John Psaltes
John Psaltes was the abbot of Qenneshre in the late 6th century. He wrote hymns in Greek that were translated by Paul of Edessa into Syriac, probably while he was on Cyprus in the 620s. The Syriac text was revised in 675 by Jacob of Edessa. Around 600, John wrote a hymn in honour of the martyrs of Najran. He may have relied on the Syriac ''Book of the Himyarites'', since the hymn's brief introduction gives the name of Dhū Nuwās, the persecutor of Najran, as Masrūq, a name otherwise only attested in the ''Book''. The hymn has been translated into English by Ernest Walter Brooks Ernest Walter Brooks, FBA (30 August 1863 – 26 March 1955) was an English ancient historian and scholar of Syriac. The son of a priest, he was educated at Eton College (as a King's Scholar) and then at King's College, Cambridge, where he read c .... Notes Works cited * * *{{cite book , first=Jack B. , last=Tannous , title=The Making of the Medieval Middle East: Religion, Society, and Simple Believers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Qenneshre
Qenneshre (also ''Qēnneshrē'' or ''Qennešre'', Syriac language, Syriac for "eagle's nest"; Arabic ''Qinnisrī'') was a large Syriac Orthodox Church, West Syriac monastery between the 6th and 13th centuries. It was a centre for the study of ancient Greek literature and the Church Fathers, Greek Fathers, and through its Syriac translations it Greek contributions to Islamic world, transmitted Greek works to the Islamic world. It was "the most important intellectual centre of the Syriac Orthodox ... from the 6th to the early 9th century", when it was sacked and went into decline. Location Qenneshre was in the region of Upper Mesopotamia. According to Yaqut al-Hamawi, Yāqūt, it was four ''parasang''s from Mabbug and seven from Serugh. In the 1990s, Spanish archaeologists discovered a large monastic site on the western bank of the Euphrates River near its confluence with the Sajur River, Sajur. They identified it as Qenneshre. In 2005–2006, however, the Syrian archaeologist You ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancient Greek Language
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek Dark Ages, Dark Ages (), the Archaic Greece, Archaic period (), and the Classical Greece, Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athens, fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and Ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Homeric Greek, Epic and Classical periods of the language. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regarded as a separate historical stage, although its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek and its latest form a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Of Edessa (translator)
Mar Paul (Syriac ''Pawla''), usually known as Paul of Edessa or Paul of Cyprus, was the Byzantine Syriac Orthodox metropolitan of Edessa who was forced to abandon his see between about 602 and 629, when it fell under the Sasanian Empire. He was an important translator of Greek theological works into Syriac. He should not be confused with the Bishop Paul of Edessa who died in 526. According to Jacob of Edessa, Paul fled to Egypt with many other bishops to escape the Sasanian invasion and occupation of Mesopotamia precipitated by the defection and rebellion of Narses, governor of Mesopotamia, who seized Edessa with Sasanian support in 602–03. He then fled Egypt for Cyprus to escape the Sasanian conquest of Egypt in 618–621. At the time of his translation work on Cyprus he was described as an archimandrite (supervisor of abbots). Paul probably came out of the monastic complex of Qenneshre. A scribal notation in a manuscript dated to 675, refers to a Syriac version of the '' Gl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syriac Language
The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during the first century AD from a local Aramaic dialect that was spoken by Arameans in the ancient Aramean kingdom of Osroene, centered in the city of Edessa. During the Early Christian period, it became the main literary language of various Aramaic-speaking Christian communities in the historical region of Syria (region), Ancient Syria and throughout the Near East. As a liturgical language of Syriac Christianity, it gained a prominent role among Eastern Christian communities that used both Eastern Syriac Rite, Eastern Syriac and Western Syriac Rite, Western Syriac rites. Following the spread of Syriac Christianity, it also became a liturgical language of eastern Christian communities as far as India (East Syriac ecclesiastical province), India ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jacob Of Edessa
Jacob of Edessa (or James of Edessa) ( syr, ܝܥܩܘܒ ܐܘܪܗܝܐ, Yaʿqub Urhoyo) (c. 640 – 5 June 708) was Bishop of Edessa and prominent Syriac Christian writer in Classical Syriac language, also known as one of earliest Syriac grammarians. In various works, he treated theological, liturgical, canonical, philosophical and historical subjects, and contributed significantly to scholarly and literary development of Syriac Christianity. He is considered to be one of the most important scholars of the Christian-Aramean tradition. Life Jacob of Edessa was born in Aindaba (Arabic: عيندابا) at 50 km west of Aleppo, around 640. He studied at the famous monastery of Qenneshre (on the left bank of the Euphrates) and later at Alexandria. On his return from Alexandria he became a monk at Edessa, where he was known for his learning. Ordained a priest in 672, he was appointed metropolitan of Edessa by his friend Athanasius II, Patriarch of Antioch. He held this office for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Martyrs Of Najran
The existence of a Christian community in the city of Najran is attested by several historical sources of the Arabian peninsula, where it recorded as having been created in the 5th century AD or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia. In the early 6th century, the Christians are said to have been persecuted by a Himyarite king named Dhu Nuwas. Dhu Nuwas was eventually defeated after foreign intervention from Abyssinia. In the 7th century, Christians of Najran interacted with the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who allowed them to worship in his mosque. There is evidence that the community continued to thrive until the 9th century; the community no longer exists today. Pre-Christian Najran Prior to the rise of Christianity, the people of Najran were polytheists and worshipped a tall date-palm tree, for which also they had an annual festival when they hung upon it the finest garme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Book Of The Himyarites
The ''Book of the Himyarites'' (''Ktābā da-ḥmirāye'') is an anonymous Syriac account of the persecution and martyrdom of the Christian community of Najran in the Kingdom of Himyar around 523 AD and the ensuing Aksumite interventions. It was written sometime between the sixth and tenth centuries in a Syriac Orthodox milieu. Manuscript The only known manuscript of the ''Book of the Himyarites'' is incomplete and partially damaged. It was discovered in 1920 in the protective boards of a codex bound in 1469/1470. The tenth-century codex had been repurposed for the binding of another, and in the process its pages were cut down. While some pages of text are entirely intact, others are fragmentary. The original tenth-century copy of the ''Book'' probably contained at least ten quires of twenty pages each. About 59 pages of text are preserved. The script of the text is similar to that of the ''Codex Climaci Rescriptus'' from Edessa. The table of contents of the ''Book'' is preserved ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dhū Nuwās
Dhū Nuwās, ( ar, ذُو نُوَاس), real name "Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar" ( Musnad: 𐩺𐩥𐩪𐩰 𐩱𐩪𐩱𐩧 𐩺𐩻𐩱𐩧, ''Yws¹f ʾs¹ʾr Yṯʾr''), "Yosef Nu'as" ( he, יוסף נואס), or "Yūsuf ibn Sharhabīl" ( ar, يُوْسُف ٱبْن شَرْحَبِيْل, link=no), also known as "Masruq" in Syriac, and ''Dounaas'' () in Medieval Greek, was a Jewish king of Himyar between 517 and 525–527 AD, who came to renown on account of his persecutions of peoples of other religions, notably Christians, living in his kingdom. History Ibn Hisham's ''Sirat Rasul Allah'' (better known in English as ''the Life of Muhammad''), describes the exploits of Yūsuf Dhū Nuwās. Ibn Hisham explains that Yūsuf was a convert Jew who grew out his sidelocks (''nuwas''), and who became known as "he of sidelocks." The historicity of Dhū Nuwās is affirmed by Philostorgius and by Procopius (in the latter's ''Persian War''). Procopius writes that in 525, the armies of the Chr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ernest Walter Brooks
Ernest Walter Brooks, FBA (30 August 1863 – 26 March 1955) was an English ancient historian and scholar of Syriac. The son of a priest, he was educated at Eton College (as a King's Scholar) and then at King's College, Cambridge, where he read classics and graduated in 1887. He then lived in London and Geneva (the latter from the late 1920s) as an independent scholar, before retiring to Hampshire in 1941. He became an expert in translating Syriac historical texts into English, gaining a leading reputation. His prolific output in this area was supplemented by research on Byzantine history and contributions to ''The Cambridge Medieval History'' (1911–23). Having received an honorary doctorate from the University of Louvain in 1927, he was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1938 (though he resigned in 1941). His wife, Ellen, was a daughter of Major-General G. B. Mellersh. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patrologia Orientalis
The ''Patrologia Orientalis'' is an attempt to create a comprehensive collection of the writings by eastern Church Fathers in Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Coptic, Ge'ez, Georgian, and Slavonic, published with a Latin, English, Italian or mostly French translation. It is designed to complement the comprehensive, influential, and monumental Latin and Greek patrologies published in the 19th century. It began in 1897 as the ''Patrologia Syriaca'', was discontinued in its original form and replaced by the ''Patrologia Orientalis''. The collection began with those liturgical texts that touch on hagiography. Since then critical editions of the Bible, theological works, homilies and letters have been published. The edition is ongoing. Editors were René Graffin, (d. 1941); François Nau (d. 1931); Max, Prince of Saxony (d. 1951) and from 1951 François Graffin. Volume 1 was published in 1904, and 1984 saw the publication of volume 41. Volumes Volume 1. 1904. 705 p. * I. ''Le livre des ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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5th-century Byzantine Monks
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. It saw the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which came to an end in 476 AD. This empire had been ruled by a succession of weak emperors, with the real political might being increasingly concentrated among military leaders. Internal instability allowed a Visigoth army to reach and ransack Rome in 410. Some recovery took place during the following decades, but the Western Empire received another serious blow when a second foreign group, the Vandals, occupied Carthage, capital of an extremely important province in Africa. Attempts to retake the province were interrupted by the invasion of the Huns under Attila. After Attila's defeat, both Eastern and Western empires joined forces for a final assault on Vandal North Africa, but this campaign was a s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syrian Christian Monks
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to inhabit the region of Syria over the course of thousands of years. The mother tongue of most Syrians is Levantine Arabic, which came to replace the former mother tongue, Aramaic, following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century. The conquest led to the establishment of the Caliphate under successive Arab dynasties, who, during the period of the later Abbasid Caliphate, promoted the use of the Arabic language. A minority of Syrians have retained Aramaic which is still spoken in its Eastern and Western dialects. In 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic had an estimated population of 19.5 million, which includes, aside from the aforementioned majority, ethnic minorities such as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |