''Life of Gabriel of Qartmin'' is 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 ...
8th-century manuscript containing the life of
Gabriel of Beth Qustan, Bishop of
Tur Abdin
Tur Abdin ( syr, ܛܽܘܪ ܥܰܒ݂ܕܺܝܢ or ܛܘܼܪ ܥܲܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ, Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the borde ...
, which helps to provides a glimpse into the events in the Middle East during the 7th century.
The quote below provides an example of the
Dhimmi
' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
agreements of Christians during the Arab conquests.
:This lord Gabriel went to the ruler (ahid shultana) of the sons of
Hagar
Hagar, of uncertain origin; ar, هَاجَر, Hājar; grc, Ἁγάρ, Hagár; la, Agar is a biblical woman. According to the Book of Genesis, she was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to he ...
, who was
Umar bar Khattab, in the city of
Gezirta. He (Umar) received him with great joy, and after a few days the blessed man petitioned this ruler and received his signature to the statutes and laws, orders and prohibitions, judgements and precepts pertaining to the Christians, to churches and monasteries, and to priests and deacons that they do not give the poll tax, and to monks that they be freed from any tax (madatta). Also that the wooden gong should not be banned and that they might chant hymns before the bier when it comes out from the house to be buried, together with many
ther Ther may refer to:
*''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist
* Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India
*Therapy
*Therapeutic drugs
See also
*''Ther Thiruvizha
''T ...
customs. This governor (shallita) was pleased at the coming to him of the blessed man and this holy one returned to the monastery with great joy. (Gabriel of Qartmin, Life XII, 72
. 123
However, as Robert Hoyland has pointed out, the ostentatious worship described in the Life of Gabriel of Qartmin, including the use of the wooden gong and chanting before a bier, did not become a literary theme until the eighth century; this shows that this account is a later fabrication, and belongs to the genre of documents which sought to delineate the ideal Muslim-Christian treaty and endow it with authority by attributing it to famous Muslim figures.
[Robert G. Hoyland, ''Seeing Islam as others saw it: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam'' (The Darwin Press, Inc., 2007)] Rather than being representative of the Dhimmi agreements of Christians during the Arab conquests, it represents the type of agreement that eighth-century Christians sought to legitimise.
References
Syriac manuscripts
Texts in Syriac
Christian hagiography
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