Monastery of Beth Abe ( syc, ܒܝܬ ܥܒܐ; ', literally "house of wood"), is an

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

monastery located near the on the

Great Zab The Great Zab or Upper Zab ( (''al-Zāb al-Kabīr''), or , , ''(zāba ʻalya)'') is an approximately long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. The drainage basin o ...

about 80 km northeast 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 ...

. It was founded by

Rabban Jacob Rabban may refer to: * Glossu Rabban, a character from Frank Herbert's ''Dune'' (1965) * Joseph Rabban (8th century), Jewish merchant People with the given name Rabban: * Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari (circa 838–870), Jewish scientist * Rabban ...

of Lashom around 595 AD. The monastery played a major part in Syriac monasticism and was inhabited by several important figures in the Church of the East such as

Sahdona Sahdona of Halmon ( syc, ܣܗܕܘܢܐ, literally "little martyr") also known as Sahdona of Mahoze and Sahdona the Syrian, Hellenised as Martyrius, was a 7th-century East Syriac monk, theologian and Bishop who later defected to the West Syriac Chur ...

John of Dailam Saint John of Dailam ( syr, ܝܘܚܢܢ ܕܝܠܡܝܐ '), was a 7th-century East Syriac Christian saint and monk, who founded several monasteries in Mesopotamia and Persia. According to the hagiographical ''Syriac Life of John of Dailam'', John was ...

Shubhalishoʿ Shubhalishoʿ ( ar, Shuwḥālīshōʿ) was an East Syriac monk, missionary and martyr of the late 8th century. According to Thomas of Margā's ''Book of Governors'', Shubhalishoʿ was an Ishmaelite (i.e., an Arab) and his native language was Arab ...

Giwargis II Giwargis II ( syc, ܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ ܬܪܝܢܐ) was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 828 to 831. Sources Brief accounts of Giwargis's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (''floruit' ...

and Abraham II. One monk,

Thomas of Marga Thomas of Marga, ( syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ ܒܪ ܝܥܩܘܒ, ') was an East Syriac bishop and author of an important monastic history in Syriac, who flourished in the 9th century CE. He was born early in the century in the region of Salakh to the north-east ...

, wrote a history of the monastery. Another, Bishop David of Kartaw, wrote a series of biographies of holy men known as the ''Little Paradise''.

Abbots

The abbots listed by Thomas of Marga are: #''Rabban'' Jacob of Lashom #John of Beth Garmai (before 628) #Paul #Kam-Isho (during the reign of

Ishoyahb III Ishoʿyahb III of Adiabene was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 649 to 659. Sources Brief accounts of Ishoʿyahb's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (thirteenth-century), and t ...

, 649–659) #Beraz-Surin (during the reign of

Giwargis I Giwargis I ( syc, ܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ ܩܕܡܝܐ) was patriarch of the Church of the East from 661 to 680. Sources Brief accounts of Giwargis's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (''floruit'' ...

, 661–680) #''Rabban Mar'' Abraham #Bar Sauma (during the reign of

Hnanisho I Ḥnanishoʿ I, called Ḥnanishoʿ the Exegete,Hoyland, ''Seeing Islam'', 200–203. was patriarch of the Church of the East between 686 and 698. His name means 'mercy of Jesus'. Hnanishoʿ offended the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik with a tactless remar ...

, 686–698) #Gabriel of Shahrizor, called "the Cow" (during the reign of Hnanisho I) #George Bar Sayyadhe of Neshra (during the reign of Hnanisho I) #Sama of Neshra, brother of prec. (during the reign of Hnanisho I) #Nathaniel (during the reign of Hnanisho I) #Selibha the Aramaean (during the reign of Hnanisho I) #Gabriel I called "the Little Sparrow" #Joseph of Shahrizor (during the reign of

Sliba-zkha Sliba-zkha (the name means 'the cross has conquered' in Syriac) was patriarch of the Church of the East from 714 to 728. Sources Brief accounts of Sliba-zkha's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar ...

, 714–728) #John I(during the reign of Sliba-zkha) #Aha (during the reign of

Aba II Aba II was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 741 to 751. He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East. Sources Brief accounts of Aba's reign are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite w ...

, 741–751) #Ishoyahb of Tella of Birta (during the reign of Aba II) #Cyriacus of Gebhilta (died c. 800) #Shubhhal-Maran #Joseph I(died 832)

References

Bibliography

* * Christian monasteries established in the 6th century {{Christian-monastery-stub