Ahudemmeh ( syr, ܐܚܘܕܐܡܗ, ar, مار احودامه)
was the
Grand Metropolitan of the East and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of the East from 559 until his execution in 575. He was known as the Apostle of the Arabs, and is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Biography
Early life
Ahudemmeh was born at Balad, northwest of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
and then part of the
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
, to a
dyophysite
In Christian theology, dyophysitism (Greek: δυοφυσιτισμός, from δυο (''dyo''), meaning "two" and φύσις (''physis''), meaning "nature") is the Christological position that two natures, divine and human, exist in the person of ...
family, but became a
non-Chalcedonian
Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Christological D ...
miaphysite
Miaphysitism is the Christology, Christological doctrine that holds Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, the "Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnate Logos (Christianity), Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a posi ...
upon reaching maturity and later became a monk. It was previously asserted that he was the bishop of
Nineveh
Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...
of the same name that had attended the synod of the dyophysite Patriarch
Joseph of Seleucia-Ctesiphon Joseph was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 552 to 567. He was immensely unpopular, and was eventually deposed by his bishops. He was notorious for having invented much of the early history of the Church of the East. Despite his depositio ...
in 554, but this has since been refuted. At some point, according to the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of
John of Ephesus
John of Ephesus (or of Asia) ( Greek: Ίωάννης ό Έφέσιος, c. 507 – c. 588) was a leader of the early Syriac Orthodox Church in the sixth century and one of the earliest and the most important historians to write in Syriac. John of ...
, Ahudemmeh and a number of bishops and priests were engaged in a dispute with Joseph and eventually a formal disputation was arranged by
Shahanshah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
Khosrow I
Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...
, who was to act as arbiter. The dispute may have resulted either from theological or personal differences. Ahudemmeh led his faction in the debate and argued in favour of miaphysitism, for which Khosrow deemed him to be the victor and granted freedom of worship and permission to build churches.
Grand Metropolitan of the East
In 559 (
AG 870), he was ordained as bishop of
Beth Arbaye and
Grand Metropolitan of the East by a fellow miaphysite,
Jacob Baradaeus
Jacob Baradaeus (; grc, Ἰάκωβος Βαραδαῖος, label=Ancient Greek, Greek; ar, مار يعقوب البرادعي; syc, ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܘܪܕܥܝܐ, label=Syriac language, Syriac), also known as Jacob bar Addai or Jacob bar Theophi ...
, bishop of
Edessa
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
.
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...
Christopher I of Armenia
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...
is attested to have ordained Ahudemmeh as bishop of Beth Arbaye by
Bar Hebraeus
Gregory Bar Hebraeus ( syc, ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ ܒܪ ܥܒܪܝܐ, b. 1226 - d. 30 July 1286), known by his Syriac ancestral surname as Bar Ebraya or Bar Ebroyo, and also by a Latinized name Abulpharagius, was an Aramean Maphrian (regional primat ...
in his ''Ecclesiastical History'', however, this has since been disregarded due to the argument of
François Nau
François Nau (13 May 1864 at Thil – 2 September 1931 at Paris) was a French Catholic priest, mathematician, Syriacist, and specialist in oriental languages. He published a great number of eastern Christian texts and translations for the firs ...
. It is suggested that he may have already established himself at
Tikrit
Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...
by this time. Ahudemmeh's ordination as Grand Metropolitan of the East thereby cemented the schism within the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
and established a separate miaphysite ecclesiastical organisation, later known as the Syriac Orthodox Church of the East, in opposition to the dyophysites, who remained the majority amongst Christians in the Sasanian Empire.
He then set about preaching miaphysite Christianity in the region of Beth Arbaye, which stretched from Tikrit in the south to
Nisibis
Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...
in the north, bound in the west by the
Khabur and the
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
in the east, and was inhabited by Arab tribes, the
Tanukh
The Tanûkhids ( ar, التنوخيون, transl=al-Tanūḫiyyūn) or Tanukh ( ar, تنوخ, translit=Tanūḫ) or Banū Tanūkh (, romanized as: ) were a confederation of Arab tribes, sometimes characterized as Saracens. They first rose to prom ...
,
Banu Uqayl
Banu Uqayl ( ar, بنو عُـقَـيـْل) are an ancient Arab tribe that played an important role in the history of eastern Arabia and Iraq. They belonged to the Banu Ka'b branch of the large Banu 'Amir confederation.
The Banu 'Amir confedera ...
, and
Tayy
, location = 2nd century CE–10th century: Jabal Tayy and Syrian Desert
10th century–16th century: Jabal Tayy, Syrian Desert, Jibal al-Sharat, al-Balqa, Palmyrene Steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Northern Hejaz, Najd
, parent_tribe = Madh ...
. Ahudemmeh travelled amongst the Arabs, during which time he is credited with a number of miracles, including the
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
of a
sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
's daughter, expulsion of demons from places of worship, purification of lepers, and curing the sick. At the encampments of the nomadic Arabs, Ahudemmeh preached Christianity, performed baptisms, consecrated a priest and deacon for each community, and established churches named after clan leaders, thus encouraging their participation and leadership.
Ahudemmeh also constructed a monastery of Saint
Sergius at ‘Ain Qena, in which he deposited some relics, and another monastery at Ga‘tani, near Qronta, a village opposite Tikrit. The monastery of Saint Sergius was built in imitation of the church of Saint Sergius at
Resafa
Resafa ( ar, الرصافة Reṣafa), also sometimes spelled Rusafa, and known in the Byzantine era as Sergiopolis (in greek Σεργιούπολις, Σεργιόπολις, "city of Saint Sergius") and briefly as Anastasiopolis (Αναστασ ...
in
Roman Syria
Roman Syria was an early Roman province annexed to the Roman Republic in 64 BC by Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War following the defeat of King of Armenia Tigranes the Great.
Following the partition of the Herodian Kingdom of Judea into tetr ...
with the intention of attracting Arab pilgrims away from the latter and offered support for travellers and the poor. It was identified as the ruins of Qasr Sarij, near Balad, by
Jean Maurice Fiey Jean Maurice Fiey (30 March 1914 – 10 November 1995) was a French Dominican Father and prominent Church historian and Syriacist.
Biography
Fiey was born in Armentières on 30 March 1914, he entered the Dominican Order at an early age and rece ...
in 1956, and its construction placed in 565 by David Oates.
Ignatius Jacob III
Moran Mor Ignatius Jacob (Yaʿqub) III (October 12, 1913 – June 26, 1980) was the 121st Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church 1957-1980. He was skilled in and knowledgeable in Syriac sacral music or Beth ...
alternatively gives 570 as the year of the monastery's construction. Dyophysites set the monastery of Saint Sergius aflame, but it was rebuilt and restored by Khosrow.
Later life
He continued his missionary work amongst the
Magi
Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
at Tikrit and converted a son of Khosrow, who adopted the name George upon his baptism by Ahudemmeh. For this, Ahudemmeh was imprisoned and eventually beheaded on Khosrow's orders on 2 August 575 (
AG 886). His body was retrieved and moved to the monastery near Qronta by one of its monks and some of his relics were also later taken to a
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
dedicated to him at Tikrit. He was commemorated in a
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
by an unknown author.
BHO #3
(page 9)
Works
Ahudemmeh is identified as the author of the same name of several philosophical works, including treatises on the definitions of logic, fate and predestination, the soul, man as a microcosm, and the composition of man’s
body and soul. He is also credited with a
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
grammatical text, which was based on Greek grammar, attested by the monk
John bar Zoʿbi at the end of the twelfth century and beginning of the thirteenth. However, the British scholar
Sebastian Brock
Sebastian Paul Brock, FBA (born 1938, London) is a British scholar, university professor, and expert in the field of academic studies of Classical Syriac language and Classical Syriac literature. His research also encompasses various aspects of c ...
argues against this identification and suggests the authors of the philosophical and grammatical works to be separate individuals of merely the same name.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
6th-century executions
6th-century writers
6th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops
People executed by the Sasanian Empire
Christians in the Sasanian Empire
575 deaths
6th-century births
Maphrians
6th-century Iranian people
Miracle workers
Syriac Orthodox Church saints
6th-century Syriac Orthodox Church bishops
Oriental Orthodox missionaries
People executed by Iran by decapitation
6th-century Christian martyrs
Christian martyrs executed by decapitation
Executed Iranian people