The ''nāṭar kursyā'' (or ''nāṭar kursi'',

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 ...

ܢܛܪ ܟܘܪܣܝܐ, meaning "guardian of the throne") was an officer 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 ...

. Originally charged with administering the church in the interim between the death of one

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

and the election of a new one, the office had evolved by the end of the 15th century so that its holder was the designated successor of the reigning patriarch. At first, the

bishop of Kashkar Diocese of Kashkar, sometimes called Kaskar,Houtsma, Martijn. E.J. Brill's first encyclopedia of Islam, 1913-1936', pages 800-801 (BRILL 1993). was the senior diocese in the Church of the East's Province of the Patriarch. It see was in the city ...

was ''ex officio'' guardian of the throne, but by the 14th century the honour had been transferred to the metropolitan of Elam. It was under Patriarch

Shemʿon IV Mar Shemon IV Basidi (died 20 February 1497) was the patriarch of the Church of the East in the last quarter of the 15th century. Traditionally his reign is said to have begun in 1437, but this results in an improbably long tenure and has been revi ...

(died 1497) that the office was transformed. Endeavouring to keep the patriarchal office in his family and in violation of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

, he appointed his nephew to the office and designated him his chosen successor. This practice became traditional, except when the church or a part of it was in union with Rome.David J. Wilmshurst, ''The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913'' (Peeters, 2000), p. 193. Sometimes the ''nāṭar kursyā'' was a nephew, at other times a younger brother. The patriarch could change the appointment if the ''nāṭar kursyā'' fell out of favour. He was always a bishop. By the end of the 16th century, he was usually appointed metropolitan of Mosul. Higher clergy in the Church of the East did not eat animal products other than eggs and dairy, and in the Qūdshānīs patriarchate this restriction was extended to the patriarch's sister during pregnancy, since she might have been carrying a future ''nāṭar kursyā''.Adam H. Becker, ''Revival and Awakening: American Evangelical Missionaries in Iran and the Origins of Assyrian Nationalism'' (University of Chicago Press, 2015), p. . The system of the ''nāṭar kursyā'' was later extended to other dioceses.

References

{{reflist Church of the East