David () was a monk, bishop and historian of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

in the 7th or 8th century. Originally a monk of Beth Abe, he later became the bishop of the

Kurdish tribes Kurdish tribes are tribes of Kurds, Kurdish people, an ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in West Asia, Western Asia. The tribes are socio-political and generally also a territorial unit based on descent and kinship, real or ...

in the region of Kartaw., gives the original Syriac as ''apesqopā d-Kartwāyē''. He and , both translate this "bishop of Kurdish tribes". , uses "bishop of the Kurds". , translates ''Beth Kartwaye'' as "land of the Kurds" and "Kurdistan". , glosses ''Kartewaye'' as "Kurds of Kartaw", but a
vol. 1
pp. ciii–cv, he writes "Kartaw Arabs". This region was located in

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...

, in the north of

Adiabene Adiabene ( Greek: Αδιαβηνή, ) was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it ...

, west of the Lower Zab and north of

Erbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

. He was writing no earlier than the reign of Hnanisho I, patriarch of the Church of the East from 686 to 698. David wrote in Syriac a work known as the ''Little Paradise'' () to distinguish it from the '' Paradise of the Fathers'' of

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia () was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the '' Lausiac History.'' He was also the author of the ''Dialo ...

and the ''Paradise of the Orientals'' of Joseph Hazzaya. It is presumed lost. According to

Thomas of Marga Thomas of Marga, (, ') was an East Syriac bishop and author of an important monastic history in Syriac, who flourished in the 9th century CE. He was born early in the century in the region of Salakh to the north-east of Mosul. As a young man he b ...

in chapter XXI of his ''Book of Governors'', David wrote at the request of a

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 ...

nobleman named Khuznahir, a Christian from Bashosh (near Shalmash). The ''Little Paradise'' was a series of "histories" of Mesopotamian ascetics beginning with George bar Sayyadhe, who was the ninth abbot of Beth Abe in 590. It certainly also contained biographies of the next four abbots of Beth Abe: George's brother and successor, Sama of Neshra; Nathaniel; Selibha the Aramaean; and Gabriel, called the Little Sparrow, who flourished in the late seventh century. It does not appear to have been an extensive work, more probably having a "bite-size, compilatory structure." It was probably conceived as a companion volume to Enanisho's Syriac edition of Palladius. Thomas of Marga cites it in his chapter XXIV concerning a famine that took place during the youth of John of Daylam. David's work is also cited in the metrical history of Beth Qoqa by John bar Zobi. Several modern authors identify the David who was bishop of the Kurds and author of the ''Little Paradise'' with David of Beth Rabban, who was active during the reign of Timothy I (780–823). Carl Anton Baumstark and

Sebastian Brock Sebastian Paul Brock (born 1938, London) is a British scholar, university professor, and specialist in the field of academic studies of Classical Syriac language and Classical Syriac literature. His research also encompasses various aspects of ...

, however, clearly distinguish the two.

Notes

Bibliography

* * Published online by Beth Mardutho, 2018. * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Bishop of the Kurds 8th-century historians Monks of the Church of the East Church of the East writers Syriac writers History of the Kurdish people