Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā calls Behvār. 9 The mission is described as being the catholicos’s success on behalf of the whole Christian minority. Aḥai’s report for Yazdgird increased his credibility with the king and secured him, the hagiographer says, “considerable authority in the empire”. 10 THE OBLIGATIONS OF AN INSTRUMENTAL FIGURE Such a position generated implicit duties that the catholicos was obliged to perform to preserve his Church’s interests in the field. He therefore participated in the social life of the court and was part of the royal retinue. One such duty consisted of following the king in his seasonal travels, when he summered somewhere, and even during his military campaigns—a constraint that had to be maintained later under the Muslim government. In one of his Letters, the patriarch Timothy mentions the “king’s” order, he says, to go and join him in northern Mesopotamian territory. Responding to the order, he left in a hurry and, he adds, used the public mounts to go more quickly. 11 In another missive, he says that the King had left for Baṣra and he intended to join him. 12 During the Sasanian period, this custom seems to have been an obligation under the reign of Khusrō I, who forced the catholicos Ezekiel, in 9

10 11 12

A Middle Persian name that means “best fortress”, see Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009, n° 106–109 and n° 425, n° 428). Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the Mysteries, Gismondi (ed.) (1897: 15). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XCIV, Scher (ed.) (1918: 573 [253]). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXIX, Scher (ed.) (1918: 324 [212]–325 [213]). Letter 48; summary in Bidawid (1956: 37). See Heimgartner (2012). Letter 90; summary in Bidawid (1956: 58).

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573, to accompany him to Nisibis and Dara, a theatre for Roman-Persian hostilities at that time. 13 It can be noted that the aim of this tacit convention, based on mutual respect between the Christian elites and the Mazdean authorities, was to help to preserve a socio-political equilibrium and the stability of the State. 14 A passage in the Chronicle of Huzistān (also known as the “Guidi Anonymous”) about a tragic political event during the reign of Khusrō II shows rather well these shared interests: when there was a revolt in the city of Nisibis, the king dispatched a local governor, the naxwāragān, 15 to suppress the movement with an army and forced the catholicos Mār Sabrišōʿ to join his legate. The role given to Sabrišōʿ is not explained, but the context would suggest that he mediated on behalf of the royal authority. The chronicler explains that “through flattery,” and by relying on the naxwāragān’s promise not to punish all the population, Sabrišōʿ succeeded in having the city gates opened to the soldiers. But as soon as he entered, [the legate] went back on his promise and captured and tortured some of them; he looted their homes, destroyed everything that they possessed, and finally had them put to death through all sorts of methods. 16 The army’s use of elephants heightened the disastrous effects. It is clear that the catholicos was—perhaps slightly despite himself—knowingly used as an instrument of royal propaganda to impose a contested power on the inhabitants of Nisibis again. In any case, this episode highlights the numerical importance of the Christian minority in the city, since Mār Sabrīšōʿ was probably addressing Christian authorities of the city. It should also be recalled, however, that, despite the influence enjoyed by the catholicos, the patriarchate’s independence was limited as regards the supreme authority, and the catholicos had to be subordinate to the needs of imperial politics in order to preserve his credit for the benefit of his minority community, sometimes against his personal interests. This aspect is clear in the affair of the double capitation that King Šābuhr II (309–379) demanded from the famous primate Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē when a 13 14 15 16

The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XXXVI, Scher (ed.) (1950: 193 [101]). ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, Gismondi (ed.) (1899: 48). Payne (2015: 23–58). McDonough (2011: 303–305). On this administrative title, see now Gyselen (2004) and (2019); Gignoux (2004: 41–43). The Chronicle of Huzistān, Syriac text in Guidi (1903: 19); French translation in Jullien, F. (2009, especially p. 166).

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series of large-scale works was launched in a swampy area (probably to the South of Ctesiphon or in Mesene) in 339. The king decided to impose a tax on every monk living in a monastery and ordered tax to be doubled for the faithful. As citizens of the empire, the Christians had to show their solidarity by contributing to the sanitation efforts undertaken by the rulers of the country. The event is reported in the Narratio, written shortly after the execution of Simeon, in around 341 or 344. 17 Simeon’s refusal to comply with these payment demands reflects more a feeling of injustice regarding the discrimination that his community was facing than disloyalty to his king. During the Sasanian period, the religious minorities were sometimes subjected to differentiating measures. In the 6th century, the author of the Syriac History of Mār Yazd-panāh used very harsh language against the Mazdeans who were collecting “sin money” from recently converted faithful who had left Zoroastrianism for Christianity—an expression suggesting that the contributions were imposed and limited to a specific social group. 18 The story of Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē, imprisoned and killed for having tried to shield his community from an excessive decree, became a prototypical role model who served as a literary canvas and source of inspiration for other descriptions, in particular of the catholicos Mār Abba under the reign of Khusrō I. According to the Chronicle of Seert, Abba also had to face a levy of taxes earmarked for pacification efforts in the region of Bēth-Huzāyē which was agitated at that time because of a rebellion against the royal authority. The king demanded that he levy a tribute from the Christians in Susa, Gundēšābuhr, and the surrounding areas: Fearing that, if he resisted, what Šābuhr [II] had done to Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē would happen to him and his people, the catholicos obeyed the king and collected large sums of money, which he presented to him. 19 The author of the History of Mār Abba, a close contemporary of the catholicos, never mentions these facts, however. This silence suggests a 17

18 19

The Life of Simeon Bar Ṣabbaʿē, Kmosko (ed.) (1907: 805–806). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XXVII, Scher (ed.) (1908:300 [90]–301 [91]). For the Syriac text see also Bedjan (1891: 136). See Smith (2014) and Wood (2013). The Martyrdom of Mār Yazd-panāh, § 12, Jullien, F. (2015: 85–86). For the Syriac text, see also Bedjan (1895: 413). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XXVII, Scher (ed.) (1919: 163 [71]–164 [72]); see ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, whose text comes from a common source, Gismondi (ed.) (1899: 44).

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literary construction of posterior accounts modelled on the situation experienced by Simeon, with a similar taxation context in the two narratives. 20 The figure of Mār Abba was thus associated with his illustrious predecessor, depicted in a new paradigm for his community. He was also shown as a guarantor: by using him as a mediator for conciliation with the population, the king openly recognised the catholicos’ influence on a considerable proportion of his subjects and sought to associate himself with the Christian elites for political ends. CONTROL OF THE PATRIARCHAL AUTHORITY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES As a trade-off for presenting the patriarchs at court and allowing their relative influence on the king, official authorities increased their control over the primatial authorities of religious minorities, in particular by means of an increasingly direct interference by the king of kings in ecclesial affairs. This interventionism occurred at the highest level of entities in the hierarchy of the Churches, especially when it was time to renew the patriarchate after the death of a catholicos. Despite a modus vivendi of recognition and cooperation between the Christian authorities and the royal power, the advantage always remained on the side of the king who, most of the time, oversaw the election of the new patriarch and validated the representative chosen by the episcopal college. This interference, on top of power-plays by various rival groups, pressure from Miaphysites who were hostile to continuity in the governance of the East-Syrian Church, and the choice of favourite candidates (successful practitioners, rhetoricians, or other prelates with good standing) who were not approved by the episcopal bodies, often resulted in a destabilisation of the Persian Church. The king presided over the validation of the newly elected patriarch and could even designate him, as occurred several times in the case of his Christian doctors whom he wanted to honour by bestowing on them that prestigious status: the catholicos Elīšāʿ, the personal doctor of Kawād I, who was invested concurrently with the Persian Church’s candidate, causing a schism for 13 years in the first half of the 6th century (from 524 to 537); Joseph (primate from 552 to 566/567, † 570 21); and Grigor of Kaškar (605–609), chosen by King Khusrō II despite the protestations and refusal of the EastSyrian bishops. 22 Similarly, by sometimes refusing to grant the investiture of 20 21 22

On this subject, see Jullien, Ch. (2015: 114–115). For the chronology and datation, see van Rompay (1999–2000: col. 174). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXXX, Scher (ed.) (1919: 521 [201]–523 [203]).

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a catholicos who had just been elected, the sovereign acted as the master of his subjects and imposed his control over a weakened and dependent religious minority. Between 609 and 628, the Miaphysite Gabriel of Singar’s influence on Khusrō II led to a vacancy in the catholicosate for nearly twenty years.

THE PATRIARCH, DEFENDER OF HIS COMMUNITY Some Syriac historiographers built the image of the catholicos as a representative and defender of his community. THE EXAMPLE OF SABRĪŠŌʿ OF LAŠŌM In this connection, the author of the Chronicle of Huzistān offers a particularly significant illustration through the relationship between Mār Sabrīšōʿ and King Khusrō II. The portrait that emerges is one of a figure of authority. A demanding monk, a rigorous ascetic, and a man of moral rectitude devoid of personal ambition, Sabrīšōʿ was elected to the catholicosate in 596. His life story is known to us thanks to an account written by Petros, a monk from the famous monastery of Bēth-ʿAbē in Marga, and through the Chronicle of Seert. 23 Educated at the School of Nisibis, he chose monastic life in BēthQardū, Cordouene, where he spent nearly ten years in a monastery before living as a hermit for a while. Noticed by the catholicos Mār Īšōʿyahb I, he was consecrated bishop of Lašōm in Bēth-Garmai. His election to the head of the East-Syrian Church owed much to the involvement of political authorities, for Khusrō II himself imposed him on the assembly of metropolitans and elector bishops after a first rejection of his candidature: “It is we [i.e., the king] who shall choose the person that you [i.e., the Christians] need, and we shall give him authority over you”. 24 The Chronicle of Huzistān explains this favour by the charismatic influence of Sabrīšōʿ over the king after his triumph over the usurper Wahrām Čobīn (Bistam in the Chronicle of Seert 25):

23 24 25

The History of Mār Sabrīšōʿ, Syriac text Bedjan (18952: 288–331). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXV–LXXII, Scher (ed.) (1919: 474 [154]–506 [186]). See Tamcke (1988). The circumstances of this election are widely described by the anonymous author, The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXV, Scher (ed.) (1919: 485 [165]). Greatrex – Lieu (2002: 315 n. 10).

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It is said that the image of an old man appeared to Khusrō: he seized the bridle of his horse and marched off to war; and when, having returned from the war, he spoke about it to his wife Šīrīn, she told him: “That was Sabrīšōʿ, the bishop of Lašōm”; he kept that in his memory. 26 Sabrīšōʿ is presented as the protector and the tychè of the royal enterprise, a sort of guarantor of its virtus and of victory over the empire’s enemies. This aspect is emphasised by two details: the old man who personifies wisdom, and the guide obliging the sovereign to “give free rein”. The king’s esteem for Sabrīšōʿ is reported several times. According to the Chronicle of Seert, Khusrō may even have offered to transport him on his personal horse on the day of his consecration, and, upon his death, had him adorned with luxurious clothing and covered the embalming costs. 27 “He was greatly honoured every day by the king and by his two Christian wives, namely Šīrīn the Aramean and Mary the Roman”. 28 This situation also increased the visibility of the East-Syrian Christian community in Iranian territory during Sabrīšōʿ’s governance of the Church of the East, and helped to position the community in court games of influence played by the various Christological groups. Such at-times ambiguous relationships of reciprocal authority and subordination led the author of the Chronicle of Seert to put these words in the mouth of Khusrō: “I am your child and this woman [i.e., Šīrīn, the East-Syrian, then West-Syrian Christian queen] is your daughter”! 29 According to the writer, the emperor Maurice also had to demonstrate his deference to the prelate, perhaps with the goal of strengthening the alliance made with Persia. He sent an emissary to Sabrīšōʿ to sketch a portrait of him and to bring back a souvenir (his hat, “bearing the blessing of the saint’s head”), which were placed in the treasure with martyrs’ relics. The emperor, for his part, gave the primate a relic of the Cross.30

26 27 28 29 30

The Chronicle of Huzistān, Syriac text in Guidi (1903: 16); French translation in Jullien, F. (2009: 163). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXXI, Scher (ed.) (1919: 501 [181]–502 [182]). See Tamcke (1988: 24–25); Jullien, Ch. (2009: 188–190). The Chronicle of Huzistān, Syriac text in Guidi (ed.) (1903: 17); French translation in Jullien, F. (2009: 164). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXVII, Scher (ed.) (1919: p. 491 [171]). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXVII, Scher (ed.) (1919: 492 [172]–493 [173]).

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DEFINING IDENTITY THROUGH CONFRONTATION Through such political methods, the Christian minorities sought affirmation as distinct religious groups in an empire where Mazdeism was the official religion. The integration of East-Syrian Christians in the Sasanian Persian social fabric to a certain extent required confrontation with the other Christian groups in the areas of missionary efforts, courtly influence, and dogma. These dissensions were eminently expressed during Christological controversies held in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire, in the presence of the observing king. In this setting, the sovereign played the role of both arbiter and organiser of the oratorical jousting. While the primary purpose of the debates was to provide distraction for the court, the considerable importance of these encounters should not be underestimated, for their outcome often determined the (temporary) fate of the contending parties. A controversy was a special tool for positioning and defending a religious identity. 31 In this respect, the East-Syrian patriarch and the great West-Syrian metropolitan appeared as the palladium-s for their respective communities, while the Mazdean king consolidated his authority over the Christian minorities through these arranged events. One of the most famous debates took place under Khusrō I, opposing the catholicos Joseph and several renowned East-Syrian polemists, against the well-known missionary Aḥudemmeh at the head of the West-Syrian Christians. The debate proceedings were reported by John of Ephesus, taken up by Michael the Syrian and later re-established by Bar ʿEbrōyō in the 13th century. 32 The East-Syrian polemists were declared the losers, which likely explains why there is no account of the event in Eastern sources. The internal divisions within the Persian Church also largely contributed to this loss. Joseph, a valued favourite of Khusrō on account of his talent as a doctor, had been imposed by royal decision, and his participation in the debate was in principle a guarantee of protection for his community. However, his own clergy reproached him for his violent behaviour and abuses of authority, and the bishops managed, not without difficulty, to obtain, through the mediation of an influential Nisibean doctor, royal approval to

31 32

See Reinink (2009); Jullien (2016). John of Ephesus, The Ecclesiastical History, III, Livre VI, § 20, Cureton (ed.) (1853); partially translated by Nau (1909: 8–9). Bar ʿEbrōyō, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1872: II, col. 99–101).

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depose him. 33 Following this disputatio, the Miaphysite community secured legal recognition enabling its hierarchal structuring. Indeed, Aḥudemmeh was later ordained metropolitan of the East by Jaʿqūb Burdʿono around 559. The importance of politically anchoring these different Christian currents and of promoting authoritative figures to affirm their ecclesial power can clearly be observed. Another factor was the greater legitimisation that one Christological group would receive from the royal power. The winning side in such debates could freely organise itself, gain ground from other Christian minorities, and extend its territorial influence by means of authorisations to build new churches and monasteries and to develop educational activities in order to spread its doctrine across the empire. Other court debates took place during the following reign, under the patriarchate of Mār Sabrīšōʿ. Later, during the crucial period when the catholicosal see was vacant, the controversy of 612 was recorded in the synodal acts of the East-Syrian Church. 34 There were serious consequences: no election for the primatial see was permitted, some prominent figures in the theological debate were persecuted (e.g., the martyrdom of Mār Giwargis in 615) 35; and the Miaphysite side’s influence on the court was strengthened through Khusrō II’s personal doctor, Gabriel of Singar. Resulting from intercommunity tensions, the controversies also served as a way for the groups who were present to increase their authority with regard to governmental entities. Naturally, decisions to favour one minority over another can also, of course, be explained by the international context of the Roman-Persian conflict. For example, Khusrō II had to support the Miaphysite populations of northern Mesopotamia to have backing for his expansionist policies against the Chalcedonian Byzantines.36 33

34

35

36

See Fiey (1968: 233). About the story of patriarch Joseph, see The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XXXII, Scher (ed.) (1911: 176 [84]). Bar ʿEbrōyō, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1877: col. 95–96). ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, Gismondi (ed.) (1899: 46); Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the Mysteries, Gismondi (ed.) (1897: 24). Brooks (ed.) (1921: 217–218); Brooks (1924: 147). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, Chabot (ed.) (1902: 562–580; 580–598, Syriac text and French translation respectively); The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXXXIII, Scher (ed.) (1919: 528 [208]–529 [209]). The Chronicle of Huzistān, Syriac text in Guidi (ed.) (1903: 23); French translation Jullien, F. (2009: 170–171). The History of Giwargis Mihr-Māh-Gušnasp, Syriac text, Bedjan (ed.) (1895: 517). For the Church of Persia, there has been a causal link between the dispute with Miaphysites before the king Khusrō II in 612 and the martyrdom of Giwargis: see the East-Syrian Compendium, Abramowski – Goodman (eds.) (1972: I, p. 150; II, p. 88). For the context, see also Reinink (2009: 189–190). Flusin (1972: 112–114). Reinink (2009: 180 n. 54).

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AN ANCHORING FIGURE FOR COMMUNITY UNITY The catholicos was a special figure that anchored community unity. Several episodes in ecclesial history during the Sasanian dynasty reveal, however, a somewhat porous level of demarcation, with members of the same confession sometimes going from being community members (“us”) to rivals (“them”). One famous such case is that of the influential Gabriel of Singar who, excommunicated by the catholicos Mār Sabrīšōʿ on the grounds of his polygamy, according to the Chronicle of Huzistān and The Chronicle of Seert, opted for Miaphysite obedience and became a fervent supporter of that doctrinal branch. He appears to have gained the support and protection of Queen Šīrīn, who was grateful to him for the birth of her son and heir to the throne. 37 In the province of Fārs, frequent dissidence with regard to the central power offers another example of this porosity, which can be explained in that case by a tradition of opposing the see of Mār Māri. In the 7th century, a new contestation of the patriarch’s authority over all ecclesial jurisdictions led, as in Fārs previously, to dissidence in the province of Bēth-Qaṭrāyē, which was administratively linked with it. 38 Such resistance to primatial centralisation was age-old in Iran, dating back to the catholicosate of Pāpā bar ʿAggai during the Nicene period. Although the natural pre-eminence of the see of Kokhē / Seleucia-Ctesiphon had already been recognised in that period, the centrifugal tendencies imposed by the primatial see sparked much contestation from communities concerned about their prerogatives. 39 Philip Wood has shown that the history of the bishops of Seleucia, as leaders of the Church of the East, was not linear. Indeed, the emphasis placed on their position seems to be a construction a posteriori, reflecting a situation that emerged in the 5th century when the primates forged closer relations with the governing bodies, the king of kings, and the Roman authorities. 40 Internally, a case of dual governance 37

38 39 40

The Chronicle of Huzistān, Syriac text in Guidi (ed.) (1903: 19); French translation in Jullien, F. (2009: 166–167). The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXIX, Scher (ed.) (1950: 498 [178]; p. 525 [205]). Labourt (1904: 219–221). Nevertheless, it seems that Gabriel of Singar was a Miaphysite before adopting Dyophysite Christology—the most prominent Christian movement for the Sasanian authorities — and then returned to his first religious obedience. The East-Syrian authors are rather partial on Gabriel; J. Labourt is certainly right when he analyses his polygamous practices as an attempt of acculturation to the Persian customs in the environment of the Persian court. Fiey (1969b) and (1970). Ioan (2005); Jullien, F. (2011). See Fiey (1967); Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003a). Wood (2012); new edition in Wood (2013).

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claimed by two rival catholicoi resulted in a long schism between 524 and 537 in the Church of the East. Each catholicos had appointed partisan bishops in the large cities and attracted a network of active independent supporters. The arrival of Mār Abba in 540 put an end to this situation because his personal engagement on the ground, his conciliation, and his open-mindedness helped to soothe tensions and restore the referential nature of the patriarchal position. 41 Strongly expressed recognition of this unifying influence can still be found in the 13th and 14th centuries in the Book of the Fathers, which contains a colourful comparison between the different levels of the celestial hierarchy and those of the priesthood (including the minor orders): cherubim, seraphim, and thrones represent patriarchs, metropolitans, and bishops, respectively; then dominions, virtues, and powers are paired with chorepiscopi, periodeutes, and priests; lastly, deacons, subdeacons, and lectors are designated as principalities, archangels, and angels. For each position mentioned, the anonymous author provides a description of its distinctive liturgical garments, and its specific functions and duties within the East-Syrian Church. 42 It is significant that this text was attributed to the catholicos-martyr Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē, a paragon of federative authority in his community in many respects. 43 CONSTRUCTING AN ARCHETYPICAL IMAGE The construction of the catholicosal figure and the resulting establishment of a pluralistic tradition were the fruit of a long writing process. DEVELOPING A HAGIOGRAPHICAL TRADITION AS AN EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY

Jack Tannous has recently shown that the Christological identity of various Christian Syriac movements depended on what was read and taught by the authorities of each group within the intellectual centres of knowledge production and the schools of higher learning. 44 The image of the primate as 41

42 43 44

The Chronicle of Seert, chapter XXV, Scher (ed.) (1950: 147 [55]–152 [60]). ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, Gismondi (ed.) (1899: 42–43); Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the mysteries, Gimsondi (ed.) (1897: 22–23). The Book of the Fathers, Vosté: (1940b: 1–38). See Smith (2016); Wiessner (1967). Tannous (2010).

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an expression of the community was first developed through literary output centred on patriarchal successions, which is characteristic of historiographical focalisation on the person of the catholicos. This process probably took place jointly and concurrently with the administrative and legal centralisation of episcopal authority around the primatial see of Kokhē. These collective biographies, arranged in a diachronic order, represent a specific literary genre among the histories of the Church, as attested by, for example, The Chronicle of Seert and the Book of the Tower, the content of which was partially reestablished by the late Christian Arabic authors ʿAmr and furthermore Ṣliba and Māri, and which Philip Wood describes as “patriarchal chronicles”. 45 As in the Lives of Late Antiquity pagan philosophers which inspired them, these biographies, written in circles close to the catholicosal government, were organised chronologically to underscore the continuity of transmission, apostolic and episcopal succession, and ultimately the history of a community. Defining an identity thus entailed a new appreciation for the history of the religious minority in question and hence the view of their history that Christians wanted to convey. In this sense, the narration (in its silences, choices, subjective descriptions, and scriptural aspirations) played a significant role in constructing this identity. It should be remembered, however, that the intent of writing these “patriarchal annals” was above all to produce a collective hagiography, which explains the repetitions and similarities, the tendency to abbreviate, and the recurring introductory elements in each biographical account. 46 These techniques underline the strong symbolism of the catholicosal figure, erected as an allegorical representation or even a lasting archetype for his community through the ages. In this connection, East-Syrian Christians, in order to establish themselves as a distinct group, developed an apostolic tradition around the person of the patriarch, who had become a shared reference and a federative figure for the community. The aim was to strengthen the central authority at a time of slackening discipline under the influence of anti-hierarchical Messalianism and social pressure from Persian customs; uncertainty and the questioning of dyophysite faith, arising from successful preaching by Christianising religious groups such as the Manicheans, Marcionists, and Bardesanists, and from the 45

46

The Chronicle of Seert, Scher (ed.) (1908–1919); ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, Gismondi (ed.) (1899) and Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the Mysteries, Gismondi (ed.) (1897). On this topic and collective biographies, see Cox Miller (2000); Becker (2006: 110–112). See Delehaye (1921); Wood (2013: 66–68). Debié (2010: 46–50).

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active proselytism of Miaphysite missionaries in the Sasanian Empire after the edicts expelling them from Byzantine territory under the emperor Justin I. The East-Syrian Church thus claimed two illustrious legacies, one apostolic, and the other—which can also be found in the West-Syrian tradition— martyrological. The apostolic legacy is pluralistic. The Christian communities of the Persian Empire first of all claimed the evangelist Mār Māri, regarded as one of Christ’s seventy disciples. 47 His Acts, probably written at the end of the Sasanian period in the first half of the 7th century, tend to legitimise the ancientness of the patriarchal church in Kokhē, a southern district of Ctesiphon. Traces of pagan cults, as well as a description of Hellenistic civic institutions in Seleucia, the Seleucid city, reveal the use and incorporation of narrative elements that predate the time of writing. 48 This story, featuring an apostolic itinerary, effectively helped to construct the identity of the EastSyrian Christian minority. Textual analysis has shown the importance of rewritings and the intentions of the scribe, keen to record the ecclesial concerns of his Church at the time of writing, in particular the missionary successes of the Manicheans, and Marcionists, and the anti-trinity affirmations of Christianising groups. 49 In their reconstruction of the past, the acts thus reflect the special interests of the community at that time, and Mār Māri emerges as an emblematic figure for a community that promoted a cult of him. The use of a sacred history explaining the foundations of the patriarchal see and the monastery of Dorqonie, which housed Māri’s relics, facilitated the development of an apostolic heritage that was distinct from that of the large missionary centres in the East. The East-Syrian Church was indebted to those centres, in particular Edessa in Osrhoene, the cradle of Mesopotamian evangelisation. 50 An effort to reclaim the Edessan tradition is even more obvious in the case of the missionary ʿAggai. This process is nonetheless late among Syriac authors, dating from after the 10th century. Elijah of Damascus, Solomon of Baṣra, as well as Bar ʿEbrōyō and ʿAbdīšōʿ of Nisibis, often mention him 47

48 49 50

Lc 10, 1. See Metzger (1968). The Actes of Mār Māri, § 29, Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 40–41; 45–46, Syriac text and French translation respectively). Julllien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 24–26). Cumont (1893); Briquel Chatonnet – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2001). Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c). For the construction of identity defining community in the East-Syrian milieu, see especially van Ginkel (2005). See Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003b).

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together with Māri among the seventy disciples, the first evangelists from the Mesopotamian East. A reading of their accounts suggests that ʿAggai may have received an immense territory with poorly defined boundaries, corresponding to the outer edges of the Iranian Empire (the northern reaches of Media and Gilān, the frontiers of India, among other areas). 51 Consistently presented as a disciple of Addai of Edessa, ʿAggai appears as an intermediary between his mentor and Māri. The other apostolic figure claimed by the Persian Church in its quest for primatial origins is the apostle Thomas. The Acts of Mār Māri mention him as a missionary from the province of Fārs (§ 32). 52 In-depth analysis of the itineraries and journeys that diverse literary traditions associated with him reveal that this saint remained the core figure for Christians in northern Mesopotamia. 53 Indeed, Thomas-related traditions were used as foundational material for the first communities in those regions. Beginning with Eusebius and Rufinus of Aquilea, authors have presented Thomas as being first the evangelist of the Parthians, and then, after the apocryphal acts of the apostle, of India. Mediaeval traditions, in particular Greek and Latin, were instrumental in extending his missionary zone to the whole East. An apostle from the eastern regions of the Euphrates where Christianity was starting to take root, he was hence from the Iranian Empire, including the dioceses of northwestern India under the administration of the mother-Church of Persia. The role of the city of Edessa was, there too, essential in propagating the cult of Thomas. It is known that his relics were claimed to be there from the beginning of the 3rd century, and that his acts were written there during the same period. The Doctrine of Addai, a foundational text for the Christian community in Edessa, is linked to Thomas, thought to be the one who sent the missionary Addai. 54 The spread of the cult of Saint Thomas, especially into areas where the Persians had developed their political and economic clout, constituted an extension of the city’s influence. Furthermore, between the 5th and 8th centuries, 55 the jurisdictional and institutional dependence of communities in 51 52

53 54 55

Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002: 73–75). In his missionary travel, Mār Māri cannot go beyond the Bēth-Huzāyē—there, “the good smell of the apostle Mār Thomas was exhaled,” § 32, Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 44, 49, Syriac text and French translation respectively). Poirier (1997); Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002: 79–110). The Doctrine of Addai the Apostle, § 7, Desreumaux (1993: 59). Drijvers (1991). Hambye (1977). ʿAbdīšōʿ of Nisibis, Epitome des canons apostoliques, VIII, 15, translated in Mai (1848: 141). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church, Chabot (ed.) (1902: 273, 285). See Fiey (1969a: 178–179) and (1970: 33–34).

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India on the metropolitan of Persia (who appointed the bishops), together with the primate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also explains why the apostle was considered to be a referential figure for the communities of the Sasanian empire. This asserted protection should be understood in the framework of the succession process for the patriarchal see. In this way, by building apostolic fame for itself, Seleucia-Ctesiphon assumed a central role in the history of the Christian origins in Babylonia. Running parallel to these apostolic traditions, and closely linked to the hierarchic and dogmatic independence acquired after the great Christological debates, 56 the authorities of the East-Syrian Church began to put into writing their perception of the primatial status and to reflect on the origins of the first bishops of the see of Kokhē. Beginning in the 6th century, and with similarities to hagiographical output seeking to justify the position of the primatial see in its sovereignty, so-called “patriarchal” lists were drafted. Their aim was to present the catholicos of a newly independent and autocephalous Church as the uncontested leader by demonstrating a chain of transmitted authority dating back to the time of Christ. Previous holders of the position and first primates were directly linked to people close to Jesus, and were related to his earthly father, Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth. Three predecessors of Pāpā bar ʿAggai are presented: Abrīs, Jaʿqūb, and Abraham are linked to “the Lord’s brothers” from the gospels, Simon and James of Jerusalem. 57 Furthermore, they appeared to be mirror reflections of Christ. Indeed, physical resemblance constituted a visible sign among elected bishops in the East. The apostle Thomas, whose name means “twin,” was considered to be the first bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in later lists and especially in Bar ʿEbrōyō. 58 In the apocryphal traditions, writers and compilers customarily associated such a reference to twins with a resemblance to Christ.59 Such onomastic elements are certainly not unusual in scriptural elaborations about the kinship of the primates of Seleucia with Christ. Aḥadābūhī was considered to be the son of Jaʿqūb, himself presented in the lists as a relative by marriage of James of 56 57

58 59

Fiey (1967); Brock (1994); Jullien, Ch. (2015: col. 223–225). Concerning the “sons of Joseph”: The Protoevangelium of James 9, 2; Eusebius of Cesarea, Ecclesiastical History 2, 1, 2; 3, 11; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 7, 93–94; Origen, Hypotyposes, fragment 13; History of Joseph, 2. See Corluy (1878); Pourkier (1992). Bar ʿEbrōyō, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1877: col. 12). The theme is well-known and studied; see Kuntzmann (1983); Poirier (1981–1982) and Drijvers (1990a).

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Jerusalem, whom the anonymous author of the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles says was patterned after Jesus “in life and manner of speaking, as though he were his twin brother, from the same womb; it was as if he saw Jesus in the respect of the lines of his body”. 60 The Arabic Christians ʿAmr and his successors, and Bar ʿEbrōyō (who described the last phase in the evolution of the patriarchal hagiographical tradition within the East-Syrian Church 61), certainly knew about this tradition. They incorporated it into their scriptural elaborations by making Aḥadābūhī (whose name means “other of his father,” i.e., his father again) into the spitting image of his father Jaʿqūb (himself already presented as a double of James of Jerusalem), and hence of Jesus too. Being “nearest” to Christ, looking like him, and belonging to the close circle of his loved ones (the authorities of the primitive Jerusalemite Church) were all powerful legitimising arguments invoked against detractors professing another Christology. 62 These apocryphal traditions, used thus to support hegemonic religious politics, were meant to strengthen the new patriarchal role of Kokhē and to affirm the pre-eminence of the Christology professed by the Persian Church over all other Christian theological movements. THE PROMINENCE OF THE MARTYR CATHOLICOS Constructing the figure of the primate as a community archetype was also spiritually legitimate because it drew on the celebration of catholicoi who died as martyrs in periods of persecution during the Sasanian dynasty and who were held up as exemplary shepherds for the “flock”. This martyrological legacy was seen as all the more glorious because it concerned the first historic primates after Pāpā bar ʿAggai: Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē (329–341/4) and his successors Šāh-dōst (341–343) and Barbašmīn (343–346), executed under Šābuhr II. Like the sages and philosophers whose talents as mediators are lauded in the Lives, like biblical role models, the representations of each martyr also highlight another aspect: theios aner, 63 an embodiment of divine presence in the world and an intermediary for the local community. Most of 60 61

62 63

Rendell-Harris (1927: 57–58). I allow myself to refer to Jullien, F. (2003). ʿAmr ibn Mattai, The Book of the Tower, Gismondi (ed.) (1897: 3–7); Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the Mysteries, Gismondi (ed.) (1899: 5–6). Bar ʿEbrōyō, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1877: col. 23–26). On the patriarchal succession, Coakley (1999); Jullien, F. (2003). Brown (1971); Bieler (19762). Deléani (1995: 202–203); Smith (2012).

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these shepherds thus died in imitation of Christ’s life, such as Simeon—whose Martyrdom, written in Syriac and known very early to Greek authors such as Sozomen, and then to Armenian authors—states that he was executed on Good Friday on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan.64 The repeated re-use of predefined literary structures to describe these martyr catholicoi’s life events and deeds helps to position them as role models offered to all, examples that mirror the example of Jesus. There is also the case of Confessors of the Faith, sometimes considered martyrs by hagiographical and liturgical posterity in their respective communities. For instance, the History of the catholicos Mār Abba (540–552), who, under Khusrō I, died of exhaustion after long periods of imprisonment and exile, concludes with this commemoration: “End of the story of the divine conduct of the martyr saint, our father, Mār Abba, patriarch catholicos”. 65 Without mentioning his martyrdom, the acts of the synod of his successor, Joseph, held in 554, recall, in laudatory terms, the memory of Mār Abba, “an admirable example for all those who, anywhere, fear the name of the Lord”. 66 Likewise, on the Syro-orthodox side, the fate of the great metropolitan of the East, Aḥudemmeh (559–575), condemned to die of starvation, is sometimes equated to that of a martyr. Pseudo-Denys the Areopagite bestows on him this prestigious status, as does Gregory Bar ʿEbrōyō later, even though Aḥudemmeh died in prison as a result of poor incarceration conditions and was decapitated post mortem. 67 These representations of “martyr” catholicoi, venerated and integrated as such into liturgical expression, contributed to popular memory—a dimension underpinning the criteria for defining an identity beyond the topoi inherent in the construction of the ecclesial primate’s image. 68

64

65 66

67 68

For a discussion on the date of Simeon’s death, see M. J. Higgins; he suggested the liturgical context of the Feast of the Glorious Cross, September 14th, for the martyrdom, but considered that the date of Good Friday would probably be an extrapolation from the original text, Higgins (1955: 31–35); see also Burgess – Mercier (1999); Peeters (1938) and Drijvers (1990b). The History of Mār Abba, § 41, Jullien, F. (ed.) (2015: 43, 41, Syriac text and translation respectively). The Acts of the Synods of the East-Syrian Church: Acts of the synod of Mār Joseph, CHABOT, J.-B., Synodcion orientale, Paris, Chabot (ed.) (1902: 96, 353, Syriac text and translation respectively). See Assemani (1725: 192–193 n. 3). Bar ʿEbrōyō, The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, Abbeloos – Lamy (eds.) (1877: col. 99–103). See van Ginkel – Murre-van den Berg (2005).

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A SIGNIFICANT SITE OF MEMORY: DŪRA D-QONIE This process also included choosing a place of historical significance, a site of memory: the monastery-school of Dūra d-Qonie in Bēth-Kusāyē became a centre of catholicosal power alongside Kokhē, the see of the primate in the East. The monastery claimed a tradition going back to Mār Māri. The anonymous author of the Acts, probably a monk at that institution, recounts that, descending the valley of the Tigris, the missionary came to an area of watercourses and canals where he decided to build an oratory on a former site of “idol worship”. Traditionally, the toppling of ancient divinities and the destruction of temples were signs of the conversion of the inhabitants and the imposition of Christianity. In the late Sasanian period (when the Acts of Mār Māri were written), while the Christians of Persia periodically suffered persecution by civil and religious Mazdean authorities, this message could help to reassure a weakened minority community. The site of Dūra d-Qonie is described as being “on the edge of the sea,” which withdrew at the command of Māri, modelled like a new Moses or a new Joshua. This richly symbolic description likely implicitly evokes missionary activities in the Baptist community of meridional Babylonia. It is known that there were many Baptists there at the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sasanian period. 69 The little chapel was, in the end, erected on an inhospitable and swampy site, a choice that ultimately fulfilled a strategy seeking the assimilation of another religious minority regarded as a special foundation of evangelisation. The legend of Mār Māri, which has a connection to the development of the identity of the Church of the East, began in Dūra d-Qonie. In fact, Dūra was a centre of pilgrimage associated with the saint’s relics. 70 In the Acts, it is where the founding apostle chose his successor; where he established the hierarchic foundations of the Persian Church, built a sanctuary, and delivered his spiritual testament to his disciples. It was also where he died and was buried.71 His tomb is traditionally located “to the right of the altar” in the large church. 72 Following J. M. Fiey’s work, there is general agreement that the expression “to the right of the altar” refers to the lateral chapel located to the right of the 69 70 71 72

Cirillo (1984); Thomas (1935); Henrichs – Koenen (1988); Henrichs (1973); Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002). See The Chronicle of Seert, chapter LXVIII, Scher (ed.) (1919: 494 [174]). Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 44–45, 50–51, Syriac text and translation respectively). See Fiey (1968: 189).

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choir, the usual place of Bēth-sahdē (martyrium). 73 The concluding account in the Acts of Māri provides a certain number of indications showing that the text was read at a ceremony at the saint’s tomb: reference is made to clergy from the monastery, to a spiritual celebration in the presence of the relics, and to a crowd of pilgrims gathered for the occasion, in a prose reminiscent of the solemn benedictions of annual commemorative liturgies. Gradually, however, in the process of centralising authority, initiated under Pāpā, the prerogatives and the aura of Dūra d-Qonie were recovered by the see of Kokhē. The Acts reflect as much: the author explains that “the Church of Dūra d-Qonie is mentioned with that of Kokhē because the saint is the one who built it”. 74 Nonetheless, in the hagiographic design advancing the evangelizer, SeleuciaCtesiphon was still considered to have been Christianised first, before the region of Qonie 75—a point intended to emphasise a chronological and therefore hierarchic gradation in the foundations. The monastery of Dūra d-Qonie was, moreover, included in the itinerary of the patriarchal investiture ceremony precisely because it had been shaped into a place of acquired significance, and so became an apostolic site of memory. After being anointed in Kokhē, the new elected patriarch would travel in pilgrimage to the tomb of Māri, as the East-Syrian pontifical attested.76 The Church of the East emphazised special links of many catholicoi with the scholastic and monastic institution of Dūra. According to the Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, several may have received instruction at the monastery-school, including Aḥai (410–414) and Yahballaha I (415–420), successive primates of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Babai (457–484) may have been baptised there after his conversion from 73 74 75

76

Fiey (1986: 187); and Fiey (1963: 100). The Acts of Mār Māri, § 29. Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 41, 46, Syriac text and translation respectively). See the indication in the Acts of Mār Māri, § 30; cf. §§ 19–26 (Seleucia-Ctesiphon) and §§ 28–30 (Dūra d-Qonie). Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003c: 42; 29–37; 39–43, Syriac text; 46; 34–42; 44–48, translation). Cyprian, metropolitan of Nisibis between 740/1 and 766/7, wrote a document for the laying on (or imposition) of hands which would be a revision of the Pontifical. About Cyprian, see the Chronography of Elias of Nisibis, Delaporte (ed.) (1910: 104, 108, 110), in the years 123, 141 and 150 of the Hegira. Fiey (1977: 73, 75–78, 130, 175). In his Catalogue of Books, ʿAbdīšōʿ bar Brikha mentions his writings conerning preparation and reception of the sacraments, Assemani (1725: 111); see pp. 111–113. See the 5th chapter of ʿAbdīšōʿ’s Ordo iudiciorum ecclesiasticorum where are presented laws and ordinances concerning the authorities of the East-Syrian Church. Ed. and translation by Vosté (1940a).

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Mazdeism; 77 Isaac (399–410) may have been buried there. Ph. Wood argues that such presentation could be part of a historiographical process. 78 The author of the Acts of Māri locates in Dūra the investiture of Pāpā, who was appointed the direct and legitimate successor of Mār Māri, and presented under the title of “leader” (mdbrn’) of the Church of Kokhē, “who stands at the head of the bishops of the East”. 79 Thus, despite a policy of re-centring around the see of Kokhē, the sanctuary in Dūra became associated with the prestigious site of ecclesial governance through the presence of Māri’s bones and the establishment of a tradition.

CONCLUSION In the Persian society, the positioning of the hierarchic representatives of religious minorities as regards official Mazdean authorities added a political dimension to their functions. For the patriarch of the East-Syrian Church, this absolutely essential aspect entailed his presence at court, participation in diplomatic services and missions, and advice to and mediation with the king in exchange for the preservation of his Church’s interests in the field. This role also subjected him to growing interventionism by the Sasanian sovereigns in ecclesial affairs. Between influence and power-plays on the one hand, and persecutions and humiliations on the other hand, the equilibrium of the status quo largely depended on the interpersonal relationships between the Christian elites, in particular their patriarch, and the civil authorities. One result of this situation was the gradual development of an image of the catholicos as the representative and defender of his community. The centralisation and universalising affirmation of his authority resulted from a dual context: sociopolitical factors leading to a renewal of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction after persecutions in the 4th century, and dogmatic aspects including the empowerment of the institution following the conciliar definitions in the 5th century. From these two contingencies, the role of the catholicos emerged consolidated and strengthened through the development and promotion of a new image of his position and prestigious legacy. The creation of a simultaneously apostolic, hagiographical, and martyrological multiform tradition, rooted in a 77 78 79

Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā, Books of the Mysteries, Gismondi (ed.) (1897: 19). See Wood (2013). See Wood (2013: 75–78). The Acts of Mār Māri, § 33. Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003: 44, 50, Syriac text and translation respectively).

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federative geographical hub, helped to structure the East-Syrian community around the patriarchal figure, who had become the very expression of its identity.

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Herman, Geoffrey (2012) “A Prince without a Kingdom”: The Exilarch in the Sasanian Era, Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism, 150, Tübingen. Higgins, Martin J. (1955) “Date of Martyrdom of Simeon Bar Sabbae”, in Traditio, 11, pp. 1– 35. Ioan, Ovidiu (2005) “Arabien und die Araber im kirchenleitenden Handeln des Katholikos Patriarchen Ischoʿjahb III.”, in Martin Tamcke – Andreas Heinz (eds.) Die Suryoye und ihre Umwelt, pp. 43–58. Jullien, Christelle (2009) “ ‘Quelques événements tirés d’ecclesiastikê et de cosmotikê’ ”, in Philippe Gignoux – Christelle Jullien – Florence Jullien (eds.) Trésors d’Orient. Mélanges offerts à Rika Gyselen, Studia Iranica, Cahier 42, Paris, pp. 187–205. Jullien, Christelle (2015) “La révolte des chrétiens au Hūzestān (551): modèles narratifs d’une historiographie” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 25, pp. 107–120. Jullien, Christelle (2015) “Persien I. (landesgeschichtlich)” Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum Band XXVII, Stuttgart, col. 190–254. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2002) Apôtres des confins. Processus missionnaires chrétiens dans l’empire iranien, Res Orientales, XV, Bures-sur-Yvette. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2002) “Une source inattendue sur le baptisme babylonien: les Actes de Mār Māri”, in Studia Iranica, 31, pp. 47–60. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2003a) “Communauté et dissidence. Un cas d’espèce chez les syriens orientaux de Perse”, in Nicole Belayche – Simon Mimouni (eds.) Les communautés religieuses dans le monde gréco-romain. Essais de définition, Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études. Sciences religieuses, 117, Turnhout, pp. 318–334. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2003b) “Édesse dans les Actes de Mār Māri ou la bénédiction détournée”, in Simon C. Mimouni (dir.) Apocryphité. Histoire d’un concept transversal aux Religions du Livre, Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études. Sciences religieuses, 113, Turnhout, pp. 167–182. Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2003c) Les Actes de Mār Māri. Aux origines de l’Église de Perse, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 604, Subsidia 114, Louvain. Jullien, Florence (2003) “Des “frères du Seigneur” sur le siège primatial de Perse”, in Apocrypha, 14, pp. 225–236. Jullien, Florence (2009) “La Chronique du Hūzistān. Une page d’histoire sassanide”, in Philippe Gignoux – Christelle Jullien – Florence Jullien (eds.) Trésors d’Orient. Mélanges offerts à Rika Gyselen, Studia Iranica, Cahier 42, Paris, pp. 159–186. Jullien, Florence (2011) “Le charisme au service de la hiérarchie: les moines et le catholicos Īšōʿyahb III. Regard sur la crise sécessioniste du Fārs au VIIe siècle”, in Denise Aigle (dir.) Les autorités religieuses entre charismes et hiérarchie, Miroir de l’Orient musulman, 1, Turnhout, pp. 41–51. Jullien, Florence (ed.) (2015) Histoire de Mār Abba, catholicos de l’Orient. Martyres de Mār Grigor, général en chef du roi Khusro Ier, et de Mār Yazd-panāh, juge et gouverneur, Corpus Scriptorum Chrisianorum Orientalium, 658, Script. Syr., 254), Louvain; ibid., Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 659, Script. Syr., 255, Louvain. Jullien, Florence (2016) “Les controverses entre chrétiens dans l’empire sassanide: un enjeu identitaire”, in Flavia Ruani (ed.), Les controverses en milieu syriaque, Études syriaques, 13, Paris, pp. 209–238. Kalmin, Richard L. (2006) Jewish Babylonia between Persia and Roman Palestine, Oxford.

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Mar Aba in Ādurbādagān Leading a Church from Exile through the Iranian Landscape VITTORIO BERTI Summary – The contribution, using historical-biographical sources, synodal acts and Christian and Zoroastrian canonical collections, aims to investigate the causes and consequences of the exile in Ādurbādagān of the catholicos of the Church of Persia, Mar Aba, which took place in 541 CE following a complex criminal proceeding brought against him by the highest offices of Zoroastrian Sasanian jurisprudence. We will then try to reconstruct the political-rhetorical characters of his stay in exile, his relationship with the nonChristian population, his management of the Justinian Pandemic, the organization of his residence and the use of his few aides as an instrument of remote government of the church. Finally, the main dossiers he took charge of during his exile will be studied, from the complicated division of Sakastān, to the reaffirmation of the prerogatives of the priestly hierarchy, to the difficult management of the political-ecclesiastical turmoil in Elam. According to the biography possibly written shortly after his death, 1 the East Syrian Catholicos Mar Aba (d. 552 CE), a key figure in the history of Christianity in the 6th century, would have administered his church for seven years of his mandate from the uncomfortable control bridge of his exile in Ādurbādagān. He had been confined there due to the growing opposition to his policies from the Zoroastrian clergy. Before going over the main disputes that Mar Aba had to face during his exile, it is necessary to take into consideration the narrative picture provided by the anonymous author of his life in order to portray the connection of the Catholicos to Iranian culture. Dealing with a hagiographic text, any caution in accepting information and judgments is due, but, as amply demonstrated by scholarly investigations, The History of Mar Aba is nevertheless a valuable source. Insofar it was probably written by someone close to the events, competent in the legal and administrative lexicon, and concerned to convey high1

The History of Mar Aba: see Jullien, F. (2015: 3–41 [t], 1–43 [v]).

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quality information on judicial practices for repression, it gives us an ideologically oriented point of view reflecting in all likelihood the feelings of the patriarchal circle on this issue. 2 Ultimately, it can display us the very way in which Mar Aba’s fellows interpreted his life, or rather, the way in which they wanted it to be understood. Before his conversion to Christianity, Mar Aba belonged to Iranian gentry, and worked as a tax collector (hargbed) 3 in the employ of Xwadāy-būd, an influential Sasanian jurisconsult, secretary of the amargar of Beth-Aramaye. The Pahlavi text Book of a Thousand Judgements quotes Xwadāy-būd 4 as a dipir (secretary) and a renowned expert of inheritance law. 5 Therefore, the conversion of Mar Aba must have been a baffling affair in its own way for the legal administrative circuits at the heart of the empire. The bewilderment of this Zoroastrian milieu, and the censorious reactions that would ensue, remained somewhat in a state of suspense 6 throughout the entire period from Mar Aba’s Christian upbringing to his return from his long journey across Eastern Roman lands. According to the anonymous biographer, Xwadāy-būd would have harshly questioned Mar Aba about his conversion to Christian faith, threatening him to denounce the case to the amargar, who would have imprisoned him. Then, however, without giving further explanations, we are told only that Mar Aba would have stayed for some time in SeleuciaCtesiphon after which he would have undertaken the path of asceticism. It is difficult not to perceive the contrast in the narrative between the desire to stage a more than plausible conflict between teacher and disciple and the evidence that nothing concrete was done at this point against Mar Aba. 7 The ecclesiastical memory of the events, which were still close, could not overly force the historical datum, so it is plausible that no one prosecuted Mar Aba for his conversion. It was only with the election to the seat of Seleucia-Ctesiphon that 2 3 4 5

6 7

Jullien, F. (2015: xlv–xlvii [t]). For the correct interpretation of this title, see Macuch (2014: 48). Christensen (1944: 51). The collection was compiled by a certain Farroxmard ī Wahrāmān in the first half of the 7th century. The text says quoting Xwadāy-būd says: ‘If the heirs lay on the legitimate son and successor the settlement of (his) father's debts, then it is said, on the authority of Xwadāybūd the secretary, that the obligation for the settlement is removed, and he who has been charged shall have no right to demand reimbursement from his co-heirs’ – Perikhanian (1997: 28–29). Jullien, F. (2015: 8 [t], 9 [v]). On this travel, see among others: Peeters (1946: 126–128), Pigulevskaya (1963: 329–330), Bettiolo (2006: 99–103), Berti (2017a: 27–29).

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the story of the rejection of his father’s religion and his adherence to Christianity was to return noticeably to the sights of the Zoroastrian clergy, not least because of the lively activism shown at the synod of 540 CE. Several scholars in recent decades have made important contributions to the political, religious, and legal connection between Mar Aba’s choices and Magi’s opposition causing his exile. We propose here a historical evaluation of the period in which he exercised control over his church from the exile. For this purpose, I will take into account, in a synthetic way, the main outcomes of recent scholarship, trying to take advantage of the studies carried out so far to understand the reasons and framework within which this estrangement occurred. 1. THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MAR ABA AND THEIR IRANIAN BACKGROUND Let us briefly recall the reasons for Mar Aba’s removal from his episcopal seat, a subject of several scientific contributions in recent years, the main findings of which are reviewed and summarised below. The History of Mar Aba, after presenting the activities of the newly elected Catholicos in the first year of his mandate, 8 goes on to explain the dynamics and the underlying reasons that drove the Zoroastrian clergy to oppose the Catholicos frontally and tenaciously. If we trust the hagiographic narrative, what alarmed the Zoroastrian religious elite were the fluctuating openings granted by the Sasanian crown to Christianity, a foreign tradition governed by a converted, who was promoting ecclesiastical reforms able to destabilise the Persian customs. The fiercest opponent identified by the biography was Dād-Ohrmazd, the alleged mowbedān mowbed, i.e. the leading figure in the Iranian priestly hierarchy. This name, very common in epigraphic sources, recurs in a passage of the second chapter of the Zand-i Wahman Yasn, referring to the reign of Xusrō I, where it appears immediately after the name of Weh-Šapur and is referred to as a judge (dadwar) of Ādurbādagān. 9 Weh-Šapur, on the other hand, is widely mentioned by several sources as the mowbedān mowbed during Xusrō I’s reign, in particular the first letter of Manūščihr (9th century), 10 in chapter 2. In this regard, recent scholarship has questioned how to resolve the apparent 8 9 10

Jullien, F. (2015: 14–15). Cereti (1995: 80, 134). West (1882: 297) erroneously translates the name as Nishahpuhar.

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inconsistencies between the sources: whether to think of a succession between the two mowbedān mowbed, 11 or whether to try to identify them as a single character. 12 A further element that could confirm the information in the History of Mar Aba is the mention of a polemicist by the name of Mardbūd i Dād-Ohrmazd (Mardbūd son of Dād-Ohrmazd), to whom a seal datable to the 6th century could also be linked. 13 What seems clear is that these names belong to a circuit of highly prestigious court intellectuals, mentioned in the abovequoted passage of Zand-i Wahman Yasn. They were involved by the king in a Zoroastrian council, possibly dating back to the 530s. The traces of their names connected to theological activity are evidenced by discussions and polemics preserved in Pahlavi religious commentaries. In any case, the fact that the name Dad-Ohrmazd is related to activity as a judge in Ādurbādagān, perhaps dating from before 540, may help to explain the choice of this location for the exile and restraint of Mar Aba. Mar Aba’s anonymous biographer reports that the mowbedān mowbed’s first set of accusations against the Catholicos consisted of disrespect towards the king 14, opposition to Zoroastrianism as the foundation of the Empire, and closeness to the Caesar of the Romans. As Macuch already excellently pointed out, the high Zoroastrian priest would have presumed a threefold political disloyalty towards the crown, corresponding to three particular crimes of the Sasanian legal system: a) blasphemy/apostasy, b) offence against the sovereign/treason/rebellion, and c) offences regarding the adversaries.15 The allegations made by Dād-Ohrmazd did not receive sufficient attention from the king, who was involved in military campaigns, so two other prosecutors additionally substantiated them: a rad of Fars, presumably questioned as a local witness, and a shahr dadwar named Ādur-Farrah, who seems to have been a public prosecutor. 16 At this point, the accusatory framework against the Catholicos would add two new charges, connected to his activity in Fars during the itinerant synod of 540. The first allegation was concerning proselytism towards many ‘magi’ and the second was about encouraging 11 12 13 14

15 16

Secunda (2012: 323, n. 32). Zeini (2018: 157, n. 28). Secunda (2012: 326) In fact, the contacts between Xusrō and Mar Aba seem to have been marked by great cooperation and a long protection of the ruler over the catholicos. On the complex subject of the integration of the Church of the East in the Sasanian environment, see Panaino 2004. Macuch (2014: 49–50). Macuch (2014: 51).

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Christians of Iranian culture to stop eating the ‘meat of murmuring’, i.e. meat offered as a sacrifice through prayers, which were uttered in a low voice according to precise liturgies of the Zoroastrian tradition. 17 This time, the Catholicos was compelled by the sovereign through an emissary (defined as pasānig drospan) 18 to give an adequate answer to the heavy criticisms that had been raised by the college of his accusers. During this second phase of the judicial proceedings, which took place over several days, the explicit opposition of a certain Ābrōdag, a member of the Iranian gentry converted to Christianity, emerged in defence of the Catholicos. The biographer describes him as a very influential officer close to the king, contemptuous in addressing Dād-Ohrmazd. Xusrō, although surprised by Ābrōdag’s intervention in favour of the Christian leader, would have rescued him from the clutches of the Zoroastrian hierarchy by entrusting him with an urgent assignment in the capital. The noble is also recalled in chapter 10 of the Martyrdom of Yazd-panāh, where he is celebrated as a new Joseph of Arimathea, having ordered his servants to save the body of the executed martyr. 19 As Payne points out, the case of Ābrōdag helps us understand how the growing intertwining of bishops and Christianised secular elites developed during this phase of the Sasanian Empire. The numerous biblical titles and ecclesiastical recognitions through which this figure is celebrated in the Martyrdom of Yazd-panāh, including that of builder of churches and founder of monasteries, testify that the commitment and euergetism of the aristocratic converts to the expansion of ecclesiastical structures did not limit their access to the more restricted circles of the court. 20

17

18 19 20

Incidentally, it seems that this Zoroastrian practice of praying under one’s breath was particularly disliked by Mar Aba’s circle. The biographer points out that in the very place of the Catholicos’ exile there was a religious school aimed at preserving and teaching these prayer practices, where it was possible to hear ‘the whisper of Zoroaster’s nonsense’, see Jullien, F. (2015: 26 [t] 24 [v]). I wonder if this growing suspicion about Sasanian techniques of consecrating by murmuring has anything to do with Mar Aba’s willingness to introduce the anaphoras of Theodorus and Nestorius, where the institutional narrative of the Eucharist consecration is present, unlike in the ancient and traditional anaphora of Addai and Mari, where it is absent. According to Macuch (2014: 52): ‘*pasānig da ud aspān, attendant of the (royal) court and horses’; for Peeters (1946: 140), a sort of chamberlain, an emissary of the king. Jullien, F. (2015: 84 [t] 85 [v]). Payne (2011, 104–105, 108).

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In the final phase of this long and fluctuating investigation of Mar Aba, the charges against him were fuelled by the Zoroastrian priestly elite, exposing on the one hand the choices he made regarding matrimonial law, 21 and, on the other, the repeal of many civil proceedings between Christians that were formerly submitted to the judgement of the mowbedān mowbed. 22 The anonymous biographer reports that the mowbed of Beth-Aramaye 23 provided the decisive evidence for the prosecution, namely the deliberate destruction by Mar Aba of some judicial acts already countersigned by the supreme Sasanian religious authority: an act revealing the resolute determination of the Catholicos to subtract Christians from the Zoroastrian judicial space. During an interrogation carried out in order to frame him with statements of insubordination, Mar Aba defended himself by declaring that heavenly order and worldly order of the king were de facto, not contradictory. In this sense, Mar Aba deserves not be dismissed too quickly as a fanatical neo-convert driven by unreasoning zeal, but rather as an argumentative Christian leader, formerly trained in Persian law and literature, 24 who understood the strategic need to remove the field of marriage from the control of ‘pagan’ judges. His attitude demonstrates that it was important to him to preserve the exclusive prerogatives of the canon law, central to profiling the identity of a church placed outside the Constantinian-Theodosian paradigm, within the framework of a proselytizing system connected to an inherently universalistic, non-ethnic, conception of Christianity. In the centuries that followed, starting from Mar Aba, the Church of the East would face one of its most important cultural challenges in the area of matrimonial and patrimonial jurisprudence. 21

22

23 24

It is not quite certain that the accusation emerged as a reaction to the reading of the famous corpus juris of Mar Aba, edited by Sachau (1914: 257–285). He probably drafted the document before the exile, but there is no direct evidence of this. As we will see below, another document that may have ignited the dispute is Document 3 of the Synod of Mar Aba. On this important issue, see the contributions of Hutter (2003, 171–172), Panaino (2008), Macuch (2014, 53–55). The later Arabic Chronicle of Seert, ch. XXVII – Scher (1909: 159 [67]), which contains a shorter biography of Mar Aba, summarises the charges brought by the Catholicos’ opponents in four points. He would have renounced the religion of the Magi in order to become a Christian, prevented Christians from marrying more than one woman, annulled the decrees of their judges, removed the trials from their jurisdiction, and baptised the Magi as Christians. I.e. the ecclesiastical region of the See of the Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, see Fiey (1968: 151–261) Jullien, F. (2015: 5 [t], 5 [v])

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The large number of treatises and canons written over time on these topics says much about how Mar Aba, formerly the disciple of a Zoroastrian jurisconsult expert on family and inheritance law, pointed the way and set the priorities of his Church. The final document, 25 drawn up by the accusatory panel against the Catholicos, clearly reflects, in the way it demands his condemnation, the public consideration that Mar Aba still must have enjoyed among the upper echelons of the kingdom. The board of accusers had in fact decided to give him an unexpected chance at freedom, on the condition of a sealed declaration, which demanded three requests: 1) He would no longer condemn “incestuous” marriage practices according to Sasanian law. 2) He would cease his proselytising action among the Iranian gentry. 3) He would not forbid Christians to eat the ‘meat of murmuring’.

2. THE CATHOLICOS IN THE MAZDEAN CRADLE: FIGHTING MARGINALITY, FACING PANDEMIC

Mar Aba’s refusal to accept the conditions proposed to him should have opened the door to prison, but the intervention of the influential Christians at court partially saved him from this fate. However, the accusers, as mentioned above, obtained from the king that the Catholicos be sent to Ādurbādagān. Mar Aba was in exile in a region dense with meaning for Zoroastrianism, in which a sacred geography originating in the south-eastern areas of Iran had been stitched up and adapted to the context of the lands bordering the Caspian Sea, guarded by a dense network of sanctuaries in which the Mazdean clergy enriched its prestige and structured its influence on the crown. Mar Aba was lodged in a district named Prahawar, in a village known as Serš of Mages, described as one of the main centres of Zoroastrianism. 26 The judges put him there in order to control him and, possibly, bring him back to the faith of the fathers. It is interesting to note that, apart from the declared Christian heroism of the Catholicos, capable of withstanding aggressive confrontations, death threats, and so on, the anonymous biographer leaves some clues scattered 25

26

Jullien, F. (2015: 21 [t] 24 [v]) the term ‫‘ ܦܘܪܫܫܢܡܓ‬pwrššnmg’ is translated as ‘décret d’inculpation’. According to Macuch (2014: 54) it has to be understood as pursišn-nāmag, a ‘transcription of the interrogation’. Pigulevskaya (1963: 331).

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throughout the story that seem to present an increasing dialogical and friendly context between Christians and Zoroastrians in the region. First, Dādīn, the local rad described by the History of Mar Aba as a cruel governor, is said to have established a cordial relationship with the exile. It is then mentioned that Mar Aba was able to soften the hearts of the villagers and people from the neighbouring areas, who were interested in confronting him, certainly polemically, but also because of a sincere spiritual interest. Of course, to some extent, the biographer wants to show off the Catholicos’ ability to persuade, but it seems clear that the choice to soften the martyrial narrative could be affected by an ecclesial memory that is not unequivocally hostile towards these people of the Mazdean faith. Such an open attitude towards the local Zoroastrian population is also evident from what is said about the plague known as the Justinianic pandemic (541–543 CE). 27 According to the anonymous biographer, Mar Aba contributed to the social containment of the disease in Ādurbādagān by convincing part of the population—Christian and non-Christian, it seems—not to flee from those lands. The History of Mar Aba, which according to a typical hagiographic pattern, identifies the efficacy of the thaumaturgic intervention of the Catholicos in reliance on providence, prayer, and good works, takes care to underline a rather significant detail, namely the use of consecrated oil for thaumaturgic purposes, within and beyond the confines of the ecclesial community. In fact, it is said that Mar Aba administered it to the wife of Arvand-dād, a Sasanian judge. It is said she was suffering from an evil spirit. The Catholicos would have blessed the oil but refrained from administering the cure himself to the woman, who received the remedy while remaining outside the residence of Mar Aba. His intervention would have freed her from this demon, and the episode would have helped to spread further goodwill towards Mar Aba. 28 Moreover, there is an emphatic passage that confirms the impression that the biographer wanted to describe an atmosphere of cordial coexistence 27

28

In the History of Mar Aba, the pandemic is defined by the Syriac word ‫ ܡܘܬܢܐ‬mawtana (mortality), common in Syriac sources of the time that speak of this famous Justinian epidemic, on this topic see Morony (2007: 60). The connection between pandemic and demonic possession is recurrent in late Christian culture, see Markschies (2020). In relation to the Justinianic plague, Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, writing about the spread of the epidemic in Syria, similarly links pandemic events and demonic possession, see Greatrex (2011: 414–415). However, for Zoroastrians, illness is also a demonic phenomenon, as Antonio Panaino privately reminded me, so the two traditions may have met in this area.

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between religions, even if read in the context of an alleged spiritual hegemony of Christianity. Here it is stressed that, thanks to Mar Aba’s presence, ‘the houses of persecutors and blasphemers’ would have become homes of saints and houses of prayer and praise to God. We need to be clear: there is no mention of conversions, and if that were the theme, the biographer would certainly not have shied away from making it explicit. On the contrary, it is said that there were ‘choirs of bishops’ who ‘met their homologues, making them listen to the voice of the chants of the Holy Spirit rising from them’, and that ‘groups of priests stood before the ranks of their homologues and told each other of the greatness and splendour they had seen and heard’. 29 It might be correct to understand the expression translated here as ‘their homologues’ (‫ )ܚܪܒܝܗܘܢ‬as referring to members of the lower and upper Mazdean clergy. If this is the case, and it seems to be the most understandable scenario, the author celebrates Mar Aba’s ability to bring peace between the religious components of the region and explicitly claims: ‘The mountains and hills of Ādurbādagān were at peace in the stride of the saints’ steps. 30 The History of Mar Aba also provides us with some useful elements to imagine the physical spaces in which the Catholicos found himself reorganising his activity as head of the church in exile. These are some indications that we can accept as fully plausible because they confirm a coherent picture portrayed in the documents of the Synodicon Orientale. The first passage is as follows: ‘He turned the house where he lived into a church, he erected there an altar of Christ and every day persevered with his disciples in fasting and prayer’. 31 It seems likely that Mar Aba found some liturgical space within the boundaries of his confinement, especially if we add the highly plausible detail of the presence of disciples. I say highly plausible because it indirectly confirms that his confinement was, so to speak, a rather respectful one, in which 29F

29

30

31

̈ ̈ ̈ ̈ ‫ܘܣܝܥܬܐ‬ .‫ܡܫܬܡܥܢ ܗܘܝ ܡܢܗܘܢ‬ ‫ ܟܕ ܩܠ ܙܡܝ�ܬܐ ܕܪܘܚ ܩܘܕܫܐ‬.‫ܕܐܦܣܩܘ ܠܚܒܪܝܗܘܢ ܐܪܥܝܢ ܗܘܘ‬ ‫ܓܘܕܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܠܚܕܕܐ ܡܬܢܝܢ ܗܘܘ‬ ‫ܘܬܡܝܗܘܬܐ ܕܚܙܘ ܘܫܡܥܘ‬ ‫ ܘܪܘ�ܒܬܐ‬.‫ܕܟܗܢ̈ܐ ܠܡܫ�ܝܬܐ ܕܚܒ�ܝܗܘܢ ܡܩܒܠܝܢ ܗܘܘ‬. Jullien, F. (2015: 26 [t], 28 [v]). As further proof of this representation, in the course of the History of Mar Aba – Jullien, F. (2015: 32 [t], 34 [v]) it will be said that time after the end of the exile, the Catholicos would have returned to Ādurbādagān as a prisoner of the king. On that occasion, ‘the magi of the place where the blessed one had been detained learned that he was in the court. They all came to honour and greet him, while they wept for the fact that they had been deprived of a great advantage, because the illustrious one had been removed from them. And wherever they went, wherever the great ones of the kingdom gathered, they spoke of his wisdom and his conduct’. Jullien, F. (2015: 25 [t] 28 [v])

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the Catholicos was not totally deprived of the support of a small retinue of assistants. Add to this the second piece of information, ‘Metropolitans and bishops, priests and deacons, believing men and women were gathering from the provinces to pray there and receive their blessing’. Furthermore, in this case, the Synodicon Orientale, as we will see below, confirms what is stated: the Catholicos was allowed to receive visits from little groups of clergymen coming from specific provinces for which some canonical intervention was needed, or because they were involved in particular procedures. However, the very mouth of Mar Aba states in the final protocol of his synod, written during the exile: ‘The present time, which is full of great difficulties, does not allow us to call all of you near us to hold a synod about the things that should be done’. 32 Again, the History pointed out that: ‘The saint had thus remained seven years, one like the other, among the persecutors, without passing through the door of the house where he lived at all, but persevering in fasting, prayer and the abundant correspondence full of all sorts of useful things that he did for the provinces under his government’. 33 Notwithstanding the biographer’s hyperbolic language, the administrative activity of the Catholicosate, as the introduction of the Synodicon Orientale indubitably demonstrates, was at least somewhat active, as was the network of emissaries who guaranteed the continuity of the church’s government. All this required, to some extent, that the spaces of the Catholicos were sufficiently comfortable to organise at least a minimal chancery and archive, where files and a few texts could be kept and copied. 34 We know the names of three of Mar Aba’s assistants, who were possibly involved in the final draft ̈ of the synod. The first is Ya‘qūb, listed as one of his disciples (‫ܬܠܡܝܕܗܘܝ‬ ‫)ܚܕ ܡܢ‬, the second is Yōḥannan, the bishop of Ādurbādagān, mentioned elsewhere in the acts. 35 The third assistant is a bishop named Moses, mentioned as an emissary of the Catholicos. 36 34F

35F

32 33 34

35

36

Chabot (1902: 93, 349). Jullien, F. (2015: 27 [t], 28 [v]) A clue of this, for example, is found in the introduction, where the anonymous scribe working for Mar Aba in his exile house, introducing the dossier of the synodical acts uses the term ‫ ܦܪܫܓܢܐ‬paršagnā (exemplar/copy): Chabot (1902: 68, 318). I have analysed the text of the introduction to the synod in a previous contribution: Berti (2017b: 686–694). When the Catholicos perceived the danger of the plots hatched by the apostate Peter of Gurgan, both of them accompanied Mar Aba on a long journey to ask for mercy from the king – Jullien, F. (2015: 27 [t] 28–29 [v]). Chabot (1902: 94, 350).

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3. THE EXILE AGENDA: THE CASE OF SAKASTĀN As already fully deduced, much of the information we can glean about this period of exile is related to the activity of church governance. Indeed, during the confinement in Ādurbādagān, Mar Aba had to find a way to bring the episcopal assembly he opened in 540 to official closure. The travelling synod that had crossed lower Mesopotamia, Elam, and Persia had been announced and gathered in very different political and religious conditions, certainly more propitious for the newly elected Catholicos. Indeed, at that juncture, in addressing the serious problem of the internal schism that had torn the Church of the East during the period of the rivalry between Narse and Elišā‘, the newly elected Catholicos had seen an opportunity for substantial internal revival and restructuring, with the support of the crown. What remained of that seminal season after Mar Aba’s lockdown in Ādurbādagān was a canonical skeleton and some broad choices that in some cases had to find a more moderate implementation, as I will try to show. The Synod of Mar Aba consists of the abovementioned introduction, six official documents, and the canons. 37 Some texts were produced before the exile (540–541 CE) and others during it (541–544 CE). Only the introduction and documents 1, 3, 4, and 5 are transmitted inside the collection of the Synodicon Orientale as possibly collected by the Chancery of the Patriarch Timothy I (ca. 780–2 CE), while the documents 2 and 6 and the canons, formerly part of the original dossier, are preserved outside of it. Only three documents bear an explicit date in the incipit of the text: the introduction (543/544 CE), the first document (February and October 540 CE), and the second (October 540 CE). The four other texts are undated, as are the canons. 38 Document 3, numbered 6 in the manuscript tradition, in all probability predates the exile because it is perfectly consistent with the allegations on marriage law made by the Zoroastrian high clergy against Mar Aba. The documents 4, 5, and 6, along with the introduction, date from the period of exile for internal references, and have the following titles: 37 38

For a presentation, see Berti (2017b: 674–679). As far as the canons are concerned, it is risky to establish a date with certainty, or to derive from them the priorities of this specific phase of the exile. They are an anthology of previous synods and councils and can only be attributed directly to Mar Aba, and are presented as ̈ ̈ – Canons that were follows: ‫ܝܣܩܘܦܐ ܕܥܡܗ ܐܬܟܢܫܘ‬ ‫ܩܢܘܢܐ ܕܐܬܣܝܡܘ ܡܢ ܡܪܝ ܐܒܐ ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐ ܘܐܦ‬ established by Mar Aba the Patriarch and the bishops who had gathered with him, see Chabot (1902: 545–550, 555–561).

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-

Document 4: ‫ ܘܥܠ‬:‫ܗܘܘ ܬܪܝܢܘܬܐ‬ ܼ ‫ܥܠ ܒܘܛ� ܕܬ�ܝܗܘܢ ܦ�ܨܘܦܐ ܕܐܥܠܘ‬ ̈ ‫ܕܗܘܘ ܡܢܗܘܢ‬ ܼ ‫ – ܚܘܣܝܐ ܘܚܘ�ܩܢܐ ܕܐܬܥܒܕܘ ܡܛܠ ܐܝܠܝܢ‬On the deposition

of two persons who had introduced the duality, and on acquittals and sentences that were pronounced regarding those who had been (instituted) by them. 39

̈ ̈ Document 5: ‫ܘܩܢܘܢܐ ܕܟܠܗܘܢ ܦܘ�ܫܢܐ ܕܡܕܒܪܢܘܬܐ ܥܕܬܢܝܬܐ‬ ‫ܬܚܘܡܐ‬ ‫– ܥܠ‬ 38F

-

On the definitions and canons of all subdivisions of ecclesiastical government. 40 Document 6: ‫ – ܡܢ ܐܓܪܬܐ ܕܫܬ܆ ܕܪܫܝܡܐ ܦܪܐܩܛܝܩܐ‬From the sixth letter entitled Practica. 41 39F

40F

From the analysis of some passages of documents 4–6, we can deduce they were the main dossiers on the Catholicos’ desk. 42 In this contribution, I will focus my attention mostly on document 4, keeping some conclusive remarks for documents 5 and 6. Significantly, the first case that Mar Aba had to deal with, represented by document 4, clearly highlights how the ambitious project of providing a kind of standard canonical procedure to recompose the double hierarchies that had been created across the diocesan network had to reckon with the capacity of the Catholicos to impose his choices. Following the exile of the Catholicos in Ādurbādagān, the procedure previously tried and tested by Mar Aba during his itinerant synod through a diverse series of cases resolved one by one had to reckon with a de facto weakening of the role of the Catholicos of SeleuciaCtesiphon. Physically distant from the royal palace, where he could count on important protectors and a certain condescension from the crown, and also separated from his own episcopal see and the vast social network of support it entailed, Mar Aba was much more exposed to the pressures of local potentates and the demands of internal church groupings. It is within this framework that we can understand the dynamic presented by document 4. This synodal letter, signed by Mar Aba and countersigned by several high prelates, consists of two parts that illustrate the difficult coexistence of norm and exception in the life of the church. The letter, signed first by ‘Aba Catholicos’, is addressed ‘to the sons of the faith, clerics of every order, and seculars of every rank who are in the country of Sakastān. Apart from the Catholicos, there were ten signatories 39 40 41 42

Chabot (1902: 85–89, 338–345). Chabot (1902: 89–95, 345–351). Chabot (1902: 543–545, 553–555). Chabot (1902: 545–550, 555–561).

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to this document. Among them were only two metropolitans: Ḥenana of Adiabene and Mar Dairaya of Beth Garmai, responsible for two adjacent ecclesiastical regions on the left bank of the upper course of the Tigris. Of the remaining eight bishops, the synodal letter bears the signatures of two suffragan bishops of Adiabene (Šem‘ōn of Ma‘alta and Mōšē of Beth Begaš – a border diocese with Ādurbādagān), four suffragan bishops of Beth Garmai (Yawsep of Lashom, Bar Nūn of Ṭirhan, Paulos of Barḥis, Marūtā of Taḥal) and two bishops from the South Caucasus (Ya‘qūb of Paidangaran and the aforementioned Yōḥannan of Ādurbādagān). The composition of the synodal college highlights the particular interest of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Beth Garmai in the issue at hand, and the need to involve another metropolitan— the one closest to the Catholicos’ place of exile—and some bishops who could easily reach Mar Aba. In exposing the procedure chosen to resolve the conflicts of territorial competence and episcopal succession that arose during the schism of the two Catholicoi, concretely manifested by the presence of a double hierarchy, Mar Aba first exposes a sort of recapitulation of the crisis and its consequences. The canonical procedure for resolving the case of a disputed episcopal seat between two bishops appointed by two rival Catholics was primarily aimed at avoiding any jurisdictional fragmentation of the ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses. In choosing which bishop to mantain in office, Mar Aba suggested combining a principle of quality with one of age, providing compensatory measures for the dethroned, including, if he deserved it, the acquisition of precedence in the succession and maintenance of several prerogatives of the episcopal rank on the liturgical-sacramental level. However, splitting up the territorial unity of the diocese was not permitted, at least on paper. The second part of document 4 helps us understand why Mar Aba, in this letter addressed to such a distant Christian community, wished in some way to fix an ecclesial memory about the way out of episcopal duality that had split his church across the board. Indeed, in the opening greeting at the beginning of the text, Mar Aba wishes ‘abundant peace in our Lord, our hope, your mutual peacemaker’. The diocese, as we shall see, was internally divided and its recomposition far from easy for a Catholicos in exile. Sakastān, or Sīstān, the historical region located between south-eastern Iran and Afghanistan, was not just another place for Iranian culture in the broad sense, and for 6th-century Sasanian politics especially. It was a fundamental area for the Zoroastrian religion, since it is to these lands that the scanty geographical and environmental references of the Avesta originally seem to

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allude. 43 For example, the basin of Hāmun-e Helmand was at one point identified with the mythical lake Kayanseh, in whose waters the seed of Zarathustra would have rested, guarded, and with which three virgins, a thousand years apart, would have conceived the three saoshyants. 44 A commercial and cultural hub between Persia and the Indian subcontinent, Sakastān, after a period in which it was part of the so-called Indo-Parthian kingdom, entered the Sasanian sphere of influence in the 3rd century, changing its administrative status over time. During the 6th century, the region was divided into at least three šahr: the districts of Frāx-kar-Pērōz, Vadh, and Zarang. 45 The issue raised in this document concerns ‘the regularisation of the episcopate’ in that region. According to Mar Aba, the majority of the community (‫ ܣܘܓܐܟܘܢ‬: ‘your majority’) 46 was loyal to the bishop Yazd-Aphrid, who would have claimed the Catholicos’s confirmation by letter. Mar Aba would have sent them an answer confirming the bishop. At the same time, a delegation from Beth Garmai arrived in Ādurbādagān at the presence of Mar Aba. The group consisted of the metropolitan and the four bishops mentioned above, plus at least two other prominent personalities: Suren Garmaqāyā (i.e. of Beth Garmai), defined as the ‘chief of the camels of the kingdom’ ( ‫ܪܫ‬ ̈ ‫ )ܓܡ� ܕܡܠܟܘܬܐ‬and Sergius, also ordained like Yazd-Aphrid, bishop for Sakastān, bringing some writings in his support 47. Contrary to what has been said elsewhere, there is no way to tell from the text which of the two factions (of Narse and Elišā‘) Yazd-Aphrid and Sergius belonged to. The Catholicos must then have called a number of bishops who were geographically close, together with the metropolitan of Adiabene, to give a synodal aspect to the deliberation that was being asked of him. Mar Aba affirmed that Sergius came to the presence of the Catholicos by way of a long journey from Sakastān, punctuated by penance and fasting, to ask for forgiveness for having received the episcopate illegitimately — but, according to Mar Aba, in blameless ignorance of the newly established canonical dispositions. The Catholicos tried to portray a positive picture of the illegitimate bishop, 46F

43 44 45 46 47

Panaino (2016: 31–32). Panaino (2016: 101). Gyselen (2019: 189–192). Chabot (1902: 87, 342). Contrary to Gyselen – Jullien, Ch. (2015: 102), Suren Garmaqāyā was not one of the dignitaries mentioned in the letters, but someone who came with the group from Beth Garmai: ‫– ܐܦ ܐܢ̈ܫܐ ܫܪܝ�ܐ ܕܡܦܣܝܢ ܒܗ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܬܢܢ ܐܣܬܩܒܠܘ܆ ܝܬܝܪܐܝܬ ܣܘܪܝܢ ܓܪܡܩܝܐ‬ ‘Moreover, truthful men who believed in him were received here, especially Suren Garmaqāyā’.

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acknowledging his repentance and emphasising the fact that an important part of the diocese had lined up in his support, as testified by some letters brought from Sakastān to Mar Aba. Sergius’s connection to the church of Beth Garmai is evident, but we can only speculate on the nature of this link. Suren’s involvement in this affair certainly seems to be occasioned by more than just a matter of private friendship. If we trust the official title provided by the document and if we correctly figure out its contours, the role of the functionary must have been crucial to the vast caravan network that contributed to mobility in the empire, to the flow of overland trade, and to the functioning of the postal network, so he could certainly have had an interest in the outcome of a canonical procedure involving a border diocese. To satisfy Sergius’s faction, Mar Aba decided to propose exactly what the law did not provide for, namely, a temporary territorial subdivision of the diocese. Yazd-Aphrid retained jurisdiction over Kaš, Phrāh, and Zarang with their surroundings and appurtenances, while Sergius took control over Bost and Raxwad. Of course, as can be seen from the toponymy and geographical analysis proposed by Gyselen and Jullien, the division was not intended to be transversal, i.e. it did not divide the diocese geographically in two, but it did subtract from the territory of Sakastān two christian enclaves that would be administered by Sergius, whose inhabitants were ‘susceptibles de rejeter cette nouvelle cartographie diocésaine’. 48 It was a temporary division, which would be recomposed after the death of one of the two contenders. It is worth noting that the document, in passing, mentioned a third claimant to the title, the excommunicated bishop David, with whom neither Yazd-Aphrid nor Sergius, nor any other member of the church, could have had any connection, according to the synodical decree. 49 This demonstrates a harshness that makes Mar Aba’s accommodating attitude towards Sergius stand out even more in contrast. The text emphasises that Sergius could exercise all his episcopal privileges within the village of Bost only with the consent of the population. Without the latter and outside his territory, all episcopal prerogatives, both those of a hierarchical and liturgical-sacramental nature, would have been null and void. Any opposition that the population of this village might have expressed against the resolution proposed by the college of bishops should have been communicated directly to Mar Aba. It seems easy to deduce that it was the village of Raxwad that supported the appointment of Sergius, since the Synod 48 49

Gyselen – Jullien, Ch. (2015: 103). Chabot (1902: 89, 344)

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document does not even suggest the risk of this community rejecting the approved resolution. In this affair, Mar Aba shows himself to be in a weak position. His prerogatives of government, in the face of a personality of the realm such as Suren, were drastically reduced, since the role played by this official must also have been very important for the concrete management of the church, given the need to communicate outside the Ādurbādagān and to hold the strings of a turbulent diocesan network of enormous extension. One can therefore understand why he was not able to deal with the demands of a fierce ecclesiastical faction like the Beth Garmai high clergy and gentry with full autonomy, having to bend the rule established earlier by agreeing to postulate an exception. 4. THE STRUGGLE FOR HIERARCHY: TROUBLES IN ELAM

The two documents that close the Synod of Mar Aba seem to be understandable precisely from this angle: the Catholicos had to adapt the assumptions of his reformist agenda and the relaunching of the church to a defensive context in which he had to secure the fundamental architecture of his ecclesiology. It was necessary that the period of exile did not undermine again the unity of a church whose internal laceration was limited to the cross fracture of the late two Catholicoi Narse and Elišā‘, but had in the polycentrism of the metropolitan system its point of strength and weakness. Text number 5 was supposed to be the concluding protocol of the complex synod of Mar Aba. The particular location of the Catholicos allowed for a few visits as needed, and allowed individual dossiers to be dealt with by a small number of clerics. However, the conditions were not right for calling together all the metropolitans and bishops with whom the Catholicos had begun this impressive process of reunification of the Church. The strategy adopted by Mar Aba was therefore to fall back on the use of an internal postal system: the synodal letter would have been taken by Bishop Moses, who was in charge of the task, to the various metropolitans in their seats to be countersigned. 50 50

The signatures to the final protocol mirror the limits of communication at Mar Aba. Only three metropolitans – Yōḥannan of Maishan and the above mentioned Ḥenana of Adiabene and Dairaya of Beth Garmai – signed directly, joined by Moses, while the metropolitan Ma‘na of Fars had to send a letter of adherence, which obviously arrived in Ādurbādagān by other means: Chabot (1902: 94–95, 350–351).

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Significantly, the document focused on hierarchical obedience to authority. The aim was, after the complicated mending of the dioceses, to obtain their full acceptance of the synod and the decisions taken. From this perspective, the bishops are presented as subject to the metropolitans, and the metropolitans to the Catholicos. The ecclesiological basis for this structure is found by the Synod in Paul’s letters and in comparison with Western churches. This last point shows that for Mar Aba, apart from the Christological differences, what took place in the Byzantine Empire remained an essential point of reference. 51 In spite of the various conflicts and schisms that had crossed the history of the church in the eastern Mediterranean, states the document, no one there could consider themselves immune from punishment in case of non-compliance with the apostolic canons, the priestly order, or the decisions of the church. In a non-Constantinian-Theodosian context, the emphasis on the hierarchical structure was intended to prevent the involvement of transversal parties—exactly what seems to have happened in the case of Sakastān. Putting the interests of specific factions before the vertical line of the episcopal ministry was not only disrespectful of the hierarchy, but it complicated the maintenance of the unity of the dioceses, and ultimately, the very survival of the church. Mar Aba recalls in the document how, at the origin of the pacification of the Church, we must remember the work of his direct predecessor, the late Catholicos Mar Pawlos (539 CE), whose intent had been to provide a canonical reorganisation aimed at making the hierarchy more efficient. In this sense, Mar Aba claims to be the continuator and implementer of this largescale reform work. With respect to this plan, however, a significant hiccup would occur with the death of the metropolitan of Elam, which made the reception of the synod in that region much more delicate. Likewise, Mar Aba’s designated metropolitan for Nisibis would meet with spirited resistance from the local church, which forced him to retreat to his residence. For this reason, the final protocol, while promising that a new synod would soon address a number of pending issues, called for the full and substantial implementation of the decisions made.

51

It was not by chance he included the canon 27 of Chalcedon among those promulgated by him: Chabot (1902: 547, 557): a canon, moreover, which provided for the expulsion from the church for those clerics who were guilty of abduction of women or complicity in the same, with the aim of imposing a marriage.

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The Elamite case, however, could not be delayed, and Mar Aba soon realised this. The region of Elam had been showing important signs of discontent for some time. The local church was marked by strong autonomous pressures which were mixed with a growing political malaise—as demonstrated by the later revolt of Anōšagzād in 551, in which Mar Aba is said to have been involved as a peacemaker. 52 Leaving aside further remarks about the nature of Mar Aba’s involvement in this later episode, we cannot fail to note a certain continuity of tensions in the Christian component of the Elamite region. The disciplinary crisis surrounding the figure of Abraham Bar Audmihr, the unscrupulous prelate around whose condemnation the itinerant synod of 540 literally revolved, began in February with a public request for forgiveness by Abraham and ended in October with the meeting of the 77 at Beth Laphat, where he and his associates were condemned. 53 The repressive measures taken by the judges and the state in that occasion, accompanied by punitive practices and torture aimed at Abraham's seditious allies, indicate the important involvement of the crown in the affair. The escape of Abraham, however, also shows the existence of clandestine networks, perhaps transversal to the confessional communities, in which people like him could find refuge and weave their plots. Furthermore, the letter of October 540, aimed at correcting the excesses of the Elamite Christological creed, 54 whose radical diphysism, vigorously advocated during those years by Elamite doctors even in the Caucasus regions, caused problems for the more moderate line of Mar Aba. This is a further indication of how Elam, in addition to resistance of a disciplinary nature, showed a very marked and autonomous theological profile. 55 This brings us to the Pragmatic letter. Document 6 was written before the introduction of the Synod of Mar Aba, but after the protocol, and therefore must date from some time before February 544. It was written to avoid any hindrance in the reception of what had been decreed and with the ultimate aim of avoiding the re-emergence of conflict in the church. We deduce that the purpose of the text was to respond to certain Elamite ill-feelings that had emerged with the drafting of document 5. 52

53 54 55

Even if the controversial interpretation by Pigulevskaya (1963: 334) of a passage from the Šāhnāme of Ferdowsi – Mohle (1877: 184) – could preserve a hostile memory about the role played by Mar Aba in the revolt, linking his actions to a proximity to the Byzantine world – but contra see Jullien, Ch. (2011: 111). Chabot (1902: 73–78, 324–330). Chabot (1902: 540–545, 550–555). Garsoïan (1999: 135–239).

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The issue in question is the special dignity of the metropolitan of Elam. Mar Aba reiterates the presence of Elam as statutory in the elective procedure for the Catholicos, together with the metropolitans of Maishan, Adiabene, and Beth Garmai. As an essential criterion for the legitimacy of the election, the letter reaffirms that the seat of Seleucia-Ctesiphon must remain the place for the ceremony of enthronement of the Catholicos. Mar Aba clearly struggled to maintain a centrality to the seat of Mar Mari at a time when nothing was a foregone conclusion due to its remoteness. To give Elam a prominent status in the life of the church was to be one of the most important choices and one with longer-term effects — just think of the role played by this document in the election of Timothy I, centuries later. 56 What emerges from the analysis and recapitulation proposed here is the evidence of how the Christian leader with the greatest impact in the history of Sasanian politics lived the season of his exile. During this period, he could govern his church only from a remote control room, with a double step: a time of patient construction of dialogue ad extra, and a time of strategic concessions ad intra in the face of the schismatic pressures of some leading players in ecclesial and civil life.

56

Berti (2009: 167–168)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bettiolo, Paolo (2006) “Mar Aba: appunti sulla Chiesa Siro-orientale nel secondo quarto del VI secolo”, in Emidio Vergani – Sabino Chialà (eds.) Storia, cristologia e tradizioni della Chiesa Siro-orientale. Atti del 3° Incontro sull’Oriente Cristiano di tradizione siriaca (Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 14 maggio 2004), Milano, pp. 99–111. Berti Vittorio (2009) Vita e studi di Timoteo I, Patriarca cristiano di Baghdad. Ricerche sull’epistolario e sulle fonti contigue, Chrétiens en terre d’Iran, 3, Cahiers de Studia Iranica, 41, Paris. Berti, Vittorio (2017a) “Mar Aba the Great on Exodus: Fragments from the Commentary of Isho‘dad of Merv and the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes”, in Cristianesimo nella storia, 38(1), pp. 27–50. Berti Vittorio (2017b) “Il sinodo itinerante di Mar Aba del 540”, in Cristianesimo nella storia, 38(3), pp. 673–728. Cereti, Carlo G. (1995) The Zand ī Wahman Yasn. A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, Serie Orientale Roma, 75, Roma. Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (ed. and trad.) (1902), Synodicon orientale ou recueil de synodes nestoriens. Paris. Christensen, Arthur E. (1944) L’Iran sous les Sassanides, 2nd rev. and expanded ed., Copenhagen. Fiey, Jean-Maurice (1968) Assyrie Chrétienne. Vol. 3: Bét Garmaï, Bét Aramāye et Maišān nestoriens, Beyrouth. Garsoïan Nina G. (1999) L’Église arménienne et le grand schisme d’Orient, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 574, Subsidia, 100. Leuven. Greatrex, Geoffrey (ed.) (2011) The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor. Church and War in Late Antiquity, Robert Phenix – Cornelia B. Horn transl., with contributions by Sebastian P. Brock and Witold Witakowski, Translated Texts for Historians, 55, Liverpool. Gyselen, Rika (2019) La géographie administrative de l’Empire Sassanide. Les témoignages épigraphiques en moyen-perse, Res Orientales, 25, Bures-sur-Yvette. Gyselen, Rika – Jullien, Christelle (2015) “Le Sakastān sous Husraw Ier. Approches croisées”, in Chrsitelle Jullien (ed.) Husraw Ier, reconstruction d’un regne, Sources et documents, Studia Iranica, Cahier 53, Paris, pp. 85–113. Hutter, Manfred (2003) “Mār Abā and the Impact of Zoroastrianism on Christianity in the 6th Century” in Carlo G. Cereti – Mauro Maggi – Elio Provasi (eds.) Religious Themes and Texts of Pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia: Studies in Honour of Professor Gherardo Gnoli on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday on 6th December 2002, Beiträge zur Iranistik, 24, Wiesbaden, pp. 167–173. Jullien, Christelle (2011) “La révolte des chrétiens au Hūzestān (551): modèles narratifs d’une historiographie”, in Bulletin of the Asia Institute, NS 25 (2011 [2015]), pp.107–120. Jullien, Florence (ed. and trad.) (2015) Histoire de Mār Abba, Catholicos de l’Orient; Mār Grigor, general en chef du roi Khusro Ier et de Mār Yazdpanāh, juge et gouverneur, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 658, Scriptores Syri, 254 (text), Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 659, Scriptores Syri 255 (translation), Lovanii. Macuch, Maria (2014) “The Case Against Mār Abā, the Catholicos, in the Light of Sasanian Law”, in Aram, 26(1–2), pp. 47–58.

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Markschies, Christoph (2020) “Demons and disease”, in Eva Elm – Nicole Hartmann (eds.) Demons in Late Antiquity. Their Perception and Transformations in Different Literary Genres, Transformationen der Antike, 54, Berlin-Boston, pp. 15–40. Mohl, Julius (1877) Le livre des rois par Abouʾlkasim Firdousi, VI, Paris. Morony, Michael G. (2007) “‘For Whom Does the Writer Write?’: The First Bubonic Plague Pandemic According to Syriac Sources”, in Lester K. Little (ed.) Plague and the End of Antiquity. The Pandemic of 541–750, Cambridge. Panaino, Antonio C. D. (2004), “La Chiesa di Persia e l’Impero Sasanide. Conflitto e Integrazione”, in Cristianità d’Occidente e Cristianità d’Oriente (secoli VI – XI). LI Settimana di Studio della Fondazione CISAM, Spoleto, 24 – 30 aprile 2003. Spoleto 2004, pp. 765–863. Panaino, Antonio C. D. (2008) “The Zoroastrian Incestuous Unions in Christian Sources and Canonical Laws: Their (Distorted) Aetiology and Some Other Problems”, in Christelle Jullien (ed.) Controverses des chrétiens dans l’Iran sassanide, Chrétiens en terre d’Iran II, Cahiers de Studia Iranica, 36, Paris, pp. 69–87. Panaino, Antonio C. D. (2016) Zoroastrismo. Storia, temi, attualità, Scienze e Storia delle Religioni, 21, Brescia. Payne, Richard (2011) “The Emergence of Martyrs’ Shrines in Late Antique Iran: Conflict, Consensus and Communal Institutions”, in Peter Sarris – Matthew Dal Santo – Philip Booth (eds.) An Age of Saints? Power, Conflict, and Dissent in Early Medieval Christianity, Brill’s Series on the Early Middle Ages, 20, Leiden – Boston, pp. 89–113. Peeters, Paul (1946) “Observations sur la Vie syriaque de Mār Abā, catholicos de l’Église perse (540–552)”, in Miscellanea Giovanni Mercati. Vol. 5: Storia Ecclesiastica – Diritto, Studi e Testi, 125, Città del Vaticano, pp. 69–112. Perikhanian, Anahit (1997) The Book of a Thousand Judgements (A Sasanian Law-Book), translated by Nina G. Garsoïan, Costa Mesa – New York. Pigulevskaya, Nina (1963) “Mar Aba I. Une page de l’histoire de la civilisation au VI siècle de l’ère nouvelle”, in Mélanges d’orientalisme offerts à Henri Massé à l´occasion de son 75ème anniversaire, Publications de l’Université de Téhéran, 843, Tehran, pp. 327–336. Sachau, Eduard (ed.) (1914) Syrische Rechtsbücher, vol. 3, Berlin. Secunda, Shai (2012) “On the Age of the Zoroastrian Sage of the Zand”, in Iranica Antiqua, 47, pp. 317–349. Scher, Addai (ed.) (1909), Histoire nestorienne (Chronique de Séert). Seconde partie. I, Patrologia Orientalis, 7/2, Paris. West Edward William (transl.) (1882) The Dādistān-ī-Dīnīk and the Epistles of Mānūṡkīhar, Pahlavi texts, 2, The Sacred Book of the East, 18, Oxford. Zeini, Arash (2018) “The King in the Mirror of the Zand”, in Touraj Daryaee (ed.) Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity. The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford, Irvine, pp. 149–162.

In Search of the Lost Memoirs of the Persian mobed Converted to Christianity in the 4th Century ALEXEY MURAVIEV Summary – The article is dedicated to the lost chronicle of the Julian’s war of 363 with Persia, written by a Mazdean priest in the second half of the 4th century. The text was used by Armenian historian Movsēs Ḥorenac’i who called its author by name Ḥoṛohbūt. He is called ‘secretary of Shahpuhr converted to Christianity’. However, Movsēs did not go into further details about the text, he only mentioned another Persian man, Rastohun, who also became a Christian. It is proposed in search for the remains of the ‘Chronicle’ in the Christian East to consider the last part of the s. c. ‘Julian Romance’, written in the 6th century in the Western Syrian milieu. In this text a Mazdean priest and secretary of Shahpuhr by name Arimihr is mentioned. He converted to Christianity and became a friend of the Christian Roman general Jovian (in the Romance he is called Yoḇı̄ nyanōs). Arimihr could be the same figure as Ḥoṛohbūt. There in another echo of the ‘Chronicle’ in the Syriac tradition: in the ‘Chronicle of Siirt’, which used the ‘Romance’. Later al-Ṭabarı̄ and alNadı̄ m also used the ‘Romance’ as a source for the story of Julian’s war in Persia. The following reconstruction is proposed: the mobed Arimihr converted to Christianity and returned with the Roman army to Asia Minor. There, after the death of his patron, emperor Jovian, Arimihr wrote his ‘Chronicle’, probably in Syriac. In the beginning of the 6th century it has been included into the hagiographic romance, one copy of which has been sent to Egypt, while another one remained in Mesopotamia and was used by the historian of Siirt and later by ibn al-Kalbı̄ , source for al-Ṭabarı̄ , before it has vanished. The text of the ‘Chronicle’ was brought to the Caucasian area before it has also disappeared. It is corroborated by its mention in the ‘Life’ of the Georgian king Vaḥtang Gorgasal. It is a sad fact, that the Late Antique Persian literature in Pahlavi is quasi nonexistent.1 By far the most informative source about the Persian literary production in the 4th century, should be the translations and quotations from it, 1

Horn (1901); West (1904: 34–47); Pourshariati (2008: 31–75).

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preserved by external sources, Syriac for the major part. The Arabic historians inform us in a quite selective manner about pre-Islamic Persian history and culture, so one should be very careful with their information.2 Actually, Syriac reflections may present a researcher with another problem: Persians could have written in Syriac, but such text cases are extremely rare, mostly because of the religious barrier between Christians and Mazdaeans. Certainly, there were writers-converts to Christianity like Farhad, hakkı̄ mā parsāyā, who became quite famous under a somewhat syriacised name Aphraat, but he was an exception. Most Persian Christians were silent albeit their numerous martyr acts have been preserved by Marūṯā.3 One should, nevertheless, consider the problem from another angle. We could try to find traces of the Persian literary activity either in Persian, or in Syriac or Greek, in the traditions of Caucasian Christianity. It is generally accepted today that both Armenian and Georgian traditions preserved a good deal of such information. The role of Armenian as a carrier of Iranian tradition has been recognized long ago, and Nina Garsoian stressed, on many occasions, the importance of Persian culture for the interpretation of the earliest Armenian Christianity.4 The Iranian substrate of the Georgian Christian culture has recently attracted attention of S. Rapp Jr.5 It is from the Armenian side that we get information, however vague it is, about a story that has strong connections with the Syriac milieu. In the somewhat problematic but still extremely popular text of the ‘History of Armenians’ by Movsēs Xorenacı̄ ,6 an unprecedented story is being told – during the unhappy Persian campaign of the Emperor Julian, a high-ranked Iranian official and priest (mobed) has converted to Christianity and became a close friend of Julian’s successor, emperor Jovian. At some point Movsēs starts relating royal histories of the Persian Aršakunis, following the ‘History of Bar Ṣaumā’. Another story he tells, is about the Roman-Persian war of 363 that has been written by a certain Persian convert. The passage is as follows:

2 3 4 5 6

Hämeen-Anttila (2018: 44), Khalidi (1994: 234–235), Nöldeke (1920). Brock (2011: 24–25); Herman (2016). Garsoian (1998: 1103–1168). Rapp Jr (2014). Movsēs Ḥorenaci, see Abelean (1991); Thomson (1978).

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1. That Xorohbut was the secretary (dpir) of Shahpuhr, shah of the Persians. He was in Greek captivity when Julian the Outlaw (Παραβάτης) marched with the troops to Ctesiphon and, [Julian] having perished there,7 2. he [sc. Xorohbut] headed to Greece, together with Jovian and the king’s chamberlains.8 3. He converted to our faith and received the name of Eleazar. Having learnt the language, he wrote a story (patmutʹiun) about the deeds (gorck‛) of Shahpuhr and Julian.9 4. He also translated the History of previous [Sasanian] rulers, a book written by a certain Bar Ṣawmā, his fellow-prisoner, whom Persians called Rastohun.10 5. What we learned from him we repeat in this book, letting aside their mad legends.11

This passage, notwithstanding its brevity, is very informative and in order to analyse it we dismember it and will proceed piece by piece. A number of key issues arise from the first piece. Movsēs calls Ḥoṛohbūt a ‘Persian nobleman’ and a ‘secretary’ of Shahpuhr. The most plausible term in Syriac should be mhaymānā. He was imprisoned in Persia during the campaign of 363. Julian is called here Parabatēs, a current sobriquet in the hagiographical literature (cf. Arab. al-barabaṭ). We should take note of this similarity between Arabic and Armenian names. The second piece contains only one important point: Ḥoṛohbūt made his way to the Roman Empire (lit. Greeks, Yunq) in the company of royal chamberlains. The third piece does a little better: Ḥoṛohbūt was baptized Eleazar, clearly a Biblical name (‫ אֶ לְ ָﬠזָר‬passed in Greek as (Ἐλεαζαρ. Living in Roman territory (but probably not in Constantinople) he wrote a ‘Chronicle’ (or History) in a language (lezou) that he has learnt. Movsēs (or Ps.-Movsēs) tells us that he worked with this text. The first impression one gets from this text is that the language he learnt was Greek, but here we encounter serious problems. Greek literature in Byzantium is quite well known but there is no Eleazar

7

8 9 10 11

Movsēs Ḥorenaci, see Abelean (1991: II, 70): Այս Խոռոհբուտ դպիր եղեալ Շապհոյ թագաւորին Պարսից, եւ ի ձեռս Յունաց անկեալ, յորժամ Յուլիանոս, որ Պառաբատան, զօրու հանդերձ ի Տիզբոն չոգաւ, եւ ի մեռանելն նորա անդ Ibidem: ընդ Յոբիանու իՅոյնս ընդ արքունական սպասաւորսն եկն. Ibidem: եւ մերոյ հաւատոյս դաւանեալ՝ անուանեցաւ Եղիազար. յոյն լեզու ուսեալ՝ պատմագրեաց զգործս Շապհոյ եւ Յուլիանու. Ibidem: Ընդ նմին թարգմանեաց եւ զառաջնոցն պատմութիւնս, մատեան մի, որ գերեկից իւր լեալ Բարսումայի ուրումն անուամբ, զոր Պարսք Ռաստոհուն կոչեն. Ibidem: յորմէ մեր ուսեալ՝ երկրորդեմք այժմ ի գիրս յայսմիկ, թողլով զառասպելաց նոցա բարբանջմունս.

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the Persian in the 4th century. Secondly, it is unthinkable that a complete novice in the Greek language could have written the whole book. A more plausible hypothesis would be that the language could be Syriac and not Greek. Eleazar, after his baptism, could have returned to Syria from Dadastana, an inland town of Bithynia in Asia Minor where Jovian died of suffocation.12 The title ‘History’ is somewhat vague – it could be a rendering of tašˤı̄ ṯā or ktaḇzaḇnē for example. One of the most striking pieces of information we derive from the fourth piece, is the mentioning of another Syriac-Persian historian, a certain Bar Ṣawmā surnamed Rastohun. Here we encounter an unusual situation: an EastSyrian Christian called Bar Ṣawmā was the author of a chronicle book written (in prison?) about the Sasanian rulers. That means that he was probably another convert from Mazdeism, whose Persian name was Rastohun, probable Syr. ‫)ܪ ܘܗܘܢ‬. That Rastohun is unknown hitherto, but he should have left some traces in the Syriac literature. However, we do not know of any Persian by that name who converted to Christianity right in the middle of the Great Persecution and changed his allegiance to the Roman side during the Julian incursion into Sasanian territory. All this leaves us with more questions than answers. R. Thomson offered an opinion about the late date of Movsēs’ opus magnum, proposing the 7th century as the date of its writing.13 It is clear from these observations that one should look for traces of this author and his book in the early pre-7th century Syriac tradition. It is hardly believable that Movsēs provided us with an overt forgery. Later Iranian historians, writing in Arabic like at-Tabari, used a lot of information about Sasanian rulers. A large part of it is usually connected with ‘Hwadaynamak’ and later made its way later to ‘Shahnamē’. But as far as the historian from Tabaristan is concerned, his mother tongue was Persian, and he could have been acquainted with some chronicle (or history) of the Sasanian empire written by Barṣaumā-Rastohun. Did he read the ‘Chronicle’ of Ḥoṛohbūt as well? To this question we will return later. A final note about Movsēs: we do not know which library and in what language he (or whoever wrote the Patmutiun) used, so it is difficult to say whether he used a Syriac or a Greek text of Hoṛohbūt’s ‘Chronicle’, but the fact that Movsēs uses the original name means that a quite early form of the text was in his possession. 12 13

Ammianus Marcellinus. Res Gestæ. XXV, 10; Greatrex – Lieu (2002: 1–18). Thomson (1978: XIII).

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In her Russian translation of the ‘Kārnamag ī Ardašīr ī Pābagān’, O. Chunakova advocated the idea that Arm. Ḥoṛohbūt should be read as Hwarrah-boht (‘the glory of hwarra’).14 But we will see in the following that she has been misled by the seemingly simple second component of the name. JULIAN ROMANCE AND THE CHRONICLE OF ARIMIHR The case of Ḥoṛohbūt is a complicated one, provided that there is no other information about him. Perhaps we should point once more to the fact that there are not that many Syriac writers of Iranian origin from the 4th century at all. However, in the other enigmatic text written in the 6th century we propose to see a lost part of the story about the chamberlain of Shahpuhr II. This is the so-called Syriac ‘Julian Romance’.15 Theodore Nöldeke believed that ‘Romance’ was written in Syria in the early 6th century. His idea was also that the ‘Romance’ is a piece of literary fantasy. His views were criticized by Han J. Drijvers, who suggested that it belongs to anti-Jewish polemical literature. Finally, M. van Esbroeck described the character of the text as hagiography. G. Reinink called this text ‘eschatological’, and this is certainly true. Both van Esbroeck and Reinink had well delineated its nature: ‘Romance’ is an eschatological hagiographical cycle. It consists of three parts: the story of the apostasy of Julian and his first steps as emperor (his name sounds in Syriac as Lūlianōs) in Constantinople. The story of the brave bishop Eusebius of Rome forms the second part. The third part describes affairs in Edessa, and the campaign of Julian against Persia, including his death and the ascension of Jovian. The analysis of the text and its ideological background, as well as the manuscript history, made us tend towards another conclusion. The text in our view has been compiled originally in Northern Mesopotamia and then sent to Egypt by one of the fugitive Severan Syrians, supporters of the anti-chalcedonian cause. His goal was to show that a new Christian Emperor will arise, after the ‘accursed Justin’, and restore Severus in Syria and miaphysite orthodoxy in the whole kingdom. Most probably he originated from Edessa (pace H. Drijvers), as the description of the famous Syrian city betrays a close acquaintance with it. The text has been preserved in four manuscripts, two

14 15

Chunakova (1987: 12). Hoffmann (1880); Sokoloff (2016). See Nöldeke (1879); Drijvers (1994); van Esbroeck (1987); Muraviev (1999).

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from Dayr as-Suryān (now in the British Library), and the third one written on Mount Sinai that but later found its way to Paris.16 The Western-Syrian compiler created his eschatological narrative from different sources, the ‘Passion of Eusebius of Rome’ (fictitious text connected with the Invention of the Cross story), Church historians (Socrates Scholasticus and probably Philostorgius), and finally some Edessan source relating to bishop Vologeses, who plays a prominent role in the text. The last part is a description of the Persian campaign of 363 which ended in ruin, the Roman army was defeated, and the Emperor Julian killed by an arrow launched by an Arab (ṭayyāyā) archer from Banu Tanuḫ.17 An armistice (one of the many in the endless story of Persian-Roman wars) was signed between the two superpowers. However, the mechanisms of achieving a definitive agreement remain poorly known. Julian had been killed, the army was in quite a poor condition awaiting to retreat home, and all this made the election of a new basileus, Jovian, a hard task. Ammianus and other sources testify to some contacts between Romans (possibly Jovian) and Persians. Julian’s retreat from the Persian lands began on 16th June 363; ten days later, Julian was killed in Phrygia. According to Ammianus, there were no official talks, but the peace of Nisibin was negotiated between July 8th—11th, by some Bineses from the Persian side.18 Both Ammianus, and other Greek and Latin sources (Zosimus, John Lydus, Libanius etc), seemed to be very badly informed about the geography, ethnography and culture of Persia. Philostorgius, in the ‘Passio Artemii’, says that ‘he (i. e. Julian) met an aged Persian and was led astray by him (on the promise) that he would, without trouble, succeed to the kingdoms of the Persians and all their wealth; he drew him into the Carmanian desert, into trackless regions, ravines and waterless areas with all his army’.19 But Gregory of Nazianzus, the great Cappadocian, describes ‘a Persian of considerable standing (ἀνὴρ… τις τῶν οὐκ ἀδοκίμων ἐν Πέρσαις ), following the example of Zopyrus, employed by Cyrus, in the case of Babylon, who then pretended that he had had some quarrel, or rather a very great one, and for a very great cause, with the Persian king, and was, on that account, very hostile to that [i. e. Persian] cause, and well-disposed towards the local Roman politics (τοῖς Ῥωμαίων 16 17 18 19

These are: Add. 14.641, BL or. 7192, Mingana ar. Christ. 239, Paris. Syr. 378 (rescr). Dodgeon – Lieu (1991: 205, 220). Ammianus Marcellinus XXV,32: Seyfarth (1978: 56); den Boeft – Drijvers – den Hengst – Teitler (2005: XIX–XXI). His name should be Beneš (from Wı̄ drafš, see Justi (1895: 68)). Passio Artemii 69.1–70.5: Kotter (1988: 243–244),

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πράγμασι). He gained the emperor’s confidence (πιστεύεσθαι)... and ... gained credence to his story (for rashness (κουφότης) is credulous, especially when God guides it), and everything went wrong at once. The boats became prey to the fires. The soldiers were low on food. … and the whole venture resembled a suicide attempt. Hope vanished when the guide disappeared, along with his promises (ὀδηγὸς συναπέλθε ταῖς ὑποσχέσεσιν)’.20 It seems that Gregory knew some rumours about a ‘Persian traitor’, but quite vague ones. John Lydus tells of two (!) Persians, who cut off their own ears and noses and came and deceived Julian, complaining that they had suffered the indignities at the hands of the Persian king. Nevertheless, they were able, if Julian followed them, to bring him victory over Gorgo, herself, the queen of Persia. Julian forgot his pressing destiny and, at the same time, the story of Zopyrus in Herodotus and Sinon in Vergil; he fired his ships, by which he was carried along the Euphrates, for the purpose, supposedly, was not to give the Persians the ability to use them.21 Libanius corroborates the presence of a traitor but calls him a ‘Roman’ and a ‘Christian’. The ‘Syriac Romance’ draws a bit of a different picture: while Julian pretends to have full control over the army, his general, Jovian (lit. Jobinian, the name has been slightly changed to remind of Justinianus), betrays him and enters into a plot with the Persians. But there is a nuance. The whole story is narrated, in the ‘Romance’, from Christian viewpoint. Jobinian’s only goal is to save the Christians of Persia and Rome from the slaughter planned by Julian. To avoid this, he makes a plan to destroy the Roman army, kill Julian and to save the Christian cities, Nisibin and Edessa. The compiler, after his source (‘Chronicle’), introduced a new personage on f. 53v: ‫ܪ‬ ‫ܪ‬ ‫( ܪ ܬܗ ܪ‬he [i. e. Shahpuhr] sent Arimihr, the Great priest,22 to Julian). Arimihr (or Arya-mihr) is a normal Iranian name, a combination of Ar(ya)-, Iranian, and mihr (MP form of Mithra).23 One immediately gets an impression that this Arimihr is the alter ego of the chronicler. He is described as an exemplary Persian nobleman who serves his shah. With some hesitations, he brought a very harsh letter, from his master, to the Roman emperor. But Jobinian, to his surprise, accepts the letter graciously. Then, on 20 21 22

23

Greg. Naz. V, 8–13 : Bernardi (1983: 312–320). John Lydus, de mensibus IV, 118: Dodgeon – Lieu (1993: 220). It is questionable, whether those ‘two Persians’ were Ḥoṙohbūt and Bar Ṣaumā, but the parallel looks quite potent. We tend to translate mop̄ ṯā rabbā with ‘Great Priest’ which is a direct correspondence of the Persian wuzurg-mowbed (ntpnAM gRzn), where MP. wuzurg, ‘great’ could have been written ideographically as RBʔ (McKenzie (1971: 93). See Justi (1895: 25): der arische Mihr.

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ff. 54r–54v (p. 104 Hoffmann), the Great mobed, Arimihr, appears again as a personal guest of Jobinian: The mobed, Arimihr ( ‫ܪ‬ ‫)ܐܪ‬, came to Jovian’s camp and gave him Shahpuhr’s letters, he read them and saw that they were peaceful. He received him with great honour, gave him a rich tent for his lodging, a domestic one for his servicemen, and payment for the expenses of his own table and for those who were with him (f. 53v, Hoffmann, p. 104).

This passage betrays for me a personal reminiscence of the visit and first contact with the future emperor. Jobinian then ‘secretly sent (a message) to invite Arimihr to him and decided to receive him in a friendly manner’ (ibid. f. 54 r). The general ‘sowed words of peace and affection into mobed’s ears, saying: “I decided to reveal to you my great love and perfect consideration”’ ( ‫ܘܪ‬ ) (Ibidem). In the course of their talk, Arimihr understands Jobinian’s cunning and tries to persuade him not to react harshly to the letter of the shahanshah. To his surprise, Jovian tells the Mazdaean priest that his main concern is peace and the fate of Christians in the Persian territory. ‘Arimihr, the mobed, was surprised by Jobinian’s nice words, and he greatly marvelled at his patient wisdom: “How is it that he is not angry at the harsh words which I have made him hear?” He praised and glorified his understanding, saying: “The Roman Empire is, indeed, blessed! What a general it has! Much blessedness will be given to it on the day that it will be adorned with your name, and you will aggrandise it. I also will rejoice in you, at that hour, and say to you: Acquire your sovereign crown in victory”. Jobinian laughed, saying: “Oh, that I could produce an advantage to myself by this happening, and be capable, by my own means, of bringing about peace between these two strong empires. This would have sufficed me!” (f. 55r, Hoffmann, p. 105)’.

We see, from the passage, that a strong personal relationship between the two men is being established. The following phrase is even more eloquent: ‫ܪ ܘܪ‬ ‫̈ ܗܝ ܕܐܪ‬ ‫ܘ‬ . ‫ܗ‬ ‫ܣ‬ ‫ܼ ܕ‬ ‫ܪ‬ ‫ ܘܕ ܪ‬.‫ܬ ܕ ܣ‬ ‫ܪܙ ܕ‬ ‫ ܘܗ‬. ‫ܐ‬ ܼ ‫ܘ‬. ‫ܬ ܘܬ‬ ̈‫ܕܫ ܘ ܗ‬ ̈ Jobinian gained with these words favour and love in Arimihr’s eyes. He loved him as himself and confided in him and revealed to him all the secrets of the Persian Empire, [viz.] that Shahpuhr had sent gifts and presents to distant lands (f. 55v, Hoffmann, p. 106–107).

And later: ‫ܡ̈ܬ ܕ‬ ‫ܬ ܕܪ‬

‫ܕ‬

‫ܣ‬

‫ܬܪ̈ ܘܢ‬ ‫ ܘ‬.ܼ ̈ ܼ ‫ ܘ‬. ‫ܕܚܕܕ‬

‫ܕ‬ ‫ܢ ܨ‬

‫ܣ‬

ܼ ‫ܘ‬ ‫ܕ‬

The Persian mobed Converted to Christianity in the 4th century

‫ܪ‬

‫ ܘܬܘܒ‬.

‫ܚܕܕ ܘܐܬ‬ ̈

‫ܬܪܗ‬ ܼ

‫ܘܐ‬ ‫ܕ ܙܠ‬

‫ܘ‬.

‫ܕ‬ ‫ܐ̈ ܗܝ‬

113

‫ܪܘ‬

.ܼ

‫ܪ‬

Jobinian agreed with the mobed’s wish. The two men concluded an agreement (qyāmā) with the oaths, that they would carry out each other's wishes as much as they could. Jovian made a great banquet for Arimihr and those who were with him. They ate and drank together and rejoiced. Additionally, on the following day, when the mobed set out to return to his land, Jobinian gave him munificent presents and gifts. They embraced, kissed, and he sent him on his way in peace (f. 56r, Hoffmann, p. 107).

This passage describes more than friendship, rather it is a clandestine brotherhood of two high-ranked officials against their king-patrons. Gradually, Arimihr gets nearer to the Roman general, who secretly confesses his Christian faith. Then, after a while, Arimihr sees a vision that changes everything: Arimihr saw a marvelous vision (ḥezwā) in Jobinian’s tent. While they were discussing secret matters, he saw a right hand holding a crown above Jovian's head. He understood that the Roman empire and administration would be his. He did not reveal the vision to him, but he inquired of him with oaths: “What God do you worship?” When he learned that he was a Christian, the idolatrous covering was removed from Arimihr’s heart, and true penitence began to be manifest in him. When he returned to his country, he was taught the way of the Lord completely by Jacob, the priest, and the head of the monastery, who lived in the city of Beṯ-Lapaṭ. He secretly received the sign of baptism from him, and he made him a participant in the divine sacraments of Christ (f. 82r, Hoffmann, p. 154–155).

After the conversion, Arimihr orchestrates the trapping of the tyrant Julian.24 The heavenly messenger Mār Qūrius performs the sentence over Julian, shooting him dead with an arrow. After consulting with the magi, Shahpuhr opts for agreement, the two kingdoms conclude peace, and all persecutions of the Christians in Persia cease. Jobinian is crowned by Shahpuhr on the battlefield. The rest of the text does not concern Arimihr. The cited fragments agree strikingly with the information provided by Movsēs: the confidant of the Persian king (mhaymānā) and a great Mazdean priest (wuzurg-mobed, ‫ܪ‬ ) converts to Christianity during Julian’s campaign against Persia. Ties of friendship connect him to Jovian. He has an eschatological vision about the fate of the two Empires and God's plan for Christianity. His story is literally repeating the story of Hoṛohbūt. The only problem is the name Arimihr in the ‘Romance’, which doesn’t match either Armenian Ḥoṛohbūt, or O. Chunakova’s hypothetical Hwarrah24

The scene of Julian’s slaying in the ‘Romance’ is quite picturesque: the heavenly warrior m̄ ar Qūriōs descends frpm heaven to aim an arrow at the apostate. In the later tradition he became St. Mercurius. See: Nostitz-Rieneck (1907).

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boht in Movsēs’ ‘History’. The explanation could be this simple: Movsēs took his information from the text where the name of Arimihr has been already distorted. The Syriac Severan compiler, writing in Egypt in the 6th century (probably the very ms. Add 14464), combined the ‘Chronicle’ story with other hagiographical material to get a continuous narrative. This can be clearly seen from the remains of the initial colophon, which shows the story of sending the text from Mesopotamia to Alexandria in Egypt (‫ܘܢ‬ in the text).25 After Severus flight from Antioch, Egypt has become a primary ecclesiastical centre for Western Syrians. ‘CHRONICLE’ OF ARIMIHR IN ARABIC What happened to the ‘Chronicle’ of the Persian mobed after Jovian’s death? It seems that the only trace of it in Syriac tradition of the later times could be found in the text of the ‘Chronicle of Siirt’.26 Its author (whether it was Ishodnah of Basra, as M. Fiey thought, or not) uses a source that he calls ‘another version of the story of Lulyanos the accursed’ ( ‫ﻧﺴﺨﺔ ﺍﺧﺮﻯ ﻟﻘﺼﺔ ﻟﻠﻴﺎﻧﻮﺱ‬ ‫)ﺍﻟﻠﻌﻴﻦ‬.27 Then, the good part of the ‘Julian Romance’ is being retold. It seems that the original compilation from the ‘Chronicle of Hoṛohbūt’ was kept somewhere in Edessa or in one of the monasteries of the Northern Mesopotamia before it was sent to Egypt. The interesting thing about it is that the name of Arimihr is spelled differently: Awrfahārmobāṭā (‫ )ﺍﻭﺭﻓﻬﺎﺭﻣﻮﺑﺎﻁﺎ‬or even Awrfhā-mobāṭā.28 It is difficult not to see here an intermediary state of the re-working of the ‘Chronicle’ of the mysterious Hoṛohbūt. Now in light of the ‘Chronicle of Siirt’ we can reconstruct the Persian name of Eleazar, the author of the lost ‘Chronicle of Julian’s Persian war’. His original name was Arimihr wuzurg mobed ( ‫ܪ‬ ‫ܪ‬ ‫)ܐܪ‬, which in a somewhat awkward later Syriac copy became ‫ܪ‬ ‫ ܐܪ ܪ‬, and after rather bad treatment by the Arabic translator in the scriptio continua ‫ﺍﻭﺭﻓﻬﺎﺭﻣﻮﺑﻄﺎ‬, or [ ]‫ܐܘܪܗ‬ in Garshuni. That shows a further way of transformation to the Armenian Hoṛohbūt, where the final ‘būt’ is none other, than a final syllable of the Persian ‘mobed’ in Arabic or Garshuni orthography! That means besides all, 25 26 27 28

See Muraviev (2015: 399–407). Scher (1911). See also Wood (2013). Scher (1911: 234). In the Arabic Sinai 516 manuscript, containing Arabic version of the ‘Julian Romance’ the name of the mobed is further deformated into Armahān (‫)ﺃﺭﻣﻬﺎﻥ‬. See: Ben (1961: 1–10).

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that Movsēs was likely to use a bad Syriac copy from Edessa or Nisibin (Arm. Mcbin), which seems to disappear afterwards, at least from Syriac literary tradition. We will see further that there exist other echoes of this text in the Caucasus. The next interesting parallel is the ‘Tārı̄ h’ of al-Ṭabarı̄ .29 In his famous history of Persian and Roman rulers, Abu Ǧa‘far mentions Shahpuhr and Julian, telling the readers that he takes the information from Hišām al-Kalbı̄ who, in turn, most probably quoted his father Muhammad as-Sa‘ib al-Kalbı̄ .30 The fragment (p. 840–845) begins with the election of Julian, whom Tabari names, as in the ‘Syriac Romance’, Lulyānos (‫)ﻟُﻠﻴﺎﻧﻮﺱ‬. The tyrant assembled big crowds to fight against Shahpuhr. But there was a brave man in Julian’s army called Yūbinyānos (‫)ﻳﻮﺑﻨﻴﺎﻧﻮﺱ‬. ‘When Shahpuhr realized how many Roman, Arab, and Khazar troops [Julian] had summoned, he got scared and sent out scouts to tell him how many enemies came, how brave they were, and how much damage they had already done. And since the scouts' information about Julian and his army differed from each other, Shahpuhr changed his clothes and went, accompanied by a trusted person, to count the army. When he approached the regiment (‫ )ﻋﺴﻜﺮ‬of Jovian, the head of the vanguard (‫)ﻣﻘﺪﻣﺔ‬, Shah sent one of his companions to obtain reliable information. However, the Romans spotted them, captured and brought them to Jovian. None of them revealed the order with which they were sent, with the exception of one of them, who told them everything. He revealed the very place where Shahpuhr was hiding and asked for soldiers to go and seize Shahpuhr. But as soon as Jovian heard this speech, he sent one of his most trusted men to Shahpuhr to inform and warn him. Shahpuhr immediately rode from there to his army’.31 There is no doubt that Ṭabarı̄ is citing the ‘Chronicle’, while censuring it in order to exclude the unwelcomed convert to Christian faith. This could mean that Ibn Kalbı̄ -father could have had access to the Syriac (?) text of the Chronicle of Arimihr-Eleazar, whom he calls ‘trusted person’, which betrays the Syriac original word mhaymānā, used for Arimihr in the ‘Romance’. There is one more text we should mention in connection with the vanishing ‘Chronicle of Arimihr’. The famous catalogue of Arabic books on different 29

30 31

Annales at-Tabari, vol. 2: Goeje – Barth – Nöldeke (eds.) (1881–1882). Another edition of the work was published in Cairo by M. Abu-l-Faḍl Ibrāhı̄ m in 1960–62. Still very useful is Nöldeke (1879); see also English version: Bosworth (1999). See: Atallah (1986). Annales Tabari, see Goeje – Barth – Nöldeke (eds.) (1881–1882: 840–845).

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topics (‫ )ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻔﻬﺮﺳﺖ‬compiled by Abū-l-Faraǧ Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Nadı̄ m in 987 A.D.,32 contains a lot of unsorted material which was from time to time used for different purposes in the medieval Arabic literature, especially by Arabic historians. Some of these stories became so entangled that it is very difficult to trace their origin. There is, in this collection, a story where alNadīm relates the situation of the scholarship in the Jāhiliyya times, especially the Roman empire. On this occasion he tells a story of Julian the Apostate and the Persian shah Shahpūhr: Shahpuhr had been imprisoned in the Byzantine country, in the palace of Julian, whose girl (daughter) fell in love with him and released him. He secretly crossed the land until, reaching Gundī-Shāpūr, he entered it. Then the spirits of his companions who were there were so revived that they immediately set forth to attack the Byzantines, regarding the rescue of Shahpuhr as a good omen. They took Julian a prisoner and killed him, so that the Byzantines were disrupted... Constantine the Great (sic!) was a commander of the army, but the Byzantines differed as to whom they should make their ruler, being weak from their lack of support for him. As Shahpuhr was solicitous for Constantine [Jovian] and his succession [to rule] over the Byzantines, for his sake he was kind to them, arranging for them a means of withdrawing from his [Shāhpūhr’s] country. This, however, was on the condition that Constantine [Jovian] would make an olive tree grow in the place of each palm tree cut down in al-Sawād and in his domains and, also, that he would send him Byzantines to build up what Julian had destroyed when he moved the war equipment from the Byzantine country. He kept his pledge with him. Christianity, moreover, returned to its [former] status, the prohibition of philosophical books and the treasuring of them being renewed in the form that it is at the present time.33

The passage of an-Nadim also deals with Jovian and Shahpuhr in the same manner as aṭ-Ṭabarı̄ , although in a very mutilated form. We see the gradual deterioration of the information from Arimihr’s ‘Chronicle’, which at some early point was accessible to Persian and Syro-Arabic writers. LAST ECHO OF THE ‘CHRONICLE’ Ancient Georgian tradition also knows the story of Jovian (in the form of Jobinian) and Shahpuhr. The ‘Life of Vakhtang Gorgasal’ included in Kar’tlis Tskhovreba, Georgian national chronicle,34 is an interesting text, where one could look for Syro-Iranian influences. The ‘Life’ is ascribed to J̌ uanšer, a 32 33 34

Kitāb al-Fihrist: Flügel (1871). See translation with commentary: Dodge (1970). Kitāb al-Fihrist, 241–242; Dodge (1970: 579). Kart. Cxovr.: K’auxčišvili (1955); see: Kekelidze (1959: 70–80).

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companion of Vakhtang. Its protagonist and hero, the great Georgian king of the 5th century, is said to be of partial Rhomæan descent. His grandfather Arc̆ il belonged to the dynasty of Mihranids, of Iranian origin. He married a lady called Mary who was a hromi (Byzantine) from the family of Jovian (natesavi ivbimianos mepisa).35 When the Persians reproach Vakhtang for betraying them, they say that ‘the nature of his paternal grandmother prevailed’. This note on Vakhtang’s family (whose ‘Life’ contains a lot of Persian borrowings, but also a deep authentic layer)36 and its connection to Jovian is not accidental. Vakhtang started the war against the Persians for the sake of Christianity. After mentioning the ‘battle (cʿqoba) at Andziandzor’ (Nazianzus),37 Vakhtang, addressing its citizens, ‘disciples’ of Gregory of Nazianzus, makes a fiery speech: ... have you not heard of the miracles (sasc ̣ʿaulni) performed by King Constantine, guided by the Cross, or of the miracles that took place in the country of the Greeks (berʣent‘a) with the heathen-king Julian (ivlianes-ze meḳerpʿisa mepʿisa)?! He was struck by a heavenly spear;38 he gathered the Greek warriors and made Iovian (ivbimianos) king, but he did not accept it (i. e. the kingdom) until the idols were destroyed and crosses were erected. And only after that was the crown placed on his royal head. It was a heavenly angel who raised the crown and placed it on the head of the true monarch, Jovian (ivbimianossa čʿešmariṭsa mepʿessa). A voice was heard from heaven, which declared to the Persian King, Khosrau-Tang (Xuasroṭanga): “Stop fighting with Jovian, for he is invincible from the power of the Cross”.39 And the King and Khosrau became friends to the end of their days.40

It is clear that J̌ uanšer, the heir to both Persian and Roman traditions, quotes the ‘Chronicle’ of Arimihr. The ‘disciples of Gregory Nazianzen’ (microasiatic Greeks and Armenians), discussing with the Georgian king the Romano-Persian chronicle which got lost and has been preserved in an abridged form in a West-Syrian eschatological text: that was the irony of the situation in the Christian East in the 5th century, when the basis of the ‘Life of Vakhtang’ was created. The author mentioned Khosrau instead of Shahpuhr –

35 36 37 38 39 40

Kart. Cxovr., 140: ამან არჩილ მოიყვანა ცოლი საბერძნეთით, ნათესავი ივბიმიანოს მეფისა. The question of Persian influences in Georgian is treated in: Andronikašvili (1966). Also: Rapp (2014: 10–22). Kart. Cxovr., 160, 14: წყობა პირველთა მეფეთა იყო ანძიანძორს, სადა უკუე. A clear address to the Mār Qūrīos story in the ‘Romance’. Ibidem: ძალითა ჯუარისათა უძლეველ არს. Transl. (with minor changes): Kartlis tskhovreba (2014: 80) = p. 160, 18–161, 5 ed. K’auxčišvili.

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the situation was no longer familiar to the Georgian writer of the only available late version of the ‘Life’. Apparently, having no text (Syriac or Greek) at hand, he put the name of shahanshah from memory. He modernized the chronology (Khosrau Anuširvan ruled from 531 to 579), thus resulting in anachrony. In the person of Jobinian, the ‘true king’, none other than Justinian is reflected. The foul and impious ‘pagan Julian’ is, of course, Justin, the persecutor of the anti-Chalcedonians. Vakhtang advocated the ‘Henoticon’ policy of Zeno, but this was complete Chinese to the compiler of the 9th century. The hopes of the anti-Chalcedonian diakrinomenoi to introduce a new Henoticon lasted from 527 to 548 A.D. (death of Theodora). To sum up, we see in the story of Vakhtang a possible clue to the disappearance of the’ Chronicle’ of Arimihr in the Christian East. Before the hopes of Western Syrian miaphysites failed, the text was copied and sent to Egypt. If Vakhtang was a nephew of Jovian, Arimihr’s chronicle could have been brought to Caucasus by Maria. By that way Movsēs could have seen it in Georgia or Armenia. Both countries were still in a good relationship and united by faith until the 7th century. To draw a conclusion, one can say with certainty that at some point Arimihr, the Great mobed, existed and converted to Christianity, persuaded by Jovian. He had written a “Chronicle’ book, where he described the war and its end from his viewpoint. The ‘Chronicle’ was kept in Northern Mesopotamia, where it was included in the miaphysite eschatological compilation, called ‘Jobinianos’ (as we see in the manuscript),41 but labelled later by Nöldeke, ‘Julian Romance’. After the definite turn of imperial policy to strict Chalcedonianism, the copy of the ‘Romance’ was still available to the Arabic historians, but soon the original sent to Egypt became the only remaining copy. Most probably the original of the ‘Chronicle’ moved to Caucasus. The most common argument against this is that of the proof base still being weak and we see no traces of the ‘Chronicle’ among Georgian manuscripts copiously described by. E. Metreveli and her colleagues. But we should not forget that about 60% of the earliest Georgian manuscript patrimony has been irrevocably lost in the wars and conquests Georgia suffered throughout its history, and there are still manuscript witnesses to be found somewhere in Sinai or Jerusalem.

41

Add. 14.641, f. 1r (see Figure 1).

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Fig. 1: Manuscript Add. 14 641, fol. 1r with the name of Jovinian. © British Museum.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Abelean, Manuk – Harutiunian, Samvel (1991) Movsēs Ḥorenaci. Պատմութիւն Հայոց. Erevan, 1991. Andronikašvili, Mzia (1966) ნარკვევები ირანულ-ქართული ენობრიბი ერთიერთობიდან, T. 1, Tbisili, Atallah, Wahib (1984) “Ibn al-Kalbi”, in Encyclopædia of Islam, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Leiden, pp. 495–496. Ben Horin, Uriel (1961) “An Unknown Old Arabic Translation of the Syriac Romance of Julian the Apostate”, in Uriel Heyd (ed.) Scripta Hierosolymitana IX. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization. Jerusalem, pp. 1–10. Bernardi, Jean (1983) Gregoire de Nazianze, Discours 4–5 Contre Julien; introduction, texte critique, Sources chrétiennes, 309, Paris. Boeft, Jan den – Drijvers, Jan W. – den Hengst, Daniel – Teitler, Hans (ed.) (2005) Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXV, Leiden. Bosworth, Clifford E. (1999) Tarikh al-rusul wa-al-muluk. The Sasanids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen, Albany. Brock, Sebastian (2011) “Aphrahat”, in Sebastian P. Brock – Aaron M. Butts – Georg A. Kiraz – Lucas van Rompay (eds.) The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 24–25. Dodge, Bayard (1970) The Fihrist of al-Nadim: A tenth-century survey of Muslim culture, New York. Dodgeon, Michael – Lieu, Samuel N. C. (1991) The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars A.D. 226–363. A documentary History. London–New York. Drijvers. Han J.W. (1994) “The Syriac romance of Julian. Its function, place of origin and original language”, in Symposium Syriacum VII, Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 247, Roma, pp. 201–214. Esbroeck van Мichel (1987) “Le soi-disant Roman de Julien Apostat”, in Symposium Syriacum V, Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 229, Roma, pp. 191–202. Flügel, Georg (1871) Kitāb al-Fihrist mit Anmerkungen herausgegeben, Leipzig. Garsoian, Nina G. (1998) “La Perse: Eglise d’ Orient”, in Histoire du Christianisme. T. 3. Les Églises d’Orient et d’Occident, Paris. pp. 1100–1124. Garsoian, Nina G. (1998a) “L’Arménie”, in Histoire du Christianisme. T. 3. Les Églises d’Orient et d’Occident, Paris, pp. 1231–1241. Goeje, Michael Jan de – Barth, Johan – Nöldeke, Theodore (eds.) (1881–1882) Annales quos scripserit abu Djafar Mohammed ibn Djarir at-Tabari, vol. 2, (reedited in 2005–2010), Leyden. Greatrex, Geoffrey – Lieu, Samuel N. C. (2002) The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars A.D. 363–630. A narrative sourcebook. London–New York. Hämeen-Anttila, Jukko (2018) Khwadāynāmag. The Middle Persian book of Kings. Leiden – Boston. Herman, Geoffrey (2016) Persian Martyr Acts under King Yazdgird I, Piscataway, New Jersey. Hoffmann, Georg. J. E. (1880) Julianos der Abtrünnige. Syrische Erzählungen, Leiden. Horn, Paul (1901) Die altpersischen Keilinschriften und die Pehlewi-Litteratur, in Geschichte der Persischen Litteratur, Leipzig, pp. 34–44. Justi, Ferdinand (1095) Iranisches Namenbuch, Marburg.

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K’auxčišvili, Simon (ed.) (1955) ქართლის ცხოვრება (The Life of Kartli), Т. 1, Tbilisi. Meṭreveli, Roin – Jones, Stephen (2014) Kartlis tskhovreba. A History of Georgia, Tbilisi. Kekelidze, Кorneli (1959) ”ივლიანეს რომანი კვალი ადრინდელ ქართულ მწერლობაში”, in ეტიუდები ძველი ქართული ლიტერატურის ისტორიიდან, Т. 2, Tbilisi, pp. 70–80. Khalidi, Tarif (1994) Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, Cambridge. Kotter, Bonifatius (ed.) (1988) Johannes von Damaskos: Die Schriften. Band 5: Opera homiletica et hagiographica, Patristische Texte und Studien, 29, Berlin. MacKenzie, David N. (1971) A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary, London – New York. Muraviev, Alexey (1999) “The Syriac Julian Romance and its place in literary history”, in Khristianskiy Vostok, 1/7, pp. 194–207. Muraviev, Alexey (2015) “Reconstructed colophon in the text of the Syriac Julian romance as a clue to the mystery of its author”, in Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, 5, pp. 399–407. Nöldeke, Theodore (1879) “Über den syrischen Roman von Kaiser Julian”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 28, S. 263–292. Nöldeke, Theodore (1879) Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari, Leyden. Nöldeke, Theodore (1920) Das iranische Nationalepos, Berlin–Leipzig. Nostitz-Rieneck, Robert G. von (1907) “Vom Tode des Kaisers Julian. Berichte und Erzählungen”, in XVI Jahresbericht des off. Privatgymnasiums an der Stella Matutina, Feldkirch, pp. 1–35. Pourshariati, Pourvaneh (2008) Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire. London. Rapp Jr, Stephen (2014) The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature. London – New York. Scher, Addai (ed.) (1911) Histoire nestorienne (Chronique de Seert), Patrologia Orientalis 7/95, Paris. Seyfarth, Wolfgang (ed.) (1978) Ammiani Marcellini Rerum Gestarum libri qui supersunt, Leipzig. Sokoloff, Michael (2016) The Julian Romance. Piscataway, New Jersey. Thomson, Robert (1978) Movsēs Khorenats’i. History of the Armenians, Cambridge. West, Ernst W. (1904) Pahlavi Literatur, in Wilh. Geiger–Erns Kuhn (hrsg.) Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Bd. 2. Strassburg, pp. 75–129. Wood, Philip (2013) The Chronicle of Seert. Christian historical imagination in Late Antique Iraq, Oxford Early Christian Studies, Oxford.

The Arrival of Iranian Christianity in the Indian Ocean NATHANAEL ANDRADE Summary – In my prior scholarship, I examined the social pathways and connected bodies that brought Christianity from the Roman Mediterranean to India. In this article, I focus in particular on Iranian Christianity’s movement from Sasanian Persian territory to south India and its establishment in the Kerala coast in the period preceding the 7th century. In the general absence of explicit, reliable evidence for this phenomenon, the article formulates how the standard dispositions of commercial networks in antiquity enabled Christianity to travel from the world of Iran and into the Indian Ocean. It also attributes the origins of Christianity in south India to the accelerated movement, and settlement in overseas locations, of Persian commercial players active in the Indian Ocean during the 5th and 6th centuries. INTRODUCTION It is well established that Iranian Christianity had become firmly rooted in parts of India and Sri Lanka by the 6th century through the activity of Persian settlers.1 Along with the Syriac source material (discussed in the next section), the figure known as Cosmas Indicopleustes places Persian Christians on Sri Lanka (“Taprobane”), the Kerala coast (“Male”), the vicinity of Mumbai (“Kalliena”), and the island of Socotra (“Dioskourides”).2 Other contemporary sources from the Mediterranean point to the presence of Persians in coastal India,3 or to a tomb for the apostle Thomas maintained by Christians in the

1

2 3

In this article, I describe Christians from the Sasanian Persian empire as Persians or Persian Christians, but I refer to their cultural background and their Christianity as Iranian. I thank the volume’s editors for their invitation and advice on the article. Cosmas Indicopleustes, 3.65. Banaji (2015) treats Cosmas’ toponyms; also Walker (2012: 1020). Procopius, Bell. 1.20.

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area.4 Subsequent documents and the historical significance of the Syriac language for Thomas Christians of the Kerala coast support the premise that there was a close relationship between Persian movement and the circulation of Iranian Christianity in the Indian Ocean.5 Such documents include the 9thcentury Kollam copper plates,6 the Persian crosses from roughly the 6th–9th centuries,7 and the textual evidence for Rev-Ardashir as the metropolitan see for late antique Christians in India and southeast Asia.8 A fundamental problem, however, is that what has been interpreted as evidence by both scholars and Thomas Christians for the prior arrival of Christianity in India is much more tenuous. In this chapter, I will survey what has traditionally been treated as evidence for Christianity’s early arrival in the subcontinent in an effort to distinguish between the reliable and the problematic. From there, I will analyze the key commercial linkages that connected Iraq to coastal India in antiquity and explore the evidence for the accelerated presence of Persians, and Persian Christians, in south India during the 5th and 6th centuries. Such evidence is of particular importance because it provides valuable support for the various textual testimonies that place Christians in India at this time. If Persians were anchoring residential communities in south India at an unprecedented scale during the 5th and 6th centuries, it then makes sense to conceive of these as the earliest reliably attested period for Christianity’s arrival and sustained presence there. THE EVIDENCE Aside from Cosmas Indicopleustes, perhaps the most potent evidence for Persian missionary activity in some part of India during late antiquity comes from various Syriac Persian witnesses, Greek and Latin texts from the Mediterranean, and the medieval Arabic Chronicle of Seert. If we assume reliability, these in tandem, if anything, corroborate the inference of Cosmas that Persian Christian settlers had arrived in various parts of India and Sri Lanka 4

5 6 7 8

See Dolbeau (2012); Guignard (2015) and (2016); Andrade (2018: 222–225) on the apostolic itineraries that report a tomb at “Kalamene”. For the testimony of Gregory of Tours, see Gloria Martyrum 31–32. Perczel (2019) in general. Lambourn – Veluhat – Tomber (forthcoming); Cereti (2009); Perczel (2019: 665–71). Cereti – Olivieri – Vazhuthanapally (2002); Perczel (2019: 671–78). Chronicle of Seert in Scher (1908–1919: 7, pp. 116–117); Isho‘yahb III, Liber Epistularum in Duval (1962: 247–260).

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during the 5th century. According to the late testimony of the Chronicle of Seert, a bishop of Rev-Ardashir, at coastal Fars, dispatched materials for use among Christians in India c. 470.9 These included Syriac translations of Greek works and original works in Persian. A 9th-century Syriac source similarly reports that a figure identified as an Indian (hendwaya) named Daniel contributed to a translation of a work of Theodore of Mopsuestia during the 5th century.10 Starting around 500 CE, apostolic itineraries circulating in the Mediterranean begin to record a tomb for the apostle Thomas in India where he had initially been buried. Their reports described the site as Kalamene and many variations on that name, and they are in principle consistent with the claim of Gregory of Tours that a personal acquaintance had visited Thomas’ tomb in India.11 By c. 650, Persian Christians answering to the bishop of RevArdashir were located at “Qalah”, which apparently refers to what is now Qalang on the Malay peninsula.12 Significantly, the earliest Persian Christian church councils on record, dating to 410, 420, and 424, refer to Christian communities in the Persian Gulf but mention none in India.13 Altogether, such evidence provides support to the vital testimony of Cosmas Indicopleustes that Iranian Christianity arrived and became firmly rooted in south India during the 5th century. Even so, it is widely theorized that Christianity arrived significantly earlier. In past scholarship, the Acts of the Apostle Thomas,14 which circulated in Syriac and Greek by the end of the 3rd century,15 has been treated as evidence for the arrival of Christianity in India during the 1st–3rd centuries, and perhaps as early as the apostolic era.16 The text celebrates how the resurrected Jesus sold the apostle Judas Thomas into slavery so that he could be trafficked to 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16

Chronicle of Seert in Scher (1908–1919: 7, pp. 116–117); Baum – Winkler (2003: 53). Isho‘dad, Commentaries, vol. 5, p. ld, with xiii–xiv, in Gibson (1911–1919); Baum – Winkler (2003: 53). Andrade (2018: 221–225 with references and dates); Nedungatt (2010), which misdates some of the materials. For work on the lists, Dolbeau (2012), Guignard (2015) and (2016). Gregory of Tours, Gloria Martyrum 31–32. Isho‘yahb III, Liber epistularum, in Duval (1962: 247–255; 255–260). Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 45–49) and Colless (1969: 20–21). Chabot (1902: 33–46). See Brock (1999–2000). Wright (1871); Bonnet (1904). For English, Klijn (2003) and Attridge (2010). Myers (2010: 29–55); Andrade (2018: 27–65). Tubach (2002); McGrath (2008); Frykenberg (2008); Nedungatt (2008); Ramelli (2001c); and Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002), while to different degrees acknowledging the invented aspects of the narrative, in various ways also see some valid historical basis in the text.

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India. It even features Thomas’ interactions with a king named Gudnaphar (Syriac) or Goundaphores (Greek), which is consistent with attestations on coins for Indo-Parthian kings named Gondophares reigning in north India during the 1st century CE (and perhaps prior). Yet, the text otherwise does not refer to India or its peoples with any regional, topographical, or cultural specificity.17 The name Gondophares was probably brought to Roman Syria by the Palmyrenes in the late 1st century CE or so, where it was later used in stories about the apostle Thomas for a largely invented, generically “Indian” king.18 Moreover, the earliest traditions on Thomas describe him as not being a martyr, and they link his apostolic itinerary to Parthia (apparently meaning the entire Parthian empire, not the region of north Iran). In the mid-to-late 3rd century, an Edessene author apparently shifted Thomas from Parthia to India to enable Parthia to be the missionary sphere of the apostle Addai and his disciples in alignment with a local Edessene tradition. The Acts of Thomas thus has no bearing on Christianity’s historical arrival in India.19 Various oral traditions of the Kerala coast’s Thomas Christians celebrate the apostle Thomas and his deeds.20 These take the form of hymns whose written components were transcribed in the 17th century. Remarkably, these situate some of Thomas’ exploits, as narrated in the Acts of Thomas, in the Kerala and Coromandel coasts specifically, thus suggesting that the Acts of Thomas and the oral hymns corroborate one another in some way. For example, the Acts of Thomas celebrates how Thomas promised to build a palace for King Gudnaphar but then proceeded to build him one in heaven, not earth. King Gudnaphar only verifies the existence of his palace when his brother dies, sees it, and is revived.21 The tale appears in the oral hymns for Thomas, but the episode occurs at the court of a king in the Coromandel coast located over 1000 miles from where any kings named Gondophares had ever ruled.22 Likewise, Thomas’ martyrdom by a seemingly invented or at least

17

18 19 20 21 22

Important considerations are provided by Van den Bosch (2001). For these episodes, see Acts 1–2 of the Acts of Thomas. For texts, see Bonnet (1904) and Wright (1871), and for English translations, Klijn (2003) and Attridge (2010). Andrade (2019). Andrade (2018: 50–60). Menachery (1998: 520–525); Joseph (1928–1929); Perczel (2006: 389–393) and (2019: 655–660). Act 2 of the Acts of Thomas. For texts, see Bonnet (1904) and Wright (1871). Menachery (1998: 520–525). I thank Jeremy Simmons for reflections on the distance.

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uncorroborated king named Mazdai,23 as described by the Acts of Thomas, is situated by the hymns at the Coromandel coast, where Brahmins kill him. Despite the similarities, the oral hymns should not be deemed to support the historicity of the Acts of Thomas. There is very reason to suspect that these aspects of the hymns were derived from the narrative of the Acts of Thomas itself. Once Christianity, and the Acts of Thomas, had reached south India, the Christian communities that took shape there embedded variations on its narrative in their sacred topographies and its specific material or cultural features.24 The Acts of Thomas ostensibly receives corroboration from later Roman church histories recording missionary activity to “India” and the impressive movement between Roman Egypt and India linked to Indo-Mediterranean trade. The problem is that all the church histories, insofar as their narratives are historical, are most probably referring to east Africa or Arabia as “India”.25 Likewise, although Romans certainly were traveling to India during the 1st– 3rd centuries, no evidence indicates any of the commercial networks linking Roman Egypt to India were populated by Christians at this time. If no Christians were traveling to India, and if Indians were not encountering Christians in Red Sea Egypt or intermediary locations before the 4th century, then Christianity’s arrival in India at this time becomes much less plausible.26 The oral traditions for a figure known as Thomas Kinayi also pose complications. According to some of these, he arrived in 345 CE from lower Mesopotamia (other traditions place him in the 9th century).27 A copper plate grant translated by the Portuguese in India in the early 17th century, but for which the plates are now lost, mentions the figure and appears to corroborate the oral traditions.28 A transcript of the Kollam copper plates made in the 16th

23

24 25 26 27 28

The figure of Mazdai seems to be based on a Roman Mesopotamian perspective of Persian elites and their vaunting of Zoroastrianism in the context of the Persian occupations of Nisibis during the mid-3rd century CE. See Myers (2010: 41–42, 51–52); Andrade (2018: 33–34) and (2020a). Andrade (2018: 207–213, 221–232). Jullien, Ch. — Jullien, F. (2002: 97–104) give insight. Andrade (2018: 69–93). See also Schneider (2004). For theories based on these sources, see, for example, Ramelli (2001a), (2001b), and (2011). Andrade (2018: 94–136). Joseph (1927–1928); Kollaparambil (1986: v–xiii); Kollaparambil (1992); Perczel (2019: 663–665). Kollaparambil (1986: 13–20). On this, see Perczel (2019: 664).

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century mention him too.29 As a result, at least one monograph has treated the oral traditions as representing an actual 4th-century event in a valid way.30 The problem is that the oral traditions are clearly fraught with anachronisms. Likewise, the lost copper plates are consistent with the 9th-century Kollam copper plates and are probably contemporary; in fact, one scholar has even recently theorized that they were originally produced to be part of the Kollam copper plates but had been separated from them.31 It is possible that Thomas Kinayi and his fathers were historical figures who had relocated from south Mesopotamia to south India in the 9th century. His activity however should not be deemed to represent a phenomenon dated to the 4th century.32 The ethnographic interests of Bardaisan and his literary circle in Indians raise the possibility for contact with India among Upper Mesopotamian Christians.33 But it now seems that most knowledge of India exhibited by Bardaisan’s surviving fragments and the Syriac Book of the Laws of the Countries reflects material that had previously circulated in Greek texts.34 Likewise, the Nisibene poet Ephrem celebrates how a merchant brought the relics of Thomas to Edessa from India, and the Edessenes certainly claimed that they had possession of such remains throughout late antiquity.35 Even so, Ephrem’s perspective seems not to be independent of the influential claim of the Acts of Thomas that the apostle’s relics had ended up in India.36 The assertions of the 4th-century Doctrina apostolorum that Thomas had sent letters to Edessa from India pose similar problems.37 These simply appear to be invented traditions shaped by how the Acts of Thomas had situated the apostle’s Thomas preaching and death in India.38 In scholarship past and recent, the problematic traditions described in this section have been treated as evidence for Christianity’s arrival in India before 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Kollaparambil (1986: xiv–xxvi). On this, see Perczel (2019: 667–671). Kollaparambil (1992). Perczel (2019: 670). Also see Tubach (2006) for suggestions of a 7th–8th century date and origins from south Arabia. Perczel (2019: 664–665, 670–671). Ramelli (2001c: 65); Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002: 129); Reed (2009: 66–70). Biffi (2011); Andrade (2020). Ephrem, Carmina Nisibena 42.1–3 in Beck (1961). For Edessa as burial place, Andrade (2018: 225-26). Andrade (2018: 142–143). Doctrina Apostolorum, in Cureton (1864), pp. lb–lh and Vööbus (1975–1976: 1.209– 1.210). For date, Witakowski (1987). Andrade (2018: 56).

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the 5th century. Despite their weaknesses, they have often been treated as valid due to their cumulative weight and apparent corroboration of one another. In truth, however, all these phenomena, in isolation or in total, do not constitute valid evidence for Christianity’s arrival in India. We should instead give Persian settlers of the 5th century the credit for being the first to bring Christianity to India, particularly south India and Sri Lanka, and to enable it to take root there. COMMERCIAL NETWORKS AND THE MOVEMENT OF CHRISTIANITY If Christianity only arrived in India and Sri Lanka during the 5th century, then how can we reconstruct the physical and social pathway that Christianity took there? As mentioned earlier, Cosmas Indicopleustes places Persian Christians along the coast of central and south India, along with Sri Lanka, during the early 6th century.39 Not only does his testimony constitute the earliest stable evidence for Christianity in the region, but it also specifies the location of Persian Christian communities at port centers. As we will see, it additionally shows that these communities are contemporaneous to an accelerated settlement of Persian merchants in south India and their intensifying contact with southeast Asia, as attested in textual and material sources from various locales. These phenomena are not merely coincidental, and they suggest that the socially connected bodies of Persian seafarers and merchants did the work of carrying Iranian Christianity to south India or at least generated the social pathways that determined the movements of opportunistic preachers. Discerning how Christianity arrived and became anchored in south India would then involve contemplating the dispositions of commercial networks that connected the peoples of late ancient Afro-Eurasia and enabled Christianity to travel and change hands. On such issues, recent social network inquiries into the 1st-century Mediterranean Christ cult and comparative approaches to premodern trading linkages are particularly revealing. SOCIAL NETWORK THEORIES AND PREMODERN COMMERCIAL NETWORKS The social mechanisms that enabled the 1st-century Jewish Christ cult to travel to various Mediterranean locales offers a useful point of comparison for how 39

Cosmas Indicopleustes, 3.65.

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Iranian Christianity traveled to certain parts of coastal India in late antiquity. Even if we cannot reliably determine why people adopted Christianity, we can identify the social conditions in which they came to have relationships of trust with Jesus believers or Christians that were often important precursors to Christianity’s adoption. As scholars have recently emphasized, the religious life of 1st-century Christ groups in the Mediterranean did not travel primarily through the deeds of itinerant evangelists preaching to non-familiars, in spite of what the Acts of the Apostles depicts. In fact, Paul and his colleagues, when successful in converting others, had forged relationships of trust with members of Jewish synagogues or connected merchants and artisans, with whom they shared occupational backgrounds and who were often members of voluntary urban associations.40 The Christ cult then traveled by means of organic social bonds that such professionals had forged with spouses, children, relatives, friends, and business contacts. In network theory terms, people who were already or came to be linked to Jesus believers through “strong ties” (defined by “intense and multiplex interactions”) adopted the Christ cult much more readily than those connected to Jesus believers by “weak ties” (defined by one-dimensional, incidental, or infrequent contact).41 The recent work of John Kloppenborg, framed by network theory and metaphors from epidemiology, is notable in this regard.42 He emphasizes the observations of sociologists that certain infectious diseases can be transferred among people through incidental contact but that a willingness to adopt preventive measures against such diseases usually travels through “strong ties”. On this basis, he argues that the adoption of the Christ cult was not akin to a “simple contagion” transmitted through weak ties. It was instead more like a “complex contagion” whose transmission among people involved forms of persuasion and trust that had to compensate for the potential or perceived social costs of conversion. As a result, “weak ties” that connected remote peoples and places were vital for transmitting basic information or rumors about Christianity (a “simple contagion”) very rapidly. Even so, “strong ties” were still vital precursors for persuading others to alter deeply embedded social behavior in costly or risky ways, and the actual practicing of 40 41 42

Ascough (2000) and (2014: 78–80). Kloppenborg (2020: especially 326–327). Also Kloppenborg (2019: 55–96, especially 80– 91). Here I am indebted to Kloppenborg (2020: 326–334) who treats and synthesizes much of the key sociological research, along with Kloppenborg (2019: 80–91). I thank John Kloppenborg for sharing a version of the article with me in advance of its publication.

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Christianity (a “complex contagion”) had to move along the strong ties, not weak ones. Intriguingly, however, the Acts of the Apostles and ancient Christian narrative sources that emulated it, like the Acts of Thomas, tend to represent the Christ cult or Christianity as transferred to converts through “weak ties”. They often depict polytheists or Jews who immediately recognize its value and embrace it without much resistance, often after witnessing the testimony or miracle of an unfamiliar preacher.43 The work of Paul among the Jesus believers at Thessalonica is illuminating in this regard. The Acts of the Apostles (17) describes Paul as rapidly winning converts in Thessalonica through weak-tie preaching. His actual letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians) offers a different pattern for his success. It illustrates that once introduced to a network bound by strong ties, the Christ cult travelled through the network fairly quickly. But the initial transfer to the network spelled greater effort and time; Jesus believers like Paul had to forge “strong ties” and links of trust with certain members of it as a precursor to conversion and the transfer of Christian practice, and even then conversion involved sustained and repeated effort and persuasion (“nudges”). Thus, in his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul describes how he and his coworkers Silvanus and Timothy fostered the Christ cult’s adoption among formerly polytheist members of what appears to be a voluntary professional association in which all three figures had apparently labored too.44 Its members had in turn made the Christ cult visible to those with whom they had social connections. Put simply, the Acts of the Apostles depicts Paul as successfully exploiting weak ties at Thessalonica; his own first letter to the Thessalonians points firmly to his building and exploiting strong ties there. Such factors further taint the historical validity of the various ancient sources narrating the rapid arrival and anchoring of Christianity in India and the modern scholarship shaped by these narratives. Not only do the narratives normally depict the transmission of Christianity through weak-tie relationships, but they also represent preachers like the apostle Thomas, quite anomalously, as traveling to places and peoples that none of their compatriots had even seen (unlike Paul, who clearly traveled where he or his colleagues had Jewish contacts). It is thus more reasonable to surmise that Christianity in Asia traveled quickly among the connected bodies of networks defined by 43 44

As observed by scholars cited in n. 40–42. For networks as represented by the Acts of Thomas, Reger (2009). See Ascough (2000) and (2014: 78–80) on the artisan community at Thessalonica in the time of Paul, and Kloppenborg (2020), as cited previously.

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“strong” ties but that its transfer to other networks incurred delays until strong ties as opposed to weak ties were forged. Since commercial networks (or what I like to call “socio-commercial networks”) foremost connected the populations dispersed across the various states of ancient and late antique AfroEurasia, analyzing them has validity for assessing how Christianity traveled across Asia. But what disposition did these networks have? Recent works focusing on a variety of social contexts have illuminated many of the primary patterns and dispositions of premodern commercial networks, and these have immense bearing for how we understand the movement of Christianity in late antiquity. Particularly important are the treatments demonstrating that such networks functioned as “circulation societies”45 characterized by “communitarian cosmopolitanism”,46 and their basic observations about the transmission of embedded culture from one commercial network to another can be summarized here. In premodern societies, which had no email, telephones, or telegraphs, all information, knowledge, and culture traveled through the actual physical movement of people, and vetting reliable business contacts in overseas locations was very challenging. Because of this, traders, shippers, and investors overwhelmingly made business arrangements with people known to them through face-to-face contact or known to people with whom they had face-to-face contact and thus could consult for information. These were usually compatriots, if not relatives.47 The result was that ancient commercial networks, in “communitarian” terms, were overwhelmingly defined foremost by regional orientation, with various levels of civic, ethnic, or religious nuancing (for example, Roman Egyptian, Palestinian Jewish, Babylonian Jewish, and Palmyrene).48 Their hubs of activity were located in their home regions or other areas of concentrated expatriation, with overseas residential settlements acting as nodes that connected the broader network to other locations, peoples, or networks through strong-tie relationships that their members forged locally. Mobile bodies moved in various ways between hubs and overseas nodes and provided key human linkages that transmitted information, objects, and culture. In schematic terms, a network’s expatriate residential settlements acquired commodities and culture from overseas locations, and its mobile bodies then 45 46 47 48

Aslanian (2011: 15–16). Trivellato (2007: 18). Terpstra (2013: 65–70, 95–125), with Terpstra (2019: 33–82, especially 33–35), focusing on the relationships between commercial networks and state intervention. Andrade (2018: 4–15).

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transmitted these back to its activity hubs. Such forms of circulation enabled a communitarian commercial network to function as a “circulation society”. Long-distance trade by necessity involved non-compatriots in certain situations, but even then its players foremost forged strong-tie relationships with compatriots that spanned vast distances. For example, entrepreneurs in Alexandria clearly had overseas compatriot contacts at Red Sea Egypt and at various parts of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, particularly during the 1st–3rd centuries.49 Palmyrenes from Syria similarly placed residential settlements on the Persian Gulf, and from there some Palmyrenes actually travelled to north India during the 2nd century.50 Ancient Afro-Eurasia was altogether connected by such a mesh of networks. While differing in the backgrounds of their participants, these commercial networks were similar in disposition and structure, maintained various points of contact, and, as “communitarian” entities, could transfer culture to one another in “cosmopolitan” ways if their members forged strong ties. As we will see momentarily, when Mani followed the social pathways to coastal north India that residents of Maishan and lower Mesopotamia had created, he acquired knowledge of Buddhism and Jainism that would be vital to his religious movement.51 Since ancient Christianity too could only move where human bodies carried it, network dispositions had a huge effect on how Christianity traveled. Typically, once introduced to a commercial network, Christianity would travel fairly quickly throughout its connected players and take root in overseas places where the network maintained expatriate settlements. Even the movements of ambitious preachers were typically shaped by the social pathways created by the networks of their compatriots and did not far exceed where those networks had planted expatriate settlements. The extension of a Roman Egyptian network to Aksum and south Arabia, for example, was vital in the establishment of Christianity in those places.52 The movements of Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, were consistent with the reach of commercial networks with roots in lower Mesopotamia or Maishan; his disciples, of

49 50 51 52

Andrade (2017) and (2018: 94–135). Seland (2016); Andrade (2018: 5–9) and (2019). Deeg and Gardner (2009); Gardner (2005); Klein (2005); Jones (2010); Dilley (2013: 58– 70). Andrade (2018: 67–135). For recent archaeological evidence of Aksumite Christianity dating to the 4th or early 5th century, see Harrower et al. (2019).

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course, carried his religion further.53 Yet, after exhausting an network’s reach, Christianity usually had to be adopted by members of other networks and their connected bodies before traveling farther. This typically involved a process by which Christian members of a network’s expatriate residential settlements had forged strong ties with longstanding local inhabitants or resident members of different expatriate networks. The segmentation of ancient commercial networks thus structured how fast Christian beliefs and practices (in other words, Christian culture) traveled to a locale and how long it gestated before moving elsewhere. COMMERCIAL NETWORKS IN SASANIAN PERSIA AND THE MOVEMENT OF IRANIAN CHRISTIANITY TO INDIA Throughout antiquity and late antiquity, various segments of a broader Levantine commercial network maintained residential settlements and local connections in Mesopotamia, classical Assyria, and Maishan.54 By the 2nd century, the connected segments maintained by Roman Syrians and Edessenes, who were clients of Parthia and subsequently Rome, had brought Christianity to these regions. The movement and settlement of Edessenes in particular explain the widespread circulation and adoption of Syriac among such populations and the presence of certain pre-Christian Edessene names among Persian martyrs from lower Mesopotamia.55 Their activity also explains the knowledge exhibited by the Hymn of the Pearl, whose surviving form was originally composed in Syriac, about commercial linkages between lower Mesopotamia-Maishan and the Iranian plateau.56 But Christianity had

53

54 55

56

Andrade (2018: 201–205). Various works of Lieu (1992: 86–120); (1994: 26–38); (1998); (2015); Gardner – Lieu (2004: 1–150); Lieu – Mikkelson (2016); Dilley (2013); now Gardner (2019: 37–58). Andrade (2015) and (2018: 164–206). Andrade (2018: 139–163) provides elaboration and engagement with prior scholarship. Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002) provides valuable and erudite analysis for early Christianity in the Iranian world, though I differ in my interpretation. For names, Nau (1912: 23–26); Yon (2018: 204). For text, Poirier (1981) and Ferreira (2002). For composition and trade networks, Andrade (2018: 191–194) and Payne (2018: 235–236). On Manichaeaism, Christianity, and merchants, Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002: 215–222); Gnoli (2003: xxxvi–xxxvii).

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to be transferred to other social networks in these areas before it could proceed further.57 The early formation of Christian communities at Maishan, a key trading emporium throughout antiquity, is of considerable importance in this regard. At the absolute latest, Christianity was well established there by the end of the 2nd century due to the activity of Syrian expatriates, including the Edessenes so responsible for making Syriac an important language of Iranian Christianity. The sources for the career of Mani verify that Judaeo-Christian sects were at Maishan at c. 225, at latest.58 Subsequently, Maishan appears as a church diocese in the church council of 410, and a reliable Edessene manuscript from the following year notes that a bishop and two priests active at that location were martyred under Shapur II.59 It is thus conceivable that Christian residents of Maishan did the work of bringing Iranian Christianity to India and enabling it to take root there. Even so, if this were to happen, members of its commercial networks extending into the Persian Gulf would have needed to forge strong ties with Christians residing at Maishan and to have become Christians themselves. No evidence indicates that this happened before the 4th century. Throughout the Parthian and early Sasanian period, a commercial network extending from lower Mesopotamia and Maishan connected these regions to coastal Fars, the islands of the Persian Gulf, and north India. Its central hub was situated at the massive city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (and it will thus be called “the lower Mesopotamian network” in this article), but it maintained key nodes on the Persian Gulf littoral, particularly Maishan.60 By the period of Parthian imperialism, Maishan, or “Charakene”, had two substantial urban communities at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Charax Spasinou and Phorat) and, downstream, a port at the Persian Gulf (Apologos).61 The network also maintained residential settlements in various coastal cities of the Persian Gulf, south Arabia, and north India. It thus enabled Palmyrene expatriates who had settled in Maishan to travel to north India, as 57 58 59 60 61

Andrade (2018: 207–232). For example, see Cologne Mani Codex, in Koenen – Römer (1987). Gardner – Lieu (2004: 1–108); Gardner (2019: 18–36). Chabot (1902: 33–36); Nau (1912: 23–26). See Brock (1999–2000). Andrade (2015) and (2018: 164–206). For Parthia and commercial networking abroad, see Gregoratti (2015) and Daryaee (2020). On Charakene/Maishan and its sources, Schuol (2000).

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inscriptions show.62 Likewise, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea indicates that travelers moved directly between Maishan and north India, but it does not support that any direct movement between the Persian Gulf and south India or Sri Lanka occurred.63 A boatman, apparently bearing a Palmyrene name, enabled the prophet Mani to travel from Forat to the mouth of the Indus River.64 Mani, however, did not travel to parts of India farther south. It is in this respect that Dodi (David), bishop of Maishan, perhaps takes on considerable importance. He is described by the Chronicle of Seert as having traveled to al-Hind (“India”) to proselytize. Even so, unraveling the significance of the passage proves complicated. The Chronicle seemingly mentions this figure and his mission twice, first as bishop in c. 300 and again some decades later.65 The repetition could be the result of chronological confusion (Dodi is described as the contemporary of figures from both the mid-3rd and mid-4th century), though it could also reflect a long episcopal tenure. The sole surviving source for this tradition of Dodi’s movement, however, is the Chronicle of Seert, an Arabic work compiled in the 10th–13th centuries and ostensibly based on 7th–9th century source traditions.66 While Dodi may have been an authentic figure active c. 300, it is harder to tell whether his activity in “India” represents a later tradition associated with his episcopal activity. Likewise, the Arabic word for India (al-Hind) could also refer to the Persian Gulf more generally.67 It is significant that the Life of Mar Yaunan, which refers to a monastic community either in India or the Persian Gulf, was once believed to be a 4th-century text but is now dated to the 7th century and does thus not have bearing on the earlier periods.68 62 63 64 65

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Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, vol. 17.1: Palmyre (ed. Jean-Baptiste Yon), nos. 26 and 250. Periplus Maris Erythraei 36 in Casson (1989). Cologne Mani Codex 144–45, in Koenen – Römer (1987); Tubach (1995). Chronicle of Seert, in Scher (1908–1919: 4, pp. 236–237, 292–293). This figure also appears in Barhebraeus, Ecclesiastical Chronicle, in Abbeloos – Lamy (1872–1877: 3.27– 28). In the sources, Dodi’s chronologically shifting career tends to be enmeshed with that of Papa, the controversial bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, which would seem to fix his activity in the opening decades of the 4th century. On representations of him, see Walker (2012: 1002 and 1019). On the Chronicle of Seert, Walker (2012: 1028, n. 28); Brock (1976: 25–26); Wood (2012), (2013a: 43–60) and (2013b: 3–14). Brock (1981–1982: 166, 187). Bedjan (1890–1897: 1.466); Payne (2011: 99–101).

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Could a bishop of Maishan named Dodi have initiated missionary contact in India at some point roughly between c. 300 and c. 350? If so, the bishop would simply have been following the well-laid social pathways established by commercial networks extending from Maishan already. In my view, the most plausible way to interpret the passage (if we are assuming its accuracy) is that it refers to evangelizing activity undertaken in the Persian gulf (but not necessarily India) by a bishop of Maishan c. 300 or somewhat later. This would explain why the church councils of 410 and 424 mention bishops for Christian communities in the Persian gulf and at Rev-Ardashir in coastal Fars, but not India per se.69 Alternatively, the passage could refer to activity in coastal north India, to which the residents of Maishan maintained contact throughout antiquity and, as already mentioned, where a Palmyrene merchant is famously reported as transporting Mani. In other words, various evidence indicates that expatriate settlers from Maishan brought Christianity to Rev-Ardashir, certain Persian Gulf islands, and maybe even coastal north India during the 4th century. Yet, it is best to conceive of expatriates from those places as anchoring it in coastal areas of western-central and south India only after that. The lower Mesopotamian commercial network extending from Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Maishan did not reach south India or into the Bay of Bengal before the Sasanian period. Occasionally Parthian coins and green glazed pottery arrived in south India or Sri Lanka, but it is unclear who brought them there. One theory is that these vessels were transited at intermediary Arabian ports but that people were not routinely traveling between Maisan and south India or Sri Lanka.70 The coins and pottery, prone to change hands, arguably traveled farther than merchants who carried them. Nothing suggests that Palmyrenes at Maishan had direct contact with south India or that Mani traveled there either, despite their presences in north India. The lower Mesopotamian network whose social pathways the Palmyrenes and Mani followed apparently did not extend so far during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Altogether, no evidence points to much of a Parthian or even an early Sasanian presence in the parts of the Indian Ocean, particularly south India and Sri Lanka, where Christians are known to have been active in the late Sasanian or early Islamic periods. A Chinese traveler

69 70

Chabot (1902: 33–36, 43). Brock (1999–2000). Schenk (2007); Mitchiner (2003). Also Krishnamurthy (2000: 73–76) for coins.

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who visited Sri Lanka in 414 CE encountered the houses of people who were perhaps “Sabaeans” (south Arabians) and made no mention of Persians.71 By the early Islamic period, however, the situation had clearly changed. The Persian Gulf was now directly linked to southeast Asia and the Pacific rim, with Persian and Arab travelers moving between the two and frequenting residential settlements of compatriots along the way.72 Procopius clarifies that Persians were able to purchase silk trafficked through India before the Romans or their contacts could acquire them.73 The Life of Mar Yaunan, now dated to the late Sasanian or the early Islamic period, describes commercial activity from the Persian Gulf to “Sin”, which would refer to China or southeast Asia.74 This phenomenon receives further corroboration from the Chronicle of Seert’s claim that a Persian ship sailing from India and China was robbed by pirates.75 Tang dynasty sources refer to various Persian presences in East Asia.76 Material evidence provides additional support for this general picture. Very few Parthian or Sasanian coins have been found in coin hoards or excavations in south India or Sri Lanka.77 It is yet unclear why so few have been discovered in comparison to later Roman and Aksumite coins.78 A possibility is that locals hoarded the gold coins of the Romans and deposited their bronze/copper ones in riverbeds for religious purposes (after the 3rd century, gold coins, not silver ones, were the basis of Rome’s monetary economy).79 By contrast, since Sasanian coins were made of silver and more analogous to south Indian monetary units of measure, locals may have kept them in circulation or re-struck them in ways that limited the number of hoard or riverbed deposits. While the absence of Sasanian coins could thus be evidence for lack of direct contact, it could also point to an unwillingness 71

72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

Hasan (1928: 65); Legge (1886: no. 38), Deeg (2005) 175, n. 846 critiques this interpretation, however. See Schenk (2015: 171) on this travel and the circulation of east Asian ceramics. Park (2013); Chaffee (2019: especially 13–16); Daryaee (2003: 8–11). Procopius, Bell. 1.20. Bedjan (1890–1897: 1.494); Payne (2011: 106). Walburg (2008: 326); Payne (2018: 236–237); Chronicle of Seert, in Scher (1908–1919: 5, p. 324). Schafer (1951); So (1987–1988); Chaffee (2019: 13–16). Bopearachchi (2002: 110–112). Daryaee (2003: 12–14) describes Sasanian coins finds, predominantly later, in India and east Asia. Walburg (2008) and Krishnamurthy (2007). Darley (2015: 73–80).

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among people in south India and Sri Lanka to hoard or deposit coins in their present state once encountering them. For the most part, the ceramic finds from excavations do not yet enable us to understand the Sasanians’ activity in the Indian Ocean with precision either.80 Even so, finds of Mesopotamia torpedo jars from Gujarat, the western coast of the Deccan plateau, and south India can be sufficiently collated with other finds from the same sites to establish that contact with Sasanian lower Mesopotamia intensified after 400. Although it is generally accepted that these were in circulation from the 1st to the 9th century CE, at various sites (though not necessarily in the same contexts) they appear with materials consistent with a later Sasanian date, and at Tissamaharama in Sri Lanka in particular, they have emerged in stratigraphic layers datable to the 5th and 6th centuries.81 Even if not all Mesopotamian torpedo jars can been placed within a narrow chronology, the evidence is sufficient to support more frequent movement or settlement in west-central and south India by Persians in the 5th century and thereafter.82 As recent scholarship has shown, the 3rd-century formation of the Sasanian empire and its military consolidation involved the disruption of many commercial networks through which inhabitants of the eastern Roman empire acquired commodities from south and east Asia, including those formerly maintained by the Parthians in Mesopotamia and those connecting east Arabia to the Red Sea and Mediterranean.83 To some degree, this could have stalled commercial activity between Maishan and south India. Yet, after the 3rd century, it is clear that robust commercial networks of Persians patronized by Sasanian state authority extended deeper into Asia and the Indian Ocean throughout late antiquity,84 and the finds of Mesopotamian torpedo jars at various sites support a 5th-century influx of Persian merchants to south India. Other signs point to intensifying contact between the Persian empire and various parts of India, including west-central and south India and Sri Lanka, during this time. A fortress built at Sigiriya by a king named Kassapa (late 5th century) even seems to emulate Persian royal architecture.85 Altogether, the arrival and anchorage of Christianity in the Kerala coast should be attributed to Persian settlement in the region during the 5th century and the intensifying 80 81 82 83 84 85

Priestman (2013: 415). Tomber (2007: especially 978–982). For pottery from the Roman empire, Persian Gulf, and East Asia, Schenk (2007); (2015) and Schenk – Wiesehaar (2016). On which, see Payne (2018: 232–233). Kennet (2007); Daryaee (forthcoming), with Daryaee (2020); Payne (2018: 231–232, 235). Payne (2018). Boperarchchi (2002: 110–111).

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social relations between the Sasanian empire and south India that ensued as a result. THE PERSIAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN INDIA The arguments made so far can be summarized as follows. The trading emporium of Maishan was a vital locus of Christianity throughout late antiquity, and due to the presence of Syriac-speaking Christians with links to Edessa, it housed Christian communities as early as the 2nd century. In Maishan, however, Christianity gestated while strong ties between Syrian expatriate communities and other residents were being forged. Once forged, local Christian communities expanded, and the transfer of Christianity to a commercial network extending from lower Mesopotamia and Maishan into the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean occurred. During the 4th century, Christian merchants and sailors connected to Maishan established communities at RevArdashir and various Persian Gulf islands. Only in the 5th century did merchants and sailors from Maishan and Rev-Ardashir establish residential presences in various parts of coastal India located in its western-central or southern areas. The permanent anchorage of Christianity, and in particular Iranian Christianity, in south India originates from such phenomena. As Persians from Maishan and related settlements in coastal Fars populated south India, some of these were undoubtedly Christians. The testimony of Cosmas Indicopleustes, who places Persian communities at Socotra, south India, Mumbai, and Sri Lanka, demonstrates that residential presences from Persian territory existed by the time he was writing (mid-6th century).86 What has traditionally been treated as the eleventh book of Cosmas Indicopleustes’ Topography places Sri Lanka at the heart of competition between Persian merchants and Romans who had traveled from Adulis.87 According to the Chronicle of Seert, a bishop of Rev-Ardashir dispatched materials for use among Christians in India at c. 470.88 During the 6th century, churchmen in the Mediterranean began to conceive of a tomb for Thomas in India that they could visit on pilgrimage; Persian Christians in south India, influenced by the Acts of Thomas, were apparently boasting of a tomb in south India by then.89 86 87 88 89

Cosmas Indicopleustes, 3.65. Cosmas Indicopleustes, 11.17. On issues of authorship, Darley (2014: 108–124). Chronicle of Seert, in Scher (1908–1919: 7, pp. 116–117). Baum – Winkler (2004: 53). Gregory of Tours, Gloria Martyrum 31–32. See also n. 4.

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A church chronicle composed in Greek in the later 5th century assumes that a figure from Persian territory who attended the Council of Nicaea could be considered bishop of Persia and all of Greater India.90 By the mid-7th century, the bishop of Rev-Ardashir had asserted himself as metropolitan of the Christians living in India and on the Malay peninsula, as a letter written in Syriac emphasizes.91 Sustained ecclesiastical connections to Rev-Ardashir, Maishan, and Seleucia-Ctesiphon (later Baghdad) explain why both Syriac and Middle Persian are attested as languages of Christians in south India thereafter. The persistent movement, networking, and presences of people from lower Mesopotamia and coastal Fars would also be in part responsible for the merchant communities associated with the remarkable Kollam Copper plate grants (c. 849 CE) and the Persian crosses of the period (6th–9th centuries). The plates, produced in Malayalam by a Chera king for a Persian community, contain the signatures of various parties who apparently served as witnesses.92 Some are in Kufic Arabic, written by Arabs. Others are in Persian (Pahlavi script), created by Persian Christians and Zoroastrians. Finally, Jews produced some signatures in Judaeo-Persian (Hebrew Script).93 The document demonstrates the presence of Persians of varied religions affiliations in south India by the mid-9th century. Likewise, the series of crosses found in south India, numbering nine in total and located in Kerala, Tamilnadu, and Sri Lanka (at Anuradhapura), as well as Goa, were inscribed with Middle Persian.94 As previously mentioned, the arrival of Thomas Kinayi and his followers and the lost copper plate grant associated with them are best linked with this period. The plate grants and crosses leave no doubt of Persian presences with roots in lower Mesopotamia and coastal Fars by the opening centuries of the Islamic period. Moreover, they indicate that local Christians were overwhelmingly Persian residential settlers linked to commercial or artisanal professions.95 They do not suggest that such Christian communities had been joined by the 90 91 92

93 94 95

Ps. Gelasius, Historia ecclesiastica 2.28 and 2.38.1. Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2002: 110); Andrade (2018: 145). Isho‘yahb III, Liber Epistularum in Duval (1962: 247–260); Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 45–49) and Colless (1969: 20–21). Lambourn – Veluhat – Tomber (forthcoming) promises to provide the primary translation and study. Otherwise, for translation, Dikshitar (1952: 350–355, 357–363); Kollaparambil (1986: 13–20 and xviii–xxvi). Perczel (2018: 671–678); Cereti (2009). Perczel (2018: 665–671); Cereti – Olivieri – Vazhuthanapally (2002); Walker (2012: 1020). Perczel (2018: 665–667).

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region’s traditional inhabitants, though this undoubtedly had occurred by the arrival of the Portuguese many centuries later. Presumably, the Persian Christians in south India had not yet forged a sufficient number of “strong ties” with people outside their occupational and religious communities for this to occur. Yet, since commercial networks had laid the social pathways through which Persian Christians settled in south India during the 5th century, they continued to enable Persians in India to stay connected to those living in the world of Iran. CONCLUSION As maintained in the initial section of the article, no reliable evidence places Christianity in India before the 5th century. How, then, are we to understand the early formation of Christianity in south India and the similarities between the narrative of the Acts of Thomas and those of oral traditions in south India? Most of the details cannot be known, but a schematic outline can be imparted here. During the 5th century, Persian merchants and artisans with links to Maishan and coastal Fars established residential settlements in various coastal regions of central and south India, as well as Sri Lanka. Some of these were Christians who firmly established Iranian Christianity in south India. These Christians were also responsible for transporting the narrative of the Acts of Thomas to south India and creating sacred topographies there on the basis of what it recounted. They thus identified what they understood to be Thomas’ initial burial site in India, though the Edessenes continued to boast of having acquired Thomas’ remains from India. During the 6th century, Mediterranean Christians became aware of this burial site due to the activity of Red Sea merchants in contact with south India, and some even began to travel on pilgrimage there. In subsequent centuries, Christian communities in south India continued to maintain key links with Maishan and coastal Fars. The Kollam copper plates and Persian crosses bear witness to their presences, and, when appropriately dated, the evidence for Thomas Kinayi’s arrival in south India in the 9th century perhaps does too. Eventually, beyond the scope of this chapter, the Persian Christians formed strong ties with local Indians, who adopted the Christianity of the Church of the East. By the time the Portuguese arrived in 1498, these had embedded the Thomas narrative firmly in the material and cultural topographies of south India.

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The Mission of the Church of the East to South India and Sri Lanka HARALD SUERMANN Summary — The starting point is the thesis that in pre-Islamic times there was a trade with the Roman Empire as well as with Persia in South-India. With the trade different Christian communities were established. The Romans may be more associated with the tradition of Bartholomew, the Persians with the Thomas tradition. With the decline of Roman trade with southern India, Roman Christianity gradually disappeared, assimilating to Thomas Christians. The tradition of the Apostle Thomas, originally associated with northern India and Persia, was brought to southern India with the increased missionary activity of the Persian Church. According to the tradition, Saint Thomas, the Apostle, came to India, converted people and founded seven church communities at the Malabar Coast. He went on mission to Mailapur where he was murdered and buried until the reliquaries where brought to Edessa. This tradition is very essential for the Christians in India. No historical contemporary source confirms the mission of Thomas, nor any excavation brought evidence to light that Christians were living on the Malabar Coast in the 1st century. The first reliable historical sources reporting the presence of Christians in India originate from the 5th century, earlier sources are not reliable. On the basis of historical sources, we try to reconstruct the history of the founding Christian communities and the propagation of the Christian faith in India. We start with a previous understanding of the history of the mission to India: the first Christians traveled to South India in the context of sea trade. They came from the Roman Empire via South Arabia, and they came from the Persian Gulf sailing along the Indian Coast. It is unknown when the first Christians arrived in India. Literary sources of the 6th to the 12th centuries prove the presence of Christian communities in India. These communities did not comprise indigenous people but foreign sailors who were merchants. They settled down in harbors where ships from the Roman Empire or from the Sasanian Empire and later the Islamic Empire dropped anchor for commerce. These communities grew and demanded for priests and finally for bishops.

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The two Empires, the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire, were rivals, but also the churches in both Empires were competitors. Church, trade and political power were interconnected. Besides literary sources, archaeological evidence should witness the presence of Christianity in India. The scope of this short article is to have a closer look on the evidence for the presence of Christians from Fārs in India. As the mission to India were performed via the harbors, we will first examine excavation reports of the harbors in the Persian Gulf, India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is included as it was a very significant hub for the trade between East and West Asia. Excavations should bring evidence of Iranian and possibly of Christian presence to light. This evidence would indicate when the Iran — India trade was intensive. In a second part we will have a look on the literary sources with regard to the presence of the Church of the East in India. Finally, we attempt to answer whether the archaeological evidence and the literary traditions match. We concentrate on the Church of the East and leave out the possible Roman Christian presence. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES THE KHARG ISLAND The Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf belongs to today’s Iran and is located 25 km off the coast of Iran and 55 km west of Bushire. From Antiquity onward, the island participated in the long-distance trade. On the Kharg Island a huge monastery with a church was excavated. The monastery consists of a group of buildings. The enclosure is 123 m to 88 m. The church is in its center. The different buildings correspond to different needs of communal living. 1 70 monk cells have been excavated.2 The church construction is in conformity with the requirements of a Syro-Oriental church. 3 East of the church, in a large perimeter measuring approximately 29 m from east to west and 26,50 m from north to south, archaeologists identified

1 2 3

Steve (2003: 85–86). Steve (2003: 87). Steve (2003: 93); for types of churches see Briquel-Chatonnet (2013), for the churches in the Persian Gulf: Salles, Callot (2013: 237–267).

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libraries 4 and a scriptorium, 5 a room to which probably belonged a long table whose one-piece top was mounted on low walls that form four compartments. A hall for catechism6 and a refectory 7 were also discovered. In the south of the monastery the economic area of the monastery seems to have been located. 8 In the environment of the monastery there were several buildings serving probably for agriculture. It is not sure whether lay people were serving the monastery or if married priests lived there. 9 The monastery dates most probably from the late 8th to 9th centuries according to R. A. Carter. He revised the date of the occupation of the monastery by reconsidering the date of ninety-eight published sherds. None of them indicates a date prior to the 9th century. The moulded stucco plaques and friezes indicate also a post-Sasanian date. 10 C. Hardy-Guilbert and A. Rougeulle confirm that the sherds date from the Abbasid period, though dating other objects in the Sasanian period. 11 A kettle from India and objects from China were excavated. 12 No archaeological survey with regard to a harbor is published. Nothing of the monastery indicates that the monks were participating in the maritime trade or in mission. Neither a Christian community nor the monastery on the island are mentioned in any East Syrian source. The community must have depended on the metropolitan of Rēw Ardašīr. The Synodicon Orientale mentions in canon XXI of the Synod of Isaac that the metropolitan of Fars had also the jurisdiction over the maritime islands. 13

4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Steve (2003: 106–108). Steve (2003: 112–113), on book production in the context of a monastery see Kotsifou (2007: 48–66) and Kotsifou (2012: 213–244), the studies are based on book production in Egypt. Steve (2003: 109–110). Steve (2003: 108). Steve (2003: 111–113). Steve (2003: 150). Carter (2008: 72, 97–98). Steve (2003: 131). Steve (2003: 132). Chabot (1902: 619)

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RĒW ARDAŠĪR There are several towns with the name Rēw Ardašīr. Most of the historians identify the city with this name in Christian sources with Rīšahr, on the border between Ḥūzistān and Fārs. 14 It is around 60 km south-east of the Kharg island near today Bushire. It is said that the Bushire peninsula had one of the biggest Sasanian settlements in the Gulf region, but no significant excavations have been carried out. 15 Ardašīr I founded the town for commercial and strategic reasons. 16 It was plundered during the reign of Šāpūr II. by Arabs. 17 There are indications that the population decreased in the 7th century. 18 The first mention in Islamic time of a settlement on the peninsula dates from the late 13th century. 19 Rēw Ardašīr is attested since 410 by the first synods of the Church of the East. In 415, it became a metropolitan diocese. Several bishops are attested in the 5th and 6th centuries. In 585 there was a rebellion against the patriarch, and again some time later in the 7th century the bishop Šemʿūn was in conflict with patriarch Īšōʿyahb III. Some bishops are known between the middle of 7th century and the 12th century. 20 SĪRĀF Sīrāf, about 200 km further south on the coast, was one of the most significant harbors at the Gulf from the 8th to 11th centuries. It was a main entrance to the south of Iran. 21 The earliest settlement seems to go back to the 5th or 6th century. In the 8th century, it developed into an international port. Ceramic products especially from East Asia and India showed that Sīrāf was a leading hub of the Indian Ocean trade network in the Persian Gulf between the 8th and early 11th centuries. Much of the trade between the southern Mesopotamia and the Indian Ocean passed through Sīrāf. 22 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Jullien – Jullien (2003: 163); Fiey (1969: 179). Priestman (2013: 157). Priestman (2013: 157). Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 40). Priestman (2013: 166). Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 40). Fiey (1969: 181–182). Priestman (2013: 148). Priestman (2013: 62, 148–149, 357).

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At the beginning of the 9th century the most significant monumental buildings were constructed, 23 among them a basilica-like building whose function is unclear. 24 Sīrāf had a Christian settlement and was the center of the diocese of Ardašīr Ḫurrah. It was the origin of a neglectful monk who was involved in the renovation of a monastery in Arraǧān. 25 PATTANAM / MUZIRIS I leave out all the ports on the way to Kerala, because Kerala is the site where it is said that the Apostle Thomas founded churches. According to the Indian tradition, Saint Thomas landed in 52 CE in Muziris. 26 This raises the question whether any remains of the early Christian settlement or trade can be found. The Malabar Coast is not very much studied archaeologically. But recent discoveries in Pattanam offer archaeological evidence for its participation in the international trade. The Roman presence seems to have been dominant but also evidence for the trade with Persia was found. 27 Pattanam / Muziris was a port in the present-day state of Kerala. It was a major emporium of the spice trade network of the Early Historic Period (1st century BCE – 5th century CE). 28 Beside Tindis, Nelcynda and Becare, 29 it was one of the most significant harbors of this time. 30 A significant wharf next to the port and an adjacent commercial warehouse area have been excavated. 31 In Pattanam, archaeologists recovered the remains of a pier and other port features, urban features and parts of planned architecture. Ceramic, lapidary objects, metal objects and coins have been found. 32 The ceramic includes Roman pottery like amphora and terra sigillata as well as West Asian torpedo jar sherds and Turquoise Glazed Pottery. 33 Turquoise Glazed Pottery were fabricated in Mesopotamia until the Islamic period. It is said that this pottery 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Priestman (2013: 154); Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 35). Priestman (2013: 153); Whitehouse – Whitcomb – Wilkinson (2009: 51). Fiey (1969: 201); Assemani (1728: 779); Gismondi (1899: 93, 105). Jose – Mohanty (2017: 103). Cherian (2010: 273–274). Cherian (2012: 22–24). The location of these places is uncertain, no excavation has been performed. Cherian (2012: 22). Cherian (2011: 27–28); see also Cherian (2010: 273). Cherian (2012: 24–25). Cherian (2012: 24–25); Cherian (2010: 270); Cherian ([without date]: 4).

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was principally manufactured in today Southern Iraq. 34 The sherds date most likely between the 3rd/2nd centuries BCE and the 7th/8th centuries CE. 35 In younger layers ceramic sherds originating from the Gulf region indicate that the port was still connected to the international trade, though it was already declining. 36 Twenty-two copper coins were excavated, but astonishingly, Roman coins were not found. 37 Tomber 38 cites Gurukkal with regard to the expatriate community: ‘It is reasonable to presume that the items such as grains, olive oil, dry fruits and wine were imported obviously not for exchange, but for the self-consumption of merchants and organizers of trade who were primarily, Greeks, Arabs, Egyptian, Jews and Philistines’. The concentration of Roman wine amphorae on coastal sites, where there are convincing arguments for the presence of Roman merchants, indicate that Westerners provided a market and consumed wine; local elites living in the ports may have also created a demand. In Parur near Pattanam, a granite cross was found. It is said to be the most ancient one of several crosses of the same type, but its date is being discussed. The cross is of Greek shape inserted into a circle. It has splayed ends, in between there are dots or pearls. In its center there is another circle. This specific form differs from the other crosses found in India. According to de Saxcé, this type is frequently found in Roman or Byzantine art. Parallels occur in the Armenian region, in Jerusalem and in Hira. 39 This area corresponds to the Eastern Roman region. This would be in accordance with the conclusion Cherian draws after the excavations, that Pattanam is to be understood primarily as an Indian site with Roman or West Asian connections, 40 and not so much with Fārs connections. VIZHINJAM Vizhinjam lies south of Pattanam in modern Kerala. It is an ancient harbor. Its history is divided in three periods: early historic (1st to 8th centuries CE); medieval (8th to 15th centuries) and modern (15th century to today). Excavated evidence show that the port was active in the first period but obtained its peak 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Cherian (2011: 26). Cherian (2012: 26–27). Priestman (2013: 221–222). Cherian ([without date]: 3). Tomber (2015: 388); Gurukkal (2013: 71). de Saxcé (2016: 139). Cherian (2011: 28).

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in the 7th to 9th centuries. 41 Foreign ceramic shows that Vizhinjam participated in the sea trade with the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and China. Torpedo sherds from the 4th to 7th centuries were recovered, which were used essentially for storage and transportation. Internal coating of bitumen indicates that they were sealed in order to hold liquid. Their origin lies in the Mesopotamian region. 42 Petrographic studies indicate that some torpedo sherds have their origin in Iraq, others possibly in Syria. The excavated eggshell ware came from Iraq and the Turquoise Glazed Pottery from Iraq and Iran during the Parthian until the Sasanian period. 43 Evidence shows that the trade continued from the 7th until 11th centuries with the Persian Gulf and West Asia. 44 MANTAI (MAHATHITHTHA / MAHATHOTA / MATOTA) Mantai was the main harbor for Sri Lanka. It was the central hub for the sea trade between West Asia and East Asia, especially with China. It has to be considered here, even if it is not an Indian port. The attested Christian community has probably the same historical origin as the reported Christian communities in ports of the Malabar Coast. After an early historic period, which stopped around the 2nd century BCE, the next occupation period was from the 3rd to the 8th centuries. Products from present-day Gujarat, dated between the 2nd and the 4th centuries, which were also excavated in Sīrāf and Rīšahr, clearly indicate that there was a maritime communication between Sri Lanka through western India and the Gulf ports. Also, the maritime communication with East Asia went through this port. 45 A baked clay bulla typical of the 6th and 7th centuries was found in Mantai. Impressions of a two-humped Bactrian camel, a Pahlavi inscription and an East-Syrian cross indicate a Sasanian origin. Such bullae were probably used to seal the merchandise of a Christian trader with his personal symbol. 46 Six sherds of Turquoise Glazed ware of Sasanian / Islamic origin dated not earlier than the 8th century, were also found. 47

41 42 43 44 45 46 47

Jose – Mohanty (2017: 109). Tomber (2007). Kumar – Rajesh – Abhayan – Vinod – Sujana (2013: 198). Kumar – Rajesh – Abhayan – Vinod – Sujana (2013: 199). Carswell – Deraniyagala – Graham (2013: 48). Carswell – Deraniyagala – Graham (2013: 49); de Saxcé (2016: 139). Carswell, Deraniyagala, and Graham, Mantai, 155.

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The Pahlavi inscription on the bulla means “May the fortune/joy/happiness increase”. The cross is a pearl cross with bifurcated ends and circles in between them, typical for the Church of the East. It is very stylized. 48 In the then capital Anuradhapura, which was connected with Mantai by a land route, a cross was found, placed in the center of a pillar. This would indicate that it was part of a religious building. The cross was in an East-Syrian style. On account of its iconography it seems to have reached Sri Lanka in the 8th century or even later.49 It matches well with crosses found in the Arabian Peninsula. Ceramic of Sasanian and Early Islamic character, dated between the 5th and th 9 centuries indicate that the capital was connected with the Gulf region via the Mantai port. 50 The analysis of the bitumen of torpedo jars shows that its source is possibly near Susa in Iran. 51 The peak of Sasanian-Islamic blue glazed wares, lustrewares, lead-glazed wares and tin-glazed wares from today Iraq reach a peak at the turn of the first millennium. The overall collection of ceramics dates from Sasanian-Early Islamic time, perhaps from the Parthian period to the 11th century. 52 The main vessel type, through the stylistic features and their yellow earthenware body material “can be assigned to the Abbasid group from today Iraq (and possibly Iran, too) and dated to the 9th and 10th centuries”. 53 RESULTS OF THE EXCAVATIONS THE PORTS IN THE IRANIAN REGION We have had a look at three significant harbors for the trade with India and East Asia under Iranian power. The Kharg Island must have had a significant port, but no excavation was undertaken. On the island, existed a huge SyroOriental monastery with 70 cells. It was constructed between the 8th and 9th centuries. No indication has been found that the monks participated in the sea trade or had missionary activities outside the island. However, a kettle from India and objects from China show that the monks were not cut off from the 48 49 50 51 52 53

de Saxcé (2016: 138). de Saxcé (2016: 137). Stern et al. (2008: 411). Stern et al. (2008: 424). Coningham (2006:91). Coningham (2006: 91, 99–100).

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international trade with India and China. There is no archaeological indication why this huge monastery was founded on the relatively small island and what function it had. It can hardly be assumed that it had only local importance. 54 Rēw Ardašīr was also a significant harbor, but no excavation of the harbor has been carried out. Rēw Ardašīr was a metropolitan seat of the Church of the East, and as such it had also a Christian population. The literary tradition states that the bishop of the town had connections to India and was in charge of the ordination of Indian bishops. This would indicate that the Christian community could easily use the maritime traffic for its connection with India. However, we do not have archaeological findings that give us a date when the harbor was used for the trade with India. Sīrāf was a leading hub between the 8th and 11th centuries for the international trade with India and East Asia. The main buildings were constructed in the 9th century. This would indicate that it would also be the peak of the development of this harbor. It was also a Christian center of a diocese. A basilica-like building was found but it was not possible to determine whether it was a church. It can be assumed that the Christian community of the town participated in the sea trade, though we have no archaeological evidence. It is most probable that the Christians living in the harbor towns were participating in the sea trade. The main period of this sea trade between India and Fārs seems to be the 9th century, but it could have started already in the 8th century and lasted until the 11th century. The main Church in these harbors was the Church of the East. Between the 8th and the 11th centuries a major group of Christians from the Church of the East could have reached the Indian coast and started to settle down there in order to build up an emporium. THE PORTS IN THE INDIAN REGION AND SRI LANKA Only in a few ports in South India excavations have been carried out. Pattanam is one of the most significant ports where an archaeological survey has been 54

This monastery seems to have been the main training center for the formation of the missionaries meant for India and other regions in the Indian Ocean region according to Malekandathil (2010: 3). Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 43): “Traditionally, the captains approaching Basra used to put in at Kharg to engage a pilot before entering the Shatt alArab and the island thus played a significant role in the maritime trade of the Gulf. Bearing this in mind, and granted that the Nestorians laid emphasis on missionary activities and that the metropolitan of Rēv Ardashīr was responsible for the church in India, we suggest that the monastery on Kharg may have had the special function of training missionaries for service abroad”.

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done. It is said that in this port Pattanam – identified with Muziris – Saint Thomas landed. Near the port a commercial warehouse area was excavated as well as urban features. Beside Roman pottery, West Asian torpedo jar sherds and Turquoise Glazed pottery from Mesopotamia were excavated. The sherds were dated from the era before Christ until the 7th/8th centuries. Sherds from the Gulf region show that the port was also used in later time. Items like grains, olive oil, dry fruits and wine indicate that a foreign community settled in the town. Gurukkal thinks that the number of Roman wine amphorae indicate a strong Roman settlement, and not so much an Iranian. A cross found near the harbor, points to a Christian community. The style corresponds to Roman or Byzantine art. It seems that Pattanam is to be understood having mainly Roman connections. Vizhinjam’s harbor had is peak from the 7th to 9th centuries. The recovered torpedo sherds date from 5th to 7th centuries and the bitumen used, points to the Mesopotamian region like other excavated objects. This port seems to be more in connection with the Iranian world. In today Sri Lanka we have clear indication of the trade with the Gulf region. The main harbor was Mantai, connecting the trade with China / East Asia and West Asia. Excavation showed that already from the 3rd century to the 8th century trade connections with the Gulf region existed. A baked clay bulla from the 6th or 7th century bearing a Pahlavi inscription and showing an East-Syrian cross, which was probably used to seal the merchandise, indicates that Christians of the Church of the East participated in the trade. This is confirmed by the excavations in the capital of Anuradhapura. A column with an East-Syrian cross was found that probably belonged to a religious building. It is dated to the 8th century or later and thus indicates a Christian community in this town. It is clear that a significant number of Christians were living in the harbors of the Gulf region in the 8th to 9th centuries. But it is also clear that Christians lived in Rēw Ardašīr and Sīrāf already before. However, excavation shows that the trade reached its peak in the 8th to the 9th centuries. Nothing was excavated that proves that Christians participated in the trade with South India, but it is very likely. Not so many excavations have been carried out in the South Indian Malabar region. Muziris participated in the trade with the Gulf region in the 7th/8th centuries, but it seems to have had a strong Roman settlement and less an Iranian one. The undated cross found near the harbor is also more in Roman/Byzantine than in Syro-Oriental style. In Vizhinjam the connection with

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Mesopotamia is very strong. However, nothing was excavated that indicates a Christian community. In Mantai and Anuradhapura excavations brought to light remains that indicate that there was a Christian community of Syro-Oriental origin who participated in the trade in the 7th and 8th centuries. Given these archaeological results we will now compare them with the Christian literary sources on the topic of Iranian mission to south India and Sri Lanka and the Christian involvement in the trade. CHRISTIAN LITERARY SOURCES I skip all the legends of the Apostle Thomas. There is no historical content with regard to the missionary activities of an Iranian group. In many texts written in antiquity, India is a vague geographical term. It can refer to North India or South India, but also to South Arabia and even to East Africa. Texts referring to India need further indications in order to determine the exact region meant by India. CHRONICLE OF SEERT The Chronicle of Seert reports that David, bishop of Baṣrah, had left its bishop seat and went to India where he preached to the people and many of them converted: “David, metropolitan of Baṣrah, left his seat and went to India and preached to people and many people followed him” 55

(‫)داود ﻣﻄﺮان اﻟﺒﺼﺮة وﻛﺎن ﻓﺎرق ﻛﺮﺳِﮫ واﻧﻔﺬ اﻟﻰ اﻟﮭﻨﺪ ودﻋﺎ اھﻠﮭﺎ وﺗﺒﻌﮫ ﺧﻠﻖ ﻛﺜﯿﺮ‬

The Arabic chronicle was composed around 1000. It has not survived completely but covers only the periods of 251–423 and 483–650. It appears that it was based on a 5th century ‘patriarchal history’, which was extended. 56 Though the chronicle reports accurate details of the old history of the church, we cannot trust it if we cannot check the facts in other sources. Wood argues that “this early history was a particular target for inventions by Eastern historians, who replaced scanty early material with narratives that supported the claims of later eras”. 57 This probably applies also to the notice concerning 55 56 57

Scher (1908: 292–293). Wood (2013: 3). Wood (2013: 4).

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the bishop David who has left his seat supposedly under Catholicos Papa (310–341). The chronicle names the place of the bishop’s seat Baṣrah. But Baṣrah was founded only in 638 by Arabs. The center of the region in pre-Arab time was called Prath d’Mayshan. 58 After leaving his seat in Baṣrah, the bishop is said to have preached in India. There is no indication which region of India is meant. The whole notice gives the impression of a later invention or adaptation, when Baṣrah became a significant port for the trade with India and connections with a church in India was drawn up. Another notice of the Chronicle relates to the Patriarch Aḥai (410–414). After his election as Patriarch it is reported: “They made him catholicos, and he found favor with Yazdegard. A short time after he had taken over the catholicosate, [Yazdegard] sent him to Fārs [to inspect] the merchandise and pearls taken by sea from the lands of India and China, which Nahruz, son of his brother Šāpur, governor of Fārs, claimed had been stolen by pirates, so that the catholicos could check the truth of these allegations and inform him about it”.

‫ واﻧﻔﺬه ﺑﻌﺪ ﻣﺪة ﯾﺴﯿﺮة ﻣﻦ ﺗﻘﻠﺪه اﻟﺠﺜﻠﻘﺔ اﻟﻰ ﻓﺎرس ﺑﺴﺒﺐ اﻣﺘﻌﺔ‬.‫)وﺟﻌﻠﻮه ﺟﺎﺛﻠﯿﻘﺎ وﻣﺎل اﻟﯿﮫ ﯾﺰدﺟﺮد‬ ‫وﺟﻮاھﺮ ﺣﻤﻠﺖ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻼد اﻟﮭﻨﺪ واﻟﺼﯿﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺮاﻛﺐ ذﻛﺮ ﻧﮭﺮوز اﺑﻦ ﺳﺎﺑﻮر اﺧﯿﮫ اﻟﻤﺘﻘﻠﺪ ﻟﻔﺎرس ان‬ 59 ( .‫اﻟﻠﺼﻮص اﺧﺬوھﺎ ﻟﯿﻌﺮف ﺻﺤﺔ ﻣﺎ ادﻋﺎه وﯾﺨﺒﺮه ﺑﮫ‬ This notice was originally part of a ‘patriarchal history’ of the 5th century. So the record is very close to the event reported. The relation to Yazdegard is historically very credible. 60 The report does not say that Christians were involved in the trade with India and China and does not exclude it either. It only makes the statement that there was a trade between Fārs, India and China in the 5th century. No reason is given why the patriarch was chosen to make investigation into the alleged piracy. To conclude from this episode that Christians of the Church of the East were among the merchants of the Gulf, is speculation. 61

58 59 60 61

Fiey (1969: 59). Scher (1910: 324–325); Wood (2013: 9). Wood (2013: 9–10). See Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 42–47); Jullien – Jullien (2003: 176).

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A LIFE OF ABRAHAM OF KASHKAR Abraham of Kashkar (~500–588) is quite often referred to by archaeologists 62 as a proof that Christians of the Church of the East participated as merchants in the sea trade with India. The ultimate source for this information is a citation in an article of Mingana referring to an unpublished Syriac Manuscript: 63 “I was a merchant of the number of those who trade and travel on the sea. It happened to us that on our way back from the country of the Indians, our ship broke up, and while the seamen were repairing it, I went a little away from my companions and slept. There were so many sailors that the ship’s crew was disturbed. They were around 300 men in it. And I don’t know why they ignored me. As however, I woke up from my sleep, there was no boot and no companions. I deemed it intelligent, that difficulty and death, repetition of pain, which is shedding myself in the sea, is not praise worthy. I rested on the island, so it is not possible [for the sea] to devour me ”. 64

‫ ܓܕܫ ܕܝܢ ܟܕ ܣܠܩܢܢ ܡܢ‬.‫)ܐܢܐ ܬܓܪܐ ܐܝܬܝ ܗܘܝܬ ܡܢ ܢܚܬܝ ܝܡܐ ܒܐܠܦܐ ܘܥܒܕܝ ܥܒܕܐ ܒܡܝܐ ܣܓܝܐܐ‬ ‫ ܟܕ ܕܝܢ ܡܚܝܨܝܢ ܗܘܝܢ ܠܗ �ܠܦܐ ܢܦܩܬ ܩܠܝܠ ܠܗܠ ܡܢ ܚܒܪܝ‬.‫ܒܝܬ ܗܢܕܘܝܐ �ܦܐ ܕܡܪܕܝܬܢ ܐܬܬܒܪܬ‬ ‫ ܗܢܘܢ ܕܝܢ �ܦܪܐ ܟܕ ܡܢ ܣܓܐܐ ܕܐܢܫܘܬܐ ܕܒܐܠܦܐ ܐܬܕܘܕܘ؛ ܗܘ ܕܝܬܝܪ ܚܣܝܪ ܐܝܟ ܬܠܬܡܐܐ ܐܢܫܝܢ‬.‫ܘܕܡܟܬ‬ .‫ ܟܕ ܕܝܢ ܢܕܬ ܡܢ ܫܢܬܝ ܠܝܬ �ܦܐ ܘ� ܚܒܪܝ‬.‫ ܘ� ܚܒܡ ܐܢܐ ܡܛܠ ܐܝܕܐ ܥܠܬܐ ܛܥܐܘܢܝ‬.‫ܐܝܬ ܗܘܘ ܒܗ‬ ‫ ܕܐܫܕܐ ܢܦܫܖ ܒܝܡܐ � ܡܫܒܚ ܗܘܝܬ ܘܕܐܟܬܪ‬.‫ܢܬܚܫܒ ܦܪܘܫܐ ܡܢ ܢܦܫܗ ܕܐܝܕܐ ܥܩܬܐ ܘܡܘܬܐ ܬܢܝܢܐ ܚܫܬ‬ 65 (.‫ܒܓܙܪܬܐ ܠܝܬ ܗܘܐ ܠܝ ܡܐܟܘܠܬܐ‬ The manuscript is not dated. According to Mingana, the paleographical analysis indicates that it was written around 1520. Abraham of Kashkar was a monk, founder and abbot of the “Great Monastery” on Mount Izla. He was born in Kashkar (later al-Wāsiṭ in today southern Iraq). Before founding the “Great Monastery” as a monk, he traveled a lot. Several biographical accounts are preserved. 66 The cited episode is not found in any other “lives” of Abraham of Kashkar, though we have different “lives” of him. The question is how credible this information is. In the contexts of the archaeological evidence, it is not excluded that merchants from Mesopotamia or Fārs were trading with India. However, the peak was in the 8th to 10th centuries, and not in the 6th century. It is not clear which region is meant by “land of India”.

62 63 64 65 66

For example Whitehouse – Williamson (1973: 47); Colless (1969: 19). Mingana (1933: 508). Partial translation: Mingana (1926: 455); cursive writing is translated by the author. Mingana (1926: 511). Tamcke (2004).

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A NOTICE OF BAR SAHDÊ Another merchant, who is said to have become monk, is Bar Sahdê: “Saint Rabban Bar-Sahdê, who founded a monastery in the village of Baruqa (?), near the monastery of Gamrê (?). – His family was from the city of Dêrin, which is on an island in the Qataraye sea. He went down with the merchants, by sea, to the country of India. On one of these trips, they were surprised by the pirates who killed those who were with him in the ship. He then made this vow: If I escape, I will become a monk. None of those in the ship escaped – except him. He then went to Rabban Shabuhr monastery which gave him the habit; then he came to Rabban 'Abda and became his disciple”. 67

‫ ܕܢܝܨܒ ܥܘܡܪܐ ܕܒܪܘܩܐ ܩܪܝܬܐ ܕܒܫܒܒܘܬ ܥܘܡܪܐ ܕܓܡܪܐ‬: ‫)ܕܩܕܝܫܐ ܪܒܢ ܒܪ ܣܗܕܐ‬ ‫ ܘܥܡ ܬܓܪܐ ܒܝܡܐ ܢܚܬ ܗܘܐ‬.‫܀ ܒܓܢܣܗ ܡܢ ܕܝܪܝܢ ܡܕܝܢܬܐ ܕܒܓܙܪܬܐ ܕܝܡܐ ܕܩܛܪܝܐ‬ ‫ ܘܒܚܕ ܡܢ ܙܒܢܝܢ ܟܕ ܗܘ ܪܕܐ ܒܝܡܐ ܆ ܢܦܠܘ ܥܠܝܗܘܢ ܠܣܛܝܐ ܆ ܘܩܛܠܘ‬.‫�ܬܪܐ ܕܗܢܕܘܝܐ‬ ‫ ܘ� ܦܫ ܡܢ ܐܠܦܗ ܣܬܪ‬.‫ ܘܢܕܪ ܢܕܪܐ ܆ ܕܐܢ ܡܫܬܘܙܒ܆ ܗܘܐ ܝܚܝܕܝܐ‬.‫ܠܚܒܪܘܗܝ ܕܒܐܠܦܐ‬ ‫ ܘܐܬܐ ܠܘܬ‬.‫ ܗܝܕܝܢ ܐܬܐ ܠܥܘܡܪܐ ܕܪܒܢ ܫܒܘܪ܆ ܘܝܗܒ ܠܗ ܪܒܢ ܫܒܘܪ ܐܣܟܡܐ‬.‫ܡܢܗ‬ 68 (.‫ܪܒܢ ܥܒܕܐ܆ ܘܗܘܐ ܠܗ ܠܬܠܡܝܕܐ‬

The notice is given in the Book of Chastity, whose author is Išoʿdnaḥ (9th century), metropolitan of Prath d’Mayshan (later called Baṣra). This book is about monastic foundations in the late Sasanian and early Arab periods. 69 Bar Sahdê lived in the 7th century according to the tradition. He was born in Dayrin, on the island of Tārūt in the Persian Gulf. Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn (1179– 1229) reported that musk from India was traded in the port of Dayrin. Dayrin became diocese of the East Syrian Church in 410. Already during the times of Muhammad some people converted to Islam, but the Church of the East continued to be strong. 70 The story is credible, though it has legendary characteristics. Bar Sahdê is not known from any other sources. Unknown is also the region the author called “India”. A LIFE OF HERMIT YONAN At the end of the 4 century a hermit named Yonan is reported to have been priest, monk and archimandrite of the monastery of St. Thomas in India. The th

67 68 69 70

French translation: Chabot (1896: 38). Chabot (1896: 45). Brock (2020) and Fiey (1966: 431–450). Fiey (1969: 213–214).

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life is written by a certain Zadōi. 71 The monastery is situated on the black island south of the country Beth Ḳaṭrāye. According to Mingana the story presupposes “a constant intercourse between South Persia and South Mesopotamia on the one hand and South-East Arabia on the other”. 72 As Mingana pointed out, the Black Island is generally understood to designate Sri Lanka or the Coromandal Coast. The Acta gives the following information on the location of the island: 1. in the vicinity of a town called Milon, where people are finishing pearls. 2. its situated at a distance of six days journey from the town of Maron, 3. it had no grapes, but mainly dates and many palm trees, 4. wine used to come from Persia, 5. it had crabs of an enormous size, 6. it was a bishopric. Putting all this information together, Mingana thinks that it was a small island south of Beth Ḳaṭrāye 73 and has nothing to do with the south India coast or Sri Lanka. TOPOGRAPHY OF COSMAS INDICOPLEUSTES In the middle of the 6th century Cosmas Indicopleustes writes his Christian Topography. It is the most significant source of this period with regard to the Christians in India and Sri Lanka. He reports: “This is a large oceanic island lying in the Indian sea. By the Indians it is called Sielediba, but by the Greeks Taprobanê, and therein is found the hyacinth stone. It lies on the other side of the pepper country. Around it are numerous small islands all having fresh water and cocoa-nut trees. They nearly all have deep water close up to their shores. The great island, as the natives report, has a length of three hundred gaudia, that is, of nine hundred miles, and it is of the like extent in breadth. There are two kings in the island, and they are at feud the one with the other. The one has the hyacinth country, and the other the rest of the country where the harbour is and the centre of trade. It is a great mart for the people in those parts. The island has also a church of Persian Christians who have settled there, and a Presbyter who is appointed from Persia, and a Deacon and a complete ecclesiastical ritual. But the natives and their kings are heathens. In this island they have many temples, and on one, which stands on an eminence, there is a hyacinth as large as a great pine-cone, fiery red, and when seen flashing from a distance, especially if the sun's rays are playing round it, a matchless sight. The island being, as it is, in a central position, is much frequented by ships from all parts of India and from Persia and Ethiopia, and it likewise sends out many of its own. And from the remotest countries I mean Tzinista and other trading places, it receives silk, aloes, cloves, sandalwood and other products, and these again are passed on to marts on this side, such as Male, where pepper grows, and to Calliana which exports copper and 71 72 73

Bedjan (1890: 466–525). Mingana (1926: 450). Mingana (1926: 452).

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Harald Suermann sesame-logs, and cloth for making dresses, for it also is a great place of business. And to Sindu also where musk and castor is procured and androstachys, and to Persia and the Homerite country, and to Adulé. And the island receives imports from all these marts which we have mentioned and passes them on to the remoter ports, while, at the same time, exporting its own produce in both directions. Sindu is on the frontier of India, for the river Indus, that is, the Phison, which discharges into the Persian Gulf, forms the boundary between Persia and India. The most notable places of trade in India are these: Sindu, Orrhotha, Calliana, Sibor, and then the five marts of Male which export pepper: Parti, Mangarouth, Salopatana, Nalopatana, Poudopatana. Then out in the ocean, at the distance of about five days and nights from the continent, lies Sielediba, that is Taprobanê. And then again on the continent is Marallo, a mart exporting chank shells, then Caber which exports alabandenum, and then farther away is the clove country, then Tzinista which produces the silk. Beyond this there is no other country, for the ocean surrounds it on the east. This same Sielediba then, placed as one may say, in the centre of the Indies and possessing the hyacinth receives imports from all the seats of commerce and in turn exports to them, and is thus itself a great seat of commerce. Now I must here relate what happened to one of our countrymen, a merchant called Sopatrus, who used to go thither on business, but who to our knowledge has now been dead these five and thirty years past. Once on a time he came to this island of Taprobanê on business, and as it chanced a vessel from Persia put into port at the same time with himself. So the men from Adulé with whom Sopatrus was, went ashore, as did likewise the people of Persia, with whom came a person of venerable age and appearance. Then, as the way there was, the chief men of the place and the custom-house officers received them and brought them to the king. The king having admitted them to an audience and received their salutations, requested them to be seated. Then he asked them: In what state are your countries, and how go things with them? To this they replied, they go well. Afterwards, as the conversation proceeded, the king inquired: Which of your kings is the greater and the more powerful? The elderly Persian snatching the word answered: Our king is both the more powerful and the greater and richer, and indeed is King of Kings, and whatsoever he desires, that he is able to do. Sopatrus on the other hand sat mute. So the king asked: Have you, Roman, nothing to say? What have I to say, he rejoined, when he there has said such things? but if you wish to learn the truth you have the two kings here present. Examine each and you will see which of them is the grander and the more powerful. The king on hearing this was amazed at his words and asked, How say you that I have both the kings here? You have, replied Sopatrus, the money of both — the nomisma of the one, and the drachma, that is, the miliarision of the other. Examine the image of each, and you will see the truth. The king thought well of the suggestion, and, nodding his consent, ordered both the coins to be produced. Now the Roman coin had a right good ring, was of bright metal and finely shaped, for pieces of this kind are picked for export to the island. But the miliarision, to say it in one word, was of silver, and not to be compared with the gold coin. So the king after he had turned them this way and that, and had attentively examined both, highly commended the nomisma, saying that the Romans were certainly a splendid, powerful, and sagacious people. So he ordered great honour to be paid to Sopatrus, causing him to be mounted on an elephant, and conducted round the city with drums beating and high state. These circumstances were told us by Sopatrus himself and his companions, who had accompanied him

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to that island from Adulé; and as they told the story, the Persian was deeply chagrined at what had occurred”. 74

In Book III he gives further information about Christians in India and Sri Lanka: “Even in Taprobanê, an island in Further India, where the Indian sea is, there is a Church of Christians, with clergy and a body of believers, but I know not whether there be any Christians in the parts beyond it. In the country called Male, where the pepper grows, there is also a church, and at another place called Calliana there is moreover a bishop, who is appointed from Persia”. 75

It is not easy to identify Cosmas Indicopleustes. The name Cosmas and the epithet μοναχός occurs only in one manuscript of the 11th century and it is doubtful that he was a monk. Also, the epithet Ἰνδικοπλεύστης is doubtful. It is only mentioned once in the text that he says that he embarked on sea voyage to India, but it was stopped on account of the stormy weather, and they sailed to the nearest port in Africa. 76. The text states that the Christian Topography was written twenty-five years after the visit of the port Adulé when the Axumite King Kaleb ʾƎllä ʾAṣbəḥa went to war against the Himyarites. It seems that the Topography was written around 547/550. Cosmas’ life centered at that time in Alexandria.77 Faller states that Cosmas was likely an adherent of the Church of the East. 78 Cosmas states that he had made commercial voyages “in the three gulfs, the Roman, the Arabian and the Persian, [he] will from seafaring men have obtained accurate information regarding the different places”.79 The three gulfs are the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.80 Cosmas distinguishes “inner India”, which is the Axumite Ethiopia, Africa and Arabia from India. 81 So it is certain that he meant the Indian Subcontinent. The Christian Topography could have been ended after Chapter 10. Book 11 and 12 are regarded as appendix, extracts from the otherwise lost books 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81

“Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography (1897) Pp. 358–373. Book 11,” accessed May 31, 2020; critical edition: Wolska-Conus (2006: bk. xi, 13–19). “Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography (1897) Pp. 91–128. Book 3,” accessed June 11, 2020; critical edition: Uminska – Lemerle (1968, bk. iii, 65). Faller (2011: 194–195); Elweskiöld (2005: 6); other authors think that the travel to India took place: Jose – Mohanty (2017: 106). Faller (2011: 195). Faller (2011: 197); Schneider (2010: 9). Uminska – Lemerle (1968: bk. ii, 29). Faller (2011: 198). Andrade (2018: 84).

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Geography and Astronomy. 82 The oldest manuscript does not contain chapter 11 and 12; manuscripts from 11th century start to have the Chapter 11 and 12. 83 Book 11, which contains the information about the sea trade with India and Sri Lanka has also descriptions of animals and plants from Africa, India and Sri Lanka. Chapter 11 is based on good sources on trade routes and on matters of local flora, fauna and geography. 84 Chapter 11 is not an appendix written later by a later author. That is clear from the Prologue A’, where the author invites the reader to read after Topography Geography and Astronomy. 85 The text gives some information about Christians of the Church of East, Sri Lanka and the participation of the Indian ports in the sea trade. He mentions several harbors in India: - Sindu (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known): It is located near the estuary of the river Indus. According to Cosmas this region was also the border of Iran and India. So Sindu was the northernmost Indian harbor. - Orrhotha, (identified with Saurashtra in Gujarat) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known) - Calliana, (identified with Kalyan in Mahahrashtra or Quilon in Kerala) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known): If there is a geographical order in the enumeration it must be Kalyan. This would be supported by the statement in Book II: “In the country called Male, ... and at another place called Calliana” - Sibor, (identified with Sindabor oder Chandrapura in Goa) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known) - five marts of Male (that is Malabar) ⸰ Parti, (non-identified) ⸰ Mangarouth, (identified with Mangalore in Karnataka) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known) ⸰ Salopatana, (non-identified) ⸰ Nalopatana, (sometimes identified with Valapattanam in Kerala) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known) ⸰ Poudopatana (identified with Pudopatana in Kerala) (no archaeological survey on the period of the first millennium is known) 82 83 84 85

Schneider (2007). Elweskiöld (2005: 8). Faller (2011: 211). Schneider (2007: 610) and (2010: 12–21).

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None of the South Indian harbors have been excavated and consequently no evidence for Iranian settlement or trade with the Iranian region or with the Persian Gulf came to light and no evidence for a Christian settlement was found. But Cosmas Indicopleustes is a credible source and it is possible that these harbors participated in the trade with the Persian Gulf region in the 6th century. But he does not give any information about Christian participation in the trade. The same is valid for the northern harbors where excavations did not bring any evidence for sea trade or Christian settlement in the first millennium to light. In book II Cosmas states that there was a bishop appointed by the Persian Church in Callinia (Kalyan), Mahahrashtra. A seat of a bishop means also that there was a significant community of the Church of the East. Whether the bishop in Calliana was a bishop for all members of the Church of the East in India or whether there have been other bishops between Kalyan and Sri Lanka is not known. For Male (Malabar) Cosmas only states that there were Christians, but he does not mention a bishop. With regard to modern Sri Lanka, Cosmas give much more information about the sea trade and the Christian presence: there were Persian Christians living on the island, they had a presbyter from Persia and a deacon. The kings (and their folk) were “heathens”. At the end he tells about a discussion between a Roman and a Persian merchant in front of the king. This information means that there was a stable Persian Christian community of merchants, but no local Christians. The Christians were merchants and the Persians were in competition with Roman merchants. As a Roman Christian community is not mentioned, it seems that the Romans did not have a (strong) emporium in this harbor and were the weaker part in the sea trade. Excavations in Mantai confirm the story of Cosmas. The found baked clay bulla of the 6th or 7th century with an East-Syrian cross fits well with the report as well as the cross found in the former capital probably belonging to a religious building, possibly of the 8th century. Also, the period of the report of Cosmas fits well with the results of the excavations. FIQH AL-NAṢRĀNĪYA Fiqh al-naṣrānīya is a compilation of juridical literature of the Church of the East. It was written by Ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib (d. 1043), a member of the Church of the East. He wrote books on different subjects. In his book Fiqh al-naṣrānīya four

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texts mention canon laws with regard to India. They are not in chronological order. “As far as distant countries like China and India are concerned, until the days of Timothy, because of the difficulty of the ways, the bishops used to gather and ordain a metropolitan for them; and because of riots that broke out and (because) some rebelled against these chairs since the days of Mar Timothy (this regulation only applied until his time)”.

‫”واﻟﺒﻼد اﻟﺒﻌﯿﺪة ﻛﺎﻟﺼﯿﻦ واﻟﮭﻨﺪ وﻛﺎن اﻟﻰ اﯾﺎم طﯿﻤﺎﺛﻮس ﻟﺼﻌﻮﺑﺔ اﻟﻄﺮق ﯾﺠﺘﻤﻊ اﻻﺳﺎﻗﻔﺔ وﯾﺴﯿﻤﻮن‬ 86 “‫ﻣﻄﺮاﻧﺎ ﻟﮭﺎ وﻷﺟﻞ اﺿﻄﺮاب ﺟﺮى وﺗﻮﺛﺐ ﻗﻮم ﻋﻠﻰ ھﺬه اﻟﻜﺮاﺳﻰ ﻣﻦ اﯾﺎم ﻣﺎر طﯿﻤﺎﺛﻮس‬ “In Timothy's letter to the Indians it is stated that when choosing the metropolitan and who is to be ordained, he should first listen not to the king but to the patriarch; only then is his affair to be passed on to the king; he should be understandable, godly and knowledgeable in the scriptures. In his letter to Arkn, the leader of the faithful in India, he says that if it is for the metropolitan that his bishops under him ordain him, it is for the priests that they ordain the bishops, and for the deacon that they ordain the priests, and the higher submits to and subordinates to the lower. ...”

‫”وﻣﻦ رﺳﺎﻟﺔ طﯿﻤﺎﺛﻮس اﻟﻰ اھﻞ اﻟﮭﻨﺪ اﻻ ﯾﺘﺒﻌﻮا ﻓﻲ اﺧﺘﯿﺎر اﻟﻤﻄﺮان ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﻟﻜﻦ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻔﻄﺮك‬ .‫اوﻻ وﻣﻦ ﯾﺤﻀﺮ ﻟﯿﺴﺎم وﺣﯿﻨﺌﺬ ﯾﻨﺘﮭﻰ اﻣﺮه اﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﻠﻚ وﯾﻜﻮن ذا ﻋﻘﻞ وﻣﺨﺎﻓﺔ � وﻣﻌﺮﻓﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻜﺘﺐ۔‬ ‫وﻣﻦ رﺳﺎﻟﺘﮫ اﻟﻰ ارﻛﻦ ﻣﺘﻘﺪم اﻟﻤﺆﻣﻨﯿﻦ ﺑﺎﻟﮭﻨﺪ اﻧﮫ ﻣﺘﻰ ﺗﻢ ﻟﻠﻤﻄﺮان ان ﯾﺴﯿﻤﮫ ﻣﻦ دوﻧﮫ ﻣﻦ اﺳﺎﻗﻔﺘﮫ‬ 87 “‫ﻓﻠﯿﺘﻢ ﻟﻠﻘﺴﺎن ان ﯾﺴﯿﻤﻮا اﻻﺳﺎﻗﻔﺔ واﻟﺸﻤﺎﻣﺴﺔ ﻟﻠﻘﺴﺎن وﯾﻜﻮن اﻷﻋﻠﻰ ﯾﺨﻀﻊ ﻟﻸدون ۔۔۔‬ “At the time of the Īšōʿyahb they (= metropolitans) were installed in Ḥolwān, Herāt, Samarqand, India and China” 88

“‫”وﻓﻲ ﻋﮭﺪ اﯾﺸﻮﻋﯿﺐ رﺗﺒﺖ ﺑﺤﻠﻮان وھﺮاة وﺳﻤﺮﻗﻨﺪ واﻟﮭﻨﺪ واﻟﺼﯿﻦ‬

“The areas of Moṣul, al-Ahwāz, Persis, S`LMWṢL, Gundēšāpūr, India and China belong to Thomas's mission” 89

86 87 88 89

“‫”ﻓﺒﻼد اﻟﻤﻮﺻﻞ واﻻھﻮاز وﻓﺎرس ﺳﺎﻟﻤﻮﺻﻞ وﺟﻨﺪﯾﺴﺎﺑﻮر واﻟﮭﻨﺪ واﻟﺼﯿﻦ ﻣﻦ ﺗﻠﻤﺎذ ﺗﻮﻣﺎ‬

Hoenerbach – Spies (1957: 118). Hoenerbach – Spies (1957: 119). Hoenerbach – Spies (1957: 121). Hoenerbach – Spies (1957: 138).

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All four texts show the dependency of the church in India on the patriarchate of the Church of the East. According to Fiqh al-naṣrānīya there was a metropolitan in India and several bishops. It is certain that India means here the Indian subcontinent. What is not mentioned is the seat of the metropolitan or those of the bishops. We do not know whether they were located in the harbor towns. The reason for the fact that the metropolitan is exempted to come to Baghdad for ordination until the time of Patriarch Timothy (727/8 or 740– 823), is the difficult and unsecure route. Is this an indication that the metropolitan did not live in a harbor town but had to take first an over-land route? According to Fiqh al-naṣrānīya the Indian metropolitan was installed under Īšōʿyahb II of Gdala (628–645), however a letter of Īšōʿyahb III (649– 659) shows that Indian bishops still depended on the metropolitan of Rēw Ardašīr. In his letter Īšōʿyahb III reproaches the metropolitan of Rēw Ardašīr with the refusal of the ordination of a bishop for India. That means that the bishop or the bishops of India still depended on the metropolitan of Rēw Ardašīr. LETTER XIV OF ĪŠŌʿYAHB III OF ADIABENE “I remember you, oh God loving brother. It is as if you have closed the doors of the episcopal ordination in front of the many people of India. And you have deprived the gift of God on account of corruptible interest of lust of the body. Likewise, those who preceded us closed the door of the gift of our Lord in front of your need, how much illusion they have now in public affair, maybe you learn about it. As much as through good transmitter proceeded and proceed the gift of God in canonical ways, the world is filled with bishops, priests and faithful like stars in the sky, when day by day they are augmented. But in your region, whenever you engage yourselves in the rebellion against the ecclesiastical canons. Phantasm of priestly succession from the people in India, it is seated in the darkness, away from the light of the divine teaching, that comes through bishops of truth not only in India but from the edge of the border of the Kingdom of Fars, and until those called Qalah, that is a place a thousand two hundred parasanges away, but also in Fars your region”.

‫ܐܬܕܟܪ ܕܝܢ ܥܡ ܗܠܝܢ ܐܘ ܐܚܘܢ ܪܚܡ | ܐܠܗܐ ܐܦ ܗܝ ܕܐܠܘ ܐܝܟ ܕܐܚܕܬܘܢ ܐܢܬܘܢ‬ ‫ ܘܓܠܙܬܘܢ ܡܘܗܒܬܐ‬.‫ܬܪܥܐ ܕܣܝܡܝܕܐ ܐܦܣܩܘܦܝܐ ܒܐܦܝ ܥܡܡܐ ܣܓܝܐܐ ܕܒܗܢܕܝܐ‬ ‫ܖܐܠܗܐ ܡܛܠ ܝܘܬܪܢܐ ܡܬܚܒܠܢܐ ܕܡܬܪܣܝܢ ܠܪܓܬܐ ܦܓܪܢܝܬܐ؛ ܗܟܢܐ ܐܚܕܘ ܐܦ‬ ‫ܗܢܘܢ ܕܠܥܠ ܡܢܢ؛ ܬܪܥܐ ܕܡܘܗܒܬܗ ܕܡܪܝܐ ܒܐܦܝ ܣܢܝܩܘܬܐ ܕܝܠܟܘܢ؛ ܕܒܐܝܢܐ ܦܣܡ‬ �‫ܣܒܪܐ ܐܝܬܝܗܘܢ ܗܘܘ ܗܫܐ ܣܘܥܪܢܐ ܕܓܘܐ؛ ܟܒܪ ܡܫܟܚܝܢ ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܠܡܕܥ ܐ‬ ‫ܟܡܐ ܕܒܡܝܒܠܢܐ ܛܒܐ ܪܕܬ ܘܪܕܝܐ ܡܘܗܒܬܗ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܒܫܒܝ� ܩܢܘܢܝܐ؛ ܗܐ ܐܬܡܠܝ‬ ‫ܥܠܡܐ ܐܦܣܩܘܦܐ ܘܟܗܢܐ ܘܡܗܝܡܢܐ ܐܝܟ ܟܘܟܒܐ ܕܒܫܡܝܐ ܟܕ ܡܬܬܘܣܦܝܢ ܝܘܡ ܡܢ‬ ‫ ܘܒܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܝܢ ܕܝܠܟܘܢ ܡܢ ܐܡܬܝ ܕܚܛܦܬܘܢ ܠܢܦܫܟܘܢ ܡܪܘܕܘܬܐ ܕܡܢ ܩܢܘܢܐ‬.‫ܝܘܡ‬ ‫ ܦܣܡ ܝܘܒ� ܟܗܢܝܐ ܡܢ ܥܡܡܐ ܕܒܗܢܕܝܐ ܘܝܬܒܬ ܒܚܫܘܟܐ ܕܡܢ ܢܘܗܪܐ‬.‫ܥܕܬܢܝܐ‬

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‫ ܠܘ ܒܠܚܘܕ ܗܢܕܝܐ ܕܡܢ ܣܦܪܝ ܬܚܘܡܐ‬.‫ܕܡܠܦܢܘܬܐ ܐܠܗܝܬܐ ܕܒܝܕ ܐܦܣܩܘܦܐ ܕܫܪܪܐ‬ �‫ܕܡܠܟܘܬ ܦܪܣ؛ ܘܥܕܡܐ ܠܗܝ ܕܡܬܩܪܝܐ ܩܠܗ ܕܗܘܝܐ ܐܪܥܐ ܐܠܦ ܘܡܐܬܝܢ ܦܪܣܚܝܢ؛ ܐ‬ 90 .‫ܘܗܝ ܦܪܣ ܗܕܐ ܕܝܠܟܘܢ‬ Īšōʿyahb III of Adiabene died in 659. He was patriarch of the Church of the East from 649 onwards during the transition from Persian to Arab rule. A collection of 106 letters is preserved. The letters XIV and XVI were written when he was patriarch. 91 In letter XIV, Īšōʿyahb complains that the bishop of Rēw Ardašīr refuses to ordain bishops for India. Rēw Ardašīr was still the metropolitan seat for India. There is no information of the seats in India for which the bishops should have been ordained, neither we know their number. If the bishops had to be ordained in Rēw Ardašīr, it means that the church in India still had not a Metropolitan status and could not ordain their own bishops. But according to Fiqh al-naṣrānīya India already obtained the status of a Metropolitan status 92. In letter XVI Īšōʿyahb speaks about the “remote people of India” (‫ )ܘܡܢ ܥܡܡܐ ܪܚܝܩܐ ܕܒܗܢܕܝܐ‬93. It gives no further information on the church of India or about the localization of India according to Patriarch Īšōʿyahb. LETTER XIII OF PATRIARCH TIMOTHY I In a Letter (XIII) to his friend Sergius, Patriarch Timothy I states that many monks travel by sea to India and China with only staff and a bag. �‫ܣܓܝܐܐ ܝܚܝܕܝܐ ܥܒܪܝܢ ܝܡܡܐ ܠܒܝܬ ܗܢܕܘܝܐ ܘܠܒܝܬ ܨܝܢܝܐ؛ ܒܚܘܛܪܐ ܘܒܬܪܡ‬ 94 ‫ܒܠܚܘܕ‬

“Many monks have crossed the seas to Beth Hinduwaye and Beth Sinaye with only a staff and a bag”.

Timothy was patriarch of the Church of the East from 780 until 823. As patriarch, he organized and reorganized the churches in China, Tibet, Yemen, India and Central Asia. More than 200 letters written by Timothy are known, but only 59 survived. In his letters, Timothy did not mention India more than 90 91 92 93 94

Duval (1904: 251–252). Brock (2011). See above. Duval (1904: 258). Braun (1953a: 107) and Braun (1953b: 70).

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once. 95 A letter to the Indian Christians with regard to the election of a bishop is lost. 96 In his letter XIII, Timothy does not give any information or hint where Beth Hinduwaye is located, but he states that it was reached by sea. More significant is the information that monks traveled by sea to India 97. From other sources we know that some of those who participated in the sea trade became later monks. Here we learn that also monks were traveling to India and China. These monks probably had to serve the Persian communities as priests and it is possible that they were also active missionaries among the local population. But nothing is said about it. MUḪTAṢAR AL-AḪBĀR AL-BIʿĪYA In the 11th century the metropolitan seat in India seems to be abolished according to an information from Muḫtaṣar al-aḫbār al-biʿīya: “83 order of the Nestorian seats On what was decided at the time of the presence of Marutha, the bishop of Maypherqaṭ, and his meeting with Mar Ishaq the Catholicos in Iraq. And what the Fathers of the East agreed upon after that, and the work on it until this time. ... Twelve: the Metropolitan of India ceased to exist in this time on account of the impossibility to leave it for coming here.”

‫ ﺗﺮﺗﯿﺐ ﻛﺮاﺳﻲ اﻟﻨﺴﻄﻮر‬٨٣” ‫ﻋﻠﻲ ﻣﺎ ﺗﻘﺮر وﻗﺖ ﺣﻀﻮر ﻣﺮوﺛﺎ اﺳﻘﻒ ﻣﯿﻔﺎرﻗﯿﻦ واﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﮫ ﻣﻊ ﻣﺎر اﺳﺤﻖ اﻟﺠﺎﺛﻠﯿﻖ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮاق۔ وﻣﺎ‬ ‫ ۔۔۔‬98 ‫اﺗﻔﻖ ﻋﻠﯿﮫ اﺑﺎء اﻟﻤﺸﺮق ﺑﻌﺪ ذﻟﻚ وﻋﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﯿﮫ اﻟﻲ ھﺬا اﻟﻮﻗﺖ‬ 99

“‫اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ ﻋﺸﺮ۔ ﻣﻄﺮان اﻟﮭﻨﺪ ﺑﻄﻞ ﻓﻲ ھﺬا اﻟﻮﻗﺖ ﻻﻣﺘﻨﺎع ﻣﻦ ﯾﺨﺮج اﻟﻲ ھﻨﺎك‬

The Muḫtaṣar al-aḫbār al-biʿīya was probably composed at the beginning of the 11th century and survived in a unique manuscript dated 1137 CE. It was written in Baghdad, the author was a member of the Church of the East and native from Aleppo. The editor Haddad thinks that it could be a lost part of the Chronicle of Seert. But there are doubts about it. 100 95 96 97 98 99 100

Suermann (2004). Brock (2011: 411). Berti (2011). Haddad (2000: ۱۲۲). Haddad (2000: ۱۲۹). Haddad (1986: préface).

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Marutha of Maypherqaṭ and the Catholicos Mar Isḥaq held a synod in 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. The official account is preserved in the Synodicon Orientale, where in canon 21 five metropolitan seats are mentioned. The Muḫtaṣar here gives a list of Metropolitan seats down to the time of its writing (beginning of the 11th century) or to the time the manuscript was copied (1137). Under number 12, the metropolitan seat of India is mentioned. If the metropolitan seat of India was abolished in the 11th or 12th century because the metropolitan could not leave the country — according to Muḫtaṣar, the connection between Persia and India must have been interrupted either for political or for economic reasons, at least for the Christian hierarchy. But the fact that no metropolitan was consecrated or named does not mean that there was no Christian community or that there were no more bishops. It could mean that the bishops of India had to be consecrated elsewhere. If the metropolitan seat was not in a harbor town, political or religious reasons or war in an Indian kingdom could have prevented from traveling. Christian sources give no information on the reasons. RESULTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LITERARY SOURCES The Christian literary sources are marginal and do not have much information. Information of the oldest time, that is the 4th century, seems to be a later invention or adaptation. This does not mean that there were no Christian connections between Fārs and India or Sri Lanka. But we do not have reliable literary sources. We have better information from the 5th century. The Chronicle of Seert is reliable when it narrates about the relation between Yazdegard and the Patriarch Aḥai. It reports about the sea trade between Fārs on the one hand and India and China on the other. However, it gives no information about any involvement of members of the Church of the East in sea trade. But it seems to be likely, as the patriarch was asked for an inspection into a sea trade matter. The two stories about former sailors becoming monks, have legendary features. Having an accident on the sea, surviving this accident and then becoming monk seems to be a motif in Christian literature. The two stories mentioned here, are not the only ones: also Frumentius, the future first bishop for Ethiopians went to sea, had an accident and was saved. When he grew up at the king’s court, he started to spread Christianity in Ethiopia and became the bishop for this region. Though the two stories mentioned here, have legendary features, they must have been accepted as credible. This would indi-

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cate that they could have happened. It is possible that in the 6th and 7th centuries sea traders became monks. This presupposes also that members of the Church of the East participated in the sea trade. In the 6th century we have also the extensive report of Cosmas Indicopleustes speaking of parishes with Christians and bishops from Fārs in Sri Lanka and India. Different sources of the time of patriarch Timothy I speak of difficulties for the bishops in India to join the Synod in Baghdad. It seems that the connection between Baghdad and India was cut off in the 9th century for the Christian hierarchy. The seat finally ceased to be in the 11th or 12th century. The literary sources give the impression that the peak of connections between the church of the East in Fārs and in India was in the 5th until the 7th centuries. In this time, at least until the middle of the 7th century Rēw Ardašīr was the metropolis for the Indian bishops. In the 9th century there seems to have been a decline of the connections ending in the abolition of the seat of the metropolitan in India. CONCLUSION Excavations of the harbors under Iranian control show that harbors with a significant Christian population participated in the sea trade with today India, Sri Lanka and East Asia. Members of the Church of the East participated in the trade, some of them must have become later monks, as two traditions show and patriarch Timothy stated it. Rēw Ardašīr was the metropolitan seat for the Indians and had to ordain their bishops. It was a significant harbor so that the sea trade connections could have been useful for the connection between the Mother Church in Fārs and the Church in India and Sri Lanka. It cannot be proved that the monastery on the Kharg island was the center of formation for monks sent to India, Sri Lanka and beyond. However, it cannot be excluded either. Only further excavation can confirm the hypotheses. On the Iranian coast, more excavations are needed in order to supplement the picture of the Iranian sea trade. In India only very few excavations have been carried out in harbors and towns which are traditionally associated with the mission of Saint Thomas and the first Christian communities. Muziris, the harbor where it is said, that Saint Thomas landed, seemed to have had a mainly Roman settlement. Excavations proved that in the harbor there were a stable foreign community creating a market for special needs like wine. A cross found in the region could underline

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the thesis. Also, in Sri Lanka excavations proved the settlement of a Christian community, especially of members of the Church of the East. While the Christian literary sources report on Christian activities in the sea trade and of the Church in India from the 5th to the 8th centuries, excavations prove that the main activity in the trade between India and Fārs took place from the 6th to the 10th centuries. This raises the question of why in the 8th century and onward there were difficulties for the bishops to reach Baghdad and of why the metropolitan seat of India was abolished. The sea connection seemed still functioning. Texts and excavations show that foreign communities with members of the Church of the East were founded in the harbor towns. They settled probably around the emporium and had, if they were big enough, their own religious buildings. Priests and bishops of the Church of the East came from Fārs in order to serve the communities. We do not know if and how local people joined the Church of the East or in what manner the Church of the East undertook missionary work among the local people. We do not know either, why churches in South India survived. It may be because of a successful mission among Indians. In Sri Lanka the Church of the East obviously came to an end and did not survive. The reason may be that missionary activities on the Island were not very successful.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Andrade, Nathanael J (2018) The Journey of Christianity to India in Late Antiquity: Networks and the Movement of Culture, 1st ed., Cambridge, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108296953. Assemani, Guiseppe Simone (1728) Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana: in Qua Manuscriptos Codices Syriacos, Arabicos, Persicos, Turcicos, Hebraicos, Samaritanos, Armenicos, Aethiopicos, Graecos, Aegyptiacos, Ibericos, & Malabaricos, Jussu Et Munificentia Clementis XI. Pontificis Maximi Ex Oriente conquisitos, comparatos, avectos, & Bibliothecae Vaticanae addictos, Recensuit, digessit & genuina scripta à spuriis secrevit, Addita Singulorum Auctorum Vita Joseph Simonius Assemanus Syrus Maronita Sacrae Theologia Doctor, atque in eadem Bibliotheca Vaticana linguarum Syriacae & Arabicae Scriptor, T.3,2 De Syris Nestorianis, Romae. Bedjan, Paul (1890) Acta martyrum et sanctorum, Vol. 1, Parisiis – Lipsiae. Berti, Vittorio (2011) “Idéologie et politique missionnaire de Timothée Ier, patriarche syrooriental (780-823)” in Christelle Jullien (ed.), Itinéraires missionnaires: échanges et identités, Chrétiens en terre d’Iran 4, Cahier de Studia Iranica 44, Paris pp. 71–110. Braun, Oskar (ed.) (1953a) Timothei patriarchae I Epistulae1, Vol. 74, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Louvain. Braun, Oskar (trad.) (1953b) Timothei Patriarchae I Epistulae 1, Vol. 75, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Louvain. Briquel-Chatonnet, Françoise (ed.) (2013), Les églises en monde syriaque, Études syriaques, Vol. 10, Paris. Brock, Sebastian P. (2011) “Thomas Christians”, in Sebastian P. Brock – Aaron M. Butts – George Kiraz – Lucas Van Rompay (eds.) The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 410–414. Brock, Sebastian P. (2020) “Ishoʿdnaḥ.”, in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition, Accessed May 29, 2020, https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Ishodnah. Brock, Sebastian P. (2011) “Ishoʿyahb III of Adiabene”, in Sebastian P. Brock – Aaron M. Butts – George Kiraz – Lucas Van Rompay (eds.) The Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 218–219. Carswell, John – Deraniyagala, Siran – Graham, Alan (2013) Mantai: City by the Sea, Aichwald. Carter, Robert A. (2008) “Christianity in the Gulf during the First Centuries of Islam”, in Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 19, pp. 71–108. Chabot, Jean Baptiste (ed.) (1896) Jésusdenah, évéque de Baçrah. Le livre de la chasteté, Rome, https://ia802705.us.archive.org/2/items/lelivredelachast00ishduoft/lelivredelachast00ishdu oft.pdf. Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (ed.) (1902) Syndicon Orientale ou Recueil de Synodes Nestoriens, Paris. Cherian, P. J. (2010) “Pattanam Excavations and Explorations 2007 & 2008: An Overview”, in Maurizio Forte – Stefano Campana – Claudia Liuzza (eds.) Space, Time, Place: Third International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology: 17th–21st August 2009, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India), BAR [= British Archaeological Reports] International Series 2118, Oxford, pp. 269–274.

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Cherian, P. J. (2011) “Pattanam Archaeological Site: The Wharf Context and the Maritime Exchanges”, in The 2011 Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, 11, Kingston, Rhode Island. Cherian, P. J. (2012) “Pattanam Archaeological Site Evidence of Maritime Exchanges”, in Tamil Civilizsation, 24(1), pp. 22–31. Cherian, P. J. [without date] “Report of the Fifth Season Excavation at Pattanam”, in Pattanam Excavations 2011 Fifth Season Field Report, Trivandrum, pp. 1–10 https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19963.92962. Colless, Brian E. (1969) “Persian Merchants and Missionaries in Medieval Malaya”, in Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 42, pp. 10–47. Coningham, Robin (2006) Anuradhapura: The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salgaha Watta: Volume 2: The Artefacts, Oxford, http://dro.dur.ac.uk/3728/. “Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography (1897) Pp. 91–128. Book 3”, Accessed June 11, 2020. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cosmas_03_book3.htm. “Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography (1897) Pp. 358–373. Book 11”, Accessed May 31, 2020. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cosmas_11_book11.htm. Duval, Rubens (ed.) (1904) Iso’yahb III patriarcha. liber epistularum, Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 11, Leuven, https://archive.org/details/DuvalIshoyahb. Elweskiöld, Birgitta (2005) John Philoponus against Cosmas Indicopleustes: A Christian Controversy on the Structure of the World in Sixth-Century Alexandria, Lund. Faller, Stefan A. (2011) “The World According to Cosmas Indicopleustes – Concepts and Illustrations of an Alexandrian Merchant and Monk”, in Transcultural Studies (2)1, pp. 193–232. Fiey, Jean Maurice (1966) “Îchô`dnah, métropolite de Basra, et son œuvre”, in L’Orient Syrien, 11, pp. 431–450. Fiey, Jean Maurice (1969) “Diocèses syriens orientaux du Golfe persique”, in Mémorial Mgr. Gabriel Khouri-Sarkis (1898–1968), Louvain, pp. 177–218. Gismondi, Henricus (ed. et trad.) (1899) Maris Amri et Slibae de Patriarchis Nestoranorum Commentaria, Romae. Gurukkal, Rajan (2013), “Classical Indo-Roman Trade. A Misnomer in Political Economy”, in Economic & Political Weekly 48, 26–27 pp.66–89. Haddad, Butrus (1986) “Les mansucrits arabes de la bibliothèque de l’Ordre des Moines Chaldéens à Bagdad”, in Khalil Samir (ed.) Actes du deuxième congrès international d’études arabes chrétiennes, Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 226, Roma, pp. 205–210. Haddad, Butrus (ed.) (2000) ‫ﻣﺨﺘﺼﺮ اﻻﺧﺒﺎر اﻟﺒﯿﻌﯿﺔ‬: / Mukhtasar Al-Akhbar Al-Bi’iya (Abrégé de La Chronique de l’Eglise)‫اﻟﺴﻌﺮدي‬, Baghdad, https://ia802301.us.archive.org/27/items/HaddadMukhtasarAlAkhbarAlBiiyya/haddad%20mukhtasar%20al-akhbar%20albi%27iyya.pdf. Hoenerbach, Wilhelm – Spies, Otto (eds.) (1957) Ibn at-Ṭaiyib, Abu-l-Farag Abd-Allah (1957) Fiqh an-Naṣrānīyah: “Das Recht der Christenheit”, Vol. 2, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 167, Louvain. Jose, Cyriac – Mohanty, R. K (2017) “Antiquity of Christianity in India with Special Reference to South Central Kerala”, in Heritage. Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 5, pp. 100–139.

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Jullien, Christelle – Jullien, Florence (2003) “Le Monachisme dans le Golfe Persique six siècles d’histoire”, in Marie-Joseph Steve (ed.) L’Ile de Khārg: une page de l’histoire du Golfe persique et du monachisme oriental, Vol. 1, Civilisations du Proche-Orient1, Neuchâtel. Kotsifou, Chrysi (2007) “Books and Book Production in the Monastic Communities of Byzantine Egypt.” in William E. Klingshirn and Linda Safran (eds.) The Early Christian Book, CUA Studies in Early Christianity. Washington, D.C, pp. 48–66. Kotsifou (2012) „Bookbinding and manuscript illumination in Late Antique and early Medieval monastic circles in Egypt“ in Pedro Monferrer-Sala, Herman Teule, and Sofía Torallas Tovar (eds.) Eastern Christians and Their Written Heritage. Manuscripts, Scribes and Context. Eastern Christian Studies. Leuven; Paris; Walpole, MA, pp. 213–244. Kumar, Ajit – Rajesh, S. V. – Abhayan, Gs – Vinod, V. – Sujana, Stephen (2013) “Indian Ocean Maritime Trade: Evidences from Vizhinjam, South Kerala, India”, in Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, 9, pp. 195–201. Malekandathil, Pius (2010) Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean, Delhi. Mingana, Alphonse. (1933) Catalogue of the Mingana Collection of Manuscripts. Now in the Possession of the Trustees of the Woodbrooke Settlement, Selly Oak, Birmingham. Vol 1. Syriac and Garshūni Manuscripts, Cambridge Mingana, Alphonse. (1926) “The Early Spread of Christianity in India”, in Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 10(2), pp. 435–514, https://doi.org/10.7227/BJRL.10.2.7. Priestman, Seth M. N. (2013) “A Quantitative Archaeological Analysis of Ceramic Exchange in the Persian Gulf and Western Indian Ocean, AD c.400 – 1275”, Ph.D. thesis, University of Southampton, https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/370037/1/PhD%2520THESIS%2520%2528Viva%2520Changes%2529.pdf. Salles, Jean-François; Callot, Olivier, “Les églises antiques de Koweit et du golfe Persique”, in Briquel-Chatonnet, Françoise (ed.) (2013), Les églises en monde syriaque, Études syriaques, Vol. 10, Paris, p. 237–267. Saxcé, Ariane de (2016) “Trade and Cross-Cultural Contacts in Sri Lanka and South India during Late Antiquity (6th–10th Centuries)”, in Heritage. Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 4, p. 39. Scher, Addai (1908) Histoire nestorienne inédite (Chronique de Séert) Première Partie (i), Vol. IV.3, Patrologia Orientalis. Paris, 1908. Scher, Addai (1910) Histoire nestorienne inédite (Chronique de Séert) Première Partie (II), Translated by Pierre Dib, Vol. V.2, Patrologia Orientalis. Paris. Schneider, Horst (2007) “Kosmas Indikopleustes, Christliche Topographie Probleme Der Überlieferung Und Editionsgeschichte”, in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 99(2), https://doi.org/10.1515/BYZS.2006.605. Schneider, Horst (2010) Kosmas Indikopleustes: christliche Topographie: textkritische Analysen, Übersetzung, Kommentar. Indicopleustoi 7, Turnhout. Stern, Benjamin – Connan, Jacques – Blakelock, Eleanor. – Jackman, R. – Coningham, Robin Andrew Evelyn. – Heron, Carl (2008) “From Susa to Anuradhapura: Reconstructing Aspects of Trade and Exchange in Bitumen-Coated Ceramic Vessels Between Iran and Sri Lanka from the Third to the Ninth Centuries Ad*”, in Archaeometry 50, 3, pp. 409–428, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475–4754.2007.00347.x. Steve, Marie-Joseph (2003) L’Ile de Khārg: Une Page de l’histoire Du Golfe Persique et Du Monachisme Oriental, Civilisations Du Proche-Orient 1, Neuchâtel.

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Suermann, Harald (2004) “Timotheos I, †823”, in Wolfgang W. Klein (ed.) Syrische Kirchenväter, Kohlhammer Urban-Taschenbücher, Bd. 587, Stuttgart, pp. 152–167. Tamcke, Martin (2004) “Abraham of Kaschkar †588”, in Wolfgang W. Klein (ed.) Syrische Kirchenväter, Kohlhammer Urban-Taschenbücher, Bd. 587. Stuttgart, pp. 124–132. Tomber, Roberta (2007) “Rome and Mesopotamia – Importers into India in the First Millennium AD”, in Antiquity, 81, 314, pp. 972–988, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00096058. Tomber, Roberta (2015) “The Roman Pottery from Pattanam”, in KS Mathew (ed.) Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and Muziris. New Perspectives on Maritime Trade, New Delhi, pp. 381–394. Uminska, Wanda – Lemerle, Paul (eds.) (1968) Cosmas. Topographie chrétienne T. 1 Sources chrétiennes 141, Paris. Whitehouse, David – Whitcomb, Donald S. – Wilkinson, T. J. (2009) Siraf: History, Topography and Environment. British Institute of Persian Studies Archaeological Monographs Series 1. Oxford.  Whitehouse, David – Williamson, Andrew (1973) “Sasanian Maritime Trade”, in Iran, 11, pp. 29–49. https://doi.org/10.2307/4300483. Wolska-Conus, Wanda (ed.) (2006) Cosmas. Topographie chrétienne. T. 3 Sources chrétiennes 197, Paris. Wood, Philip (2013) The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq, 1st edition, Oxford Early Christian Studies, Oxford.

LANGUAGES, TEXTS AND CONCEPTS

“The names give forgiveness of iniquity, not a man” Some Outcomes on Sasanian Christians’ Onomastics 1 SIMON BRELAUD Summary – What portrait of Sasanian Christians can be drawn from the study of their names? The most important prosopographical documentation of the Sasanian Empire (3rd–7th centuries) concerns the Christians. The question of name choice helps to illustrate the multicultural dimension of this empire. A very valuable collection of Iranian names has already been compiled by Ph. Gignoux, Ch. Jullien and F. Jullien based on Aramaic and Syriac sources. However, these Iranian names have yet to be compared with other Sasanian Christians’ names. By clearly specifying the limits of the onomastic method, such a study of names reveals both profound regional evolutions in the use of names, but also important linguistic influences and, where the persons concerned can be identified as Christian, a great porosity of cultural and religious practices. Thus, it contributes to the existing literature by deepening the understanding of cultural exchange and community interactions within Sasanian Mesopotamia. ‘Such a one is baptized in the name of the Father on the Son and the Spirit.’ And he does not say ‘I baptize’, but ‘is baptized’; For it is not he that baptizes, but the power that is set in the names. The names give forgiveness of iniquity, not a man; And they sow new life in mortality. In their name he that is baptized is baptized – and buried – as in a tomb; And they call and raise him up from his death. Narsay 2

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I would like to thank Jimmy Daccache (Yale University), Flavia Ruani (CNRS, Paris), and Jean-Baptiste Yon (IFPO, Beirut) for their invaluable remarks on a previous version of this article. This article was written with the support of the Center for Advanced Studies ‘Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages’, at the University of Tübingen. Homely XXII. On the Mysteries of the Church and on Baptism. Connolly (1909: 51).

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Among the sources used to better define an ancient population, names are sometimes the only information available, without any details about the history, family, profession, language or origins of the people who bear them. 3 While historical information is not desperately lacking along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers during the Sasanian period (3rd–7th centuries), the study of Persian 4 Christians’ names touches upon the ethnic and cultural diversity of this region. Indeed, Christians did not form a homogeneous community, for it was still a time of the formation and, above all, of the institutionalisation of the different forms of Christianity that had developed there since the 1st and 2nd centuries. 5 Name choice was part of the anthropological dynamics of populations’ interactions and reciprocal influences in terms of practice and culture. It is therefore the mentality that led to the choices – by the parents, relatives, or the name bearers – that we seek to define. The names borne have meaning and reveal a power, as do the names invoked in the incantation bowls or the Trinity name at baptism, as the East Syrian theologian Narsay reminds us in the homily quoted above. 6 This study focuses on the territory where most of the evidence of the Christian presence in the

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For an ethnic group such as the Goths, on which most of the documentation is external, the exercise is also complicated, as shown by Amory (1997: 86–108, 263–72). Indeed, having a Germanic name in the 6th-century Italy can mean to be Goth (not always), though not the other way around. I use the term ‘Persian’ to refer to the inhabitants of the Persian Empire – and not only the inhabitants of the province of Pārs/Fārs. The term ‘Iranian’ has a linguistic connotation. It comes from the Iranian word Ēr, the meaning of which is problematic for the Sasanian period. On the notion of Ērānšahr: Daryaee (2010); Debié (2010:343–344); Payne (2015: 6–10, 66–7). Finally, the epithet ‘East Syrian’ qualifies Christians belonging to the Church of the East – whose language was Syriac –, which did not represent all the Christians of the Sasanian Empire. On the spread of Christianity within the Persian Empire, see Jullien (2002). For references to Jewish Christianity in southern Mesopotamia, see Brelaud – Briquel Chatonnet (2017: 120–2, 130). Supra n. 2. Morony (2003: 97); Shandruk (2012: 31–33, 56). To my knowledge, there is not yet a comprehensive synthesis on the names of Late Antique Christians, but a set of studies of which Yon (2018: 15) recalls the first developments in the early 20th century; hence, the Christianization of Egyptian names has been of particular interest to many scholars. We will cite in this article the more recent works that shed light on the regions east to the Roman Empire.

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Sasanian Empire is found, namely the geographical area between the Euphrates and the Tigris. 7 The large amount of onomastic data regarding Persian Christian populations is one of the reasons why one can focus on this precise case study with some ease. 8 Ph. Gignoux, Ch. Jullien, and F. Jullien have collected Iranian names from the Syriac literature and Aramaic inscriptions; many – but not all – of these names were borne by Christians of the Sasanian Empire. 9 Two of these authors also provided a valuable reflection by defining categories of Iranian names and discussing the logic of name choice among Sasanian Christians more generally. 10 However, some questions remain unanswered, such as the presence of names with Zoroastrian connotations among the Persian Christians, which I will touch on here. These authors and I have mostly used the same sources: firstly, the numerous Syriac literary sources, mainly hagiographical accounts and ecclesiastical histories, which give the most Sasanian Christians’ names – to these I add other texts written in Arabic, Greek, or Armenian discussing Christians of Persia; 11 secondly, 7

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Before its spread towards all of Asia, Christianisation was mainly carried out in the Persian Empire around two areas: northern Mesopotamia between Nisibis and Karka d-Bet Slok, probably evangelised from Edessa; and southern Mesopotamia between SeleuciaCtesiphon and Ḫūzistān. Jullien (2002). To my knowledge, no such studies have been conducted on Jewish-Babylonian material that provides a significant number of names for Sasanian Mesopotamia, both from literary and epigraphic sources. The others are kings, great aristocrats of the empire, or even magi. Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2009). Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006 : 292). The authors concluded the article with the future implications of their efforts to collect Iranian names: “À moyen terme par exemple, des études sur l’onomastique iranienne réalisées à partir d’une recherche systématique dans les sources syriaques pourraient permettre de mieux définir et cerner la notion d’identité chrétienne en Iran. On a eu l’occasion de souligner l’acuité du problème de l’identité pour ces chrétiens perses abjurant le mazdéisme”. The present article extends their reflection beyond Iranian names alone to include other Christians’ names. Syriac literary sources – which I also use – providing Iranian names have been listed in Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006: 281); Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009: 8–11). Among the large number of sources (at least a hundred) consulted by Ch. Jullien, F. Jullien and Ph. Gignoux, many are not translated, such as the Persian martyrs Acts. The other sources I added (20 documents) are mainly the patriarchal Arabic chronicles such as the Chronicle of Siirt, the Muḫtaṣar, and the Liber Turris, the Arab Muslim authors of the Abbasid Period (al-Balāḏurī, al-Dīnawarī, Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, al-Masʿūdī, alŠabuštī, al-Ṭabarī, and Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī), and some Byzantine and Armenian historians

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the abundant epigraphic material specific to Late Antique Mesopotamia, namely incantation bowls, amulets, and seals. 12 Part of the latter material has recently been published and studied extensively and the likely number of Christians’ names identified in it has increased, most of whom were laypeople. These studies enable us to consider the entire Christian population, regardless of the etymology of their names (mainly Iranian and Aramaic) and the documentation concerned (mostly Syriac, Arabic, and Greek sources). In this article, I will discuss the results we might expect from the study of personal names based on literary and epigraphic testimonies from Mesopotamia during the Sasanian period. Firstly, since this documentation must be used with caution, I will discuss the methodological difficulties and interpretation biases that exist for the corpora of available sources on Sasanian Christians’ names. We must question how representative those names may be of all ancient Christian communities, and acknowledge that some documents completely ignore women. Secondly, two name categorisations – according to their language and religious connotation – make it possible to draw different patterns of evolutions and distribution of the names from a geographical and chronological perspective. Finally, I will address some sociological conclusions, and try to identify naming habits among Sasanian Christians.

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(John Malalas, Menander Protector, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Theophanes the Confessor, or Movses Khorenatsi). On the particularity of the sources for the history of Christians in the Persian Empire, see Walker (2002: 51–56). On the literary production coming from the Church of the East, see Debié (2015: 597–647). Scholars now benefit from more epigraphic corpora of Aramaic bowls. M. Moriggi has collected most of the Syriac bowls published so far. Moriggi (2014), (infra “Syr.”). The book edited by Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013) focuses on the Jewish-Babylonian (infra “JAB”) bowls from the Schøyen collection, which I rely on in this paper and which represents only a small part of the available quantity of JAB bowls. For the Mandaic bowls (infra “M”), I rely on the material collected by Yamauchi (1967: 368–371). The publications of these corpora are still ongoing and two recent studies could not be considered here: Bhayro – Ford – Levene – Saar (2018), Ford – Morgenstern (2020). There are also a small number of magic bowls in Middle Persian that remain undeciphered. This means that other Christian clients could be found in the future in other bowls that are already published, of which we cannot give a complete bibliography here. Morony (2003) studies 855 published and unpublished bowls which are in museums and not in private collections.

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1. METHODOLOGICAL CAVEATS AND DISCUSSION OF THE AVAILABLE SOURCES FOR STUDYING CHRISTIANS’ NAMES LITERARY SOURCES The majority of Christians’ anthroponyms for the period and region under consideration are provided by texts written during the Sasanian or the early Islamic periods: 13 for this study, I could single out 375 persons whom the authors clearly identified as Christians. 14 It seems pertinent to use them as a general pool of Christians’ names, on the condition that we accept the idea that most of the authors come from the same cultural milieu that can be qualified as ‘East Syrian’; 15 some accounts also come from the West Syrian community. These texts belong to very diverse categories and literary genres (synod acts, liturgical hymns, hagiographic accounts, and chronicles, among others), are written in various languages (mainly Syriac, Arabic, and Greek), and were composed in different environments with various writing intentions. As such, each of them requires a different critical effort, if one were to take an interest in the narrative they report. Consequently, it cannot be claimed that these names represent the reality of the ancient onomastics of the Christians of Mesopotamia: rather, the names reveal the memory that the ancient authors forged about the Christians of the Persian Empire, independently from the literary genre they adopted. Accordingly, three major issues arise in the historical study of the names drawn from this prosopographical corpus. Firstly, the available literature mentions few laypeople – defined here as Christians who do not occupy a 13 14

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For more complete references to the literary sources considered, see supra n. 11. From the hagiographical texts, I have selected the individuals whose existence is ascertained or is less problematic. For example, the famous 4th-century martyr Kardag is not counted as he is only attested in a 6th-century Life and later sources. See Walker (2006). Given the large number of names that served as a basis for this study, and contrary to the epigraphic material, it will not be possible to give an accurate reference of all the individuals cited when the names were taken from literary sources. I intend to provide a more comprehensive study elsewhere in the future. If we take the example of the author of the 10th-century Chronicle of Siirt, who compiled information coming from different backgrounds (patriarchal, monastic, episcopal) and translated it into Arabic, we see that all the stories highlight a main form of Christianity, that of the Church of the East, and do not evoke the diversity of the Christian practices in Mesopotamia. Scher (1907–1919). Ph. Wood proposed a form of stratification and chronology for the elaboration of this chronicle. Wood (2013).

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religious office, a definition which may not be shared by ancient authors –: the evidence over-represents ecclesiastical profiles (80% – Fig. 1). 16 Secondly, the Christian sources are often hagiographical and deal only with exceptional persons: for this reason, they are not entirely representative of the whole Christian community at the time. Finally, filiation links are only specified in rare cases among the names collected from literary sources and from the Christian seals; this means that family configurations are often unknown. As can be seen in the list of signatures of a synod held at Bet Lapaṭ (Persian Gondešāpūr), Ḫūzistān, or in the anthroponyms attested in magic bowls, filiation indicates the cultural mix within the same family but does not change the statistics of the names’ languages. 17 Therefore, without filiation, we only partially measure the cultural influence of each environment. Unfortunately, contrary to Ḫūzistān, we do not have such a list of laypeople for the Western areas (Mesopotamia). The lack of filiation prevents us from defining particular naming habits, such as giving the same name in each generation of a family, even among the Zoroastrians. 18 Consequently, we only

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In the Martyrology of 411, which gives a list of martyrs for the great 4th-century persecution, only three laymen and two members of the Covenant (bnay qyama) are known, out of 102 individuals, although the document is incomplete. Nau (1912: 23–25). Ch. Jullien and Ph. Gignoux give the example of the family of Bishop Narsay of Šenna at the beginning of the Abbasid period: Iranian names dominate (Burzād, Kardag), but there was a Christian Aramaic name (Yahbalaha). Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006: 285). For the Sasanian Period, the signatures of Bishop Abraham b. Āwādmihr’s condemnation are an important testimony that gives the names of both clerics and laypeople. Bishops, priests, and deacons are called only by one name, according to ecclesiastical use, whilst filiation is specified for laypeople alone. When only the ecclesiastical persons are considered, Iranian names represent 32% of the recorded onomastics – with one Zoroastrian sounding name –; this rises to 58% for the laymen. If we take into consideration both the names of laypeople and their parents’ names, the proportion of Iranian names drops to 45%. Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 78–9/trans. 330–1). For the linguistic proportion of names in incantation bowls, see Fig. 2. On the variety of name categories among Gothic families of Late Antique Italy, see Amory (1997: 88). In the magic bowls, filiation is only given over two generations. In the East Syrian literature, I note few genealogies for the Sasanian period, such as the one of martyr George Izala, Mihrmāhgušnasp son of Bābay son of Aba, and of the martyr of Karka dBet Slok, Yazdōy daughter of Yazdēn son of Mihrōzanbīrōy. Bedjan (1984: 201–204), Bedjan (1895: 416–571). However, there is more evidence of this habit in al-Ḥīra, for example with the poet family of Zayd son of ʿAdī son of Zayd son of Ḥammād son of Zayd. On this Banu Ayyub family, see Toral-Niehoff (2014: 92–98).

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acquire partial information when relying on anthroponyms gathered from literary sources alone. Still, literary sources allow us to study Christians’ names in a wide area and over a long period (3rd–7th centuries) (Fig. 1), 19 unlike the epigraphic documents, which mainly come from central Mesopotamia and Ḫūzistān (Syr. Bet Huzaye) and from the 5th to 7th centuries (Fig. 2). Nevertheless, information is not homogeneous in all periods and regions: in the table below, the cells that feature less than ten names have been shaded to show the contrast with the cities and centuries from which the data are more significant.

19

This is the main place of residence where a Christian ostensibly used his name, not necessarily the place of origin, which is not always known. For practical reasons, I have not exhaustively considered the areas of Mesopotamia, but I have focused on cities and surroundings that could provide enough names (at least 25) for the whole period (4th-first half of the 7th c.): Nisibis (Bet ʿArabaye), Arbela (Adiabene), Karka d-Bet Slok (Bet Garmay), capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Kaškar (Bet Aramaye), al-Ḥīra (Laḫmid Kingdom). I used also Bet Lapaṭ (Ḫūzistān) outside Mesopotamia for a comparing sample. It thus lacks, among others, the baptized people of Mayšan in southern Mesopotamia, and smaller towns.

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Fig. 1–Sasanian Christians’ names from literary sources, according to their living areas

20

EPIGRAPHIC SOURCES AND IDENTIFICATION OF CHRISTIANS THEREIN Information from the epigraphic corpus can partially offset the fragility of the literary input, or at least raise another “voice” in the landscape of ancient Mesopotamia (Fig. 2). Syriac inscriptions on stone or ostraca have not been retained here because they date from the early Islamic period.21 Therefore, the epigraphic materials providing a particularly important mass of evidence 20

21

On the different categories of names, see “Categorising Sasanian Christians’ names” below. Very few attributions are likely but not assured (2,5%) in literary evidence. In addition, a few names haven’t been identified, like Tarbo in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Šamṭa the son of Yazden in Karka d-Bet Slok, or the perhaps Sudarabic name of Gaḥsana, from al-Ḥīra; or have pan-Semitic etymology, such as Babu in Nisibis, or Šilay in SeleuciaCtesiphon. Bedjan (1891: 254–260); Chronicle of Ḫūzistān: Al-Kaʿbī (2015: 28–9); Chronicle of Siirt: Scher (1919: 551–2); Shahīd (1971: xxi); Ephrem, Carm. Nisib. xvii.11; xix.16; Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 78–9/trans. 330–1). For the sources, the individuals, and the regions selected, see respectively above n. 11, 14, and 19. The categorisation of names is explained below. They have been discovered in central and southern Mesopotamia and further south, in Takrit, Ctesiphon, al-Ḥīra (Iraq), Kharg (Iran) and Failaka (Kuwait). Harrak (2010). On the newly-discovered inscription of Failaka, see Brelaud (2020).

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for the name study of Christians consist of Sasanian seals, written in Syriac and Middle-Persian, and especially the Aramaic incantation bowls, written in several dialects, in particular Jewish-Babylonian, Mandaic, and Syriac. It provides lists of names – each corpus brings between 35 and 69 names – which may be compared to the literary evidence. First of all, 132 Sasanian inscribed seals have been clearly identified as Christians; among them, I retain 35 names relating to persons who were obviously Christians, with an unknown proportion of clerics. 22 The persons mentioned in these seals represent an elite, unlike the population mentioned in the incantation documents. Then, I rely on 178 bowls and 3 amulets, mentioning 232 individuals, which represent only a portion of the known, published material and the material in the process of publication. 23 While the Jewish-Babylonian corpus is the most abundant in the available archaeological evidence, the present study considers Syriac objects in a slightly larger proportion, as they are likely to contain more names borne by Christians, which will be discussed later. 24 Anthroponyms gathered from the bowls and amulets are those of the clients or their families benefiting from the incantations. Before proceeding with the discussion of names, we must assess the widespread use of incantation practices among the Christians of Sasanian Mesopotamia. Firstly, such a practice was localized in both time and space: 22

23

24

Seals and bubbles are written in Middle Persian or Syriac. After J. Lerner and Ph. Gignoux, R. Gyselen collected all the seals that could belong to a Christian; these seals are dated to the Sasanian and early Islamic periods. See references in Gyselen (2006). The archaeological context is most often unknown. In 16 cases that I have not taken into account here, it is very difficult to decide whether it is a name or an epithet (e.g. “servant of gods” in 1a: Syriac ʿAbdeh d-Alaha, or in 3: Middle Persian Yazdbandag) or a biblical or evangelical reference (6: Job; 21: Išoʿ; 58: Daniel; 59: Jacob). Id.: 24, 27. Finally, among the 35 individuals, two are clearly designated as clerics (41: priest; 45: metropolitan); while two others are clearly laypeople (36: treasurer; 61: satrap). On the published corpus of incantation bowls, see supra n. 12. Due to their state of preservation, these bowls are the only evidence of incantation practices in Mesopotamia, as well as 3 amulets that should also come from this region and were prepared for a certain Xwarrwēhzād, daughter of Dānag. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013); Gignoux (1987). A fourth amulet for the same lady, still unpublished, is conserved at the University of Cambridge; I thank F. Ruani for pointing this out to me. Coakley (2018: 156–158). I considered 64 Jewish-Babylonian, 49 Syriac, and 33 Mandaic bowls. By comparison, M. Morony had given the following figures, based on museum collections, which may give a better idea of the proportion between the three Aramaic corpora closer to the current state of the documentation: 62% JBA, 23% M, 13% Syr. Morony (2003: 87); Ford – Abudraham (2018: 76 n. 3).

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the magic bowls are relevant for central Mesopotamia and Ḫūzistān in the 5th to 7th centuries, as already mentioned. Even if their archaeological context is often unknown, the Syriac, Jewish Aramaic, and Mandaic bowls found in Nippur in Lower Mesopotamia, along with other discoveries, allow us to estimate this chronology. 25 No archaeological bowls have been unearthed in the North, indicating that this should be considered a southern practice. Furthermore, the bowls reveal the anthropological habit of using magic to drive out demons and diseases, and to protect families, 26 which ceased at the beginning of the Islamic period, apart from a few exceptions. Additionally, the large number of bowls suggests that it was a widespread practice among several religious groups in the Sasanian Empire, 27 even if official legislation 25

26

27

Nippur was excavated by the University of Pennsylvania. The bowls were found in houses, and in fewer cases, in a cemetery. J. Montgomery did not publish the entire bowl collection of the University Museum, but 40 of the most readable ones. The ratio of the excavated material undermines the Mandaic bowls’ part: 30 JBA, 7 Syr., 3 Montgomery (1913). For a proper introduction to the geography of the discoveries and estimation of dating, see Naveh – Shaked (1985: 13–19); Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 1–3), in particular Morony (2003), who went into the social analysis of the practice of Aramaic incantation bowls in depth. In Mesopotamia, from the Assyrian period at least, medical and magical practices coexisted in a very distinct way. By contrast, in both Palestinian and Mesopotamian Jewish environments, the development of demonology and exorcism of the demons responsible for diseases was in opposition to the Hippocratic approach. This did not prevent the emergence of a renowned medicine among East Syrians in this area. Morony (2003: 85–86); Gorea (2018). About the confusion between medicine and magic, E. Yaumauchi points out that the exorcist is qualified as ʾsyʾ in the Mandaic bowls: this word would be translated “doctor” (‫ )ܐܣܝܐ‬in Syriac. Yamauchi (1967: 16). Faced with the impossibility of defining so-called “Manichaean” Syriac bowls as Manichaean objects, BeDuhn (1995) concludes that the Manichaeans may have used such bowls, as did all other communities, since they were part of a “shared cultural environment”. Refining the discussion, especially between Christians and Jews in Late Antiquity, R. Boustan and J. Sanzo preferred to understand the common customs through the dialectic of indigenisation and exoticisation, rather than a simple syncretism which would tend to mask the differences as they were perceived or not at that time. Boustan – Sanzo (2017). Thus, the 10th-century Chronicle of Siirt conveys the idea of confusion existing between religious communities in the 5th-century Sasanian Mesopotamia, which led to practices condemned by the Persian Church: “[The catholicos Aḥay] then asked all the fathers to set fire to any house tainted with witchcraft (‫ )ﻋﻠﻮم اﻟﺴﺤﺮ‬or containing instruments of Magism (i.e. Mazdeism, ‫ ;)اﻻت اﻟﻤﺠﻮﺳﯿﺔ‬for the Christians had already mingled with the crowd of Marcionites and Manichaeans and were already participating in their works”. Chronicle of Siirt: Scher (1910:325).

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and religious rules may have prohibited it. 28 As far as production is concerned, it seems that the bowl makers are related to the community in whose language the bowl is written. 29 It is necessary here to affirm the same logic for the Syriac bowls, something which has not always been done. Almost no hint of Christianity can be discerned in the spells and formulae. 30 Neverthe28

29

30

Incantation practices using the power of the deities – whether in amulets or bowls – have not necessarily been understood as the magic involving human super-powers, which was severely condemned authorities, such as Church Fathers or the Theodosian Code. Some local clergy may have considered it to be a legitimate cure or true act of piety. Lacerenza (2002: 397–398, 409–410); Morony (2003: 100); Shandruk (2012: 32–33, 53, 55– 56); Moriggi (2016). Indeed, the Manichean case clearly shows that apotropaic and exorcist practices were perfectly acceptable, whilst “magic” often comes under prohibition. BeDuhn (1995). Additionally, Sh. Shaked points out that eminent rabbis were mentioned in Jewish and Christian bowls. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 7–8). Within the Church of the East, occult practices, omens, and divination were officially condemned from the beginning of the 5th century by the Synod of Isaac’s fifth canon. At this date, in 410, it is only an application of a provision already adopted by the Western fathers in Laodicea around 364, as pointed out by J.-B. Chabot. The ban was then renewed on four occasions in the 6th century: Synods of Aba in 540 (c.23), Joseph in 554 (c.19), Ezekiel in 576 (c.3), and Išoʿyahb in 585 (c.13). Synodicon orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 24/trans. 264, 106/363–4, 115–6/375–6, 150–1/411, 548–9/559). The latter canon describes the magical practices in use among both clerics and laypeople. Similarly, legitimate incantation practices are mentioned in the Videvdad, Zoroastrian laws for keeping the demons away, but it cannot be said whether those bowls were condemned as witchcraft or not. See Forrest – Skjærvø (2011). According to Sh. Shaked, what makes them ‘Jewish’ is only the text. Therefore, JewishBabylonian bowls were a product of the Jewish community. Naveh – Shaked (1985:17– 18); Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 35–37). Morony (2003: 93) suggests looking more specifically at the bowl manufacturing in order to detect particularities according to each corpus. He notes that most of the Syriac bowls he studied have the same type of clay. There is rarely any reference to the Trinity (see Syr.2, 6, 27 and 49); and biblical quotations, angelology, and mentions of famous Jewish rabbis are widespread in the three Aramaic bowls’ corpora. Some pagan deities that are invoked – Šamīš, Sīn, Bēl, Nannay, Nabu and Nergal – are reminiscent of the old Babylonian religious heritage (Syr.8). Moriggi (2014). As spells and formulae books are known in Palestine, it is highly probable that such books circulated as well in Mesopotamia, despite the lack of evidence. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 6). Thus, G. Lacerenza has described the difficulty of identifying a Jewish or Ps.-Jewish witchcraft in Late Antiquity, mostly in the Roman Empire. The study is striking in showing how the borrowing of spells in other languages, “exotic elements”, nomina barbara, new angelic names, was widespread among different communities, and so Christians or pagans could easily use Jewish elements or Hebrew letters. Lacerenza (2002: 401–410).

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less, Syriac bowls are the only ones to feature, almost systematically, a cross on their bottoms. Additionally, the Syriac script is clearly a Christian legacy, thus I conclude that the Syriac bowls’ makers were Christians.31 Secondly, contrary to literary sources, identifying the religion of the client or the persons mentioned in the incantations is a more delicate issue, as no cleric is attested. It is a crucial point for measuring the extent to which the magical practice attested by the Aramaic bowls was widespread in the Sasanian Christian environment. It is now clear that the clients of these incantation documents were not always members of the community who produced such objects: 32 as a matter of fact, some Christian clients are mentioned in Jewish-Babylonian bowls. 33 It seems that Christians and Zoroastrians were more inclined to call upon practitioners from all communities (Jewish, Mandaean, or Christian) since the incantation practice was less common in their own community. On the contrary, whilst the possibility cannot be completely rejected, it is hard to imagine why a Jewish or Mandaean client would call upon a Christian practitioner, when members of these two communities were renowned in the domain of incantation, as evidenced by the much larger number of Jewish-Babylonian and Mandaic bowls. Therefore, for the Syriac bowls, it is likely that a significant number of clients were also Christians, in a proportion that is not possible to 31

32

33

On the production of magical documents in the Christian milieu in Late Antique Egypt, see Shandruk (2012: 46), Boustan – Sanzo (2017: 226 n. 36, 229–233). The latter authors have also a reflection on the identification of the religion of the practitioners of the Syriac Mesopotamian bowls. Their second scenario seems irrelevant to the Sasanian period. In order to assert that Jews could have used Syriac as well, they employ the description of this language by Sh. Shaked: “lingua franca in large areas of the western provinces of the Sasanian empire and beyond,” but this erases the chronology of the expansion of Syriac into areas where other forms of Aramaic were used. If the Aramaic of Edessa was already in use during the Parthian period in much of northern Mesopotamia and up to the Middle Euphrates, as shown by parchments from the first half of the third century, the spread of Syriac, which is the same language and writing, really increased with the Christianisation of the Middle East. See Drijvers – Healey (1999: 232–248). For a recent synthesis, see Briquel Chatonnet – Debié (2017: 17–28, 89–93). There is the striking example of Farroxzād son of Kumay, who was the owner of incantation bowls written in Jewish-Babylonian, Mandaic and Syriac Aramaic. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 1 n. 2). For instance, a Mandaic bowl was intended for a Christian family. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 100, 208, 243. On the rarely possible identification of Christians by their names among the incantation bowls and on attestations of clear Christian names, see n. 45.

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estimate: I would be inclined to think that it was a majority, based on the previous probability argument, but not on onomastic conclusions, since it is not possible to determine the religion of individuals from their names, especially from Zoroastrian-sounding names, as will be discussed later. 34 A SOCIOLOGICAL REMARK: REVEALING WOMEN In the selected corpus from Sasanian Mesopotamia, while the much more numerous literary sources rarely mention women – with the exception of around a dozen martyrs or their family members –, 35 epigraphy brings a large number of women out of anonymity by giving their names, though no further details about them are provided. 36 Moreover, the high proportion of women benefiting from the incantations is striking (Fig. 2), especially in the Jewish-Babylonian bowls, where they account for more than half of the names. Syriac bowls mention fewer female names than the other two corpora, but this number (26) remains significantly higher than women 34

35

36

Among the Late Antique amulets founded in Egypt, the identification of religion through the names is impossible. However, Shandruk (2012: 35–38) uses onomastics to identify at least Christian clients. G. Lacerenza gives the example of a sorcerer named Theodotus in Galatia: his Greek theophoric name hardly proves his Christianity. He could be a Jew or even a pagan. Lacerenza (2002: 408–409, 416). See also Amory (1997: 274–276). I count six women in Mesopotamia according to Syriac hagiography: three 4th-century daughters of the Covenant (bnat qyama) Myriam of Tela Šlila, Thecla of Bekašaz (Adiabene), Tarbo sister of the bishop Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿe from Seleucia-Ctesiphon or Susa; and three 6th-century converted aristocrats: Yazdōy (the date is discussed) and Šīrīn from Karka d-Bet Slok, and Hazārōy/Myriam sister of George Izala (Kaškar). Bedjan (1891: 254–260, 307–313); Bedjan (1894: 201–204); Bedjan (1895: 427); Devos (1994). I do not include two more legendary figures: Candida, the 3rd-century favourite of King Wahrām II; Māhduxt of Bet Garmay, among the martyrs of Ṭur Berayn. Brock (1978); Brock (2014). For women in Syriac hagiography, see Brock – Ashbrook (1998); SaintLaurent (2012). Thanks to the historiography of al-Ḥīra, we can add at least five women of the Laḫmid royal court for the 6th and 7th centuries: Hind the Elder and Hind the Younger, respectively spouse and daughter of al-Mundir III; and Myriam, Ḥadiqa/Ḥuraqa and Alledja, respectively sister and daughters of the last king al-Nuʿman III. ToralNiehoff (2014: 135–139, 194–211). Based on a sample of 298 individuals, M. Morony reaches a ratio of 60% men/40% women: this is comparable to the outset used in our study (Fig. 2). Morony (2003: 101). However, in the epigraphic material, Sasanian Christian seals are all objects owned by men. Optionally, the word bnʾpš (seal 4) can be interpreted as “violet”, which would be a female name. Gyselen (2006).

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mentioned in East Syrian literary sources! Admittedly, from a sociological perspective, these documents only tell us the participation of customers in magical practice, but do not inform us about their status. If one accepts the idea that many – but not all – clients of the Syriac incantation bowls could be Christian, this will confirm the participation of Mesopotamian Christian women in this regional practice. That women were involved in the processes of family and household protection is not surprising, but so far it has not been noted that such practices reached a Christianised milieu. However, Christian bowls show a slightly larger proportion of men than in the other JewishBabylonian and Mandaic corpora: should this be seen as a further indication of the widespread practice of magic in the Syriac world, also among the lower clergy, as is shown in some contemporary Christian hymns? 37 On the other hand, many names on the Syriac bowls follow a matronymic filiation that is often seen in magic documents, but is completely unattested in the literary sources. 38 Such a practice concerns 38% of clients of Syriac bowls, 39% of clients of Jewish-Babylonian bowls and 76% of clients of Mandaic bowls. At first glance, one might think that this goes hand in hand with the fact that some of these documents are requested by women, so the persons mentioned would be linked by filiation to these women and not their fathers, as they would be otherwise. In fact, this explanation can only apply 37

38

M. Moriggi likened the incantation practices attested on Mesopotamian bowls and amulets to a Syriac hymn denouncing magical practices among the clergy. This memra, which was attributed to Ephrem the Syrian but is more likely – according to M. Moriggi – to have been written by Isaac of Antioch (5th century), denounced the return of clergy and laity to paganism, with magical practices used by priests and deacons in everyday life. Some clerics would practice or use the services of witches. Moriggi (2016). Here there could be the “particular tension […] in the literature of the period around the practice of incantation texts” that Sh. Shaked assumed but did not yet find any trace of among the religions of the region. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 7). The blurred boundary between magical and priestly practices raises the question of how contemporaries understood the official legislation on magic: see supra n. 28. I thank S. Azarnouche (EPHE, Paris) for bringing this point to my attention. In the Christian Sasanian seals, the four filiations mentioned unfortunately do not allow us to identify the gender of the parent: 49: Hargēn; 53: Hunēd (?); 81: Yadōy; 112: Nēv (?). Gyselen (2006). Among other examples of matronymics’ use in early childhood protection cases, a Christian Syrian amulet puts a certain “Theodore son of Christine” under the protection of Saint Sisinnius, defeater of the child-killing she-devil. Seyrig (1934: 5–9). See also Shandruk (2012: 53). Morony (2003: 105–106) states that 30% of the women in the Aramaic magic bowls in monogamous households were property owners on an equal level with men, and 7% were heads of households.

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to three women in the Syriac bowls; 39 in the majority of cases, individuals are named by descent from their mother, even though the latter is not the incantation’s client and therefore has no reason to be mentioned by the incantation’s practitioner. Consequently, it seems that there was a real matronymic habit in Mesopotamia at that time that could also concern other social practices, 40 such as notarial deeds or sales contracts, 41 examples of which have unfortunately not been discovered for this period and area. CATEGORISING SASANIAN CHRISTIANS’ NAMES Above all, two criteria, that may overlap, can be used to characterise Christian onomastics across the different regions of the Persian Empire: the linguistic etymology (mainly Aramaic, Iranian, Greek, and Arabic) and the religious significance of the names (biblical, Christian, Zoroastrian, and pagan). That being said, part of the names remains indeterminate from a linguistic point of view, both for the ancients who chose these names and for us. 42 It is also sometimes difficult to determine the gender of the names. A name may have a religious connotation that makes it acceptable – or not – to bear within a religious community. Therefore, I propose four major categories related to this criterion. The label ‘biblical’ refers to names from the Old Testament that could be used by Jews, Christians, Manicheans, Marcionites, Mandaeans, (and Muslims after the studied period) alike. Zoroastrians, and to a lesser extent pagans, hardly ever bore such biblical names in the Mesopotamian environment. Then, only the context or the author of 39 40

41

42

Māhgušnaspduxt (Syr.18), Šišin (Syr.22) and Šilta (Syr.28). Moriggi (2014). This interpretation could facilitate the difficult reading of the parent’s name of a signer of Bet Lapaṭ’s Synod in 540: brbʿšmyn br mhdwq. Accepting the idea of a matronymic filiation, I prefer reading the female Māhduxt rather than the male name Māhdōk, otherwise unattested, as proposed by Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009: 94). Synodicon orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 78–9/trans. 330–1). For example, even if they do not contain matronymics, the 3rd-century Edessan and Greek documents (such as P28) from the Middle Euphrates include names of some women. Drijvers – Healey (1999: 234–242). Moreover, John Chrysostom evokes the choice of matriname to pay homage to the mother: On Changing Names I.2: 80. Indeed, a name such as the one of Bishop Babu (‫ )ܒܒܘ‬of Nisibis (c. 337–350) could range from several origins: Akkadian, Aramaic, or Iranian. Ephrem, Carm. Nisib. xvii.11; xix.16. It is attested as such in Palmyra, but it must go back to the Akkadian Bābâ. Marcato (2018: 36). It is however very close to the name Bābay/Bābiy, often used in Middle Persian and Syriac. Gignoux – Ford – Bhayro (2009: 146).

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the source can specify the religion of a name’s bearer.43 Among the names of Mesopotamian Christians in the literary sources (Fig. 1), biblical names are particularly numerous in the early Sasanian Period (3rd–5th centuries), at a time when the Bible was the main reference for Mesopotamian monotheistic communities and before the production of new Christian hagiographic founding texts. 44 Other names taken from the New Testament, associated with the apostles of Christ, or with a reference to the martyrs, and names containing the theophoric element Jesus, were hardly borne by Jews: I label these names as ‘Christians’, since they are possibly used in all Christianised communities (including Marcionites, Manichaeans). Several examples can be found in the literary sources, but in the whole corpus of Syriac bowls, only two persons could be clearly identified as Christians through their names! 45 Finally, Christians, like other members of religious communities, 46 43

44 45

46

For example, we know the following persons are Christians because their names are taken from the Martyrology of 411: Simeon (x3), John (x4), Abraham (x5), Ḥanina, Isaac (x5), Joseph, James (x3), and Elijah. Biblical names represent 24% of the total in this text. Nau (1912: 23–25). On the Christianisation of Mesopotamia and coexistence with the Jewish and JewishChristian communities, see supra n. 5. There are the slaves Barsahde – “son of the martyrs” – b. Amen (Syr.13) and Batsahde – “daughter of the martyrs” – mother of Baḥrōy (Syr.6). Moriggi (2014). Both of these names are also found in Jewish-Babylonian bowls (JBA24, 27, 31–2, 42, 46). In addition to the previous names, the name Barḥabešabba (son of Ḥatay) could be Barḥa(d?)bešabba, the Christian name referring to Sunday (JBA36). One can also consider the Aramaic name Matyišu (daughter of Batsahde) as Christian, with ‫ ישו‬for a corrupted designation of Jesus (‫( )ישוע‬JBA24, 46); and the name Tiqla (‫ )תיקלא‬could very well be another script with a yod transcribing the Greek Θεκλα (JBA20). Finally, in the three Aramaic bowls’ corpora, Christian-sounding names account for less than 3% of the total. In contexts other than Sasanian Mesopotamia – Roman Egypt and Gothic Italy –, some studies have adopted much broader criteria for defining Christian names, including, for example, biblical names. Amory (1997: 263); Shandruk (2012: 33–34). One could assume that, in a few cases, the filiations could provide additional clues to determining a client’s or their family’s religion. For instance, if all the individuals mentioned in a bowl bear Zoroastrian names, this may be a sign of their belonging to Mazdeism. This is probably the case for members of the family in bowl Syr.18 and the client of the JBA28 bowl, Iyyob son of Mihrānāhīd. Shaked – Ford – Bhayro (2013: 162); Moriggi (2014: 96). I can note only one antagonistic combination found in the filiations between a name connoted by a certain religion and a name connoted otherwise: the 6thcentury laymen Brikišoʿ b. Ādurhormizd (Christian- vs. Zoroastrian-sounding) of Šuštar in Ḫūzistān. Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 78–9/trans. 330–1).

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can bear Zoroastrian as well as pagan names –i.e. in this study, theophoric and theonym Zoroastrian and pagan names 47. Fig. 2– Clients and owners’ names in archaeological materials 48

Regarding Christians, the religious connotations of names are rarely found in epigraphic material (4 cases – Fig. 2), but more frequently in literary sources (20% – Fig. 3). In all Aramaic magic bowls and amulets, the proportion of religious-sounding names is even more limited: they are virtually absent in Mandaic bowls, 49 no Jewish names have been clearly identified in the Jewish-Babylonian bowls that were into consideration here, 50 and more strikingly, biblical names are practically absent. 51 Therefore, only Zoroastrian-sounding names are better represented in incantation bowls (just over 10% of the all individuals). 52 47

48 49

50

51 52

Indeed, other non-theophoric names like Narseh – *naryasa(n)ha- “men’s yasna/pray” – could be considered Zoroastrian by a contemporary; however, Narseh’s connotation is lighter and makes it easier for a Christian or another monotheist to bear it. Weber (2016). This name was popular among Christians – e.g. on the Sasanian seal 82 –, and in Jewish Babylonian bowls: JBA 28, 48, 49 and 61. Gyselen (2006). For literature references, see Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009: 106–109). Shandruk (2012: 34–35) uses a very broad definition of pagan names that is “all names not classified as Christian”. Only customers are taken into account, without considering filiations. Almost 7% of Mandaic bowl clients: three bear Zoroastrian-sounding names and there are two other names of this kind in the patronymic or matronymic filiations. See infra n. 52 for the details. In the rest of the Jewish-Babylonian corpus, some Jewish-sounding names must have been identified, such as Berīkyahveh (‫ – בריכיהביה‬CBS 3997). MONTGOMERY 1913: 209– 11. Indeed, the Jewish character of a name could be identified, for example, by the theophoric element “yahu”. I count a Bargelal in the Syriac bowl T27984, Ford – Abduraham (2018), an Iyyob in JBA28, and a Myriam in JBA63. Zoroastrian-sounding names borne by clients in the three Aramaic bowl corpora: Ābān (Gignoux 1987), Dēnduxt (Syr.18), Gukaya-Āduryazdāndar (M11), Gušnasp (Syr.24), Hormizd (x5: Syr.10, 13, JBA19, JBA56, M21), Hormizduxt (x2: Syr.8, JBA48), Māhādur et Māhbūd (Syr.22), Māhduxt (Syr.7; JBA1), Māhgušnaspduxt (syr.18), Mihrad

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After discussing the peculiarities of personal names in the literary and epigraphic corpora, I will now turn to the geographical and sociological inputs that their comparison provides. 2. GEOGRAPHICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL EVOLUTIONS OF MESOPOTAMIAN CHRISTIANS’ ONOMASTICS Using the linguistic and religious criteria, a name study can reveal several geographical particularities, especially if we refer to the literary sources (Fig. 1), but also if we compare them with the epigraphic material. In his pioneering study, J.-B. Yon defined regional groupings of personal names in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, distinguishing areas according to the degree of Hellenization or the importance of Semitic languages, among other criteria. 53 We can observe from the outset that in Sasanian Mesopotamia, tendencies among Christians’ names are different: whether Aramaic or Iranian, names can have a clear Christian or Zoroastrian connotation, or none at all. In the first case, this raises the question of the historical and sociological interpretation of having a name with a clear religious meaning in the Sasanian context. BEARING A ZOROASTRIAN NAME IN CENTRAL MESOPOTAMIA AND ḤŪZISTĀN As early as the 4th century, literary sources already mention Zoroastrian theophoric or theonym names that native Christians bore such as Bādmā(h), Māhdād or Hormizd, in Mesopotamia and Ḫūzistān. 54 More generally,

53 54

(Syr.17), Mihrānāhīd (JBA5), Mihrhormizd (x2: Syr.6, 45), Mihrōy daughter of Māhduxt (JBA2), Mihrqay (M17), Mihrad son of Šābuhrduxt (Syr.17), and Rašnēnduxt (M20). And in the filiation – less relevant because there could have been a conversion –: A(d)urhormizd (father of Aḥa Syr.16), Āfrī(d)hormizd (x2: father of Šišin Syr. 42, father of Husraw M27), Āzādānāhīd (mother of Dēnduxt Syr.18), Hormizduxt (mother of Duxtōy JBA34, of Mama JBA20), Māhanōš (father of Bābay Syr.19), Māhdād (father of Imma Syr.2), Mihrānāhīd (mother of Iyyob JBA28), Mihršābuhr (father of Qayoma M10), and Rašnēnduxt (mother of Farrox JBA 23, of Gundasp JBA 2, of ywyʿʾ Syr.24). Yon (2018). Priests Hormizd and Bādmā(h) were from Seleucia-Ctesiphon. In the Martyrology of 411, there is also a priest Tiray from Maḥoze d-Bet Aramaye. NAU 1912: 23–5. For Māhdād, see Bedjan (1891:307).

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Šābuhr and Hormizd were among the ten names most commonly used by Sasanian Christians. Narseh, the Zoroastrian meaning of which is weaker, was even more popular. These three names are found in Christian Sasanian seals, 55 which also proves that many Christians bore a Zoroastrian name (14% in the seals – Fig. 2). 56 Furthermore, the Zoroastrian names of Christians account for nearly 25% of the names collected in the city of Bet Lapaṭ for the 6th century, at the end of the Sasanian period. 57 Here, the number of Iranian names was generally higher than in neighbouring Mesopotamia. This proportion is very close to the names drawn from the incantation bowls, most of which have been found in these areas. Thus, if we follow my previous suggestion to consider the majority of the Syriac bowls’ clients as Christians, nearly 20% of them could have borne Zoroastrian names. In the earlier periods, some of those who had a Zoroastrian name were converts who did not wish to change their name, potentially to hide their new Christianity. 58 First, some Christian martyrs bearing Zoroastrian names suffered martyrdom and then were commemorated by the rest of the community: from then on, these Zoroastrian names became more acceptable to Christians. Otherwise, Zoroastrian names were used even before the 4thcentury ‘Great Persecution’. Christians may have simply used an old family name that had lost its Zoroastrian connotation. M. Debié proposes that name 55

56

57

58

Seals 53 and 53a. Gyselen (2006). Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009: 80–82, 125– 127). Additionally, for the etymology and occurrences of the name Narseh, see above n. 47. Here are the Zoroastrian theophoric and theonym names borne by Christians in Sasanian seals: Hormizdgušnasp (seal 15), Mihršābuhr (38), Boxtmā(h) (48a), Hormizd (53), and Mihrēn (107). Gyselen (2006). In signatures of a synod held at Bet Lapaṭ, several persons have clearly Zoroastrian names: the bishops’ father called Āwādmihr, a priest named Āwādmihr, as well as four laymen called Ādurhormizd, Mihrhormizd, Mihrbōzēd, and Mihrkwast of Šuštar. There are also three priests named Narseh. In this list, one layperson bore an Iranian Christian name: Kāmyazad. Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 78–9/trans. 330–1). The choice of Iranian names in general among Persian Christians has been well studied by Ph. Gignoux and Ch. Jullien; more precisely two options were considered, but not that of maintaining Zoroastrian-sounding names. Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006: 285–287). Indeed, few converts from Mazdeism kept their Zoroastrian names: Mihršābuhr and Hormizd, executed around 420. Acts of Mihršābuhr: BEDJAN 1891: 535–9; Acts of the ten martyrs of Bet Garmay: Bedjan (1894: 184–188) ; Herman (2016: 36–45). Similarly, in Gothic Italy, converts have chosen to keep their Germanic name. Amory (1997: 273– 274).

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changes were rather a practice among the great aristocrats who renounced their socio-political status upon conversion to Christianity. 59 If one follows this interpretation, name changes would have been less indispensable for the lower classes. Moreover, in central Mesopotamia and Ḫūzistān, we see the use of theophoric names of deities worshipped in Ḥatra and Palmyra, according to an onomastic conservatism that is often the norm in the ancient Near East. 60 This phenomenon is similar to the bearing of theophoric pagan names, which is better documented in the Roman Empire or later in the Western post-Roman kingdoms. 61 All these explanations could complement each other. CHRISTIANISATION OF NAMES IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA Clear Christian and biblical names were increasingly popular in northern Mesopotamia. Firstly, biblical names are predominant among the Christians in the area from the 4th century onwards, especially in Bet ʿArabaye.62 These types of names, which are most commonly used by Christians of the Persian Empire – the most popular being John, Abraham and Simeon –, are named in 59 60

61

62

Debié (2010: 349–350). In the Martyrology of 411, there are bishops Barbaʿšmin of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Gadyahb of Bet Lapaṭ and Bolidaʿ of Prat d-Mayšan who appear among the martyrs of the 4thcentury persecution. There are also three ʿAdna: a priest of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, another from Ḫūzistān, and a deacon from an unknown place. The name Yabsin, bore by a deacon from Rēw-Ardawšīr, and ʿAbušṭa could perhaps fit in this category. Nau (1912: 23–25). For these personal names, see Milik (1972: 265–268); Yon (2018: 28–30, 52, 179–80, 193–194, 204); Marcato (2018: 39, 46, 98). J. Milik had rightly identified the name of the catholicos Ṭumarṣa – ‫ﺗﻮﻣﺮﺻﺎ‬, only attested in Christian Arab historiography – as the Palmyrene name Taymerṣa, extremely rare outside Palmyra. Chronicle of Siirt: Scher (1910: 305); Milik (1972: 41); Yon (2018: 35). For the later period, I add the 6th-century priest Barnay, and Ḥayran bishop of Arbela for the 3rd century, mentioned in the doubtful Chronicle of Arbela: Mingana (1908: 28–31). For these two names, see Yon (2018: 22, 62). Among other examples are the names of the great Western Post-Roman authors Sidonius Apollinaris (5th century) and Isidore of Seville (7th century), bore by people from families Christianized for at least two generations. On conservatism in the name usage, especially pagan names, in Late Antique Italy and Egypt, see AMORY 1997: 263; SHANDRUK 2012: 34–6. Based on the magical Christian documentation from Egypt, the latter scholar found nearly one third of ostensibly pagan names among Christians. The name John was particularly popular in the city of Karka d-Bet Slok. Bedjan (1891: 513, 515, 518, 520–1, 524–6).

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literary sources, especially in the fringe regions. Secondly, we see a progressive Christianisation of Christians’ names in northern region. Very early on – in the 4th century – in the neighbouring province of Adiabene, around Arbela, Christians chose names with strong Christian connotations, especially Aramaic (Barḥadbešabba, Itilaha, Šubḥališoʿ) or Greek names associated with the Gospels and the Apostolic age (Thecla, Paul). The same is true in Karka d-Bet Slok and Bet Garmay, where names with Christian undertones were widespread up to the end of the Sasanian period, especially among the city’s bishops and the ascetics of the late period. 63 Meanwhile, in Nisibis, on the border with the Roman Empire, it is only from the second half of the 5th century that the Christian name Barṣoma – “Son of the Fast” – appears in the list of Christians’ onomastics. 64 This phenomenon of the Christianisation of Christians’ names was more limited in the South, except for the name ʿAbdišoʿ, one of the most popular in Mesopotamia. Indeed, it seems that the assertion of Christianity posed more problems in SeleuciaCtesiphon and its surroundings, where the Sasanian King of Kings resided. The Christianisation of names has been observed in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire since the 4th century: 65 that this also occurs in the north-western Persian territory may confirm a stronger Christianisation of 63

64

65

Those names are mostly provided through the History of Karka. Bedjan (1891: 507–535). One of the first bishops’ known to the city is ʿAbdišoʿ (Aramaic Christian) in the 3rd century. Then, Christian names represent about one third of the gathered names for the 5th century: those of the bishops ʿAqeblaha, Barḥadbešabba and Bōxtišoʿ I, and of the priests Bōxtišoʿ, Dādišoʿ, Stephen and Šubḥališoʿ. They represent a little over half of the gathered names for the 6th century: those of the bishops Dayraya, Alahazka, Sabrišoʿ and Bōxtišoʿ II, and of the monks Ṣliba and Barḥadbešabba of Šaʿran. Finally, two thirds of the names for the first half of the 7th century: those of the bishops Šubḥalmaran and Sabrišoʿ II, and of the monks Išoʿsabran of Karka and Išoʿzka of Šenna. The famous 5th-century metropolitan of Nisibis, who supported the adoption of a strict dyophysite theology within the Church of the East. Becker (2011). I would like to point out another case for Bet ʿArabaye that I have not taken into account because it comes from late hagiography, probably from the Islamic period. Around Sinjar, the young Jew Asher bar Levi would have converted and taken the Christian name “servant of Christ”, transcribed in Syriac ʿAbda damšiḥa (‫ )ܥܒܕܐ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ‬when the narrator speaks, and following the Arabic pronunciation ʿAbdalmasīḥ (‫ ܥܒܕܐܠܡܣܝܚ‬for ‫ )ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻤﺴﯿﺢ‬in the title or on the inscription of a stela evoked in the narrative. This story seems to confirm that this name was more commonly used in Arabic-speaking Christian circles. Butts – Gross (2016: 37–38, 89, 149). Yon (2018: 213–215). For Egypt, the pioneering study of R. Bagnall on the Christianisation of names is commented by Shandruk (2012: 33).

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mentalities in this area than in the rest of the Sasanian Empire or suggest that the environment may have been more Christian or “Christianised”. Hence, adopting a Christian or biblical name was never an obligation or even a recommendation made by the Church authorities. 66 On the basis of East Syrian hagiography, Ch. Jullien and Ph. Gignoux have shown that some Zoroastrian converts to Christianity chose to change their name at baptism. 67 Most of the time, this happened when the name was clearly Zoroastrian, as in the case of the South Mesopotamian nobleman Mihrmāhgušnasp, who changed his name to George, at the very end of the 6th century, while his sister, called Hazarōy, a neutral Iranian name, also chose to adopt a more monotheistic sounding name, Maryam. 68 The first occurrence of a deliberate choice to change one’s own name is found in hagiography, in the Acts of Petion. 69 This story, which takes place in a very Iranised region and a Zoroastrian homeland, the 5th-century Bet Medaye (Media), supports the argument of Ch. Jullien and Ph. Gignoux that choosing a new name marked both a break with the Zoroastrian past and conversion to Christianity – M. Debié would also add that it signified renouncing a high social status. Clear Christian names might have been more common in regions where Zoroastrian religious influence was weaker and where Sasanian power was much less established; Adiabene and Bet Garmay were relatively distant from the centres of power, although Sasanian authority was not absent – this remains an assumption limited by the lack of archaeological investigation on the Sasanian period in these regions. 66

67 68 69

In four homilies, John Chrysostom commented on the name changes in the Bible (Old Testament and Gospels), which were always made by God, the Holy Spirit, or Christ. In particular, the Church Father mentioned the free choice of men to adopt a new name only in the case of titles of glory or nicknames but did not mention this possibility for Christians in the course of their lives. On Changing Names II.2: 78. See in particular Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006: 284–290); Debié (2010:348–350). Acts of George Izala: Bedjan (1895: 440, 454, 564). While the first saint of the story kept his name Yazdēn, his brother Dādgušnasp changed his Zoroastrian name to the Iranian Christian Dādišoʿ. Then, his daughter, named Ānāhīd, after the goddess, converted to Christianity and took the biblical name of Hannah. Acts of Petion: Bedjan (1891: 564). There are other examples in East Syrian hagiography, such as Yazdōy of Karka d-Bet Slok – at an undefined period –, or the general Pīrāngušnasp becoming Gregory in the middle of the 6th century, and Mahanōš of Arbela becoming Išoʿsabrān at the beginning of the 7th century. Bedjan (1894: 201–204); Jullien, F. (2015: 45–74); Chabot (1897: 475–584).

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We must add a linguistic observation to this phenomenon. Firstly, in the northern part of Mesopotamia between Nisibis and Arbela, Aramaic names – biblical, Christian or other – are still used in between 60 and 72% of the cases. In this region, a local form of Aramaic close to the Edessan Aramaic, later referred to as Syriac, could be spoken before evangelisation. 70 Secondly, in Karka d-Bet Slok and Bet Garmay, Iranian names are generally relatively important. 71 Again, Christians even choose clear Christian Iranian 72 – and not only Aramaic – names, such as Dādišoʿ and Bōxtišoʿ. This latter region was indeed an interface between the Iranian plateau and North Mesopotamia. Several factors have contributed to the spread of Pahlavi (or Middle Persian) among Christians, while in the western part of the Persian Empire, this language was probably spoken only in a few administrative circles for a long time. 73 Additionally, part of the Sasanian aristocracy also converted to Christianity mainly from the 5th century onwards, and especially in the 6th century 74. But as is often the case, it was above all the cultural influence of the language of power that pushed the subjects of the kingdom, including Christians, to name their children in the language of the elite 75. Iranisation was thus a gradual process throughout the 70

71

72 73

74 75

On Edessan Aramaic and Syriac, see supra n. 31. Syriac spread also due to the East Syrian schools that were created at the end of the 5th century, and finally it spread further thanks to the monastic libraries, whose number continued to increase after the middle of the 6th century. Becker (2006); Jullien, F. (2008: 172–176); Briquel Chatonnet – Debié (2017: 96–100). The proportion is the highest for the 5th century: 37% are Iranian names (Hormizd x2, Šābuhrburz, Šīrīn, Bōxtišoʿ x2, Dādišoʿ), whereas Aramaic and biblical names represent the rest. See supra n. 63. It seems that the Sasanian aristocracy gradually established itself in all Mesopotamian areas, especially around Seleucia-Ctesiphon and along the ‘Royal Road’ that linked the capital to Azerbaijan. Payne (2015: 59–63). Moreover, according to Ṭabarī, nearly 12,000 people were displaced by King Šābuhr II from Istaḫr and Esfahan in order to repopulate Nisibis, which was emptied of its population after passing to the Sasanians in 363. Bosworth (1999: 28). For the 6th century, Mihrmāhgušnasp (the future martyr George) owned both properties in the capital and estates in Bet Aramaye, where he took refuge when the plague spread. It was there that he met Christians. Bedjan (1895: 438–439). See the stories of the two 6th-century chiefs Pīrāngušnasp and Yazdpanāh. Jullien, F. (2015: 45–88). Among other previous examples, onomastics of the Edessan kingdom in Roman times included several Iranian names, while the population was likely to be predominantly Aramean and partly Arab. Drijvers – Healey (1999); Yon (2018: 182–195). Moreover,

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Sasanian period in many of the regions studied here; even if, some areas were less affected, such as Adiabene, according to our conclusions (Fig. 1). A BALANCE OF LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES IN BET ARAMAYE In the capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon and its environs, Iranian names were only slightly less numerous than the predominant Aramaic names among the Christians, 76 with a high proportion of Aramaic biblical names being present. Onomastic diversity is quite expected for a large city and imperial capital that drew Christians from distant territories – indeed, it is more difficult to identify Christians explicitly originating from this city than elsewhere. As such, according to literary evidence, we find some hapax legomena, like the names Zizay and Tarbo; 77 some particularly popular names among Sasanian Christians, like ʿAbdišoʿ, Bābay, Mari, and Papa, who are also attested in the Christian seals. 78 Furthermore, there are traces of archaism in the onomastics of this region, inasmuch as theophoric Palmyrene and Ḥatrean names – mentioned above – have been preserved until the 4th century, in particular those of two catholicoi, Barbaʿšmin and Taymarṣa. 79 It is not possible to define whether they are descendants of Palmyreans or Ḥatreans, or whether the presence of trading colonies throughout Mesopotamia may have influenced local onomastics. Nevertheless, this very limited old Aramaic heritage in the onomastics is striking and actually quite surprising when you consider that onomastics are generally conservative: it reveals an important cultural shift in naming habits from the Parthian to the Sasanian period. 80 In central and southern Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian Aramaic remained a spoken language and was close, if not identical, to Jewish-Babylonian Aramaic. There, Christians never used local Aramaic as a written language, unlike Mesopotamian

76 77 78 79 80

some Italians or soldiers of the West Roman as well as the Byzantine armies gave Germanic names to their children. Amory (1997: 99–102). In Kaškar, Aramaic names became dominant in the 6th century, the only period during which the corpus is large enough to be studied in a relevant way. See Fig. 1. Nau (1912: 23–25). Bābay (seal 45), Mari (44). Gyselen (2006). See supra n. 60. It could be rightly argued that previous periods do not permit a prosopographical search of the same magnitude. However, onomastic records have been well studied for Ḥatra. See Marcato (2018).

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Jews who wrote the Babylonian Talmud in the same spoken Aramaic. Indeed, the language of Christian bowls and amulets is a form of Syriac written in both Estrangela Syriac and a Syriac influenced by Palmyrene script. 81 Finally, when added to the known trade circulations of the Parthian period, the scant ancient Aramaic onomastics and the specificity of a Mesopotamian Syriac script may underline an ancient link between central/southern Mesopotamia and Syria. Finally, let us consider al-Ḥīra, further south, which was the capital of the Arab Laḫmid Kingdom, allied to the Sasanians since the 3rd century. 82 The onomastic particularity of this city and its region is undoubtedly the use of Arabic names to a great extent (5% of our corpus). But these names are often taken from Arab literary sources that especially mention poets and Christians at court. 83 While Syriac sources give mostly biblical or Aramaic names for the Christians from al-Ḥīra, they feature just a few Arabic names, such as Noʿman (ar. al-Nuʿmān). 84 Apart from the Arabic names, the onomastics of al-Ḥīra’s Christians is quite close to that of the other regions of Mesopotamia, with an Aramaic predominance. For example, the first known Ḥīran 81

82 83

84

For Syriac gradually becoming the written language of the Christians in Late Antique Middle East, see supra n. 70. In the Syriac magic bowls, M. Moriggi distinguished two different writings: the Estrangela and a “Manichean” Syriac writing; the second refers to the Babylonian adaptation of Syriac writing influenced by Palmyrene letter shapes and close to the Manichaen script used to write Iranian languages. Moriggi (2014: 9). This socalled “Manichaean” script of the magic bowls was not necessarily the handwriting of the Manichaeans. BeDuhn (1995); Durkin-Meisterernst (2005). It could, therefore, be an Aramaic script specific to Christians in Mesopotamia, a “Mesopotamian Christian Aramaic”, such as the Palestinian Christian Aramaic used by Palestinian Christians. See Toral-Niehoff (2014), which is a reference work on al-Ḥīra. Indeed, since the 6th century, Arab Muslim historians, as well as Christian Arab chronicles – both from the Abbasid Period – further developed the history of al-Ḥīra and provided more personal names. For the historiography of al-Ḥīra and its Christians, see Wood (2016); Brelaud (2016). Noʿman son of Maʿael (‫)ܢܥܡܢ ܒܪ ܡܥܐܝܠ‬, who was the father of the priest Elisha murdered in Najrān in 523, according to one of the letters of Simeon of Bet Aršam (IX.C). Shahīd (1971: xxxii). The author of the Chronicle of Ḫūzistān gave Arabic names to some members of the royal family, such as Hind or al-Nuʿmān (Syr. Noʿman). Al-Kaʿbī (2015: 16–7). On the contrary, the son of the Christian poet ʿAdī b. Zayd, famous in the Arabic Muslim literature for his role in the Ḥīran court, is straightforwardly absent in the Christian sources, and Maʿna of Dayrin could be his substitute in the same Chronicle of Ḫūzistān: Al-Kaʿbī (2015: 26–7).

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Christians bore Aramaic or biblical names and they are mentioned in Syriac sources, such as the acts of synods of the Church of the East. 85 Additionally, it seems that the habit of naming Christians after famous local saints is absent both in the al-Ḥīra region and elsewhere in Mesopotamia, as seems to be the case in the Western part of the Mediterranean as well. 86 Indeed, one would have expected more Ḥīran Christians named Sergius, whose cult was particularly popular in the Christianised Arab milieu; but surprisingly, we only know of one Sergius, a 6th-century teacher (malpana) of the school of al-Ḥīra. 87 Moreover, only five persons bear this name in our entire onomastic corpus, whereas there were at least six monasteries of Saint Sergius in Mesopotamia as early as the 6th century. 88 The name study of Mesopotamian Christians underlines a distinction between the North, where Christian and biblical names are more numerous and more rooted in the Edessan/Syriac culture, and the South, from which the incantation bowls mainly came, and where the number of Aramaic and Iranian names are almost equal. CONCLUDING REMARKS In around the 6th and 7th centuries, when it starts to be possible to compare archaeological evidence found mainly in the area around SeleuciaCtesiphon, Kaškar, and Bet Lapaṭ with the literary sources emanating from 85

86

87

88

Hosea is its first bishop, mentioned in 410. Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: Syr. 34/trans. 272, 42/283). Then, the biblical name Simeon was very popular among Ḥīran bishops from the 5th and 6th centuries. For a list of the bishops, see Toral-Niehoff (2014: 224). Saint Martin’s name thus does not seem particularly popular after his death in Gaul (397 AD), but rather from the end of the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. See the database Nomen et Gens of the University of Tübingen: https://escience-center.uni-tuebingen.de/neg/gast/startseite.jsp. Sergius son of Sāḥīq in the Chronicle of Siirt: Scher (1911: 171) and Ṣliba’s Liber Turris: Gismondi (1896: Ar. 40) should be the same as Sarjūn b. Lāḥiq of the Muḫtaṣar: Ḥaddad (2000: 135–6). However, if we extend the focus beyond the Mesopotamian areas studied, we could add three Sergiuses from Mayšan and the Persian Gulf in the 6th century (Bet Rima, Hagar/PiṭArdašīr, Māšmāhīg) and one for the eastern Sasanian province of Sagestan. Synodicon Orientale: 87–9/342–4, 109/366, 128/387. On Saint Sergius’ monasteries in the Persian Empire, see Fiey (1961). On the cult of Sergius within the Persian and Roman Empires, and especially among the Arabs, see Fowden (1999).

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this geographical area, the name study confirms that, at that time the main cultural influences on Persian Christianity were Iranian and Aramaic. 89 However, the differences in the proportion of Aramaic and Iranian names according to the selected documents may reveal quite diverse production environments. 90 On the one hand, in Christian epigraphic documents, the Iranian names outnumber the Aramaic names: 63% for Syriac bowls, and 57% for Christian seals (Fig. 2). 91 On the other hand, this balance is very different in literary sources regarding areas where comparative epigraphic material is most likely to be found: over the whole period, Iranian names represent 16% of names in Bet Aramaye, but 42% in Bet Lapaṭ (Fig. 1). On average, Iranian names represent only 24% of all names collected in literary sources for all cities surveyed in Mesopotamia (Fig. 3): the difference from the epigraphic data is far too great to be the result of chance. Therefore, how can we explain the higher rate of Aramaic names – with or without Christian connotations – in the literary evidence compared to the epigraphic documents?

89

90

91

A larger proportion of Aramaic and Iranian names can be observed at a very early period, as evidenced, for example, by the names of the Christian martyrs of the Church of Persia in the 4th century preserved in literary sources. In the Martyrology of 411, it is as follows: 66% Aramaic and 24% Iranian. Nau (1912: 23–5). This ratio is close to that of the names drawn from all literary sources, for all periods and regions: 60% and 24% (Fig. 3). This may not have been the case for earlier periods – i.e. the 3rd–5th centuries – for which we have no epigraphic evidence. Indeed, some languages that could have revealed the diversity of Persian Christianity may have been excluded from the dominant memory transmitted by the hagiographic texts. The remaining names thus contain little trace of other languages expected in the region: Akkadian, Greek, Arabic, or Armenian. These proportions are fairly average compared to the other non-Christian Aramaic corpora. Iranian names represent a lower percentage (46%) in the Jewish-Babylonian bowls than in the Mandaic bowls (65%) (Fig. 2).

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Fig. 3– Name categories of Christians in literary sources (3rd–7th c., all areas) 92 Linguistic categories

Total : 375

names with religious connotations Biblical: 121

Aramaic

226 (60%)

Christian: 46 Zoroastrian or pagan: 5 Zoroastrian: 8

Iranian

91 (24%)

Greek/Latin

33 (9%)

Christian: 19

Arabic

20 (5%)

Christian: 1

Christian: 12

Firstly, one might argue that the social backgrounds of the Christians represented in literary sources are different from those attested in the epigraphic corpora. This hypothesis is difficult to apply to Christian seals: indeed, names in the Christian seals and those taken from literary sources partially overlap, as 40% of the former are attested in the texts.93 On the contrary, this is more likely for the three corpora of incantation bowls – Jewish-Babylonian, Mandaic, and Syriac – where names are very different from Christians’ names taken from literary sources.94 Therefore, considering that many of the clients of the Syriac bowls could have been Christians, we should accept that they belonged to a significantly different social Christian background. 95

92

93

94

95

These figures are based on the collection of all data for all periods and the entire area. This proportion is of little interest if it is not compared with the data from the epigraphic documents. Here are names of the seals’ owners, which are among the most popular names of Mesopotamian Christians: Yaʿqub (seal 37), Baršabba (42), Mari (44), Bābay (45), Hormizd (53), Šābuhr (53a), Narseh (82), Yazdandād (90), and Sēbōxt – less popular – (111). Only 4 names out of the 69 individuals mentioned in the Syriac bowls have equivalents in the literature on the Mesopotamian Christians: Mihrhormizd (Syr.6), Hormizd (Syr.10, 11), Barsahde (Syr.13), and Bābay (Syr.19). Moriggi (2014). Furthermore, there is another argument for defining different milieus among the Christianised movements: while we have noticed a significant proportion of women in Syriac bowls, only one female name – Bābay, sic – can be found within the Iraqi Syriac ostraca of the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, which would therefore represent a Christian milieu closer to that conveyed by literary documentation. Harrak (2010: FA.01.09). Particularly notable is the lack of Syriac ostraca during the Sasanian period.

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Secondly, another explanation can be seen in the possibility that clerics were choosing a particular name at the time of their ordination, most often biblical Aramaic or Christian. In fact, the list of signatories of the Bet Lapaṭ’s synod shows an important linguistic difference between the names of the clerics and of laity. 96 Some of the Aramaic names could be acquired after conversion to Christianity, as we saw above, 97 but also when entering the clergy. Ch. Jullien and Ph. Gignoux mention literary evidence of name choice while converting to asceticism. 98 One could add the case of the Ḥīran nobleman ʿAmr b. ʿAmr to their examples, as he abandoned his Arabic name for the Christian Aramaic theophoric Ḥnanišoʿ upon becoming a monk. 99 Finally, the over-representation of the Aramaic component of Mesopotamian Christianity could well be a consequence of the stronger hold of Syriac culture in the hagiographical environments of Sasanian and PostSasanian Christians, along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.100 Indeed, through their Christianisation, inhabitants of the Persian Empire started to use Syriac both as a liturgical and a historiographical language. This language had taken on a remarkable dimension of Christian identity within the Church of Persia, as can be seen in the account of the Cave of Treasures. 101 96

97 98

99

100 101

See supra n. 17. This proportion of Iranian names is close to that obtained from the epigraphic corpora. Furthermore, J.-B. Yon notes that the onomastics of the clergy taken from the Syriac acts of the Council of Ephesus is more Semitic than that of the laity. Yon (2018: 214). See supra n. 67. Both examples are from the Islamic period: Ādurmāh becoming abbot Yoḥannan and Šahrzād becoming monk George. Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. (2006: 290). The case of the 6thcentury Catholicos Aba given by the two authors is more problematic, because we do not know for certain when the saint adopted this name. The change of name among the monks – metonomasia – is well attested for the medieval Byzantine period, much less for the proto-Byzantine time. See Hermay (2017). Synodicon Orientale: Chabot (1902: 632–633); Chronicle of Siirt: Scher (1919: 446, 534– 6). Unlike the 6th-century Gothic Italy, I do not notice the practice of simultaneous compound personal names among the Persian Christians, except for a few nicknames in epigraphic documentation, such as “Yazdān-zādag” for the Xwarrwēhzād of the amulet published by Gignoux (1987). Amory (1997: 269–270). On writing production in Christian Mesopotamia, see Debié (2015: 190–194); Briquel Chatonnet – Debié (2017: 150–152, 158–159). In this 6th/7th-century East Syrian text, the author highlighted Syriac as the language of Paradise, superior both to Hebrew and Greek. Minov (2013); Brelaud (forthcoming). F. Briquel Chatonnet insisted on the identity that Syriac writing had taken on at a time when Syriac authors had also produced narratives that valued the language itself, parti-

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Consequently, the over-representation of the Aramaic component of the Church in the writings could be part of a voluntary or involuntary process of promoting Syriac as the language of the Church of the East, and similarly, among West Syrian Christians. This article has noted some non-exhaustive reflections that can be drawn from the analysis of Christians’ names gathered from both literary and epigraphic sources for the Sasanian Mesopotamia. There, a Persian-Aramaic Christian culture developed within East Syrian hagiography and historiography. This culture was able to embrace a part of the diversity of the cultural components of the empire as it has been reconstructed. 102 One may also wonder whether the choice of names with a particular linguistic origin tells us something about the language spoken by the Christians who bore those names. Just as a name does not indicate the religion of its bearer, neither does it indicate the language they spoke. In both cases, the name choice indicates above all a trend, sometimes cultural conservatism, or a strong linguistic influence, but almost never an ethnic origin. 103 However, when do the proportions of names in a certain language become important? In the case of a high proportion of Iranian names among the Christians of Ḫūzistān or the names of the clients of Mandaic bowls, it seems fair to consider that Iranian was indeed a language of communication for these Christians. Conversely, the presence of many Aramaic and biblical names does not imply a mastery of Aramaic, but rather a strong influence exerted by monotheistic, even Christian, milieus.

102 103

cularly in relation to the other languages of the Ancient East. Briquel Chatonnet (2018). This led to a consistent discourse during the Islamic period, especially in the time of Patriarch Timothy (†823): the Church of the East is the Church of Persia, as shown by its devotion towards the figure of the Magi in the Gospel; it is a Church that speaks Syriac, the language of Paradise. Gignoux – Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2009: 323). On the effort to define an East Syrian identity that has gradually been built up within the Church of the East, see Brelaud (forthcoming). For example, the name Zizai is completely isolated in the Christian prosopography of Seleucia-Ctesiphon: it belongs to one of the 4th-century martyrs. Nau (1912: 25). A Zizais, “young Sarmatian of an advantageous size from royal blood”, is attested in A. Marcellin, RG, XVII.12.9. Even if this is not enough to indicate the ethnic origin of the martyr, it is known, however, that populations from Central Asia were integrated into Persian army corps. The same applies to all Greek or Latin names carried by Christians of the Persian Empire. Very often, they have such a strong Christian character that they are cut off from their linguistic or ethnic origin. A Mesopotamian named Gregory, Paul, or Thecla is not necessarily a Greek-speaking person.

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Lastly, the onomastic method and its shortcomings raise the question of how to approach the masses in history, namely how to go beyond the narrow sample of the population that is provided by literary sources – most often the elites or the clergy in the context of Christianity – and therefore bypass the exclusive memory offered by these sources. The name study of Christians through archaeological material, as we saw, might help offset some of the impressions given by ancient authors. There are still many limitations to this method: the statistical analysis is imperfect, and the conclusions drawn from it may prove biased. Nevertheless, it seems that the use of epigraphic documents does provide access, if not to the masses, at least to individuals, and especially women, a presence more rooted in local traditions and social habits, 104 which is not always accounted for hagiographers, canonists or chroniclers.

104

All the more so since the use of incantation bowls is a peculiarity of Mesopotamia, with some links to ancient pagan Babylonian practices. Gorea (2018).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Al-Kaʿbī, Nāṣir (ed., trans.) (2015) A Short Chronicle on the End of the Sasanian Empire and Early Islam (590–660 A.D.), Piscataway, New Jersey. Amory, Patrick (1997) People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, Cambridge. Beck, Edmund (ed., trans.) (1961) Des heiligen Ephraem des Syrers. Carmina Nisibena 1, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 218–219, Leuven. Becker, Adam H. (2006), Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom: The School of Nisibis and the Development of Scholastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia, Philadelphia. Becker, Adam H. (2011) “Barṣawma of Nisibis”, in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Piscataway, New Jersey, pp. 58–59. Bedjan, Paul (ed.) (1891) Acta martyrum et sanctorum, vol.2, Leipzig. Bedjan, Paul (ed.) (1894) Acta martyrum et sanctorum, vol.4, Leipzig. Bedjan, Paul (ed.) Acta martyrum et sanctorum, vol. 5, Leipzig. BeDuhn Jason D. (1995) “Magical Bowls and Manichaens”, Marvin Meyer – Paul Mirecki (eds) Ancient Magic and Ritual Power, Leiden, pp. 419–434. Bhayro, Siam – Ford, James N. – Levene, Dan – Saar, Ortal-Paz (2018) Aramaic Magic Bowls in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. Descriptive List and Edition of Selected Texts, Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity, 7, Leiden. Bosworth, Edmund C. (trans.) (1999) “The History of al-Ṭabarī. Vol.V: The Sasanids, the Lakhmids,and Yemen”, in E. Yār Šātir (ed.) Bibliotheca Persica, New York. Brelaud, Simon (2016) “Al-Ḥīra et ses chrétiens dans les guerres romano-perses”, in Camenulae, 15, pp. 1‑26. Brelaud, Simon (2020) “The First Syriac Inscription on Jar in the Arab-Persian Gulf”, in Le carnet de la MAFKF. Recherches archéologiques franco-koweïtiennes de l’île de Faïlaka (Koweït), 20 mars 2020 ( https://mafkf.hypotheses.org/1958). Brelaud, Simon (forthcoming) “The rise of a Christian identity in a Pagan empire: the Christians of the Sasanian Period (3rd–7th centuries)”, in The Harp, 36. Brelaud, Simon – Briquel Chatonnet, Françoise (2017) “Quelques réflexions sur la désignation des chrétiens dans l’inscription du mage Kirdīr et dans l’empire sassanide”, in Parole de l’Orient, 43, pp. 113‑136. Briquel Chatonnet, Françoise (2018) “La langue du Paradis, la langue comme patrie”, in Margherita Farina (ed.) Les auteurs syriaques et leur langue, Études syriaques, 15, Paris, pp. 9–25. Brock, Sebastian P. (1978) “A Martyr at the Sasanid Court under Vahran II: Candida”, in Analecta Bollandiana, 96, pp.167‑181. Brock, Sebastian P. – Ashbrook Susan H. (1998) Holy women of the Syrian Orient, Berkeley. Brock, Sebastian P. (2014) The Martyrs of Mount Berʾain, Persian martyr acts in Syriac: text and translation, 4, Piscataway, New Jersey. Boustan Raʿanan – Sanzo, Joseph E. (2017) “Christian Magicians, Jewish Magical Idioms, and the Shared Magical Culture of Late Antiquity”, in Harvard Theological Review, 110(2), pp. 217–240.

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Butts, Aaron M. – Gross, Simcha (ed., trans.) (2016) The History of the ‘Slave of the Christ’. From Jewish Child to Christian Martyr, Persian martyr acts in Syriac: text and translation, 6, Piscataway, New Jersey. Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (ed., trans.) (1897) “Histoire de Jésus-Sabran écrite par Jésus-Yab d’Adiabène”, in Nouvelles archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires, 7, pp. 485– 584. Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (ed., trans.) (1902) Synodicon Orientale ou Recueil de synodes nestoriens, Paris. Coakley, James F. (2018) A catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in Cambridge University Library and college libraries acquired since 1901, Ely. Connolly, Richard H. (1909) The Liturgical Homilies of Narsay. Translated into English with an Introduction, Cambridge. Daryaee, Touraj (2010) “The Idea of Ērānšahr: Jewish, Christian and Manichaean Views in Late Antiquity”, in Carlo G. Cereti (ed.) Iranian Identity in the Course of History. Proceedings of the Conference Held in Rome, 21–24 September 2005, Rome, pp. 91–108. Debié, Muriel (2010) “Devenir chrétien dans l’Iran sassanide”, in Hervé Inglebert, Sylvain Destephen, Bruno Dumézil. (eds.), Le problème de la christianisation du monde antique, Textes, Images et Monuments de l’Antiquité au haut Moyen Âge, 10, Paris, pp. 329–358. Debié Muriel (2015) L’écriture de l’histoire en syriaque. Transmissions interculturelles et constructions identitaires entre hellénisme et islam. Avec des répertoires des textes historiographiques en annexe, Late Antique History and Religion, 12, Leuven. Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond (2005) “Manichean Script”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition. Devos, Paul (trans.) (1994) “La jeune martyre perse sainte Širin”, in Analecta Bollandiana, 112, pp. 5–31. Drijvers, Han J. W. – HEALEY, John F. (1999) The old Syriac inscriptions of Edessa and Osrhoene: texts, translations and commentary, Leiden. Fiey Jean M. (1961) “Les saints Serge de l’Iraq”, in Annalecta Bollandiana, 79, pp. 102–114. Ford, James N. – Abudraham, Ohad (2018) “Syriac and Mandaic Incantation Bowls”, Dalit Regev – Hananya Hizmi (eds.) Finds Gone Astray. ADCA Confiscated Items, Jerusalem, pp. 75–111. Ford, James N. – Morgenstern, Matthew (2020) Aramaic Incantation Bowls in Museum Collections. Vol. I. The Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection of Babylonian Antiquities, Jena, Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity, 8, Leiden. Forrest, Mendoza – Skjærvø, Prods O. (2011) Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers. The Concept of Evil in Early Iran, Austin. Fowden, Elizabeth K. (1999) The barbarian plain: Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran, Berkeley. Gignoux, Philippe (1987) Incantations magiques syriaques, Collection de la Revue des Études juives, 4, Leuven. Gignoux, Philippe – Jullien, Christelle (2006) “L’onomastique iranienne dans les sources syriaques. Quand les chrétiens d’Iran changent de nom (IVe–VIIe s.)”, in Parole de l’Orient, 31, pp. 279–294. Gignoux, Philippe – Jullien, Christelle (2009) “Les mages christianisées. Reconstruction historique et onomastique des listes nominales syriaques”, in Mohammad A. AmirMoezzi, Jean-Daniel Dubois, Christelle Jullien, Florence Jullien (eds.) Pensée grecque et

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Map 1: Places mentioned in the article.

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On the Iranian Lexicon in the Christian Old Uigur Texts from Central Asia CHIARA BARBATI Summary – This contribution deals with patterns in language contact by listing and discussing the Iranian lexicon as attested in the Christian Old Uigur texts from Central Asia. In doing so, the present work fits into the more general framework of Iranian (Sogdo)-Turkic relations especially during the 9th and 10th centuries. 1. INTRODUCTION It is well known that Sogdian was the Middle Iranian language which had most contacts with the Turkic languages between the 6th and the 11th centuries in Central Asia, and even more so if we focus on a geographical area that includes the Turfan oasis and the Gansu corridor. 1 The Turks and Uigurs governed the Sogdians but among them the Sogdian language played a role of the literary language, 2 i.e. a language that had a higher power and prestige than the Turkic languages because it was widely used in trading and diplomacy. In 1983 Annemarie von Gabain demonstrated that the fundamental vocabulary of Buddhist Uigur texts shows a clearly Middle

1

2

Concerning the linguistic contacts between Turkic and other Middle Iranian languages, mention should be made of the Turkish names and titles found Middle Persian Manichaean texts from 8th–9th centuries as well as in Khotanese documents from the 9th–10th centuries. A Khotanese text from 9th–10th centuries contains a Turkic-Khotanese list of terms for body parts, archery and horse trappings, see Bailey (1943–1946). The Uighur script derives from the Sogdian cursive script and the oldest surviving inscription dealing with the history of the Turkish emperors, a funerary stele found 10 km west of Bugut, Mongolia, is written in Sogdian language and script. It is datable to 581 and confirms a Chinese source from the 6th century which asserts that the first script employed by the Turks was the Sogdian one. The only Turkish words found in this inscription are titles like qaγān. Instead, the earliest inscription in Old Turkic in runic script belong to the first half of the 8th century. On this subject, see, among others, the contributions of Dörfer (1991) and Sims-Williams (1981)

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Iranian, in particular Sogdian background, not an Indian or Chinese one, 3 and that, indeed, loanwords from Sanskrit and Greek also entered via Sogdian. According to von Gabain, the same applies for the basic lexicon attested in the Manichaean Uigur texts. 4 With particular regard to eastern Christianity, she stated that “Nestorian Christianity must have been preached to the Turks not only by Syriac monks but also by Sogdian missionaries, for many Christian texts both in Syriac and in Sogdian have been found in the village of Bulayïq (in the oasis of Turfan), together with a few Turkish fragments”. 5 Peter Zieme identifies the 10th century as the period of possible contact between those Sogdian and Turkic speaking who were leaving in the Xinjiang and being adherents to the eastern Christianity. In the preface to his catalogue Old Uigur Texts of the Church of the East from Central Asia he writes: “Our knowledge about the Christian communities in the Turfan oasis is very limited. Although there are some traces of an interrelationship between Syriac, Iranian and Old Uigur text fragments, near to nothing can be said in detail – the main reason for which being that we have no exact dates. The only possible period in which speakers of all groups could communicate with each other is the 10th century when Sogdian was still a spoken language. Syriac texts necessary for the liturgy may have been used by both other groups. The majority of the Old Uigur texts probably belongs to the 13th or 14th centuries”. 6 The Christian Uigur texts listed in the catalogue were found in Bulayïq, Kurutka, Qočo (three findspots in present-day Xinjiang, China) 7 as well as in Xaraxoto (present-day Inner Mongolia, China) 8 and, as we shall see, show a basic religious terminology clearly of Iranian, if not of Sogdian origin, as in the case of Buddhist and Manichaean Uigur texts from Central Asia.

3 4 5 6 7 8

For the word-list, see von Gabain (1983: 617–618). For the word-list, see von Gabain (1983: 620). Von Gabain (1983: 621). See Zieme (2015: 7). See Zieme (2015: 25–26). With particular regard to Bulayïq, see Barbati (2015: 92–97). See Zieme (2015: 26).

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2. IRANIAN LEXICON IN THE CHRISTIAN OLD UIGUR TEXTS FROM THE TURFAN OASIS In the Christian Old Uigur texts found in Bulayïq, Kurutka and Qočo the words for ʻcommunityʼ, ʻpriestʼ, ʻangelʼ, ʻladyʼ, ʻmagusʼ, ʻapostleʼ, ʻmonkʼ, ʻdevilʼ, ʻhellʼ, ʻchristianʼ, ʻparadiseʼ show an Iranian origin. 9 ančm(a)n ʻcommunityʼ. 10 The word is attested as arka ančm(a)n bäglär ʻthe community leadersʼ in the fragment U 5833 (T III Bul. 99a) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq. According to Zieme, the text consists of a letter addressed to community leaders, i.e. arka ančm(a)n bäglär, in which the word for 'greeting' is attested in both Sogdian and New Persian, respectively, and . 11 The fragment U 7264 (T III Kurutka 1857) in Old Uigur in East-Syriac script coming from Kurutka, probably belonging to the 10th–12th centuries and recording wedding blessings mentions the word for ʻcommunityʼ twice: as alku ančm(a)n-nıŋ atası ʻthe father of the whole communityʼ in J 05 and as alku ančm(a)n-nıŋ tutrukı ʻof a leader of the whole communityʼ in J 12. 12 anč[man] is restored in the fragment U 5543 (T II B 65.50) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq. 13 ʻchurchʼ, ʻthe Churchʼ is attested in Christian Sogdian 14 as well as in Manichaean Sogdian whereas ʻgatheringʼ, ʻassemblyʼ, ʻcommunityʼ is attested in Manichaean Parthian. 15 dentar, tentar and m(a)sid(a)r ʻpriestʼ. 16 The word for ʻpriestʼ is attested as küdän dentar ʻthe guest priestʼ in the fragment U 321 in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and consisting 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16

The transcription for Iranian and Turkic words is that of Zieme (2015). See Zieme (2015: 198). See Zieme (2015: 34). With particular regard to the New Persian , Zieme assumes a wrong form for what is the plural suffix -lar. See Zieme (2015: 107–109;198; 322). See Zieme (2015: 33; 322). See Sims-Williams (2016: 28). Durkin-Meisterernst (2004: 48). For an overview on Middle Iranian words for ʻgatheringʼ, ʻassemblyʼ, ʻcommunityʼ, ʻchurchʼ, ʻthe Churchʼ and ʻsynagogueʼ as attested in the texts from the Tarim basin, see Barbati (2014: 108–109); (2015a: 103–111). See Zieme (2015: 213; 229).

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of a petition letter; 17 as ulug dentarnıŋ ʻof the grand priestʼin the fragment *9175 (T II B 29) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq, probably belonging to the 10th–11th centuries and containing the legend of the magi; 18 as tentarka ʻto the priestʼin the fragment So 14000 verso in Old Uigur language and script from Qočo, probably belonging to the 13th–14th centuries and recording the story of Paul and Thecla; 19 as arıg dentarlarıg ʻthe pure priestʼ as well as arıg dentar-larka ʻto the pure priestsʼ in the fragment MIK III 194 (T II B 66) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and consisting of the legend of St. George; 20 as denda[r]lar-ka ʻto the priestsʼ in the fragment U 7264 (T III Kurutka 1857) in Old Uigur language in East-Syriac script coming from Kurutka, belonging to the 10th–12th centuries and recording wedding blessings. 21 In Christian Sogdian we have in East Syriac script and in Sogdian script. 22 (Sims-Williams, 2016: 74). m(a)sid(a)r is attested as m(a)sid(a)r+larnıŋ ʻbelonging to the priestsʼ in the fragment U 5329 in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq consisting of an administrative order. 23 In Christian Sogdian we have in East Syriac script and , in Sogdian script. 24 frišti, vrišti ʻangelʼ. 25 [f]rišti is attested in the unidentified fragment U 332 (T III Kurutka) in Uigur language in East Syriac script from Kurutka; 26 and vrišti is attested twice in the fragment *U 9175 (T II B 29) in Old Uigur in Uigur script from Bulayïq, probably belonging to the 10th–11th centuries and recording the legend of the magi. 27 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

G19. See Zieme (2015:85–87). B66. See Zieme (2015: 49–55). I41. See Zieme (2015: 99; 103). H23 and H27 respectively. See Zieme (2015: 93–97). J20. See Zieme (2015: 107–108). See Sims-Williams (2016: 74). See Zieme (2015: 32) and Raschmann (2009: 413). See Sims-Williams (2016: 108). See Zieme (2015: 214; 254). See Zieme (2015: 139–141). B63 and B79 respectively. See Zieme (2015: 49–50).

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The fragment U 7264 (T III Kurutka 1857) in Uigur language East Syriac script from Kurutka, dating 10th–12th centuries and consisting of wedding blessings read frištilär and frišti-lär for ʻangelsʼ. 28 The plural form is also restored as vrištilä[r and as [vri]-šti-lär in the fragment U 322 (T II B 65) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq. The content of the text concerns the apocalypse and the resurrection. 29 In Christian Sogdian it is attested as , in East Syriac script and in Sogdian script. 30 hatun “lady”. 31 This word is attested in I 13, i.e. in the fragment So 14000 verso in Old Uigur language and script, probably belonging to the 13th–14th centuries from Qočo, probably belonging to the 13th–14th centuries and telling the story of Paul and Thecla. 32 ʻKhatunʼ is attested in Christian Sogdian in Sogdian script. 33 The dictionary of Gharib lists the following Sogdian forms , , meaning ʻqueenʼ. 34 mogoč ʻmagusʼ. 35 This word is attested in the manuscript fragments *U 9175 (T II B 29) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq, probably belonging to the 10th–11th centuries and recording the legend of the magi. 36 We reads mogočlar ʻthe magiʼ; ay mogočlar-a ʻoh magi!ʼ; bo mogočlar ʻthese magiʼ; ol mogočlar ʻthe magiʼ; ol mogočlarnıŋ ʻof the magiʼ; ol mogočlarıg ʻthe magiʼ; ol mogočlarka ʻto those magiʼ.

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

J10 and J17 respectively. See Zieme (2015: 107–108). N05 and N26–27 respectively. See Zieme (2015: 132–136). See Sims-Williams (2016: 79–80). See Zieme (2015: 215). I13. See Zieme (2015: 99; 103). See Sims-Williams (2016: 219). See Gharib (1995: 431). See Zieme (2015: 230–231). See Zieme (2015: 49–55). The textual references of the forms listed above are respectively B53, B60; B31; B69, B71; B08, B11, B21, B39; B27; B64; B37.

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Both forms and are attested in Christian Sogdian. 37 The masculin adjectival form ʻmagianʼ as well as the feminine one , the compounds ʻmagian religionʼ and ʻmagian houseʼ are built with . 38 The Iranian word for ʻmagusʼ also entered as loanword in Syriac as mgušā. 39 p(a)tgamv(a)r “apostle”. 40 This word is attested in the fragment U 320 (T II B 1) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and probably belonging to the 10th–11th centuries; the content refers to a divination book. 41 “apostle” is attested in Christian Sogdian 42 and it is built with the Iranian word for ʻmessageʼ *patigāma- well attested in the Iranian linguistic area as well as Iranian loanword in the Semitic linguistic area.43 sukvar ʻmonkʼ. 44 sukvardın ʻfrom the monkʼ is attested in the fragment U 321 (T III Bul 99) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and consisting of a petition letter. 45 The forms and are attested in Christian Sogdian as well as the words for ʻbrother monkʼ , ʻchief monkʼ and the corresponding feminine nouns, i.e. respectively, ʻnunʼ and , ʻsister nunsʼ , ʻchief nunʼ . Finally, the word for ʻmonkhoodʼ is also attested. 46 The form is attested in Christian Sogdian in Sogdian script. 47 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

See Sims-Williams (2016: 104). See Sims-Williams (2016: 109). See Ciancaglini (2008: 201–202). See Zieme (2015: 236). L11 and L24. See Zieme (2015: 120–121). See Sims-Williams (2016: 150). For an overview see Ciancaglini (2008: 242–243). See Zieme (2015: 239). G 4/5. See Zieme (2015: 85). For all the Christian Sogdian forms mentioned, see Sims-Williams (2016: 178). See Sims-Wiliams (2016: 178).

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š(ı)mnu/šumnu ʻdevilʼ. 48 š(ı)mnu is attested in the book scroll fragments U 4991 (T II B 65d) + U 5056 (T III B 99b) + U 7294 (T II B 66.501) + U 4910 (T II B 28) in old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and recording confession of sins and supplication. 49 The form šumnu is attested in the fragment U 3890 (T III B) in Old Uigur language in East Syriac script from Bulayïq. The content is about God and the devil, and the word for ʻdevilʼ is written upside down. 50 is attested in Christian Sogdian. 51 tamu “hell”. 52 tam[u] is attested in the book scroll fragments U 4991 (T II B 65d) + U 5056 (T III B 99b) + U 7294 (T II B 66.501) + U 4910 (T II B 28) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and reading confession of sins and supplication. 53 The form tamuka ʻto the hellʼ is attested in the fragment U3890 (T III B) in Old Uigur language in East Syriac script from Bulayïq. The content is about God and devil. 54 meaning ʻhellʼ is attested in Christian Sogdian; 55 In this regard, it should be noted that the Christian Sogdian lectionary E5 uses this term where the Peshitta, i.e. the text from which it is translated, reads the toponym ʻGehennaʼ. 56 Benveniste records meaning ʻblack, blacknessʼ in all three Sogdian religious literary traditions, i.e. Buddhist, Manichaean and Christian by underlining that this term entered as loanwords in Turkic and Mongol. 57 The word tam is attested in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian by meaning ʻdarknessʼ, ʻblacknessʼ. 58 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

See Zieme (2015: 240). D05. See Zieme (2015: 61; 63). M29. See Zieme (2015: 125). For a contextualisation of upside-down writing forms, see Barbati (2015b: 450). See Sims-Williams (2016: 185). See Zieme (2015: 241). D12. See Zieme (2015: 61). M09. See Zieme (2015: 125). See Sims-Williams (2016: 194). See Barbati (2014: 110). See Benveniste (1979: 310). See Durkin-Meisterernst (2004: 324).

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tarsak “Christian”. 59 The word is attested as tarsak-larka ʻto the Christiansʼ in the fragment U 322 (T II B 65) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq recording texts on apocalypse and resurrection. 60 Meaning ʻfearingʼ, ʻone who fearsʼ, ʻChristiansʼ, the forms and are attested in Christian Sogdian in East Syriac script and in Sogdian script. 61 uštmak “paradise”. 62 This word is attested as uštmak-takı ʻin paradiseʼ in the fragment U 7264 (T III Kurutka 1857) in Old Uigur language in East Syriac script coming from Kurutka and dating 10th–12th centuries. It consists of wedding blessing. 63 The word for ʻparadiseʼ is restored as [ušt]makd[a]kı in the book scroll fragments U 4991 (T II B 65d) + U 5056 (T III B 99b) + U 7294 (T II B 66.501) + U 4910 (T II B 28) in Old Uigur language and script from Bulayïq and recording texts on confession of sins and supplication. 64 Christian Sogdian reads for ʻthe heavenly kingdomʼ, ʻparadiseʼ by opposing ʻkingdomʼ, ʻthe earthly kingdomʼ. 65

59 60 61 62 63 64 65

See Zieme (2015: 242). N28. See Zieme (2015: 131; 134–135). See Sims-Williams (2016: 195). See Zieme (2015: 252). J17. See Zieme (2015: 107–108). D06. See Zieme (2015: 61). See Barbati (2016: 91).

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3. IRANIAN LEXICON IN THE CHRISTIAN OLD UIGUR TEXTS FROM XARAXOTO From Xaraxoto, the Iranian words for ʻcommunityʼ, ʻchurchʼ, ʻpriestʼ, ʻbaptismʼ, ʻChristianʼ and ʻbeing a Christianʼ are attested. ančm(a)n ʻcommunityʼ. 66 ančm(a)nlarnı ʻthe communitiesʼ is attested in the fragment 1 (F 137a, b= Abb. 88 and 89) as well as in the fragment 2 (F 137 c, [d]= Abb. 90 and 91), 67 both belonging to a manuscript fragments in Old Uigur in East Syriac script 68 consisting of a hagiographical text. The form anč[man] is restored in fragment 1 (F 137a, b= Abb. 88 and 89) and in fragment 2 (F 137 c, [d]= Abb. 90 and 91). 69 dendar ʻpriestʼ. 70 dendar is attested in a manuscript fragments probably belonging to the 13th– 14th centuries in Uigur in East Syriac script and recording the Matthew sermon. 71 The form dend[arlar] ʻthe priestsʼ is restored in the fragment 1 (F 137a, b= Abb. 88 and 89) in Old Uigur in East Syriac script and consisting of a hagiographical text. 72 snam ʻbaptismʼ. 73 The word is attested as snam-kä ʻto/for baptismʼ in the fragment 1 (F 137a, b= Abb. 88 and 89) in Old Uigur language in East Syriac script recording a

66 67 68

69 70 71 72 73

See Zieme (2015: 265). For references to Iranian languages see previous pages. The same applies to other words already discussed in the lexicon from the Turfan oasis. U02 and U08 respectively. Sie Zieme (2015: 166–167). Interestingly, Zieme (2015: 165) notes that this script ʻähnelt den Schrifttypen, mit denen sogdische Texte geschrieben sind, obwohl es kaum möglich ist, eine genaue Abhängigkeit aufzuzeigenʼ. U03 abd U03 respectively. See Zieme (2015: 165; 167). See Zieme (2015: 270). T109. Zieme (2015: 151–152). U02. Zieme (2015: 166). See Zieme (2015: 278).

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hagiographical text. 74 meaning ʻbaptismʼ is attested in Christian Sogdian. 75 t(a)rs(a)q ʻChristianʼ and t(a)rs(a)q-lig ʻbeing a Christianʼ. 76 t(a)rs(a)q as t(a)rs(a)qa ʻOh, Christianʼ and t(a)rs(a)q-lig ʻbeing a Christianʼ are attested in a manuscript fragments probably belonging to the 13th–14th centuries in Uigur in East Syriac script and recording the Matthew sermon. 77 4. HYBRIDIZATION IN LANGUAGE What has been analysed so far shows the occurrence of lexical morphemes that a) are proper to a specific lexicon, in this case religious, b) belong to a different linguistic area than the matrix language of the texts taken into consideration; c) adopt the grammatical morphemes of the matrix language. The Iranian, basically Sogdian, lexicon as attested in the matrix language, i.e. Old Uigur/Uigur records the following grammatical morphemes: plural suffix -lar; 78 genitive suffix -nıŋ; 79 the dative suffix -ka; 80 accusative suffix -ıg and -nı; 81 ablative suffix -dın; 82 converter + kI, i.e. locative suffix -da, -ta + kI; 83 a word formation in -lig. The only exception is a Sogdian singular vocative ending -a which is fossilised in t(a)rs(a)qa ʻOh, Christianʼ. The plural suffix -lar occurs in the following forms: dendarlarka; dentarlarıg; m(a)sid(a)rlarnıŋ; frištilär as well as frišti-lär; mogočlar; ay mogočlara; bo mogočlar; ol mogočlar; ol mogočlarnıŋ; ol mogočlarıg; ol mogočlarka; tarsaklarka; and ančmanlarnı. The genitive suffix -nıŋ is attested as alku ančm(a)n-nıŋ adaši; alku ančm(a)n-nıŋ tutruki; ulug dentarnıŋ; m(a)sid(a)r+larnıŋ; ol mogočlarnıŋ. The dative suffix -ka occurs in the following forms: tentarka; arıg dentarlarka; denda[r]lar-ka; ol mogočlarka; snam-kä; tamuka; tarsaklarka. 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83

U02. Zieme (2015: 165). See Sims-Williams (2016: 173–174) and Zieme (2015: 170). See Zieme (2015: 279). t(a)rs(a)qa in T034 and T100, and t(a)rs(a)q-lig in T18. See Zieme (2015: 160–162). See Brockelmann (1951–1954: 150–152); Erdal (2004: 158–160). See Brockelmann (1951–1954: 153); Erdal (2004: 168–170). See Brockelmann (1951–1954: 154); Erdal (2004: 171–173). See Brockelmann (1951–1954: 154: 155); Erdal (2004: 170–171). See Brockelmann (1951–1954: 155–156); Erdal (2004: 174–175). See Erdal (2004: 186–187).

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The accusative suffix -ıg (from Turfan oasis) and the accusative suffix -nı (from Xaraxoto) are recorded in arıg dentarlarıg; ol mogočlarıg; and ančmanlarnı. The ablative suffix -dın occurs in sukwardın; finally, the locative suffix -da (from Bulayïq) and -ta (from Kurutka) + kI are attested in [ušt]makd[a]kı and uštmak-takı. This concerns texts from four different finding places, Bulayïq, Kurutka, Qoco, Xaraxoto, in both scripts, Old Uigur and East Syriac, and of different chronology and literary genre. By analysing the onomastics of the Turco-Sogdian documents from 9th– th 10 centuries Dunhuang with particular attention to the Turkic names that entered into Sogdian assuming Sogdian grammatical morphemes, SimsWilliams writes: “The occurrence of so many foreign names in these Sogdian documents does not in itself constitute evidence of bilingualism, although it certainly indicates the existence of social conditions in which phenomena associated with language contact are to be expected. However, the fact that the foreign names are often supplied with Sogdian suffixes and inflexions suggests that they have been to some extent assimilated into the language”. 84 In this case, the roles between matrix language and the language of the loanwords change but the linguistic process due to language contact is identical. This in turn helps to understand how languages respond in a specific historical context and allows to map out linguistic patterns.

84

See Sims-Williams (2008: 44).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bailey, Harold W. (1943–1946) “A Turkish-Khotanese Vocabulary”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 11, pp. 290–296. Barbati, Chiara (2014) “Notes on Christian Sogdian Terminology with Special Reference to the Sogdian Gospel Lectionary C5”, in Carlo G. Cereti – Maria Carmela Benvenuto (eds.) The Christians in the East, Conference held in Rome, March 13–14. 09, Nāme-ye-Irān-e Bāstān, International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies, 11–12, pp. 105–120. Barbati, Chiara (2015a) “La documentation sogdienne chrétienne et le monastère de Bulayïq”, in Pier Giorgio Borbone – Pierre Marsone (eds.) Le christianisme syriaque en Asie centrale et en Chine, Études syriaques, 12, Paris, pp. 89–120. Barbati, Chiara (2015b) “Syriac into Middle Iranian: A Translation Studies Approach to Sogdian and Pahavi Manuscripts within the Church of the East”, in Open Linguistics, 1, pp. 444–457. Barbati, Chiara (2016) The Christian Sogdian Lectionary E5 in Context, Vienna. Benveniste, É. (1979) “Le vocabulaire chrétien dans les langues d´Asie centrale”, in Études sogdiennes, Wiesbaden, pp. 308–314. Brockelmann, Carl (1951–1954) Osttürkische Grammatik der islamischen Literatursprachen Mittelasiens, Leiden. Ciancaglini, Claudia A. (2008) Iranian Loanwords in Syriac, Wiesbaden. Dörfer, Gerhard (1991) “Chinese Turkestan. viii. Turkish-Iranian language contacts”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopaedia Iranica, 5, Costa Mesa, pp. 481–484. Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond (2004) Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, Turnhout. Erdal, Marcel (2004) A Grammar of Old Turkic, Leiden. Gabain, Annemarie von (1983) “Irano-Turkish relations in the late Sasanian period”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran, 3(1), pp. 613–624. Gharib, Badrozaman (1995) Sogdian Dictionary. Sogdian-Persian-English, Tehran. Raschmann, Simone-Christiane (2009) “Traces of Christian communities in the Old Turkish documents”, in Zhang Dingjing – Abdurishid Yakup (eds.) Tujue yuwenxue yanyiu. Geng Shimin jiaoshou bashi huadan jinian wenji [Studies in Turkic Philology. Festschrift in honour of the 80th Birthday of Professor Geng Shimin], Beijing, pp. 408–425. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1981) “The Sogdian Sound-System and the Origins of the Uygur Script”, in Journal Asiatique, 269, pp. 347–360. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2008) “Sogdian-Turkish Bilingualism and Linguistic Interference in 9th–10th Century Tunhuang” in Zohra Zaršenās and Vidā Naddāf (eds.) Jašn-nāma-ye doctor Badr-al-Zamān-e Qarib/Papers in Honour of Professor B. Gharib, Tehran, pp. 40–51. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2016) A Dictionary: Christian Sogdian, Syriac and English, Wiesbaden. Zieme, Peter (2015) Altuigurische Texte der Kirche des Ostens aus Zentralasien. Old Uigur texts of the Church of the East from Central Asia, Piscataway.

“And you gathered me to your houses” Gospel Quotations in Manichaean Texts: Adaptations and Remaking of Mt 25, 35–36 in the Šābuhragān 1 ANDREA PIRAS Summary – The very important and recent publication of N.A. Pedersen (ed.), Biblia Manichaica I. The Old Testament in Manichaean Tradition (Turnhout 2017) claims for a renewed perspective concerning the Biblical tradition in Manichaeism and stressing the achievements of the deputed scholarship (A. Böhlig, J.P. Asmussen, W. Sundermann, H.J. Klimkeit) to elucidate the Old and New Testament components of this multifaceted religion, blending Zoroastrian and Buddhist aspects as well. Then, the Christian side of this tradition displays a remarkable set of narratives, embedded into a specifical genre of the Manichaean hymnology (the Parthian Crucifixion Hymns), or within an Apocryphal line of Gospels and into an apocalyptic stratum of texts and imageries. After a brief survey of a few samples dealing with this topic, responding to a consistent part of Mani’s cultural heritage within the Baptist community, I shall take into account a particular employ of Gospel quotations in Mani’s Šābuhragān. The Šābuhragān is a noteworthy piece of conceptual translation with a high missionary target, to render in a Zoroastrian mold a narrative related to Mani’s cultural background of his Jews-Christian and Gnostic formation. In the way of previous seminal studies, I shall try to confirm not only Mani’s cultural strategy of religious translation and adaptations, but also his main concern for sustaining and hospitality of his holy community, namely the Electi, charged with a pious task of ascetical behaviors for salvation. The recent outstanding publication of N. A. Pedersen and his team, Biblia Manichaica I. The Old Testament in Manichaean Tradition, claims for a renewed perspective concerning the Biblical tradition in Manichaeism, stressing 1

I am pleased to thank Stefano Pellò and Paola Orsatti for their advices in New Persian lexicography. Many thanks to Vittorio Berti for his help in Syriac passages, taken from Bilingual New Covenant Syriac-English https://www.dukhrana.com/peshitta/

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the achievements of the deputed former scholarship2 to elucidate the Old and New Testament components of this multifaceted religion, blending Zoroastrian and Buddhist aspects as well. To begin with, the crystal seal of Mani bearing the Aramaic inscription “Mani, the Apostle of Jesus Christ” () can be considered an emblematic token and a true manifesto of Mani’s faith and missionary program, under the charismatic aegis of Paul’s inspiration. 3 The Biblical-Christian side of this tradition displays a remarkable set of narratives, embedded into specifical works of Mani himself (his Psalms), or into other genres such as the later Parthian hymnology (the Parthian Crucifixion Hymns). 4 A survey of the occurences of apocryphal traditions into Manichaean literature also confirms a diffusion of these texts within an apocalyptic level recording apocryphal writings or related to other works, such as the Book of Giants and the Enochic cycle. 5 Further analysis like relationships between Manichaean texts and Nag Hammadi’s ones will not be here approached, although have to be remembered on the background of the issue pertaining to Gnosticism and Christian origins.6 After this brief quotation of general items, testifying to a consistent part of Mani’s cultural heritage within the Baptist community, I shall now take into account a particular employ of Gospels’ quotations in Mani’s Šābuhragān. The Šābuhragān is a noteworthy piece of conceptual translation with a high missionary target, to render in a Zoroastrian mold 7 a narrative related to Mani’s cultural background of his Jews-Christian and Gnostic formation. In the way of previous seminal studies on Matthew’s quotations, 8 I shall try to confirm not only Mani’s cultural strategy of religious translations and adaptations, but also his main concern for protection and sustaining of his holy community, namely the Electi, charged with a pious task of ascetical beha2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Sundermann (1968), Asmussen (1975), Hutter (1991), Klimkeit (1998a) and (1998b). See Gulácsi (2013) for a detailed analysis of this crystal seal. For Mani’s Psalm, see Durkin-Meisterernst (2006), Morano (2010); for Parthian Crucifixion Hymns, see Morano (1998) and (2010). See Klimkeit (1998b) for Apocryphal Gospels; for the Book of Giants, see Morano (2008) and (2016). See Pettipiece (2012); and Klimkeit (1998b: 192–196) for correspondences between the Gospel of Thomas and Parthian Manichaean texts. Colditz (2006) and Reck (2010). Chiefly Hutter (1991), but also see Pedersen (1993: 127–136), for comparison between the Coptic Sermon on the Great War and the Šābuhragān, with regard to Matthew’s quotations.

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viors for salvation (delivery of the Living Soul). In addition, an overlapping between Matthew’s quotation and other texts will emerge, in order to show an interfacing of recurrent themes and key concepts of the Gnostic literature and doctrine employed by Mani in his imagery and textual remaking. The Šābuhragān is an interesting case of narrative reshaping and transformation of the basic concepts of Mani’s doctrine, with the aim to present an exposition of his eschatological and soteriological teaching to the king of kings Šābuhr I. A few important remarks about the effective (or supposed) understanding of Mani’s doctrine in its writing form have recently been raised by Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, 9 who noticed a very crucial aspect: the real (if any) learning of scribal and reading practices into the early Sasanian court and the audience to whom a writing activity could be addressed. The question is very important and belongs to the debate of writing and oral practices of textuality within the Sasanian times and culture, related to a socio-linguistic approach considering special events of communication, such as those connected with the epigraphical corpus of the Sasanian inscriptions and their scenario (monuments, rock-reliefs and statues). 10 Apart from this political scenario, requiring performative speech events, another side of textual communication, on behalf of religious teaching, is the subject of the present essay, for the fusion of Zoroastrian and Christian topics into a suitable book dedicated to the king of kings. Nevertheless, Šābuhr is only the official target of this book and its title, Šābuhragān: other subjects are on the background of the text. As a matter of fact, this mingling of eschatological and mythological features, intertwined with pragmatic concerns for Mani’s sociological system (Elects and Hearers), contains a message of persuasion concerning moral commitments, addressed to the Hearers, in order to suggest to them an attitude of enduring help, provision and shelter for the rank of the Electi. A thorough investigation of the Šābuhragān reveals many allusions to this moral injunction and exhortation, in the interest of the higher class of religious people involved in ascetic practices, 11 for rescuing the Anima Viva (Living Soul) imprisoned into the Matter. By the linguistic point of view this text is an important evidence of the reception of Christian narratives into an Iranian

9 10 11

Durkin-Meisterernst (2011). Terribili (2018) takes into account this thematic cluster of epigraphy, monuments and sceneries of communication, related to oral and performative events of royal ceremonies. On the main features of the Manichaean asceticism see Piras (2018).

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language of the 3rd century C.E., the Middle Persian 12 spoken by its author together with his mother tongue, Aramaic, a language that – for being the language of the founder – was highly estimated within the Manichaean tradition. 13 The linguistic enquiry into the Manichean texts has thus put in evidence the relevant presence of an Aramaic terminology (words, phrases) and literary forms (abecedarian pattern) denoting a clear awareness and transmission of its prestige. Nevertheless, Mani’s knowledge of Aramaic and related Biblical and Christian texts he used to read did not imply a faithful rendering and translation: differently, as we are going to notice below, Mani and his disciples took on a very free attitude to choose textual materials from various canonical and non-canonical tradition, as Sundermann rightly pointed out. 14 Now let us have look at the Šābuhragān passage with noteworthy Gospel quotations from Matthew, focused on the advent of Jesus (caption of the fragment: “On the coming of the Son of Man”, abar āmadišnīh ī merdān pusar) and on his judgement (heading: abar dādestān ud wizārišn “about the judgement and separation”): 15 cy swyg ẅ tyšng bwd hym [ʾwd] ʾšmẖ xwʾr ẅ bʾr dʾd b[r]hng bwd hym ʾwtʾn pymwxt hym xyndg bwd hym ʾwtʾn dryst (q)yrd hym bstg bwd hym [ʾw]tʾn wšʾd hym wrdg bwd hym ʾwtʾn bwwxt hym ʾwd [ʾ]wzdẖ ẅ qʾrd(ʾ)g bwd hym ʾwtʾn ʾw qdg hrwpt hym (čē suyag ud tišnag būd hēm [ud] ašmāh xwār ud bār dād; brahnag būd hēm, u-tān paymōxt hēm; xīndag būd hēm, u-tān drīst qīrd hēm; bastag būd hēm, u-tān wišād hēm; wardag būd hēm, u-tān bōxt hēm ud uzdeh ud kārdāg būd hēm, u-tān ō kadag harruft hēm) “I was hungry and thirsty [and] you gave me food; I was naked and you clothed me; I was ill and you cured me; I was bound and you loosed me; I was captive and you set me free; and I was an exile and a wanderer and you gathered me to (your) houses”

This passage focuses on the obligation due to the Religious (dēnāwarān, i.e. the Elects), strongly emphasized by god Xradešahr (i.e. Jesus the Splendor) who says: “That which you did [to] the religious, that [service] you did for me”. A statement that denotes the spiritual identity between Xradešahr and the 12

13 14 15

Later attestations of Middle Persian translation of Biblical and Christian corpora will be those of the Pahlavi Psalter and the Pahlavi quotations of Christian texts into the Zoroastrian apologetic work of the Škand Gumānīg Wizār. See Durkin-Meisterernst (2007) for an in-depth survey of this aspect. Sundermann (1968: 394); Durkin-Meisterernst (2007: 66). MacKenzie (1979: 506–507, transcription [ll. 77–85] and translation), see also Boyce (1975: 78, text z).

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Religious. The pericope stems from a long section of Matthew (Mt 25, 35–36) dealing with eschatological topic, and has been approached by the main scholars in the field of Christian and New Testament studies in Iranian garb and other Manichaean languages. 16 Textual criticism and cultural history of the time in which such a storage of evangelical discourses have been developed, require a methodological survey that should take into account the different traditions of this transmission (Greek, Syriac) and the ‘harmonized’ (Diatessaronic) versions circulating into Mani’s milieu of Syro-Mesopotamia. From this heterogeneous tradition Mani drew on the narratives included into the Middle Persian book he has written and dedicated to Šābuhr I, the Šābuhragān, a sylloge of eschatological doctrines presented to an Iranian audience. But apart from that, this narrative aims at describing the peculiar target of Mani’s message and of the Manichaean social foundation – better to say, its internal social subdivision of Elects and Hearers and their respective duties. For this reason, as Hutter brilliantly pointed out, the moral commandment of protection and support towards the Elects (dēnāwarān) is highly recommended and suggested – through a persuasive and menacing tone – in the scheme of Xradešahr’s (i.e. Jesus the Splendor) refrain mentioning the distress (hunger, thirst, nakedness, sickness, jailing and wandering) of the human condition and the generosity (vs the avarice) of the good Hearer. The “Helpers of the Religious” (hayyārān īg dēnāwarān) are then the Hearers and we can recognize in this passage of the Šābuhragān a clear allusion to the most important attitude of maintenance for the Elects. In my opinion, the exegesis of the passage can be further improved, by the point of view of an interpretatio Manichaica which is still working into this narrative, thanks to a textual device of modelling, as already Hutter underlined with samples of this hermeneutic attitude. To a greater extent, in addition, I suggest a few points to underscore a peculiar subject of this narrative, namely the Helpers of the Religion and the divine aspect of their protégé, the Elects. I will be taking into account three points. 1. Nourishment: the hendiadys xwār ud bār “food; food and fruits” is the supply against being hungry (suyag) and thirsty (tišnag): 17 “I was hungry and thirsty [and] you gave me food” (čē suyag ud tišnag būd hēm [ud] ašmāh xwār ud bār dād). This syntagma deserves attention by the point of view of its 16 17

Asmussen (1975: 86–87), Hutter (1991: 279–280), Pedersen (1996: 135–136; 369-378). New Persian Diatessaron lacks thirsty: zirā gorosne šodam marā sir kardid “poiché ebbi fame mi saziaste”, Messina (1951: 287).

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linguistic setting and its semantic. According to Boyce (1975b, 26) the hendiadys only denotes a rhyme process of alliteration: the entry bār2 is treated in a different manner than bār1 “fruit” and she considers bār2 as “a rhyme-word without meaning in the phrase xwʾr ʾwd bʾr ‘food’”. In his review of Boyce (1975b), Tafazzoli did otherwise consider this syntagma, and put forward an explication by quoting similar couple of synonymous words that occasionally occur in Middle Iranian languages (Manichean Middle Persian and Parthian, Pahlavi), such as dār ud draxt (“trees”), kas ud kār (“relatives”), tār ud tām (“darkness, dark elements”). 18 According to Tafazzoli’s opinion there is no difference between bār1 and bār2 and both mean simply “fruit, product, provision”, entering syntagmas as bār ud wxardīg “fruit and food/meal/provision”. Middle Iranian samples display lexical elements that developed similar compositions in New Persian, and hendiadys such as xwāru-bār or xwār-bār, with a certain shifting from corn, barley, rice and everything edible that may be easily carryed (in Dehkhodā Dictionary). This last meaning of ‘portable’ food also is attested in Pahlavi for the entry 4bār (“load, burden; duty”) in MacKenzie’s Dictionary. 19 New Persian outcomes recorded in standard reference dictionaries (like Dehkhodā) assert thus a continuity of vocabulary and expressions within the lexical history of Middle Iranian and New Iranian languages, and particularly Middle Persian and New Persian, according to the important witness of Tafazzoli’s expertise in the history of his mother tongue. I would like to suggest a different nuance of meaning for this Middle Persian text and for a syntagma that reflects the general tone of its authorship, Mani himself and his attitude of fashioning a storage of narratives belonging to various traditions. The act of eating also is meant by the bread and in Middle Persian nān xwardan 20 can generically denote “to eat” by employing the bread, the food par excellence. It is reasonable to surmise a switch from xwār to nān and an alternation food~bread (xwār~nān) conveyed into an equation (xwār=nān) for the expression “food and fruit”, to be read here as “bread and fruit”, the basic supply of the Manichaean diet. The austere regime of bread

18 19 20

Tafazzoli (1979: 569). MacKenzie (1971: 17). M3, texts on Mani’s last audience with king Wahrām I: nān xwardan is referred to the king’s meal (bazm).

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and fruits is recorded in texts 21 and portrayed in Turfan miniatures as well – such as the fragment MIK III 4979 of the Bema feast, showing a dish of bread and fruits, offered to the Elects for their alimentary rites of sacred meals for Ligth filtering. 22 Then, in Mani’s purpose the mention of this basic nourishment (bread and fruits) hinted at the primary obligation for the Helpers, by using a Middle Persian expression that in the 3rd century C.E. attested Mani’s specific intention, and not only a generic hendiadys to express plurality or composed with effect of assonance (Boyce), as in later developments of the Middle Persian language. My hypothesis sounds conjectural, but given Mani’s rebuilding of well-known textual passages – as for Matthew’s quotations – bent to his objective, it is likely that not a generical ‘food’ (including banned meat and fish) but the suitable regime for the Elects, namely bread and fruits, may have here been suggested. 2. Bound and slave: bastag and wardag. A second point is the modulation of the passage describing the state of jailing, different from the Greek and the Syriac version: ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλϑατε πρός με (“I was in prison and you visited me”); wǝḇēṯ ʾasīre wīṯ weṯayton ləwāṯ (“and I was in prison and you came unto me”). In another way, in Šābuhragān we notice a duplication of this phrasing that denotes a condition (prison) and its remedy (visit), but that is here enlarged in two words, bastag and wardag. Bastag (captive, bound) and wardag (slave) are counteracted by wišād (liberation) and bōxt (salvation): “I was bound and you loosed me; I was captive and you set me free” (bastag būd hēm, u-tān wišad hēm; wardag būd hēm, u-tān bōxt hēm). The pair of captivity and slavery gives emphasis to another important feature of Mani’s imagery and its Gnostic background, centered on the material condition of the human existence and the vicissitudes of the Self (Anima Viva), cast into the prison of the Matter (Hyle, Āz), 23 wrapped into the chains of oblivion and transmigration, longing for its liberation. 24 21 22 23 24

Manichaean Greek Codex (= CMC), Baraies’ excerpt: 88, 1–23 (grain, vegetables, fruits); 89, 1–23 (bread, vegetables); 91, 1–23 (bread, fruits, vegetables). Gulácsi (2001: 70–75) for the miniature and its commentary. For the Manichaean holy meal, see BeDuhn (1996). See the invocation “I will speak to you, my captive soul” (ō tō *wāžām man grīw *wardag), in M 33 I V i, Boyce (1975a: 110, text bb). For the ‘Gefangensein’, see Arnold-Döben (1978: 128 f.). The massive frequency of verbal forms and nouns for salvation (Parthian bōž-, bōγ, bōxtagīft, bōžāgar; Middle Persian bōz, bōzegar, bōxtār) do not require further explications, due to the main soteriological concern

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It is then pretty certain that Mani’s reshaping of New Testament narratives made slight additions and modifications of textual passages, with the aim to underscore the peculiar traits of his soteriological teachings, stressed by this reduplication of the basic key concepts of the human existence and its heavenly lineage entrapped into the Darkness. Significantly, both words bastag and wardag also are mentioned in a damaged Parthian fragment belonging to the evangelical genre of Manichaean hymnology, the ewangelyōnīg bāšāh. 25 Furthermore, the Parthian hymn cycle of Angad Rōšnān explicitly reminds of this phrase by describing the vicissitude of the soul fallen into the material world: “Thou wast held back within the abyss, where all is turmoil; thou was made captive [wardag] 26 (?) in every place” (AR VIIa 13, Boyce 1954, 167). Another Parthian hymn dedicated to Jesus the Splendour as the Life-giver, Yišō Zīndakkar, records a series of invocations pointing to his charismas of savior and healer: “Welcome, redeemer of the imprisoned and physician to the wounded (drīst awar bōxtar ī wardagān ud bišehk ī xastān). 27 This passage of the Parthian hymn sounds very interesting and recalls the illness (xīndag) 28 of the expression xīndag būd hēm, u-tān drīst qīrd hēm (“I was ill and you cured me”) of our Šābuhragān evangelic pericope – before the prison – and fits in the general tone of this excerpt (distress and abandonment). Additionally, this overlapping of passages belonging to different compositions displays the evidence of recurrent expressions of Mani’s core teaching, belonging to a vocabulary of healing, a strong aspect of a doctrine of salvation with a persistent medical imagery, broadly attested in the Manichaean literature, from west to east, and first of all in Mani’s epiteth of self-presentation as a doctor. 29 These epithets related to Jesus the Splendour, i.e. Xradešahr, hint at a cluster of notions and identifications between the human and divine sphere about which I will be focusing below, after the third point. 3. Exile and Wanderer: uzdeh and kārdag. “And I was an exile and a wanderer and you gathered me to (your) houses” (ud uzdeh ud kārdāg būd

25 26 27 28 29

for this religion. On bōž-/bōz- and related terminology in Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism, see Widengren (1973). Boyce (1952: 41–42, Fragment G, 2a, 12b). My square brackets. M 28 II R i – V i, in Boyce (1975a: 123, text bt, §1). Greek ἠσϑένησα, Syriac kǝrīh, New Persian ranjur. Among the large bibliography on this topic, see van Tongerloo (2000).

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hēm, u-tān ō kadag harruft hēm). The condition of exile (and the gift of hospitality) is a further aspect that denotes a textual development by means of repetition: the hendiadys uzdeh ud kārdag “exile and wanderer” shows another modelling of the Middle Persian uzdeh, that matches the original words, Greex ξένος and Syriac ʾaḵsǝnāyā, while the New Persian Diatessaron brings gharib. 30 The expression “exile and wanderer” seems to be another feature of Mani’s intervention for the sake of underscoring the evangelic quotation with his specific aims and by means of a shared Gnostic imagery. As for the previous case (point 2), here we deal with an identical strategy of reduplication, with a textual shifting from a third position (hungry, thirsty, exile: Greek, Syriac, Diatessaron) to the last (hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, bond and captive, exile and wanderer: Šābuhragān): a particularity that was underscored by Hutter. 31 The emphasis on the state of exile and wandering indicates an important aspect of the Hearers’s duty and the exhortation addressed to them as Helper of the religion: the primary need of hospitality (after nourishment, clothing, etc.) for those holy men, the Elects, deserving welcome and warm reception into domestic spaces. This precept and commandment belong to the obligation of hospitality for the sake of the Elect, appointed to missionary pilgrimage, and even not allowed to build a house or to possess a house as well, because of their oath of non violence (against the earth) and of poverty. It is well known that for the Manichaean ethic any work of craft (digging, bricklayer, carpentry) implyies a sin of violence against the environment (earth, water, trees, animals) and the holy Elects are strictly forbidden to do it, even to possess anything but a clothing and to receive alms from the Hearers (provision and refuge). 32 The message of support adressed to the Helpers/Hearers is then fashioned in a list of basic needs, cited in progression until the climax of the hospitality, a further sample of ‘Erweiterung’ that we can consider ‘echt manichäisch’, to quote Hutter’s words. The former three cases of evangelic hermeneutics actually confirm Mani’s epiteth of tarkumānān dēn (“translator of religion”), 33 a label that perfectly fits his skilfulness of modelling texts for his own confessional strategy of per30 31 32 33

Diatessaron: va gharib būdam marā dar xāne-ye xod negāhdaštid “e fui forestiero, mi custodiste nella vostra casa”, Messina (1951: 286). Hutter (1991: 280). For this sin of building and the dialectic between hospitality and missionary wandering, see Piras (2019). Text M 38 V, Boyce (1975a:196 dz), similar to the Graeco-Coptic hermēneutḗs. On the Manichaean exegesis see Tardieu (1987: 132–139).

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suasion, involving the Helpers of the religion, invited to perform duties of charity, sustenance and hospitality. The arrangement of this textual storage denotes mental attitudes of free selection and composition of passages: ranging from quotation to enlargement, in such a way that Šābuhragān diverges from the Greek and Syriac versions, not only for its words duplication but also for its phrasing. It is also different from the New Persian version of the Diatessaron (following the Syriac version). Mani’s intervention is a proof of this creative attitude continued by his disciples as well, within the entire corpus of textual transmission and translations technique which are recognizable in the variety of the Manichaean literature as a whole. The criticism put forward by Pedersen and his team in their introduction, 34 who rigthly distinguish ‘quotations’ and ‘allusions’ to Biblical texts – in order to establish a nuance of analysis – sheds light on a methodology of current scholarship that has to be maintened. Allusions could also be inferred from a loose textual arrangement of key words and recurrent contents, without a precise setting and independently from an original composition. The vivid Bildersprache of the Manichaean literature explains this arrangement of words and phrasing, conflated into a textual framework setting key concepts to make a specific message. For instance, the Speech for the Elects (M 4577) is indeed an interesting case of laying out the keywords we just dealt with in the Gospel adaptations of the Šābuhragān. In fact the Speech for the Elects 35 (wizīdagān saxwan) mentions the Living Soul, the Elects, the state of exile and wandering, the condition of being hungry and thirsty, the house. These subjects are put together in a free manner into a narration that strongly recalls the theme of Matthew’s passage in Šābuhragān. In this Speech for the Elects, expressions such as izdeh and kārdāg (exiled and wanderer), wašend ud tišend (hungry and thirsty) and kadag (house) have been combined together to describe the venture of the Living Self who inhabits the Elect, resembling an exiled and a wanderer amid the desert, hungry and thirsty and searching for a house to rest. Accordingly, many phraseologies of hymns celebrating the Living Self record the same terminology, imageries and feelings: “I belong to the light and the gods (yazdān) and I have been exiled from them” (až rōšan ud yazdān hēm, ud izdeh būd hēm); 36 “(His) mother took (him) and kissed him (with the words) ‘you have come exiled child/son!’” 34 35 36

Pedersen (2017: xi–xvi). Text 4 a.3 in Sundermann (1981: 60–62). M 7, 5 [366–368] in Durkin-Meisterernst (2006: 35).

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(mādar grift, u-š ambōyād kū āγad ay zādag izdeh!); 37 “The soul entreats the pure Elect: ‘I, the soul, am an exile and Greed has oppressed (?) me’” (padwahēd-ā grīw-ā ō wižīdagān pawāgān: grīw hēm izdeh ud āz tryft (?) ahēm); 38 “Oh soul, captive and exile, who are bound/fettered in two bodies, on the outside all agony and defilement and on the inside pain and disease” (ōh grīw wardag ud izdeh, 39 kē bast ay pad dō tanbār, až bēh wisp gast ud abγām ud až andar dard ud yōbahr). 40 The dramatic condition of the Anima Viva involves the commitment of the pious Helpers and dictates their final reward. For these Helpers (Middle Persian hayyārān; Greek δίκαιοι; Syriac zaddikē; New Persian Diatessaron pākān) standing on the right side of Jesus/Xradešahr, the reward of the Paradise (wahištāw) will be granted, together with a great joy (wuzurg šādīh). Contrariwise, any selfish behaviour of greediness, materiality and unmindfulness is strongly condemned with an eschatological punishment (echoing the contents of the Gospel) by Xradešahr/Jesus the Splendour’s harsh judgement for evil Helpers who disregarded his condition of hungry, thirsty, nakedness, illness and captivity. Because of their sins, the evil-doers standing on the left side of Xradešahr will be seized by the angels and cast into the hell. Furthermore, beside the role of Xradešahr yazad – disguising Jesus the Splendour under an Iranian garb of the “God of the World of Wisdom” – another feature must be stressed, namely the twofold presence of the luminous sparkle of the Anima Viva and the Light-Nous inside the Elect. The Anima Viva is a condition shared with every existence cast into the world and common to all the mankind (Elects, Hearers, sinful people). But there is a difference for the Elects, because they possess the Light-Nous and they are firm in the holy condition of asceticism, providing a pure indwelling of the Light-Nous, a spiritual energy increased in their sanctity. Even more, their apostolic fervor is the dimension of the holy wandering that becomes pilgrimage and mission, different from exile and hopeless vagabondage. 41 For this reason, the protection of the Helper towards the Elect suggests a more 37 38 39

40 41

M 33, 4 [547–549] in Durkin-Meisterernst (2006: 53). M 1873/II/ [1069–1073] in Durkin-Meisterernst (2006: 105). The same syntagma is in Šābuhragān MacKenzie (1979: 508, line 111) when Xradešahr blames the evil-doers (duškirdagānān) for their lack of help: “I was a captive and an exile) and you did not receive me in (your) houses”. M 66 [1211–1214] in Durkin-Meisterernst (2006: 115). The Coptic Psalms of the Wanderer (Psalmoï sarakōtōn) show this double possibility of wandering in human existence, as a victim or as being religious oriented, see Villey (1994: 14–20).

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subtle exhortation and a twofold target conveying the efforts and the cares of the Hearer, appointed to the task of assistance for the sake of the Anima Viva and the agent of its rescue, the Light-Nous inside the Elect. The dialogue of the good and bad Helpers with Xradešahr reveals this divine state of purity for Xradešahr, for he is immortal and not affected from Greed (Āz) and Lust (Āwarzōg), a genuine Manichaean feature that also entails a Docetist nuance of Xradešahr/Jesus, agreeing with the mythological Christology of Gnosticism, assumed by Mani together with other different conceptions on Jesus’ humility, suffering, passion and crucifixion, broadly diffused in texts and in pictorial cycles as well. 42 Summing up, the predominant role of the Anima Viva – and its vicissitude of wandering, slavery and emprisonment into the macrocosm and the microcosm of the human life – is the focal point of Mani’s exhortation, mixed up with the commandment of support and hospitality toward the Elects. For the Elects master their body to increse the spiritual agent, the Light Nous of redemption for filtering and rescuing the Anima Viva (inside them and inside the world), by means of their holy alimentary rites. The injunction of Mani’s doctrine is addressed to the Hearers with the aim to protect the Elects in their twofold aspect of human beings and holy receptacles: needing sustenance and welcoming for their human nature, deserving care (the Anima Viva), but also to protect the indwelling of the divine force, the Light-Nous engaged in the work of illumination and purification. The mechanism of salvation is thus fulfilled. The evangelic pericope of the Šābuhragān was then a useful text including many keywords of Mani’s teaching related to the human existence and the feelings that have to be cultivated (piety, charity, help, hospitality), to increase the love for a threefold community, earthly and heavenly: Hearers and Elects, the Anima Viva, the Light-Nous. Except for nakedness (brahnag), 43 the other situations of adversity, representing the pains of the human life, are listed in sequence of detriments, frequently mentioned in the Manichaean corpus: sickness, enchaining, slavery, exile and wandering. This set of words and situations, that summarizes the human condition (and of the Anima Viva as well), very often emerges from lyric texts (Coptic Psalms, Parthian Hymn Cycles, Living Self Hymns) imbued with pathetic tones of sadness and anxiety, with hope of redemption, gladness and heavenly peace. 42 43

Within a pictorial cycle Gulácsi (2008) has recognized two scenes (“Judas paid by Caiaphas” and “Foot Washing”) borrowed from a textual sequence of Diatessaron. Greek γυμνός, Syriac ʾarṭelāyā, New Persian berahne.

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Morano, Enrico (1998) “My Kingdom is not of this World: Revisiting the Great Parthian Crucifixion Hymn”, in Nicholas Sims-Williams (ed.) Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies. Old and Middle Iranian Studies, I, Beiträge zur Iranistik 17.1, Wiesbaden, pp. 131–145. Morano, Enrico (2000) “A Survey of the Extant Parthian Crucifixion Hymns”, in Ronald E. Emmerick – Werner Sundermann – Peter Zieme (eds.) Studia Manichaica IV, Berlin, pp. 398–417. Morano, Enrico (2008) “Il ‘Libro dei Giganti’ di Mani”, in Gherardo Gnoli (ed.) Il Manicheismo, vol. III. Il mito e la dottrina. Testi manichei dell’Asia Centrale e della Cina, Milano, pp. 69–107; 367–373. Morano, Enrico (2016) “Some New Sogdian Fragments Related to Mani’s Book of Giants and the Problem of the Influence of Jewish Enochic Literature”, in Matthew Goff – Loren T. Stuckenbruck – Enrico Morano (eds.) Ancient Tales of Giants from Qumran and Turfan. Contexts, Traditions and Influences, Tübingen, pp. 187–198. Pedersen, Nils A. (1993) Studies in the Sermon on the Great War, Aarhus. Pedersen, Nils A. – Falkenberg, Rene – Larsen, John M. – Leurini, Claudia (2017) The Old Testament in Manichaean Tradition, Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum, Biblia Manichaica, 1, Turnhout. Pettipiece, Timothy (2012) “Towards a Manichaean Reading of the Nag Hammadi Codices”, in Journal of the Canadian Society for Coptic Studies, 3–4, pp. 43–54. Piras, Andrea (2018) “Sealing the Body: Theory and Practices of Manichaean Asceticism”, in Religion of the Roman Empire, 4, pp. 28–46. Piras, Andrea (2019) ““Signore della casa” e “Capocarovana”. Spazi abitativi e spazi itineranti nel manicheismo”, in Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni, 85(1), pp. 189–201. Reck, Christiane (2010) “Šābuhragān” in www.iranicaonline.org. Sundermann, Werner (1968) “Christliche Evangelientexte in der Überlieferung der iranischmanichäischen Literatur”, in Mitteilungen des Institut für Orientforschung, 14, pp. 387–415. Sundermann, Werner (1981) Mitteliranische manichäische texte kirchengeschichtlichen Inhalts, Berliner Turfantexte, 11, Berlin. Tafazzoli, Ahmad (1979) “Review of Boyce, A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 42(3), pp. 568–570. Tardieu, Michel (1987) “Principes de l’exégèse manichéenne du Nouveau Testament”, in Michel Tardieu (ed.) Les règles de l’interprétation, Paris, pp. 123–146. Terribili, Gianfilippo (2018) “Comunicazione regale e arte scribale: modelli di trasmissione fra iscrizioni achemenidi e sassanidi”, in Jaakkoo Hämeen-Anttila – Illkka Lindstedt (eds.) Translation and Transmission. Collection of articles, Münster, pp. 195–225. van Tongerloo, Alois (2000) “Manichaeus Medicus”, in Ronald E. Emmerick – Werner Sundermann – Peter Zieme (eds.) Studia Manichaica IV, Berlin, pp. 613–620. Villey, André (1994) Psaumes des errants, Sources gnostiques et manichéennes, 4, Paris. Widengren, Geo (1973) “Salvation in Iranian religion”, in Eric J. Sharpe – John R. Hinnells (eds.) Man and his Salvation. Studies in Memory of S.G.F. Brandon, Manchester, pp. 315–326.

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Addenda This paper was submitted before the recent publication (autumn 2020) of the second volume of N. A. Pedersen, et alii (eds.), Biblia Manichaica II. The New Testament Gospels in Manichaen Tradition (The Sources in Syriac, Greek, Coptic, Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, Bactrian, New Persian and Arabic), Turnhout 2020. The Šābuhragān passages of Mt. 25: 31–46 are reported at pp. 158–159; the notes underline similar remarks about the concerns for healing, liberation and wandering.

Preliminary Notes on the Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan LIJUAN LIN1 Summary – This article is a reexamination of three selected passages from the Syriac version of the legend of Saint George found in Turfan. By means of a line-by-line commentary, I also discuss parallel texts culled from various sources in and beyond Syriac (e.g. Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Chinese), and show how the parallels help us to read the Turfan fragments, and how the Turfan version adds to our knowledge of the transmission history of the legend. In particular, I argue that the Turfan version actually contains more elements of the original Greek text than the textus receptus, and that it records the earliest Syriac translation by far of the legend.

1. INTRODUCTION As one of the most renowned hagiographies in the west, the legend of Saint George2 once also enjoyed great popularity in the Turfan Oasis during the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho (ca. 9th–13th centuries). Different versions of the legend, both in Syriac, and in its Sogdian and Uyghur translations, were found at Shuïpang during the German Turfan Expeditions at the beginning of last

1

2

The research leading to this paper is conducted within the framework of my project “Syriac Fragments Found in China”, funded by the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC). A companion article, entitled “The First Round of Tortures in the Legend of St. George – Remarks on the Turfan Syriac Fragments SyrHT 359 and SyrHT 360,” has been published in Oriens Christianus 103 (2020), pp. 115-143. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Hubert Kaufhold (University of Munich) for invaluable comments. My thanks also go to Vittorio Berti, Chiara Barbati and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. I am also grateful to Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften for providing images of the relevant fragments. It goes without saying that I alone am responsible for all mistakes that remain. For previous studies, see especially Matzke (1902–1903); Delehaye (1909), (1955); Krumbacher (1911); Haubrichs (1979).

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century.3 In recent years, a Chinese incantation of St. George, Jisi zhou 吉思 呪, has been discovered in the so-called Xiapu Wenshu 霞浦文書, the ritual manuscripts of Manichaeism in Xiapu County, Fujian Province, South China.4 Some of the Chinese texts preserved in these manuscripts can be dated back to the early 11th century in the Song Dynasty, and they frequently contain phonetic transcriptions of Middle Iranian terms, which probably originate from manuscripts of the Tang Dynasty.5 This indicates that the legend of St. George was not only well received in the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho, but had also been introduced into South China and even absorbed into other folk religions at an early date. Given the fact that all the other versions of the legend found in China are, directly or indirectly, based on its Syriac version, a close examination of the transmission of the former presupposes precise knowledge of the latter. In the present article I provide a few preliminary notes on the Syriac fragments found in Turfan. The identification was first made by Miklós Maróth in his 1991 article.6 There the author correctly pointed out that six fragments (SyrHT 95, SyrHT 360, SyrHT 361, SyrHT 362, SyrHT 364, SyrHT 365; old signature numbers: T II B 51, T II B 66 No. 45, T II B 31 No. 3, T II B 31 No. 2, T II B 53, T II B 53) contain an unknown Syriac version of the legend, which exhibits remarkable differences from the textus receptus, and is thus of special significance for our understanding of the transmission history of the text. In the groundbreaking catalogue published in 2014, E. Hunter and M. Dickens furthermore pointed out that two other small fragments, namely SyrHT 359 (no old signature number) and SyrHT 381 (T II B 60), belong to the same manuscript, and that SyrHT 381 joins up with SyrHT 365. 7 However, the 3

4

5 6 7

Hansen (1941); Benveniste (1943–1945); Gershevitch (1946); Sims-Williams (2018), (2019); Bang (1926); Weber (2002). As to the popularity, Dickens once commented that the Legend of St. George comes close to the Psalter, which is the most translated text in Turfan, see Dickens (2013: 358). Kósa (2014–2015); Ma (2015b); (2017); Ma – Wang (2018). Wang – Lin (2018) recently argued that the folk religious community should be called Lingyuanjiao 靈源教, a folk religion with characteristics of Manichaeism. Variants of the name of George can also be found in some other documents from both Xiapu and Pingnan 屏南–another county in Fujian Province, for a detailed summary see most recently Takahashi (2021: 35–39); Wang (2018: 117). Ma (2015a) suggested that the terms can be traced back to Chinese texts of the early Tang Dynasty, ca. 650–732 AD. Maróth (1991). See Hunter – Dickens (2014: 326).

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authors also reported that due to the fragmentary state of SyrHT 359, it remains unclear how it relates to other fragments, and especially whether it joins up with the others or not.8 This problem is solved in another article of mine, in which I show that SyrHT 359 in fact joins up perfectly with the upper part of SyrHT 360.9 I am currently also in the process of preparing a new edition, translation, and commentary on the eight fragments. Due to the limit of space, in this article I concentrate on three passages from the Turfan fragments which have parallels in other versions in and beyond Syriac. On the basis of an examination of the related materials, I intend to demonstrate how the parallels help us to read the Turfan fragments, and how the Turfan version adds to our knowledge of the transmission history of the legend. In particular, I argue that the Turfan version actually contains more elements of the original Greek text than the textus receptus, and that it records the earliest Syriac translation by far of the legend. The three passages selected below come from SyrHT 361 (passage 1), SyrHT 362 (passage 2), SyrHT 365 and SyrHT 381 (passage 3). For each passage I first provide my new edition and the English translation, then make a list of representative parallels, which are followed by a detailed commentary on the fragments and an analysis of their relationship with the parallels. In particular, in this paper I provide the first full edition of the third passage, since in Maróth’s 1991 article, the fact that SyrHT 365 and SyrHT 381 actually join together had not yet been recognized. In the commentary section, I also make clear the differences between my own reading and the earlier Maróth edition. 2. RELATED MATERIALS The transmitted Syriac legend of St. George has been edited by P. Bedjan 10 and E.W. Brooks.11 The three manuscripts that Bedjan used are the following: an old manuscript from Mesopotamia (M, location not stated), Vat. Syr. 161 (ff. 176–181, 9th cent., V), and Berlin Sachau 222 (ff. 226r–234v, 1881, S), while Brooks’ edition is based mainly on Brit. Mus. Add. 17205 (fragmentary, 8 9 10 11

Hunter – Dickens (2014: 321): “…because of its fragmentary state, it is unclear where SyrHT 359 fits into the sequence of this text”. Lin (2020). Bedjan (1890: 277ff.). Brooks (1925).

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ff. 23r–30r, circ. 600, A), Brit. Mus. Add. 14734 (ff. 177r–193r, 11th cent., B), Brit. Mus. Add. 14735 (ff. 165v–171v, 12th cent., C), and Camb. Univ. Add. 2020 (ff. 97r–105r, 1697, D). 12 For M, V, and S, Brooks has relied mainly on Bedjan’s edition. Since Bedjan didn’t make clear which manuscript the variants were taken from, a complete list of the variants from the Vatican manuscript was published by I. Guidi in 1892.13 Among these manuscripts, S seems to be the one which has received the least examination, and only some of its variants have been recorded by Bedjan in an appendix. This manuscript is now easily accessible online through the Digitalisierte Sammlungen der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB). I also bring into the discussion the following manuscripts, which are not included in any edition: 1. ms Vatican, Borg. Syr. 39, ff. 16–23, 16th cent.; 2. ms Birmingham, Selly Oak College Library, Coll. Mingana, Syr. 85, ff. 19–30, 20th May, 1894; 3. ms Birmingham, Selly Oak College Library, Coll. Mingana, Syr. 593, ff. 16v–25v, 8th September, 1932; 4. ms Harvard Syr. 166, ff. 27–49, 1885; 5. ms BNF Syriaque 414, ff. 5r–21v, 20th cent. 14 For the transmitted Syriac version (Syr. I) below, I first give the edition of Brooks (mainly based on ABCD), and then list in the apparatus the variants from the other manuscripts which include: E (Mingana Syr. 85), F (Mingana Syr. 593), H (Harvard Syr. 166), P (BNF Syriaque 414), S, V, and W (Vat. Borg. Syr. 39). I also use Bedjan’s edition for the information about the probably lost M. Several manuscripts that I use seem to be apographa of other codices; however, since a clear stemma is only possible after a full examination of all the witnesses of the whole text, I set aside, for the present, the relationship between different manuscripts, and simply record all the evidence I have collected.

12 13 14

For the abbreviations I follow Brooks (1925). Guidi (1892). There are still a number of manuscripts which have not been included in any edition, for a list see Saint-Laurent et al. (2015), and Baumstark (1922: 264, footnote 9). Since some of them (such as the two manuscripts from Urmia) have been lost, and others are still undigitized, I am unfortunately not able to include them in my analysis.

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For the Greek versions including Athen. (Das Athener Volksbuch), Ven. (Das Venezianer Volksbuch), Paris. (Das Pariser Volksbuch), Wien. (Der Wiener Mischtext), Norm. (Der reine Normaltext), Interpol. (Der interpolierte Normaltext), Daphnop. (Die Bearbeitung des Theodoros Daphnopates), and Lied I (von Romanos), I rely mainly on Krumbacher’s edition or summary. 15 For the Latin versions *X-lat. and Sang. (Codex Sangallensis), I use the edition of Haubrichs and that of Zarncke.16 For the Coptic and Ethiopic versions, I rely basically on Budge’s translation.17 For the Nubian version (Nub.), I rely on Browne’s translation.18 Where the Chinese text Jisi zhou is quoted I use the edition by Ma Xiaohe and Wang Chuan (with corrections).19 The photographs of Jisi zhou were published earlier by Lin Wushu.20 Besides, as already pointed out by Krumbacher, the legend of St. George has been transmitted mainly in two recensions, namely, 1. the so-called Dadian type, i.e. the original text (Urtext); and 2. the so-called Diocletian type, in which essential revisions such as the replacement of the Persian king Dadian by the famous Christian persecutor Diocletian, and omissions of the offensive and implausible elements were made in a later period.21 Below, the transmitted versions of the three passages are grouped into the two types

15 16

17

18 19 20 21

Krumbacher (1911: 1–105). As one of the Latin translations of the legend, *X-lat. is reconstructed by Haubrichs from a series of Latin manuscripts including the Codex Gallicanus (Gall.). For the edition see Haubrichs (1979: 406–473). Among all the transmitted versions, *X-lat. is also believed to be closest to the original Greek version, see Delehaye (1955: 73); Haubrichs (1979: 209). Matzke also used Gall. as the basis of his comparison, see Matzke (1902–1903: 467). For the relationship between *X-lat. and Gall., see Haubrichs (1995), idem p. 73, footnote 24: “Die Version *X-lat. wurde zunächst unter dem Namen Gall. von Arndt, S. 49ff. nach einer Handschrift der Bollandisten aus dem 9. Jahrhundert veröffentlicht; ein weiteres Fragment bei Cumont, S. 42ff. Ein Rekonstruktionsversuch auf der Grundlage der bekannten Überlieferung bei Haubrichs, S. 406ff.; zur Überlieferung selbst ebd. S. 251ff.”. See also Arndt (1874), Cumont (1936) and Haubrichs (1979: 251–259). For the edition of Sang., see Zarncke (1875). A comparison between *X-lat. and Sang. can already be found in Matzke (1902–1903). For an analysis of Sang., see also Haubrichs (1979: 259–261). For the Coptic version (below Copt.), see Budge (1888). For the Ethiopic tradition, I use both the Ethiopic version of the narrative of Pasicrates (below Ethiop.), and the Encomium on St. George by Theodotus of Ancyra (below Ethiop. Encomium), see idem (1930). Browne (1998). Ma – Wang (2018: 17). Lin (2015). For both types, see Krumbacher (1911: 281–295).

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according Krumbacher’s criterion for the classification.22 It should be noted that the division of the two types is also often not clear-cut, and a certain manuscript with a large part coming from the Diocletian type like Paris. and Wien. could have preserved elements of the original Dadian type as well.23 Before we turn to the next section, a brief description of the physical characteristics of the Syriac fragments would be helpful. The eight Syriac fragments from Turfan are written mainly in black ink on both sides with black punctuation. The ‫ ܗ‬of ‫ ̄ܗܘܐ‬normally falls away when employed as an enclitic, e.g. SyrHT 361 recto line 4 ‫ܝܬܒܘܐ‬. According to S. Brock, this is “a not infrequent feature of certain late manuscripts”, and the earliest examples are from the manuscripts of the 9th/10th-century.24 It is worth noting that the script is a mixture of both Estrangela and Serṭo, called by Hunter and Dickens “East Syriac Estrangela”. Distinctive characteristics of the so-called East Syriac script can be clearly observed, namely the tau-ālaph ligature (a short v shape that hangs below the line and then joins a straight ālaph on the left, see e.g. SyrHT 365 recto line 6 ‫)ܛܝܒܘܬܐ‬. Roughly speaking, the dating of our fragments still corresponds with that of the other fragments found at Shuïpang, namely the period of the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho (9th–13th centuries). The images of the Turfan fragments are now available online at http://idp.bbaw.de/.

22 23 24

For the “Prüfsteine” of the Dadian type, see Krumbacher (1911: 289). See Krumbacher (1911: 290). Brock (2003: 102).

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3. THE LEGEND OF SAINT GEORGE IN SYRIAC: DIFFERENT VERSIONS COMPARED 3.1 THE LETTER OF DADIANUS 3.1.1 SyrHT 361 (T II B 31 No. 3), 5.5 x 10.3 cm, recto 6 lines

Fig. 1: SyrHT 361 recto.25 © Depositum der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung.

25

Side a and side b according to Hunter – Dickens (2014: 322–323).

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Recto several lines (circa 14–18 lines) missing

̈ ]‫ܓܝܕܐ ܕܩܘ[ ̈ܖܨܠ ܐ‬ ]‫ ܡܩܛܥܢܐ‬1 ̈ ̈ .‫ ܘܡܢܣܪܢܐ [؟] ܦܣܐ ܕܐܝܕܝܗܘܢ‬.‫ ܕ ̈ܖܓ[ܠܝܗܘ]ܢ‬2 ‫ ܘܡܕܡ ܕܡܫܬܚܪ‬.‫ ܘܡܦܩܢܐ ̈ܡܐܢܝ ܓܘܗܘܢ‬3 ̈ ‫ ܘܟܠܢܫ ܒܬܡܗܐ ܝܬܒܘܐ‬.‫ܠܟܠܒܐ ܝܗܒܢܐ‬ 4 ‫ ܡܢ‬.‫ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܝܢ ܕܡܛܝܒܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܕܢܣܗܕܘܢ‬5 ̈ ‫ ܚܙܬܗܘܢ‬6 .‫ܕܫܢܕܐ ܕܚܠܘ ܗܘܘ ܘܐܣܬܪܕܘ‬

1. “[I will cut off] the nerves of the an[kles] 2. of [their] feet, and I will saw asunder the soles of their hands, 3. and I will bring out their bowels, and what remains 4. I will give to the dogs.” And all the people were sitting in astonishment, 5. then those who were ready to be martyred, at 6. the sight of the tortures they were afraid and were struck with terror. 3.1.2 Transmitted Versions 3.1.2.1 The Dadian Type (Original Text) Syr. I, based on Brooks 74, 13–17 ̇ .‫ܘܡܩܛܥ ܐܢܐ ¬ ̈ܖܓܠܝܗܘܢ ܡܢ ܩܘ ̈ܖܨܠܝܗܘܢ‬ ̇ .‫ܘܢܣܪ ܐܢܐ ܦ ̈ܖܣܬܐ ܕ ̈ܖܓܠܝܗܘܢ‬ ̈ ̈ 2‫ ܘܡܕܡ ܕܡܫܬܚܪ‬1.‫ܘܡܦܩ ܐܢܐ ܡ ܐܢܝ ܓܘܗܘܢ‬ ̇ ‫ܠܟܠܒܐ‬ ̇ ‫ ܘܟܕ ܟܠ ܐܢܫ‬.‫ܪܡܐ ܐܢܐ‬ ̇ ̈ 6 5 4 3 ̈ ‫ ̣ܡܢ ܚܙܬܐ ܕܫܢܕܐ ܛܒ‬.‫ ܘܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܡܛܝܒܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܕܢܣܗܕܘܢ‬.‫ܒܬܡܗܐ ܩܐܡ ܗܘܐ‬ ̈ .7‫ܘܡܣܬܖܕܝܢ‬ ‫ܙܝܥܝܢ ܗܘܘ‬ ̇ .‫ܠ ̈ܖܓܠ ܐ ܕܝܠܗܘܢ ܡܢ ܩܘ ̈ܖܨܠܝܗܘܢ‬ ̇ .‫ܘܢܣܪ ܐܢܐ ܦ ̈ܖܣܬܐ ܕ ̈ܖܓܠܝܗܘܢ‬ 1 BC ‫ܘܡܦܩ‬ ̇ ̈ ‫ ܐܢܐܐܐܐܐ ܡ‬EFPS ‫ܗܕܡܝܗܘܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܐܢܝ ܓܘܗܘܢ‬ H ‫ܘܢ ܣܪ‬.‫ܢ‬ ‫̈ܖ ܓܠܝܗܘܢ ܡܢ ܩܘ ̈ܖܨܠܝܗܘ‬ ̈ ̈ ̄ ‫ ܘܢܣܪ‬.‫ܗܕܡܝܗܘܢ‬ ̇ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܘܡܦܩ ܐܢܐܐܐ ܡ ܐܢܝ ܓܘܝܗܘܢ‬.‫ ܦܖܣܬܐ ܕܐܝܕܝܗܘܢ‬W ‫ܐܢܐܐܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܗܕܡܝܗܘܢ‬ 2 P ‫ ܦܐܫ‬3 CDEFHMPSVW ins. ‫ ܪܒܐ‬4 H om. 5 EFHPSW ‫ܐܝܠܝܢ‬ ̈ 6 H ‫ ܕܚܠܬܐ‬7 H ‫ܘܕܚܠܝܢ ܘܡܣܬ ̈ܖܕܝܢ‬ “‘… and [I will] cut away their feet from their anklebones, and saw asunder the soles of their feet, and extract their bowels, and what remains I will throw to the dogs.’ And, while everyone was standing in astonishment, then those who were intending to be martyred were

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greatly fearful and were struck with terror at the sight of the tortures…” (Brooks’ translation, 98)

Athen., Krumbacher 3, 13–16 “…ἐκκεντήσω σκύλακας τοὺς τῶν φλεβῶν ὀχετούς, πρίσω τὰ νεῦρα τοὺς στήμονας τῶν ποδῶν· λογοθετήσω τῶν ἐντέρων τὴν σύνθεσιν· τὸ δὲ ὑπόλοιπον σῶμα σκωληκόβρωτον τῇ γῇ παραδώσω.” ὅσοι γὰρ εἶχον προθύμως τοῦ μαρτυρῆσαι, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁράσεως τῶν βασάνων ἐκόπτοντο…

Ven., Krumbacher 17, 21–24 “…πρίσω στήμονας τῶν ποδῶν, τὸ δὲ ὑπόλοιπον σῶμα σκωλήκων τροφὴν παραδώσω τῇ γῇ.” καὶ ὅσοι γὰρ εἶχον προθυμίαν τοῦ μαρτυρῆσαι, ἀπὸ τῆς θεωρίας τῶν βασάνων τῶν πικρῶν ἐνεκόπτοντο…

*X-lat., Haubrichs 408, 17–20 “…secabo tibias, pedum et nervos incidam, intestina scrutabor, et alia quae super sunt vermibus tradam.” Multi enim qui deo credere cogitabant, videntes tormenta proposita, prae timore avertebantur…

Copt., Budge 204 “‘…I will saw off their shin bones, I will tear open their bodies, and I will cut off their limbs from their bodies.’ When the multitude heard these things they feared the tortures greatly, and those who wished to become martyrs [refrained]…”

Ethiop., Budge 81 “‘…I will disperse them as if they were spoil, and I will slit open the organs inside them with saws, and I will break open the bands of their sinews and tendons.’ The man who merely looked at these implements died in the presence of those who were beholding him, and the men who wished to suffer martyrdom, as soon as they saw these things through sheer fright at his implements of torture withdrew themselves forthwith.”

Ethiop. Encomium, Budge 173 “‘…and I will saw off the bones of their legs, and I will scatter them like things [taken as] spoil, and I will cut out the organs from the insides of their bodies with saws, and I will slit open their tendons, and upon them and upon their eyes I will pour salt, and I will fix fetters which tear upon their hands. And I command [my soldiers] to cast out their bodies [into the desert] for the wild beasts and the birds of heaven to devour, so that they may see whether

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Lijuan Lin Jesus is able to deliver them from my hand and from these instruments of torture, and from a cruel and most terrible death.’ Now the men who saw him and these instruments of torture did [not] wish to suffer torture, and they withdrew themselves through the fear of the machines…”

3.1.2.2 The Diocletian Type Norm., Krumbacher 42, 10–13 (roughly = Wien. = Interpol. = Daphnop.) “…καὶ εἰ μὲν πείθοιντο, συγγνώνης ἀξιοῦσθαι, εἰ δὲ μή γε, πονηρῷ θανάτῳ τῷ διὰ ξίφους παραδίδοσθαι αὐτούς, ἔσεσθε οὖν εἰδότες, ὡς εἰ κατά τι τῶν ἡμετέρων θείων τούτων ἀμελήσητε ἀποφάσεων, τὰς αὐτὰς ἐκείνοις τιμωρίας ὑφέξετε.”

3.1.3 Analysis and Comparison The Turfan version of the letter is similar to the version preserved in the texts of the Dadian type, but not to that of the Diocletian type. Unlike the former, the latter omitted the series of tortures listed by the king. As earlier scholars have already pointed out, the reason of this development is that in the later Greek texts of the Diocletian type, “those parts of the legend which were most likely to cause offence are omitted.”26 Besides, among the versions belonging to the Dadian type, Syr. II is obviously closer to Syr. I than to the other versions, although there are also small differences here and there between them. This indicates the intimate relationship between the two Syriac recensions, and one of them seems to have relied on the other in a way that is shared neither by the western nor by other oriental versions. On the other hand, small differences between Syr. II and Syr. I here and there suggest that they are by different hands; in other words, supposed that some of the passages of the two Syriac versions can be traced back to the same Greek source, then this Greek passio must have been translated into Syriac at least twice. 1–3. Syr. II and Syr. I share common characteristics and differ from all the other versions in some of the details, e.g. they consistently give “dogs” at the end of the letter, but not “worms” as used in Athen. and *X-lat., although dogs also appear in Athen. earlier in the same passage, where it is mentioned that the bowels will be poured out for dogs (σκύλακας). The differences between Syr. I and Syr. II lie mainly in the following three aspects: 1. It is remarkable that the words “the nerves of the an[kles] of [their] feet” in Syr. II correspond almost verbatim with Athen. τὰ νεῦρα τοὺς 26

See Brooks (1925: 70). See also Krumbacher (1911: 290).

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255

στήμονας τῶν ποδῶν, while this is not the case with Syr. I; 2. Syr. II and Syr. ̈ ) to translate the word “soles”, στήμονας, I use different nouns (‫ ܦ ̈ܖܣܬܐ‬or ‫ܦܣܐ‬ ̇ or ‫ )ܝܗܒܢܐ‬to express and it seems that they also use different verbs (‫ܪܡܐ ܐܢܐ‬ παραδώσω/tradam, although it is probable that the difference might have resulted from an underlying Greek variant; 3. Syr. II differs from most of the manuscripts of Syr. I by replacing “the soles of their feet” with “the soles of their hands”. It is, however, interesting to find that one of the manuscripts of Syr. I also records the reading of “hands”, namely H. As to other versions belonging to the Dadian type, Syr. II is especially close to Athen., *X-lat., and Copt., in so far as they all contain a detailed account of the tortures. The relatively brief version in Ven., as Krumbacher correctly indicated, has been abridged by a later hand.27 A similar kind of abridgment is also attested in the Syriac tradition, especially in the later manuscripts EFPS and W. 4–6. Maróth supposed the last word of line 4 to be ‫ܢܬܟܢܫܐ‬. I suggest that we ought to read ‫ܝܬܒܘܐ‬, a shortened form of ‫ܝܬܒ ܗܘܐ‬. It is worth noting that in most of the manuscripts of Syr. I all the other kings were “standing” ‫ܩܐܡ‬ ‫ ܗܘܐ‬instead of “sitting”, while this detail is not mentioned in H, nor in any of the other versions. Generally speaking, the two Syriac versions are again closer to each other than to the other versions, although small differences again prove that they are by different hands: 1. While Syr. I simply uses ‫ܚܙܬܐ‬ ̈ , Syr. II attaches the anticipatory suffix ‫ ܗܘܢ‬to ‫ܚܙܬܐ‬, and gives ‫ܚܙܬܗܘܢ‬ ‫ܕܫܢܕܐ‬ ̈ (line 6); 2. ἐκόπτοντο/ ἐνεκόπτοντο is rendered by‫ܛܒ ܙܝܥܝܢ ܗܘܘ ܘܡܣܬ ̈ܖܕܝܢ‬ ‫ܕܫܢܕܐ‬ in most of the manuscripts of Syr. I, but is rendered by ‫ ܕܚܠܘ ܗܘܘ ܘܐܣܬܪܕܘ‬in Syr. II (line 6). The differences lie thus not only in the verb itself (‫ ܕܚܠ‬or ‫)ܙܘܥ‬, but also in the form (perfect or participle). It is again interesting to find that ̈ ‫ܛܒ ܙܝܥܝܢ ܗܘܘ‬. H records the same verbs as our fragment: ‫ܘܕܚܠܝܢ ܘܡܣܬ ̈ܖܕܝܢ‬

27

Krumbacher (1911: 118).

256

Lijuan Lin

3.2 THE CONVERSION OF THE GENERAL 3.2.1 SyrHT 362 (T II B 31 No. 2), 14 x 9.2 cm, recto line 18–20, verso line 1–8

Fig. 2: SyrHT 362 recto (right) and verso (left).28 © Depositum der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung.

Recto ‫ ]ܕܝܢ ܐܪܣܛܛܠܝܣ ܟܕ ܚܙܐ ܠܛܘܒܢܐ‬18 ̈ .‫ ܓܘܪܓܝ]ܣ ܕܐܬܢܚܡ ܘܩܡ ܡܢ ܒܝܬ ܡܝܬܐ‬19 :‫ ܗܝܡܢ ܒܐܠܗܐ ܗ]ܘ ܘܟܠܗ ܛܟܣܝܣ ܕܝܠܗ‬20 18. […] but when the Stratelates saw that the blessed 19. [George] was revived and rose from the grave 20. [he believed God] and his whole army.

28

I use SyrHT 95 as the background to the images of SyrHT 362, so as to make clear how many lines were probably lost between side b line 20 and side a line 1.

The Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan

257

Verso several lines (circa 4 lines) missing ‫ ܒ]ܣܝܦܐ ܦܣ[ܩ‬1 ‫ ܬܘܕܝ]ܬܐ ܛܒܬܐ ܕܡܫܝ[ܚܐ‬2 [ ‫ ܟܠܝܠ ܐ ܕ]ܙܟܘܬܐ [ ]ܪܝܐ ܗܘܬ ܠܗܘܢ‬3 [‫ ܫ]ܪܝܐ ܕܛܥܝܐ [ ]ܐ ܘܩܝܡ ܐ‬4 ‫ ܗܠܝܢ ܕܝܠܠ[ܘܢ‬.‫ ܘܐ ܠܗܘܢ ܡܢ ܫܡܝܐ [ܘܐ]ܡܪ‬5 ̈ ‫ ܣܝܒܪܘ ܩܠܝܠ ܘܬܘ ܝܪܬܘ‬6 [ .‫ܚܝܐ ܕܠܥܠܡ‬ ]‫ ܗܘܘ ܕܝܢ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܗܝܡܢܘ ܥܡ ܐܢܛܘܠܝܣ ܐ[ܠܦ‬7 .‫ ܘܬܫܥܝܢ ܘܬܫܥܐ ܘܚܕܐ ܐܢܬܬܐ‬8 1. […] with sword came to an end […] 2. […] the good acknowledgement of Christ […] 3. [crown of? ] victory [...] was for them […] 4. [re]lease of the erring [...] and the resurrection […] 5. to them from the heaven [and said?]: “These who cried (?) 6. endure a little and come to inherit the eternal life […] 7. and those who believed with Anatolius were one thousand 8. and ninety nine and a woman.

3.2.2 Transmitted Versions 3.2.2.1 The Dadian Type (Original Text) Syr. I, based on Brooks 79, 6–11 ‫ ܡܢ ܒܝܬ‬5‫ܘܩܡ‬ ̣ 4‫ ܠܓܐܘܪܓܝܣ‬3‫ ܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ‬2‫ ܕܝܢ ܚܙܐ ܐܢܛܘܢܝܢܘܣ‬1‫ܟܕ‬ ̣ ‫¬ܕܚܝܐ‬ ‫ ܘܟܕ ܚܙܐ ܡܠܟܐ ܕܕܝܢܐ ܕܥܡ ܐ‬.‫ ܗܝܡܢ ܒܐܠܗܐ ̣ܗܘ ܘܟܠܗ ܛܟܣܝܣ ܕܝܠܗ‬:‫̈ܡܝܬܐ‬ :‫ ܡܕܝܢܬܐ ܒܐܬܪܐ ܚܘܪܒܐ ܢܬܩܛܠܘܢ‬9‫ ܕܠܒܪ ܡܢ‬8‫ ܦܩܕ‬:7‫ ܒܐܠܗܐ‬6‫ܣܓܝܐܐ ܗܝܡܢܘ‬ ̈ .‫ ܒܬܘܕܝܬܐ ܛܒܬܐ‬12‫ ܣܗܕܘܬܗܘܢ‬11‫ ܘܫܠܡܘ‬.‫ܠܥܣܖ ̈ܡܢܘܢ‬ ‫ ܐܢܘܢ‬10‫ܘܦܠܓܘ‬ 1 MV ‫ ܘܟܕ‬2 H ‫ ܐܢܛܘܢܘܣ‬3 EFW ‫ ܘܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ‬4 EFHMPSVW ‫ ܠܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ‬5 H ‫ ܕ ̣ܩܡ‬6 CDEFHMPSVW ‫ܗܝܡܢ‬ 7 H ‫ ܒܡܫܝܚܐ‬8 H ins. ‫ ܡܠܟܐ‬9 E om. 10 ̣ CDHV‫ ܘܦܠܓ‬11 V ‫ ܘܫܠܡ‬H ‫ ܫܠܡܘ‬12 E ‫ܣܗܕܘܬܗ‬ “And Antoninus the general (στρατηλάτης) on seeing that George had come to life and risen from the dead believed on God himself and his whole troop (τάξις). And, when king Dadian saw that many people had believed on God, the king ordered them to be put to death

258

Lijuan Lin in a desert place outside the city; and they divided them into ten companies; and they completed their martyrdom with a good confession.” (Brooks’ translation, 101–102, modified)

Athen., Krumbacher 6, 29–34 ἰδὼν δὲ Ἀνατόλιος ὁ στρατηλάτης, ὅτι ὅ ἅγιος Γεώργιος ἀνέστη ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἐπίστευσε μεθ᾽ ὅλης τῆς τάξεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγένοντο πᾶσαι αἱ ψυχαί, αἵ ἐπίστευσαν πρὸς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, τρισχίλιαι ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα καὶ μία γυνὴ ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου. ἐκέλευσε δὲ Δαδιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκβληθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἔξω τῆς πόλεως καὶ γενέσθαι εἰς ἀρχὰς δεκαπέντε καὶ οὕτως αὐτοὺς τῷ ξίφει τελειωθῆναι. ἐτελειώθη αὐτῶν ἡ μαρτυρία ἐν καλῇ ὁμολογίᾳ μηνὶ Φεβρουαρίῳ εἰκοστῇ τρίτῃ.

Ven., Krumbacher 18, 20–25 καὶ ταῦτα ἰδὼν Ἀνατόλιος ὁ στρατηλάτης ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν σὺν τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὑπηρέταις καὶ στρατιώταις. ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν πιστευσάντων τριακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα πέντε. καὶ ἰδὼν ὁ βύθιος δράκων, ὅτι Ἀνατόλιος ἐπίστευσε μετὰ τοῦ στρατοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστόν, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἐκβληθῆναι ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐν ἐρήμοις τόποις καὶ ἀποκεφαλισθῆναι τούτους ξίφεσι καὶ οὕτως τελειωθῆναι. καὶ ἐτελειώθη αὐτῶν ἡ μαρτυρία μηνὶ Φεβρουαρίῳ δεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

Wien., Krumbacher 34, 30–33 ἰδὼν δὲ Ἀνατόλιος ὁ στρατηλάτης, ὅτι ἀνέστη ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ θεοῦ μάρτυς Γεώργιος, ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ ταῦτα ἡ τάξις αὐτοῦ. θεασάμενος δὲ ταῦτα ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἐκβληθῆναι ἔξω τῆς πόλεως καὶ διὰ ξίφους τελειῶσαι αὐτούς. καὶ ἐποίησαν οὕτως, καὶ ἐτελειώθη αὐτῶν ἡ μαρτυρία.

Lied I, Κrumbacher 88, 17–20 …μεθ᾽ ὃν καὶ Ἀνατόλιον τὸν στρατηλάτην μετὰ τῆς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν φαμιλίας· εὐθέως οὗτοι τῷ ξίφει τελειοῦνται.

*X-lat., Haubrichs 424–425 Videns autem Anatholius, qui fuit magister militum, quod famulus dei resurrexisset ab inferis, statim credidit cum omni exercitu suo in Christum crucifixum, et clamavit voce magna dicens. ,,Georgi, famule Christi, et nos credimus in Christum crucifixum, qui te de morte suscitavit.“ Audiens vero imperator iussit eos eiici foras civitatem et ducere eos foris in heremo loco, et statuit illos in partes quindecim, et facto signaculo Christi gladio iussit eos punire. Et completum est martyrium eorum per bonam confessionem mense Februario, die sabbati, hora nona.

The Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan

259

Sang., Zarncke 269–270 Videns autem Anatholis, magister militum, mirabilia, que fecit Dominus et resuscitavit servum suum Georgium, credidit in Christo cum omni exercitu suo. Factum est autem, ut omnes, qui crediderunt, mille nonaginta VIII, et una mulier. Hoc videns Dacianus repletus est ira, iussit eos mitti foras civitatem et gladio eos finiri. Iussit Deus angelos suos et collegit animas eorum.

Copt., Budge 213 “And Anatolius the general knew him, and said, ‘Of a truth this is George who has risen from the dead;’ and he believed with all his company. Now the number of those [of the army] who believed upon Christ was three thousand and nine and one woman1 from the multitude. And Dadianus the governor commanded them all to be cast forth outside the city in a desert place, and to be divided into four divisions and to be slain. Thus they consummated their martyrdom at the ninth hour of the Sabbath day on the fifteenth day of Phamenôth,3 and went to Paradise in glory, and received pardon for their sins.” 1 D 3999

Ethiop., Budge 85 “And when the great prefect ͗ Anṭôlînôs looked upon George, and saw that he had risen from the dead, he was stupefied with astonishment, and he and all his company believed.”

Ethiop. Encomium, Budge 202–203 “And when ͗ Anâdûlěs (Anatolius?) the judge (or, governor) looked at him and saw that he was St. George who had risen from the dead, he was terrified and he cried out with a loud voice and said unto them, ‘Why are ye not ashamed, and why do ye conceal the truth? In truth this is George, the servant of God whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath raised up from the dead. Because of this thing, I, even I also will believe in my Lord Jesus Christ, and I and my soldiers who are with me will follow this [God].’ Then was Dadianus wroth, and he commanded his soldiers to take the judge and his soldiers outside the city, and to hack each of them into ten pieces and to cut off their heads with the sword. And thus they finished [their martyrdom] on the twenty-third day of the month of Yakâtît, at the ninth hour of the day of the Sabbath, and they inherited the Kingdom of heaven and the delights thereof. And the number of the friends of their governor ͗ Anâdûlěs (Anatolius?), both men and women who were of the people who were standing by, was four thousand nine hundred souls.”

260

Lijuan Lin

3.2.2.2 The Diocletian Type: The Conversion of Anatolius and Protoleon Paris., Krumbacher 23, 6–8 ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀνατόλιος καὶ Πρωτολέων οἱ στρατηλάται ἐπίστευσαν τῷ θεῷ μετὰ πάσης τῆς οἰκίας αὐτῶν κράζοντες· ,,Εἷς θεὸς ὁ ἐν τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς· αὐτὸς θεὸς μόνος.“ ἀκούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς ταῦτα ἐκέλευσεν πάντας αὐτοὺς ἔξω τῆς πόλεως κατακοπῆναι.

Norm., Krumbacher 45, 29–46, 2 ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἀκούσαντες ταῦτα Ἀνατόλιος καὶ Πρωτολέων οἱ στρατηλάται ἐπίστευσαν τῷ θεῷ μετὰ πάσης τῆς οἰκίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνέκραξαν λέγοντες· ,,Εἷς θεὸς ὁ ἐν τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς· αὐτὸς θεὸς μόνος.“ ἀκούσας δὲ ταῦτα ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκέλευσεν πάντας αὐτοὺς ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐν ἐρήμοις τόποις κατακοπῆναι. πορευόμενοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν τελείωσιν συμφώνως ἔκραζον· ,,Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, πρόσδεξαι τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ ποίησον ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν ἀδιάδοχον βασιλείαν λογισάμενος ἡμῶν τὴν βραδυτῆτα τῆς εἰς σὲ ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν καὶ πίστεως εἰς δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀπολύτρωσιν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἡμῶν.“

3.2.3 Analysis and Comparison The episode of the general(s) and the whole army has been transmitted in at least three versions. In the first two there is only one general, but his name is different in different versions: 1. in the transmitted Syriac version the general is called Antoninus (but H Antonus); 2. in most of the Greek old folk books, in the X type of the Latin tradition, and in the oriental tradition e.g. in the Coptic, Ethiopic, and Armenian recensions, the name of the general is Anatolius. In the third version there are two generals who have converted to Christianity, namely Anatolius and Protoleon; this version is attested already in the old folk book Paris., but more often appears in the later recension Norm. and in the different adaptations e.g. the adaptation of Theodoros Daphnopates, the text Διοκλητιανός (Symeon Metaphrastes), the text Ἄρτι, and the adaptation of the “orator” George.29 The second one belongs to the “Dadian type”, while the third belongs to the “Diocletian type”. The “Antoninus” in the transmitted Syriac version is probably a later development of “Anatolius” in the Dadian type. Overall, Syr. II records a very detailed description of the conversion of the general. This is especially obvious if we compare Syr. II and Syr. I, since the episode contained in the latter is much shorter. Another remarkable distinction lies in the name of the general. It is worth noting that Syr. II agrees with the 29

Krumbacher (1911: 174ff.).

The Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan

261

Dadian type and gives the name of the general as “Anatolius”. In this it is unlike Syr. I and all the transmitted Syriac manuscripts, which consistently give here “Antoninus”. According to Krumbacher, the motive of the conversion of Anatolius is one of the “wichtigste Prüfsteine” for the original text.30 This indicates that, at least in some details, Syr. II is much closer to the original than all the other versions in the Syriac tradition. Beyond the name of the general, Syr. II shares at least the following similarities with other versions belonging to the Dadian type: 1. The general and his army are consistently executed with swords (‫ܒܣܝܦܐ‬/τῷ ξίφει/gladio); 2. The number of the executed people is usually given (except *X-lat.), although the number itself is unstable, and the place where the number is given is also not always the same (Syr. II and Ethiop. Encomium at the very end); 3. Syr. II seems to have contained a brief confession of the general (probably in the lost part of the verso side), as is in the case of *X-lat. and Ethiop. Encomium. There are also characteristics of Syr. II which are not shared by any other version, e.g. the voice from heaven (5–6) is missing in all the other versions. Recto 18. ‫ܐܪܣܛܛܠܝܣ‬, scribal error for ‫ܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ‬, στρατηλάτης, “the Stratelates, general.” See Syr. I: ‫“ ܟܕ ܕܝܢ ܚܙܐ ܐܢܛܘܢܝܢܘܣ ܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ ܠܓܐܘܪܓܝܣ‬And Antoninus the general on seeing that George...”

Verso 1. restore ‫ܒ]ܣܝܦܐ ܦܣ[ܩ‬. Verbatim parallels can be found in at least the following texts of Dadian type: Athen. …οὕτως αὐτοὺς τῷ ξίφει τελειωθῆναι…; Ven. …καὶ ἀποκεφαλισθῆναι τούτους ξίφεσι καὶ οὕτως τελειωθῆναι…; Wien. …καὶ διὰ ξίφους τελειῶσαι αὐτοὺς…; Lied I …εὐθέως οὗτοι τῷ ξίφει τελειοῦνται…; *X-lat. …gladio iussit eos punire…; Sang. …et gladio eos finiri… 7. Maróth renders ‫ ܐܢܛܘܠܝܣ‬as “Antonius”, while it should be Anatolius. As shown above, the conversion of Anatolius appears consistently in the so-called Urtext (the Dadian type), while in the Diocletian type, there are two generals 30

Krumbacher (1911: 289).

262

Lijuan Lin

who converted, namely Anatolius and Protoleon. It is remarkable that the name of the general in the Syr. I, Antoninus,31 is unattested in all the other aforementioned versions; Antoninus is nevertheless close to Anatolius and could probably be traced back to an error made by a scribe.32 7–8. restore ‫ ;]ܠܦ[ܐ‬Maróth reads … ‫( ܘܐܫܥܝܐ ܘܐ‬und Isaias und […]), while it should be read ‫“ ܘܬܫܥܝܢ ܘܬܫܥܐ‬ninety nine”, thus “1099 and 1 woman”. The number is different in the various versions: Athen. 3099 and 1 woman; Ven. 365; Copt. 3009 and 1 woman, or 3999 and 1 woman; Sang. 1098 and 1 woman; Ethiop. Encomium 4900 men and women. In many other versions the number is not given, instead it is briefly described as “Antoninus and his whole troop” (Syr. I), “Anatolius and his whole troop” (Wien., *Xlat.), “Anatolius and his whole family (Lied I)” or “Anatolius and Protoleon, and their whole family” (Paris., Norm.).33

31

32

33

‫ܣܗܕܘܬܐ ܕܢܨܝܚܐ ܓܐܘܪܓܝܣ ܘܕܐܢܛܘܢܝܢܘܣ‬ ‫“ ܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ ܘܕܐܠܟܣܢܕܪܐ ܡܠܟܬܐ‬The Martyrdom of the Illustrious George and of As already indicated in the title:

Antoninus the General and of Alexandra the Queen”. The name Antoninus also appears once in the Latin tradition: While the general is called either as Anatolius (in the X type) or as Magnentius (in the Y type) in the Latin tradition, in one of the later revisions of Y, preserved in a 12th century codex from Milan, the name of the converted general is given as Antoninus. See Haubrichs (1979: 272, footnote 266). See Krumbacher (1911: 164): “…zahlreiche für die spätere Zeit nicht interessante oder nicht recht verständliche Einzelheiten, besonders Namen und Zahlen sind weggelassen”.

The Syriac Version of the Legend of Saint George Found in Turfan

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3.3 THE FINAL PRAYER 3.3.1 SyrHT 365 (T II B 53), 7.5 x 10.3 cm, recto 12 lines + SyrHT 381 (T II B 53 No. 8, T II B 60), 2.3 x 6.3 cm, recto 3 lines

Fig. 3: SyrHT 365 and SyrHT 381 recto. © Depositum der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung.

‫ ܕܙܘ]ܥܬܐ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ ܫ[ܡܝ ܢܗܘܐ] ܠܗ ܫܦܝܪ‬1 ̈ ‫ ܘܢܥܒܪ]ܘܢ ܡܢܗ ̈ܚܙܘܢܐ‬2 ‫ ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ‬.‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ ‫ ܗܒ [ܠܫܡ]ܝ ܘܠܓ ̈ܖܡܝ ܕܟܠ ܡܢ ܕܢܗܘܐ‬3 ‫ ܒܕܝܢܐ ܘܛܠܘܡܝܐ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ ܫܡܝ ܢܦܘܩ‬4 ‫ ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ ܗܒܠܝ‬.‫ ܕܝܢܗ ܒܙܟܘܬܐ‬5 ̈ ‫ܕܡܬܟܕܢܢ‬ ‫ ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ ܕܟܠ ܐܡܬܝ‬6 ̈ 7 ‫ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ‬:‫ܥܢܢܐ ܘܢܗܘܐ ܐܐܪ ܕܠܝܚܐ‬ ‫ ܠ ܐ ܢܗܘܐ ܒܗܘ ܐܬܪܐ‬.‫ ܫܡܝ ܬܡܢ‬8

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‫ ܡܪܝܐ‬.‫ ܫܘܒܐ ܐܘ ܒܪܕܐ ܐܘ ܪܘܓܙܐ‬9 ‫ ܐܠܗܝ ܗܒ ܠܫܡܝ ܘܠܓ ̈ܖܡܝ ܕܟܠܡܢ‬10 ‫ ܢܥܒܕ ܠܝ ܕܘܟܪܢܐ ܘܢܬ[ܕܟܪ‬11 ][ 12 1. terrifying (dream) and whoever remembers [my name, he shall be] well, 2. and evil visions [shall depart] from him, Lord God 3. grant to my [name] and to my bones that everyone who shall be engaged 4. in a lawsuit and injustice, and remember my name, he shall come out of 5. his suit in victory. Lord God, grant me 6. this favour, that whenever the clouds are gathered together 7. and the air shall be disturbed, and remember 8. my name there, in that country there shall not be 9. heat, hail or anger. Lord 10. my God, grant to my name and my bones, that all, 11. who do for me memorial and [remember…] 12. [...]

3.3.2 Other Versions 3.3.2.1 The Dadian Type Syr. I, based on Brooks 94, 7–16 ‫ ܗܒ ܠܝ ܫܐܠܬܐ ܗܕܐ ܕܟܠ ̇ܡܢ ܕܢܗܘܐ ܒܫܘܢܩܐ ܐܘ ܒܕܚܠܬܐ‬1‫ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܚܙܘܢܐ‬ ‫ ܘܢܥܒܪܘܢ ܡܢܗ‬.4‫ ܢܗܘܐ ܠܗ ܕܫܦܝܪ‬:‫ ܫܡܝ‬3‫ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ‬2‫ܐܘ ܒܚܠܡ ܐ ܕܙܘܥܬܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ̇ ̈ ‫ ܒܕܝܢܐ‬7‫¬ܕܟܠܡܢ ܕܢܗܘܐ‬ .‫ܘܠܓܖܡܝ‬ ‫ ܗܒ ܠܫܡܝ‬6‫ ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ‬.5‫¬ܘܣܢܝܐ‬ ‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ 10 9 8 ‫ ܡܪܝܐ‬.‫ ܢܦܘܩ ܕܠ ܐ ܕܚܠܬܐ ¬ܘܕܠ ܐ ܛܠܘܡܝܐ ܡܢ ܕܝܢܗ‬:‫ܕܕܚܠܬܐ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ ܠܝ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܕܡܬܟܕܢܢ‬ ‫ ܘܢܬܕܟܪܘܢܢܝ ܐܢܫ‬13‫ܥܢܢܐ‬ ‫ ܕܐܡܬܝ‬.12‫ ܗܒ ܠܝ ¬ܠܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ‬11‫ܐܠܗܝ‬ ̇ ̇ ‫ ܠ ܐ ¬ܢܗܘܐ‬14‫¬ܒܐܬܪܐ ̇ܗܘ‬ 16 15 ‫ ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ ܫܟܢ ܠܝ‬. ‫ܬܡܢ ܫܘܒܐ ܐܘ ܒܪܕܐ‬ 20 19 18 ‫ ܕܟܠ ̇ܡܢ ܕܢܥܒܕ ܠܓܐܘܪܓܝܣ ܕܘܟܪܢܐ ¬ܐܘ ܩܘܪܒܢܐ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ‬17‫¬ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ‬ .21‫ܠܝܘܡ ܐ ܕܐܓܘܢܗ‬ 1 H ins. ‫ ܚܝܠܬܢܐ‬2 P ins. ‫ ܢܩܪܝܟ‬3 H ‫ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ‬4 HM ‫ ܫܦܝܪ‬5 EFHMPSVW om. 6 H ‫ ܐܠܗܝ‬7 H ‫ ܘܠܟܠ ̇ܡܢ ܢܗܘܐ‬8 CDV om. 9 V om. 10 F ‫ ܘܡܢ‬H om. 11 CDEFMPSVW ‫ ܐܠܗܐ‬12 EFHMPSW ‫ ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ‬V ‫ ܗܕܐ ܫܐܠܬܐ‬13 ̈ EFMPSW ‫ ܥܢ̈ܢܐ ܒܩܫܝܘܬܐ ܒܐܐܪ‬H ‫ܥܢܢܐ ܕܒܪܕܐ‬ 14 EFMPSVW ‫ ܒܐܬܪܗ‬H ̈ ̇ ‫ ܒܐܬܖܐ‬15 EFMPSVW ‫ ܢܗܘܐ ܒܐܬܪܐ ܗܘ ܒܪܕܐ ܐܘ ܫܘܒܐ‬H ‫ܒܐܬܪܐ ܗ‬

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‫ ܠ ܐ ܒܪܕܐ ܘܠ ܐ ܫܘܒܐ ܘܢܗܘܐ‬16 H ‫ ܐܠܗܝ‬17 EFMPSW ‫ ܗܕܐ ܫܐܠܬܐ‬18 EFHMPSW ‫ ܠܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ‬V ‫ ܠܓܘܪܓܝܣ‬19 H ‫ ܘܩܘܪܒܢܐ‬20 EFHMSVW ‫ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ‬P ‫ ܘܕܟܪ‬21 P ‫ܠܝܘܡ ܐܓܘܢܗ‬ “…Lord God, grant me this petition that whoever shall be in torture or in fear or have a terrifying dream and remember my name shall have what is good, and evil hateful visions shall depart from him. Lord God, grant to my name and to my bones that everyone who shall be engaged in a dangerous law-suit and remembers me shall come out of his suit without danger and without harm. Lord my God, grant me this favour, that when clouds are gathered together and one remembers me in that country, there shall not be parching heat or hail there. Lord God, bestow on me this favour that, whoever shall make mention of George or make an oblation and remember the day of his contest...” (Brooks’ translation, 113–114, modified)

Athen., Krumbacher 15, 34–16, 4 κύριε ὁ θεός, ἐπάκουσόν μου τῆς φωνῆς καὶ παράσχου μοι τὴν αἴτησιν ταύτην καὶ δός, κύριε, τῷ ὀνόματί μου χάριν, ἵνα πᾶς, ὅστις γένηται ἐν ἐνυπνίῳ φοβερῷ καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ δούλου σου Γεωργίου, γενέσθω εἰς ἀγαθόν. κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, δὸς τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ τῷ σώματί μου χάριν, ἵνα πᾶς τις γενόμενος ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ ὀνόματός μου, ἐξέλθῃ ἄνευ πειρασμοῦ. κύριε ὁ θεός, δὸς τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ τῷ σώματί μου χάριν, ἵνα ἐν τῷ συσκευάζειν τὸν οὐρανόν, ὥστε βρέχειν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν χάλαζαν διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ ὀνόματος Γεωργίου τοῦ δουλοῦ σου, μὴ ἐπέλθῃ ἀὴρ κακὸς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ δρόσος ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ἴαμα αὐτοῖς ἔστω. κύριε ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, δὸς τῷ δούλῳ σου Γεωργίῳ χάριν…

*X-lat., Haubrichs 468–469 Domine deus…dona mihi petitionem cordis mei, ut omnes qui vident passionem meam, credant nomini tuo, salvator mundi. Dona eis, domine, desiderium cordis eorum qui volunt gloriari de reliquiis corporis mei. Et tu, domine, dona in nomine tuo sancto gratiam, ut omnis homo, qui memor sit cum veneratione famuli tui Georgii, et sit in visione aut signo, cum ingressus fuerit in iuditium, et memor fuerit nominis mei, exeat repletus gaudio magno et laetitia. Domine Iesu Christe, sol iustitiae, lucerna inextinguibilis, lumen preclarum, corona inmarcescibilis, da nomini tuo et corpori meo gratiam. Et si quis in tempore angustiae et siccitatis nomen tuum invocaverit, pluvia in terram descendat. Fiat, domine, petitio eorum, ut impleatur tua iussione nubes atque satietur terra. Et memor esto, domine omnium, qui stant in circuitu, famulorum tuorum, et expectant, quousque compleam votum meum, quod tibi promiseram…

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Sang., Zarncke 276–277 Et exaudi me, domine, et prestes mihi gratiam tuam, quam peto a te, ut et qui viderint visum malum et invocaverint nomen tuum in nomine servi tui Georgii, fiat illi in bono. Domine, da gratiam nomini tuo, et quicunque intraverit in causa mala et invocaverit nomen tuum et nomen servi tui Georgii, exeat sine periculo. Domine Deus, da gratiam nomini tuo, et in hora, quando veniant nubes cum grandine et invocaverit nomen tuum et nomen servi tui Georgii memoraverint. Non tangat eos grando neque fames. Domine Deus, da gratiam nomini tuo, quisquis nominaverit nomen tuum sanctum et nomen servi tui Georgii in domo sua…

Copt., Budge 234–235 “I beseech Thee to grant a favour to me, grant that my name may heal all those afflicted by unclean spirits, who shall remember Thy servant George. O Lord my God, let every one who is greatly afraid in the place of judgement come forth in peace if he remembers my name; and do Thou write in the Book of Life the name of every one who shall write down my martyrdom and the sufferings which I have endured. If the heavens withhold their rain from the earth, and men make mention of the name of the God of George, I beseech Thee grant that Thy help may support them speedily. O God of truth, for the sake of whose holy name I have suffered these pains, remember all those who shall show kindness to the poor in my name, and forgive them the sins which they have committed.”

Ethiop. Encomium, Budge 254–255 “O my Lord, give grace to my name that it may be salvation and a help to all the world, and to everyone who hath slept a sleep and is terrified. Remember Thy servant and let him be raised up without any evil thing having found him. O my Lord Jesus Christ, hear my petition and give grace to my name and healing by my body. And everyone who shall take my body to a king or to a governor, whether it be he who is in tribulation or he who is in affliction in his counsel, when they pray unto Thee in my name, do Thou hear them. And if storm winds blow, or there is a terrifying wind from the south, when they cry out my name in trustfulness, have mercy upon them, and show them compassion. And send a gentle and merciful rain upon the whole country, O my Lord and God, Thou Sustainer of all the world. O my Lord remember those who make mention of (i.e. commemorate) the name of Thy servant George; O Lord, give grace by my body…”

Nub., Browne 22 “…so that salt, becoming rain,34 may fall upon the earth because of the sins of men, and truly if one in a time of distress remembers my name and invokes your name, let bad 34

Namely hail, see Browne’ commentary (1998: 25): “In the modern language, ‘hail’ is called ‘salt from heaven’”.

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weather not come upon him in that place, but let rain and water come down to the earth. Lord our God, give grace to my name and my body, [so that] all men who remember me, your servant George, and my suffering…”

Chin. Jisi zhou 吉思呪, Ma Xiaohe and Wang Chuan 11835 若人有惡夢，或被官司囚繫，及一天亢旱，苦難逼身者，稱念吉思聖，尋聲皆如應。 “Whoever shall have a terrifying dream, or be engaged in a lawsuit, or have one severe drought, or have the sufferings of the body, remember [the name of ] St. George, [God] shall always hear [his] voice and his petition shall be answered.” (my translation)

3.3.2.2 The Diocletian Type Paris., Krumbacher 29, 32–37 Κύριε ὁ θεός μου, ἐπάκουσόν μου, ἵνα πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἐπικαλούμενος ἐν ἀνάγκαις σὲ τὸν εὔσπλαγχνον πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ὄντα αὐτὸν ἐν θλίψει ἢ ἐν ἀρρωστίᾳ ἢ ἐν λιμῷ ἢ ἐν φθόνῳ ἢ ἐν κινδύνῳ θαλάσσης ἢ ἐν δυσχερείαις πραγμάτων ἢ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ, μνησθῇ δὲ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ Γεωργίου, ῥῦσαι ἀπὸ πάσης θλίψεως καὶ ἀνάγκης καὶ μὴ γενέσθω ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀφορία καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν μήτε πληγὴν ἐπαγάγῃ ὁ πονηρὸς ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς·σύντριψον τὸν Σατανᾶν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν. οἶδας, δέσποτα, ὅτι ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν·ἐλέησον αὐτούς, κύριε, ὅτι σὸν πλάσμα εἰσίν, ὅτι δεδοξασμένος εἶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

Wien., Krumbacher 39, 24–34 Κύριε ὁ θεός, οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς δεσπότης, ἐπάκουσον τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου καὶ δός μοι τὰ αἰτήματά μου, ἵνα πᾶς ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ἐν ὕπνῳ φοβερῷ ἢ ἐν ἀνάγκῃ καὶ ἐπικαλέσηται τὸν εὔπλαγχνον πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα μνησθεῖς δὲ τοῦ ὀμόματός μου τοῦ δούλου σου Γεωργίου, ποίησον τὴν δυσκληρίαν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἀγαθὸν καὶ ῥῦσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνάγκης καὶ θλίψεως καὶ διωγμοῦ καὶ ἀρρωστίας καὶ λιμοῦ καὶ βασκανίας καὶ φθόνου καὶ χειμασίας θαλάσσης καὶ δυσχερείας πραγμάτων καὶ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ παράστα αὐτὸν καὶ σῶσον, κύριε ὁ θεός μου, καὶ δός, κύριε, τοῖς μνημονεύουσιν τὴν μνήμην τῆς ἀθλήσεώς μου τοῦ μὴ ἐπελθεῖν αὐτῶν ἀφορία καρπῶν μήτε ἄλλη

35

A few other oriental versions i.e. the Bohairic, Arabic, Georgian, and Amenian can also be found in Browne. For the final prayer in Turkic, see Bang (1926: 64–75). The Turkic fragments present a version which also belongs to the Dadian type but is different from all the other versions since St. George prays there for “zehnerlei Glück”. The Turkic version of the final prayer shares, however, similarites with the fourth request of St. George in the Dadian type, i.e. prayer for the people who shall have the sufferings of the body. See further Weber (2002).

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Norm., Krumbacher 50, 32–51, 6 …συγχώρησον δὲ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὅσα ἔπραξαν εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς δούλους σου τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους τὸ ἅγιον ὄνομά σου· φώτισον δὲ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς σῆς ἀληθείας, ὅτι πάντας θέλεις σωθῆναι. ἐξαπόστειλον βοήθειαν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σου, Χριστέ· δὸς αὐτοῖς τὸν φόβον σου καὶ τὸν πόθον τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους σου ἀγάπης, ἵνα τὴν μνήμην αὐτῶν ποιούμενοι μιμοῦνται τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν, ὅπως ἀξιωθῶσιν μετ᾽ αὐτῶν τῆς ἐπουρανίου ζωῆς καὶ βασιλείας αἰωνίου, ὅτι σή ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

Interpol., Krumbacher 57, 14–25 Κύριε ὁ θεός, οὐρανοῦ τε καὶ γῆς καὶ πάσης κτίσεως καὶ πνοῆς ἐξουσιαστά, πρόσδεξαι τῇ ὥρᾳ ταύτῃ τὴν φωνὴν τῆς δεήσεώς μου καὶ εἰσακούσας δός μοι τὰ αἰτήματά μου τῇ σῇ ἀγαθότητι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ, ἵνα πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἐπικαλεσάμενος ἐν ἀνάγκῃ σὲ τὸν εὔσπλαγχνον πατέρα καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ σου υἱὸν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ζωοποιόν σου πνεῦμα, ὄντα αὐτὸν ἐν θλίψει ἢ ἐν ἀρρωστίᾳ ἢ ἐν λιμῷ ἢ ἐν λοιμῷ ἢ ἐν φθόνῳ ἢ ἐν κινδύνῳ θαλάσσης ἢ ἐν δυσχερείαις πραγμάτων ἢ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ, μνησθῇ δὲ καὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ δούλου σου Γεωργίου καὶ τῆς ἀθλήσεώς μου, ῥύσαι αὐτόν, δέσποτα, ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνάγκης καὶ θλίψεως· καὶ μὴ γένηται, κύριε, κύριε, ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀφορία καρπῶν ἀγαθῶν μήτε μὴν πληγὴν τὴν οἱανοῦν ἐπαγάγῃ ὁ πονηρὸς ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ σύντριψον αὐτὸν ἐν τάχει, ὕψιστε, ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. οἶδας γάρ, δέσποτα κύριε, ὅτι πάντες ποίημα καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν, καὶ σοὶ μονῳ πρέπει ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

Ethiop., Budge 108 “…And every man who dwelleth on the earth, and shall be in tribulation, whether in the desert, or in the field, or in the abyss, or in the sea, or in want, or in sore affliction of heart, or [under the influence of] an evil dream, if he maketh mention of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and St. George, and they all pray to St. George with all their hearts not to forget them, I will deliver them from all the sorrow of their hearts, and I will deliver those who commemorate thee upon earth, and if they come to me I will hearken unto them.”

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3.3.3 Analysis and Comparison The episode of St. George’s final prayer has been transmitted mainly in the Dadian type and the Diocletian type as well. Unlike the texts of the former type in which St. George prays for the people who have a terrifying dream, or are engaged in a lawsuit, or have a severe drought, or have the sufferings of the body, the texts belonging to the latter type, like Paris., Wien., Interpol., and Ethiop., give another list of people who suffer, i.e. ἐν θλίψει ἢ ἐν ἀρρωστίᾳ ἢ ἐν λιμῷ ἢ ἐν φθόνῳ ἢ ἐν κινδύνῳ θαλάσσης ἢ ἐν δυσχερείαις πραγμάτων ἢ ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ “(everybody) under pressure or in sickness or in hunger or in fear or in danger at sea or in difficult affairs or in a terrifying lawsuit” (with slight variations in different versions). The version recorded in Norm. is distinct from all the other versions: the editor first changed “the name of George” into “your name, Christ”, then simplified the prayer for help into one short sentence: ἐξαπόστειλον βοήθειαν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομά σου, Χριστέ “Send help to those who call your name, Christ.”36 As Weber correctly observed, the reason for these changes is a theological one: “Bedenklich ist es, wenn der Heilige nicht nur als Fürsprecher, sondern auch als Garant von Hilfe (ohne daß Gott selbst darum gebeten wird) angerufen wird.”37 Generally speaking, our fragment records a version of St. George’s final prayer which corresponds well with the texts of the Dadian type including Syr. I, but not with any text of the Diocletian type. Still, small differences here and there suggest that the transmission of the text in Syriac was complicated. Different readings recorded in Syr. I and Syr. II indicate that they could have been caused by different interpretations of the original Greek. On the other hand, the Syriac manuscripts share characteristics which are not attested in other tradition, for example, they consistently include two severe weather conditions, namely hailstorms and parching heat/drought in the third prayer. 1. Restore ‫ܕܙܘ]ܥܬܐ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ ܫ[ܡܝ‬, see Syr. I: ‫ܡܪܝܐ ܐܠܗܐ ܗܒ ܠܝ ܫܐܠܬܐ‬ ‫ܗܕܐ ܕܟܠ ̇ܡܢ ܕܢܗܘܐ ܒܫܘܢܩܐ ܐܘ ܒܕܚܠܬܐ ܐܘ ܒܚܠܡ ܐ ܕܙܘܥܬܐ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ ܫܡܝ ܢܗܘܐ‬ ‫…“ ܠܗ ܕܫܦܝܪ‬Lord God, grant me this petition that whoever shall be in torture or in fear or have a terrifying dream and remember my name shall have what is good…” For the last word ‫ ܕܫܦܝܪ‬our fragment omits the ‫ ܕ‬and simply gives ‫ܫܦܝܪ‬. This corresponds well with manuscripts H and M (see above Syr. I 36 37

For the two recensions in the group of the Diocletian type, namely “alte Diokletiantypen” and “Jüngere Diokletiantypen”, see Krumbacher (1911: 290–295). See Weber (2002: 224).

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apparatus). The different readings in the Syriac tradition might be traced back to different interpretations of the original Greek: Athen. …δός, κύριε, τῷ ὀνόματί μου χάριν, ἵνα πᾶς, ὅστις γένηται ἐν ἐνυπνίῳ φοβερῷ καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ δούλου σου Γεωργίου, γενέσθω εἰς ἀγαθόν… “Lord, grant a favour to my name that whoever shall be engaged in a terrifying dream and remember George your servant, he/it shall turn into good.” ̈ ‫ܘܢܥܒܪܘܢ ܡܢܗ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܢܥܒܪ]ܘܢ ܡܢܗ ̈ܚܙܘܢܐ‬, see Syr. I: ‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܚܙܘܢܐ‬ 2. Restore ‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ ̈ ¬ “…and evil hateful visions shall depart from him.” Our fragment ‫ܘܣܢܝܐ‬ ̈ and differs again from the edition of Brooks by omitting the last word ‫ܘܣܢܝܐ‬, agrees in this respect with a series of manuscripts, namely EFHMPSVW. 3. Restore ‫ ;[ܠܫܡ]ܝ ܘܠܓ ̈ܖܡܝ‬the last word should be ‫ܕܢܗܘܐ‬, rather than ‫ܕܗܘܐ‬, ̇ ¬ .‫ܗܒ ܠܫܡܝ ܘܠܓ ̈ܖܡܝ‬, Athen. δὸς τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ see Syr. I: ‫ܕܟܠܡܢ ܕܢܗܘܐ‬ τῷ σώματί μου χάριν, ἵνα πᾶς τις γενόμενος “grant a favour to my name and my body that whoever shall be engaged...”.

4. Our fragment gives ‫“ ܒܕܝܢܐ ܘܛܠܘܡܝܐ‬in a lawsuit and injustice”, and is thus different from Syr. I, which has ‫“ ܒܕܝܢܐ ܕܕܚܠܬܐ‬in a dangerous lawsuit” (‫ ܕܕܚܠܬܐ‬is omitted in CDV). For a parallel in Greek, see Athen. ἐν δικαστηρίῳ φοβερῷ “in a terrifying lawsuit”. In the second part of this line, our fragment gives ‫“ ܘܢܬܕܟܪ ܫܡܝ‬and remember my name,” and is different from all the other transmitted Syriac manuscripts, which consistently give ‫“ ܘܡܬܕܟܪ ܠܝ‬and remember me” (with participle). Our fragment corresponds well with Athen. καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ ὀνόματός μου “and remember my name”. 4–5. Our fragment gives ‫“ ܢܦܘܩ ܕܝܢܗ ܒܙܟܘܬܐ‬his lawsuit shall come to pass in victory,” and thus differs again from Syr. I which records ‫ܢܦܘܩ ܕܠ ܐ ܕܚܠܬܐ‬ ‫(“ ܘܕܠ ܐ ܛܠܘܡܝܐ ܡܢ ܕܝܢܗ‬he) shall come out of his lawsuit without danger and without harm.” But a similar expression which omits ‫ ܡܢ‬can be found in H: ‫“ ܢܦܘܩ ܕܠ ܐ ܕܚܠܬܐ ܘܕܠ ܐ ܛܠܘܡܝܐ ܕܝܢܗ‬his lawsuit shall come to pass without danger and without harm.” The different readings in the Syriac tradition might again have been caused by different interpretations of the original Greek: Athen. ἐξέλθῃ ἄνευ πειρασμοῦ “he/it shall come out without worry.” See further *X-lat. exeat repletus gaudio magno et laetitia; Sang. exeat sine periculo; Copt. “let everyone … come forth in peace”. 6. Our fragment gives ‫ ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ‬and agrees with manuscripts EFHMPSW, while Brooks’ edition of Syr. I and the manuscript V give respectively ‫ ܠܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܗܕܐ‬and ‫“( ܗܕܐ ܫܐܠܬܐ‬this petition”); ‫ܕܟܠ ܐܡܬܝ‬ differs from all the other versions which consistently give ‫ܕܐܡܬܝ‬.

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6–9. Our fragment is again distinct from all the other Syriac manuscripts, although only slight differences are attested here and there: Syr. II “whenever the clouds are gathered together and the air shall be disturbed, remember my name there, in that country there shall not be parching heat, hail or anger.” Syr. I “when clouds are gathered together and men remember me in that country, there shall not be parching heat or hail there;” EFMPSW “when clouds are gathered together in severe air and one remembers me in his country, in that country there shall not be hail or parching heat;” H “when clouds of hail are gathered together and one remembers me in countries, in that country there shall be neither hail nor parching heat.”

Albeit with slight differences, the Syriac versions seem to have been based on and developed from similar Greek version(s), see e.g. Athen. Κύριε ὁ θεός, δὸς τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ τῷ σώματί μου χάριν, ἵνα ἐν τῷ συσκευάζειν τὸν οὐρανόν, ὥστε βρέχειν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν χάλαζαν διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ μνησθῇ τοῦ ὀνόματος Γεωργίου τοῦ δουλοῦ σου, μὴ ἐπέλθῃ ἀὴρ κακὸς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ δρόσος ἡ παρὰ σοῦ ἴαμα αὐτοῖς ἔστω. “Lord God, grant a favour to my name and my body that when heaven is ready by gathering together (the clouds) to send hail upon the earth because of men’s sins, and remember the name of George your servant, bad air shall not occur to that place, instead there shall be dew, the remedy from you, for them.”

Central to the petition in the Syriac tradition is the avoidance of two severe weather conditions, namely “hailstorms” (‫ )ܒܪܕܐ‬and “parching heat/drought” (‫)ܫܘܒܐ‬, the two exemplary “destructive agents” for farm life in ancient Greece and Rome.38 This seems not to be the case in some other versions, where either only hailstorm is mentioned (Athen. χάλαζαν; Sang. grando; Nub. and Ethiop. Encomium), or only heat/drought (*X-lat. siccitatis; Copt. and Chin. 亢旱, Kanghan, “severe drought”). 39 The Turfan version also mentions anger: “parching heat, hail or anger.” For hail and anger, see also Ezekiel 13:13, Isaiah 30:30. 8. ‫ = ܒܗܘ ܐܬܪܐ‬Athen. ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ, Brooks’ edition of Syr. I gives ̇ ‫ܒܐܬܪܐ ܗܘ‬, while a series of manuscripts gives (EFMPSVW) ‫ ܒܐܬܪܗ‬and H gives ‫ܒܐܬ ̈ܖܐ‬. 38 39

See McCartney (1934a), (1934b) and Fehrle (1912). As Krumbacher already observed, hail is missing in Gall., Copt., and Arm., but appears in Athen. and Sang. (χάλαζαν Krumbacher 16, 1; grandine Zarncke 276, 20), see Krumbacher (1911: 117).

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4. PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS Although final conclusions can only be made after a full examination of all the Turfan fragments, the following preliminary conclusions emerge from the comparison between the three passages from the Turfan version and their parallel texts: 1. The Turfan version shares with Syr. I a number of characteristics which are not always shared by other versions, so that some words lost in the fragments can be safely reconstructed from the transmitted version. This not only indicates the intimate relationship between the two Syriac recensions, but also shows that one of them has relied on the other in a way that is not shared by the other traditions. 2. In spite of this affinity, the two Syriac recensions represent two different translations of the legend, since the translators have sometimes employed different translation strategies, e.g. they use different words to translate the same Greek word, and when they use the same word, they prefer different forms. Some of the different translations might have been caused by various interpretations of the original Greek. Another main difference is that the Turfan version is often more detailed than the transmitted version, as can be seen from the episode of the conversion of the general.40 3. Syr. II is closer to the original Greek text than Syr. I. This can be inferred from the fact that Syr. II correctly gives the name of the general Anatolius and mentions the number of the soldiers as well. As Krumbacher has convincingly demonstrated, the motive of the conversion of Anatolius is in fact one of the most important touchstones (“wichtigste Prüfsteine”) for the original text of the legend;41 on the other hand, the inclusion of detailed numbers is also one of the most distinctive characteristics of the earlier texts, since numbers belong to those “für die spätere Zeit nicht interessante oder nicht recht verständliche Einzelheiten”42 and are often omitted in the later revisions. Furthermore, the analysis given above of the selected three passages shows that similar or even verbatim parallels with the Greek versions, especially Athen. which belongs to the Dadian type, are more usual in Syr. II than in Syr. I. To sum up, the Turfan version is very 40 41 42

This can also be proved by other episodes in the Turfan version, e.g. St. George’s long prayer before the wheel torture, see Maróth (1991). Krumbacher (1911: 289). Krumbacher (1911: 164).

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probably not, as Maróth supposed, “die zweite Übersetzung aufgrund einer späteren griechischen Version,” but on the contrary, Syr. II should be earlier than Syr. I, insofar as it is based on, or at least closer to, the original Greek version. 4. Our analysis of the three passages suggests that the Syriac transmission of the legend is more complicated than we earlier supposed. In general, Syr. I and Syr. II represent two main recensions in the Syriac tradition, and it seems that many of their episodes belong to the so-called Dadian type, instead of to the Diocletian type.43 Unlike Syr. II, which is witnessed only in the Turfan fragments, Syr. I is attested in a series of manuscripts listed above. The number of variants collected in the preliminary edition of the three selected passages demonstrates that the earlier editions of both Bedjan and Brooks are by no means satisfactory. A new critical edition of Syr. I on the basis of the recently discovered witnesses is needed, which will furthermore facilitate comparison with the Turfan version, and help us to obtain a fuller picture of the whole transmission history of the passio in Syriac.44 In his posthumously published monograph Der heilige Georg in der griechischen Überlieferung, after a thorough examination of all the transmitted versions of the legend at hand, Krumbacher makes the following comment: “Wie die überall vorhandenen Plusstücke erweisen, ist keiner der genannten Texte in gerader Linie ein Nachkomme des anderen. Sie sind alle mehr oder weniger voneinander entfernte Vettern. Anderseits beweist die vielfache wörtliche Übereinstimmung des Athen. bald mit Gall. bald mit Kopt., daß das uralte Original trotz der schon jetzt erschließbaren zahlreichen verschiedensprachigen Bearbeitungen sich streckenweise fast unverändert erhalten hat.”45 43

44

45

But not all of them as Krumbacher supposed. Krumbacher concluded in his work that the Syriac text belongs “sicher” to the Dadian type, see Krumbacher (1911: 285). For episodes of the Diocletian type in the Syriac tradition see Lin (2020). See further Brooks (1925: 70– 71); Maróth (1991: 106). See Butts (2020: 31): “In the vast majority of editions, Syriac texts have been presented as if they existed in a single, uniform text type, whether due to the reconstruction inherent in producing a critical edition (i.e., Lachmann’s method) or more commonly due to selecting a single manuscript for a diplomatic edition (i.e., Bédier’s method) and choosing not to record variants from other text types”. Krumbacher (1911: 118).

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The Turfan version of the legend adds further evidence to Krumbacher’s claim. It is remarkable to see how it differs from and agrees with various versions in and beyond Syriac, and how it corresponds verbatim with the Greek, Latin, and other oriental versions which closely follow the original. It is well known that among the documents found in the Christian library of the monastery at Bulayïq belonging to the Church of the East (9th–13th centuries), there are regrettably very few hagiographies. 46 Nevertheless, our analysis shows that the Turfan hagiographical fragments merit further attention: They have preserved a Syriac version of the legend of St. George which is much closer to the original text than all the transmitted Syriac manuscripts, and their existence indicates that the Syriac Christians brought this valuable manuscript to Central Asia and what today is China at an early date.

46

Hunter (2012: 83).

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275

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arndt, Wilhelm (1874) “Passio Sancti Georgii”, in Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königlichen Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Leipzig, phil.-hist. Classe 26, pp. 43–70. Bang, Willy (1926) “Türkische Bruchstücke einer nestorianischen Georgspassion”, in Le Muséon, 39, pp. 41–75. Baumstark, Anton (1922) Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, Bonn. Bedjan, Paul (1890) Acta martyrum et sanctorum, vol. 1, Paris. Benveniste, Émile (1943–1945) “Études sur quelques textes sogdiens chrétiens”, in JA, 234, pp. 91–116. Brock, Sebastian P. (2003) “Some Diachronic Features of Classical Syriac”, in Martin F.J. Baasten and Wido Th. van Peursen (eds.) Hamlet on a Hill: Semitic and Greek Studies Presented to Professor T. Muraoka on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday, Leuven – Paris – Dudley, MA, pp. 95–111. Brooks, Ernest Walter (1925) “Acts of S. George”, in Le Muséon, 38, pp. 67–115. Browne, Gerald M. (1998) The Old Nubian Martyrdom of Saint George, Lovanii. Budge, Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis (1888) The Martyrdom and Miracles of Saint George of Cappadocia. The Coptic Texts edited with an English Translation, London. Budge, Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis (1930) The History of George of Lydda the Patron Saint of England: A Study of the Cultus of St. George in Ethiopia, London. Butts, Aaron M. (2020) “From Syriac to Arabic to Ethiopic: Loci of Change in Transmission”, in R.B. Finazzi, F. Forte, C. Milani and M. Moriggi (eds.) Circolazione di testi e superamento delle barriere linguistiche e culturali nelle tradizioni orientali, Milano, pp. 21–57. Cumont, Franz (1936) “La plus ancienne légende de Saint Georges”, in Revue de l’Histoire des Réligions, 114, pp. 5–51. Delehaye, Hippolyte (1909) Les légendes grecques des saints militaires, Paris. Delehaye, Hippolyte (1955) Les légendes hagiographiques, 4e éd., Bruxelles. Dickens, Mark (2013) “The Importance of the Psalter at Turfan”, in Li Tang and Dietmar W. Winkler (eds.) From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores. Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia, Berlin, pp. 357-380. Fehrle, Eugen (1912) “Antiker Hagelzauber. Ein Kapitel der Geoponiker”, in Alemannia, 40, pp. 13–27. Gershevitch, Ilya (1946) “On the Sogdian St. George Passion”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 78, pp. 179–184. Guidi, Ignazio (1892) “Bemerkungen zum ersten Bande der syrischen Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 46, pp. 744–758. Hansen, Olaf (1941) Bruchstücke einer soghdischen Version der Georgspassion (C1), Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Jahrgang 1941 Philosophisch-historische Klasse, Berlin. Haubrichs, Wolfgang (1979) Georgslied und Georgslegende im frühen Mittelalter. Text und Rekonstruktion, Königstein/Ts. Haubrichs, Wolfgang (1995) “Zur Rezeption der Georgslegende und des althochdeutschen Georgsliedes”, in Annegret Fiebig – Hans-Jochen Schiewer (eds.) Deutsche Literatur und Sprache von 1050–1200, Festschrift für Ursula Hennig zum 65. Geburtstag, Berlin, 71–92.

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Hunter, Erica C.D. (2012) “Syriac, Sogdian and Old Uyghur Mss from Bulayïq”, in The History behind the Languages: Essays of Turfan Forum on Old Languages of the Silk Road 语言 背后的历史—西域古典语言学高峰论坛论文集，Academia Turfanica 吐鲁番学研究 院, Shanghai. Hunter, Erica C.D. – Dickens, Mark (2014) Syrische Handschriften. Teil 2: Texte der Berliner Turfansammlung = Syriac texts from the Berlin Turfan collection, Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, Band V, 2. Stuttgart. Kósa, Gábor (2014–2015) “The Fifth Buddha: An overview of the Chinese Manichaean Material from Xiapu (Fujian) ”, in Manichaean Studies Newsletter, 29, pp. 1–20. Krumbacher, Karl (1911) Der heilige Georg in der griechischen Überlieferung, München. Lin, Lijuan (2020) “The First Round of Tortures in the Legend of St. George: Remarks on the Turfan Syriac Fragments SyrHT 359 and SyrHT 360”, in Oriens Christianus 103, pp. 115– 143. Lin, Wushu (2015) “An Interpretation of the Catholic Hymns of the Yuan Dynasty from Xiapu, Fujian: with the Study of the Nestorian Incantation Jisi zhou 福建霞浦抄本元代天主教赞 诗辨释—附：霞浦抄本景教《吉思呪》考略”, in The Western Regions Studies 西域 研究, 4, pp. 115–134. Ma, Xiaohe (2015a) “On the Date of the Ritual Manual for the Celebration of the Birthday of the Ancestor of Promoting Well-being from Xiapu”, in Open Theology, 1, pp. 455–477. Ma, Xiaohe (2015b) “Remains of the Religion of Light in Xiapu ( 霞浦) County, Fujian Province”, in Siegfried G. Richter – Charles Horton – Klaus Ohlhafer (eds.) Mani in Dublin: Selected Papers from the Seventh International Conference of the International Association of Manichaean Studies in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 8–12 September 2009, Leiden, pp. 228–258. Ma, Xiaohe (2017) “A Chinese Summary of the Martyrdom of St. George”, in Eurasian Studies, 5, pp. 457–489. Ma, Xiaohe – Wang, Chuan (2018) “On the Xiapu Ritual Manual Mani the Buddha of Light”, in Religions, 9, 212, pp. 1–40. Maróth, Miklós (1991) “Eine unbekannte Version der Georgios-Legende aus Turfan”, in Altorientalische Forschungen, 18, pp. 86–108. Matzke, John E. (1902–1903) “Contributions to the History of the Legend of Saint George, with Special Reference to the Sources of the French, German, and Anglo-Saxon Metrical Versions”, in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, 17, pp. 464– 535; 18, pp. 99–171. McCartney, Eugene S. (1934a) “Greek and Roman Weather Lore of Two Destructive Agents, Hail and Drought”, in The Classical Weekly 28(1), pp. 1–7. McCartney, Eugene S. (1934b) “Greek and Roman Weather Lore of Two Destructive Agents, Hail and Drought (Concluded)”, in The Classical Weekly 28(4), pp. 25–31. Saint-Laurent, Jeanne-Nicole Mellon et al. (2015) “George the Martyr, Anthony the General, and Alexandra the Queen (text) — ‫” ܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ ܘܐܢܛܘܢܝܢܘܣ ܐܣܛܪܛܠܛܝܣ ܘܐܠܟܣܢܕܪܐ ܡܠܟܬܐ‬ in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca Electronica last modified November 5, 2015, http://syriaca.org/work/249. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2018) “A Newly Identified Sogdian Fragment from the Legend of Saint George”, in DABIR: The Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review, 6, pp. 110– 115.

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Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2019) From Liturgy to Pharmacology: Christian Sogdian texts from the Turfan Collection, with contributions by J.F. Coakley, Dieter Maue and Adrian Pirtea, Turnhout. Takahashi, Hidemi (2021) “Representation of the Syriac Language in Jingjiao and Yelikewen Documents”, in Samuel N.C. Lieu – Glen L. Thompson (eds.) The Church of the East in Central Asia and China, Turnhout, pp. 23–92. Wang, Ding (2018) “The New Discoveries of the Xiapu and Pingnan Texts and Their Relationship to Manichaeism 摩尼教与霞浦文书、屏南文书的新发现”, in Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Social Science Edition) 中山大学学报（社会科学版）58, no. 275, 2018/5, pp. 113–128. Wang, Yuanyuan – Lin, Wushu (2018) “Discovery of an Incantation of St. George in Ritual Manuscripts of a Chinese Folk Society”, in Monumenta Serica. Journal of Oriental Studies, 66(1), pp. 115–130. Weber, Claudia (2002) “Wenn sie meinen Namen anrufen ...”, in Karl H. W. Gantke – Wassilios Klein (eds.) Religionsbegegnung und Kulturaustausch in Asien. Studien zum Gedenken an Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, Studies in Oriental Religions, 49, Wiesbaden, pp. 218–225. Zarncke, Friedrich (1875) “Über den althochdeutschen Gesang vom heiligen Georg”, in Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Königlichen Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften Leipzig, phil.-hist. Classe, 27, pp. 256–277.

The Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Marian Traditions between the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia ADRIAN C. PIRTEA Summary – A fragmentary Christian Sogdian version of the Six Books on the Dormition of Mary from Turfan has recently come to light, but the place of this narrative within the larger context of Eastern Christian Marian literature has not yet been studied in detail. One distinguishing trait of the Sogdian fragment is the topographic shift in the discovery story which prefaces most versions of the Six Books. Whereas according to the Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions two monks from Sinai discover the “Book of Mary” at the tomb of St. John in Ephesus, the Sogdian text uniquely locates the book in the city of Constantinople. To explain this consequential change, this chapter will first reconstruct the historical and theological context of the earliest Syriac manuscripts containing the preface. These manuscripts date to the early 6th century and probably originate in an anti-Chalcedonian milieu in northern Syria. It will then be argued that the original Syriac version underwent a Melkite Syriac reworking in ca. 8th-century Syria or Palestine that involved a turn towards the Byzantine capital as the new symbolic center of Christian devotion to Mary. The last part of the study will discuss how this (now lost) Melkite Syriac narrative may have reached the Christian communities of Central Asia where it was translated into Sogdian. INTRODUCTION Until recently, the existence of Sogdian texts related to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary was completely unknown. 1 Nicholas Sims-Williams identified 1

For an overview of Patristic and apocryphal sources on the Dormition and Assumption of Mary, see CANT 100–177, van Esbroeck (1981), Mimouni (1994), Mimouni (1995: 75– 352), Shoemaker (2002: 9–77, 419–428). Scholarly interest in Byzantine Mariology has increased significantly over the last decades, see e.g., Limberis (1994), Peltomaa (2001), Constas (2003), Vassilaki (2000), Vassilaki (2005), Brubaker – Cunningham (2011), Peltomaa – Külzer – Allen (2015), Arentzen – Cunningham (2019). On the Dormition and

280

Adrian C. Pirtea

the first fragment of a Christian Sogdian Dormition narrative (So1) in 2012 and published an edition and English translation two years later. The fragment E30/1–2 (n220), now in Berlin, is a small bifolio from a 10th- or 11th-century codex (E30, formerly C44) which also contained a Sogdian translation of the Wisdom of Aḥiqar (E30/3–6). The remains of this pocket-size codex (ca. 152 × 70 mm) were among the thousands of manuscript fragments brought to Berlin by the second Prussian Turfan Expedition (1904–1905), but they remained unpublished and unidentified for over a century. 2 Sims-Williams later edited four other fragments (So 12600, 20222b, 20223, 20227) of a second Sogdian story on the Dormition (So2), also discovered in Turfan. 3 Both Sogdian versions ultimately derive from an early Marian apocryphon preserved in a large number of Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic manuscripts, known as the Six Books on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Libri VI de Dormitione B. V. Mariae, henceforth Six Books). 4 These Sogdian fragments provide first-hand evidence for the circulation of early Christian traditions on Mary’s Dormition and Assumption in the Turfan area and, more broadly, in Iranianate Central Asia. The only clear indication of such a reception so far, aside from a stray Syriac liturgical fragment, 5 was the Melkite calendar of Khwārezm described by Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (c. 973–1048) at the beginning of the 11th century. AlBīrūnī’s calendar includes an entry on the Dormition of Mary (Ar. wafāt maryam) for 15 August, which confirms the observance of this feast by the Melkites of that region.6 Conversely, the Church of the East in this period only

2

3 4 5 6

Assumption in particular, see Jugie (1944), Wenger (1955), van Esbroeck (1995), Mimouni (1995), Mimouni – Voicu (2003), Mimouni (2011), Kateusz (2019) and the studies of Stephen Shoemaker, esp. Shoemaker (2002), Shoemaker (2006a), Shoemaker (2008a), Shoemaker (2011a), Shoemaker (2015), Shoemaker (2016a). The manuscript is described in Sims-Williams (2012: 169–171). For the edition and English translation, see Sims-Williams (2014: 125–133). The Sogdian translation of the Wisdom of Aḥiqar in E30, which also differs from all the known Syriac versions, is edited in SimsWilliams (2014: 107–124). Sims-Williams (2019: 145–154). For a list of this group of Christian Sogdian manuscripts see Reck (2017: 59–60). BHO 620–625, 626–630, CANT 123–124 and 140. The small liturgical fragment SyrHT 356 mentions Mary’s departure, but its contents do not match the printed East Syriac Hudra; see Hunter – Dickens (2014: 318–319). Al-Bīrūnī, Kitāb al-āthār al-bāqiya ʿan al-qurūn al-khāliya, Ch. 15, ed. Sachau (1878: 288–302, here 300), Engl. tr. Sachau (1879: 282–298, here 297), Arabic text and French

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 281

celebrated the ancient commemoration (Syr. duḵrānā) of the Virgin on the Friday after Nativity. Thus, at a first glance, the presence of these two Dormition narratives in Turfan – whose Christian community was overwhelmingly (if not exclusively) East Syriac – may represent the earliest reception of Dormition apocrypha and their associated liturgical commemorations in the Church of the East. However, as I will argue in detail below, at least the first Sogdian version (So1) is more likely to derive from a Melkite (Syriac Chalcedonian) rather than East Syriac context. 7 Translated from a lost (or yet unidentified) Syriac Vorlage (*S6), 8 the Sogdian version So1 attests to an otherwise unknown adaptation of the Six Books. Unlike the extant Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions, So1 and its model *S6 contain a significant change in the frame story which prefaces the actual Dormition narrative in Book I. This preface narrates the miraculous discovery of the book of Mary’s Dormition which the apostles had written down after the event and was subsequently lost. While all other versions place the discovery of the book at the tomb of St. John the Evangelist in Ephesus, the Sogdian fragment explicitly locates the book in the city of Constantinople. This raises important questions not only about the transmission of Marian apocrypha in Syriac and Sogdian, but also about the overall historical and literary development of the Dormition traditions in the Christian East. Although the fragmentary state of the Sogdian manuscript precludes any definitive conclusions regarding the original context of this narrative and its intentions, my aim here is to reconstruct, to the extent possible, the history of this unique witness to the Six Books apocryphon. I will begin by discussing the early manuscript tradition of the Syriac Six Books and the two extant recensions of the preface. Based on a hitherto overlooked chronological detail in the earliest palimpsests, it is possible to date the longer recension of the preface to ca. 503–518 CE. This date, together with other elements in the narrative (the Sinaitic setting, the eschatological and liturgical concerns), likely places the author of this recension in the Syriac-speaking milieux of northern Syria which at the time were overwhelmingly anti-Chalcedonian. In the second section, I will argue that the shift from

7 8

translation Griveau (1914: 293–312, here 310). On al-Bīrūnī’s Melkite calendar, see Galadza (2010); Galadza (2018: 83–84, passim) and the discussion below. I hope to discuss the fragmentary version So2 and its relationship to the Syriac Six Books in a future study. This siglum continues the numbering system of Dormition apocrypha proposed by van Esbroeck (1981). The asterisk indicates that the work is a hypothetical (lost) source of So1.

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Ephesus to Constantinople as the alleged place of the book’s discovery – attested only in *S6/So1 – can plausibly be linked to the reception of the Constantinopolitan cult of the Virgin in Syria-Palestine during the Early Islamic period (ca. 8th century CE). Drawing on contemporary homiletic and liturgical sources, I propose that the pro-Constantinopolitan revision of the preface in *S6 was carried out in a Syriac Melkite environment in which the Six Books and its Marian liturgical cycle gradually gained currency. Finally, although the context of the Sogdian translation So1 is perhaps the most difficult to reconstruct, the extant evidence suggests that the Sogdian reception of the Six Books was enabled by the ongoing contacts and exchanges between the Melkite communities of Antioch, Baghdad and Central Asia. 1. THE SYRIAC VERSION OF THE SIX BOOKS 1.1.

THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION OF THE SIX BOOKS

According to Michel van Esbroeck’s classification of the early Dormition narratives, the Syriac Six Books belong to the large group of the “Bethlehem type”. 9 The Syriac Six Books are probably an expanded translation of a lost Greek prototype which was also the source of some early Byzantine Dormition accounts, such as the popular Transitus of Ps.-John, and of various translations and adaptations in Greek, Latin, Armenian, Arabic, Georgian and Ethiopic. 10 Fragments of the Syriac Six Books are already attested in a handful of early palimpsests, while the complete work is found in numerous West and

9 10

See van Esbroeck (1981), Shoemaker (2002: 9–77), cf. Mimouni (1995: 43–73), who proposes a somewhat different division of the sources. The Syriac Six Books are ‘expanded’ in the sense that some elements in the narrative, such as the Syriac Doctrina Addai and the Legend of the Cross, were probably added when the text was translated into Syriac. The Greek Transitus (BHG 1055–1056, CANT 101), which is apparently an abbreviated version of the presumed Urtext, was edited by Constantin Tischendorf (1866: 95–112) on the basis of five manuscripts. However, the work is preserved in over a hundred Greek manuscripts and is extant in Georgian, Arabic, Latin and Church Slavonic translations, see Shoemaker (2002: 51), Shoemaker (2016a: 130–131).

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East Syriac manuscripts. 11 The Six Books were translated from Syriac into Arabic and later from Arabic into Ethiopic. 12 A curious feature of the Six Books is the preface describing the miraculous discovery of the “book of Lady Mary” by a group of monks from Mt. Sinai. This preface is almost certainly an original Syriac composition, as there are no traces of similar stories in Greek or in any other versions that are not dependent on the Syriac preface. This suggests that the preface was composed later than the presumed Greek Urtext of the apocryphon, probably as an attempt to justify the ‘sudden’ appearance of a long and detailed Dormition narrative. 13 However, the integration of this frame story into the Syriac Six Books must have occurred at an early stage, possibly at the same time as the initial Syriac translation. This is evident from the fact that, with a few exceptions, the inventio story is an integral part of Book I. Moreover, all 6th-century Syriac witnesses of the Six Books listed below already contain(ed) the preface: A C G

11 12 13

14 15

16

London, British Library, Add. 14,484, fols. 16v–45r; 14 Cambridge, University Library, Or. 1287, scriptio inferior; 15 Sinai, N.F. Syr. M26N + Sp. 78 + Göttingen, Univ.Bibl., Syr. 10; 16

Lists of later manuscripts are found in Mimouni (1995: 91, n. 64), Naffah (2009), AriñoDurand (2014: 8–67). For an overview of the Six Books apocryphon and its teachings, see van Esbroeck (1981: 273–276), Shoemaker (2002: 46–57), Shoemaker (2016a: 130–165), Kateusz (2019). See Shoemaker (2002: 53–55), Shoemaker (2016a: 135–136). In some manuscripts the preface features as a separate text. This is the case with the Syriac version in Damascus, Syriac-Orthodox Patriarchate, ms. syr. 361 (twelfth cent.) and the Ethiopic translation of the Six Books. I thank Stephen Shoemaker and John Lamoreaux for this information. Ed. Wright (1865). Ed. Lewis (1902). Lewis used a modern copy of the Six Books (now Harvard, Houghton Library, syr. 39) to fill in the gaps in the palimpsest; see Mimouni (1995: 101–102), Shoemaker (2002: 49), Brock – Kessel (2017: 115). See Desreumaux (2009), Géhin (2017a: 171), Brock – Kessel (2017: 115–116). The preface is found in Göttingen, syr. 10, fol. 6rb–8ra as part of Book I. This manuscript, which is currently being edited by Cornelia Horn, contains a complete Vita of the Virgin consisting of the Protevangelium of James, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and the Six Books. The manuscript is also considered by Stephen Shoemaker in his forthcoming critical edition of the Syriac Six Books. I thank Cornelia Horn and the staff of the University Library in Göttingen for helping me access this manuscript. I am also grateful to Stephen Shoemaker for sharing his draft edition of the Six Books with me.

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S588 Sinai, Arabic 588, scriptio inferior; 17 S514 Sinai, Arabic 514 + Schøyen 597, scriptio inferior; 18 S30 Sinai, Syr. 30, scriptio inferior. 19 Aside from these early witnesses, a few later Syriac manuscripts also preserve the preface, notably Damascus, Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate, ms. 361 (formerly Damascus 12/17, siglum D), a 12th-century manuscript that transmits a separate and slightly different version of the account. 20 On the other hand, the preface is not always found in later West Syriac manuscripts and is absent from the East Syriac tradition. 21 The Christian Arabic translation of the Six Books usually contains the preface, 22 beginning with a late ninth- or early 10th-century Arabic codex from Sinai (M). 23 Some later elaborations on the 17

18

19 20 21

22

23

Grigory Kessel is currently preparing an edition of this palimpsest, which also contains some fragments of the preface (personal communication, 12.6.2020). For a detailed description of S588, see the Research Site of the Sinai Palimpsests Project (URL: sinai.library.ucla.edu, last visited: 15.3.2021). See below, Appendix. Ed. Shoemaker (2011b), Brock – Kessel (2017: 136–152). Although the episode narrating the actual discovery is not extant, the preserved parts from Book I in this palimpsest indicate that it initially also contained the preface. Ed. Brock – Kessel (2017: 120–135). I thank Fr. Roger Akhrass and the library staff of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate for granting me access to a digital copy of this manuscript. Among the later West Syriac manuscripts that still contain the preface are Paris, BNF, syriaque 196 (1417 CE), Harvard, syr. 39 (1857 CE, see above n. 15), Charfet, Rahmani 60 (nineteenth cent.), and Vatican, Borg. syr. 128 (1720 CE); see Naffah (2009: 165). The preface is also extant in the West Syriac manuscript that served as model for the edition of Çiçek (2001). For the East Syriac tradition, see Ariño-Durand (2014: 14–18). The only modern edition of the Arabic version (Enger [1854]) is based on a late manuscript (Bonn, Universitätsbibl., or. 29, copied in 1801 CE). Georg Graf (1944: 249–251) lists several other manuscripts, both in Arabic and Garshuni, which contain the Six Books. However, the exact relationship between these manuscripts still needs to be determined. As Alexander Treiger notes (personal communication, 19.1.2021), Enger’s text is based on the Antiochian Menologion (more on which below), while the oldest Sinaitic manuscripts reflect an earlier Arabic version of the Six Books (see next footnote). Ms. Bryn Mawr College, BV 69 + Birmingham, Mingana Collection, Chr. Arab. 94 + Mingana Add. Arab. 130, 148, 149 + Leiden, University Library, Or. 14238. For a history of this manuscript, see Burke (2017), Burke (2019). I thank Tony Burke and Marianne Hansen for helping me obtain digital images of the Bryn Mawr codex. The manuscript can now be consulted online, as part of the Manuscripts of the Muslim World project (University of Pennsylvania), URL: openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0003/html/bv_069.html (last visited: 15.3.2021). On the scribe of ms. M, Thomas of Fusṭāṭ, see Tarras (2019). An

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Arabic Six Books, including the preface, can be found in the Copto-Arabic homiletic material. 24 Finally, the inventio story is also extant in some Ethiopic manuscripts of the Six Books, where it features as a separate text. 25 There are already notable differences between the various early witnesses, which indicates a dynamic transmission history that involved multiple revisions of the text. While the precise relationship between these early manuscripts (not to mention the later Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions) will only be clarified once the critical edition of the Six Books is published, my preliminary study of the preface has led to the following results, on which I will base my subsequent observations: -

Manuscripts A and G, the only 6th-century witnesses to preserve a complete text, contain a shorter recension of the preface (SyPr1); By contrast, the four palimpsests C, S588, S30 and S514, although extremely fragmentary, clearly represent a longer recension of the same text (SyPr2), as they all contain a series of passages absent in SyPr1. 26

Although at this stage it is difficult to say if the additional passages in SyPr2 are interpolated or were originally part of the preface and were later omitted in SyPr1, they provide essential details that allow for a more precise dating of the longer recension and a better understanding of its origins. This will in turn prove helpful for properly situating the revised version *S6 in its historical context.

24

25 26

even earlier fragment is found in Paris, BnF, Arabe 6725 (ca. ninth cent.), fol. 2 (I thank Alexander Treiger for this information). For example, the homily AB2 (= CANT 143, AB4 according to Mimouni’s numbering) contains an intriguing adaptation of the preface in which Cyril of Alexandria (who replaces Cyrus of Jerusalem mentioned in the story) offers a first-person account of the discovery of the book. See van Lantschoot (1946: 508), Mimouni (1995: 222–224). Editions of the text are found in Ḥunayn (1902: 143–168) and González Casado (2002). E.g., in British Library, ms. Or. 604, copied in 1716 CE (O). See Budge (1932: 143–151). The most important two passages are discussed below. Even though S514 does not contain the inventio story proper, the preceding paragraphs of the preface usually follow the longer text of C as opposed to the shorter text in A; see Shoemaker (2011b: 263–265, 271 n. 29, 272 n.31, 273 n. 33, 275 n. 35).

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1.2.

THE FRAME STORY (“PREFACE”) ON THE DISCOVERY OF THE SIX BOOKS

The main outline of the story is the same in both recensions and can be summarized as follows: 27 Three monks from Sinai, the priests David and John and the deacon Philip, are concerned because they do not know anything about the end of Mary’s life. They write a letter to bishop Cyrus (QWRʾ) of Jerusalem, asking him about the “book of my Lady Mary”, which they assume must be in the Holy City. Searching for the book, Cyrus finds an autograph letter of James, the first bishop of Jerusalem. In this letter, James testifies that after Mary’s Dormition on Christmas Day in the year 345 (Seleucid Era), 28 the twelve apostles wrote six books concerning that event. James’ letter also states that the apostle John was given custody of the book and that Peter and Paul knew the book’s location. Cyrus informs the monks about these findings and asks them to continue their search in Rome (i.e., the resting place of Peter and Paul) and Ephesus (i.e., the resting place of John). The monks write letters to Rome and Alexandria and make inquiries about the six books in other places. Eventually, they send two monks to the “house of John” in Ephesus (the basilica of St. John). Upon reaching Ephesus, the apostle appears to the monks in a vision and reveals the book’s precise location. John instructs the monks to take the book to Sinai and to institute a triannual commemoration of the Virgin Mary: “John has sent you this book so that there may be a commemoration of my Lady Mary three times in the year, because, if mankind celebrates her memory, they shall be delivered from wrath” (italics mine, AP). 29 The two men enter the basilica and find the book exactly on the spot from where “the grace (Syr. ḥnānā) of Mar John flows”. 30 We are further told 27

28

29 30

See Wright (1865: h–ḥ [5–8], 131–133); Lewis (1902: kz–lg [27–33], 15–19); G (Göttingen Syr. 10), fols. 6ra–8ra; S30, fol. 151r–v (ed. Brock – Kessel [2017: 121–124]); S588, fol. 63r–v, 64r–v; D, fols. 225vc–226va; Çiçek (2001: 56–60); Arabic: M, fols. 6v–10v; Enger (1854: 10–17); Ethiopic: O, fols. 50–53; Budge (1932: 143–151). This corresponds to either 25 December 33 or 6 January 34 CE, depending on which Christmas date the manuscripts take as reference. Ms. D reads 375 AG, i.e., 63/64 CE (fol. 226r). On the celebration of the Nativity and Epiphany in Jerusalem, see Galadza (2018: 238–244). Wright (1865: 132, z–ḥ [7–8]). Wright (1865: 133, ḥ [8]), Lewis (1902: lb [32], 18–19). This “spot” or “opening” is almost certainly identical to the air duct which connected the altar of St. John’s basilica with an underground chamber from where the healing dust (“mannah”) was miraculously stirred every year on the apostle’s feast day (8 May); see Pülz (2010). The use of ḥnānā in this

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that the book was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and that the monks had the book translated into Syriac. The book eventually reaches Sinai and a copy is sent to Jerusalem. The preface ends with a eulogy. The longer recension SyPr2, as well as a few West Syriac manuscripts and the Arabic and Ethiopic translations, contain a series of additional details. 31 For example, before citing the autograph letter of James, SyPr2 mentions another letter discovered by Cyrus in Jerusalem, penned by a deacon ordained by James himself. 32 The deacon’s letter offers a brief account of James’ martyrdom at the hands of a Jewish fuller in Jerusalem “in the month of Ḥazīrān 336” (= June 25 CE), which is probably a mistake for 346 (= June 35 CE). 33 Either way, this date does not correspond to any of the traditional dates of James’ martyrdom. It rather seems to depend on the equally unusual early date of Mary’s Dormition proposed in the Six Books (25 December 33 or 6 January 34 CE), the implication being that the “book of Mary” and James’ letter were both written in the short period between January 34 and June 35 CE, i.e., immediately after the events they describe. 34

31

32

33

34

context also resembles the later use of the term to refer to a mixture of dust from saints’ tombs and blessed oil and/or water; see Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2010). I thank Sergey Minov for this reference. S30 contains the account on the martyrdom of James, which is characteristic of SyPr2; see Brock – Kessel (2017: 120). The manuscript Paris, BNF, syr. 196, fol. 406r contains an extract from SyPr2 which begins with the apparition of Mary to John in Ephesus. The manuscript used by Yulius Çiçek also belongs to this group (see below, Appendix). Lewis (1902: kṭ [29], 16). The name of this deacon is unclear. Ms. C reads DNṬN (or DYṬN?), while Houghton syr. 39 reads ʾNṬWN. The Arabic version in M clearly did not understand this name, since it merely states that the document contained “the name of a native of Jerusalem (‫ ”)اﺳﻢ رﺟﻞ ﻣﻦ اھﻞ ﺑﯿﺖ اﻟﻤﻘﺪس‬who had reported on the martyrdom of James (fols. 7v–8r). Lewis (1902: kṭ [29], 16–17), Brock – Kessel (2017: 120). The year 336 AG (25 CE) is obviously impossible, as it would place James’ martyrdom before the dormition of Mary, not to mention the Crucifixion. The correct year 346 is found in the later West Syriac manuscripts and in the edition published by Yulius Çiçek (2001: 57), see Brock – Kessel (2017: 121). M (fol. 8r) and the Ethiopic version (O, fol. 51v, Budge [1932: 147]) read “Ḥazīrān 345”, but regard this as the date when the “book of Lady Mary” was finished. For other chronological incongruities in the manuscript tradition, see Appendix. On the martyrdom of James, see CANT 274–276, Pratscher (1987: 229–260), BrossardDandré (2002), Rose (2009: 132–135). The fuller (Syr. qaṣṣārā, Gr. γναφεύς) in SyPr2 (not ‘captain’, cf. Lewis [1902: 17]) also appears in Hegesippus’ Greek martyrdom account quoted in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastic History (II.23.18, ed. Schwartz – Mommsen [21999: 170.18–20]).

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Another important and hitherto overlooked detail in SyPr2 is inserted immediately after the letter sent by the Sinaite monks to Jerusalem. Here, SyPr2 recounts another episode that begins with a precise chronological indication. The text states that “in the year 809, in the month of Kānūn I, on the day of Christ’s Nativity”, Lady Mary appeared to St. John in Ephesus (who, we are told, was still alive) 35 and informed him that some men from Mt. Sinai would soon visit him searching for the book of her repose. 36 This date corresponds to 25 December 497 CE (see Appendix). Thus, according to SyPr2, this day signifies the historical moment in which “the book of Lady Mary” resurfaced after being lost for almost five centuries. In her apparition to John, the Virgin says: “Give the book which you possess about my departure from this world to the men who are coming to you from Mount Sinai, because the day has arrived in which your Lord is coming from heaven” (italics mine, AP). 37 The Six Books themselves allude to this event. At the end of Book VI, Mary tells John to guard the book until she will ask him to reveal it once again during a period of severe calamities that will precede Christ’s Second Coming. 38 In other words, by placing the rediscovery of the book shortly after Christmas 497 CE, the author of SyPr2 not only provides a terminus post quem for the longer recension (which must have been written shortly thereafter), but he also implies that the period of tribulations anticipating the parousia was imminent. This date can hardly be a coincidence. According to the Biblical chronology elaborated by Julius Africanus (2nd–3rd century) and well known in the period, the end of the 5th century corresponded to the end of the sixth and final cosmic millennium. 39 Other calculations on cosmic chronology, such as the Alexandrian world era, also placed the arrival of the year 6000 Anno Mundi around 500 CE. 40 Accordingly, contemporary Greek and Syriac sources attest to an increase in apocalyptic expectations across the Eastern Mediterranean 35

36 37 38 39 40

Ms. C, Lewis (1902: kḥ [28]) is fragmentary at this point (Lewis read: ‫ ܟܕ ܚܝ‬... ‫“ ܐܪܥܐ‬earth … while alive”), but the parallel passage in Arabic and Ethiopic clearly states that “John was in the bosom of the earth, alive and not dead” (Ar. ‫ﻲ ﻟﻢ ﯾﻤﻮت‬ ّ ‫ )وﯾﺤﻨﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺑﻄﻦ اﻻرض ﺣ‬and was bestowing mercy unto the church of Ephesus (M, fol. 7r), cf. Budge (1932: 147). Lewis (1902: kḥ [28], 16). Lewis (1902: kḥ [28], 16), modified. Wright (1865: n [50], 159–160); Lewis (1902: qyd [114], 68–69), based on Harvard, syr. 39. This rests on the belief that the Incarnation occurred at the middle of the sixth millennium. According to the Alexandrian era, the year 6000 AM coincided with 507/8 CE.

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during the reign of Anastasius (491–516). 41 The Roman-Persian war of 502– 506, the post-Chalcedonian Christological crises and a series of natural disasters (droughts, famines, etc.) must have contributed to this atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty. 42 Against this background, SyPr2 reads as an attempt to present the Six Books as promoting the intercessory role of Mary and urging Christians to turn to her in prayer before the impending Last Judgment. When read through the lens of SyPr2, the triannual cycle of Marian feasts instituted in the book, which may reflect much older practices, 43 receives a distinct apocalyptic dimension and a historical urgency. More than a source of apostolic authority on the end of Mary’s life, the Six Books outline a liturgical program, with an equally apostolic pedigree, that is supposed to serve as a guide for the Christians living in the last days. Through the mediation of St. John in Ephesus and the monks of Mt. Sinai who recovered the book, Mary calls upon Christian believers to commemorate her three times a year, “so that they may be delivered from wrath”. The Virgin’s power of intercession thus extends not only to the protection of crops from droughts, locusts, etc. (which is undoubtedly a central aspect of the book), 44 but also to the redemption of sinners, as presented in the apocalyptic section at the end of the book. 45 41

42

43 44

45

On the importance of the year 500 in early Byzantine apocalyptic thought, see Brandes (1997), Magdalino (2007). For an overview of the Syriac sources, see Harvey (1988). Among the contemporary texts that link the end of the sixth millennium to the end of the world is the Tübingen Theosophy (§2–3, ed. Erbse [1995: 2]), which is also the earliest reference to a “[book on] the birth and assumption of our pure Lady, the Theotokos” (… γεννήσεως καὶ ἀναλήψεως τῆς ἀχράντου δεσποίνης ἡμῶν θεοτόκου, §4, Erbse [1995: 4]); see Beatrice (1996), Beatrice (2001: xxxviii–xl, 3–4), Shoemaker (2002: 28–29). For a comprehensive collection of contemporary sources on natural disasters in the period ca. 475–520, see Telelis (2004: 177–196) and Telelis (2008). I thank Grigori Simeonov for these references. The areas of Palestine and Syria (Edessa) seem to have been particularly affected by famines, droughts and other calamities (see below, n. 44). See Shoemaker (2007), Shoemaker (2016a: 145–163). For the region of Edessa, Ps.-Joshua the Stylite reports (i) a severe cold in the winter of 812–813 / 500–501 CE followed by an unusually rich harvest of dried grapes (summer 813/501), (ii) a second, milder winter beneficent for the “seed that was sown” (813–814 / 501–502), and (iii) a hot wind for May 814 / 502 that dried “all the corn of our land” (Chron. §45, Telelis [2004: 181–184]). It is hard not to remark the parallels with the agricultural emphasis of the Marian liturgical cycle in the Six Books, esp. at the end of Book IV (Wright [1865: 152–154], Lewis [1902: 59–62]). See, e.g., the following passage: “And Mary said to Christ: ‘Rabbuli, I beseech Thee, have mercy on the souls who call on Thee in my name’ […] and then there shall be a

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These and many other aspects of the preface and the Six Books certainly require further examination: the intertextual relationship with other apocrypha (Martyrdom of James, Acts of John, Doctrina Addai, Legend of the Cross), 46 the identity of the mysterious bishop Cyrus of Jerusalem, 47 the relationship between Mariology and apocalypticism, or the possible links to later Marian apocrypha and homilies, to mention only a few. To sum up, even though the core of the Dormition narrative in the Six Books goes back to older sources (4th–5th centuries), at least the longer recension of the preface SyPr2 can now be dated more precisely to the period not long after 25 December 497. 48 While the exact relationship between SyPr2 and SyPr1 will only be established with certainty through a detailed study of the entire textual tradition of the Six Books – something I cannot attempt here – the historical and theological context of the first two decades of the 6th century

46 47

48

commemoration of my bones; and men shall remember me with offerings and prayers. And whosoever shall call on the name of the mother of God shall be delivered from wrath” (Lewis [1902: 68–69]). On the intercession of Mary in the Syriac and Byzantine sources, see the collection of studies in Peltomaa – Külzer – Allen (2015), especially the contributions of Shoemaker (2015) and Horn (2015). See Shoemaker (2006b). The Syriac name QWRʾ usually corresponds to the Greek name Cyrus (Κύρος), see Martindale (1980: 336), Martindale (1992: 376). However, since there are no bishops of Jerusalem by that name, “Cyrus” is usually understood here to refer to the legendary bishop Judas Cyriacus, who was supposedly martyred under Julian the Apostate (361–363); see Drijvers (1992: 165–180), Pigoulewsky [Pigulevskaya] (1927–1928). Assuming that SyPr2 is the original recension, the ambiguity may also be a means to avoid naming the bishop of Jerusalem reigning at the time, i.e., Elias I (494–516). As a pro-Chalcedonian, Elias refused to reconcile with Severus of Antioch and was eventually deposed by Anastasius. If this is the case, then the avoidance of Elias’ name might be another hint at the anti-Chalcedonian or pro-Henotic allegiance of the author of SyPr2 (see below). On Elias’ career, see Diekamp (1899: 16–27), Perrone (1980: 141–173), Hainthaler (2013: 8–10, 69–72). Coincidentally or not, one famous contemporary bishop by this name was Cyrus of Edessa, who died precisely in the year of the book’s supposed rediscovery (497/8 CE). Replacing the name of Elias with a fictitious Cyrus of Jerusalem may have evoked, to an Edessan audience in particular, the positive and very recent memory of the anti-Chalcedonian Cyrus. Although this is admittedly speculative, it might be worth pursuing the possible polemical ‘subtext’ of the preface in the future. The priority of either recension cannot be established based solely on the estimated age of the oldest manuscripts. In any case, the year 497 mentioned in ms. C pushes the production of this manuscript into the early decades of the 6th century, which refines Lewis’ initial assessment (1902: x): “latter half of the 5th century; or at the latest … the beginning of the 6th" [century]”.

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certainly matches well with the agenda set out in SyPr2. This may suggest that SyPr2 was composed first and that once the apocalyptic expectations surrounding the year 6000 subsided, the precise date of the book’s reappearance was deemed no longer relevant. Consequently, it was either eliminated (as in SyPr1, if indeed it postdates SyPr2) or altered (as in other late redactions). 49 Furthermore, a closer look at the legendary Sinaitic setting of the book’s rediscovery and at the intended audience of SyPr2 (as far as it can be determined) may indicate that SyPr2 was composed in the Syriac-speaking Christian communities east of Antioch who were, to various degrees, opposed to the Council of Chalcedon. 50 This does not necessarily imply an antiChalcedonian origin of the Six Books themselves. 51 As Stephen Shoemaker rightly notes, the tone of the apocryphon, including its preface, is irenic throughout and rather disinterested in precise Christological definitions. 52 Nevertheless, the way in which SyPr2 frames the Dormition narrative and ties its discovery to specific symbolic coordinates (Sinai, Jerusalem, Ephesus) may betray a concern to make the Six Books attractive to a Syriac-speaking pro-Henotic (or moderately anti-Chalcedonian) audience. It would thus appear that the main aim of the preface was to resolve local debates and discussions on the Virgin’s cult in northern Syria by appealing to the authority of the Six Books, rather than to use the apocryphon as a tool in the Christological controversies sparked by the Council of Chalcedon. 1.3. THE SINAITIC SETTING OF THE BOOK’S REDISCOVERY Despite its legendary and miraculous tone, the account in the preface is not devoid of historical interest. For example, both SyPr1 and SyPr2 describe the three monks David, John and Philip as serving at the church of the Burning Bush, but SyPr2 adds that they had authority over the “320 monastic cells” 49

50 51

52

As shown in the Appendix below, the later West Syriac tradition and the Arabic and Ethiopic versions ‘backdate’ the apparition of the Virgin to John in Ephesus to before her Dormition, but this is clearly a secondary development. An overview of the various attitudes to Chalcedon after the Henotikon is offered in Grillmeier (1987: 247–288). For the scholarly debate surrounding the anti-Chalcedonian origin and agenda of the Six Books and of the Marian apocrypha in general, see Mimouni (1995), Mimouni (2011), Shoemaker (2002: 256–277). Shoemaker (2002: 278–279).

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(Syr. dayrāṯā) on the mountain. 53 The use of dayrā in this context is in accord with the Late Antique Greek and Latin terms for the monastic cells on Sinai (Gr. μοναστήρια, Lat. monasteria), indicating that “320” might be an approximation of a real number within the pre-Justinianic context on Mt. Sinai. 54 One may also recall that the Piacenza pilgrim (ca. 550–560) mentions three multilingual abbots or elders (Lat. tres abbates) in the newly-built monastery of Justinian. 55 Since a single abbot of the monastery is not attested before this period, the Piacenza pilgrim’s tres abbates and the three “blessed elders” in the Syriac preface might reflect the pre-Justinianic organizational structure of the Sinaitic community. Moreover, there is evidence of an early church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on Mt. Sinai, built either by Justinian (according to Procopius) or before him (according to Eutychius of Alexandria). 56 Eutychius adds that the older “church of Lady Mary” (Ar. kanīsat mārt maryam) was located in a fortified tower near the Burning Bush and served the local monastic community before Justinian’s foundation. 57 Although Eutychius’ use of the Syriac expression mārt maryam may reflect the linguistic situation on Sinai in his own time, it could also suggest a link between the pre-Justinianic church and the late antique Syriac community on the peninsula. 58 A Syriac presence on Sinai is attested since the mid-4th century when the Edessan ascetic Julian Saba visited Sinai on his way to Egypt. According to Ephrem the Syrian and Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Julian even built the first church near the summit of the mountain, indicating early connections between Edessan Christians and the first monastic settlements on Sinai. 59 Although it is impossible to prove any continuity between Julian’s foundation and the church of Mary mentioned by Eutychius, by the early 6th century Syriac had certainly become one of the main languages spoken in the thriving monastic community on the peninsula.

53 54 55

56 57 58 59

Lewis (1902: kz [27]). The terms are used in this sense in Egeria’s Itinerarium and in Marcian’s letter to the Sinaite monks, see Caner (2010: 222–223, 240). Anon. Placent., Itiner. 37, ed. Geyer (1965: 147–148), see Caner (2010: 257), Hainthaler (2013: 27). The Piacenza pilgrim also mentions (ibid.) that these elders were fluent in Latin, Greek, Syriac, Coptic and “Bessic” (Georgian?). See the discussion in Caner (2010: 277–279). Eutychius, Annals §252–253 (ed. Breydy [1985: 107–108]). See Mayerson (1978), Caner (2010: 277–282). Caner (2010: 203–210, 232–233), Brock (2003).

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This geographic focus on Sinai in the Syriac preface may reveal something about its author’s background. Before Mt. Sinai became steadfastly Chalcedonian during Justinian’s reign and especially after the imperial foundation in the mid-6th century, the ascetics on the peninsula seem to have been mostly opposed to Chalcedon. An early example of this opposition is Emperor Marcian’s letter to the monks of Sinai (453). In his letter, Marcian asked for the handover of Theodosius, Juvenal’s anti-Chalcedonian rival on the episcopal see of Jerusalem who had taken refuge on Sinai. 60 As late as the 510s, John Rufus could claim in his deeply partisan work, the Plerophoriae, that the holy fathers on Sinai were orthodox, i.e., anti-Chalcedonian. 61 Rufus’ account is obviously biased, but it does show that an inventio story set on the peninsula at the turn of the 6th century would still have appealed to a Syriac audience bearing anti-Chalcedonian sympathies. In the same period, Jacob of Serugh (d. 521) – a moderate critic of Chalcedon – wrote a letter to the monks on Sinai in which he expressed his high esteem for the ascetics residing on God’s mountain and drew a symbolic connection between Mt. Sinai, Golgotha and the Old and New covenants. 62 Finally, the insistence on Ephesus as the finding place of the Six Books is also significant, not only because of the Council of Ephesus (431) and the strong local cults of St. John and the Virgin, but also in light of the prevailing anti-Chalcedonian sentiment in the Asian metropolis at the turn of the 6th century. 63 60 61

62

63

Caner (2010: 237–241). John Rufus, Plerophoriae 30 (ed. Nau [1911: 72]). On John Rufus and antiChalcedonianism, see Steppa (2002), Horn – Phenix (2008: xviii–lviii). John’s account of Theodosius’ death is also highly relevant, since it insists on the symbolic and liturgical link between Theodosius and James, the first bishop of Jerusalem (Horn – Phenix [2008: 292– 295]). On the early history of Sinaitic monasticism, see Solzbacher (1989: 184–199), who argues for an exclusively pro-Chalcedonian presence on Sinai, at least since ca. 530. However, for the earlier decades Marcian’s letter and Rufus’ account indicate some degree of opposition to the Council, as Solzbacher himself acknowledges. See also Hainthaler (2013: 25). See Jacob of Serugh, Letter to the Monks of Sinai, ed. Olinder (1937: 34–37), Caner (2010: 242–245). On Jacob’s criticism of Chalcedon, see Bou Mansour (2013), Forness (2018: 134–156). Julian Saba, the founding figure of Syriac monasticism on Sinai, continued to be an important point of reference at the beginning of the 6th century, as illustrated by Jacob’s Memra on Julian Saba, on which see Griffith (1994). The Zuqnīn Chronicle mentions an anti-Chalcedonian bishop Theosebius of Ephesus for the years 502–503 and recounts his ‘providential’ death in 518–519, when he had been

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1.4. THE MILIEU AND INTENDED AUDIENCE OF SYPR2. A HYPOTHESIS Where was the preface SyPr2 composed and embedded in the Six Books? One obvious possibility is Mt. Sinai itself. Not only is the narration explicitly set there, but most of the ancient manuscripts of the Six Books preserved today come from St. Catherine’s Monastery. However, aside from the rather fortuitous preservation of the codices in a few Sinaitic palimpsests, there is no indication that the author of SyPr2 belonged to the monastic community on the peninsula. On the contrary, the description of Mt. Sinai at the beginning of the story seems to presuppose an author and an audience residing somewhere else. A more plausible milieu would be one of the Syriac-speaking urban centers in northern Syria. The historic ties between Edessa and Sinai since the time of Julian Saba would certainly have bolstered the credibility of an inventio story that involved the prestigious monastic center on the holy mountain. Jacob of Serugh’s Memrē on the Virgin Mary also indicate the growing importance of her cult in northern Syria and Mesopotamia in the same period. 64 Notably, the title of Jacob’s Memrā on the Dormition claims that it was delivered in the context of an inquiry (or debate, Syr. bʿāṯā) about Mary’s passing at a local synod in the Church of Mar Cyriacus in Nisibis. 65 This distinctly recalls the “concerns” that the three Sinaitic monks in the preface had on the same issue, suggesting that both the Six Books and Jacob’s homily were hoped to provide answers to questions on the cult of Mary that the Syriac churches considered important at the turn of the 6th century. 66 It may be added here that Peter the

64

65 66

summoned to Constantinople to acknowledge Chalcedon (Harrak [1999: 41, 50]). An Ephesian opposition to Chalcedon in this period, certainly fueled by the 28th Canon of Chalcedon (see below, n. 114), was also noted by the Papal legate Dioscorus (Viezure [2011: 564]). On a possible rivalry between Ephesus and Jerusalem regarding the cult of the Virgin, see Lourié (2007: 208–210), who draws attention to a tradition preserved in a 9th-century West Syriac manuscript (ed. van Esbroeck [1994]), according to which Mary accompanied John to Ephesus and passed away there. The origin of this isolated tradition is unknown, but Lourié argues for a 5th-century date, cf. however Mimouni (1995: 585– 597) and Shoemaker (2002: 74–76). See the translations in Hansbury (1998), Shoemaker (2002: 408–414). Cf. also Severus of Antioch’s two cathedral homilies (14, 67) on the Theotokos, delivered on the feast of Hypapante (2 February) in 513 and 515, in which Mary is called “the spiritual mountain of Sinai” and is likened to the Burning Bush (references in Allen [2015: 179–180]). Shoemaker (2002: 408). I could not find any further information on this local synod, but its terminus ante quem is given by Jacob’s death in 521 (see next footnote). The title of Jacob’s homily specifies that it was delivered on “Wednesday, 14 August”. This is not only helpful for narrowing down the possible years in which this could have occurred

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Fuller’s liturgical reforms in Antioch, which Cyrus of Edessa soon introduced in his city at the end of the 5th century, included the addition of prayers to the Theotokos in the liturgy. 67 The reports in Pseudo-Joshua’s Chronicle about the natural disasters and the Roman-Persian war that affected Edessa between 494 and 506 also provide a very suitable context for SyPr2 and the liturgical program outlined in the Six Books. Quite remarkably, on a few occasions, the chronicler links these disasters (and other bad omens) to a public pagan festival that Edessans still celebrated in mid-May, a custom that Pseudo-Joshua strongly condemns. 68 In this context, the institution of a cycle of Christian feasts devoted to the Virgin Mary, including one on 15 May dedicated to the protection of crops, would have provided the perfect opportunity to ‘baptize’ or supplant the older festival. 69 Finally, King Abgar’s cameo appearance in the Six Books would certainly have enhanced the apocryphon’s popularity in an Edessan milieu that took particular pride in its foundation story. To conclude this section, I would tentatively place the composition of SyPr2 in an Edessan environment in the first two decades of the 6th century, probably shortly after the natural disasters of 500–502 CE mentioned by Pseudo-Joshua. An approximate terminus ad quem is given by the early date of the palimpsests (certainly before 550) and, arguably, by the beginning of Justin I’s reign (518), which ended the Henotic phase of the pro- and antiChalcedonian reconciliation efforts. While the reference to the year 809 was soon forgotten, both recensions contributed to the gradual acceptance of the Six Books and its cycle of Marian feasts in the Syro-Orthodox Church. Thus, despite the initial unpolemical and non-confessional tone of the Six Books, the work later came to be associated with the Syriac Miaphysites, who were probably the first to adopt the Marian feasts in their liturgical calendars. As I will argue below, this eventually prompted a reaction by those Syriac Christian groups who, after having accepted Chalcedon, still revered the Six

67 68 69

(between 490 and 521, 14 August fell on a Wednesday in 491, 496, 502, 513 and 519 CE), but it also suggests that the dispute concerned the weekday on which the Virgin departed; see van Esbroeck (1987). See van Esbroeck (1999–2000). Ps-Joshua Stylite, Chronicle, § 27 (for the year 496 CE) and §30 (for 498 CE), ed. Wright (1882: 21–26), Trombley – Watt (2000: xvi–xvii, 24–29). A similar process can be observed in the apocryphal Acts of John and in the anonymous Arabic homily on the Feast of Roses and Grains on 12 May (van Esbroeck [2004]), in which the apostle Paul converts a pagan festival in Illyricum into a feast dedicated to the Theotokos.

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Books and intended to claim its authority for themselves. The response was the pro-Chalcedonian Syriac revision *S6, the remains of which are still extant in the Sogdian manuscript fragment from Turfan. Before attempting to establish the context of the Syriac revision, it will however be necessary to discuss the Sogdian version So1 in more detail. 2. THE SOGDIAN DORMITION NARRATIVE SO1 2.1. THE SOGDIAN PREFACE Although the Sogdian text of So1 is very fragmentary, the main outline of the preface and its account concerning the discovery of the “book of Mary” is still clearly recognizable. Moreover, the manuscript preserves sufficient text to indicate that the Sogdian account differs in a few key points from the Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions. Nicholas Sims-Williams’ English translation of the preface reads as follows (‘[…]’ indicate illegible parts of the manuscript): E30/1/R/1/ […] these holy monks to the city of Constantinople in the region of Rome (qw frwm qyrʾn qwstntynpwlys kθ sʾr), because Our Lord held John the younger the most dear of all disciples, that […] that very book of Mary (xwty mrymy pwsty) […] is sealed(?) (and) deposited.” When James the bishop sent a message in this manner to Mt Sinai, and when they read that message, the pure brethren were joyful(?), in great […] from […] amongst(?) them(?) a very holy brother monk […] and […] a message to the […] /Verso/ city of Constantinople (qwstntynpwlys kθ sʾr), to the catholicoses of the city and the bishops and presbyters and deacons and the other brother monks, all who were there, and moreover to other places which are under the jurisdiction(?) of Rome (qw frwmy pcmʾry xnt), which […] Simon the deacon: “Much divine peace! In love we make report to your excellencies that we have heard (concerning) that very book of Mary’s passing that it is in the city of Constantinople (xwty mrymy ftrʾmnty pwsty qt sty qw qwstntynpwlys kθy). By your excellence, make enquiry concerning that book […]” (italics mine, AP). 70

The fragment begins in the middle of a sentence which states that some “holy monks” (So. zprtcyq swgbʾrt) should be sent to “Constantinople in the region of Rome”, i.e., the Roman (Byzantine) Empire (So. qw frwm qyrʾn qwstntynpwlys kθ sʾr), because the book of Mary was deposited there. This first part appears to be the end of the letter that the bishop of Jerusalem, here

70

Sims-Williams (2014: 126–127).

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identified with James, 71 writes as a reply to the monks of Mt. Sinai. Upon receiving the message, the monks rejoice and decide to elect “a very holy brother monk” (So. šyr zprtcyq swgbʾr) to deliver a message to the clergy of Constantinople and to other places “which are under the reckoning (jurisdiction?) of Rome” (So. qy frwmy pcmʾry xnt). 72 Here, another new figure appears, the deacon Simon (So. šmγwn šmʾšʾy), who fulfills a different function than the deacons Philip and DYṬN/ʾNṬWN mentioned in the Syriac version. Simon’s role is to draft the letter of the Sinaitic community that the envoy is to deliver to the ecclesiastic hierarchy residing in Constantinople. At the beginning of this letter, we once again find the statement that “the very book of Mary’s passing” (So. xwty mrymy ftrʾmnty pwsty) 73 is in the city of Constantinople and that the city’s clergy should investigate the location of the book. Here the fragment breaks off. Despite being significantly shorter than the Syriac preface, So1 does contain some common elements with the other versions that make its relationship to the Six Books tradition evident, e.g., the correspondence between the monks from Sinai and the bishop of Jerusalem, the mention of the book of Mary in connection with “John, the beloved disciple”, or the search for the book initiated by the monks. However, an important change in the Sogdian narrative is the geographic emphasis on Constantinople. The letter discovered by the bishop of Jerusalem (R/1–8) seems to claim that the book of Mary is “sealed and deposited” in Constantinople. After the Sinaite monks receive this information, they prepare to dispatch a monk to the Byzantine capital (R/20–21–V/1) and draft a letter in which the location of the book is 71

72 73

Sims-Williams (2014: 130). One would expect the bishop Cyrus (QWRʾ) instead. It is unclear if this is a mistake caused by the mention of James elsewhere in the preface, or if the text really intends to set the discovery of the book during the lifetime of James. This is unlikely but not impossible, if we consider such texts as the Protonike Legend, which ‘backdates’ the discovery of the Cross, usually attributed to Empress Helena, to the 1st century CE; see Drijvers (1992), Drijvers (1997). On the Legend of the Cross embedded in the Six Books, see Shoemaker (2006b). Intriguingly, one Syriac manuscript and the Arabic version of the Six Books also ‘backdate’ the apparition of Mary to John to the 1st century CE (see Appendix). Does this perhaps indicate that So1 relied on such a version? See Sims-Williams (2014: 131). One would perhaps expect xwtyn mrymy pwsty “the book of Lady Mary” instead of xwty mrymy “that very book of Mary”, as in Syriac (Syr. kṯāḇā ḏ-mārt(y) maryam). Unfortunately, in both places where this expression occurs the Sogdian fragment is smudged, so that the correct reading (either xwty or xwtyn) is difficult to discern. I thank Nicholas Sims-Williams for his helpful remarks on this issue.

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once again, explicitly mentioned (V/15–19). By contrast, in the Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions of the preface the monks first make inquiries in Rome, Alexandria and other places, but ultimately locate the book in Ephesus. 74 Thus, the topographic shift in the Sogdian fragment is unambiguous: the “book of Mary’s passing” is no longer kept at the tomb of St. John in Ephesus, but in Constantinople (So. qwstntynpwlys), a name that is remarkably mentioned three times in this short fragment. There can be little doubt that this change is intentional, but the reasons behind it are not easy to determine, given the fragmentary nature of the manuscript. On the one hand, the relocation of the “book of Mary’s departure” to Constantinople may have been inspired by an episode related in Book III of the Six Books. Here, a governor whose son the Virgin had healed relates the miracles wrought by Mary to the people of (Old) Rome. The disciples of Peter and Paul residing in Rome hear these accounts, write them down, and then send a letter to the apostles in Jerusalem, asking them to bring the “book of Mary’s departure” with them to the imperial city. 75 However, nowhere in the Six Books do we find any hints that the book was indeed taken to Rome. While at one point a dispute arises between Peter, Paul and John on this matter, both the main text and the preface of the Six Books state that John ultimately brought the book with him to Ephesus. 76 Therefore, even if the mention of Rome in Book III may have suggested to the author of *S6 to transfer the book to the “New Rome”, this still does not explain his motives for doing so. Moreover, the explicit (re)location of the book to Constantinople is, to the best of my knowledge, nowhere else attested in other Marian apocryphal or homiletic material. Since the second extant passage from So1 (E30/2), which describes the moment of Mary’s final prayer and her Dormition and Assumption, also lacks a direct parallel in other sources, 77 the Sogdian text and its lost Syriac Vorlage *S6 must reflect an otherwise unknown adaptation of the Six Books. 78 Because the inventio story is an original Syriac composition, there is no reason to doubt that *S6 was also composed directly in Syriac, as a later revision of either SyPr1, SyPr2, or yet another unknown recension of the Syriac preface. Based on the text’s insistence on Constantinople and the clergy 74 75 76 77 78

Lewis (1902: lʾ–lg [31–33]); ms. M, fols. 9r–10v; O, fol. 52r–v; Budge (1932: 148–150). Lewis (1902: p–pb [80–82], 48–49); Wright (1865: lʾ–lb [31–32], 147). Lewis (1902: qg–qh [103–105], 62–63). Sims-Williams (2014: 125, 128–129). As proof of a Syriac Vorlage, Sims-Williams (2014: 132–133) rightly points to the presence of a few untranslated Syriac expressions in the Sogdian text.

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“residing there”, we can reasonably assume that the only Syriac Christian community with an interest in making such a shift in the narrative, especially after the time of Justinian, was Chalcedonian (Melkite). This hypothesis, which will be further explored below, already narrows down the possible temporal and spatial frame in which the revision could have been made. While Syriac Melkite translations and manuscripts continued to be produced until the later Middle Ages, Syriac Melkite literature flourished mostly during the 7th and 8th centuries before being increasingly replaced by Arabic in the 9th century. The main centers of Syriac Melkite culture and literature were western and northern Syria, although these communities maintained close ties to the monasteries of Palestine (Mar Saba), Antioch (the Black Mountain) and Mt. Sinai. 79 A careful comparison of *S6/So1 with other Marian homilies, apocrypha and liturgical sources from Syria-Palestine can further narrow down period of this pro-Constantinopolitan revision of the Six Books to ca. the 8th century. 2.2. THE LINK TO CONSTANTINOPLE – MARIAN RELICS AND THE DORMITION The obvious place to start a comparison between *S6/So1 and the corpus of Marian apocrypha is the larger group of Bethlehem narratives to which the initial Six Books belonged. However, among the ca. thirty texts that make up the Bethlehem group, no other version places the discovery of the “book of Mary’s repose” in Constantinople. Neither can one find substantial similarities between *S6/So1 and the other large groups of early Marian apocrypha, i.e., the “Palm” traditions and the Coptic material. In the vast corpus of early Christian writings on Mary’s Dormition, the only texts that explicitly show an interest in the Byzantine capital are the legends concerning Mary’s vestimentary relics and their transfer to the imperial city. It will nevertheless be useful to discuss these narratives, as they might offer some hints regarding the rising importance of Constantinople in the various traditions on Mary’s Dormition. Still absent in the earliest accounts, which gravitate exclusively around Jerusalem and/or Bethlehem, Constantinople slowly gained visibility in Marian apocryphal and homiletic literature once the local cult of the Virgin’s relics at the churches of Blachernai and Chalkoprateia developed. This gradual transformation of Constantinople into the “city of the Theotokos” began 79

Brock (2003), Brock (2011), with further bibliography.

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already in the 5th century and reached a first high point in the early 7th century in the context of the Persian-Avar siege of 626. 80 In contrast to Jerusalem, where the cult of Mary was intimately tied to the sacred topography of the city and its surroundings (Mary’s house, the tomb, the Kathisma, etc.), the Constantinopolitan cult focused primarily on the Marian relics transferred from the Holy Land to the city on the Bosporus. 81 Despite the confused and problematic early history of these relics, two major literary traditions describing the transfer of Mary’s garments to the church at Blachernai can be distinguished. 82 The older tradition, which probably emerged in the late 5th century, recounts how the two patricians Galbius and Candidus discovered the Virgin’s robe in the house of a Jewish woman in Palestine and, after successfully staging a heist, managed to bring the robe to Constantinople. The relic was deposited at Blachernai, where Emperor Leo I (r. 457–474) and Verina (d. 484) built a sanctuary for the Theotokos. 83 This story was initially unrelated to the Dormition narratives, but by the 10th century, at the latest, one finds versions of this story appended to Byzantine accounts of Mary’s departure. 84 By contrast, the second tradition concerning the origin of the Virgin’s vestments at Blachernai linked their discovery to Mary’s Dormition and bodily Assumption from the very outset. This group of texts employs the motif of the “late apostle” (often identified with St. Thomas), who arrives three days after Mary’s burial and, upon opening her tomb, discovers only the Virgin’s funeral wrappings and/or shroud. 85 Probably the earliest source to connect the burial garments discovered by the “late apostle” with the Marian relics in Constantinople is the so-called Euthymiac History, which is preserved as a 80

81 82

83 84

85

See Cameron (1979), Mango (2000), Peltomaa (2001), Peltomaa (2003–2008), Hurbanič (2019). On the early Constantinopolitan cult of the Virgin, see also Limberis (1994), Fassler (2001), Constas (2003), Cameron (2004). See Jugie (1944: 688–707), Wenger (1955: 111–139), Baynes (1960: 240–260), Wortley (2005), Shoemaker (2008b). I will not discuss here the traditions related to the Virgin’s cincture (or girdle, gr. ζώνη) at Chalkoprateia and those related to the Hodegetria icon. On these topics, see e.g., Shoemaker (2008: 61–66), Krausmüller (2011), Angelidi – Papamastorakis (2000). On this legend, see Wenger (1955: 111–139, 294–303). On the sanctuary in Blachernai, see Mango (1998), Shoemaker (2008b: 60–61), with further bibliography. Notable examples include the 10th-century Life by John Geometres (§43–45, ed. Wenger [1955: 394–397]) and (Pseudo-)Maximus’ Life of the Virgin (ed. van Esbroeck [1986]). On the problematic date of the latter text, see below, n. 110. For an overview of these traditions, see Shoemaker (2002: 67–71), Shoemaker (2008b).

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quotation in John of Damascus’ Second Homily on the Dormition. According to the Euthymiac History, empress Pulcheria (d. 453) asked Juvenal of Jerusalem (d. 458) at the council of Chalcedon about the bodily relics of Mary and expressed her intention to transfer them to Constantinople. After Juvenal informs the empress that no such relics exist, he recounts the discovery of the Virgin’s funerary garments and arranges for them to be sent to the capital, where Pulcheria deposits them at Blachernai.86 The Euthymiac History’s emphasis on the relevance of these three elements combined (i.e., Mary’s Dormition and Assumption, the Virgin’s funerary garments and the cultic importance of Constantinople) may serve as a marker for situating the composition of *S6 within a more precise historical context. As we have seen, the Sogdian preface already links two of these elements when it locates the “book of Mary’s Dormition” in the Byzantine capital. Moreover, the second preserved part of So1 (E30/2/R8–16), which recounts the final moments of Mary’s life, may provide a precious indication that the third element, i.e., the Virgin’s vestments, was also somehow relevant in the Sogdian text and its Syriac source. In the scene of Mary’s final prayer, *S6/So1 contains a conspicuous reference to the Virgin’s garments, which she uses to cover her head while praying: And at this time, Mary stood, covered her head with her garments (So. ptyγwnt nγwdnty pr xypθ sry), and prayed and said: ‘Lead my soul from this life’; and she made the sign of the cross on her forehead with joy. 87

Although seemingly a minor detail, this explicit reference to Mary’s garments (So. nγwdnt) 88 is remarkable for several reasons. First of all, such a detailed description of Mary’s gestures during her final prayer are – to the best of my knowledge – unique to the apocryphal and homiletic corpus on the Virgin’s Dormition from the Christian East. 89 Secondly, given that the Sogdian text is a drastically abridged version of the Six Books in which large swathes of the

86 87 88 89

On the Euthymiac History, see Wenger (1955: 136–139), Lourié (2007), Shoemaker (2008b: 66–72). Sims-Williams (2014: 127–128). The term is used e.g., in the Sogdian translation of Mt 17,2 in E5 to translate Gr. τὰ ἱμάτια (Syr. naḥtē), see Sims-Williams (2016: 117), Barbati (2016: 210). Several texts describe the Virgin’s final prayer, but none of them mention the specific acts of covering her head or of making the sign of the cross.

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original story are either omitted or reduced to single sentences, 90 it is highly significant that the author deemed the mention of Mary’s garments in some way relevant. Finally, the description of the garments in the fragment seems to coincide specifically with that of the Virgin’s omophorion (or maphorion), a robe that covered the head and shoulders. 91 Unfortunately, the ending of the Sogdian version is lost, so there is no way of verifying what role, if any, these garments play at the end of the story. It remains unclear if the Virgin was supposed to be buried in these garments, as in the “late apostle” narratives, or if they were given to somebody for safekeeping, as in the legend of Galbius and Candidus. Although the final lines of So1 lack sufficient context, they mention that Christ “lifted her (i.e., Mary) up … to be transferred(?) upwards to the [abode] of holy women”, 92 which seems to imply a bodily assumption and thus, presumably, the existence of vestimentary relics left behind. Either way, the mention of Mary’s garments at such a key moment in the narrative is certainly not coincidental and probably indicates the cultic importance of her robes in the Sogdian version and its Syriac source. 2.3. THE PRESENCE OF CONSTANTINOPOLITAN TRADITIONS IN SYRIA-PALESTINE Assuming a Syriac Melkite background for *S6, it will be useful to place the revised preface in the broader context of how Constantinopolitan traditions on the Virgin Mary and her relics reached Syria and Palestine, where contacts between Greek Byzantine and Melkite Syriac literature would have been most intense. A survey of the Greek homiletic literature produced between the 6th 90

91

92

It is difficult to estimate how long the complete So1 would have been, but judging by the preserved folios the text appears to be very concise in comparison to the Syriac Six Books, as Sims-Williams (2014: 125) observes. See Ševčenko – Kazhdan (1991). On the late use of this term to denote the Marian relic at Blachernai, see Jugie (1944: 693–694) and Shoemaker (2008b: 63, 73), who doubt the authenticity of the reference in the Life of Theodore of Sykeon (7th century) and date the use of μαφόριον/ὠμοφόριον to the 10th century and later. However, the usage must be somewhat earlier, since it already appears in the heading of the story of Galbius and Candidus in Sinai gr. 491 (8th–9th century); see below, n. 103. Regardless of the terminology, such a garment covering the head features in almost every Byzantine iconographic representation of the Theotokos since the 6th century. See e.g., the depiction of the Virgin in the Rabbula Gospels (Firenze, Bibl. Medicea Laurenziana, cod. Plut. I.56, 13v), or the encaustic icon of the Theotokos from Mt Sinai (6th–7th century). Sims-Williams (2014: 129).

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and 9th centuries in Palestine shows that an explicit connection between the Virgin’s Dormition, the discovery of her garments and the focus on Constantinople is not made before the 8th century. For instance, the early 7th-century Homilies on the Dormition by Theoteknos of Livias (BHG 1083n) and (Pseudo?-)Modestus of Jerusalem (BHG 1085) mention the empty tomb, but are completely silent on the subject of Mary’s garments.93 Likewise, John of Thessalonica (BHG 1144) and Andrew of Crete (BHG 1115, 1122, 1109), who rely at least partially on Palestinian Dormition traditions, do not report on the Virgin’s relics, while Andrew even seems to deny that such relics exist. 94 There are only two anonymous homilies of the 6th or 7th centuries that mention the discovery of burial garments in the Virgin’s tomb. However, they do not contain any reference to either a cultic significance of these garments, or their transfer to Constantinople. 95 As already noted, the earliest and most popular text of non-Constantinopolitan origin that makes the connection between Mary’s empty tomb, her garments and the Constantinopolitan cult, is the Euthymiac History (Εὐθυμιακὴ ἱστορία) cited by John of Damascus in his Second Homily on the Dormition (BHG 1097). 96 While this Euthymiac passage may go back to a lost 6th-century work, it is only John of Damascus’s Homily that presents the combination of all three elements (Mary’s Dormition and Assumption, the lateapostle tradition and the discovery of her garments, followed by their transfer to Constantinople) as relevant for the Byzantine cult of the Theotokos. 97 It remains unclear if the Euthymiac passage is a later interpolation, but its presence

93 94

95

96 97

Theoteknos: ed. Wenger (1955: 272–291), Engl. tr. Daley (1998: 71–80); Modestus: PG 86: 3277–3312, Engl. tr. Daley (1998: 83–100). Of the several different endings to John of Thessalonica’s Homily (ed. Jugie [1925]) only one manuscript mentions the funerary garments, ms. Vatican gr. 2072 (eleventh cent.), fol. 178r–v. This ending is probably a later development (Mimouni – Voicu [2003: 136, n. 130]). On Andrew’s homilies (PG 97: 1045–1109, Engl. tr. Daley [1998: 103–152]) and his comment on the absence of vestimentary relics, see Shoemaker (2008b: 72). These are Ps-Basil’s Georgian Transitus, ed. van Esbroeck (1974), and Ps-John Chrysostom’s Homily on the Dormition, ed. van Esbroeck (1990). Against van Esbroeck’s early dating of these two texts, Shoemaker has argued for the 6th century (Ps-Chrysostom) and the 7th century (Ps-Basil). See Shoemaker (2002: 69–71, 132–140), Shoemaker (2008b: 66–67). John of Damascus, Homily on Dorm. II §18, ed. Kotter (1988: 536–539). Shoemaker (2008b: 67). On the possibility that the Euthymiac History is an early 6th-century work, see Lourié (2007).

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in the entire manuscript tradition of John’s Homily strongly suggests either its authenticity or a very early interpolation (late 8th or early 9th century). 98 The early Greek manuscript Sinai gr. 491 sheds further light on the reception of Constantinopolitan traditions in Syria-Palestine and offers a striking parallel to John’s Homily and its Euthymiac passage. Sinai gr. 491 is a late 8th or early 9th century “special panegyric” of Palestinian origin, which offers selected readings for the feasts related to Christ and the Virgin Mary. 99 The long Marian section contains the following texts:

98

99

Kotter (1988: 505) suggested that Michael Synkellos (760–846) could have been the author of this interpolation. Shoemaker (2008b: 66–72) has argued that the Euthymiac passage was added by John of Damascus himself. Ehrhardt (1938: 195–197), Wenger (1955: 96–99). On the paleography of this manuscript and its twin codex Sin. gr. 492, see Crisci (1996: 90–91, 94); Harlfinger (2010: 471).

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 305

Sin. gr. 491 fols. 216r–229v fols. 230r–246r fols. 246v–251r fols. 252r–258r fols. 258v–281r fols. 281v–298r

Text John Chrysostom (Pseudo-), Homily on the Annunciation (CPG 4677) 100 Theoteknos of Livias, Encomium on the Assumption (BHG 1083n) 101 Euthymiac History, excerpt (BHG 1056e) 102 Story of Galbius and Candidus (BHG 1058b) 103 Protevangelium of James 105 Epiphanius of Cyprus, Encomium on the Theotokos (CPG 3771) 106

Marian Feast Annunciation (25 March) Dormition (15 August) Dormition (15 August) Dormition (15 August) 104 Nativity (8 September) Nativity (8 September)

This arrangement of texts leaves no doubt that the excerpt from the Euthymiac History (fols. 246v–251r), which follows immediately after Theoteknos’ Homily on the Dormition, fulfills an analogous function to the quasi-identical passage quoted in John of Damascus’ Homily. 107 The obvious purpose of the Euthymiac excerpt in Sinai gr. 491 is to complement Theoteknos’ early 7th100 101 102 103 104

105 106 107

Title: Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου εἰς τὸν Εὐαγγελισμὸν (fol. 216r). See de Aldama (1965: 177–178, no. 479). Title: Θεοτέκνου ἐπισκόπου Λιβιάδος ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν ἀνάλημψιν τῆς ἁγίας Θεοτόκου (fol. 230r). Title: ἐκ τοῦ ἰστορικοῦ βίου του ἀγίου Εὐθυμίου εἰς τὴν κοίμησιν (fol. 246v). Title: ἐξήγησις πῶς ηὑρέθη τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς παναγίας καὶ ἐνδόξου δεσποίνης ἡμῶν θεοτόκου μαφόριον (fol. 252r), ed. Wenger (1955: 306–311). Ehrhard (1938: 196) wrongly presupposes that this text was intended for the feast of the deposition of the Virgin’s cincture in Chalkoprateia (31 August). However, there is nothing to suggest that this is the case. On the contrary, the Story of Galbius and Candidus is related to the church in Blachernai, not Chalkoprateia, and the relic is identified in the title as a robe (μαφόριον), not as a cincture (ζώνη). This feast was celebrated in Constantinople on 2 July since the 7th century, but here it is clearly an appendix to Theoteknos’ Encomium on the Dormition, just like the preceding passage from the Euthymiac History. Title: εἰς τὴν γένναν τῆς θεοτόκου (fol. 258v). Title: τοῦ ἁγίου Ἐπιφανίου ἐπισκόπου Κύπρου ἐγκώμιον εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν Μαρίαν τὴν Θεοτόκον (fol. 281v). Kotter did not use this manuscript for his edition of John’s Homily (cf. Kotter [1988: 504– 505]). On the minor variants between Sinai gr. 491 and the manuscript tradition of John’s Homily, see Wenger (1955: 137).

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century homily, which does not contain any reference to the relics, with the story of Pulcheria’s transfer of the Virgin’s robe to Blachernai. In this way, this late 8th-century panegyric ‘updates’ the local Palestinian traditions on the Dormition to reflect the more recent developments of this cult hailing from Constantinople. The subsequent inventio story of Galbius and Candidus, which offers an alternative account, likely fulfills the same function as the preceding text, the contradictions between them notwithstanding. 108 A similar case is the 10th-century Arabic manuscript Sinai arab. 436, in which Michel van Esbroeck has identified a short encomium (Ar. madḥa) on the Dormition to be read on 15 August. This anonymous text is loosely based on the same Euthymiac History, but the transfer of Mary’s “turban” (Ar. ʿimāma) to Constantinople is attributed to Empress Eudokia (d. 460), not Pulcheria. 109 Another relevant source that draws a connection between Mary’s Dormition and Assumption, the empty tomb and the transfer of her relics to Constantinople, is the Georgian Life of the Virgin attributed to Maximus the Confessor, for which Shoemaker recently proposed a late 7th- or early 8thcentury Palestinian origin, but which may well be a late 10th-century adaptation of John Geometres’ Life of the Virgin. 110 After narrating the episode of the “late apostle” and the discovery of the Virgin’s funerary relics, (Pseudo-)Maximus shifts focus to the discovery of her robe (not the funerary vestments) and introduces the story of Galbius and Candidus as follows: But let us make known through our discourse on the glory of Christ God and in praise of his holy and immaculate mother, our hope and intercessor in all things, how the holy Theotokos conferred her incorruptible garment as a precious relic to the great city of

108 109

110

One may compare this juxtaposition with the “assemblage of relic traditions” in (Pseudo-) Maximus’ Life of the Virgin (Shoemaker [2008b: 54]). On the “turban”, see Shoemaker (2008b: 73, n. 114). Lourié (2007: 220–221) rightly notes that ʿimāma is used in some early Arabic Gospel translations to denote the σουδάριον in Jn 20,6–7. See Shoemaker (2016b), which is a detailed reply to the important points raised by Phil Booth (2015), who had argued for a 10th-century Constantinopolitan setting for the Greek source of (Pseudo-)Maximus’ Life. In a recent article, Christos Simelidis (2020) has built a strong case for identifying the Georgian life as a metaphrastic rendering of John Geometres’ Life, made by Euthymios the Athonite (d. 1028). The question of this text’s authorship and dating remains open. My argument here relies not so much on the precise date of the Life, but on the motifs and concerns shared by (Pseudo-)Maximus, John of Damascus’ Homily and Sinai gr. 491.

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 307 Constantinople, and how she brought this gift as a sign to the faithful people and established the sacrosanct treasure in a church. 111

Regardless of the Life’s precise date and origin, (Pseudo-)Maximus’ connection between Mary’s Assumption, the empty tomb and the transfer of Mary’s relics to “the great city of Constantinople” provides yet another significant parallel to the concerted attempt in the Euthymiac History, John of Damascus’ Homily and the selected readings in Sin. gr. 491 and Sin. arab. 436 to reinforce the continuity between the Palestinian traditions of Mary’s Dormition and the Constantinopolitan cult of the Virgin’s relics. The combined evidence of these sources indicates that the interest of the Chalcedonian communities in Syria-Palestine in creating a link to Constantinople probably emerged during the 8th century. At the latest, this connection was certainly relevant when Sin. gr. 491 was copied in the late 8th or early 9th century. Following a suggestion by Alexander Kazhdan, Stephen Shoemaker has further made the point that for John of Damascus the connection between the Palestinian and the Constantinopolitan traditions on Mary was motivated, at least in part, by the Islamic conquest of Palestine and the need for a new spiritual center of Christianity. 112 On the other hand, one must also take into account the disruptions caused by the emergence of Iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire and the ensuing tensions between the Eastern Patriarchates and Constantinople. A symbolic turn towards Constantinople in a SyroPalestinian Melkite environment would have become increasingly unlikely after ca. 730 and almost unimaginable during the three decades separating the Iconoclast Council of Hiereia (754), which condemned John of Damascus, and the restoration of icon veneration at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). 113 Considering all these developments, I would propose either the beginning or (more plausibly) the very end of the 8th century as the most likely period in which the Melkite Syriac revision of the Six Books was undertaken. The insistence on Constantinople as the ultimate resting place of Mary’s vest111

(Pseudo-)Maximus, Life of the Virgin §119, ed. van Esbroeck (1986: 1, 152), tr. Shoemaker (2012: 142–143). 112 Kazhdan (1998: 80–84), Shoemaker (2008: 70–71). 113 See Schick (1995: 210–211), Brubaker – Haldon (2011: 105-117, 232-234). A composition of *S6 after 813 (the Second Iconoclastic period) is not impossible, but the 9th-century Melkite Syriac calendar in Sinai, Syr. M52N already seems to presuppose a Melkite reception of the Six Books (see below).

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ments, as expressed in the Euthymiac passage and Sin. gr. 491, could have inspired the author of *S6 to relocate, by way of analogy, the “book of Mary’s repose” from the original Ephesian setting to Constantinople. The shift from Ephesus to the capital generally reflects the diminished status of the Asian metropolis after the Council of Chalcedon, 114 but in the wake of Nicaea II there would have been an acute need to reaffirm the status of Constantinople as a center of ecclesiastic and doctrinal authority, including on matters related to the cult of the Virgin. Furthermore, if the original author and audience of the Syriac Six Books (with the longer recension of the preface) were indeed anti-Chalcedonian, as argued above, then a Melkite rewriting would have helped reclaim the Six Books for the Chalcedonian side. Lastly, the image of the pre-Justinianic Syriac community on Sinai found in SyPr1 and SyPr2 could easily be adjusted to the new circumstances on the peninsula. By the 8th–9th century, Sinai had become a prolific center of Syriac Melkite monastic culture that still maintained close ties to Edessa and Antioch, but whose doctrinal allegiance was now, ultimately, to Constantinople. Yet even granted that *S6 was produced by Syriac Melkites in Syria or Palestine in the late 8th century, what interest would this community have had in the Six Books? A closer look at the reception and implementation of the liturgical program described in the Six Books in the various calendars of the Christian East may provide an answer. 2.4. THE LITURGICAL PROGRAM OF THE SIX BOOKS IN THE MIAPHYSITE AND MELKITE TRADITIONS The Syriac Six Books propose a yearly cycle of three feasts in honor of the Virgin Mary: one in December (ms. A) or January (ms. C), immediately after Nativity; one on 15 May “on account of the seeds … and the abundance of wheat”, and one on 13 (later 15) August, “for the protection of the vines”. 115 Although we may assume that the Six Books sought to justify already existing practices or customs, the early date of the oldest Syriac manuscripts and the absence of similar celebrations before the 6th century may also indicate that 114

115

This is the famous ‘Canon 28’ of the Council of Chalcedon (Session XVI, 1 November 451), which stipulated, inter alia, that the metropolitan bishop of Asia (residing in Ephesus) was to be ordained in Constantinople. See Price – Gaddis (2005: 3, 67–91). Lewis (1902: ṣḥ–qʾ [98–101], 59–61), Wright (1865: lṭ–m [39–40], 152–153), Çiçek (2001: 103–105), Ariño-Durand (2014: 483–485), ms. G, fols. 30v–31r, ms. M, fol. 35r–v.

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the apocryphon itself encouraged the later adoption of such a liturgical program. 116 The earliest liturgical sources in Syriac that attest to the widespread observance of this triannual commemoration of Mary date from the 9th century. These feasts became increasingly popular in the West (and later also East) Syriac communities during the medieval and modern periods. Of the West Syriac menologia published by François Nau, the late 7thcentury manuscript London, British Library, Add. 17134, which may be connected to the activity of Jacob of Edessa (d. 708) and the monastery of Qenneshrē, contains only a “memory of the Theotokos” (26 December) but no other commemorations that might suggest a link to the Six Books. 117 By contrast, the 9th-century codex British Library, Add. 14504, tied to the same famous monastery, already lists several Marian feasts, two of which betray the influence of the Six Books (8 January and 15 May), while the third one was probably assimilated to the Byzantine date of the Dormition (15 August). 118 This strongly suggests that, at least in the tradition of Qenneshrē, the Marian cycle was adopted at some point during the 8th century. In the later West Syriac liturgical calendars, the influence of the apocryphon is even more visible. For example, the calendar preserved in British Library, Add. 14503 (copied in 1166) specifies that 15 May is dedicated to “the Theotokos of the Ears of Wheat”, as in the Six Books. 119 Eventually, this agricultural cycle of Marian celebrations was adopted by the Maronite and the East Syriac Churches, but the impetus most likely came from the West Syriac tradition where the cycle is most widely and consistently attested. 120 116 117

118

119 120

On the liturgical instructions in the Six Books, see Mimouni (1995: 98–100, 103–104), Shoemaker (2007). Nau (1912: 29, 31). The other calendars attributed to Jacob of Edessa all date from a much later period and contain more recent commemorations; see Nau (1912: 132–133), Peeters (1908), Brock (1970). Nau (1912: 37, 41, 44). Although the entry for 8 January does not give any details (it simply says: “Of the Holy Theotokos”), the date matches the indication in the Six Books, according to which the first commemoration of Mary should be celebrated “two days after Nativity”, i.e., 6 January according to ms. C, ed. Lewis (1902: ṣḥ [99]). ̈ ‫ܕܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ ܡܛܠ‬, Nau (1912: 55); see also the 11th–12th century manuscript Syriac: ‫ܫܒܠ�ܐ‬ British Library, Add. 14519, Nau (1912: 49, 51–52). For the Maronite calendar, see Griveau (1914: 349–353); for the East Syriac calendar, Sebastian Brock’s comparison between the two printed versions of the Hudra shows that many Marian feasts present in Paul Bedjan’s edition are missing in the “more traditional form of the East Syriac liturgical year” published by Thoma Darmo (Brock [2006]).

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Despite the paucity of sources on the earliest liturgy among the Syriacspeaking Melkites in Syria and Palestine, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that they too adopted the Marian cycle of the Six Books in the 9th century, possibly even earlier. The most important source in this respect is an early Syriac Melkite calendar analyzed by André Binggéli and Daniel Galadza. 121 Discovered among the Sinai New Finds, the 9th-century manuscript Sinai Syr. M52N reflects a pre-Byzantinized sanctoral of the Jerusalem lectionary. In this calendar, Binggéli has correctly identified the entry for 15 May as the feast “of the Theotokos of the Ears of Wheat”, 122 which offers an early Melkite parallel to the West Syriac calendars and points to the same apocryphal source, i.e., the Syriac Six Books. This entry in Sinai syr. M52N indicates that by the 9th century Syriac Melkites had already adopted, at least partially, the liturgical program of the Six Books. A Melkite Syriac revision of the Six Books would have certainly facilitated this adoption. Later traces that indicate a Melkite reception of the Marian liturgical program in the Six Books are found in a series of Georgian and Arabic synaxaria and menologia of the 10th–11th centuries. A Georgian liturgical manuscript from Sinai (Sinai geo. 64, fol. 176v–177v) has an entry for the “Feast of Roses of the Holy Theotokos” (Geo. Vardobay c’midisa ḡmrtisšobelisa) on 15 May, while the Palestino-Georgian calendar of Iovane Zosime (late 10th century) uniquely places Mary’s Presentation in the Temple on the same date. 123 The connection between this “Feast of Roses of the Theotokos” and that of the “Theotokos of the Ears (of Wheat)” is made explicit in the Antiochian Menologion recently studied by Alexander Treiger. This menologion, compiled by Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ in the late 10th or early 11th century, contains an anonymous homily for the “Feast of Roses and Green 121 122 123

Binggéli (2010), Galadza (2018: 246–250, 366–367). The calendar was first described and published, with many inaccuracies, in Philothée du Sinai (2008: 501–517). ̈ Syriac: ‫ܕܫܒܠ�ܐ‬ ‫ܕܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ‬, Sinai, syr. M52N, fol. 6v, ed. Philothée du Sinai (2008: 511), cf. Binggéli (2010: 184, n. 21). Garitte (1958: 66, 224–225). I thank Sergey Kim for identifying this entry in Sinai geo. 64. The origins of this “Feast of Roses” and its connections to the Rosalia would require a separate investigation; for an overview, see van Esbroeck (1975: 331–335), van Esbroeck (2004), Mgaloblishvili (1998), Puchner (2009: 47–105). As Michel van Esbroeck (1975: 331–332) notes, while the oldest Georgian homiliaries place the feast of Vardoba in July, the term is also an ancient Georgian designation for the month of May. Regardless of the feast’s origins, the usage in these 10th-century Georgian calendars suggests that the feast was later associated with the Virgin Mary, probably under the influence of the Six Books.

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Wheat” (ʿīd al-ward wa-l-farīk) for 12 May. 124 Despite the slight difference in date, the homily clearly links the apostolic origin of this feast to the Six Books apocryphon. 125 The apparent confusion regarding the nature and date of this feast and the various attempts to reconcile these conflicting traditions suggest that the midMay celebration of the Theotokos was not well established among the Melkites of Palestine and Syria. Therefore, the anonymous Arabic homily still struggles to justify the adoption of the feast by appealing to an otherwise unknown tradition of St. Paul converting a pagan city in Illyricum. 126 The later history of the Melkite and Byzantine calendars further proves that this feast was considered problematic in the Chalcedonian communities. Although this tradition survived locally until the 13th century, when it still features in a Syriac Melkite calendar copied in 1215, by the early 11th century we already find Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic calendars from Syria-Palestine in which the influence of the Six Books is no longer discernible. 127 These remarks allow us to draw some important conclusions regarding the context and possible agenda behind the pro-Constantinopolitan revision in *S6. The influence of the Six Books on the Melkite liturgical calendar is already visible in the 9th-century manuscript Sinai syr. M52N, which likely indicates a somewhat earlier dating for *S6. Probably due to the rising popularity of the Six Books and the gradual implementation of feasts associated with the apocryphon, this foundational text on Mary’s Dormition needed to be recast into a more overtly Byzantine / Chalcedonian mold. The Constantinopolitan setting of the book’s discovery would have offered a distinctly Melkite alternative history to the original version which was popular among the Miaphysites.

124 125

126 127

Treiger (2017: 238–239), on the date of Yūḥannā’s activity, cf. Treiger (2020: 327–332). On Yūḥannā’s connection to the Central Asian Melkites, see below. van Esbroeck (2004: 17, 23). The text has been independently edited, based on a different manuscript, in Serikov (2003–2008). The homily is absent in the abridged version of the menologion found in Sinai ar. 423, see Treiger (2017: 251). van Esbroeck (2004: 18, 33–35). The manuscript Vatican Syr. 20 (copied in 1215 near Damascus) still contains an entry “Of the Theotokos” for 15 May. On this manuscript, see Baumstark (1936), Galadza (2018: 384). On the other hand, Byzantinized liturgical manuscripts such as Vatican Syr. 19 (copied in 1030 around Antioch) omits any reference to the 15 May feast (Galadza [2018: 372–373]). See also Theodore Balsamon’s criticism of the Rosalia, although there the connection to the Theotokos is not explicitly made; see Galadza (2018: 248–249).

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Unfortunately, we cannot know if the revision in *S6 also entailed liturgical changes to the initial cycle, but some fundamental coordinates in the original story would certainly have required revisions. Thus, by the 8th–9th century, the date of the Virgin’s Dormition mentioned in the apocryphon (25 December or 6 January) was no longer tenable in light of the later universally accepted date of 15 August. Moreover, while the December and August commemorations in the Six Books could easily be assimilated to the Synaxis of the Theotokos (26 December) and the Dormition (15 August) respectively, the less common feast on 15 May probably needed a more elaborate explanation. Like the anonymous Arabic homily for 12 May from the Antiochian Menologion, the revised version of the Six Books in *S6 could have provided a much-needed aetiology for this feast by appealing to the authority of “the Book of Mary” allegedly discovered in Constantinople. 3. FROM SYRIA-PALESTINE TO ROMAGYRIS: THE CONTEXT OF THE SOGDIAN TRANSLATION Having explored the possible context in which the Syriac preface to the Six Books on the Dormition was originally composed and later revised, we can now turn to the question of how *S6 reached Central Asia and why it was translated into Sogdian. The history of the Melkite communities in Iraq, Iran and Central Asia is still little known, despite the fundamental studies of JeanMaurice Fiey, Joseph Nasrallah and others. 128 Fortunately, a series of liturgical sources in Syriac, Georgian and Arabic can highlight the intimate connections between the Melkite traditions of Syria and Palestine and those of their coreligionists further to the East. Anton Baumstark was the first scholar to draw attention to the similarities between the pre-Byzantinized liturgy of Jerusalem and the Melkite calendar of Khwārezm described by alBīrūnī. 129 Baumstark’s conclusions have been refined and updated by Daniel Galadza, 130 but Baumstark’s observation that al-Bīrūnī’s calendar still reflects local Damascene and Antiochian traditions remains valid. 131 Moreover, the 128 129 130 131

See Dauvillier (1953), Nasrallah (1975), Nasrallah (1976), Nasrallah (1977), Nasrallah (1983a), Fiey (1977), Klein (1999), Parry (2012), Todt (2006), Todt (2020: 447–453). Baumstark (1936). Galadza (2010), Galadza (2018: 384). Baumstark (1936: 139–144). For example, the Melkite calendars cited by Bar Bahlūl and al-Bīrūnī preserve commemorations of little-known local saints from the Eastern Medi-

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 313

presence of the neo-martyr Antony Ruwaḥ of Damascus (d. 799) and the absence of any post-Iconoclastic or typically Constantinopolitan commemorations in the Khwārezmian Melkite calendar likely places its crystallization in the 9th century. 132 At the same time, al-Bīrūnī must have had access to more than one Melkite calendar. This is evident in the entry regarding the Marian “Feast of Roses”, for which the Muslim scholar provides two different dates in May: 4th (May). The Feast of Roses according to the ancient rite (Ar. ʿalā al-rasm al-qadīm), as it is celebrated in Khwārezm. On this day, they bring Jūrī roses 133 to the churches, the reason of which is this, that Mary presented on this day the first roses to Elizabeth, the mother of John. […] 15th (May) The Feast of Roses according to the new rite (Ar. ʿalā al-rasm al-mustaḥdaṯ), because on the 4th the roses are still very scarce. On the same date it is celebrated in Khorāsān, not on the original date. 134

Scholars have already noticed the parallel between this description in al-Bīrūnī and the Syro-Palestinian liturgical sources discussed above, in particular the Antiochian Menologion. 135 The shared liturgical traditions of these seemingly distant Christian groups are readily explained by the fact that the Melkite communities dispersed throughout Central Asia – in Khwārezm, Khorāsān, Sogdiana, etc. – were under the jurisdiction of the Melkite catholicosate of Romagyris (Rūmgīrd) and Šāš (Tashkent), which was, in turn, dependent on the patriarchal see of Antioch. 136 Incidentally, one of the catholicoi appointed for Romagyris was the very same Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ who compiled the Antiochian Menologion around the same time as al-Bīrūnī compiled his work on chronology, at the turn of the 11th century. 137 Although Yūḥannā probably

132

133

134 135 136 137

terranean, such as St. Lucian of Baalbek/Heliopolis (21 August), whose Vita is only preserved in Georgian; see Muraviev (2006). The synaxis of the Theotokos (26 December) and the feasts of the Marian relics (2 July, 31 August) are absent. On the date of Antony’s martyrdom, see Dick (1961). Nonetheless, some local saints from Khorāsān and Khwārezm may have been added later. In modern Arabic, ward jūrī usually denotes the damask rose (rosa damascena), but it is unclear if this is the species meant here. Treiger (2017: 239) translates “Bengal roses” (rosa chinensis). Sachau (1878: 296, 299), Sachau (1879: 292, 295), Griveau (1914: 306–307). E.g., Treiger (2017: 238–239), Galadza (2018: 248–249). The most recent discussion on the catholicosate is found in Todt (2020: 447–453). Treiger (2017), Treiger (2020).

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never accepted the office,138 it is tempting to situate the Christian Sogdian translation of *S6 precisely in the context of the Byzantinizing liturgical reforms and the associated Graeco-Arabic translation projects which commenced in Antioch after the Byzantine reconquest in 969. 139 The efforts to bring the Antiochian liturgy in line with Constantinople would have also involved, at some point, the diffusion of this newly introduced rite to the provinces under the jurisdiction of Antioch. As a few Melkite Syriac manuscripts from the 11th century attest, this process was already well advanced by ca. 1020–1030, so that this ‘new’ liturgical calendar could have already reached the outer provinces by this time. 140 Since the late features of the Sogdian language in E30 are not incompatible with an 11th-century dating of So1, such a scenario is not entirely unlikely. 141 It is, once again, unfortunate that the Sogdian fragment does not contain any indications on the dates of the feasts in honor of Mary, as these would have helped situate So1 within this process of liturgical reforms. For example, one may argue that al-Bīrūnī’s distinction between the old date of the Feast of Roses in Khwārezm (4 May) and the “new rite” in Khorāsān (15 May) was not only motivated by the “scarcity of roses”, but also by the ongoing reforms in Antioch. The Sogdian translation of *S6 could have been used to argue for (or against) the introduction of a specific feast day. However, it seems overall more likely that Sogdian Christians translated *S6 already before the church in Antioch began the process of Byzantinization. Ḥasan bar Bahlūl’s Kitāb al-dalāʾil, an often overlooked source on the Melkite and East Syriac calendars written between ca. 942 and 968 in Baghdad, shows that 15 May was already the established date of the “Feast of Wheat of Lady Mary” (Ar. ʿīd al-ḥinṭa li-mārtmaryam) in the mid10th century, at least among the Melkite Christians belonging to the

138 139

140

141

Treiger (2020: 327–329). On the Arabic translation literature in Byzantine Antioch, see Nasrallah (1983b), Treiger (2020), Roberts (2020), and the bibliography in Roggema – Treiger (2020: 377–418). On the Melkite Arabic synaxaries, see Sauget (1969). On the manuscript Vatican syr. 19 (1030), see above, n. 122. Another example is the Syriac Melkite synaxarion at the end of Sinai syr. 20 (a. 1019), which includes the ‘new’ Marian feasts on 21 November (fol. 145r) and 2 July (fol. 171v). E30 shares some of these late features with the Sogdian lectionary E5, dated to the 11th century; see Yoshida (2009: 326), Barbati (2016: 59).

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 315

catholicosate of Baghdad. 142 Moreover, the reforms of Yūḥannā and his peers in Antioch included the addition of new Marian feasts, such as Mary’s Presentation at the Temple (21 November), the Deposition of the Robe (2 July) and the Deposition of the Cincture (31 August), which are notably still absent in al-Bīrūnī’s calendar. 143 Thus, the discrepancy between the “old” and “new rite” regarding the 15 May celebration may well antedate the liturgical reforms in Byzantine Antioch and suggest the existence of older regional differences in the Eastern dioceses of the Antiochian Patriarchate. In this case, the initiative to translate *S6 from Syriac into Sogdian may have come as a result of the exchanges (or possible conflicts?) between the Melkite communities in Baghdad and Central Asia in the second half of the 10th century. In any event, aside from the ‘problematic’ feast on 15 May, the main interest in the Six Books remained the feast of the Dormition on 15 August. Significantly, both Bar Bahlūl and al-Bīrūnī speak of the Dormition as an exclusively Melkite feast. In accord with the developments of the Virgin’s cult in Byzantium and the Christian East, the Feast of the Dormition also grew in importance among the Christians of Central Asia. Consequently, the 15 August feast required appropriate liturgical readings and theologically accepted narratives about Mary’s Dormition and Assumption. Thus, if the Syriac revision *S6 emerged as a response to the growing influence of the Six Books among the Melkites of Syria and Palestine, the reception and translation of this text in the eastern-most provinces of the Antiochian patriarchate illustrates how the early traditions on Mary’s Dormition and Assumption influenced liturgical practices in the Central Asian ‘periphery’. Like the vast majority of early Dormition narratives which are preserved in liturgical manuscripts, an abridged Sogdian version of the Six Books that insisted on its legendary origin in Constantinople was perfectly suited as a liturgical reading for 15 August. In the rather small Central Asian Melkite community such a programmatic text would certainly have helped affirm a distinctly Melkite tradition regarding 142

143

Habbi (1987: 152). Although Bar Bahlūl usually distinguishes between ‘Melkite’ (Ar. li-lmalakiya) and ‘Nestorian’ (Ar. li-l-nasṭūr) feasts, many commemorations, including the one for 15 May are not attributed to either church. Nevertheless, all commemorations for the month of May (Habbi [1987: 151–152]) point to a Melkite source and most entries coincide with the calendar of al-Bīrūnī. On Bar Bahlūl’s Kitāb as a source for the Melkite and East Syriac calendars, see Fiey (1988). I thank His Holiness Mar Awa III (Royel) for drawing my attention to this important work. Treiger (2017: 239–240), Glynias (2020). For the feast of the Presentation Yūḥannā even composed a new homily in rhymed prose, Treiger (2017: 233).

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the Virgin Mary that distinguished them from the surrounding East Syriac majority church. CONCLUSION: THE REMAINS OF A MELKITE SOGDIAN CHRISTIAN LITERATURE? Virtually the entire corpus of Christian Sogdian literature known today belongs to the tradition of the Church of the East. Nevertheless, over the last decades, a few faint traces of a Melkite literary activity in Sogdian have come to light. In 2004 and 2011, Nicholas Sims-Williams published two fragments of a Sogdian Psalter with Greek headings that follow the text of the Septuagint, not that of the Syriac Peshitta. Although these fragments were discovered in Turfan, Sims-Williams has suggested that they may originate with the Melkite communities from the region of Čāč (Šāš) / Tashkent, who would have employed the Septuagint Psalter in their services. 144 The second piece of evidence comes from a recent and unexpected discovery in a manuscript from Mt. Sinai. On two leaves of the Codex Armeniacus Rescriptus, 145 Paul Géhin has identified the transcription of a Greek liturgical passage from the liturgy of St. James written in a hitherto unattested Greek-Sogdian Garshuni (Greek language in Syro-Sogdian script). Géhin has proposed a Melkite Sogdian context for this handwritten note and suggested a link to the same Melkite groups of Romagyris and Šāš. 146 It is unclear if the manuscript traveled to Central Asia and back, or if it was used at some point by a Sogdian Christian pilgrim or ecclesiastic legate to the Levant. Despite the many uncertainties surrounding the Sogdian Dormition fragment analyzed here, there are sufficient arguments in favor of including So1 among these vanishingly few literary remains of the Sogdian Melkite community in Central Asia. As I hope to have shown, the Syriac revised version *S6 emerged as a Melkite response to the growing popularity of the Six Books, which since the early years of the 6th century had circulated in the Syriac-speaking, mostly anti- or non-Chalcedonian milieux of northern Syria. The symbolic ties to Constantinople and the influence of the Byzantine cult of the Virgin help situate this revision, with a fair amount of certainty, in Syria144 145 146

Sims-Williams (2004), Sims-Williams (2011). On this manuscript, see Géhin (2017a: 146–150), Smelova (forth.). I thank Natalia Smelova for sending me her article prior to publication. Géhin (2017b: 290–295).

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 317

Palestine in ca. the late 8th century. Given the close contacts between the Melkite patriarchate of Antioch and its Eastern dioceses, it has further proven likely that the Sogdian narrative preserved in the Turfan manuscript E30 was initially destined to be used for the Feast of the Dormition by the Melkites living in Khwārezm, Khorāsān and, possibly, further to the east in the Tarim basin. This conclusion has obvious implications for the study of the manuscripts unearthed in the Turfan oasis. It invites scholars to reassess the possible multi-confessional nature of the Christian texts discovered there and to reconsider the connections between the Christians of Central Asia and those of the Eastern Mediterranean. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: In preparing this study, I have benefited from many helpful comments and discussions with numerous colleagues. Others have helped me with bibliographical suggestions and access to manuscripts. I sincerely thank Fr. Roger Akhrass, Simon Birol, Tony Burke, Emiliano Fiori, Philip Forness, Marianne Hansen, Andy Hilkens, Cornelia Horn, Grigory Kessel, Sergey Kim, Sergey Minov, Charles Naffah, Christiane Reck, His Holiness Mar Awa III (Royel), Stephen Shoemaker, Grigori Simeonov, Natalia Smelova, Nicholas Sims-Williams and Alexander Treiger.

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APPENDIX WHEN WERE THE “SIX BOOKS” REDISCOVERED? The longer recension of the preface to the Six Books (SyPr2) mentions the specific date on which the Virgin Mary appeared to St. John in Ephesus and informed him that two monks from Sinai would come to him in search for the book of her Dormition. 147 Until now, the only early Syriac manuscript known to contain this date was the palimpsest published by Agnes Smith Lewis (C). However, since the scriptio inferior on the relevant folio (fol. 70) is almost completely effaced, Lewis’ translation of the passage remained without a clear context. Fortunately, a second 6th-century palimpsest from Sinai (S588) and a 15th-century West Syriac manuscript (Paris, BNF, syr. 196, siglum P) confirm and complete the date mentioned in C, allowing us to reconstruct the larger context of this indication. Moreover, a comparison with the Syriac text published by Yulius Çiçek and the early Arabic translation (M) may explain how and why the initial date was changed and/or obscured during the text’s transmission history. Below, I provide a transcription and translation of the relevant passage in C, S588 (Syriac) and M (Arabic). The texts in P, Çiçek’s edition and the Ethiopic translation (ms. O) have also been taken into account. C fols. 70ra, 75vb, 70rb (script. inf.), Lewis (1902: kḥ [28])

‫ܒܫܢܬ ܬܡܢܡ�ܐܐ‬ ‫ܘܬܫܥ ܫܢܝܢ ]ܒܐܝܪܚ‬ ‫ܟܢܘܢ ܩܕܡ[ ܒܝܘܡ�ܐ‬ ‫ܕܒܝܬ ܝܠܕܗ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ ܟܕ‬ ̈ ‫ܥܠܝܐ ܥܡ‬ ̈ ‫ܬܚܬܝܐ‬ ‫ܩܝܡܝܢ‬ ‫ܘܡܫܒܚܝܢ ܒܝܬ ܝܠܕܗ‬ ‫ܕܡܫܝܚܐ ܐܬܚܙܝܬ ܡܪܬܝ‬ ‫ܡܪܝܡ ܠܡܪܝ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ‫ܠ�ܐܦܣܘܣ ܘܐܡܪܬ ܠܗ‬ ‫ܟܬܒܐ ܕܐܝܬ ܨܐܕܝܟ‬ ‫ܕܡܦܩܢܝ ܕܡܢ ܥܠܡ�ܐ ܗܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܠܓܒܖܐ ܕܐܬܝܢ‬ ‫ܗܒ‬ ‫ܨܐܕܝܟ ܡܢ ܛܘܪ ܣܝܢܝ‬ ‫ܡܛܠ ܕܡܛܐ ܠܗ ܝܘܡ�ܐ‬

147

Lewis (1902: kḥ [28]).

S588 (fols. 64ra, script. inf.)

63vb–

M (fol. 7r–v)

‫ܒܫܢܬ ܬܡܢܡ�ܐܐ‬ ‫اﻋﻠﻣﻛم ﯾﺎﺧوة ان ﻓﻲ ﺳﻧﺔ‬ ‫ܘܬܫܥ ܫܢܝܢ ܒܐܝܪܚ‬ ‫ﺛﻠﺛﺔ ﻣﺎﯾﺔ وﺗﺳﻌﺔ ﻋﺷر ﺳﻧﺔ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫ܟܢܘܢ ܩܕܡ ܒܝܘܡ�ܐ‬ ‫ﻛﺎﻧون اﻻول ﻓﻲ ﯾوم ﻣوﻟد رﺑﻧﺎ‬ ‫ܕܒܝܬ ܝܠܕܗ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ‬ ‫( ﻓﻲ‬7‫واﻻھﻧﺎ ﯾﺳوع اﻟﻣﺳﯾﺢ )ظ‬ ̈ ‫ܥܠܝܐ ܥܡ‬ ‫اﻟﻠﯾﻠﺔ اﻟﺗﻲ ﯾﻘوﻣون ﻓﯾﮭﺎ اﻟﺳﻣﺎوﯾﯾن ܟܕ ܩܝܡܝܢ‬ ̈ (64‫ܬܚܬܝܐ ܘܡܫܒܚܝܢ )ܐ‬ ‫واﻻرﺿﯾن ﯾﺳﺑﺣون وﯾﻌظﻣون‬ ‫ܒܝܘܡ ܝܠܕܗ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ‬ ‫ ﻻن ﻣﯾﻼد رﺑﻧﺎ اﻟﻣﺳﯾﺢ‬: ‫اﻟﻣﯾﻼد‬ ‫ܐܬܚܙܝܬ ܡܪܬܝ ܡܪܝܡ‬ ‫ وﻓﻲ‬. ‫ﻋظﯾم ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺧﻠﻖ ﻛﻠﮭم‬ ‫ذﻟك اﻟﯾوم ظﮭرت ﻣﺎرﺗﻣرﯾم ﻟﯾﺣﻧﺎ ܠܡܪܝ ܝܘܚܢܢ ܒܐܦܣܣ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ اﻓﺳس وﻗﺎﻟت ﻟﮫ اﻧظر اﻟﻛﺗﺎب ܘܐܡܪܬ ܠܗ ܟܬܒܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܝܬ ܨܐܕܝܟ ܕܡܦܩܢܝ‬ ‫اﻟذي ﻋﻧدك ﻓﯾﮫ ﻗﺻﺔ ﺧروﺟﻲ‬ ‫ܕܡܢ ܥܠܡ�ܐ ܗܢܐ ܗܒ‬ ‫ﻟﮭﺎھﻼي‬ ‫ﻣن ھذا اﻟﻌﺎﻟم ﻓﺎﻋطﯾﮫ‬ ̈ ‫ܠܓܒܖܐ ܕܐܬܝܢ ܨܐܕܝܟ‬ ‫اﻟﻘوم اﻟذﯾن ﯾﺎﺗون اﻟﯾك ﻣن طور‬ ‫ܡܢ ܛܘܪ ܣܝܢܝ ܡܛܠ‬ ‫ﺳﯾﻧﺎ ﻻﻧﮫ ﻗد ﺑﻠﻎ اﻟوﻗت اﻟذي ﯾﺎﺗﻲ‬

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 319

‫ܕܐܬܐ ܒܗ ܪܒܟ ܡܢ‬ ‫ܫܡܝܐ ܢܦܘܩ ܟܬܒܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܕܡܦܩܕ ܕܢܗܘܘܢ‬ ‫ܠܗ‬ ‫ ܐܢܬ‬.‫ܕܘܟܪܢܐ ܘܩܘܪܒܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܓܝܪ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ‫ܘܫܠܝܚܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܚܒܖܝܟ ܐܬܝܬܘܢ‬ ̇ ....... ‫ܨܐܕܝܗ ܠܒܝܬ ܠܚܡ‬ ‫ܘܐܢܐ ܗܐ ܐܘܕܥܬܟ‬ ‫ܕܡܛܬ ܠܗ ܫܥܬܐ‬ ‫ ܠܟܠܗܝܢ‬....... ‫ܕܐܬܐ ܒܗ‬ ̈ ‫ܒܖܝܬܐ ܘܢܬܚܘܐ ܥܠ‬ ‫ܫܘܒܚܝ ܕܐܝܟܢܐ ܢܦܩܬ‬ .‫ܡܢ ܥܠܡ�ܐ‬

‫ܕܡܛܐ ܠܗ ܝܘܡ�ܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܬܐ ܒܗ ܪܒܟ ܡܢ‬ ‫ܫܡܝܐ ܢܦܘܩ ܟܬܒܐ‬ ‫ܕܡܦܩܢܝ ܕܢܗܘܘܢ ܠܝ‬ ‫ܕܘܟܪܢܐ ܘܩܘܪܒܢܐ ܐܢܬ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܫܠܝܚܐ‬ ‫ܓܝܪ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܚܒܖܝܟ ܐܬܝܬܘܢ ܨܐܕܝ‬ ‫ܠܒܝܬ ܠܚܡ ܟܕ ܡܝܬܬ‬ ‫ܘܐܢܐ ܗܐ ܐܘܕܥܬܟ‬ ‫ܕܡܛܬ ܠܗ ܫܥܬܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܬܐ ܒܗ ܪܒܟ ܕܢܥܒܕ‬ ̈ ‫ܢܘܚܡ�ܐ ܠܟܘܠܗܝܢ‬ ‫ܒܖܝܬܐ‬ ‫ܘܢܬܚܘܐ ܥܠ ܫܘܒܚܝ‬ ‫ܕܐܝܟܢܐ ܢܦܩܬ ܡܢ‬ .‫ܥܠܡ�ܐ‬

‫ وﻣﻧﺟل ذﻟك‬: ‫ﻓﯾﮫ رﺑك ﻣن اﻟﺳﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﯾظﮭر ھذا اﻟﻛﺗﺎب ﻟﯾﻛون ﺳﺑب‬ ‫ اﻧت ﯾﺎ ﯾﺣﻧﺎ واﺻﺣﺎﺑك‬. ‫ﻟﻠﻘراﯾﯾن‬ ‫اﻟﺳﻠﯾﺣﯾن ﺗﺎﺗون اﻟﻰ ﺑﯾت ﻟﺣم ﻋﻧد‬ ‫ﺧروﺟﻲ ﻣن ھذا اﻟﻌﺎﻟم واﻻن ﻓﻘد‬ ‫اﻋﻠﻣﺗك ان اﻟوﻗت اﻟذي ﯾﺎﺗﻲ رﺑك‬ ‫اﻟﻰ ﺑﯾت ﻟﺣم ﻗد اﻗﺗرب ﻟﯾﺧرﺟﻧﻲ‬ . ‫ﻣن ھذا اﻟﻌﺎﻟم‬

In the year eight hundred and nine, in the month Kānūn I 148, on the day of the Nativity of Christ, when the high and low (beings) stand and praise the birth of Christ, Lady Mary appeared to Mar John in Ephesus and said to him: “The book you have about my departure from this world, give it to the men who are coming to you from Mount Sinai, for the day has come in which your Lord will come from Heaven. The book will go out, which will command that there be a commemoration and offering to her (read: to me?). For you, John, and the apostles, your companions, have come to her (read: to me?) to

In the year eight hundred and nine, in the month Kānūn I, on the day of the Nativity of Christ, when the high and low (beings) stand and praise the day of Christ’s birth, Lady Mary appeared to Mar John in Ephesus and said to him: “The book you have about my departure from this world, give it to the men who are coming to you from Mount Sinai, for the day has come in which your Lord will come from Heaven. The book of my departure will go out, so there may be a commemoration and offering for my sake. For you, John, and the apostles, your companions, have come to me to Bethlehem, when I passed

I inform you, O brothers, that in the year three hundred and nineteen, in the (month) Kānūn I, on the day of the birth of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, in the night in which the heavenly and earthly (beings) stand and praise and hallow the birth – for the birth of our Lord Christ is greater than the entire creation – on that day, Lady Mary appeared to John in Ephesus and said to him: “Look after the book which is with you, in which the story of my departure from this world is found, and give it to these 149 people coming to you from Mount Sinai. For the time has arrived in which your Lord will come from Heaven.

148

The first word (‫ )ܫܢܝܢ‬is still visible in the manuscript. The following two words ( ‫ܒܐܝܪܚ‬ ‫ )ܟܢܘܢ‬are almost completely effaced, but can be safely reconstructed on the basis of S588, cf. Lewis (1902: xiv). 149 On the non-standard form hāhalāʾī for hāʾulāʾi see Blau (1966: 136-137).

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Adrian C. Pirtea

Bethlehem (…). And behold, I have informed you that the hour has arrived when He will come (…) to all creatures; and it will be shown regarding my glory, how I departed from the world.”

away. And behold, I have informed you that the hour has arrived when He will come to bring about the resurrection to all creatures, and it will be shown regarding my glory, how I departed from the world.”

This is why the book has appeared, that it might be a cause (of salvation?) for those who read it. You, O John, and your companions, the Apostles, will come to Bethlehem at my departure from this world. And now I inform you that your Lord is coming to Bethlehem, for (the time) has approached for Him to take me out of this world.

Like all the other years mentioned in the Six Books, the date is given according to the Seleucid Era (AG) and thus corresponds to 25 December 497 CE. The same year, with a different day, is found in an excerpt from the Six Books in P, a West Syriac manuscript copied in 1417 CE: “In the year 809, at the beginning of Kānūn II, on a Saturday, Lady Mary appeared to John in Ephesus, etc.” (P, fol. 406r). By contrast, the Syriac manuscript used by Yulius Çiçek, the Arabic translation in M and the Ethiopic translation place the same event in the 1st century CE. 150 Çiçek’s edition indicates the Christmas Day of the year 345 AG, 151 which corresponds to 25 December 33 CE. Since this date coincides with the day of the Virgin’s Dormition in the Six Books, it leads to many inconsistencies in the story. The date given in M and O is even more problematic: the year 319 AG corresponds to 7/8 CE, which is an impossible date in the context of the apocryphon. Therefore, since the year 809 is attested by two 6th-century witnesses in Syriac, there can be little doubt that this was the original date intended by the author of SyPr2. As I have explained above, this offers a secure terminus post quem for the longer recension of the preface and contributes to a better understanding of the context in which the Six Books were read and disseminated at the turn of the 6th century. But how are the different dates in Çiçek’s edition and in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions to be explained? Although textual corruption and scribal errors cannot be ruled out, a more plausible explanation is that the change was deliberate. If the author of SyPr2 intended to link the date of the book’s 150

151

See ms. O, fol. 51v: በ፫፻፲ወ፱ዓመት፡ በወርኃ፡ ታኅሣሥ፡ እንተ፡ በቲ፡ ተወልደ፡ ክርስቶስ፡; Budge (1932: 147). Translation: “In the year 319, in the month Taḫśaś in which Christ was born […]”. Çiçek (2001: 57).

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 321

discovery to the apocalyptic fears of the year 500 and the end of the sixth millennium, the year 497 indicated in the text must soon have become obsolete. Thus, the shorter recension SyPr1 (if it is indeed later than SyPr2) simply omitted the passage. On the other hand, some later scribes tried to date Mary’s apparition to John in Ephesus to before the Dormition, thereby removing any possibility to interpret the passage in an apocalyptic sense. This is particularly clear in the Arabic version, where the scribe or translator attempted to adjust Mary’s speech to John so that it matched the ‘new’ 1stcentury date. Unlike in the original Syriac text, the arrival of John and the apostles to Bethlehem is now set in the future: While in C and S588 Mary reminds John that he had come with the apostles to Bethlehem at the time of her passing, in the Arabic version Mary’s Dormition has not yet occurred (“you will come to Bethlehem…”). Likewise, Christ’s descent from Heaven in C and S588 is explicitly tied to the Resurrection of the dead (Syr. nuḥḥāmā). By contrast, in the Arabic version, Christ is said to descend from Heaven ‘only’ to transfer Mary’s soul to Paradise.

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Peltomaa, Leena Mari (2003–2008) “Role of the Virgin Mary at the Siege of Constantinople in 626”, in Scrinium, 5, pp. 284–299. Peltomaa, Leena Mari – Külzer, Andreas – Allen, Pauline, eds. (2015) Presbeia Theotokou. The intercessory role of Mary across times and places in Byzantium (4th – 9th century), Vienna. Perrone, Lorenzo (1980) La chiesa di Palestina e le controversie cristologiche: dal concilio di Efeso (431) al secondo concilio di Constantinopoli (553), Brescia. PG = Migne, J.-P., ed. (1857–1866) Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca, 161 vols., Paris. Philothée du Sinai (2008) Nouveaux Manuscrits syriaques du Sinai, Athens. Pigulevskaya, Nina (1927–1928) “Le martyre de saint Cyriaque de Jérusalem”, in Revue de l’Orient chrétien, 26, pp. 305–356. Pratscher, Wilhelm (1987) Der Herrenbruder Jakobus und die Jakobustradition, Göttingen. Price, Richard M. – Gaddis, Michael (2005) The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, 3 vols., Liverpool. Puchner, Walter (2009) Studien zur Volkskunde Südosteuropas und des mediterranen Raums, Wien – Köln – Weimar. Pülz, Andreas (2010) “Ephesos als christliches Pilgerzentrum”, in Mitteilungen zur christlichen Archäologie, 16, pp. 71–102. Reck, Christiane (2017) Mitteliranische Handschriften, Teil 3: Berliner Turfanfragmente christlichen Inhalts und Varia in soghdischer Schrift, Stuttgart. Roberts, Alexandre (2020) Reason and Revelation in Byzantine Antioch. The Christian Translation Program of Abdallah ibn al-Fadl, Oakland, California. Roggema, Barbara – Treiger, Alexander (eds.) (2020) Patristic Literature in Arabic Translations, Leiden – Boston. Rose, Els (2009) Ritual Memory. The Apocryphal Acts and Liturgical Commemoration in the Early Medieval West (c. 500–1215), Leiden. Ruggieri, V. – Pieralli, L., eds. (2003) ΕΥΚΟΣΜΙΑ: Studi miscellanei per il 75° di Vincenzo Poggi S.J., Catanzaro. Sachau, Eduard (1878) Chronologie orientalischer Völker von Albêrûnî, Leipzig. Sachau, Eduard (1879) The Chronology of Ancient Nations. An English version of the Arabic Text of the Athár-ul-Bákiya of Albírúní, or "Vestiges of the Past," collected and reduced to writing by the author in A.H. 390–1, A.D. 1000, London. Sauget, Joseph-Marie (1969) Premières Recherches sur l'origine et les caractéristiques des synaxaires melkites (XIe–XVIIe siècles), Bruxelles. Schwartz, Eduard – Mommsen, Theodor (1999) Eusebius Werke, Band II/1: Kirchengeschichte, 2nd ed., Berlin. Schick, Robert (1995) The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule. A Historical and Archaeological Study, Princeton, NJ. Serikov, Nikolaj (2003–2008) “Чудо Богородицы, явленное в ал-Кадрикō (Предварительное сообщение и публикация)”, in Christianskij Vostok, 5, pp. 92–111. Ševčenko, Nancy – Kazhdan, Alexander (1991) “Maphorion” in Alexander Kazhdan (ed.) The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, 3 vols., Oxford, p. 1264. Shepard, Jonathan, ed. (2007) The Expansion of Orthodox Europe. Byzantium, the Balkans and Russia, London – New York. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2002) Ancient traditions of the Virgin Mary's dormition and assumption, Oxford.

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 329 Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2006a) “Death and the Maiden: The Early History of the Dormition and Assumption Apocrypha”, in St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 50 (1–2), pp. 59–97. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2006b) “A Peculiar Version of the Inventio crucis in the Early Syriac Dormition Traditions”, in Studia Patristica, 41, pp. 75–81. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2007) “Marian Liturgies and Devotion in Early Christianity”, in Sarah Jane Boss (ed.) Mary: The Complete Resource, London – New York, pp. 130–145. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2008a) “Between Scripture and Tradition: The Marian Apocrypha of Early Christianity”, in Lorenzo DiTommaso – Lucian Turcescu (eds.) The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity. Proceedings of the Montréal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengiesser, 11–13 October 2006, Leiden – Boston, pp. 491–510. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2008b) “The Cult of Fashion: The Earliest "Life of the Virgin" and Constantinople's Marian Relics” in Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 62, pp. 53–74. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2011a) “From Mother of Mysteries to Mother of the Church: The Institutionalization of the Dormition Apocrypha”, in Apocrypha, 22, pp. 11–47. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2011b) “New Syriac Dormition Fragments from Palimpsests in the Schøyen Collection and the British Library”, in Le Muséon, 124 (3–4), pp. 259–278. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2012) The Life of the Virgin, Maximus the Confessor. translated with an introduction and notes, New Haven – London. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2015) “The Ancient Dormition Apocrypha and the Origins of Marian Piety: Early Evidence of Marian Intercession from Late Ancient Palestine”, in Leena Mari Peltomaa – Andreas Külzer – Pauline Allen (eds.) Presbeia Theotokou. The intercessory role of Mary across times and places in Byzantium (4th – 9th century), Vienna, pp. 23–39. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2016a) Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion, New Haven – London. Shoemaker, Stephen J. (2016b) “The (Pseudo?-)Maximus Life of the Virgin and the Byzantine Marian Tradition”, in Journal of Theological Studies, 67(1), pp. 115–142. Simelidis, Christos (2020) “Two Lives of the Virgin. John Geometres, Euthymios the Athonite, and Maximos Confessor”, in Dumbarton Oaks Papers 74, pp. 125-159. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2004) “A Greek-Sogdian Bilingual from Bulayiq”, in Convegno Internazionale La Persia e Bisanzio (Roma, 14–18 ottobre 2002), Rome, pp. 623–631. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2011) “A New Fragment of the Book of Psalms in Sogdian”, in D. Bumazhnov – E. Grypeou – T. B. Sailors – A. Toepel (eds.), Bibel, Byzanz und Christlicher Orient. Festschrift für Stephen Gerö zum 65. Geburtstag, Leuven, pp. 461–465. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2012) Mitteliranische Handschriften, Teil 4: Iranian Manuscripts in Syriac Script in the Berlin Turfan Collection, Stuttgart. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2014) Biblical and other Christian Sogdian texts from the Turfan collection, Turnhout. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2016) A Dictionary: Christian Sogdian, Syriac and English, Wiesbaden. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2019) From Liturgy to Pharmacology. Christian Sogdian Texts from the Turfan Collection, with contributions by J. F. Coakley, Dieter Maue and Adrian Pirtea. Turnhout. Smelova, Natalia (forthcoming): “Codex Armeniacus Rescriptus”, Paper presented at the International Symposium “Medieval Turfan – An Oasis for Christianity?” (Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 29 November 2019). Unpublished.

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Solzbacher, Rudolf (1989) Mönche, Pilger und Sarazenen. Studien zum Frühchristentum auf der südlichen Sinaihalbinsel – Von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn der islamischen Herrschaft, Altenberge. Steppa, Jan-Eric (2002) John Rufus and the World Vision of anti-Chalcedonian Culture, Piscataway, NJ. Swanson, Robert N. (ed.) (2004) The Church and Mary: Papers read at the 2001 summer meeting and the 2002 winter meeting of the Ecclesiastical History Society, Woodbridge. Tarras, Peter (2019) “Thomas of Fustat: Translator or Scribe?”, in Biblia Arabica. The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims – Blog, available online at https://bibliaarabica.com/thomas-of-fustat-translator-or-scribe/, last visited on 13.1.2021. Telelis, Ioannis (2004) Μετεωρολογικά φαινόμενα και κλίμα στο Βυζάντιο (Meteōrologika fainomena kai klima sto Byzantio), 2 vols., Athens. Telelis, Ioannis (2008) “Climatic Fluctuations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East AD 300–1500 from Byzantine Documentary and Proxy Physical Paleoclimatic Evidence – A Comparison”, in Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik, 58, pp. 167– 207. Tischendorf, Constantin (1866) Apocalypses apocryphae Mosis, Esdrae, Pauli, Iohannis, item Mariae dormitio, additis evangeliorum et actuum apocryphorum supplementis, Leipzig. Todt, Klaus-Peter (2006) “Griechisch-orthodoxe (melkitische) Christen im zentralen und südlichen Syrien. Die Periode von der arabischen Eroberung bis zur Verlegung der Patriarchenresidenz nach Damaskus (635–1365)”, in Le Muséon, 119, pp. 33–88. Todt, Klaus-Peter (2020) Dukat und griechisch-orthodoxes Patriarchat von Antiocheia in mittelbyzantinischer Zeit (969–1084), Wiesbaden. Treiger, Alexander (2017) “Sinaitica (I): The Antiochian Menologion, compiled by Hieromonk YūḥannāʿAbd al-Masīḥ (First Half of the 13th Century)”, in Christianskij Vostok, 8(14), pp. 215–252. Treiger, Alexander (2020) “The Beginnings of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite Translation Movement in Antioch”, in Scrinium, 16, pp. 306-332. Trombley, Frank R. – Watt, John W. (eds.) (2000) The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, Liverpool. van Esbroeck, Michel (1974) “L’Assomption de la Vierge dans un Transitus pseudo-basilien”, in Analecta Bollandiana, 92, pp. 125–163. van Esbroeck, Michel (1975) Les plus anciens homéliaires géorgiens. Étude descriptive et historique, Louvain-la-Neuve. van Esbroeck, Michel (1981) “Les textes littéraires sur l'Assomption avant le Xe siècle”, in François Bovon (ed.) Les actes apocryphes des apôtres. Christianisme et monde païen, Geneva, pp. 265–285. van Esbroeck, Michel (1986) Maxime le Confesseur: Vie de la Vierge, 2 vols., Leuven. van Esbroeck, Michel (1987) “Un court traité pseudo-basilien de mouvance aaronite conservé en arménien”, in Le Muséon 100, pp. 385–395. van Esbroeck, Michel (1990) “Une homélie arménienne sur la dormition attribuée à Chrysostome”, in Oriens Christianus, 74, pp. 199–233. van Esbroeck, Michel (1994) “Neuf listes d’apôtres orientales”, in Augustinianum, 34, pp. 109– 199. van Esbroeck, Michel (1995) Aux origines de la Dormition de la Vierge. Etudes historiques sur les traditions orientales, Aldershot.

Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 331 van Esbroeck, Michel (1999–2000) “Peter the Fuller and Cyrus of Edessa”, in ARAM, 11–12, pp. 467–474.van Esbroeck, Michel (2004) “Une homélie mariale étiologique pour la fête des roses au 15 mai”, in Studi sull'Oriente cristiano, 8(1), pp. 17–49. van Lantschoot, Arnold (1946) “L’assomption de la Sainte Vierge chez les Coptes”, in Gregorianum, 27(4), pp. 493–526. Vassilaki, Maria (ed.) (2000) Mother of God. Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine Art, Milano. Vassilaki, Maria (ed.) (2005) Images of the Mother of God. Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, Aldershot. Viezure, Dana Iuliana (2011) “The Election of Paul the Jew (519) in Light of the Theopaschite Controversy”, in Johan Leemans – Peter van Nuffelen – Shawn Keough – Carla Nicolaye (eds.) Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity, Berlin – Boston, pp. 563–574. Wenger, Antoine (1955) L’Assomption de la T. S. Vierge dans la tradition byzantine du VIe au Xe siècle. Études et documents, Paris. Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.) (2009) The Iranian Languages. London. Wortley, John (2005) “The Marian Relics at Constantinople”, in Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 45, pp. 171–187. Wright, William (1865) “The Departure of My Lady Mary from this World”, in Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record, 6–7 (12–13), pp. 417–448, 129–160. Wright, William (1882) The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, composed in Syriac A.D. 507, Cambridge. Yoshida, Yutaka (2009) “Sogdian”, in Gernot Windfuhr (ed.) The Iranian Languages, London– New York, pp. 279–335.

In the Shade of a Tree Holy Figures and Prodigious Trees in Late-Antique and Medieval NW Iran and Adjacent Areas. CAMILLA INSOM GIANFILIPPO TERRIBILI 1

“Just like interred men, plants we see around All lift their outstretched hands up from the ground, To humans they give countless signs, so clear, They speak to those of us with ears to hear, With outstretched hands, or like a tongue that’s green They share earth’s secrets which lie deep, unseen”. Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī, Masnavī (vv. 2025–2027). 2

Summary – The aim of this paper is to investigate the narrative motif of prodigious trees and their association with holy figures, whether prophets, saints, religious founders or divine being, in areas of cross-cultural contact between Eastern-Christianity and Iran during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The theme is explored in its development and through the leading phenomenological patterns it took on, gathering evidence from different periods and traditions. This kind of comparative analysis appears crucial for an understanding of complex networks of socio-cultural dynamics in a context where culturally dominant religions (including Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam) came into contact with the local communities, re-shaping the sacred landscape, and eventually elaborating narrative motifs attuned to the native sensibility. This assimilation/adaptation process left traces in the literary output of the dominant traditions, while contributing to the formation of religious groups that developed in later centuries. Representative case studies will define the transversal and cross-cultural use of the “prodigious tree” motif. Indeed, on the strength of the evidence we will be able to appreciate the 1

2

The paper is the fruit of joint efforts and experience acquired in the context of field activities in Iraqi Kurdistan. In accordance with the authors’ competences, C. Insom focused more on the modern and contemporary evidence, while G. Terribili explored the ancient and late antique sources. Tr. Mojaddedi (2004: 124–125).

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balance between rhetorical-narrative devices and socio-religious realities in the perspective of the fabrication of communal memories, awareness and sacred landscapes. INTRODUCTION The long-lasting transversal motif relating to the interactions between prodigious trees and holy figures is almost ubiquitous and characterizes religious contexts and narratives of different traditions. The present paper aims to explore the motif in the area roughly corresponding to present-day Iraqi Kurdistan and North West Iran and the period between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This represents an excellent field of investigation mainly due to the incidence of written sources intersecting the area, the cultural and natural features of this geographical region, and the constant contact occurring here between different religious traditions. In this framework, we chose to focus our attention on some representative case studies; their persistence in discrete areas and incidence in the available sources help us to trace significant patterns which encompass the transmission of narrative motifs, their literary functions, and their correspondence with native practices and/or beliefs. Furthermore, as suggested by Ph. Kreyenbroek, throughout its history this macro-region retained conservative traits still echoed in the living native traditions. 3 In this respect, comparison with analogous, modern-age traditions could bring out some phenomenological aspects of the topic, the success of certain narrative motifs and its place in defining community identities. 4 Many sources, in fact, show us from different perspectives how crucial cultural traits are reshaped in result of persistent cross-cultural pollination processes. Indeed, the motif of prodigious trees and holy figures – here broadly intended as divine being, prophets, saints, religious founders and authoritative figures – appears to highlight a complex network of socio-cultural dynamics involving different layers of religious awareness, local communities and the sacred landscape surrounding them. Therefore our main interest is not to trace back the origin of an archaic Baumkultus in the region, although the centrality of tree imagery in the living 3

4

See Kreyenbroek (2015: 501). As stressed by the work of P. Crone (2012), native communities of North-West Iran, shared many religious and socio-cultural traits in the early Islamic period. The approach applied by Spät (2013) indicates the benefits of this kind of investigation.

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religion of this area and the adjacent Iranian Plateau has always been assumed but rarely addressed with systematic studies from either a contextual or diachronic point of view, but rather to contextualize the topic analysing its developments within the interplay between native communities and culturallydominant religious systems – basically, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. Indeed, we intend to delineate patterns through which the image of the prodigious tree is readapted, both in literary output and common practices, by different religious communities in association to their paradigmatic representative as to ground themselves into a sacred landscape that is endlessly reshaped to attune to new lore. In this stage we focus on a limited but representative set of data, mainly drawn from a selected corpus of heterogeneous literary sources, in order to trace out our interpretative lines. 1. THE MOTIF AND ITS FUNCTIONS IN LATE-ANTIQUE UPPER MESOPOTAMIA Because of their close connections with the communities and realities of the area, the texts composed in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages by local Christian authors are extremely interesting and can be taken as the cornerstone to define the distinctive features of our subject matter in the light of comparative analysis. These sources attest to the dissemination of Christianity in the region and its encounter with the “others”, illustrated contrastively as idolatrous heathen according to Old Testament models and stereotyped imagery, thus reflecting the process of cultural negotiation with native realities.5 The occurrences of accounts related to “prodigious trees”, in both chronicles and Acts of Martyrs, follow the path of the propagation of the new faith in the region, which in its first stage spread along a major route of communication – known as the “Royal Road” – intersecting North Mesopotamia and the areas east of the Tigris River. The Acts of Mār Māri, 6 dealing with the exemplary figure credited with the evangelization of Mesopotamia, offers a crucial overview of the elaboration of the prodigious-tree image in association with 5

6

According to Duval (1907: 108–109) these accounts were merely rhetorical devices for building up a stereotyped image of the pagan. In favour of a more nuanced perspective see e.g. Ramelli (2008: 120) and Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003: 21–24). The final redaction of the text (ca. 4th–5th century) shows signs of contact with the Sasanian context, Ramelli (2008: 135).

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authoritative figures of the new religious community. The source, in fact, presents a structured relationship between Mār Māri and what can be defined as the typology of the “cursed-tree”,7 including it as part of the hagiographic narrative linked to the community founder. The relationship is first hinted at in an episode that describes the conversion of the city of Šāhrgird (mod. Altin Kopru, on the Lesser Zab River) and its “pagan” king. 8 In the account, the Saint confronts and defeats the idols that were worshipped along with a tree hosting the abode of Satan. We can observe the circulation of comparable pious tales in the literary production of the area encompassing the regions of Adiabene and Garamea. The motif of the founding figures of Christianity in the region overthrowing the worship of an “accursed/haunted” tree also appears in the Chronicle of Arbela, which tells of an oak tree in the city of Rēši near Nineveh and of an equivalent phenomenon in the city of Daqūqā (mod. Tauk), south of Kirkuk. 9 According to the Chronicle, local customs forbade shedding blood around the Rēši tree and associated it with the evil presence of a black snake that was eventually to be driven away through the intervention of an angelic entity. Bishop Noh of Arbela finally causes the three to vanish by cutting into it the sign of a cross. Interestingly, the accounts from the Acts of Mār Māri and the Chronicle find some analogies with Manichaean legends from Mesopotamia, preserved in textual fragments from Central Asia. In this case the protagonist of the story is Zarathustra, who is accounted among the major forerunners of the prophet Mani himself in the Manichaean tradition. According to an Old Turkic text, Zarathustra confronts a demon dwelling in a tree in Babylonia. 10 Although the picture emerging from the fragmentary text is somewhat patchy, the incident 7

8 9 10

The text mentions a broad range of local superstitions including the veneration of prodigious trees in the area of Bēth Dāsen, see Jullien, Ch. (2004: 152); Ramelli (2008: 166), roughly corresponding to the historical district of Salakh along the banks of the Great Zab River. Syriac and Arabic evidence report this territory divided in two major areas: Inner Salakh, a mountainous zone bordering the region of Ādurbādagān and the Outer Salakh, also called Salakh of Narseh, closer to the city of Arbela. See Hoffmann (1880: 243–245); Fiey (1965: 191). Ramelli (2008: 168–169). Kawerau (1985: 9); see also Ramelli (2008: 173, n.1). Fragment U 4 (previously marked as T II D 175), see Sundermann (1986 [2001]: 854– 855); Skjærvø (1996: 618–620); van Tongerloo (2008: 257–260). For identification of the tree, see also van Tongerloo (2008: 495, n. 182).

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includes disputations with idolatrous sorcerers and possibly the erection of a temple after Zarathustra’s victory: “Outside the city of Babel there was a tree called Narun (Alm). The greatest of the demons hid on this tree. The angels grabbed (the tree), pulled (at it), and shook (it). The leaves of the tree fell to the ground…He (the demon) sat on top of the tree. He pondered as follows: “I will throw myself down; I will fall on the top of the head of the prophet Zarathustra; I will kill the prophet Zarathustra. Now at this time the sorcerers of the city of Babel took up arrows and bows, and aimed at the prophet Zarathustra. Swerving, their arrows hit the demon in his life vein. The demon died on the spot”. (Skjærvø 1996: 619–620)

A very fragmentary Sogdian version of a parallel story recounts a journey made by Zarathustra to the west; 11 there the idol of Zarwar 12 stood at the foot of a tree as object of devotion. As the dispute starts, the text describes Zarathustra by the tree along with king Wištāsp and the two sons of Zarwar. As in the story recounted in the Old Turkic, text a sort of ordeal by arrows attests to Zarathustra’s truthfulness. 13 The Sogdian evidence too, in fact, seems to belong to a set of accounts dealing with Zarathustra’s deeds in the land of Babylonia and possibly related to one of the most popular episodes in the Iranian Prophet’s biography, namely king Wištāsp’s conversion. 14 The association of idols with mighty trees finds biblical resonances in the censure of idolatry in the Book of Ezekiel (6.13), 15 which may actually have influenced the phraseology of such kinds of pious accounts cultivated in the context of late-antique Mesopotamia, especially taking into consideration the crosscultural character of the Manichaean tradition. Be that as it may, like the Christian accounts, the Manichaean anecdotes convey a moral message focused on the defeat of idolatry and establishment of a new truth. Here the image of the tree plays a significant role in structuring a locus of narrative sense. It is quite likely that in the late antique religious context competitors acting in the same areas adopted parallel motifs while forging their own “hagiographic” narrative. The functional analogies suggest that the message encoded in these accounts was specifically attuned with the cultural horizon of coeval recipients. Evidently, the motif was transversally 11 12 13 14 15

Sundermann (1986 [2001]: 855–866); Skjærvø (1996: 617–618). Corresponding to the Iranian hero Zarēr, the brother of king Wištāsp. Cf. with U 4 verso 6–9, Skjærvø (1996: 620); van Tongerloo (2008: 260). The connection Zarathustra, Wištāsp and a tree characterizes the Shāhnāma version of the king’s conversion, see Terribili (2020) and below. “in all the mountaintops, and under every spreading tree and every leafy oak, the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols”.

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transmitted and reinvented by different groups in order to fabricate edifying stories about their authoritative figures and their success in overcoming “pagan” idolatry. Although late, a peculiar account by the Muslim scholar Ibn Waḥshiyya (late 9th century) reveals a far more intricate scenario in which the dividing lines between literary topoi and native cultic practices are hard to make out. In his collection on the old beliefs of the Sabians – a term generally used to describe a sociocultural substratum from Iraq and Jazeera – 16 Ibn Waḥshiyya recounts a tale about a prodigious marsh-mallow tree (khiṭmī) in the area of Nineveh. 17 In this case, the protagonist is the Sabian prophet Shabāhā alJarmaqānī who experienced oneiromancy, receiving instructions from this sacred tree. “Shabāhā has also told: this particular tree used to speak to me a lot, both in sleep and in a waking condition; although mostly in my dreams. When I had heard something (or: a story, ḥadīthan) from it (in my sleep), I used to write it down in a volume (or: on parchment, fī jild) after I had woken up because I did not want to forget it. One night the marshmallow came to me in a dream and said: ‘Know that I am an idol (ṣanam) of Mercury….’”. (alFilāḥa an-Nabaṭiyya, 155–157; tr. Hämeen-Anttila 2006: 222)

The passage is circumstantial in rendering the details of the practice and the semiotic interchangeability between trees and idols, an association also recorded in the texts previously mentioned. The story shows the Sabian group perspective on the prodigious tree conceived as a depository of traditional customs. On the other hand, the frequency of the “accursed/prodigious tree” in the same area and different traditions suggests that in late antique and early medieval North Mesopotamia a variety of practices embedded in the native culture may have favoured the use and circulation of rhetorical devices and formulas related to this specific motif in the region’s literary production. Equally interesting for identification of the interweaving dynamics between the rhetorical use of this motif and its possible links with cultural realities is a further episode narrated in the Acts of Mār Māri, and comparable with other geographically related sources. According to the Acts, 18 the apostle Māri expelled an evil spirit from a fig tree in Glāla in the area of Darābar, on

16 17 18

Worship of trees is also attested among their practices: Hämeen-Anttila (2006: 184). Hämeen-Anttila (2006: 221–224). Ramelli (2008: 172–173).

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the upper course of the Lesser Zab. 19 The account has it that outside the town of Darābar, in a place named Glāla – namely ‘water spring’ according to the text –, 20 there was a fig tree rising over a spring that was worshipped by the people of that region. The passage specifies that the tree was of great beauty and bore abundant fruit, but nobody could eat it because a demon 21 dwelled in the tree who would stone anyone who dared to pick the fruit. In this scenario Mār Māri intervenes to save a boy hit by the devilish interdiction, drives the demon away and curses the tree that is wrenched up from its very roots. 22 The Darābar account points out some key aspects relevant to this topic such as the tree-water spring nexus; the use of rhetorical formulas evoking the beauty of the tree; the presence of interdictions or taboos related to the prodigious tree; the relation between the prodigious tree and spiritual entities and the inter-communitarian nature of the sacred spaces. All these points recur, to different extents and in more or less standardized forms, in the sources collected in this paper. Moreover, this episode prompts comparison with a further Christian story from the very same area concerning a prodigious fig tree situated in the surroundings of the city of Karka d-Bēth Slōkh (mod. Kirkuk). The evidence from Karka offers a different approach in Christian narrative to the prodigious-tree type and lays the emphasis on the sacred space related to it. In the History of Karka d-Bēth Slōkh and its Martyrs 23 a miraculous fig tree possessing healing properties is said to have flourished from the blood shed by holy women on the suburban site of their martyrdom, in a place formerly called ‘the white poplar’ (Ḥawra) and then renamed the ‘place of the fig tree’

19 20 21 22

23

On the “accursed” fig in the Syriac and eastern Christian tradition see Ramelli (2008: 172, n.3 with references). See Ramelli (2008: 174, n.1). On the association between cosmic or sacred trees and the water of life in ancient Near East religions, see extensively Widengren (1951: 5–19). Considered by the villagers as their own god. According to Ramelli (2008: 173, n.3) and Jullien, Ch. – Jullien, F. (2003: 76–80) the account reveals anti-Manichaean implications. On the anti-Manichaean polemic in the Acts of Mār Māri see more extensively Ramelli (2008: 114 ff). Manichaeism spread in both Adiabene and Garamea: Lieu (1999: 33–34); Ramelli (2008: 110–114 with references); consequently the areas and strategies of proselytization pursued by Mani, Māri and their followers often overlapped (Ramelli 2008: 112). Early 6th century. For historical and socio-cultural contextualization of the Karka Chronicle, see Payne (2015: 127–163 with references).

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(Bēth Teita). 24 Competition with Manichaean groups living in that area reemerges clearly in the source from Karka, according to which some wicked Manicheans wanted to uproot the holy tree. However, God sent them a disease, in the form of elephantiasis, as a tangible sign of His disapproval. Thus the narrative extolls the Christian rights over that sacred space, also revealing tensions with other groups. The story is in fact closely connected with the foundation of a Christian shrine and the institution of a seasonal procession and community festival, 25 which are described in these terms: “This spot where the holy women were victorious is called to this day the ‘place of the fig tree,’ and now it has become a sanctuary for all believers: each year, when they keep the memorial of the great day of the Crucifixion, the entire community of the church, the pastor and his flock in all its rank-go up to the great Martyrion, with the cross in front of them and behind them, and they turn aside to the ‘place of the fig tree’ in solemn procession, accompanied by praises and sacred songs…”. (tr. Brock – Ashbrook 1998: 78)

The passage is a good example of the harmonization of autochthonous imaginary focusing on a prodigious tree and its numinous associations within the framework of a system which encompasses the foundational memories of Christian institutions and their social ramifications. On the other hand, the account as a whole is paradigmatic in showing how different religious communities concurrently renegotiate the motif while conflicting over the control of sacred spaces. The “worshipped tree”, confronted by the frontrunner of Christianity in the form of “cursed trees”, is here reassumed within the new religious lore introducing a positive association with the holy martyrs. In turn, Manicheans are depicted to rebut the Christian image of the fig as a “holy tree” by cutting it out. We may reasonably assume that, in the heterogeneous environment of late antique Karka and the surrounding area, rival groups strove to root their foundational memories in the sacred landscape, generating narrative motifs that bore out their own claims while discrediting the opponents. With the increasing dissemination of Christianity and circulation of its pious stories, new paradigms of communitarian memory spread over that terri24

25

Hoffmann (1880: 47); Brock – Ashbrook (1998: 77–78). The late Book of the Bee (early 13th century), which collects many Biblical accounts circulated in the Syriac Christian communities of Mesopotamia, adds a gloss to the story of Moses’ rod specifying that the Tree of Good and Evil in paradise – from which Adam cut off a branch which he used as his staff and later passed down to his descendants – was indeed a fig-tree: Budge (1886: 50). In that occasion the accounts of martyrdom and shrine foundation were re-enacted and recited: Payne (2015: 131).

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tory characterizing its landmarks and re-negotiating the relationship of the native population with the sacred space.

2. THE PRODIGIOUS TREE IN THE MOUNTAIN HINTERLAND AND NORTH-WESTERN IRAN Reception of the motif can be seen in later Christian sources from the 8th–10th century. The Chronicles of the monasteries, which by that time dotted the region, and the portraits of their most representative spiritual authorities, afford us a glimpse of the innermost valleys of north-western Zagros and eastern Taurus in a period when Christianity was penetrating peripheral areas and relating with their socio-cultural substratum. Among these sources the Book of Governors by Thomas of Marga proves a valuable source for our case study. It offers detailed accounts of many beliefs characterizing the socio-cultural landscape of the mountain regions surrounding the city of Arbela, prompting questions about the interactions in the literary fabrication of representative figures, narrative patterns and native cultural realities. In his collection, Thomas explicitly warns that at the time (beginning 9th century) syncretism and magianism (i.e. the beliefs of the native Iranian population) persisted in the country of Salakh 26 – the area North and East of Arbela. In fact, the text describes many and various episodes of confrontation between the propagators of Christianity and the cultural resistance of the local population. Moreover, the tension between the “orthodoxy” of the Metropolitan centre and the tendencies to hybridization in the rural periphery clearly emerges on several occasions. 27 Of particular relevance to our subject matter is the reference to the veneration of trees with exceedingly beautiful foliage or of majestic size. Indeed, in Thomas’ work the motif of the prodigious tree plays a key role in the representation of paradigmatic figures. While

26 27

Budge (1893 II: 307); cf. what is said about the area of Bēth Dāsen in the Acts of Mār Māri (see above n.6). See e.g. the features of figures as Mār Bābhai, Abba Ḥananyā and Mār Māran-ʿAmmeh: see Budge (1893 II: 116), (Budge 1893 II: 266–273) and (Budge 1893 II: 319–23) respectively.

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describing his home district of Bēth-Šaronāyē, 28 Thomas tells about a portentous tree characterizing that religious landscape.29 “In the district called Bēth-Šaronāyē in which our village was situated there was a great old oak, which was called the ‘chief of the forest’; 30 and in the villages round about it there were heathens who used to burn incense to it, and who worshipped before it, and we wished to cut it down, but we were afraid of the heathens who worshipped it, and also of the devil which appeared therein…Now when the Bishop (i.e Mār Īšōʿ-Zkha) 31 approached the tree and saw its beauty, which was caused by the exceeding care shewn to it, and learned that it was the god of the heathens who dwelt in these villages…he cried to the Lord, saying, ‘O Lord of heaven and earth, uproot this god who receiveth together with thee worship and tithes;’ and at his word the branches of that tree turned downwards, and its roots grew upwards…”. (Budge 1893 I: 109–110; II: 242–243)

Some specific points of this story sound remarkable, as the communitarian aspects of the tree worship that involved the population of the district. The old tree represented a landmark of the sacred landscape, attracting forms of worship, offerings and pious attentions of the villagers, as also appears elsewhere in the book. 32 Moreover, the descriptions of this kind of tree evoke 28

29 30 31

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Ca. 80 km NE of Mosul, in Bēth Dāsen and Salakh areas. Equally interesting are Thomas’ references to the modality of transmission of this specific account: Budge (1893 II: 242). On this episode see also F. Jullien (2014: 163, n.49). 0;b9 4Or Mār Īšōʿ-Zkha was a revered monk from Bēth-ʿAbē (i.e. the same monastery whose leading figures Thomas exalts) and the Bishop of Salakh. About his spiritual and ecstatic prowess the Book of Governors says: “he made his soul of a bird which was accustomed to fly upwards always, the object of the vision and meditation of which was beyond its body”. Budge (1893 II: 240). He dwelled in a cell close to Gār Kāhnē in proximity of the Bēth-ʿAbē monastery. According to a preceding passage, Budge (1893 II: 241), Mar Īšōʿ-Zkha seems to have had a specific power over the vegetal realm, since a curse of his withered the vineyard of an aristocrat named Farrox-Windād. Many of the holy characters portrayed by Thomas of Marga share some “shamanic” traits, see e.g. John of Deylam or Mar Gabriel called ‘the Dancer’, Budge (1893 II: 246) and Abba Ḥananyā ‘of the wild goats’, Budge (1893 II: 268). Thomas provides a further description of analogous customs in that area, narrating the deeds of Mar John, Budge (1893 II: 634–636) in a valley of Mt. Kardō called Barzai (possibly from an Iranian etymon: bɘrɘz-/burz = high) and in the pagan village of Kōph (lit. Mountain). The narration here seems in tune with well-known stereotypes reporting the cult of idols and the presence of Magi and Manichaeans. However, the description of the venerated olive-tree recalls formulaic patterns occurring in different sources and stressing the mighty features of this prodigious trees (see also infra): “the worship of which (i.e. the olive tree) Satan had led them on by reason of the beauty and splendour

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patterns and formulas also apparent in much older sources related to the Iranian context and praising the extraordinary features of these specimens. 33 Secondly, the oak tree was specifically labelled ‘Chief of the Forest’ and assumed to be the recipient of numinous presence. Lastly, the outcome of the bishop’s invocations, causing the uprooting of the tree, seems to be something more than a rhetorical device. We will return to the first two points later on, but the last calls for immediate explanation. In the final passage, Thomas heightens his “accursed tree” narrative through assimilation and distortion of a meaningful symbol, namely that of the “inverted/reversed tree”, which in many traditions is related to the cosmological concept of the axis mundi and its connection with the heavenly essence. 34 While this symbolic image finds almost universal dissemination and attestation in Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, we find a parallel of the Bēth-Šaronāyē-like “reversed tree” in a later tradition developed in the very same geographical area. In this case, however, it is associated with its most appropriate cosmological scenario. Thanks to the persistence of the image in its authentic significance we can appreciate the intention of the Christian authors and the effectiveness of their metaphorical inversion, giving us the opportunity to ex-

33

34

of its growth, the abundance of its fruit and the density of its foliage”. Budge (1893 I: 370; II: 635). Indicative is Herodotus’ description (7.31) of the attentions paid by the Great king Xerxes to an extraordinary tree in Phrygia: “he came across a plane tree of such beauty that he was moved to decorate it with golden ornaments and to leave behind one of his Immortals [i.e. the royal guard] to guard it”. See Briant (2002: 234); Lincoln (2009: 184– 185, with references). Cf. the gold plane tree exhibited at the court of the Persian great kings: Briant (2002: 235–236); Kuhrt (2007: 539–540). The elements in Thomas’ evidence find a very old term of comparison in the ninth book of the Rigveda, the one dedicated to the sacred ritual element of soma – cf. with the Iranian haoma. Here we find: “Den Baum (lit. vanaspati; ‘the lord of the forest’) salbe du Geläuterter mit deinem süßen Strome, den tausend zweigigen, grünen, strahlenden, goldenen”. (hymn 5.10; tr. Geldner 1951: 14). Along with that, an assortment of formulas involving the cosmic tree and its connections with the royal figure also appear in the Jewish tradition in the books of Ezekiel (31.2–9) and Daniel (4.7–9, 17–19). On the close and metaphorical ties between the figure of the sovereign and tree in the context of near eastern royal ideology and cultic customs see Widengren (1951 esp. pp. 42–58), Zubani (2020: 267–290), also for later period, and below. Similar metaphorical discourses are still echoed in classic Persian epics as Šāhnāma and Vīs u Rāmīn: Busse (1971); Terribili (2020: 7–9, with references). On this cross-cultural and multi-layered symbol see Kagarow (1929); Coomaraswamy (1938); Eliade (1953 §. 100); Reat (1975: 178), and Charalampidis (1995: 19).

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plore its adaptation to different religious systems. In an orally transmitted text the Yezidis – i.e. the ethno-religious group that originated in the 12th century CE in the mountain region of Šeikan, north east of Mosul, and later spread through eastern Taurus and southern Anatolia – 35 preserve the image of the “reversed tree”, namely the Gew(ar) tree, with a positive sense.36 “That was the tree named Ghew Its head below, its roots above The angels took the light from the uppermost height The King was one (aspect) of that”. (Prayer of Belief (Dûʾa Baweriyê); tr. Omarkhali 2009–2010: 214)

We have already met various elements of these verses in this paper, while not surprisingly the Yezidis’ cosmological system has its axis mundi in terms of an endless tree (Dara Herherê), description of which shares many points of contact with the old Iranian cosmological vision. 37 Here the symbolic inversion assumes a deep meaning, structuring the connective element between the spiritual world and ours. Likewise, according to the Yezidi tradition the sacred epicentre of the material world, i.e. the holy shrine of Lalish, reflects a heavenly and spiritual archetype called the ‘Throne of God’. 38 The image of a “reversed tree” traversed by angels bringing the light of knowledge down from the heavenly seat articulates the cosmological connections between these two spheres of the existence and their analogical reflections, even enhancing the significance of the shrine of Lalish itself. On the other hand, Thomas’ account suggests that images related to the “reversed tree”-type circulated in the cultural environment of that area some centuries before the arrival of Shaykh ʿAdi and the formation of the Yezidi community from the group of his followers. 35 36 37

38

On this community see recently Açikyildiz (2010) and Asatrian – Arakelova (2014). See Kreyenbroek – Rashow (2005: 104); Omarkhali (2009–2010: 214–215). Kreyenbroek (1995: 54) suggested some connections between the Yezidi cosmic tree and the Zoroastrian cosmogonic myth, see also Omarkhali (2009–2010: 213) and below. Comparable aspects persisted in the Armenian folklore: Russell (2008: 69). Along with that, the Yezidis were acquainted with the Biblical and apocryphal Tree of Knowledge/Tree of Life within a myth of Adam and Eve which resonates with Gnostic and Manichaean influences, see Spät (2013: 167–202). For a broad overview on the tradition of the Tree of Life in Jewish, Christian and extrabiblical literary and iconographic evidence, see Estes (2020). Açikyildiz (2009; id. 2010: 131–146); see these concepts in the Yezidi Song of the Commoner, Spät (2013: 285–346).

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More generally speaking, the story of Mār Īšōʿ-Zkha and the BēthŠaronāyē tree evokes a system of communal religiosity that could have been largely embedded in the milieu of the macro-region taken into consideration here. In fact the episode in the Book of Governors does not appear to be unique, for a parallel account provides information about the native population of Mōgān, in north-west Iran. 39 The core of the story, which accounts for the foundation of the local Christian community and its institutions by the bishop Mār Elijah, is highly detailed and describes a religious complex centred on a venerated tree. 40 On arriving in that region, in order to demonstrate the superiority of his faith in Christ the holy man took it on himself to dismantle the autochthonous beliefs: “We (i.e. the native population) have Yazd, 41 whom our grandfathers, fathers and ourselves have worshipped…He (i.e. Mār Elijah) said to them, ‘where is this Yazd, the son of a whore, whom ye and your fathers have served?’ And they went with him and shewed him from the top of a hill a mighty oak tree, situated in a valley, which was called the ‘chief of the forest’, 42 and which owing to length of time and the care with which they had tended it, had grown to a great height, and had acquired great breadth in its girth, and great density of foliage…He hewed down all its ancient strength and thickness with three strokes of the axe; and he smote and cut down also the rest of the branches which were round about it, and which those erring people called the ‘children of Yazd’ 43”. (Budge 1893 I: 283–284; II: 511–512)

Many points in this story find correspondence with the previous account, including the communal aspect of the cult, the characteristics of the mighty tree tended by the villagers, the appellative given to it, and its connection with the manifestation of the numinous. The Syriac Life of John of Dailam, which narrates the miraculous deeds of a further charismatic figure connected with the monastery of Bēth-ʿAbē, reports a similar story of dendrolatry in the contiguous region of Deylam – NW Iran –, although the versions in our possession present the topic in a more concise and stereotyped fashion. 44 39 40 41 42 43 44

The historical region roughly corresponding to the plain stretching north from the Mt. Sabalān, near the city of Ardabīl, toward the Aras River. Budge (1893 II: 508–513); see also Berti (2011: 99–104) and Jullien, F. (2014: 163– 164). dzEy 0;b9 4Or udzEyd Yh^wAnb Life of John of Dailam §§. 16–17; Brock (1981: 137, 146–147, 163), for some variations on the episode see Brock (1981: 161); for the Sogdian version see Sims-Williams 2014; id. 2015.

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By contrast, in his account of Mār Elijah’s deeds Thomas adds some interesting information – for instance, that the worship was practised and transmitted through generations and the use of the appropriate Iranian term for divine being, i.e. yazd. In this regard, the specific reference to the trees grown from the seed of the prodigious oak and called the ‘Children of Yazd’ offers us insight into the layered structure of the cultural complex of the sacred tree. The offspring of the mighty oak seems to have been accorded great consideration by the native population: it took its place in that sacred landscape and was included in the cultural system revolving around it. The information shows a parallel with a well-attested feature in the sacred tree phenomenology, according to which this kind of tree was also connected with group genealogies and generative potentialities. In this framework the sacred tree and its offspring acquire a metonymic and tangible sense, representing the link between community ancestors and lineage descent. 45 As a matter of fact, mention of the Iranian-Zoroastrian common term for an entity worthy of worship, yazd (Av. yazata-), suggests that here Thomas is probably referring to an authentic reality on the ground and not merely a rhetorical trope. Once again, folkloric data reinforce our perspective; in his essay, based on his own travel experience, R.H.W. Empson notes that a Kurd tribe associated the deity known to them as Yazīd with tree worship. 46 Although circumstantiated, Empson’s note does not provide a more extensive description of the phenomenon. Nevertheless, it is worth observing that both the name of the divine being involved and the geographical proximity of the scenario consistently fit with the framework of our case study. The assumption of the intimate interplay between cultic realities and literary tropes finds an intriguing term of comparison in the neighbouring Armenian tradition. The historian Grigor Magistros (d. 1058), for instance, mentions the oak of Aramazd (Arm. kałnin aramazdean), contrasting it with

45 46

Eliade (1953 §. 113). See also below. Empson (1928: 178). Empson mentions the tribe as ‘the Târhôya’. In the same text, the author reports an alternative account on the origin of the Yezidi according to which the founder of the religious group should be identified in a Târhôya Kurd named ʾAdi (104– 105). The Târhôya should therefore correspond to the Taïrahites described in the Chronicon Syriacum of Gregorious Bar Hebraeus, see Nau and Tfinkdji (1915–1917: 145 and passim).

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the paradigmatic stick and tree of Abraham. 47 Likewise, in another Medieval text appears an ‘Aramazd of the grove’ (Arm. mairekan Aramazd), possibly indicating that trees were closely associated with this god who, according to the Zoroastrian tradition, is the yazata/yazd par excellence. 48 In the Armenian Pre-Christian and later folkloric tradition, the veneration paid to extraordinary trees appears to be closely connected with the religious culture, its forms of expression and practices of divination. 49 Not surprisingly, also taking into consideration the old links between the two Christian communities, it is possible to observe in Armenian texts a scenario close to that portrayed in the Syriac sources, with analogous dynamics of rejection/assimilation and use of paradigmatic, narrative motifs. In this framework a passage in the History of the Albanians, attributed to Movsēs Kałankatowacʿi, 50 shows striking parallels with Thomas’ account of Mār Elijah and various other Syriac passages previously mentioned, 51 suggesting that the assimilation and readaptation of the motif of the holy man and accursed tree was functional even within the Armenian narrative and befitting to that cultural context: “L’évêque, 52 donna l’ordre d’abattre un arbre qui était chef et mère de tous les autres arbres et que l’on considérait comme sauveur des dieux et source de la vie, donateur de tous les biens; car ces hauts chênes à frondaison touffue étaient adores, comme l’idole immonde 47

48

49

50 51

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Russell (1987: 164). Pre-Christian Armenia shares many traits with the Iranian culture; the presence of a great god, Aramazd – cf. Ohrmazd in Middle Iranian sources – is among the most conspicuous. For a comprehensive overview of the subject see Russell (1987). Russell (1987: 163, 388); Russell succinctly associates these occurrences with the influence of Zeus’ Dodona oak. Despite Grigor’s familiarity with Greek literature, such an explanation is, in our opinion, not needed here since it would deprive Grigor’s analogy of some vigour. See e.g. Russell (1987: 163, 375; 522 and n.30). On the other hand, eyewitness accounts by Rev. G. Wilson (1895: 132–133) show that, even in the late 19th century, reverence of sacred tree and related taboos were still much credited by the Armenian villagers dwelling in the highlands east of Mōgān plain. In fact, Mōgān and the adjacent regions seem to attest to a persistence of this phenomenon, see also below. The bulk of this work deals with events occurred in the 7th–8th century but the final redaction belongs to the early 12th century. See also the story of the Syriac monk Mār Aḥā who preached in 4th-century south Armenia; there he converted the inhabitants of a village on the Arsanias River (mod. Murat, the eastern branch of the Euphrates sources) and built a church. See Russell (1987: 386 and n.59). Namely Israyēl, the one converting the Honastankʿ people (Huns). The episode occurred in 681 in the environs of the city of Varačʿan in the region of mod. Daghestan, Dowsett (1961: 153); Bais (2001: 41, 180).

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Taking into account the common traits shared by these stories, it appears clear that the exploits against mighty trees attributed to Mār Māri, Noh of Arbela, John of Deylam, Mār Īšōʿ-Zkha, Mār Elijah and the bishop Israyēl functioned as pivotal points in pious narrative dealing with evangelization and conversion, and included geographical areas that maintained close socio-cultural relationships. Accordingly, these accounts pursue a common aim, namely glorification of Christian shrines and institutions through the fabrication of foundational and authoritative legends. On comparison, all these stories also comprise a consistent cultural complex of native religious imagery including both formulaic expressions and rhetorical models, as well as practices and beliefs. 56 This prompts us to extend our view, as far as is possible within the limits of this paper, to some references to mythic or prodigious trees in the Iranian and Zoroastrian tradition. 3. THE TREE, THE KING AND THE GOD; COMPARISON WITH EVIDENCE FROM THE IRANIAN TRADITION Despite the chronological and geographical issues regarding many Zoroastrian sources, comparison with the Iranian milieu proves crucial for evaluating the contribution of this tradition to the cross-cultural discourse and 53 54 55

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I.e. the Iranian hero Spandyād/Isfandyār; see below and Cristoforetti (2007). On the phenomenological meaning of this passage in the light of Iranian tradition, see Cristoforetti (2007: 149–153). On the passage see also von Stackelberg (1904: 857) and Cristoforetti (2007: 152). Eventually, from the wood of this tree the bishop carved a decorated cross that became an object of pilgrimage, Dowsett (1961: 164). For a full translation of chapters 40–41 (Book II), where mention of the cultic cluster Aspandiat-sacred tree repeatedly appears, see Dowsett (1961: 155–166). See the letter of the Catholicos Narseh the Graceful (d. 1173) to the priests of Samosata for the conversion of the Armenian Arewordikʿ (the Sons of the Sun) and abjuration of their old beliefs which included the worship of trees and demons dwelling in it, Russell (1987: 535). In this case the association between the wood of the sacred tree and that of the holy cross is overtly condemned, attesting to this kind of hybridization in the living religion and a different approach to the matter, cf. above n.55. In the same framework the letter by Yovhannēs of Awjun (8th century) against Armenian Paulicians makes reference to cultic practices beneath oaks, poplars and leafy trees including the formula “You are my father” addressed to them by worshippers: Russell (1987: 538).

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to better understand the cultural background of the rural – mountain communities of north and western Iran. As in many ancient traditions, Zoroastrian texts also reveal a sophisticated vision of the cosmic tree, its role in the development of primeval life, and its healing/life-giving powers. 57 On the other hand, Avestan texts suggest that the ancient Iranians recognised sacred forests as communal sacred areas. 58 Along with these conceptions, some historical sources also bear traces of the reverence cultivated in royal milieu toward exceptional trees in the context of both Iranian and Armenian dynasties. 59 A parallel nexus can be found in the Dēnkard résumé of the Sūdgar Nask (9.16.13), 60 where the topic is projected into a mythological and eschatological dimension. The passage lists seven undying kings as instruments of the eternal triumph of the good creation against the assault of death 61 including among these figures the cosmic tree (wan ī jud bēš, ‘the tree against pain’) 62 situated in ērānwēz – i.e. the legendary heartland of the Aryan people. 57

58 59

60 61 62

The Avesta refers to two mythic trees, the Gaokɘrɘna and Saēna, see e.g. Boyce (1975: 137). The Pahlavi texts echo the nature of these primeval trees through their qualifications, as in the case of e.g. wan ī harwisp tōxmag (the tree of all seeds), frārōn bizēšk (the righteous healer), wan ī jud bēš (the tree against pain), see Lincoln (2009: 181–182). Cf. the healing qualities of the tree named Theombrotion in Pliny (Nat.Hist. 24.162), connected with the Achaemenid king, Lincoln (2009: 185–186). Traces of the old Iranian conceptions also inform the Manichaean image of the cosmic tree: Colditz (2009: 61). The allegorical use of the “cosmic” tree imagery occurs in the Pahlavi texts for describing historical ages and the good creation in the Zand ī Wahman Yasn (chap. 1. 6–11; 2.19–29) and Škand Gumānīg Wizār (chap. 1) respectively. Gershevitch (1974: 60–66). For some references to tree worship in pre/proto-Zoroastrian Iran see Boyce (1975: 143, 176) and (1982: 165). Fully integrated with other western Asian cultures including Elam, Babylonia, Assyria and Urartu, the Achaemenid world offers interesting elements relevant to this subject matter; see Briant (2002: 234–238); Kuhrt (2007: 539–540); Lincoln (2009: 183–186); for Elamite attestations on sacred trees, see Henkelman (2008: 441–443). References to the symbolism of the cosmic-sacred tree and its link with the royal persona and cultic practices also characterize the Armenian milieu in both pre- and Christian period, see above, Russell (1987: 32) and the paradigmatic legend of king Anushavan Sawsanuēr, ‘the one of immortal soul, devoted to the plane tree’ by Moses Khorenatsʿi, Thomson (1978: 107–108). The connection between the king and the tree persisted long in Iranian royal ideology and literary representations, see Widengren (1951), Zubani (2020: 267– 290), and below. Vevaina (2010: 217). Vevaina (2010: 222–226). Cf. the analogous list in Dādestān ī Dēnīg, Vevaina (2010: 223) and the Pahlavi Rivāyat accompanying the Dādestān ī Dēnīg, Williams (1990 II: 91).

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In a broader, Zoroastrian perspective the flourishing of plants is a manifestation of the creating and life-giving power of god, while protection of them has high priority among the attentions believers must dedicate to the elements of creation in the light of the cosmic struggle against the forces of evil and the pollution they bring. 63 So it was that interest in the integrity of this essential element inspired praises and acts of reverence throughout the ages. With regard of our topic, there are some highly significant accounts in both the Zoroastrian texts and the Islamic sources related to the tradition, involving the paradigmatic figure of Zarathustra and prodigious trees. In this framework the story narrated in the Šāhnāma about the prodigious cypress of Kašmar 64 and the affirmation of the Good Revelation on earth stands out on account of its complexity and symbolic imagery. 65 The account is related to the legendary cycle regarding king Wištāsp’s conversion and sounds like an elegy, full of metaphorical meanings, magnifying the central role of a sacred sanctuary. The story introduces a theme that, according to other evidence, seems to have been broadly cultivated in the region of Khorasan (NE Iran) and more specifically in the context of the fire-sanctuary of Ādur Burzen-Mihr. 66 The motif, in fact, appears closely associated with the foundation of this sacred institution and its mythic origins, which have to do with the momentous event of king Wištāsp’s conversion. Drawing on a genuine Zoroastrian tradition, the Šāhnāma account tells us that a prodigious cypress, brought by Zarathustra from the heavenly regions, was planted on earth in front of the entrance to the newly built fire temple and became a symbolic sign of religious piety for all mankind. 67 The tree has no 63 64

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The Aməša Spənta Amərətāt/Amurdād is the divine being directly involved in protection of the vegetal kingdom: Boyce (1982: 165). Kašmar is located in Khorasanian Kūhestān, about 130 km south of Nīšāpūr. A mighty and venerated cypress tree embellished that place until 861 A.D. when, on the orders of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil, it was cut down: Terribili (2020: 6, n.20, 8–9 with references). See more extensively Terribili (2020: 4–10 with references). See also Dahlen (2011: 131–132). Khaleghi-Motlagh (1988–2008 (V): 79, v.39, p.84, v.85); Warner (1905–1925 (5): 33– 35). An episode in the Life of John of Dailam, shows how such kinds of miraculous stories cross-culturally circulated throughout late antique and mediaeval Iran; in one version of this Christian hagiography an angel visited the Saint giving him three rods of pomegranate (pomegranate twigs are of liturgical use in Zoroastrian rituals) and showing him three locations in the region of Fars. In the very same spots, the holy man planted

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equal in the world; it is an astonishing size, and Zarathustra wrote upon it a sentence in memory of Wištāsp’s conversion, while the king invited men to embrace the True Revelation and come to the shrine and its prodigious tree on foot. Thus, the account stresses the spiritual and cosmological role of both the fire-temple and its cypress-tree as the immanent transposition of the demoncrushing law propagated by Zarathustra. 68 Drawing on well-established patterns, the metaphorical phraseology of the text makes of this tree a symbol of the Zoroastrian revelation itself and conveys the metonymical transfers between the image of the prodigious tree and the shielding charisma of both the prophet and king. 69 Memory of this formulaic language also resurfaces in the Muslim historians who deal with the fate of the cypress-tree in Kašmar. On the other hand, there is heterogeneous evidence of the importance of the prodigious tree image in the cultural scenario of Khorasan, with both practical and literary implications, including the rhetorical and compositional skills of the professional story-tellers and poets. 70 In these cases, too, the sources reveal various aspects of this cultural complex and its multifaceted interactions with society. As a locus of cultural identity, the Khorasan tree and Zarathustra’s cypress conflate cultural institutions which are crucial in constructing native

68

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the rods, which later grew into trees, and founded three corresponding monasteries: Brock (1981: 164–165). Particularly evident is the nexus between the tree and the heavenly sphere. The cypress symbolically marks the access to afterlife bliss and with its ample shade is a metaphor of god-given protection. Moreover, the long eulogy of the tree and its sacred space ends with the image of Zarathustra shackling a demon (dīv) in fetters: Khaleghi-Motlagh (1988–2008 (V): 84, v.83–85) and Dahlen (2011: 132). Terribili (2020: 5–6). On the literary echoes of the king and the cosmic tree motif in the Šāhnāma, see Busse (1971). Interestingly, the Manichaean tradition preserves an account fashioned in Iranian epic lore in which the sage Danaan and king Chasro (i.e. Kay Khosrow) interact with a prodigious tree giving access to paradise, the Land of the Light: BeDuhn (2015: 144–146). Similarly, as stated above, also the Šāhnāma cypress is said to lead believer’s souls in their ascension to the paradise (mēnō); see Dahlen (2011: 132 with references). Given the relevance of Kay Khosrow’s pious deeds and eschatological role in both the religious and epic Iranian traditions it is not surprising that such a kind of motif could have been found its development and dissemination in the literary tradition of the Arsacid-Sasanian commonwealth, eventually influencing Manichaean imagery. Terribili (2020: 7–11).

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memories, community participation, and the geomorphisation of social and cosmological principles into the local landscape. Further evidence regarding the Zoroastrian tradition confirms the vitality of these associations and brings us back to the main area of investigation, in the great region of Ādurbādagān. In his work on religions and sects (Kitāb alMilal wa al-Niḥal), the Muslim heresiographer Šahrastānī (11th–12th century CE), cites an account of Zarathustra according to which the spiritual essence of the Iranian prophet was lodged, before his material birth, in a heavenly tree then brought to the earth, on a mountain in the north-western region of Ādurbādagān. 71 “Ensuite, il [i.e. Ohrmazd] mit l’esprit (rūḥ) 72 de Zoroastre dans un arbre qu’Il fit pousser au plus haut de Illiyyūn (i.e. the highest level of paradise) puis planta au sommet d’une montagne d’Āḏarbayğān appelée le mont Asnavand”. 73 (tr. Gimaret-Monnot 1986: 642)

The account reflects authentic Zoroastrian conceptions and finds parallels in the Pahlavi book of Dēnkard VII (2.22–35) 74 in which the spiritual entities Amahraspands encapsulated Zarathuštra’s fravaši within a twig of sacred hōm, planting it in Mt. Asnavand. 75 Collecting the data from these two sources and other passages from Pahlavi literature, the scenario appears clear. The Zoroastrian tradition cultivated a legend on the pre-existence of Zarathustra’s 71

72

73

74 75

See Molé (1963: 286); Darrow (1987: 131); Crone (2012: 368). In the same passage, Šahrastānī adds the story of the child Zarathustra fed with the milk of a cow that grazed a prodigious plant on a mountain in Ādurbādagān: Gimaret – Monnot (1986: 643). Behind this Arabic term possibly lies the Iranian concept of fravaši/frawahr (i.e. the preexistent and eternal soul) as the comparison with the parallel story of Dēnkard VII suggests, see below. The text spells the name of the Iranian mythic mountain in a corrupted form, i.e. Mt. Asmawizichar. Mt. Asnavand occurs in Avesta and was traditionally associated with mythic lakes (i.e. lakes Čēčast and Kay Khosrow) and the great sacred fire of ĀdurGušnasp, which in the Sasanian period stood in the region of Ādurbādagān, see Boyce (1983); Terribili (2021 with references). Molé (1967: 18–21); see also (Molé 1963: 284–287); Darrow (1987: 113–118, 131). The Dēnkard passage however does not specify the region where the mountain stands. The hōm (Av. haoma) plant and its extract represent the essential element of the Zoroastrian Yasna liturgy. The text continues with the following legend: this hōm twig containing Zarathustra’s fravaši was then placed in a bird’s nest on a tree in a nonspecified mountain. The twig protected the birds from snakes; it was later picked up by Zarathustra’s father, Purušāsp, after a pious service and brought to the prophet’s future mother, Dugdōw. For the nexus Divine-beings, birds, and the primordial tree in Yezidis tradition, see e.g. Furlani (1940: 24).

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soul staged in a mythical scenario whose symbolism evoked the main features of the axis mundi complex. The hōm twig and the tree on the mountain incubate the spirit of the future prophet within a symbolically charged space that includes features frequently attributed to the phenomenology of the sacred mountain. 76 On the other hand, the Dēnkard account emphasizes the association between Zarathustra and the sacred hōm, 77 stressing the metonymical relation of their shared salvific functions. Consequently, in the narrative the fact that this salvific-healing principle is seized from a prodigious tree vividly evokes the image of the old myth of the cosmic-life-giving tree, with which the IndoIranian concept of Haoma-Soma is in fact closely associated. 78 Corroboration of these metaphorical networks is provided by the Dādestān ī Dēnīg (48.16), where the material birth of Zarathustra, having passed through the hōm substance, is explicitly referred to as symbolic of the Gōkarn (Av. gaokərəna) tree because of his function in procuring renewal of corporeal existence. 79 Throughout history, many elements of the Avestan mythic topography, including the sacred Mt. Asnavand, were associated with the region of Ādurbādagān, opening the way to possible transpositions in actual geography. Šahrastānī’s account shows how the priestly circles adapted old traditions and key motifs in the prophet’s biography, reinventing a mythical landscape in the context of a familiar one. With regard to our topic, the geographical location of the story, as well as the theme of the heavenly-soul principle preserved by the tree, also evokes Thomas' account in the nearby region of Mōgān (i.e. North Ādurbādagān). In the same area, in fact, an historical mountain charged

76

77 78 79

The sacred mountain appears to be a typical constituent of the religious or cultic topography of our macro-area; see e.g. Monneret de Villard (1952), Scarcia (2010). See the tradition of the so-called mons victorialis related to the Magi’s practices and predictions described by the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum “Hi ergo per singulos annos, post messem trituratoriam, ascendebant (i.e. the Magi) in montem aliquem positum ibi, qui vocabatur lingua eorum Mons Victorialis, habens in se quandam speluncam in saxo, fontibus et electis arboribus amoenissimus: in quem ascendentes et lavantes se, orabant et laudabant in silentio Deum tribus diebus, et sic faciebant per singulas generationes…”. Bidez-Cumont (1938 II: 119–120). On this relationship see extensively Molé (1963) and Darrow (1987). Darrow (1987: 118–120). West (1882: 164–165); see also Molé (1963: 287) and Darrow (1987: 118, n.31).

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with sacredness, namely Mt. Sabalān – south of Mōgān, 80 offers evidence of the association between the complex of the prodigious tree and the previously mentioned hero Spandyād/Spandyār (NP. Esfandiyār). 81 This latter was a son of king Wištāsp and one of the most celebrated champions of the Iranian epos. His sagas reveal traits of an Arsacid North-western tradition and frequent allusions to the “Baumkultus” phenomenology. 82 According to the Armenian historian Grigor Magistros (11th century), 83 the hero Spandyād, was entrapped on Mt. Sabalān, where a venerated cedar tree was also associated with him, and indeed with the origin of local towns. 84 “The cedar of Sabalān, about which the Parthians (Partʿewcʿ) 85 say that three cities were built of its branches, whilst its root and trunk were transformed into rock: Spandyār erected it as a monument”. (Letter XV (K 76), tr. Russell 1987: 190)

The passage reveals the foundational nature of the legend behind it, indicating that native communities symbolically linked the narrative of their origin to a tree located in the revered Mt. Sabalān and to a hero that, 86 more generally speaking, played an outstanding role in the construction of Arsacid-Sasanian identity. 87 Similarly, the insistence on the tree-rock nexus substantiates the memory of a foundation and revives a recurrent pairing in the definition of the sacred landscape. 88 In the same Letter Grigor introduces a further example of

80

81 82

83 84 85

86 87 88

Monneret de Villard (1952: 143–145) made a penetrating analysis of the relation between the sacred-mountain typology and Mt. Sabalān in NE Ādurbādagān; see also Terribili (2021: 230–236). See Russell (1987: 190–193); Terribili (2021: 235). von Stackelberg (1904: 875); Cristoforetti (2007) with references to literary examples. The Spandyād-sacred tree nexus appears to be a persistent element of the native identity characterizing the self-conception of the aristocratic clans of that area, as attested by a late folkloric case regarding the clan of the Bagratuni, von Stackelberg (1904: 875). He belonged to the Arsacid-descendance clan of Pahlavuni. See Chalathiantz (1896: 220–221); Tchukasizian (1964: 323–325); Russell (1987: 190). At the time of Grigor Magistros, writing during the Bagratuni kingdom of Armenia, this reference could have indicated the people dwelling in the region of the city of Partaw (mod. Bərdə, mod. Rep. of Azerbaigian), the former capital of the Caucasian Albania kingdom (i.e. the historical region of Arrān) and by that time the centre of the Caliphal authorities in the region. Hypothetically, being united by the very same founding event the three cities also shared a communal sacred space. Yarshater (1998), see also Boyce (1955: 473). Eliade (1953 §. 97); see also with the foundational legend in in the Life of John of Dailam, see above n.67.

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the “Parthian” tree and provides information on the communal festivals held around sacred spaces characterized by this element. “Es gibt bei den Parthern noch einen Baum, welchen sie Šamatšhu (Var. Tšhamatšhu) nennen, d.h. bestimmt für Knaben und Jünglinge: man steckt ihn in die Erde während der Ringkämpfe, bei den Faustkämpfen und behängt ihn mit einer grossen Anzahl von reichen Geschenken, welche dem ersten Sieger als Preis zu Theil werden”. (Letter XV (K 76), tr. Chalathiantz 1896: 221)

The text is rich in data comparable with the cultic complex emerging here. The tree had a specific denomination and was linked with new generations and, apparently, with the planting of seedlings, the hanging of offerings on the tree, and festivals with ritual challenges and rewards. Actually, Mt. Sabalān particular associations with the prodigious tree imagery seems to echo in later sources. According to a passage by the Muslim geographer Qazvīnī (13th century), listing the marvels of Ādurbādagān, the sacredness of this mountain is described in its different constituents which include an extraordinary tree surrounded by taboos and jinns. “On it (i.e. Mt. Sabalān) is one of the graves of the prophets…On the top of the mountain is a large spring, the water of which is frozen on account of the severe cold; and around the mountain are hot springs to which sick people come. At the foot of the mountain is a large tree, and under this there is a plant to which no animal will draw near. If it comes near it, the animal flees away; if it eats of it, it dies. This, as tradition reports, is the residence of jinns”. 89

The examples illustrated here demonstrate the continuous re-adaptation of narrative motifs and mythical geography within the horizons of local landscapes. The communal sacred place reproduces its salient features adapting them to the surrounding, and transforming, religious context. The adaptability of the sacred tree complex and its cohesion with the regional socio-cultural horizon allowed for its interplay with different religious systems and its continuous assimilation in the framework of cultural changes. 4. A LONGUE DURÉE PERSPECTIVE. THE ENDURANCE OF THE PRODIGIOUS TREE COMPLEX IN THE AREA With the advent of Islam, a crucial new development fashioned the cultural context of western Asia, gradually exerting its impact in the regions analysed here. And in this case, too, the textual sources reveal the cross-cultural inter89

Tr. Ousley (1819: 386) and Gottheil (1894: 41–42).

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actions fostered by a renovated process of acculturation and reinvention. The new religious system mediated with old customs and the heterogeneous communities characterizing the social fabric of that territory. From its very origins Islam itself had had its own conceptions related to prodigious trees. 90 The visions of the otherworld, for instance, are populated with symbolic and highly extolled trees that mark the paradisiac landscape and extend their protective shade over it. 91 In the context of our case study, the example of the story of the Gourd tree and prophet Jonah/Yūnus 92 offers a glimpse into the multi-layered intersections of Biblical motifs and JudeoChristian and Islamic traditions with native beliefs and practices. In the early Islamic period the old account of Jonah/Yūnus found its setting in the extra-urban area of Mosul on the ancient site of Nineveh, thus resemanticizing a landscape where the presence of prodigious trees had already been recognised. 93 Here, in fact, the Biblical story finds a reification or geomorphisation that substantiates the foundational legend of the muchfrequented mausoleum of Yūnus. This devotional centre was connected with both a healing spring (ʿAyn Yūnus) and the tree associated with this prophet. Thus, these physical places evoked the story of Jonah/Yūnus and constituted a sacred circuit for visitors and believers. 94 As in other cases previously explored, the nexus between a representative figure associated with religious revelation and/or proselytism, and a prodigious tree conflates the messages of a pious narrative focused on the establishment of religious institutions and socio-cultural memories. Like their Christian colleagues, the Islamic authors recorded traces of “paganism” (‘Sabianism’, as it was called) in the most impervious areas 90 91 92 93

94

Reat (1975). Lange (2016). Jonah 4,5–11; Apocryphal literature; Qur'ān 37: 139–146. See above. Moreover, prophetic prowess, healing properties and predictive visions are elements that frequently appear in the sources dealing with the Nineveh landscape, characterizing it as a long-lasting lieu de mémoire. See e.g. al-Muqaddasī (late 10th century) who names the tree as Shajarah-al-Yaqṭin, Le Strange (1905: 89). Al-Muqaddasī’s passages suggest that the tradition and practices they describe were firmly rooted at that time. Tangible evidence of the transversal relevance of the Jonah legend in characterizing 10th century sacred spaces in this macroarea is offered by the bas-relief cycle sculpted on the outer walls of the church of the Holy Cross at Aghtʾamar Island – Lake of Van – where the cycle on the prophet is illustrated with the scenes of the whale, Jonah lying on a pomegranate tree, and his predictive revelation to the king of Nineveh, see Lynn (2007: 123–124 with references).

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surrounding Arbela/Irbil, while the Kurds themselves are listed as akin to that socio-cultural native context. 95 Hybridization with the many trends of Islam soon characterized the religious scenario of these peripheral regions, where Sufi orders and heterodox or Shia extremist sects (Ghulāt) often played key roles in mediating between Islam and local communities. 96 The origins in this macro-area of religious groups including the Qizilbāsh, Yezidis and Ahl-i Ḥaqq/Yārisān represent the most substantial example of these dynamics of cross-cultural pollination in the Middle Ages and the early modern era. Study of the living traditions of these communities, settled across the Zagros and eastern Taurus ranges, should yield evidence serving to identify over the long-term variations and developments of motifs closely integrated with the historical and social context of the area. 97 Meanwhile it offers the opportunity to compare theoretical models with actual features related to stillfrequented sacred spaces and their living traditions. In this perspective, Yezidi lore offers many elements of comparison in the sphere of both mythic conceptions and living beliefs. As an element of continuity, specific trees are still revered today in the context of Yezidi shrines and mausoleums. 98 Often the Yezidis accorded to them proper names and association with a holy figure, as well as healing qualities. In the case of Lalish, the epicentre of the Yezidis’ worship and cultural identity, the four mulberry trees located in the inner courtyard before Shaykh ʿAdi’s sanctuary are reputed to possess healing properties; they stand as objects of devotional acts, and form part of the sacred landscape surrounding the community founder’s mausoleum. 99 Other mulberry trees in the region are venerated for having healing qualities; the fact that those trees bear proper names such as Sitt Nafīsah, ʿAbdi Rašān or Shaykh

95 96 97 98

99

Hämeen-Anttila (2006: 126, n.39, 127). See Moosa (1988) and Crone (2012 with references). On the presence of revered trees within the circuit of Ahl-i Ḥaqq shrines in the Gurān area (between Qaṣr-e Širin and Kermānšāh), see van Bruinessen (1995). See e.g. Furlani (1940); Kreyenbroek (1995: 73–74, 148); and accounts of Yezidi practices regarding revered trees in Drower (1941: 27–29, 43, 46, 50, 63, 85, 89, 92, 141, 157–158, 161). It should be stressed out that dendrolatry is not to be identified within Yezidism, see Arakelova (2014:150). Arakelova mentions only one exception to this stance, namely the cultic complex connected to the Dārā mirāzā or “the Trees of Desire”. The scanty information available on this cult appears to refer solely to the Yezidi community of Yerevan, see Nicolaus (2011). Açikyildiz (2009: 310).

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Bakū (Baliko) 100 seems to suggest that they acquire a sacred character in relation to holy figures rather than per se. The motif echoes again in the religious narrative of the Ahl-i Ḥaqq community. Muṣṭafā, one the four archangels accompanying the incarnation of the divinity as Sulṭān Sahāk, is believed to be present in a tree he planted near the Bābā Yādigār’s shrine, west of Kermanshah. 101 Lastly, modern-era European travellers have collected throughout Iran a great deal of information about the devotion of pious Muslims towards old trees and equally plentiful stories concerning venerated men (pīr) or imāms associated with them. 102 In some cases the population believed that the charismatic or soul principle of these holy men resided within extraordinary trees, as the 17th-century account by the Italian diplomat Pietro della Valle explains: “as in a place worthy of veneration, the people respecting large and ancient trees, supposing them to be frequently the receptacles of blessed souls; and calling them, on account of that, Pír or ‘aged’, a name equivalent to the Arabic Sheikh; also Imám…Therefore, when they say that such a tree or such a place is a Pír, they mean that the soul of some holy elder or venerable personage whom they falsely believe blessed, delights to reside in that tree or to frequent that spot”. 103 (tr. by Ousley 1819 I: 375)

Here it seems to be a matter of adaptation of native beliefs to the framework of the dominant culture, with seamless development of the implications of the sacred landscape and its system. The identity of holy men and their souls thus appear to function as elements of mediation, negotiating between two interlaced religious layers. In the same perspective, analysis and sorting of motifs related to prodigious trees should also offer useful data for an understanding of both the rural communities of present-day Kurdistan and its broad network of Sufi confraternities.

100

Joseph (1909: 231); Açikyildiz (2009: 310, n. 17). Bruinessen (1995: 263). 102 See the rich collection of “sacred-tree” accounts gathered by Ousley (1819 I: 371–388). 103 The letter is dated July 16th 1622. 101

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CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, by dint of collation and comparison of relevant evidence concerning the relations between prodigious trees and representative figures in different religious tradition it is possible to appreciate the balance between rhetorical-narrative devices and socio-religious realities within a specific area of investigation. In fact, despite the frequent use of topoi and functional deformations, sources of various types and functions delineate, through a diachronic and spatial continuity, a consistent context encompassing the widespread beliefs in this macro-region. The sources highlight in many ways the intertwined dynamics between the foundational figures, sacred places, religious narrative, native social body, and cultural changes. The nexus of holy men, prophets, saints, kings and heroes with sacred trees is well-established, the functions and actions of these figures being closely associated with the sacred spaces and the cosmic-centre symbolism reproduced by them. The holy figures appear either as harmoniously associated with prodigious trees or, on the other hand, protagonists of their uprooting, while the narrative extolls the cultural capital of the tree symbol and its broad reception. Cutting down the locus of communal memory entails detachment from an obsolete cosmological setting, superseding a narrow network and establishing of a new ecumenical system. The recurrent taboos regarding the sacredness of prodigious trees, resurfacing in different sources, enhances the significance and impact of the motif of felling the tree, highlighting the role of the holy man as one who, protected by a superior spiritual power, brings to the fore a new relationship with the numinous. 104 Summing up, our investigation has evidenced 1. The engagement of the native cultural heritage with literacy compositions and strategies of proselytism set by the dominant religions. 2. The persistence of the motif examined in structuring cores of cultural identity, especially with regard to the imagery of community sacred spaces and the festivals gravitating around them. 3. The frequency of discrete patterns as e.g. cosmological symbols, metaphorical images and rhetorical devices, the links with paradigmatic figures or functional qualities. The paper does not have the ambition to answer the many questions all these correlated traits raise; rather, the aim is to trace

104

Similar topics loom large in coeval (5th–11th century) Christian sources from West and North Europe, thus marking patterns of acculturation in newly Christianised areas.

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out fruitful lines of investigation, indicating historical and comparative approaches to them. Overall, the evidence reflects broader patterns of change, which have ceaselessly fashioned the religious awareness and affiliation from Late Antiquity on. 105 It is only through integrated analyses applied to selected topics and case studies that we can define the multi-layered trajectories of continuity and variation in an area of cross-cultural contact between different – and often competing – traditions.

105

On the crucial religious transformations occurring in this epoch see e.g. Stroumsa (2015 with references).

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Jullien, Florence (2014) “À la rencontre des religions. Monachisme syro-oriental et mission” in Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, 12(1–2), pp. 153–168. Kagarow, Eugen (1929) “Der umgekehrte Schamanenbaum”, in Archiv für Religionswissenschaft, 27, pp. 183–185. Kawerau, Peter (1985) The Chronicle of Arbela, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 468, Leuven. Khaleghi-Motlagh, Djalal (1988–2008) The Shahnameh of Abu’l-Qasem Ferdowsi, 8 vols., New York. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (1995) Yezidism its Background, Observances and Textual Tradition, Lewiston (NY). Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (2015) “The Yezidi and Yarsan Traditions”, in Michael Stausberg – Yuhan S.D. Vevaina (eds.) The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, Oxford, pp. 499–504. Kreyenbroek, Philip G. – Rashow, Khalil J. (2005) God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect, Sacred Poems and Religious Narratives from the Yezidi Tradition, Wiesbaden. Kuhrt, Amélie (2007) The Persian Empire. A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, London – New York. Lange, Christian (2016) Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions, New York. Le Strange, Guy (1905) The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, London [Rep. 1966]. Lieu, Samuel N.C. (1999) Manichaeism in Mesopotamia and the Roman East, Leiden – Boston – Köln. Lincoln, Bruce (2009) “Implication of Grammatical Number in Iranian Mythology of Vegetation”, in Éric Pirart – Xavier Tremblay (eds.) Zarathustra entre l’Inde et l’Iran. Études indo-iraniennes et indo-européennes offertes à Jean Kellens à l'occasion de son 65e anniversaire, Wiesbaden, pp. 177–188. Lynn, Jones (2007) Between Islam and Byzantium: Aght'amar and the Visual Construction of Medieval Armenian Rulership, London – New York. Matti, Moosa (1988) Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects, Syracuse (NY). Mojaddedi, Jawid (2004) Jalal al-Din Rumi. The Masnavi. Book One, Oxford. Molé, Marijan (1963) Culte, mythe et cosmologie dans l’Iran ancient, Paris. Molé, Marijan (1967) La legende de Zoroastre selon les textes pehlevis, Paris. Monneret de Villard, Ugo (1952) Le leggende orientali sui Magi evangelici, Roma. Nau, François and Tfinkdji, Joseph (1915–1917) “Recueil de textes et de documents sur les Yézidis”, in Revue de l’Orient Chrétien, 20, pp. 142–200. Nicolaus, Peter (2011) “The Serpent Symbolism in the Yezidi Religious Tradition and the Snake in Yerevan”, in Iran and the Caucasus, 15, pp. 49–72. Omarkhali, Khanna (2009–2010) “Yezidi Legends and Myths”, in Folia Orientalia, 45–46, pp. 197–219. Ousley, William (1819) Travels in various countries of the East; more particularly Persia, vol. I, London. Payne, Richard E. (2015) A State of Mixture. Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity, Oakland (Ca). Ramelli, Ilaria L.E. (2008) Atti di Mar Mari, Brescia. Reat, Noble R. (1975) “The tree symbol in Islam”, in Studies in Comparative Religion, 19, pp. 164–182. Russell, James R. (1987) Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Cambridge (Ma).

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Russell, James R. (2008) “Magic Mountains, Milky Seas, Dragon Slayers, and Other Zoroastrian Archetypes”, in Bulletin of the Asian Institute, 22, pp. 57–77. Scarcia, Gianroberto (2010) “Montagne Sacre d’Iran”, in Julien Ries (ed.) Montagna Sacra, Milano, pp. 103–121. Sims-Williams, Nicolas (2014) “An Early Source for the Life of John of Dailam: Reconstructing the Sogdian Version”, in Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, 12(1–2), pp. 121–134. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2015), The Life of Serapion and other Christian Sogdian texts from the Manuscripts E 25 ad E 26, Berliner Turfantexte, 35, Turnhout. Skjærvø, Prods O. (1996) “Zarathustra in the Avesta and in Manicheism: Irano-Manichaica IV”, in La Persia e l’Asia centrale da Alessandro al X secolo, Atti dei convegni Lincei, 127, Roma, pp. 597–628. Spät, Eszter (2013) Late Antique Motifs in Yezidi Oral Tradition, Piscataway (NJ). Stackelberg von, Rudolf (1904) “Die Iranische Schützensage”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 58(4), pp. 853–858. Stroumsa, Guy G. (2015) The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity, Oxford. Sundermann, Werner (1986) [rep. 2001] “Bruchstücke einer manichäischen Zarathustralegende”, in Christiane Reck – Dieter Weber – Claudia Leurini – Antonio Panaino (eds.) Manichaica Iranica. Ausgewählte Schriften von Werner Sundermann, Band 2, Roma, pp. 853–876. Tchukasizian, Boghos L. (1964) “Echos de légends épiques iraniennes dans les ‘lettres’ de Grigor Magistros”, in Revue des études armeniennes, 1, pp. 321–329. Terribili, Gianfilippo (2020) “Relocating the Prophet’s Image: Narrative Motifs and Local Appropriation of the Zarathustra Legend in Preand Early Islamic Iran (Part I – East Iran)”, in Iran and the Caucasus, 24(1), pp. 1–16. Terribili, Gianfilippo (2021) “Relocating the Prophet’s Image: Narrative Motifs and Local Appropriation of the Zarathustra Legend in Preand Early Islamic Iran (Part II – North West Iran)”, in Iran and the Caucasus, 25(3), pp. 225–245. Thomson, Robert W. (1978) Moses Khorenatsʿi: History of the Armenians, Cambridge (Ma) – London. Tongerloo van, Aloïs (2008) “Testi antico-turchi e altri testi”, in Gherardo Gnoli (ed.) Il Manicheismo, Vol. III. Il mito e la dottrina. Testi manichei dell’Asia Centrale e della Cina, Milano, pp. 235–285, 479–497. Warner, Arthur G. (1905–1925) The Sháhnáma of Firdausí, 9 vols., London. West, Edward W. (1882) Pahlavi Texts; Part II, The Sacred Books of the East, 18, Oxford [rep. Delhi 1996]. Widengren Geo (1951) The King and the Tree of Life in Ancient Near Eastern Religion, Uppsala. Williams, Alan V. (1990) The Pahlavi Rivāyat Accompanying the Dādestān ī Dēnīg, 2 vols., København. Wilson, Samuel G. (1895) Persian Life and Customs. With Scenes and Incidents of Residence and Travel in the Land of the Lion and the Sun, Chicago (Il). Vevaina, Yuhan S.D. (2010) “Relentless Allusion: Intertextuality and Reading of Zoroastrian Interpretative Literature”, in Carol Bakhos – Rahim M. Shayegan (eds.) The Talmud in Its Iranian Context, Tübingen, pp. 206–232. Yarshater, Ehsan (1998) “Esfandīār (1)”, in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.) Encyclopædia Iranica, online version: http://www.iranicaonline.org.

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Zubani, Alessia (2020), Les machines du pouvoir. Technique et politique entre l’Iran sassanide et le califat abbasside (PhD Dissertation Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna – École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris), Bologna – Paris (unpublished).

Origenism and Manichaeism through the Lens of a Mazdakite Distortion ANTONIO PANAINO Summary – The contemporary accusations against the Origenist movement during Justinian times usually associated this “heresy” with Manichaeism, altough the doctrines of these two schools present some radical differences. Despite the fact that some scholars have attempted to discover some points of reasonable contact between them, with questionable results, the possibility that some of the attacks were, in reality, directed not precisely against a genuine Manichaean sect, but toward a broader ambiance involving the active presence of the western branch of the Mazdakite diaspora, opens a new perspective. We know that some Mazdakites actually exercised a covert influence in Byzantium during late Antiquity. They attracted not only poor people, but even members from the highest strata of society. In the framework of this hypothesis, the virulence in the repression of the Origenists and the double Synodal excommunications under Justinian (543 and 553) might indicate not only a theological bias, but also a political fear of social vindications connected with and inspired by the Mazdakite movement, whose egalitarian protests had led to a dramatic situation in Sasanian Iran. The parallel (double) excommunication of Origen in Byzantium, and the progressive restriction of access to theological studies in Iran, marked a moment of serious difficulty for the official powers, in connection with the eruption of social protests. It is also probable that this situation favoured a larger circulation of new ideas, such as the hope for a universal paradise, which was certainly more suitable to the expectations of the humblest strata of Iranian society. In the last few years, I have started a new line of investigation dedicated to the possible impact of Christian Origenist ideas on the definitive formation of the Mazdean concept of divine mercy, with close regard for the apokatastasis and the annihilation of hell. 1 I have shown that the assumption of this external 1

Panaino (2017); (2019).

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influence is well grounded, and the reader will find a number of new arguments in a fresh booklet of mine, 2 on the subject of the “River of molten metal” in its comparative relation to the “River of fire,” an image that had a special role in Gnostic, Jewish, and Christian traditions, as well as a most remote background, even in Ancient Egyptian eschatology. Among a number of open questions, which I raised in these studies, two were of special meaning for the development of further investigations. One concerned the time and the conditions in which the doctrine of Ohrmazd’s universal mercy toward the whole of humanity might have started. In this case, although with great prudence, I suggested that this theological change could have found a relevant impulse (a solution that does not exclude other ways and periods of transmission) during the Mazdakite revolt, 3 because the strong emphasis for justice and social equality might have given room to a more tolerant view of the afterlife against the conservative rigidity of traditional Zoroastrianism. The second item was connected with a broader comparative question; in fact, I was wondering if the two Byzantine Synods (543 and 553) 4 in which Justinian excommunicated Origen and his fellows, explicitly attacking his doctrine of the apokatastasis, had not only a theological reason, but also a socio-political origin. In other words, I suspected that the so-called “Nika Revolt” (532 CE),5 and the problems which emerged around the Palestinian monastery of Nova Laura, were linked to some turmoil current in the lower strata of the population. This suspicion, which I presented as an open matter to my colleagues of Byzantine, Christian, and Late Antiquity studies, was inspired by a series of fitting remarks proposed by Jarry 6 many years ago. This scholar, whose work still deserves to be taken into serious consideration, 2 3

4 5 6

Panaino (2021). For the history of Mazdakism, see Altheim – Stiehl (1953); Christensen (1925); Crone (1991); (1994); (2012); Fiaccadori (1983); (2006), with a large bibliographical conspectus; Gnoli (2004) with a detailed discussion on the history of the debate; Klíma (1957); (1977); Kreyenbroek (2012); Molé (1859); (1960–61); Ognibene – Gariboldi (2004); Pugliese Carratelli (1972); (1974); Shaki (1975); (1985); Shapira (2005–06); Sundermann (1977); (1993); Wiesehöfer (2009); Yarshater (1983). In this work, I do not intend to cover the whole Mazdakite historiography or discuss and refresh its main problems, but I will limit my treatment to the most pertinent subjects connected with the scope of the present investigation. Diekamp (1899). Greatrex (1997); Nickau (2002). See already the pertinent remarks by Jarry (1963: 99–100, passim). Jarry (1960); (1968: 366–368); (1968: 127–157, 334–382).

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underlined the complex background in which rival Byzantine parties competing in the circus 7 were involved in a number of heretical trends. In particular, Jarry 8 insisted on the role not only of Manichaean elements, but also, and most interestingly, of Mazdakite supporters, although this perspective has been generally ignored (with the exception of Antonio Carile 9 and the regretted Gianfranco Fiaccadori). 10 A strong impulse to move on toward a new positive step came to me through a very seminal article written by István Perczel, 11 who carefully discussed the accusations used by Justinian (or by the author of his letters) 12 against the doctrine of Origen, and in particular the continuous juxtaposition of Origenist and Manichaean cosmological myths. He presented the extant data and sources, and also focused upon the evidence which reveals many aspects in which the two traditions, apart from some similarities, do not properly correspond in a consistent manner, so that these accusations in question, apart from some questionable similarities, seem to be just part of an earlier repertoire of traditional heresiological injuries. In reality, as I will try to show in this article, the accusation, based on a direct comparison between Origenism and Manichaeism, can assume a different and more pertinent meaning if we direct our observation toward the Mazdakite doctrine, which displays some more fitting correspondences with the Origenist cosmology. As is well known, this substitution between Manicheans and Mazdakites is quite plausible, because the Mazdakite movement, although strongly rooted in the Mazdean heritage, was influenced by Manichaeism, and some of its doctrines presented a gnostic flavour, which is unknown within the Zoroastrian framework. We should also recall that in the history of Mazdakite studies, some scholars even argued for a direct derivation of Mazdakism from the Manichaean religion, 13 and suggested a Manichaean background for 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

For an up-to-date treatment of the Circus of Constantinople, see now Vespignani (2010). See Fiaccadori (2006: 126–127). Jarry (1960: 364–367); (1968: 141–249, 303–343, 554, 561). Carile (1994: 50). Fiaccadori (1983); (2006). Perczel (2004). Amelotti – Migliardi Zingale (1977: X–XII). This is the case of Christensen (1925: 100–101); Klíma (1957: 183), but see Sundermann (1993). On the other hand, the direct comparison with the Manichaean religion, and a

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Mazdak himself. Leaving aside this problem, which is not pertinent to our present discussion, it is not unreasonable to suspect that some of the heretical doctrines that Justinian attacked with reference to Origenism were directly connected with Mazdakism, and were not properly or exclusively from the Manichaean tradition. In my opinion, this exchange (or superposition) was quite simple, not only because both heresies were entering Western countries from Iran, but also because a true distinction between them was practically impossible in Byzantium, where the Mazdakites had many occasions to become associated or even confused with Manichaeans. In this regard, I must disagree with the sharp statements made by Lieu,14 who simply assumed a strong separation between Manichaean and Mazdakite sects within the early Byzantine Empire. In fact, when the Mazdakites started to escape to Western countries after the martyrdom of Mazdak (if not already before this event), 15 and the massacre of his fellows ordered by Xusraw I, perhaps already under the last years of his father’s kingdom (528/529), their identity probably assumed mimetic forms, and it is quite possible that this movement was assimilated to an heretic sect closer to the Manichaeans. 16 In any case, the Mazdakite movement exercised an enormous social impact upon Iranian society, with its strong vindications of equality, justice, distribution of goods, earth, women, etc. After its development under the reign of Kawād I (488–496 and 498–531 with an interregnum due to his momentary deposition), it eventually suffered a brutal repression under the new king, Xusraw I (531 – 579). 17 We must consider that the chronological frame is also very pertinent, and that recent reactions from the Iranian riots, based upon a

14 15

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derivation from it, is directly assumed by Šahrastānī in his description of the Mazdakite doctrine; see the Gimaret – Monnot (1986: 663–665). Lieu (1997: 240–241). Fiaccadori (2006: 129–130) did not exclude the possibility that already after the second ascent to the throne of king Kawād and his restoration of the Zoroastrian orthodoxy, some Mazdakites might start to migrate toward the West and the Byzantine Empire. Very interesting is the article by Jarry (1963: 111–119), which analyses some sources concerning the migration of the Mazdakites in Syria and in the Western lands of the Sasanian Empire. This opinion has been strongly stated, for instance, by Fiaccadori (2006: 125) and Mainoldi (2018: 209–221, passim) with various arguments. In any case, it seems clear that from an external point of view such as that of Byzantines and Arab Muslims, the Mazdakite dualism and the Manichaean one were very close, despite the enormous differences, whose true pertinence was probably perceived only by fine scholars and not by normal observers. See Gariboldi (2006), and the biographical entry about King Xusraw I in the Encylopædia Iranica to appear soon by Gariboldi as well. See also Börm (2007).

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number of semi-revolutionary ideas, were well known in Byzantium, where many authors described with curiosity this new movement and its social activities. As noted by Jarry, 18 even some Byzantine nobles were attracted to the message of this Iranian doctrine, as in the case of the patrician Erythrios, known as a disciple of Māsidis (i.e. somebody connected with the Mazdakites or even with Mazdak himself). 19 In this context, the possibility that Justinian’s accusations against Origenists involved also Mazdakites, 20 who were simply considered as a variety of Manicheans, is not at all improbable, not only for many socio-political reasons, but also due to paradoxical theological correspondences, at least with respect to some central items. In particular, the image of the original henadic, which Perczel 21 summarises as follows: “a singular, or unitarian, state, in which only pure minds lived, albeit not as individual beings, but in a single, identical and common incorporeal substance, power and activity. This lasted until an original Fall, caused by a certain “movement” (κίνησις) or “turmoil” (κλόνος), brought the minds down from this primal state to an individual and corporeal one; it is to this same state that they will return at the end of time, when it will be found that all the intermediary conditions, including the existence of our corporeal world, were just stages and ephemeral stations in the great cosmic drama, evolving from unity, through diversity, to unity again.” 18 19

20

21

Jarry (1960: 364–367); (1963: 95–98); (1968: 141–143, 242–244, 249, 303–305, 335–336, 339, 343, 554, 561). See also Fiaccadori (2006: 120–121). As stated by John of Nikiu, Chronicle XC, 54–59, tr. Charles (1916: 139–140); see also Lieu (1997: 230, n. 48). See also Fiaccadori (2006), who offers a new translation based on a collation of the manuscripts. In this study, Fiaccadori suggested that the magus Māsidis should be identified with Fotinus, a Manichean who debated with Paulus the Persian in Constantinople. The Italian scholar argues that the story refers to the last years of Justin (dead in the year 527), but the last references to a Roman victory on the Persian should be connected with the successful campaign of Belisarius and Hermogenes in the year 530 at Dara, under Justinian. In this article the reader will find some pertinent notes on the passage and its bibliography. It is difficult to reconstruct what was true behind the narration transmitted by John of Nikiu (ibidem), when he stated that such a Māsidis was living in Constantinople, and was at disposal of the Romans in order to trouble the Persians by means of demons and magic. A group of Roman patricians, fellows of him, tried to convince Justinian to use these “irregular” means, but the Emperor refused. If the story cannot be taken as true, because Mazdak was already killed, this Mazdakite was probably a magician of Persian origin, escaped to the West, whose skills were connected with witchcraft as described by the Christian author. More likely he might have promised to offer his help in the diffusion of subversive ideas, which would have been far more toxic than magic. Perczel (2006: 5–6).

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But, as Perczel correctly remarked, this system, although it included the admission of a certain inclination “toward what is worse”, does not include any active primordial role of an evil and hostile, dualistic principle, as we usually find in the Manichaean tradition. Now, if we check the theological description of the Mazdakite conception concerning the origin of the creation, as presented by Šahrastānī in his Ketāb al-melal wa’l-nehal (“The Book of Sects and Creeds”), written in the year 624/1227, on the authority of Abu ʿIsā ebn al-Warrāq (a magian, who claimed deep knowledge of this sect),22 we find the following reorientation of the myth of the origin, which I quote from my much regretted friend, the late Werner Sundermann: 23 “Light and darkness are the two ‘modes of being and principles’ (al-kawnān wa’l-aṣlān) that existed before the world. Light acts intentionally and voluntarily and is endued with knowledge and perception, whereas darkness acts blindly (be’l-ḵabṭ) and at random (be’lettefāq); darkness is ignorant (jāhel) and blind (aʿmā). The mixture of light and darkness came about by chance and at random (ʿala’l-ettefāq wa’l-ḵabṭ); at the end of the world the separation of these principles will also come about by chance and not through free will (be’l-eḵtīār). After some comments on Mazdakite ethics Šahrastānī’s discussion of cosmogony continues: The three primal elements are water, earth, and fire. The mixture of these elements has resulted in a guiding force of good (modabber al-ḵayr) and a guiding force of evil (modabber al-šarr). These forces are not to be equated with the two principles, however. Because they affect the good and the evil in the elements, they can be regarded rather as demiurges that have formed the world.”

Šahrastānī clearly underlines the fact that for Mazdak the light acts intentionally, following its own free choice, while darkness behaves according to blind chance, furthermore, the salvation will arrive also by chance, without free choice. 24 It is clear that here the dualist trend is present, but we do not find the same radical antagonism between these two principles, in particular visible in the statement that darkness acts blindly, so that there is no proper attack or deliberate aggression, such that the “Mixture” (a Zoroastrian category) of the two elements came into being by coincidence, and so too will be the end of (limited) time, as remarked by Kreyenbroek. 25 It is interesting also to note that, while Origen and his fellows imagined a positive role (due to their primordial 22 23 24 25

Haarbrücker (1969: 285). See also Shaki (1985); Fiaccadori (2006: 123–124). Sundermann (1993: 315). Gimaret – Monnot (1996: 663). On this remarkable difference between Mazdakism and Manichaeism, see already Molé (1960–61: 18), and Jarry (1963: 109–110). Kreyenbroek (2012: 437–438).

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ontology) for the two luminaries, the planets and the stars, 26 the Manichaeans practically demonized all the astral beings with the exception of the Sun and the Moon, plus a few other contradictory cases. 27 The Mazdakites, on the contrary, considered positive all the celestial bodies, and attributed to them prominent cosmological powers. 28 This is visible in the statement reported by Šahrastānī: 29 “The object of his (i.e. Mazdak’s) adoration is seated on his throne in the superior world, as Ḫosrow sits on his throne in the inferior world. Four Powers stand before him: Discernment, Understanding, Preservation, and Joy, just as four officials stand before Ḫosrow: the mobadān mobad, the grand herbad, the chief of the army, the musician. These four (powers) direct the world, with the help of seven (Viziers), who are inferior than them [...] and these seven 30 move around within the twelve spiritual (forces). [...]. Every person in whom these powers (the four, seven, and twelve) come together, has entered the divine sphere from the inferior world, and is exempt from religious duties.”

The Origenist and Mazdakite approach to celestial matters is patently closer when compared to those of Manichaeism or even Zoroastrianism. In this regard, although the Mazdakites were dualists, their doctrine had many points that could be considered compatible with Christianity, or in any case, attracttive from a Christian (partly heretical) point of view. In particular, the special Mazdakite focus on social justice and on the care of humbles and poor peoples (which was not at all a prominent matter in Zoroastrian religious politics 26 27 28

29 30

See the detailed discussion in Scott (1991 = 2001). Panaino (1997). We must also consider that the idea of the apokatastasis was known in Iran thanks to two main lines of intellectual development, one mostly Neo-Platonic and connected with the elaboration of Origen himself and his disciples, while another one derived directly from Theodore of Mopsuestia, who refused the idea of a double creation, firstly spiritual and imperfect, later material and perfect. Actually, Theodore refused the idea of a cyclical process of fall and rising, while he insisted on the importance of the progress of the whole humanity within history. For this reason, this Father of the Church thought that God himself had created all human beings mortal since beginning, although humanity will be no more mortal at the end. This observation is necessary, because the fact that the diffusion of the apokatastatic tradition had different ways of irradiation, each one showing a number of potential elements of attraction for the Iranian peoples, deserves to be much more taken into consideration in our debate. Gimaret – Monnot (1996: 663–665). I absolutely agree with Shaki (1985: 535–36) that these “seven” must represent the seven planets (i.e. the five visible planets plus the luminaries), despite the (excessive) caveat of Sundermann (1993: 316).

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during Late Antiquity, with the exception of a sort of paternalistic policy usually shown by the Sasanian court) 31 could be taken as a trend compatible with some Christian communitarian instances of equality and tolerance toward the lowest strata of the population. It is important to recall that, while the official politics of Zoroastrianism strove for preservation of a rigid class system, while maintaining the stability of the social order and distinctions, 32 in other words protecting the status quo and the stratified social privileges, the Mazdakites provoked a sort of political earthquake, which inevitably produced very violent reactions and repressions. On the other hand, although Manichaeans had aroused a number of problems against the basic pillars of the Sasanian economy, which was rooted, as in Byzantium, in the possession of landed properties, the main social milieu to which Mani and his disciples directed their propaganda was that of the merchants, one of the most despised classes within Iranian ethics. 33 Furthermore, the Manichaean religion did not distinguish itself with any special sensibility toward class problems or inequality, and this attitude can be explained as inevitable in the framework of its anti-cosmic program, which emphasised a radical evasion from the material world, without any interest for its inner political transformation. For this reason, the Mazdakites had a number of potential atouts in order to raise interest and obtain a certain influence even in the West. While some ideas, such as the pre-existence of souls, stemmed from a common pattern of the religious tradition of Iran, a matter that the anti-Origenistic polemics stressed enormously with meticulous precision, many sects of Iranian origin could be considered de iure as allied with Origen. The Mazdakite excess concerning the so-called “communism of the women”, which aroused an enormous pruderie in Byzantine and Arabic literatures, probably did not play a significant role beyond the Sasanian territories. In fact, the attack against an institution like that of the harem, and the protest against the segregation of a high number of women, (whose main scope was that of disrupting the linearity of the heritage transmission by mixing different lines of blood), possessed a serious value within a social context where polygamy was current. But this 31

32 33

I must recall that, as already remarked by Molé (1960–61: 24–25), followed by Gnoli (2004: 452–453, 456), the Mazdakite communism was the result of an extremist development of the Zoroastrian doctrine about Āz, “Greed, Lust”, and the way to destroy it. See Tafazzoli (2000) and Fiaccadori (2006: 117). Panaino (2004). On the organisation of the Sasanian political and institutional structures, see Gariboldi (2011).

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institute did not exist in Byzantium, and this matter was not significant at all in western Mazdakite propaganda. I would also like to suggest that the Mazdakites probably did not emphasize their own identity, and used the channels opened by the Manicheans for propaganda and their slow underground 34 diffusion. In the framework of our reflection we must consider an important suggestion, which was advanced by Pugliese-Carratelli, 35 developed by Fiaccadori, 36 and now refreshed by Mainoldi. 37 It concerns the potential links between the Mazdakite doctrine and the resurging Platonic Academy of Athens in the twenties of the 6th century, 38 just before its definitive closing, ordered by Justinian in the year 529. According to this hypothesis there was more than a simple resonance between Mazdakite egalitarianism and the contemporary reinterpretation of the Platonic ideal of a Philosophic Republic, based on merits, so that the imperial decision to extinguish this school had not only a confessional reason, but answered to a very strong political scope. With this decision, in fact, a number of dangerous political and social instances were targeted and repressed, and gave the good opportunity to exile and disband a remarkable group of undesirable intellectuals. Furthermore, the Greek philosophers would have preferred to move to Iran, because they expected to find there a favourable regime, supportive of Mazdakism, in particular because in 529 they still expected to find Kawād I on the throne. For the same reasons, these philosophers would have preferred to run back home, after they had discovered that the politics of the new Sasanian king, Xusraw I, was more or less hostile to social revolution and for a certain extent conservative as well as that of Justinian. Although I cannot exclude that the members of the Academy had really access to some knowledge about the Iranian theological doctrines such as Zoroastrianism and Mazdakism, 39 this reconstruction presumes too many inferences unfortunately based on an insufficient number of data and is based 34

35 36 37 38 39

On this subject, the contribution of Jarry (1965; 1968: 136–144, 152–157, 334–369, passim) collects a number of details and of ancient references to the progressive diffusion of Manichaeans and Mazdakites in particular in the Byzantine party of the “Greens”. Pugliese Carratelli (1972). Fiaccadori (1983); (2006). The same interpretation is followed by Di Branco (2006). Mainoldi (2018: 207–221, 493–494, passim). The bibliography on this subject is already quoted in extenso in the works of my colleagues of Byzantine studies to which I am referring, so that it is not useful to repeat it here again. See in particular Fiaccadori (1983: 263–264, 269–270).

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on an interpretation of the extant sources, which has gone, in my opinion, too far beyond the limits of reasonable prudence. 40 The chronological frame is uncertain, because the academicians had many opportunities to be informed about the changes happening in Iran, for instances from the same Mazdakites escaping from the violent persecutions started already by Kawād and enforced by his son Xusraw. 41 In any case, if it was Xusraw to welcome them in Ctesiphon in 531, and not Kawād in 529, they were well treated, respected and protected, as shown by the conditions that allowed them even to come back home without any harm. We cannot deny that the Greek philosophers might have a certain expectation from Kawād, not necessarily because specifically attracted by his (earlier) support to Mazdakism, but because fascinated by a certain hope in the opportunity to find a space of presumable intellectual freedom. The nationalist reaction endorsed by the conservative and authoritarian politics of Xusraw did not satisfy their, perhaps most optimistic, expectations, although it is possible that some of them did not come back to Athens, but stepped in Ḫarrān, as suggested by Tardieu. 42 In any case, even Xusraw had philosophical interests, and the real reasons of their discontent can be interpreted in different ways, in particular when we observe that Agathias hated this king, and his presentation could be considered not at all without preconceived hostility. By the way, this general theory, whose detailed discussion I 40

41

42

See also Gnoli (2004: 453–454), who does not deny a priori a possible relation between the Iranian culture and the Academy of Athens, but also does not find any reasonable argument in order to share all the implications suggested by Fiaccadori (1983). In particular, Gnoli (2004: 254) remarked that Agathias himself denied any connection between the Mazdakite communism of women and the thought of Socrates and Plato. In his study (1996: 28–34), Melasecchi well argues that if the philosophers left Athens just after the closing of the Academy, as stated by Agathias, they should have still found Kawād I on the throne, and not Xusraw I. He also reasonably assumes that they might have gone to Ctesiphon following a diplomatic mission, such as the one directed by Hermogenes Magister officiorum in the year 529 (Melasecchi 1996: 32). On the other hand, Gnoli (2004: 454–455) insists on the fact that Agathias framed the reference to their travel within the section dedicated to Xusraw (and not within the one concerning Kawād), so that it would be more plausible to presume that the philosophers well knew which one was the king actually on the throne when they moved to Persia. I must also observe that even the chronology of the slaughter of the Mazdakites presents us with some problems: Malalas attributed it to the (second) kingdom of Kawād I (529), while some scholars prefers to postdate it after the ascent to the throne of Xusraw I (531), as Gnoli (2004: 455) suggests. In my opinion, it is too difficult to discriminate, and it is not impossible that the persecution, already started under Kawād, was enforced and systematically practiced by his son. Tardieu (1988: 18–22, 39–40); see Melasecchi (1996: 34).

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must postpone to another study, does not interfere with the main thesis I am trying to suggest in the present work, i.e. that Mazdakism was more or less confused and/or associated with Manichaeism43 in the West, and might represent a matter of preoccupation. 44 In conclusion, if we assume the possibility that behind some unclear references to a sort of alliance between Origenism and Manichaeism in the 6th century Byzantium, there were also Mazdakite doctrines, presented as inner Manichaean varieties, we can observe that some accusations fit into a more appropriate perspective. We must also consider that the very strong protosocialist 45 instances of economic justice in favour of the lowest strata of the population made Mazdakism into a tremendous movement, which created a serious challenge for the official powers, which inevitably reacted in a way or the other. In Iran, for instance, Xusraw I restricted laity from accessing the deepest levels of theological knowledge. 46 The laity were then confined to the teaching of simple prayers, but excluded from the higher exegetical approach to the sources. This form of intellectual repression and the attempt to impose severe control over the doctrinal schools of theology testifies to the danger represented by Mazdakism. Justinian’s continuous action in his control of religious debates and in the repression of heretical movements and ideas seems to offer a Western parallel, 47 in which the risks of social crisis, following the Iranian example, were considered as possible phenomena, and for this reason, the danger of any potential insurgence was scrupulously observed and repressed. In a way or the other, also the closing of the Academy played its 43

44

45

46 47

I must observe that Mainoldi (2018: 217) emphasizes too much the relations between Manichaeism and Mazdakism, using for instance expressions such as “la dottrina manicheo-mazdakita”, which presently no Iranologist would follow, because the strong links between Mazdak and Mazdeism are reasonably clear. Furthermore, the care of the earthly happiness is strongly rooted in the positive vision of the “living” (gētīg) dimension, according to a strong Zoroastrian vision of the world history, which is completely antagonist with respect to the Manichaean one. Mainoldi (2018: 207–221, 493–494, passim) has found a number of (more or less covered) attacks potentially directed against Origenism and Mazdakism in the Corpus Dinysiacum, which deserve to be taken into serious consideration. For this subject and its dynamic within socialist scholarship in the Soviet Union, see the collection of essays by Soviet authors translated and critically presented by Ognibene – Gariboldi (2004). Kreyenbroek (2012: 437); Azarnouche (2015). Very significant was the new legislation against Manichaeism, on which Mainoldi (2018: 213) rightly insists.

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role in the framework of an era, in which the two main imperial powers of the (Eurasiatic) world decided to close the eyes of an intellectual thought, which seemed to penetrate too much into the secret laws of the world, opening the way to new ideas probably considered too dangerous for the social order. We could say that “the two eyes of the world” contemporarily preferred to wear black glasses in order to reduce too much light. In the Eastern side, we do not find so explicit facts, but the strong vindication of equality against the privileges of the social hierarchy, substantially allied with the Mazdean Church, should have surely provoked a deeper reflection on the perception of the afterlife, and on the pattern through which access to paradise was promised by the Sasanian clergy. 48 In this case, the impulse toward a more tolerant perspective, in which the promise of a more optimistic hope for forgiveness and transfiguration was granted to everybody, still remained a very fitting option, although it was not the only one. 49 Certainly, the circulation of Origenist ideas in Iran was independent of Mazdakism, and surely earlier, but its increasing influence, for instance with Ḥenānā, 50 elected rector of the School of Nisibis in the year 572, became even stronger during the 7th century. The Byzantine-Persian dialogue, despite Justinian excommunications and repressions, and Xusraw’s disinformacija and persecutions, continued till the 48

The earlier elaboration of an intermediate place such as the Hamēstagān - Gignoux (2003) whose function we can reasonably associate with that of the Catholic purgatory (a purgation station theologically defined only in the Middle Age), confirms that Hell was previously thought as eternal. 49 Sundermann (1993: 316) has noted a certain relationship between Mazdean social ethics and those of the Carpocratians, as also suggested by Klíma (1957: 209–211), and Pugliese Carratelli (1974: 288), but this Roman influence does not imply that the Mazdakite doctrine, as it was attested, was much earlier and of western (Neoplatonic) origin, as Pugliese Carratelli (1974) and Fiaccadori (1983; 2006: 117) have assumed. These scholars in particular tried to show with reference to the role of a certain Bundos (mentioned by Malalas), identified with a Persian priest, named Zarādušt, that this person would have been active in Rome at the times of Diocletian. Against this solution, see Gnoli (2004: 448–455, passim), Arrigoni (1982), and Melasecchi (1996: 25–26, and the n. 62). In particular Gnoli (2004: 455–456) did not exclude that the Mazdakite movement had its root in the ideas of a Zoroastrian priest, a certain Zarādušt of Fāsā, in the Fārs, who had nothing to do with the above mentioned Bundos, and whose activity was referred to within Syriac and Pahlavi sources, although his role remains scarcely documented. 50 Widengren (1961: 163–170); (1984: 18–19). See also Reinink (1999a: 182–187); Molenberg (2017: 152–155); Walker (2006: 177–179, 201–202); Panaino (2016); (2019). About Ḥenānā and the School of Nisibis, see Vööbus 65, passim.

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last end, via Christian and Iranian heresies, exercising its final effects even on Mazdean eschatology, whose final assessment adopted some of the most interesting variations of the apokatastasis. Certainly, the independent influence of the Origenist doctrine continued its underground diffusion in the East, as shown by personalities such as Stephen bar Sudaili, a Christian monk to be probably identified with the author of the Book of Hierotheos on the hidden Mysteries of the house of God, 51 who strongly argued for Apokatastasis, 52 thus enforcing the intellectual role of theological and spiritual contacts between Syria (Edessa) and Palestine. 53 The circle again seems to find its starting point, but only in order to continue on its way, 54 although I must insist on the fact that, despite some philosophical general differences, also Theodore of Mopsuestia, whose teaching was foundational within the Christian Church of Persia, supported the doctrine of the apokatastasis.

51 52

53 54

See the edition by Marsh (1927); see also the earlier work by Frothingham (1886). On the importance of this source, see Ramelli (2013: 772–773). See Marsh (1927). See again Frothingham (1886: 51–55, 63–66, 73, passim). Bundy (1986) has identified the presence of Manichaean motives in this source, following some remarks already advanced by Guillaumont (1962). Perczel (2004) discusses the same assumption with additional details. This source develops some earlier Origenian trends along the direction given by Evagrius, as remarked by Guillaumont (1958), (1962) and Reinink (1996b). Dr. Jeffrey Kotyk (McMaster University, Toronto), whom I thank for his interest in this study, attracted my attention to the fact that “the cult of Amitābha Buddha and the promise of rebirth in his Pure Land in the West (i.e., his realm of Sukhāvatī) has prompted some to speculate about a Zoroastrian influence on this movement, but perhaps we might look at Mazdakism and its predecessors, such as Christianity, that promised equality in the afterlife. Mahāyāna Buddhism seemingly flourished at first in the frontier regions beyond India, such as in Central Asia (especially the Tarim Basin), which was arguably IndoIranian in character. Pure Land Buddhism does not strictly advocate social equality, but it does promise that all may gain equal status in the afterlife. This is actually a very anomalous idea when compared to early Buddhism, which believed that most beings would only experience endless metempsychosis (saṃsāra). The main scriptures of Pure Land Buddhism are also oriented toward lay devotees, not monastics. Kasugai Shinya proposed a Central Asian origin for one such text, the *Amitāyurdhyāna-sūtra. We might wonder if Buddhists were inspired by the idea of universal salvation in the afterlife, which seems like an Iranian/Near Eastern concept. It certainly was not Vedic or Early Buddhist at all in character.” I think that this extension of our comparative research is really worthy of further investigations, and I hope that the subject could attract fresh attention.

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Indices INDEX OF PERSONAL NAMES Rabban ‘Abda p. 162 ʿAbdi Rašān p. 357 ʿAbdīšōʿ bar Brikha p. 73 ʿAbdīšōʿ of Nisibis p. 67, 68 ʿAggai p. 67, 68 ʿAmr ibn Mattai p. 57, 58, 63, 65, 66, 70 Mār Abā / Aba / Abba (catholicos) p. 38, 39, 40, 41, 58, 59, 65, 71, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 191 Abgar p. 295 Abraham (disciple of James the apostle) p. 69 Abraham Bar Audmihr / Abraham b. Āwādmihr p. 100, 186 Abraham of Kashkar p. 161 Abrīs (disciple of James the apostle) p. 69 Ābrōdag p. 87 Abu Ǧa‘far p. 115 Abu ʿĪsā ebn al-Warrāq p. 372 Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī p. 183 Abū l-Faraǧ Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq alNadı̄ m p. 105, 116 Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad b. Aḥmad alBīrūnī p. 280, 281, 312, 313, 314, 315 Acacius p. 51 Addai p. 68, 87, 126 Adorpareh p. 39 Ādurbād (zoroastrian priest IV sec.) p. 35 Ādur-Farro / Farrobag p. 41, 43 Ādur-Farrah p. 86 Agathias p. 376 Aḥadābūhī (son of Jaʿqūb) p. 69, 70 Mār Aḥā p. 347 Mār Aḥai (catholicos) p. 55, 56, 73, 160, 162 Aḥudemmeh p. 24, 62, 63, 71 Alexander the Great p. 22 Alledja (daughter of al Numan III) p. 193

Ammianus p. 108, 110 Anastasius p. 289, 290 Andrew of Crete p. 303 Anōšagzād p. 100 Antony Ruwaḥ of Damascus p. 313 Anushavan Sawsanuēr p. 349 Aqaq (catholicos) p. 37 Aramazd p. 346, 347 Arc̆il p. 117 Ardaxšīr / Ardašīr I p. 34, 152 Arewordik‘ p. 348 Arimihr p. 105, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 Arkn p. 168 Aršakunis p. 106 Arvand-dād p. 90 Mār Bābhai the Great p. 341 Babai I (catholicos) p. 73 Bādmā(h) (zoroastrian priest from Seleucia-Ctesiphon) p. 198 al-Balāḏurī p. 183 Balaš p. 55 Barbašmīn p. 70 Bardaisan p. 128 Barḥabešabba p. 196 Bar Nūn of Ṭirhan p. 95 Bar Sahdê p. 162, 196 Bar Ṣawmā Rastohun / Bar ṢaumāRastohun p. 108, 111 Bartholomew p. 149 Baybars p. 22 Behnam p. 23, 24 Belisarius p. 371 Beneš p. 110 al- Bīrūnī s. Abū Rayḥān Bolidaʿ of Prat d-Mayšan p. 200 Borān (queen) p. 55 Bōxt-Mārē p. 43

386

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Candidus p. 300, 302, 305, 306 Candida (favourite of king Wahram III) p. 193 Clement of Alexandria p. 69 Constantine p. 13, 14, 24, 25, Constantine III p. 25 Cosmas Indicopleustes p. 123, 124, 125, 129, 140, 163, 165, 166, 167, 173 Cyprian, metropolitan of Nisibis p. 73 Cyril of Alexandria p. 285 Cyrus p. 110 Cyrus of Edessa p. 295 Cyrus of Jerusalem p. 285, 286, 287, 290 Dād-Gušnasp (History of Mār Yazdīn) p. 13, 63, 202 Dādīn p. 90 Dād-Īšō‘ (History of Mār Yazdīn) p. 13 Dād-Ohrmazd /Dād-Ohrmizd p. 38, 85, 86, 87 Dādōy p. 24 Mar Dairaya of Beth Garmai (metropolitan) p. 95, 98 Danaan p. 351 Daniel (indian translator of Theodore of Mopsuestia) p. 125 David, bishop of Baṣrah p. 159, 160 David (monk) p. 286, 291 David (bishop excommunicated) p. 97 al-Dīnawarī p. 183 Diocletian p. 249, 250, 378 Dioscorus (Papal legate) p. 294 Dodi /David (bishop of Maishan) p. 136, 137 Domitian of Melitene p. 19 Dugdōw p. 352 Æthelbert of Kent p. 19 Egeria p. 292 Eleazar the Persian p. 107, 108, 114, 115 Elias of Nisibis p. 73 Elias I p. 290 Mār Elijah p. 345, 346, 347, 348 Elijah of Damascus p. 67 Elišā‘

Elisha / Elišā‘ / Elīšāʿ (catholicos) p. 17, 59, 93, 96, 98 Elisha (priest) p. 205 Ełišē Vardapet p. 16 Ephrem the Syrian p. 128, 194, 292 Epiphanius of Cyprus p. 305 Erythrios p. 371 Eudokia (empress) p. 306 Euphemia p. 18 Eusebius p. 13, 25, 68, 69, 287 Eusebius bishop of Rome p. 109 Eutychius of Alexandria p. 292 Evagrius p. 379 Evagrius Scholasticus p. 18 Ezekiel (catholicos) p. 56, 191 Farhad p. 106 Farroxmard i Wahrāmān p. 84 Farroxzād p. 192 Farrox-Windād p. 342 Ferdowsi p. 14, 100 Fotinus p. 371 Mar Gabriel the Dancer p. 342 Gabriel of Singar p. 18, 60, 63, 64 Gadyahb of Bet Lapaṭ p. 200 Galbius p. 300, 302, 306 St. George p. 220, 245, 246, 247, 249, 260, 267, 269, 270, 272, 274 George Izala p. 186, 193, 203 Giwargis (martyr under Khusro II) p. 63 Golindoukht p. 18 Gorgo p. 111 Gregoria p. 25 Gregory of Antioch p. 19 Gregory of Nazianzus p. 110, 111, 117 Gregory of Tours p. 124, 125, 140 Gregory (pope) p. 19 Grigor (Khusrō I’s army commander-inchief) p. 13 Grigor/Gregory Bar ‘Ebroyo (Gregorious Bar Hebraeus) p. 20, 71 Grigor Magistros p. 346, 347, 354 Grigor of Kaškar (catholicos) p. 17, 59 Gubralaha p. 24

Indices Gudnaphar/ Goundaphores / Gondophares p. 126 Ḥadiqa/Ḥuraqa (daughter of al Numan III) p. 189 Abba Ḥananyā p. 341, 342 Ḥasan bar Bahlūl p. 312, 314, 315 Hazārōy/Myriam (sister of George Izala) p. 193, 202 Ḥenana of Adiabene (metropolitan) p. 95, 98 Ḥenānā p. 378 Heraclius p. 24, 25 Hermogenes p. 371, 376 Herodotus p. 111, 343 Hind the Elder (wife of al Mundir III) p. 193 Hind the Younger (daughter of al Mundir III) p. 205 Hišām al-Kalbı̄ p. 105, 115 Hormizd (zoroastrian priest from Seleucia-Ctesiphon) p. 198 Ḥoṛohbūt p. 105, 107, 108, 109, 111, 113, 114 Ibn al-Nadı̄ m s. Abū l-Faraj Muḥammad Ibn Waḥshiyya p. 338 Isaac / Mar Isḥaq (catholicos) p. 64, 151, 172, 191 Isaac of Antioch p. 194 Ishodnah / Išoʿdnaḥ of Basra p. 114, 162 Isidore of Seville p. 200 Īšō‘bōxt p. 37, 39 Isho‘dad of Merv p. 125 Īšō‘yahb I p. 55, 60, 191 Īšō‘yahb II p. 55, 169 Īšōʿyahb III p. 152, 169, 170 Išoʿsabrān p. 201, 202 Mār Īšōʿ-Zkha p. 342, 345, 348 Israyēl (bishop) p. 347, 348 Jacob of Edessa p. 309 Jacob of Sarug (Serugh) p. 25, 293, 294 Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī p. 333 James the Apostle p. 69, 70, 286, 287, 293, 297, 316

387 Jaʿqūb (disciple of James the apostle) p. 69, 70 Jaʿqūb Burdʿono p. 63 Jesus p. 13, 26, 43, 44, 69, 70, 71, 125, 130, 131, 196, 230, 232, 233, 236, 239, 240 Mar John (monk of Bet ‘Abe) p. 342 John (monk) p. 286, 288, 291 John Chrysostom p. 36, 195, 202, 305 John Geometres p. 300, 306 John Lydus p. 110, 111 John Malalas p. 184 John of Damascus p. 301, 303, 304, 305, 307 John of Deylam p. 342, 348 John of Ephesus p. 55, 62 John of Nikiū (Nikiu) p. 23, 371 John of Thessalonica p. 303 John Rufus p. 293 John the Apostle p. 279, 281, 286, 287, 288, 289, 293, 294, 297, 298, 318, 320, 321 Jonah/Yūnus p. 356 Joseph (physician and catholicos VI sec.) p. 59, 62, 63, 71 Joseph of Nazareth p. 69 Jovian Emperor p. 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 J̌uanšer p. 116, 117 Judas the Apostle p. 15 Judas Cyriacus (bishop) p. 290 Julian Emperor p. 24, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 290 Julian Saba p. 292, 293, 294 Julius Africanus p. 288 Justin p. 67, 109, 118, 295, 371 Justinian p. 111, 118, 292, 293, 299, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 375, 377, 378 Juvenal of Jerusalm p. 293, 301 Kaleb ʾƎllä ʾAṣbəḥa (axumite king) p. 165 Kardag p. 185 Kassapa p. 139 Kaūs (son of Kawād I) p. 20

388

Chiara Barbati – Vittorio Berti

Kawād I p. 17, 20, 23, 37, 59, 370, 375, 376 Kerdīr (zoroastrian priest III sec.) p. 34, 35, 45 Khusrō I / Khosrow I / Khosrau I / Xusrō I / Chasro I / Xusraw I p. 13, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 35, 39, 56, 58, 62, 71, 85, 86, 87, 117, 118, 351, 352, 370, 375, 376, 377, 378 Khusrō II p. 17, 18, 24, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63 Łazar P‘arpec‘i p. 16 Leo I (emperor) p. 300 Libanius p. 110, 111 St. Lucian of Baalbek/Heliopolis p. 313 Mahanōš of Arbela p. 198, 202 Māhduxt of Bet Garmay p. 193, 195 Ma‘na of Shirāz (bishop IV-V sec.) p. 37, 98 Māni / Mani p. 19, 45, 133, 135, 136, 137, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240, 336, 339, 374 Manuščihr/ Manūščihr (Manūčihrī Dāmġānī) p. 44, 85, Mār Māran ʿAmmeh p. 341 Mār Māri p. 64, 67, 68, 72, 73, 74, 101, 336, 339, 348 Mardān-Farrox p. 36, 37, 43, 44 Mardbūd i Dād-Ohrmazd p. 86 Marcian (emperor) p. 292, 293 Maria (daughter of emperor Maurice) p. 18 Martina p. 25 Marūtā of Taḥal p. 95, 106 Marutha of Maypherqaṭ p. 172 Mary p. 279, 280, 281, 283, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 314, 315, 316, 318, 320, 321 Mary (princess of Byzantium) p. 117 Mary the Roman p. 61 Māsidis p. 371 al-Masʿūdī p. 183 Mattai p. 24

Matthew (evangelist) p. 230, 232, 233, 235, 238, Maurice (emperor) p. 18, 19, 55, 61 Mazdai p. 127 Mazdak p. 20, 370, 371, 372, 377 Menander Protector p. 184 St. Mercurius p. 113 Michael Synkellos p. 304 Michael the Syrian p. 25, 62 Mihrmāhgušnasp son of Bābay son of Aba p. 186, 202, 203 Mihr-Narseh p. 15 Mithra p. 111 Mōšē of Beth Begaš p. 95 Moses p. 22, 24, 340 Moses (bishop and disciple of Aba) p. 92, 98 Moses Maimonides p. 36 Movsēs Kałankatowacʿi p. 347 Movsēs Xorenacı̄ / Horenaci / Ḥorenac’i /Movses Khorenatsi / Moses Khorenats p. 105, 106, 107, 108, 113, 114, 115, 118, 184, 349 Muḥammad p. 36, 162 Muhammad as-Sa‘ib al-Kalbı̄ p. 115 al-Mundir III p. 193 al-Muqaddasī p. 356 Muṣṭafā p. 358 al-Mutawakkil (caliph) p. 350 Myriam (sister of al Numan III) p. 193 Myriam of Tela Šlila p. 193 Nahruz p. 160 Narsai (martyr under Yazdgird I) p. 41, 42 Narsay p. 181, 182 Narsay of Šenna p. 186 Narse (rival of Mar Aba) p. 93, 96, 98 Narseh the Graceful (catholicos) p. 348 Nestorius p. 87 Nicetas p. 25 Nike p. 25 Nikephoros (patriarch of Costantinople) p. 24, 25 Noh of Arbela (bishop) p. 336, 348 Noʿman son of Maʿael p. 205 Nu‘mān III p. 193

Indices Ohrmazd p. 34, 38, 40, 44, 347, 368 Ohrmazd IV p. 55 Origen p. 69, 367, 368, 369, 372, 373, 374 Pāpā bar ʿAggai p. 64, 69, 70, 73, 74, 136, 160 Paul the Apostle p. 41, 99, 130, 131, 220, 221, 230, 286, 295, 298, 311 Paulos of Barḥis p. 95 Paulus the Persian p. 371 Mar Pawlos (catholicos) p. 99 Peter (apostle) p. 286, 298 Peter of Gurgan p. 92 Peter the Fuller p. 294 Petros (monk of Bet ‘Abe) p. 60 Philip (the deacon) p. 286, 291 Philostorgius p. 110 Pīrāngušnasp p. 202, 203 Plato p. 376 Pliny p. 349 Procopius p. 18, 22, 123, 138, 292 Pseudo-Basil p. 303 Pseudo-Denys the Areopagite p. 71 Pseudo-John Chrysostom p. 303 Pseudo-Joshua p. 295 Pseudo-Joshua Stylite p. 289, 295 Pseudo-Maximus p. 306 Pseudo-Modestus of Jerusalem p. 303 Pseudo-Sebēos p. 16, 23, 25 Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor p. 90 Pulcheria (empress) p. 301, 306 Purušāsp p. 352 Qāzō p. 24 Qazvīnī p. 355 Mār Qūrius p. 113 Rufinus of Aquilea p. 68 Sabrīšōʿ of Lašōm p. 57, 60, 61, 63, 64 Šābuhr I / Shahpuhr I / p. 19, 34, 231, 233 Šābuhr II / Shahpuhr II / Shapur II / Šāpūr II p. 13, 22, 24, 35, 57, 58, 70, 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115, 116, 117, 135, 192, 203 al-Šabuštī p. 183

389 Šāh-dōst p. 70 Šahrastānī p. 350, 353, 370, 372, 373 Šahrvaraz p. 24, 25 Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā p. 56, 63, 65, 66, 70, 73, 74 Sara (sister of Behnam) p. 24 Šem‘ōn of Rew Ardašir (metropolitan bishop VII sec.) p. 37 Šem‘ōn of Ma‘alta (bishop of Adiabene) p. 95 Sennacherib p. 24 Sergius (bishop of Sakastan) p. 96, 97 Sergius (teacher VI sec.) p. 206 Sergius of Elam p. 170 St. Sergius p. 18, 19, 206 Severus of Antioch p. 109, 114, 290, 294 Shabāhā al-Jarmaqānī p. 338 Rabban Shabhur p.162 Shaykh ʿAdi p. 344, 357 Shaykh Bakū (Baliko) p. 357, 358 Sidonius Apollinaris p. 200 Silvanus (disciple of Paul) p. 131 Simeon of Bēth-Aršam p. 20, 21, 205 Simeon of Ḥīra p. 25 Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿē p. 57, 58, 59, 65, 70, 71, 193 Simon the deacon 69, 297 Sinon p. 111 Šīrīn p. 18, 19, 61, 64 Šīrīn (VI sec. Karka d-bet Slok) p. 193 Sitt Nafīsah p. 357 Socrates p. 376 Socrates Scholasticus p. 110 Solomon of Baṣra p. 67 Sopatrus p. 164 Šōšān-duxt p. 22 Sozomen p. 71 Spandyād/Isfandyār p. 348 Spandyād/Spandyār (NP. Esfandiyār) p. 354 Stephen bar Sudaili p. 379 Sulṭān Sahāk p. 358 Suren Garmaqāyā p. 96, 97, 98 Symeon Metaphrastes p. 260 Tansar p. 33, 35

390

Chiara Barbati – Vittorio Berti

al-Ṭabarı̄ p. 105, 108, 115, 116, 183, 203 Tarbo sister of the bishop Simeon bar Ṣabbaʿe p. 193 Thecla p. 220, 221 Thecla of Bekašaz p. 193 Theodore Balsamon p. 311 Theodore of Mopsuestia p. 125, 373, 379 Theodoret of Cyrus / Cyrrhos / Cyrrhus p. 36, 40, 41, 42, 184, 292 Theodoros Daphnopates p. 249, 260 Theodosius p. 25 Theodosius (Juvenal’s anti-Chalcedonian rival) p. 293 Theodotus of Ancyra p. 193, 249 Theophanes the Confessor p. 184 Theophylact Simocatta p. 18 Theosebius of Ephesus p. 293 Theoteknos of Livias p. 303, 305 Thomas Kinayi p. 127, 128, 141, 142 Thomas of Fusṭāṭ p. 284 Thomas of Marga p. 341, 342, 343, 344, 346, 347, 353 Thomas the Apostle p. 26, 68, 69, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 131, 140, 142, 149, 153, 158, 159, 162, 173, 230, 300 Timothy I (catholicos) p. 56, 93, 101, 168, 169, 170, 171, 173, 210 Timothy (disciple of Paul) p. 131 Tiray from Maḥoze p. 198 Vakhtang / Vaḥtang Gorgasal p. 116, 117, 118 Vergil p. 111 Verina p. 300 Vologeses p.110 Wahrām I p. 234 Wahram Čobin p. 18, 60 Wahrām II p. 193 Wahrām V p. 17 Weh-Šapur p. 85 Wištāsp p. 337, 350, 351, 354 Xerxes p. 343 Xradešahr p. 232, 233, 236, 239, 240 Xwadāy-būd p. 84

Ya‘qūb (disciple of Aba) p. 92 Ya‘qūb of Paidangaran (bishop of South Caucasus) p. 95 Yabsin p. 200 Yahbalaha I p. 55 Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī p. 183 Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn p. 162 Yawsep of Lashom (bishop of Beth Garmai) p. 95 Yazd-Aphrid (bishop of Sakastan) p. 96, 97 Yazd-bōzēd (courtier of the SeleuciaCtesiphon palace) p. 13 Yazdgird II p. 15, 16 Yazdgird / Yazdegard I p. 17, 22, 23, 41, 54, 55, 56, 160, 172 Yazdōy daughter of Yazdēn son of Mihrōzanbīrōy p. 186 Yazdōy (VI sec. Karka d-bet Slok) p. 193, 202 Yōḥannan (bishop of Ādurbādagān, disciple of Aba) p. 92, 95, 98, 209 Yonan (indian hermit) p. 162 Yovhannēs of Awjun p. 348 Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ p. 310, 311, 313, 315 Zadōi p. 163 Zarathustra p. 96, 336, 337, 350, 351, 352, 353 Zardušt (son of Xawarag, called Mazdak the Elder) p. 20 Zarādušt of Fāsā p. 378 Zarwar p. 337 Zayd son of ʿAdī son of Zayd son of Ḥammād son of Zayd p. 186 Zeno p. 118 Zosimus p. 110 Zopyrus p. 110, 111

INDEX OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Adiabene p. 95, 96, 98, 101, 170, 187, 193, 201, 202, 204, 336, 339 Adulé p. 164, 165 Ādurbādagān p. 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 336, 352, 353, 354, 355 Afghanistan p. 95 Africa p. 127, 159, 165, 166 Afro-Eurasia p. 129, 132, 133 al-Ahwāz p. 168 Aksum p. 133 Aleppo p. 171 Alexandria p. 114, 133, 165, 286, 298 Altin Kopru p. 336 Anatolia p. 344 Andziandzor p. 117 Antioch p. 114, 292, 291, 295, 299, 308, 311, 313, 314, 315, 317 Anuradhapura p. 141, 156, 158, 159 Apologos p. 135 Arabia p. 127, 128, 133, 135, 139, 150, 159, 163, 165 Aras River p. 345 Arbela / Irbil p. 187, 201, 203, 336, 341, 357, Ardabīl p. 345 Ardašīr Ḫurrah p. 153 Armenia p. 15, 23, 118, 347, 354 Arraǧan p. 153 Arrān p. 354 Asia p. 105, 108, 124, 129, 131, 132, 138, 139, 150, 152, 155, 156, 157, 158, 170, 173, 183, 210, 217, 218, 274, 279, 280, 282, 308, 312, 313, 315, 316, 317, 336, 355, 379 Assyria p. 134, 349 Asūrestān p. 19 Azerbaigian / Azerbaijan p. 203, 354 Babel p. 337 Babylonia p. 19, 20, 69, 72, 336, 337, 349

Baghdad p. 149, 169, 171, 173, 174, 282, 314, 315 Banu Tanuḫ p. 110 Barzai p. 342 Baṣra / Baṣrah p. 56, 157, 159, 160, 162 Bay of Bengal p. 137 Becare p. 153 Berlin p. 247, 248, 280 Bet ʿArabaye p. 187, 200, 201 Bet Aramaye p. 84, 88, 187, 198, 203, 207 Bet Garmay / Beth Garmai p. 60, 95, 96, 97, 98, 101, 187, 201, 202, 203 Bet Huzaye / Bēth-Huzāyē p. 58, 68, 187 Bet Lapaṭ / Beṯ-Lapaṭ p. 113, 186, 187, 195, 199, 206, 207, 209 Bet Medaye p. 202 Bēth Dāsen p. 336, 341, 342 Beth Hinduwaye p. 170, 171 Beth Ḳaṭrāye / Bēth-Qaṭrāyē p. 64, 161, 163 Beth Sinaye p. 170 Bēth Teita p. 340 Bēth ʿAbē p. 60, 342, 345 Bethlehem p. 26, 299, 319, 320, 321 Bēth Qardū p. 60 Bēth Šaronāyē p. 342, 343, 345 Blachernai p. 299, 300, 301, 302, 305, 306 Black Island p. 163 Black Mountain p. 299 Bost p. 97 Bulayïq p. 36, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 227, 274 Bushire p. 150, 152 Bithynia p. 108 Caber p. 164 Čāč p. 316 Calliana / Kalyan p. 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 Caspian Sea p. 20, 89 Caucasian Albania p. 354 Caucasus p. 95, 100, 115, 118

392

Chiara Barbati – Vittorio Berti

Chalcedon p. 99, 291, 293, 294, 295 Chandrapura p. 166 Charakene p. 135 Charax Spasinou p. 135 China p. 36, 55, 138, 151, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 168, 170, 171, 218, 245, 246, 274 Circesium p. 19 Constantinople p. 24, 107, 109, 279, 281, 282, 294, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 303, 305, 306, 307, 308, 312, 314, 315, 316, 369, 371 Cordouene p. 60 Coromandal / Coromandel p. 126, 127, 163 Ctesiphon p. 58, 67, 188, 376 Dadastana p. 108 Daghestan p. 347 Daqūqā p. 336 Dara p. 57, 357, 371 Darābar p. 338, 339 Dayr as-Suryān p. 110 Dayrin p. 162, 205 Deccan p. 139 Deylam p. 345 Dioskourides p. 123 Dorqonie p. 67 Dūra d-Qonie p. 72, 73, 74 Edessa p. 67, 68, 109, 111, 114, 115, 128, 140, 149, 183, 192, 195, 289, 294, 295, 308, 379 Egypt p. 105, 109, 114, 118, 127, 133, 151, 192, 193, 196, 200, 201, 292 Elam p. 83, 93, 99, 100, 101, 349 Ephesus p. 281, 282, 286, 288, 289, 291, 293, 294, 298, 308, 318, 319, 320, 321 Erythrean Sea p. 56, 136 Esfahan p. 203 Ethiopia p. 163, 165, 172, Euphrates p. 68, 11, 135, 182, 192, 195, 209, 347 Failaka p. 188

Fars / Fārs / Pārs p. 19, 20, 56, 64, 86, 125, 135, 137, 140, 141, 142, 150, 151, 152, 154, 157, 160, 161, 169, 172, 173, 174, 172, 350, 378 Forat p. 136 Frāx-kar-Pērōz p. 96 Fujian p. 246 Gansu p. 217 Gār Kāhnē p. 342 Garamea p. 336, 339 Gilān p. 68 Glāla p. 338, 339 Goa p. 141, 166 Golgotha p. 293 Gondešāpūr / Gundēšāpūr p. 168, 186 Great Zab River p. 336 Greece p. 107, 271 Gurān p. 357 Gujarat p. 139, 155, 166 Hāmun-e Helmand p. 96 Ḫarrān p. 376 Ḥatra p. 200, 204 Ḥawra p. 339 Herāt p. 168 Hiereia p. 307 Hierapolis p. 19 al-Hind p. 136 al-Ḥīra p. 154, 186, 187, 188, 193, 205, 206, Ḥolwān p. 168 Homerite country p. 164 Huzistān / Ḥūzistān / Ḫūzistān p. 152, 183, 186, 187, 190, 196, 198, 200, 210 Illyricum p. 295, 311 India p. 55, 56, 68, 69, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 149, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 379 Indian Ocean / Indian sea p. 123, 124, 133, 137, 139, 140, 152, 157, 163, 165 Indus River p. 136, 164, 166

Indices Inner Mongolia p. 218 Inner Salakh p. 336 Iran p. 14, 34, 35, 36, 37, 45, 46, 47, 64, 89, 95, 123, 126, 142, 150, 152, 155, 156, 166, 183, 188, 312, 333, 334, 345, 349, 350, 358, 367, 370, 373, 374, 375, 376, 378 Iraq p. 124, 154, 155, 156, 161, 171, 188, 312, 338 Istaḫr p. 203 Italy p. 182, 186, 196, 199, 200, 209, Jazeera p. 338 Jerusalem p. 118, 154, 286, 287, 288, 290, 291, 293, 294, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 312 Kalamene p. 124, 125 Karka d-Bet Slok / Karka d-Bēth Slōkh p. 183, 186, 187, 188, 193, 200, 201, 203, 339, 340 Kaš p. 97 Kaškar p. 187, 193, 204, 206 Kašmar p. 350, 351 Kayanseh p. 96 Kerala p. 123, 124, 126, 139, 141, 153, 154, 166 Kermānšāh / Kermanshah p. 357, 358 Kharg p. 150, 152, 156, 157, 173, 188 Khorāsān / Khorassān p. 16, 313, 314, 317 Khwārezm p. 280, 312, 313, 314 Kokhē p. 64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74 Kollam p. 124, 127, 128, 141, 142 Kōph p. 342 Kūhestān p. 350 Kurdistan p. 333, 354, 358 Kurutka p. 218, 219, 220, 221, 224, 227, Kuwait p. 188 Lake of Van p. 356 Lašōm p. 60, 61 Lesser Zab River p. 336, 339 Levant p. 316 Maḥoze d-Bet Aramaye p. 198 Mailapur p. 149

393 Maisan / Maishan / Mayšān p. 19, 101, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 187, 202 Makran p. 56 Malabar p. 149, 153, 155, 158, 166, 167 Malay peninsula / Malayalam p. 125, 141 Malê p. 123, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 Mangarouth p. 164, 166 Mantai / Mahathiththa / Mahathotha / Matota p. 155, 156, 158, 159, 167 Mar Saba p. 299 Marallo p. 164 Marga p. 60, 341, 342 Maron p. 163 Maypherqaṭ p. 171, 172 Media p. 20, 68, 202 Mediterranean p. 99, 123, 125, 127, 129, 130, 139, 142, 165, 206, 288, 317 Mesopotamia p. 34, 56, 57, 63, 68, 93, 105, 109, 114, 118, 127, 128, 133, 134, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 152, 153, 155, 158, 159, 161, 163, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 247, 294, 335, 336, 337, 338, 340 Middle East p. 53, 192, 205 Milan p. 262 Milon p. 163 Mōgān p. 345, 347, 353, 354 Mosul p. 168, 342, 344 Mount Izla p. 161 Mount Sinai p. 110, 118, 279, 283, 284, 286, 287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 296, 297, 299, 302, 308, 310, 316, 318, 319 Mt. Kardō p. 342 Mt. Sabalān p. 345, 354, 355 Mumbai p. 123, 140 Nag Hammadi p. 230 Nalopatana p. 164, 166 Naqš-e Rostam p. 34 Nazareth p. 69 Nazianzus p. 117

394

Chiara Barbati – Vittorio Berti

Near East p. 53, 339 Nelcynda p. 153 Nicaea p. 141, 307, 308 Nineveh p. 24, 336, 338, 356 Nippur p. 190 Nīšāpūr p. 350 Nisibin / Nisibis p. 55, 57, 60, 73, 90, 99, 127, 183, 187, 188, 201, 203, 294, 378 Nova Laura p. 368 Orrhotha p. 164, 166 Osrhoene p. 67 Outer Salakh p. 336 Pacific Rim p. 138 Palestine p. 191, 279, 282, 289, 299, 300, 302, 303, 304, 307, 308, 310, 311, 312, 315, 317, 379 Palmyra p. 195, 200 Paris p. 110, 249, 250, 260, 262, 267, 269 Parthia p. 126, 134, 135, Parti p. 164, 166 Parur p. 154 Pattanam / Muziris p. 153, 158, 173 Persia p. 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 39, 61, 63, 68, 69, 72, 83, 93, 95, 105, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 141, 149, 153, 163, 164, 165, 167, 172, 183, 207, 209, 210, 376, 379 Persian Gulf p. 56, 125, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 149, 150, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 163, 164, 165, 167, 206, Persis p. 168 Phison p. 164 Phorat p. 135 Phrāh p. 97 Phrygia p. 110, 343 Pingnan p. 246 Poudopatana p. 164, 166 Prahawar p. 89 Prath d’Mayshan p. 160, 162

Qalah p. 125, 169 Qalang p. 125 Qaṣr-e Širin p. 357 Qataraye sea p. 162 Qocho p. 245, 246, 250 Qočo p. 218, 219, 220, 221, 227 Qonie p. 73 Quilon p. 166 Raxwad p. 97 Red Sea p. 56, 127, 133, 142, 155, 165 Reš‘ayna p. 18, 19 Rēši p. 336 Rev-Ardashir / Rēw Ardašīr / RēwArdawšīr p. 124, 125, 137, 140, 141, 151, 152, 157, 158, 169, 170, 173, 200 Rīšahr p. 152, 155 Romagyris p. 313, 316 Rome p. 14, 25, 45, 111, 134, 138, 271, 286, 297, 298, 378 Šāhrgird p. 336 Sakastān p. 83, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99 Salakh p. 336, 341, 342 Salakh of Narseh p. 336 Salopatana p. 164, 166 Samarqand p. 168 Šāš p. 313, 316 Saurashtra p. 166 al-Sawād p. 116 Seert / Siirt p. 15, 18, 22, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 88, 105, 114, 124, 125, 136, 138, 140, 159, 171, 172, 183, 185, 188, 190, 200, 206, 209 Šeikan p. 344 Seleucia-Ctesiphon p. 13, 62, 64, 67, 69, 73, 84, 88, 94, 101, 135, 136, 137, 141, 162, 173, 187, 188, 193, 198, 200, 201, 203, 204, 206, 210 Sen‘ar p. 20 Serš of Mages p. 89 Shuïpang p. 245, 250 Sibor p. 164, 166 Sielediba p. 163, 164 Sindabor p. 166

Indices

395

Sindu p. 164, 166 Sinjar p. 201 Sīrāf p. 152, 153, 155, 157, 158 Socotra p. 123, 140 Sogdiana p. 313 Sri Lanka p. 123, 124, 129, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 150, 155, 156, 158, 159, 163, 165, 166, 167, 172, 173, 174 Sura p. 18 Šuštar p. 196, 199 Syria p. 34, 90, 108, 109, 126, 133, 155, 205, 279, 281, 282, 289, 291, 294, 299, 302, 304, 307, 308, 310, 311, 312, 315, 316, 370, 379

Tibet p. 170 Tigris p. 72, 95, 135, 182, 183, 209, 335 Tindis p. 153 Tissamaharama p. 139 Ṭur Berayn p. 193 Turfan / Turfān p. 19, 217, 218, 225, 227, 235, 245, 246, 247, 250, 254, 271, 272, 273, 274, 279, 280, 281, 296, 316, 317 Turkestan p. 36, 45 Tzinista p. 163, 164

Tabaristan p. 108 Takrit p. 188 Tamilnadu p. 141 Taprobane / Taprobanê p. 123, 163, 164, 165 Tarim p. 219, 317, 379 Tārūt p. 162 Tashkent p. 313, 316 Tauk p. 336 Taurus p. 341, 344, 357 Thessalonica p. 131, 303

al-Wāsiṭ p. 161

Vadh p. 96 Varačʿan p. 347 Vizhinjam p. 154, 155, 158

Xaraxoto p. 218, 225, 227 Xiapu p. 246 Xinjiang p. 218 Yemen p. 170 Yerevan p. 357 Zagros p. 341, 357 Zarang p. 96, 97

Notes on Contributors Nathanael Andrade received his PhD in Greek and Roman history from the University of Michigan and has published extensively on the Roman and later Roman Near East along with other topics. His books include Syrian Identity in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge University Press, 2013); The Journey of Christianity to India in Late Antiquity: Networks and the Movement of Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2018); and Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra (Oxford University Press, 2018). He is a professor of ancient history at Binghamton University (SUNY). Chiara Barbati is senior researcher at the University of Pisa. She received her PhD from Sapienza University of Rome in 2009 and obtained the Italian habilitation for Associate Professorship in Cultures of the Ancient Near East, Middle East and Africa in 2017. Her research focuses on Iranian languages and cultures along the Silk Roads, cultural translation studies, manuscript studies and eastern Christianity and has led her to specialise and work in Rome, Berlin and Vienna between 2006 and 2019. For the series Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik (Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna) she published The Christian Sogdian Gospel Lectionary E5 in Context in 2016. Vittorio Berti is Associate Professor of History of Christianity at the University of Padua, with special interests in the Syriac churches during late antiquity and the early Islamic age. He studied the life and development of the intellectual elites of East-Syrian schools and monasteries, and their philosophical, theological and spiritual culture. Former secretary of the Italian Society of Syriac Studies (Syriaca), he is member of several international research projects. Author of more than thirty scientific contributions, he wrote two monographs: Vita e Studi di Timoteo I, patriarca cristiano di Baghdad, Peeters, Paris 2009 and L’au-delà de l’âme et l’en-deçà du corps. Approches d’anthropologie chrétienne de la mort dans l’église syro-orientale, Paradosis, Fribourg 2015. Simon Brelaud is the Avimalek Visiting Assistant Professor in Assyrian Studies at U.C. Berkeley. He holds a doctorate from the Sorbonne University in Paris. His PhD thesis focused on the Christians of the Sasanian Empire (3rd -7th C. AD). His research analyses ancient literary testimonies and archaeological remains in tandem. He is participating in several ongoing archaeological and epigraphic projects in the Middle East, including in Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan and Turkey. Manfred Hutter is professor of Comparative Religions at the University of Bonn, focusing on Pre-Islamic religions in Iran and the Near East. One of his recent publications is Iranische Religionen. Zoroastrismus, Yezidentum, Bahā’ītum (Berlin: de Gruyter 2019). Currently he is preparing a German monograph on Manichaeism.

398

Chiara Barbati – Vittorio Berti

Camilla Insom completed her PhD in Iranian Studies at the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies – L’Orientale University of Naples in 2020. Her research, based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, focuses on patterns of continuity and change in the Kurdish Qadiriyya in Iraqi Kurdistan. In 2018- 2019 she was Research Fellow at IRIS - Institute of Regional and International Studies - of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. She is member of MAIKI – Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan – of Sapienza University of Rome since 2013. Christelle Jullien Ph.D. and accredited to supervise research (HDR), she has held the position of Researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, CeRMI) since 2004. She is a trained historian specialising in Syriac hagiographical and martyrological literature, and in cultural and religious history of communities in the Sasanian world. She led several national and international programmes, some of them funded by the French National Research Agency (‘Ctesiphon’: a transdisciplinary database on the reign of Khusro I, King of Persia; ‘TransPerse’ on intercultural transmissions – with a sourc-e-book). She has organized several international conferences. Over the last fifteen years, she has published monographs and collective books, and more than 50 articles, in particular about the history of the Christian communities in the Persian Empire, and on the Acts of the Persian Martyrs in Syriac. Florence Jullien Dr. of religious sciences and Habilit., she is an historian who currently hold the position of Researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (UMR 8041, CeRMI). Her interests focus primarily on Christianity in the Near and Middle East, Eastern monasticism and Syriac literature in Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. She has taught as assistant at the École pratique des hautes études, chair of “Eastern Christianity”. She has published several books, focusing on the traditions of christianisation and cultural encounters in the Persian empire (Apôtres des confins), editions of Syriac hagiographical texts (the Acts of Mār Māri; Life of Mār Abba), many studies on monasticism in the Syriac world (e.g., Le monachisme en Perse in the Subsidia of the CSCO), and on religious controversies. She was and is involved into international projects such as Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta, series Corpus Christianorum (Brepols) and the ANR programme “TransPerse” on intercultural transmissions between East and West. She received two awards from the Académie des Inscriptions et BellesLettres, Paris. Lijuan Lin is Assistant Professor, Center for Classical and Medieval Studies, Department of History, Peking University. Main fields of expertise include ancient Greek intellectual history, the reception of Greek Culture in the Syriac and Arabic World, and Syriac Christianity.

Notes on Contributors

399

Alexey Muraviev is Associate Professor of Medieval Oriental History at the School of Historical Studies and Senior Research Associate at the Laboratory of Medieval Research, National Research University ‘Higher school of economics’; Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow with special interests in philology, history and philosophy of Late Antiquity and the Christian East. He is author of Mar Afrem the Syrian. Julian cycle of madrashe (Moscow, 2006), and co-author (with Michel van Esbroeck) of Die sinaitische arabische Übersetzung des syrischen Julianus-Roman (Louvain, in print). Antonio Panaino is professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Bologna, with special interests in philology, history of religions in Pre-Islamic Iran and history of ancient sciences (in particular astronomy, astral lore and astrology). He has published several monographic works and numerous articles in the leading periodicals of the field. Andrea Piras is professor of Iranian Philology, Religions and History at University of Bologna (Department of Cultural Heritage). His main fields of studies deal with Zoroastrian and Manichaean texts, epistolography, intercultural and religious phaenomena between Byzantium, Middle East and Central Asia, also with reference to Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. Adrian C. Pirtea PhD, 2017, is a postdoctoral researcher at the Freie Universität Berlin (Institute for Greek and Latin Philology, Byzantine Studies) and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (Corpus Coranicum). He currently holds a Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at the University of Vienna (2020-2022). His main areas of research are Byzantine and Syriac Christianity, monastic literature, manuscript studies, Christianity and Manichaeism in Central Asia. Harald Suermann is professor for Oriental Christianity at the University of Bonn and director of the Institute of Missiology of missio e.V. in Aachen. His main interests concern the history of Indian Christianity, Maronite Christianity and current Middle East Christianity. Gianfilippo Terribili is Research Associate in Iranian Studies at the Dipartimento di Scienze dell’antichità (DiSA) – Sapienza University of Rome. In a broader perspective, his primary interests include ancient Iran's religions and, more specifically, the Zoroastrian identity within the cultural context of Late Antiquity and the early-Islamic period, Pahlavi literature and Sasanian epigraphy. Since 2006, he has participated in projects and archaeological campaigns focused on studying and preserving the cultural heritage in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. In this framework, he has carried out fieldwork on the monument of king Narseh (293-302 CE) at Paikuli and its bilingual inscription (Middle Persian and Parthian). In 2018 he joined DiSA research projects in Iran (Kermanshah province).

VERÖFFENTLICHUNGEN ZUR IRANISTIK HERAUSGEGEBEN VON BERT G. FRAGNER UND FLORIAN SCHWARZ (Nr. 1–21: Veröffentlichungen der Iranischen Kommission, Nr. 22–29: Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Iranistik, Nr. 30–31: Herausgegeben von Bert G. Fragner Nr. 32–68: Herausgegeben von Bert G. Fragner und Velizar Sadovski)

Nr. 1: Manfred Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana. Das altiranische Namengut der Persepolis-Täfelchen. Unter Mitarbeit von János Harmatta, Walter Hinz, Rüdiger Schmitt und Jutta Seiffert. 1973 (SBph, 286. Band) Nr. 2: Karl Jahn, Die Geschichte der Kinder Israels des Rašīd ad-Dīn. 1973 (Dph, 114. Band) Nr. 3: Manfred Mayrhofer, Zum Namengut des Avesta. 1977 (SBph, 308. Band, 5. Abhandlung) Nr. 4: Karl Jahn, Die Frankengeschichte des Rašīd ad-Dīn. Einleitung, Übersetzung und Kommentar. 1977 (Dph, 129. Band) Nr. 5: Ronald Zwanziger, Zum Namen der Mutter Zarathustras. (Sonderdruck aus Anzeiger, 114/1977) Nr. 6: Rüdiger Schmitt, Die Iranier-Namen bei Aischylos. (Iranica Graeca Vetustiora. I). 1978 (SBph, 337. Band) Nr. 7: Manfred Mayrhofer, Supplement zur Sammlung der altpersischen Inschriften. 1978 (SBph, 338. Band) Nr. 8: Karl Jahn, Die Indiengeschichte des Rašīd ad-Dīn. Einleitung, vollständige Übersetzung, Kommentar und 80 Texttafeln. 1980 (Dph, 144. Band) Nr. 9: Oswald Szemerényi, Four Old Iranian Ethnic Names: Scythian – Skudra – Sogdian – Saka. 1980 (SBph, 371. Band) Nr. 10: Rüdiger Schmitt, Altpersische Siegelinschriften. 1981 (SBph, 381. Band) Nr. 11: Kaikhusroo M. JamaspAsa, Aogəmadaēcā. A Zoroastrian Liturgy. 1982 (SBph, 397. Band) Nr. 12: R. E. Emmerick and P. O. Skjærvø, Studies in the Vocabulary of Khotanese I. 1982 (SBph, 401. Band) Nr. 13: Manfred Mayrhofer, Lassen sich Vorstufen des Uriranischen nachweisen? (Sonderdruck aus Anzeiger, 120/1983) Nr. 14: Reinhard Pohanka, Zu einigen Architekturstücken von Tell-e Zohak bei Fasa, Südiran. (Sonderdruck aus Anzeiger, 120/1983) Nr. 15: Wilhelm Eilers, Iranische Ortsnamenstudien. 1987 (SBph, 465. Band) Nr. 16: Reinhard Pohanka, Die Masdjed-e Djoume in Darab, Südiran. (Sonderdruck aus Anzeiger, 121/1984) Nr. 17: R. E. Emmerick and P. O. Skjærvø, Studies in the Vocabulary of Khotanese II. 1987 (SBph, 458. Band) Nr. 18: Wolfgang Felix, Antike literarische Quellen zur Außenpolitik des Sāsānidenstaates. Erster Band (224–309). 1985 (SBph, 456. Band) Nr. 19: Reinhard Pohanka, Burgen und Heiligtümer in Laristan, Südiran. Ein Surveybericht. 1986 (SBph, 466. Band)

Nr. 20: N. Rastegar und W. Slaje, Uto von Melzer (1881–1961). Werk und Nachlaß eines österreichischen Iranisten. 1987 (SBph, 477. Band) Nr. 21: Ladislav Zgusta, The Old Ossetic Inscription from the River Zelenčuk. 1987 (SBph, 486. Band) Nr. 22: Wolfram Kleiss, Die Entwicklung von Palästen und palastartigen Wohnbauten in Iran. 1989 (SBph, 524. Band) Nr. 23: Nosratollah Rastegar, Zur Problematik einiger handschriftlicher Quellen des neupersischen Namenbuches. 1989 (SBph, 525. Band) Nr. 24: Dorit Schön, Laristan – eine südpersische Küstenprovinz. Ein Beitrag zu seiner Geschichte. 1990 (SBph, 553. Band) Nr. 25: Rüdiger Schmitt, Epigraphisch-exegetische Noten zu Dareios’ Bīsutūn-Inschriften. 1990 (SBph, 561. Band) Nr. 26: Jost Gippert, Iranica Armeno-Iberica. Studien zu den iranischen Lehnwörtern im Armenischen und Georgischen. Band I–II. 1993 (SBph, 606. Band) Nr. 27: R. E. Emmerick and P. O. Skjærvø, Studies in the Vocabulary of Khotanese III. 1997 (SBph, 651. Band) Nr. 28: Xavier Tremblay, Pour une histoire de la Sérinde. Le manichéisme parmi les peuples et religions d’Asie Centrale d’après les sources primaires. 2001 (SBph, 690. Band) Nr. 29: Rüdiger Schmitt, Die iranischen und Iranier-Namen in den Schriften Xenophons. (Iranica Graeca Vetustiora. II). 2002 (SBph, 692. Band) Nr. 30: Rüdiger Schmitt, Meno-logium Bagistano-Persepolitanum. Studien zu den altpersischen Monatsnamen und ihren elamischen Wiedergaben. Unter redaktioneller Mitwirkung von Velizar Sadovski. 2003 (SBph, 705. Band) Nr. 31: Antonio Panaino, Rite, parole et pensée dans l’Avesta ancien et récent. Quatre leçons au Collège de France (Paris, 7, 14, 21, 28 mai 2001). Edité par Velizar Sadovski, avec la collaboration rédactionnelle de Sara Circassia. 2004 (SBph, 716. Band) Nr. 32: Roman Siebertz, Die Briefmarken Irans als Mittel der politischen Bildpropaganda. 2005 (SBph, 722. Band) Nr. 33: Rüdiger Schmitt, Iranische Anthroponyme in den erhaltenen Resten von Ktesias’ Werk. (Iranica Graeca Vetustiora. III). 2006 (SBph, 736. Band) Nr. 34: Heiner Eichner, Bert G. Fragner, Velizar Sadovski und Rüdiger Schmitt (Hrsg.), Iranistik in Europa – gestern, heute, morgen. Unter redaktioneller Mitarbeit von Hannes Hofmann und Vera Giesen. 2006 (SBph, 739. Band) Nr. 35: Uto v. Melzer, Farhangnevīs. Materialien zu einem Persisch-deutschen Wörterbuch. Hrsg. von Nosratollah Rastegar. Band I–IV. 2006 (Dph, 339. Band) Nr. 36: Manfred Mayrhofer, Einiges zu den Skythen, ihrer Sprache, ihrem Nachleben. 2006 (SBph, 742. Band) Nr. 37: Siegfried Weber, Die persische Verwaltung Kaschmirs (1842–1892). Band 1–2. 2007 (SBph, 754. Band) Nr. 38: Farhangnevīs. Datenbank zu Uto von Melzers lexikographischen Materialien: PersischDeutsch/Deutsch-Persisch. Hrsg. von Nosratollah Rastegar. 2007 (CD-ROM) Nr. 39: Rüdiger Schmitt, Pseudo-altpersische Inschriften. Inschriftenfälschungen und moderne Nachbildungen in altpersischer Keilschrift. 2007 (SBph, 762. Band) Nr. 40: Thamar E. Gindin, The Early Judaeo-Persian Tafsīrs of Ezekiel: Text, Translation, Commentary. Vol. I: Text. 2007 (SBph, 763. Band)

Nr. 41: Antonio Panaino und Velizar Sadovski, Disputationes Iranologicae Vindobonenses, I.: Antonio Panaino, Chronologia Avestica. Velizar Sadovski, Epitheta und Götternamen im älteren Indo-Iranischen. 2007 (SBph, 764. Band) Nr. 42: Helmut Slaby, Bindenschild und Sonnenlöwe. Die Geschichte der österreichischiranischen Beziehungen bis zur Gegenwart. Nachdruck. 2010 (SBph, 770. Band) Nr. 43: Tommaso Gnoli, The Interplay of Roman and Iranian Titles in the Roman East (1st–3rd Century A.D.). 2007 (SBph, 765. Band) Nr. 44: Thamar E. Gindin, The Early Judaeo-Persian Tafsīrs of Ezekiel: Text, Translation, Commentary. Vol. II: Translation. 2007 (SBph, 766. Band) Nr. 45: Thamar E. Gindin, The Early Judaeo-Persian Tafsīrs of Ezekiel: Text, Translation, Commentary. Vol. III: Commentary (in Vorbereitung) Nr. 46: Bert G. Fragner, Ralph Kauz, Roderick Ptak und Angela Schottenhammer (Hrsg.), Pferde in Asien: Geschichte, Handel und Kultur / Horses in Asia: History, Trade and Culture. 2009 (Dph, 378. Band) Nr. 47: Giorgio Rota, La Vita e i Tempi di Rostam Khan. Edizione e traduzione italiana del Ms. British Library Add 7,655. 2009 (SBph, 790. Band) Nr. 48: Fridrik Thordarson, Ossetic Grammatical Studies. 2009 (SBph, 788. Band) Nr. 49: Rüdiger Schmitt und Gerhard Brugmann (Hrsg.), Aus Karl Brugmanns Jugenderinnerungen. Eingeleitet und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Rüdiger Schmitt. 2009 (SBph, 786. Band) Nr. 50: Velizar Sadovski, Untersuchungen zu Sprache und Stil des ältesten Indo-Iranischen (Veda und Avesta). (Stilistica Indo-Iranica, II.) (in Vorbereitung) Nr. 51: Velizar Sadovski und David Stifter (Hrsg.), Iranistische und indogermanistische Beiträge in memoriam Jochem Schindler (1944–1994). 2012 (SBph, 851. Band) Nr. 52: Ralph Kauz, Giorgio Rota und Jan Paul Niederkorn (Hrsg.), Diplomatisches Zeremoniell in Europa und im Mittleren Osten in der frühen Neuzeit. 2009 (SBph, 796. Band) Nr. 53: Giorgio Rota, Under Two Lions. On the Knowledge of Persia in the Republic of Venice (ca. 1450–1797). 2009 (SBph, 793. Band) Nr. 54: Manfred Mayrhofer, Indogermanistik: Über Darstellungen und Einführungen von den Anfängen bis in die Gegenwart. 2009 (SBph, 787. Band) Nr. 55: Ela Filippone, The Fingers and their Names in the Iranian Languages. (Onomasiological Studies of Body-Part Terms, I). 2010 (SBph, 811. Band) Nr. 56: Olav Hackstein, Apposition and Nominal Classification in Indo-European and Beyond. 2010 (SBph, 798. Band) Nr. 57: Geschichte Wassaf’s. Persisch herausgegeben und deutsch übersetzt von HammerPurgstall. Neu herausgegeben von Sibylle Wentker nach Vorarbeiten von Klaus Wundsam. Band 1. 2010 (SBph, 802. Band) Nr. 58: Gisela Fock, Die iranische Moderne in der Bildenden Kunst: Der Bildhauer und Maler Parviz Tanavoli. 2011 (SBph, 815. Band) Nr. 59: Geschichte Wassaf’s. Deutsch übersetzt von Hammer-Purgstall. Herausgegeben von Sibylle Wentker nach Vorarbeiten von Elisabeth und Klaus Wundsam. Band 2. 2010 (SBph, 803. Band) Nr. 60: Toshifumi Gotō: The Old Indo-Aryan Morphology and its Indo-Iranian Background. 2013 (SBph, 849. Band)

Nr. 61: Yuri Stoyanov, Defenders and Enemies of the True Cross. The Sasanian Conquest of Jerusalem in 614 and Byzantine Ideology of Anti-Persian Warfare. 2011 (SBph, 819. Band) Nr. 62: Barbara Karl, Treasury ‒ Kunstkammer ‒ Museum: Objects from the Islamic World in the Museum Collections of Vienna. 2011 (SBph, 822. Band) Nr. 63: Şevket Küçükhüseyin, Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung im Prozess kultureller Transformation. Anatolische Quellen über Muslime, Christen und Türken (13.‒15. Jahrhundert). 2011 (SBph, 825. Band) Nr. 64: Geschichte Wassaf’s. Deutsch übersetzt von Hammer-Purgstall. Herausgegeben von Sibylle Wentker nach Vorarbeiten von Elisabeth und Klaus Wundsam. Band 3. 2012 (SBph, 827. Band) Nr. 65: Antonio Panaino und Velizar Sadovski, Disputationes Iranologicae Vindobonenses, II. 2013 (SBph, 845. Band) Nr. 66: Geschichte Wassaf’s. Deutsch übersetzt von Hammer-Purgstall. Herausgegeben von Sibylle Wentker nach Vorarbeiten von Elisabeth und Klaus Wundsam. Band 4. 2016 (SBph, 878. Band) Nr. 67: Luke Treadwell, Craftsmen and coins: signed dies in the Iranian world (third to the fifth centuries AH). 2011 (Dph, 423. Band, gleichzeitig: Veröffentlichungen der Numismatischen Kommission, Band 54) Nr. 69: Amr Taher Ahmed, La « Révolution littéraire ». Étude de l’influence de la poésie française sur la modernisation des formes poétiques persanes au début du XXe siècle. 2012 (SBph, 829. Band) Nr. 70: Roman Siebertz, Preise, Löhne und Lebensstandard im safavidischen Iran. Eine Untersuchung zu den Rechnungsbüchern Wollebrand Geleynssen de Jonghs (1641– 1643). 2013 (SBph, 835. Band) Nr. 71: Walter Posch, Osmanisch-safavidische Beziehungen 1545–1550: Der Fall Alḳâs Mîrzâ. Teil 1 und Teil 2. 2013 (SBph, 841. Band) Nr. 72: Niccolò Pianciola und Paolo Sartori (Hrsg.), Islam, Society and States across the Qazaq Steppe (18th – Early 20th Centuries). 2013 (SBph, 844. Band) Nr. 73: Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst, Grammatik des Westmitteliranischen (Parthisch und Mittelpersisch). 2014 (SBph, 850. Band/Grammatica Iranica 1, hrsg. von Velizar Sadovski) Nr. 74: Christine Noelle-Karimi, The Pearl in its Midst. Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th–19th Centuries). 2014 (Dph, 463. Band) Nr. 75: Bert G. Fragner, Ralph Kauz und Florian Schwarz (Hrsg.): Wine Culture in Iran and Beyond. 2014 (SBph, 852. Band) Nr. 76: Alexander Lubotsky, Alanic Marginal Notes in a Greek Liturgical Manuscript. 2015 (SBph, 859. Band/Grammatica Iranica 2, hrsg. von Velizar Sadovski) Nr. 77: Tilmann Trausch, Formen höfischer Historiographie im 16. Jahrhundert. Geschichtsschreibung unter den frühen Safaviden: 1501–1578. 2015 (SBph, 861. Band) Nr. 78: Jeff Eden (transl. and annot.), The Life of Muḥammad Sharīf. A Central Asian Sufi Hagiography in Chaghatay. With an appendix by Rian Thum and David Brophy. 2015 (SBph, 864. Band) Nr. 79: Rüdiger Schmitt, Stilistik der altpersischen Inschriften. Versuch einer Annäherung. 2016 (SBph, 875. Band/Grammatica Iranica 3, hrsg. von Velizar Sadovski)

Nr. 80: Andreas Wilde, What is Beyond the River? Power, Authority, and Social Order in Transoxania, 18th-19th Centuries. 2016 (SBph, 877. Band) Nr. 81: Chiara Barbati, The Christian Sogdian Gospel Lectionary E5 in Context. 2016 (SBph, 874. Band) Nr. 82: Nuryoghdi Toshov (Hrsg.), Īsh Murād b. Ādīna Muḥammad ʿAlavī: Jamshīdī ṭavāyifī fatḥī (The Subjugation of the Jamshīdīs). 2018 (SBph, 888. Band/Studies and Texts on Central Asia 1, hrsg. von Paolo Sartori) Nr. 83: Nicholas Sims-Williams und François de Blois, Studies in the Chronology of the Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan. With contributions by Harry Falk and Dieter Weber. 2018 (Dph, 505. Band) Nr. 84: Allen J. Frank, Gulag Miracles. Sufis and Stalinist Repression in Kazakhstan. 2019 (SBph, 895. Band/ Studies and Texts on Central Asia 2, hrsg. von Florian Schwarz) Nr. 85: Бабаджанов, Бахтияр, Эпиграфика в архитектурном ландшафте Хивы. Мечети, погребальные комплексы, медресе, дворцы, ворота. Часть 1: Введение, чтение текстов, комментированные переводы. Часть 2: Иллюстрации. [Bakhtiyar M. Babadjanov, Epigraphy in the Architectural Cityscape of Khiva. Mosques, madrasas, burial complexes, courts and gates. Part 1: Introduction, texts and annotated translations. Part 2: Plates]. 2020 (Dph, 542. Band/Studies and Texts on Central Asia 3, hrsg. von Florian Schwarz) Nr. 86: Antonio Panaino, The “River of Fire” and the “River of Molten Metal”. A HistoricoTheological Rafting Through the Rapids of the Christian and Mazdean Apokatastatic Falls. 2021 (SBph, 911. Band)

IRANISCHE ONOMASTIK HERAUSGEGEBEN VON BERT G. FRAGNER, VELIZAR SADOVSKI UND FLORIAN SCHWARZ (Nr. 1–10: Herausgegeben von Bert G. Fragner und Velizar Sadovski)

Nr. 1: Rüdiger Schmitt, Das Iranische Personennamenbuch: Rückschau, Vorschau, Rundschau (mit einer Bibliographie zur Iranischen Personennamenkunde). 2006 (SBph, 744. Band) Nr. 2: Sonja Fritz, Die ossetischen Personennamen. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band III, Faszikel 3). 2006 (SBph, 746. Band) Nr. 3: Ulla Remmer, Frauennamen im Rigveda und im Avesta. 2006 (SBph, 745. Band) Nr. 4: Ran Zadok, Iranische Personennamen in der neu- und spätbabylonischen Nebenüberlieferung. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band VII, Faszikel 1B). 2009 (SBph, 777. Band) Nr. 5: Philippe Gignoux, Christelle Jullien, Florence Jullien, Noms propres syriaques d’origine iranienne. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band VII, Faszikel 5). 2009 (SBph, 789. Band) Nr. 6: Rüdiger Schmitt, Iranische Personennamen in der neuassyrischen Nebenüberlieferung. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band VII, Faszikel 1A). 2009 (SBph, 792. Band) Nr. 7: Nicholas Sims-Williams, Bactrian Personal Names. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band II, Faszikel 7). 2010 (SBph, 806. Band) Nr. 8: Pavel B. Lurje, Personal Names in Sogdian Texts. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band II, Faszikel 8). 2010 (SBph, 808. Band) Nr. 9: Rüdiger Schmitt, Iranische Personennamen in der griechischen Literatur vor Alexander d. Gr. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band V, Faszikel 5A). 2011 (SBph, 823. Band) Nr. 10: Rüdiger Schmitt, Manfred Mayrhofer: Leben und Werk. Mit vollständigem Schriftenverzeichnis. 2012 (SBph, 828. Band) Nr. 11: Matteo De Chiara, Mauro Maggi and Giuliana Martini (Hrsg.), Buddhism Among the Iranian Peoples of Central Asia (= Multilingualism and History of Knowledge, Volume I. Hrsg. von Jens E. Braarvig, Markham J. Geller, Gebhard Selz und Velizar Sadovski). 2013 (SBph, 848. Band) Nr. 12: Olav Hackstein and Ronald I. Kim (Hrsg.), Linguistic Developments along the Silkroad: Archaism and Innovation in Tocharian (= Multilingualism and History of Knowledge, Volume II. Hrsg. von Jens E. Braarvig, Markham J. Geller, Gebhard Selz und Velizar Sadovski). 2012 (SBph, 834. Band) Nr. 13: Rüdiger Schmitt und Günter Vittmann, Iranische Namen in ägyptischer Nebenüberlieferung. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band VIII). 2013 (SBph, 842. Band) Nr. 14: Manfred Hutter, Iranische Personennamen in der hebräischen Bibel. (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band VII, Faszikel 2). 2015 (SBph, 860. Band) Nr. 15: Rüdiger Schmitt, Personennamen in parthischen epigraphischen Quellen (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band II, Faszikel 5). 2016 (SBph, 881. Band) Nr. 16: Iris Colditz, Iranische Personennamen in manichäischer Überlieferung (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band II, Faszikel 1). 2018 (SBph, 889. Band) Nr. 17: Hrach Martirosyan, Iranian Personal Names in Armenian Collateral Tradition (= Iranisches Personennamenbuch, Band V, Faszikel 3). 2021 (SBph, 912. Band)

IRANISCHES PERSONENNAMENBUCH BEGRÜNDET VON MANFRED MAYRHOFER HERAUSGEGEBEN VON RÜDIGER SCHMITT, HEINER EICHNER, BERT G. FRAGNER UND VELIZAR SADOVSKI Band I: Die altiranischen Namen Von Manfred Mayrhofer. 1979 (Sonderpublikation). Faszikel 1, 2 und 3 in einem Band: Faszikel 1: Die avestischen Namen. Faszikel 2: Die altpersischen Namen. Faszikel 3: Indices zum Gesamtband. Band II: Mitteliranische Personennamen Faszikel 1: Iranische Personennamen in manichäischer Überlieferung. Von Iris Colditz. 2018 (SBph, 889. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 16) Faszikel 2: Noms propres sassanides en moyen-perse épigraphique. Von Philippe Gignoux. 1986 (Sonderpublikation) Faszikel 3: Noms propres sassanides en moyen-perse épigraphique. Supplément (1986– 2001). Von Philippe Gignoux. 2003 (Sonderpublikation) Faszikel 5: Personennamen in parthischen epigraphischen Quellen. Von Rüdiger Schmitt, 2016 (SBph, 881. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 15) Faszikel 7: Bactrian Personal Names. Von Nicholas Sims-Williams. 2010 (SBph, 806. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 7) Faszikel 8: Personal Names in Sogdian Texts. Von Pavel B. Lurje. 2011 (SBph, 808. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 8) Band III: Neuiranische Personennamen Faszikel 3: Die ossetischen Personennamen. Von Sonja Fritz. 2006 (SBph, 746. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 2) Band IV: Materialgrundlagen zu den iranischen Personennamen auf antiken Münzen: Nomina propria Iranica in nummis Von Michael Alram. 1986 (Sonderpublikation) Band V: Iranische Namen in Nebenüberlieferungen indogermanischer Sprachen Faszikel 3: Iranian Personal Names in Armenian Collateral Tradition. Von Hrach Martirosyan. 2021 (SBph, 912. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 17) Faszikel 4: Iranische Namen in den indogermanischen Sprachen Kleinasiens: Lykisch, Lydisch, Phrygisch.Von Rüdiger Schmitt. 1982 (Sonderpublikation) Faszikel 5A: Iranische Personennamen in der griechischen Literatur vor Alexander d. Gr. Von Rüdiger Schmitt. 2011 (SBph, 823. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 9) Faszikel 6a: Iranische Namen in den griechischen Dokumenten Ägyptens. Von Philip Huyse. 1991 (Sonderpublikation)

Band VII: Iranische Namen in semitischen Nebenüberlieferungen Faszikel 1A: Iranische Personennamen in der neuassyrischen Nebenüberlieferung. Von Rüdiger Schmitt. 2009 (SBph, 792. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 6) Faszikel 1B: Iranische Personennamen in der neu- und spätbabylonischen Nebenüberlieferung. Von Ran Zadok. 2009 (SBph, 777. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 4) Faszikel 2: Iranische Personennamen in der hebräischen Bibel. Von Manfred Hutter. 2015 (SBph, 860. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 14) Faszikel 5: Noms propres syriaques d’origine iranienne. Von Philippe Gignoux, Christelle Jullien, Florence Jullien. 2009 (SBph, 789. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 5) Band VIII: Iranische Namen in ägyptischer Nebenüberlieferung Von Rüdiger Schmitt und Günter Vittmann. 2013 (SBph, 842. Band/Iranische Onomastik, Nr. 13)