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 church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

in 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 ...

's Province of the Patriarch. It see was in the city of

Kashkar Kashkar, also known as Kaskar, ( syc, ܟܫܟܪ), was a city in southern Mesopotamia. Its name appears to originate from Syriac ' meaning "citadel" or "town". Other sources connect it to ' "farming". It was originally built on the Tigris, across th ...

. The diocese is attested between the fourth and the twelfth centuries. The bishops of Kashkar had the privilege of guarding the patriarchal throne during the

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin '' ...

between the death of a patriarch and the appointment of his successor. As a result, they are often mentioned by name in the standard histories of the

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

patriarchs, so that a relatively full list of the bishops of the diocese has survived.

History

According to legend, the diocese of

was the oldest diocese in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. It was said to have been founded by the apostle Mari in the first century, several decades before the establishment of a diocese in the Persian capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Although a first-century foundation date is highly unlikely, the diocese of Kashkar was certainly one of the oldest dioceses of the Church of the East. The antiquity of the diocese and its claim to an apostolic foundation were recognised at the

synod of Isaac The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, also called the Council of Mar Isaac, met in AD 410 in Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persian Sassanid Empire. Convoked by King Yazdegerd I (399–421), it organized the Christians of his empire into a ...

in 410, when it was ranked second after the patriarchal diocese of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and its bishop was appointed guardian of the patriarchal throne (''

natar kursya The ''nāṭar kursyā'' (or ''nāṭar kursi'', Syriac ܢܛܪ ܟܘܪܣܝܐ, meaning "guardian of the throne") was an officer of the Church of the East. Originally charged with administering the church in the interim between the death of one patri ...

''). The earliest-known bishop of Kashkar was ʿAbdishoʿ, who was one of several Persian bishops who opposed the claim to precedence put forward by the bishop Papa of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 315. The last-known bishop of Kashkar was Sabrishoʿ, who was transferred from the diocese of Qaimar to Kashkar by the patriarch Eliya III (1176–90). By 1222 the guardianship of the vacant patriarchal throne, for centuries a privilege of the bishops of Kashkar, was in the hands of the metropolitans of Beth Huzaye.

Bishops of Kashkar

The bishop ʿAbdishoʿ of Kashkar was one of several Persian bishops who opposed the claim to precedence put forward by the bishop Papa of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 315. The bishop Paul of Kashkar was martyred between 341 and 350, during the persecution of Shapur II.Fiey, ''POCN'', 102 The successive bishops ʿAbdishoʿ and ʿAbda of Kashkar were martyred in 376 or 377. The bishop Maraï of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Isaac in 410. The bishop Abner of Kashkar was one of eleven named bishops listed in the acts of the synod of Dadishoʿ in 424 as having been reproved at the synods of Isaac in 410 and Yahballaha I in 420.Chabot, 287 The bishop ʿAbdishoʿ of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Acacius in 486.Chabot, 306 The bishop Emmanuel of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Babaï in 497.Chabot, 315 The bishop Shubhalmaran of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

in 554.Chabot, 366 The bishop Maraï of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of

Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is ac ...

in 576.Chabot, 368 The bishop Shemʿon of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Ishoʿyahb I in 585.Chabot, 423 The bishop Gregory of Kashkar was appointed by Ishoʿyahb I, according to the ''

Chronicle of Seert The ''Chronicle of Seert'', sometimes called the , is an ecclesiastical history written in Arabic by an anonymous Nestorian writer, at an unknown date between the ninth and the eleventh century. There are grounds for believing that it is the wor ...

'' (before 596). The bishop Theodore of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Gregory in 605. The bishop Yazdapneh of Kashkar was among the bishops present at the deathbed of the patriarch Ishoʿyahb III in 659. The patriarch

Aba II Aba II was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 741 to 751. He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East. Sources Brief accounts of Aba's reign are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite w ...

was bishop of Kashkar before his election and consecration as patriarch in 740/1. The bishop Isaac of Kashkar assembled a synod of East Syriac bishops in 773 to elect a patriarch after the death of the patriarch Yaʿqob II. The bishop Brikh-Baroyeh of Kashkar was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of

Timothy I Timothy I may refer to: * Pope Timothy I of Alexandria, Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 378–384 * Timothy I of Constantinople Timothy I or Timotheus I (? – 1 April 518) was a Christian priest who was appointed Patria ...

in 790.Chabot, 607 The bishop Zakarya of Kashkar was present at the consecration of the patriarch Ishoʿ Bar Nun in 823. The bishop Israel of Kashkar was appointed by the patriarch

Sargis Sargis or Sarkis ( hy, Սարգիս, ; , ) is a male given name in both Armenian and Assyrian communities. It is the reduced form of the Armenian surname Sargsyan/Sarkisian. Etymology The name ultimately derived from the Latin name Sergius. Ass ...

(860–72).Sliba, 73 (Arabic) The bishop Hnanishoʿ of Kashkar was ''natar kursya'' between the death of the patriarch Enosh and the consecration of his successor

Yohannan II Yohannan II bar Narsai was Patriarch of the Church of the East The Patriarch of the Church of the East (also known as Patriarch of the East, Patriarch of Babylon, the Catholicose of the East or the Grand Metropolitan of the East) is the patriarc ...

in 884. The bishop David of Kashkar was ''natar kursya'' between the death of the patriarch

Yohannan IV Yohannan is a Syriac name, from the Hebrew name Yohanan, equivalent to English John, French Jehan, Spanish Juan, and German Johannes. It may refer to: * Yohannan the Leper, Yohannan Garba ("the Leper"), originally metropolitan of Nisibis, was ant ...

in 905 and the consecration of his successor Abraham III in 906. The bishop Israel of Kashkar acted as ''natar kursya'' after the death of the patriarch Emmanuel I in 960, and was briefly elected patriarch himself in 961. The bishop Abraham of Kashkar was transferred from the diocese of

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...

by the patriarch ʿAbdishoʿ I (963–86). He was deposed and excommunicated for seven years for misbehaviour, and was eventually restored to his old diocese at the request of the Nestorians of Hamadan. The bishop Ishoʿ (ʿIsa) was appointed for Kashkar by the patriarch Mari (987–99). The bishop Shemʿon, metropolitan of Beth Garmaï when Elijah of Nisibis completed his ''Chronography'' in 1018/19, was originally bishop of Beth Daraye and later bishop of Kashkar. Elijah of Nisibis, ''Chronography'', i. 35 The bishop Mari Ibn Kura of Kashkar died shortly before the patriarch

Yohannan VII Yohannan VII bar Targhal was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1049 to 1057. He lived through the final years of the Buyid dynasty, and was present in Baghdad when Toghrul Beg, the first sultan of the Seljuq dynasty, entered the city in Dec ...

in 1057, requiring the office of ''natar kursya'' to be undertaken by the bishop of al-Nuʿmaniya. The bishop Hormizd of Kashkar was present at the consecration of the patriarch ʿAbdishoʿ II in 1074.Mari, 130 (Arabic), 114 (Latin) The seat of the diocese of Kashkar appears to have been transferred to Wasit by the end of the eleventh century. The bishop Hormizd 'of Wasit' was present at the consecration of the patriarch

Makkikha I Makkikha I was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1092 to 1110. Sources Brief accounts of Makkikha's patriarchate are given in the ''Ecclesiastical Chronicle'' of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus () and in the ecclesiastical histories o ...

in 1092.Mari, 138 (Arabic), 118 (Latin) An unnamed bishop of Wasit was perfected by the patriarch Bar Sawma after his consecration in 1134. The bishop Sabrishoʿ of Qaimar was transferred to the diocese of Kashkar by the patriarch Eliya III (1176–90).

Titular see

The titular see of Kaskar of the Chaldeans is included, as an archiepiscopal

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

of the

Chaldean Catholic Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

, in the list of such sees recognized by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. The title has been vacant since 2003. It has had a single incumbent, Titular Archbishop Emmanuel-Karim Delly (1967.05.06 – 2003.12.03).GCatholic with incumbent bio links
/ref>

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., ''Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'' (3 vols, Paris, 1877) * Assemani, J. S., ''Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana'' (4 vols, Rome, 1719–28) * * Fiey, J. M., ''Assyrie chrétienne'' (3 vols, Beirut, 1962) * * * * Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus'' (Rome, 1896) * Gismondi, H., ''Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina'' (Rome, 1899) * Harrak, A., ''The Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle'' (Atlanta, 2005) * Wallis Budge, E. A., ''The Book of Governors: The Historia Monastica of Thomas, Bishop of Marga, AD 840'' (London, 1893) * * *Wood, Philip (2013). ''The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq''. Oxford University Press. {{coord missing, Iraq Dioceses of the Church of the East Dioceses of the Assyrian Church of the East Church of the East in Iraq