Qenneshre (also ''Qēnneshrē'' or ''Qennešre'',
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 ...
for "eagle's nest";
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
''Qinnisrī'') was a large
West Syriac monastery between the 6th and 13th centuries. It was a centre for the study of
ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...
and the
Greek Fathers, and through its Syriac translations it
transmitted Greek works to the Islamic world. It was "the most important intellectual centre of the Syriac Orthodox ... from the 6th to the early 9th century", when it was sacked and went into decline.
Location
Qenneshre was in the region of
Upper Mesopotamia. According to
Yāqūt, it was four ''
parasang''s from
Mabbug
Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cent ...
and seven from
Serugh.
In the 1990s, Spanish archaeologists discovered a large monastic site on the western bank of the
Euphrates River
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eu ...
near its confluence with the
Sajur
Sajur (; ) is a Druze town ( local council) in the Galilee region of northern Israel, with an area of 3,000 dunams (3 km²). It achieved recognition as an independent local council in 1992. In it had a population of .
History
Excavations in ...
. They identified it as Qenneshre. In 2005–2006, however, the Syrian archaeologist Yousef al-Dabte excavated a monastic site on the eastern bank of the Euphrates across from
Jirbās (ancient Europos), identifying it with Qenneshre. The latter identification is more likely.
History
The monastery was founded around 530 by
John bar Aphtonia, abbot of the monastery of Saint Thomas near
Seleucia Pieria, who led some monks away to found a new house in the face of the anti-
miaphysite
Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' ('' physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian posit ...
policy of Emperor
Justin I. John's second house may have been originally dedicated to Saint Thomas as well. It is not clear if it is the "monastery of Beth Aphtonia" referred to in some Syriac sources. The new monastery's emphasis on Greek studies was inherited from Seleucia Pieria. In its heyday, which lasted until the 9th century, Qenneshre had about 370 resident monks.
The hymnist
John Psaltes was the abbot of Qenneshre late in the 6th century. In 623, according to the ''
Chronicle of 724'', the
Slavs raided the island of
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...
and captured some monks of Qenneshre, killing twenty of them in the process. These were probably exiles who had fled the
Persian invasion of Mesopotamia in 602.
Sometime after 809, probably around 811, Qenneshre was sacked and burned by renegade
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
, probably under the leadership of
Naṣr ibn Shabath al-ʿUqaylī. Around 820, Patriarch
Dionysios of Tel Maḥre, a former monk of Qenneshre, received permission to rebuild the monastery from ʿUthmān, son of
Thumāma ibn al-Walīd, who had succeeded his father as the effectively autonomous local leader in the midst of
the civil war that followed the death of the Caliph
Hārūn al-Rashīd
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
in 809. Qenneshre never regained its previous stature.
Qenneshre was still prominent enough to be visited by bishops in the 10th century. In the reign of Emir
Sayf al-Dawla (died 967), it was a major destination for tourists from Mabbug, according to
Ibn al-ʿAdīm, writing in the 13th century. When the monastery was abandoned is not entirely clear, but archaeological evidence suggests it was still inhabited in the early 13th century.
Centre of Greek learning
The bilingual culture of the monastery has labelled Graeco-Syriac or Syro-Hellenic. Other monasteries of the West Syriac tradition with the same bilingual culture include
Mar Mattai
Saint Matthew the Hermit (Arabic: القديس مار متى الناسك; syr, ܡܪܝ ܡܬܝ ''Mor Mattai'') was a 4th-century Christian priest. He is venerated as a saint in the Oriental Orthodox Church and his feast day is 18 September.
Biogr ...
,
Mar Zakay,
Mar Saba,
Saint Catherine's and the
Black Mountain.
Both secular and religious works were translated from Greek into Syriac by the monks of Qenneshre and those they trained.
Tumo of Ḥarqel, Patriarch
Athanasios II and
Yaʿqub of Edessa are all known to have studied Greek at Qenneshre, as probably did
Severos Sebokht and
George, bishop of the Arabs
George (Syriac ''Giwargi''; died 724) was the Syriac Orthodox bishop of the Arabs around Aleppo and the upper Euphrates from 686 or 687 until his death. A polymath steeped in ancient Greek philosophy, his writings are an important source for Syriac ...
, and possibly
Phocas of Edessa. The translator
Pawla of Edessa worked "according to the tradition of Qenneshre", as a note in a manuscript of his translations of
Severus of Antioch
Severus the Great of Antioch (Greek: Σεβῆρος; syr, ܣܘܝܪܝܘܣ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ), also known as Severus of Gaza or Crown of Syrians ( Syriac: ܬܓܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܥܝܐ; Tagha d'Suryoye; Arabic: تاج السوريين; Taj al-Suriyyu ...
relates. There is as of yet no scholarly study of the manner and techniques of the Qenneshre school of translation. The translation and re-translation of biblical, patristic and secular philosophical texts suggests a distinct "miaphysite curriculum of study" crafted and promoted at Qenneshre.
Among the works translated at Qenneshre or by monks from Qenneshre are the ''Homilies'' of
Gregory of Nazianzus by Paul of Edessa in 623–624; the hymns of Severus of Antioch also by Paul and later revised by Yaʿqub of Edessa;
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...
's ''
Hexaemeron'' by Athanasios;
Aristotle's ''
Prior Analytics
The ''Prior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Πρότερα; la, Analytica Priora) is a work by Aristotle on reasoning, known as his syllogistic, composed around 350 BCE. Being one of the six extant Aristotelian writings on logic ...
'', ''
Posterior Analytics
The ''Posterior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Ὕστερα; la, Analytica Posteriora) is a text from Aristotle's '' Organon'' that deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The demonstration is distinguishe ...
'', ''
Topics'' and ''
Sophistical Refutations
''Sophistical Refutations'' ( el, Σοφιστικοὶ Ἔλεγχοι, Sophistikoi Elenchoi; la, De Sophisticis Elenchis) is a text in Aristotle's ''Organon'' in which he identified thirteen fallacies.Sometimes listed as twelve. According to ...
'' by Athanasios II; Aristotle's ''
Categories
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
*Categories (Peirce)
* ...
'' by Yaʿqub in the early 8th century; and Aristotle's ''
On Interpretation'' by George, bishop of the Arabs, who also re-translated the ''Prior Analytics'', in both cases adding his own introduction and commentary. The entire
Organon
The ''Organon'' ( grc, Ὄργανον, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name ''Organon'' was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics.
The six ...
(Aristotle's collected works on
logic) was available in Syriac by the death of Athanasios II in 684.
The monks of Qenneshre, as well as those of
Qartmin, maintained kept a record of important events in the form of regularly updated
annals
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
. These annals served as a source for the 6th-century ''
Chronicle of Edessa
The ''Chronicle of Edessa'' ( la, Chronicon Edessenum) is an anonymous history of the city of Edessa written in the mid-6th century in the Syriac language. "''Chronicle of Edessa''" is a conventional title; in the manuscript it is titled ''Histo ...
'' and the 7th-century ''Chronicle of 724''. According to Dionysios of Tel Maḥre, Yaʿqub of Edessa and
John the Stylite "charted the succession of years" in the manner of
Eusebius of Caesarea.
Qenneshre supplied several bishops and seven
patriarchs of Antioch
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 certain ...
. Besides the aforementioned Dionysios and Athanasios II, Patriarchs
Julian I,
Athanasios I,
Theodore
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
,
Julian II,
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dol ...
were monks from Qenneshre. The 13th-century historian
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 prim ...
specifically notes that these patriarchs learned Greek at Qenneshre. For part of the 7th century, according to the biography of
Theodota of Amida (died 698), the patriarchs of Antioch even resided at Qenneshre. Severos Sebokht is called a "bishop of Qenneshrin" by Bar Hebraeus, which may indicate that he was the bishop of
Chalcis or perhaps even that Qenneshre had a bishop for a short time.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Syriac Orthodox monasteries, state=collapsed
Christian monasteries established in the 6th century
Syriac Orthodox monasteries
Christian monasteries in Syria
Greek–Syriac translators
Christianity in the Abbasid Caliphate