Moses of Mardin (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Moses Mardenus'') 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 ...

priest and bishop who played a significant role in printing the first Syriac bible and served as perhaps the first Syriac teacher/scholar in Europe.

Biography

Moses was born in the village of Qaluq near

Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...

in the

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 ...

region to 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 ...

family. Moses is first mentioned in 1549 as an envoy of the Jacobite

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 ...

, Ignatius Abdullah I Stephan, to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to seek the means to print Syriac copies of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. His mission also included negotiations of unity with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in anticipation of the Patriarch's arrival. Whilst in Rome, Moses stayed in the monastery of St Stephen of the Abyssinians where Johannes Potken had printed the first Ge'ez book, ''Psalterium David et Cantica aliqu''. Here he printed a

manuscript with the assistance of the Cardinals

Marcello Cervini Pope Marcellus II ( it, Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was a Papalini Catholic prelate who served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 April 1555 until h ...

Reginald Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

and

Jean du Bellay Jean du Bellay (1492 – 16 February 1560) was a French diplomat and cardinal, a younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and cousin and patron of the poet Joachim du Bellay. He was bishop of Bayonne by 1526, member of the ''Conseil privé'' (pr ...

. However the manuscript produced was defective as the printers did not understand the language. In 1550, Moses travelled to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

to meet

Guillaume Postel Guillaume Postel (25 March 1510 – 6 September 1581) was a French people, French linguist, astronomer, Christian Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalist, diplomat, polyglot, professor, Religious universalism, religious universalist, and writer. Born in ...

to promote the idea of printing a Syriac copy of the New Testament which Postel had been working on since 1537. Despite this Postel could not help print it as he did not have the characters to print in Syriac. In 1552, Moses then returned to Rome where he taught Syriac to

Andreas Masius Andreas Masius (or Maes) (30 November 1514 – 7 April 1573) was a Catholic priest, humanist and one of the first European syriacists. He was born in Lennik, Flemish Brabant. Following his education, and after a short period of training at Leuven, ...

and

Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter, also called Widmannstadt, Johannes Albertus or Widmestadius, (1506 – 28 March 1557) was a German humanist, orientalist, philologist, and theologian. Life Widmannstetter was born in Nellingen/Blaubeuren near Ulm ...

among others. Upon the advice of Masius, he left Rome in the company of Cardinal Pole as he was returning to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to meet Johann Jacob Fugger in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. However, whilst staying in Dillingen he met Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter, then chancellor of the Austrian lands. Both sharing the same goals of printing a Syriac copy of the New Testament, Widmanstetter travelled with Moses to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

where they convinced Ferdinand I to fund their project. Thus one thousand copies of the Syriac version of the New Testament was printed in 1555 and Moses himself received half of which to distribute in the East. Moses remained in Europe until 1562 before returning to the East; however before departing he sold 250 copies on the European market. In 1578, he is mentioned returning to Rome as a bishop accompanied by the deposed patriarch Ignatius Nemet Allah I. In 1581, Moses was appointed Professor of Syriac at the College of the Neophytes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mardin, Moses of Year of birth unknown 1592 deaths 16th-century births 16th-century Syriac Orthodox Church bishops 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Oriental Orthodox bishops in the Ottoman Empire