ʿEnanishoʿ (

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 ...

: ܥܢܢܝܫܘܥ, also romanized ''ʿAnanishoʿ'' or ''ʿNānišoʿ'') was a monk, philosopher, lexicographer and translator of 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 ...

who flourished in the 7th century.

Biography

ʿEnanishoʿ was from the region of

Adiabene Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of Ni ...

. He and his brother Ishoʿyahb studied at the

school of Nisibis The School of Nisibis ( syr, ܐܣܟܘܠܐ ܕܢܨܝܒܝܢ, for a time absorbed into the School of Edessa) was an educational establishment in Nisibis (now Nusaybin, Turkey). It was an important spiritual centre of the early Church of the East, and ...

at the same time as the future patriarch Ishoʿyahb III (). His brother went on to become

bishop of Shenna The Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, with see in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. It was attested between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. As its name entails, it was the province of the ...

, while he entered the monastery of Mar Abraham on

Mount Izla Mount Izla ( syr, ܛܘܪ ܐܝܙܠܐ ''Ṭūr Īzlā' ''),Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Izla — ܛܘܪܐ ܕܐܝܙܠܐ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified January 14, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/100. also Mountain of Nisibis or briefly ...

. He later made a pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

and the monasteries of

Scetis Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt dep ...

in Egypt, becoming well acquainted with

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...

and Egyptian monasticism. Upon his return he joined the

monastery of Beth ʿAbe Monastery of Beth Abe ( syc, ܒܝܬ ܥܒܐ; ', literally "house of wood"), is an East Syriac monastery located near the on the Great Zab about 80 km northeast of Nineveh. It was founded by Rabban Jacob of Lashom around 595 AD. The monastery ...

Writings

At Beth ʿAbe, ʿEnanishoʿ took up writing. He wrote a philosophical treatise on "definitions and divisions" and a glossary of difficult words to aid in reading the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

. He wrote ''Book of Rules for Homographs'' about

homograph A homograph (from the el, ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also ...

s, words having the same spelling (i.e., consonants) but different pronunciation (i.e., vowels) and meaning. He collaborated with Ishoʿyahb III to revise the '' Ḥudrā'', a liturgical book containing the hymns for Sunday services in the

East Syriac rite 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 ...

. Ishoʿyahb's successor, Giwargis I (), then commissioned him to compile the ''Paradise of the Fathers'', a collection of Syriac translations of Greek works. This major compilation comprises four books: the ''

Lausiac History The ''Lausiac History'' ( grc-x-koine, Ἡ Λαυσαϊκή Ἱστορία, E Lavsaike Istoria) is a seminal work archiving the Desert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert) written in 419-420 by Palladius of Galatia, at ...

'' of

Palladius of Helenopolis Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis, Bithynia, Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, th ...

, another work of history attributed to Palladius, the '' History of the Monks in Egypt'' attributed to

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

and a collection of

sayings of the Desert Fathers The ''Sayings of the Desert Fathers'' ( la, Apophthegmata Patrum Aegyptiorum; el, ἀποφθέγματα τῶν πατέρων, translit=Apophthégmata tōn Patérōn) is the name given to various textual collections consisting of stories and ...

. The sayings as compiled by ʿEnanishoʿ in Syriac are known under the title ''Paradise of the Fathers''. The ''Paradise'' contains some original material based on ʿEnanishoʿ's visit to Scetis. It is divided into fifteen chapters, with the first fourteen arranged topically and the last an unsystematic grouping. It had a major influence on East Syriac monasticism. A commentary on it was written before the end of the century by

Dadīshōʿ Ḳaṭrāya Dadisho Qatraya or Dadisho of Qatar (late 7th century) was a Nestorian monk and author of ascetic literature in Syriac. His works were widely read, from Ethiopia to Central Asia. Life Dadisho flourished in the late 7th century. Originally from Beth ...

. The ''Book of the Little Paradise'' of

David, Bishop of the Kurds David ( syr, ܕܘܝܕ ܕܟܪ̈ܬܘܝܐ, Dawid d-Kartwāyē) was a monk, bishop and historian of the Church of the East in the 7th or 8th century. Originally a monk of Beth Abe, he later became the bishop of the Kurdish tribes in the region of Kar ...

, was probably intended as a companion piece covering the native holy men of Mesopotamia. According to

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 ...

, a copy was kept in every monastery in the Church of the East.

Notes

References

Bibliography

;Editions and translations * * * ;Secondary literature * * * * * * {{authority control 7th-century Christian monks Church of the East writers Syriac Christians Syriac writers