Paul the Persian or Paulus Persa was a 6th-century East Syriac

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and philosopher who worked at the court of the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

king

Khosrau I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...

. He wrote several treatises and commentaries on

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

, which had some influence on medieval

Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...

. He is identified by some scholars with Paulus of

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

(d. 571 AD) and with Paul of Basra. A. V. Williams Jackson, ''Zoroastrian Studies'', Kessinger Publishing, 2003, According to Jackson, he was "a Christian who may have studied Greek philosophy in the schools of Nisibis and

Gundeshapur Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded ...

". He is remembered for his writings in

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 ...

for his royal patron. These include his notes in Syriac on

's ''

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

'', in which he declares the superiority of science over faith.

Life

Paul the Persian is known from the 9th-century '' The Chronicle of Seert'' and from the ''Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'' of the 13th-century Jacobite 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 prima ...

. These sources indicate that he was born in Dershahr 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 ...

. Bar-Hebraeus mentions that he lived during the time of the Nestorian patriarch Ezekiel (567-580). According to Bar-Hebraeus, Paul was a cleric in the Church of the East and well versed in ecclesiastical and philosophical matters. Paul wrote two known works. He produced an introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle, which was delivered before the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

King Chosroes I, and later translated into Syriac by Severus Sebokht. The same work was also translated into Arabic at a later date. The other work extant is ''On Interpretation'', which has never been published. Both the ''Chronicle of Seert'' and Bar-Hebraeus record that he aspired to become metropolitan of Fars, and, failing to be elected, converted to

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

. However this is not otherwise documented and may merely be the product of the rivalry between the Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church and the Nestorian Church of the East. The entry in the ''Chronicle of Seert'' reads:

Works

* ''Prolegomena to Philosophy and Logic'' * ''Treatise on the Logic of Aristotle the Philosopher addressed to King Khhuosrowousrowau'' (in Syriac; British Museum ms. 988 dd. 144660 ff. 55v-67rv; Wright 1872, 1872, p. 1161); translated into Latin by J. P. N. LandJ. P. N. Land, ''Anecdota Syriaca'', vol. 4, v. 4, IV, Leiden, 1875

References

External links

Paul the Persian
(''Encyclopedia Iranica'')
The Syriac Institute
(''Raham Asha'')
Aristotle’s Logic, Paul the Persian (Translated into Persian by Bozorgmehr Loghman)
{{Authority control Year of birth missing Year of death missing 6th-century philosophers Iranian philosophers 6th-century Iranian people Converts to Zoroastrianism from Christianity Khosrow I Commentators on Aristotle Iranian logicians Christians in the Sasanian Empire Persian philosophy Ancient Iranian philosophers Philosophy in Iran

Life

Works

See also

References

External links