Masʿūd Zazoyo or Masʿūd of Zaz (c.1430/31 – 1509/1512) was a

Syriac Orthodox , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascu ...

author, hermit, monk and prelate.

Life

Masʿūd became the abbot of the Dayr al-Ṣalīb (Monastery of the Cross) around 1462/63. He left the monastery in 1480/81 to become bishop of Ḥesno d'Kifo and the monastery of Mor Quryaqos. As bishop he took the name Basil. In 1492 he became the

Patriarch of Ṭur ʿAbdin From 1364 to 1816 the region of Tur Abdin constituted a distinct patriarchate within the Syriac Orthodox Church, with the following patriarchs: *Ignatius Saba of Salah (1364–1389) *Ignatius Isho' of Midhyat (1389–1418), died 1421 *Ignatius Ma ...

(as Masʿūd II) and by tradition took the throne name Ignatius. As patriarch he promoted monasticism in the

Ṭur ʿAbdin 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 ...

. Masʿūd was not a popular patriarch. He caused confusion by appointing a ''

maphrian The Maphrian ( syr, ܡܦܪܝܢܐ, maphryānā or ''maphryono''), originally known as the Grand Metropolitan of the East and also known as the Catholicos, was the second-highest rank in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, ...

'', Baselios Malki of Midyat, and twelve new bishops for the Ṭur ʿAbdin, provoking some leading bishops to denounce him. According to Afram Barsoum, they denounced him to the

Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

, the head of the Syriac Orthodox church, but according to the anonymous continuator of the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of

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 ...

, they denounced him to the secular Islamic authority, the

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

of Ḥesno d'Kifo. As a result, Masʿūd was forced into retirement. According to the continuator, he was even confined to a monastery. He abdicated and ordered his supporters not to elect a new patriarch, but before the end of his life he had regained the exercise of his patriarchal functions. Some sources have him dying in 1509, others reigning as patriarch down to 1512. The identification of the abbot, bishop and writer with the patriarch was first made by Afram Barsoum in the 20th century.

Works

Only one work by Masʿūd has survived, the ''Elpo ruḥonoyto'' or ''The Spiritual Boat''. An extended poem in dodecasyllabic metre, it is a guide for monks and hermits seeking the "haven of impassibility". It is a

mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

tract in three sections devoted to the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...

and the

spiritual gifts A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...

given by Christ to both angels and humans. The last section is based on the Pseudo-Dionysian '' Celestial Hierarchy''. The life of Masʿūd Zazoyo before he was ordained a bishop in 1480/81 is recorded in a short biographical notice written by his disciple ʿAziz and included in the oldest manuscript of Masʿūd's ''Spiritual Boat'', now kept in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. According to this notice, Masʿūd wrote other works, but these have not survived.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{refend 15th-century births 16th-century deaths 15th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops Syriac Orthodox Church bishops Oriental Orthodox monks