{"id":12395,"date":"2023-01-12T13:42:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T10:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mardutha.com\/?p=12395"},"modified":"2023-05-08T18:44:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:44:31","slug":"geography-demographics-and-the-value-of-medieval-syriac-historical-texts-a-case-study-of-the-vita-of-rabban-joseph-busnayai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mardutha.com\/en\/geography-demographics-and-the-value-of-medieval-syriac-historical-texts-a-case-study-of-the-vita-of-rabban-joseph-busnayai\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography, Demographics, and the Value of Medieval Syriac Historical Texts: A Case Study of the Vita<\/em> of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101(I)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nicholas Al-Jeloo<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without doubt, much of what we know about the demographic makeup of the medieval Middle East and its geography comes from contemporary texts in the various languages of the area. In Syriac literature, however, there are no specific geographical texts, and the amount of historical works is limited to a known few chronographies and general chronicles, mostly West Syriac, that have already been well documented. What remains for the curious scholar, therefore, is the option of scouring colophons, many of which have been studied in detail, as well as narrative genres, particularly hagiographies, much of which are set in real locations. Indeed, this latter group of literary works is one that has been seldom touched upon beyond the ground-breaking work of pioneers such as the late Fr. Jean-Maurice Fiey. Moreover, the most significant of such texts for northern Mesopotamia is undoubtedly the Book of Governors<\/em>, a monastic history of the B\u0113th-\u2018\u0100v\u0113 monastery (near modern-day \u2018Aqrah), authored by M\u0101r Thomas, bishop of Marg\u0101, in the ninth century.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One hagiographical text that has thus been studied, and the critical translation of which is available in at least two languages, is the Vita<\/em> of tenth-century monastic saint Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101.[2]<\/sup><\/a> This narrative, written in the voice of the saint\u2019s disciple, Rabb\u0101n John, son of Khald\u016bn of Mosul, is quite long and contains much more than a historical account of his master\u2019s life and activities. Beginning with a highly philosophical introduction, each chapter of the text similarly begins with its own philosophical prelude which introduces the narrative that follows. Indeed, due to the complex language utilised and concepts referred to in this text, it becomes apparent to the reader that it was one written at the end of the golden age of Syriac literature, and during the zenith of that of Islamic civilisation. As such, it can be considered a high-level masterpiece of Syriac literature and, along with the Book of Governors<\/em>, vital reading for all those wishing to understand monastic life in the Church of the East, as well as the geography, demography and socio-cultural situation in ninth- and tenth-century northern Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surviving Manuscript Witnesses and Published Editions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas the Vita<\/em> of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 is largely an obscure text today, evidence shows that it was once considered a Syriac literary staple and it held distinction among the vast corpus of literature belonging to the Church of the East. We observe, therefore, that in 1298, some three centuries after it had originally been composed, M\u0101r \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 Bar-Br\u012bkh\u0101 (d. 1318), metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia, included it in his metrical \u201cCatalogue of Syriac Books and Writers\u201d \u2013 an invaluable repository of information concerning works of Syriac literary heritage and their authors, including many that are now fragmentary or lost. Later, in 1312, M\u0101r \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 translated this catalogue into Arabic, making its contents accessible to those who could not read Syriac. In 1725, the catalogue was published at Rome with a Latin translation by Joseph-Simon Assemani in the Bibliotheca Orientalis<\/em>. For over a century and a half, however, this text was the only idea Western scholars had of the existence of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101\u2019s Vita<\/em>. The relevant passage, in an English translation by Anglican missionary Rev. George Percy Badger (1852), reads as follows: \u201cYohanan bar Keldon wrote a valuable work called \u2018Busn\u00e2ya,\u2019 another on the Most Beautiful, and a third on the Merchandize of the Monks.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a> At the same time, the text was known among the Church of the East\u2019s adherents in southern India. As such, research conducted in the Syriac manuscript archives of the Christian communities there has shown that a very metaphysical version of the Life of Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101<\/em> was among the high-level East Syriac literature read and copied by the learned elite, besides the prayer books, in the second half of the sixteenth century, under the administration of M\u0101r Abraham (c. 1556-1597), the Church of the East\u2019s last metropolitan of Angamaly.[4]<\/sup><\/a> Subsequently, this work (under the name \u201cThe book of John Barialdan\u201d [sic<\/em>]) appears to have been one of the 20 \u201cheretical\u201d books decreed banned by the Portuguese-imposed Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor) in 1599.[5]<\/sup><\/a> As a result, all extant copies of these books which were found were destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text of Rabb\u0101n John Bar-Khald\u016bn\u2019s Syriac Vita<\/em> of his master Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 has survived today in at least 12 documented manuscripts. Unsurprisingly, all of these are from the Middle East. The oldest of these is now kept in the Vatican Library (MS Syr 467), and was acquired sometime between 1831 and 1897. It was copied at the St. Elijah of \u1e24\u012brth\u0101 monastery near Mosul in 1186, and additionally includes the only extant metrical homily about Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101, composed in the eleventh century by Savr-\u012asho\u2018 of Nisibis (f. 223r-230v). Some missing folios in the manuscript were supplemented according to another codex possessed by the Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery, which itself was copied from the former when it was still complete.[6]<\/sup><\/a> An undated note in this manuscript (80v.[02.fn.0000]), mentions that it was the property of Catholicos-Patriarch M\u0101r El\u012by\u0101 VI (1558-1591), son of the priest George of the M\u0101m\u0101 family. Moreover, it was from this copy that Fr. Samuel Giamil of Tell-K\u0113p\u0113, procurator general of the Chaldean Patriarchate of Babylon at Rome, copied a manuscript for French scholar Jean-Baptiste Chabot in June 1897. On the other hand, the manuscript from Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery might have either been the Vorlage or the same as the one at Our Lady Guardian of Plants Monastery near Alqosh, catalogued by Fr. Jacobus-Maria Vost\u00e9 in 1929. This one (cod. 195) was copied for Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery by the deacon \u2018\u012asa, son of Isaiah, son of the deacon Cyriacus, originally from Iqror but now residing at Alqosh, and completed on 11 April 1879.[7]<\/sup><\/a> Since then it is believed that this manuscript has now gone missing. In turn, it definitely appears to have been the Vorlage for three other copies made in the 1950s at the Our Lady Guardian of Plants Monastery. All three of these later ended up in the collection of the St. Anthony Chaldean Catholic Monastery at al-Dawrah, Baghdad. Two were copied by the monk Louis, son of Paul \u1e24anon\u0101 of K\u0101rimlish \u2013 one in 1950 (Dawra Syr. 550) and the other was completed on 14 November 1959 (Dawra Syr. 549). The third of these was copied by the monk D\u0101d-\u012asho\u2018, son of the deacon David Shim\u2018on Kikhwah of K\u0101rimlish, and completed on 22 February 1951 (Dawra Syr. 548).[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other manuscripts of the Vita<\/em> include one personally consulted by Fr. Yo\u1e25ann\u0101n Ch\u016bl\u0101gh for his Arabic translation which appeared \u201cvery old.\u201d This belonged to the private collection of the late Fr. Non\u0101 of Alqosh. Another manuscript he consulted was copied in 1907 by Horm\u012bzd, son of the priest Thomas, son of the deacon Horm\u012bzd, son of B\u0101\u2018\u016bth of Ash\u012bth\u0101 (modern-day \u00c7\u0131\u011fl\u0131), and belonged to the private collection of the deacon George of Karanjoq, near Alqosh.[9]<\/sup><\/a> The current whereabouts of both these manuscripts are unknown. Apart from these, there are four other witnesses to the text. One of these, copied in the late nineteenth century from an original written in 1599\/1600, is kept at the Jenks Collection of Cambridge University Library (Or. 1315).[10]<\/sup><\/a> Another can be found in the Mingana Collection at the Selly Oak College Library of the University of Birmingham (Syr. 66). This was completed on Saturday 22 October 1893 by the deacon Francis, son of George, son of Francis, son of the deacon Joseph of the M\u0113r\u0113 family, for the deacon Nimrod, son of the deacon Joseph, son of the priest Anthony Rass\u0101m of Mosul.[11]<\/sup><\/a> Yet another manuscript, copied in 1889, is kept at the Library of the Catholic University of America in Washington DC (Syr. 11).[12]<\/sup><\/a> On the other hand, the copy that I have largely consulted to write this article (while comparing with the existing translations and the oldest manuscript witness, which is kept in the Vatican and is available to view online on the Digital Vatican Library website) is kept at the Chaldean Patriarchate in Baghdad and represents the newest witness to the text in question (CPB Syr. 193). It was completed on 2 June 1965 by Joseph Qirmiz\u0101 of K\u0101rimlish, originally of the Jamm\u0101 family of Alqosh, at the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary in Baghdad, and had been commissioned by Fr. Michael \u012asho\u2018 for the personal readership of Patriarch M\u0101r Paul II Sheikho.[13]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first person to publish a translation of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101\u2019s Vita<\/em> was French Roman Catholic priest Jean-Baptiste Chabot, who did so in a series of eight articles published in Revue de l<\/em>\u2019<\/em>Orient Chr\u00e9tien<\/em> between 1897 and 1900.[14]<\/sup><\/a> Afterward, this series was published as a single volume.[15]<\/sup><\/a> Chabot, however, only consulted one manuscript of the text, and the final article in his series includes an epilogue and preface which present minimal analysis of it. The only other translation of the text is in Arabic, published by Chaldean Catholic priest Fr. Yo\u1e25ann\u0101n Ch\u016bl\u0101gh at Baghdad in 1983\/4.[16]<\/sup><\/a> His introduction includes explanations regarding the manuscripts consulted, Chabot\u2019s translation, the book itself, its author, Rabb\u0101n Joseph, B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 Monastery and the present Arabic edition. In addition to consulting Chabot\u2019s previous French translation, Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh also referred to extant manuscript witnesses in the private collections of Fr. Non\u0101 of Alqosh and the deacon George of Karanjoq, as well as Dawra Syr. 548. The latest major study of the text which, however, does not include a translation, is a volume published last year by Ralph Barczok, who explores everyday life in the monastery, its economic basis, as well as the relationship of the monks to their Christian and non-Christian environment, and analyses these in the context of its historical situation.[17]<\/sup><\/a> The manuscripts consulted by Barczok, though, appear to be the oldest witness that is in the Vatican, the one at Cambridge, as well as one in the possession of a family from Alqosh (possibly that of Fr. Non\u0101?). Unfortunately, I have not been able to obtain a copy of the book and have no knowledge of German, so it is largely inaccessible to me. Others who have studied the text of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101\u2019s Vita<\/em> are Fr. Ugo Zanetti, who presented a critical reading of the hagiography as an account of the saint\u2019s life, Vincent van Vossel, who used it as an example of East Syriac monastic spirituality at the beginning of the middle ages, as well as Joel Thomas Walker, who has written generally about ascetic literacy in the East Syriac monastic tradition.[18]<\/sup><\/a> Clearly, what is lacking is a critical edition of the Syriac text itself, as well as a translation and analysis of it in English, in order for it to reach a wider audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who was Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the text of his Vita<\/em>, Rabb\u0101n Joseph was born in the village of B\u0101b\u016bs\u0101[19]<\/sup><\/a> around the year 869, to parents Yaqq\u012br\u0101 and \u2018Amr\u016bnah.[20]<\/sup><\/a> At the age of 30, after his father\u2019s death, Joseph went to the Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery to become a monk, having been preceded by his younger brother Gabriel. During his 30 years of service at the monastery, Rabb\u0101n Joseph spent his first four years as a novice, followed by 12 of solitary contemplation as a recluse. During his novitiate, he was trained by Rabb\u0101n M\u0101r\u0101n-Zkh\u0101. He would also go to the monastery of Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n to receive instruction from Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 of K\u016bm\u0101theh,[21]<\/sup><\/a> as well as the Monastery of St. \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv to be instructed by Rabb\u0101n Sh\u016bv\u1e25\u0101-l-\u012asho\u2018.[22]<\/sup><\/a> Later, he would travel to the Upper Monastery of St. Gabriel,[23]<\/sup><\/a> just outside Mosul, first to receive instruction, but later as an instructor himself, as his knowledge and experience increased. Due to his fame as a spiritual man having spread throughout the Church, he was chosen for various higher offices including metropolitan of Nisibis (modern-day Nusaybin) and bishop of \u1e24datt\u0101,[24]<\/sup><\/a> both of which he refused. The Metropolitan of Mosul even sent his suffragan, M\u0101r \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 bishop of Ma\u2018alth\u0101y\u0113 (Kurdish: Malta Nasara), to convince Rabb\u0101n Joseph to reconsider his refusal. It was at this time that the monk made one of his first prophecies, addressing the bishop as \u201cCatholicos-Patriarch,\u201d a rank to which M\u0101r \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 was elected in 963 AD. After this, Joseph was chosen to take his place as bishop for N\u016bhadr\u0101 and Ma\u2018alth\u0101y\u0113, but he reacted by escaping to the mountain behind the monastery of St. Abraham Bar-Dashand\u0101d at Shamrakh, until another candidate was elected to fill the vacant position.[25]<\/sup><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Rabb\u0101n Joseph\u2019s brother Gabriel had left Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd for the Monastery of St. Abraham the Penitent at B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113. There, he became the sacristan and later the abbot. The rest of the saint\u2019s family also joined the monastic life, with his two younger brothers Sh\u016bv\u1e25\u0101-l-M\u0101r\u0101n and Br\u012bkh-\u012asho\u2018 becoming monks at Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd, their sister dying as an unmarried young woman, and their mother becoming a nun and being cared for by Rabb\u0101n Joseph at his cell until her death. A year after Gabriel\u2019s death at B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 in c. 938, Joseph was convinced by the new abbot, Rabb\u0101n Moses, to move there, which he reluctantly accepted. Once there, the saint contributed to the monastery\u2019s fame and prestige, with people coming or sending letters from as far away as Baghdad and Babylonia[26]<\/sup><\/a> to consult with, seek healing and receive blessings from him \u2013 even the now Catholicos-Patriarch M\u0101r \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 I (963-986). It was during this time that the monastery reached its zenith, growing to include a population of 300 monks, including 150 recluses, and it was also when the saint received the author of the Vita as his disciple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Details<\/strong> <\/strong>from the Text of the<\/strong> <\/strong>Vita<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to John Bar-Khald\u016bn\u2019s Vita<\/em> of Rabb\u0101n Joseph, he died on 4 September 979, at the age of 110, and was buried in the martyrion of the B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 Monastery, alongside its founder and former abbots.[27]<\/sup><\/a> This was a year and four months after the Persian Dailamite King Pan\u0101h-Khisro invaded, provoking the \u201cking of Mosul\u201d to engage in battle with him; a fight in which the former proved victorious. In fact, Pan\u0101h-Khisro (936-983) was the greatest monarch of the Buyid or Buwayhid dynasty, of Dailamite origin, which ruled over central and southern Iran, as well as Iraq, between 934 and 1062. He initially ruled the Emirate of Fars from its capital Shiraz, but eventually united all the Buyid emirates, creating an empire that stretched from the Byzantine frontier in Syria to the borders of Khorasan, and from Oman to the Caspian Sea. These conquests, however, had been instigated by a rebellion against him led by his paternal first cousin, Emir of Iraq Bakht\u012by\u0101r \u2018Izz al-Dawlah (943-978), who had created an alliance with Pan\u0101h-Khisro\u2019s own brother, Emir of Hamadan Fakhr al-Dawlah (952-997), Hamdanid ruler of northern Mesopotamia Ab\u016b Taghlib (r. 967-979), Kurdish ruler \u1e24asanwayh Barezk\u0101n\u012b and \u2018Imr\u0101n ibn Shah\u012bn, ruler of southern Iraq\u2019s marshes.[28]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With their fathers, who had founded the system of Buyid emirates, all having died, \u2018Izz al-Dawlah refused to recognise and openly contested his cousin\u2019s officially conferred priority among Buyid rulers, doing this by stopping mention of him at public prayers in Iraq. \u2018Izz al-Dawlah was first defeated by Pan\u0101h-Khisro at Ahwaz in 977 and obtained permission from him to retreat and establish himself in Syria. On his way, however, Ab\u016b Taghlib persuaded him to fight his cousin again, resulting in the battle of Qa\u1e63r al-Ja\u1e63\u1e63 near Samarra on 29 May 978, where \u2018Izz al-Dawlah was again defeated, but this time captured and executed.[29]<\/sup><\/a> Pan\u0101h-Khisro then advanced on and occupied the Hamdanid stronghold of Mosul, which the Buyids held onto for more than a decade, forcing Ab\u016b Taghlib to flee first to Nisibis, then Mayy\u0101farq\u012bn (Silvan), then to Arz\u0101n and the mountains of Armenia, Harput, \u0100mid (Diyarbak\u0131r), al-Ra\u1e25bah and finally to the Fatimid-controlled part of Syria.[30]<\/sup><\/a> There, he tried to secure governorship of Damascus and various other areas, becoming involved in local rivalries between the Fatimids and local elites, creating even more enemies for himself. This resulted in his defeat in battle and execution on 29 August 979, effectively ending the Hamdanid dynasty and its rule over northern Mesopotamia.[31]<\/sup><\/a> It is worth noting that, by this time, the once powerful \u2018Abbasid caliphs had been reduced to serving a purely ceremonial religious function, rather than affecting any real leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the death of Rabb\u0101n Joseph, the author of his Vita<\/em> mentions that Kartw\u0101y\u016bth\u0101<\/em> (\u071f\u0732\u072a\u072c\u0307\u0718\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710, Kurdish domination) and Ta\u2018lw\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u072c\u0732\u0725\u0720\u0718\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710, Taghlibite domination) reigned over \u201cthese lands\u201d \u2013 presumably \u1e62apn\u0101, D\u0101san, Marg\u0101 and B\u0113th-N\u016bhadr\u0101, which are most frequently mentioned in the text.[32]<\/sup><\/a> As a result, churches, monasteries and villages were destroyed, and the monks in them were scattered everywhere.[33]<\/sup><\/a> Particularly traumatic for the author was the destruction of D\u0101san, in which innumerable inhabitants were killed by the \u201cevil ones\u201d who lived there, something which had already been predicted by Rabb\u0101n Joseph. Indeed, its people were scattered while about 5,000 of them were killed by the Kartw\u0101y\u0113<\/em> <\/em>(\u071f\u0732\u072a\u0308\u072c\u0307\u0718\u0735\u071d\u0739\u0710, Kurds) who are called Hakkar\u0101y\u0113 (\u0717\u0732\u071f\u0735\u072a\u0308\u0735\u071d\u0739\u0710, Hakkarians). He does mention, however, that D\u0101san was rebuilt again, as per the saintly Rabb\u0101n\u2019s prophecies. Thus, it is quite conceivable, just as Assyrians have often been caught in the crossfire of larger conflicts which didn\u2019t directly concern them, that this was the case in the wake of the Buyid conquest of Hamdanid territories and the resulting power vacuum. This, coupled with the dissolution of \u02bfAbbasid power already in 945, allowed various Kurdish tribes to become semi-independent and extend their control over certain areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the Rest of the Text of the<\/strong> <\/strong>Vita<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>Contain<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the six chapters concerning the life of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101, the text continues with the seventh chapter which describes, in short, the lives and miracles of a number of other contemporaneous monks from the monasteries of Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd and B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113. These include Rabb\u0101n John of \u1e24\u0113l\u0101pt\u0101, his disciple Rabb\u0101n Jonah, an unnamed ascetic from Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery, Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 Bar-N\u016bn, Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 of K\u016bm\u0101theh,[34]<\/sup><\/a> Rabb\u0101n Sh\u016bv\u1e25\u0101-l-\u012asho\u2018, Rabb\u0101n Moses of B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113, Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018, St. Rabb\u0101n Athqin the Noisy, Rabb\u0101n John of D\u0101san and Rabb\u0101n Gabriel the Sacristan. This is followed by a brief history of the B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 Monastery and the most well-known monks who resided in it. The eighth chapter, which forms a considerable part of the text, concerns the teachings of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 to those who dedicated themselves to becoming monks. Among the topics he instructs upon are solitude, fasting, naziritehood, service, vigils, study, prayer, prostration and genuflection, humility, quiet, kindness and self-contempt, voluntary renunciation of worldly goods, mercy, love, knowledge, ascetic work, the solitude of leaping, and other topics. This is quite a significant text, since monasticism has long died out in the modern Church of the East, and it provides an important perspective on how, in particular, monks spent their lives in contemplation and rules they would have followed.[35]<\/sup><\/a> Indeed, among the works mentioned in the text of the Vita<\/em> as having been widely read at the time are those of prolific and well-known authors such as Catholicos-Patriarchs M\u0101r \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv of Arzon (582-595) and M\u0101r \u1e24n\u0101n-\u012asho\u2018 I (686-698), as well as saints M\u0101r Isaac of Nineveh (613-700) and Joseph \u1e24azz\u0101y\u0101 (eighth century), who wrote extensively about the liturgy, mysticism, asceticism and monastic life. Finally, the ninth chapter concerns the death and burial of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 and it is followed by the epilogue and colophon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The B\u0113th<\/strong>–<\/strong>\u1e62<\/strong>ayy\u0101r\u0113<\/strong> <\/strong>(<\/strong>\u0712\u0739\u071d\u072c\u0323 <\/strong>\u0728\u0732\u071d\u0735\u072a\u0308\u0739\u0710) <\/strong>Monastery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This monastic establishment, the name of which means \u201chouse of the painters,\u201d was founded by St. Abraham the Penitent in the fourth century and is not to be confused with the medieval village and monastery of B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101d\u0113 (\u0712\u0739\u071d\u072c\u0323 \u0728\u0732\u071d\u0735\u0715\u0308\u0739\u0710, i.e., \u201chouse of the hunters\u201d) near Erbil. This saint was, in turn, a disciple of St. Eugene, who had come from Egypt and founded a monastery on Mount Izla above Nisibis, introducing the Egyptian model of coenobitic monasticism to Mesopotamia. St. Abraham built his monastery at a place called Z\u0101w\u012bth\u0101 (known by local Assyrians as Z\u0113w\u012bth\u0101 and by Kurds as Z\u0113w\u0101 P\u012bram\u016bs), which is to the west of B\u0101marn\u0113.[36]<\/sup><\/a> It was later abandoned, however, and by the seventh century, when Rabb\u0101n Joseph of D\u0101san passed by with his disciples, on their way to build their own monastery at \u012anishk, all they found there was a heap of ruins.[37]<\/sup><\/a> Probably sometime in the ninth century, a group of monks from the M\u0101r Savr-\u012asho\u2018 Monastery at B\u0113th-Qoq\u0101 came and rehabilitated B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113.[38]<\/sup><\/a> In fact, this was not the only link between the two monasteries, and we know that another group of monks from B\u0113th-Qoq\u0101 visited B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 during the abbotship of Rabb\u0101n Moses in the first half of the tenth century, as they were building a water-powered mill for the monastery on the nearby \u1e62apn\u0101 River.[39]<\/sup><\/a> This is quite significant, since the former is over 100 km south-southwest, as the crow flies, from the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the disciples of the monks who re-established B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 was Rabb\u0101n Bar-Yald\u0101, who later became the monastery\u2019s abbot, however, an unnamed army came to it and the monks were again scattered.[40]<\/sup><\/a> Rabb\u0101n Bar-Yald\u0101 fled to the Monastery of Rabb\u0101n Bokhtyazd at Kurkh\u0113 in the region of Zawz\u0101n, where he met Rabb\u0101n Moses (d. 947), whom he took as his disciple. Together, they returned to B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 and restored the monastery, after which it reached its height of fame. According to the text, there were 60 monks at the monastery during Rabb\u0101n Bar-Yald\u0101\u2019s abbotship, but this number had grown to 300 under that of Rabb\u0101n Moses, making B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 a sort of \u201cupper Jerusalem,\u201d since it had more recluses than any other monastery at the time.[41]<\/sup><\/a> After this, and within the first quarter of the tenth century, a group of armed Hakkarians came to B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 to plunder it. In fear, all of the monastery\u2019s monks fled to the nearby mountain. One of them, however, namely Rabb\u0101n John of D\u0101san, chose to remain. When the attackers entered and found him praying in his cell, they were overcome with awe and did not proceed with their plans to plunder the monastery.[42]<\/sup><\/a> Later on, the B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 community was joined by Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101, who arrived a year after the death of his brother Gabriel the Sacristan in c. 938.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text of Rabb\u0101n Joseph\u2019s Vita<\/em> provides the names of other monks who served at B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 during this time. These are particularly interesting for two main reasons. Firstly, they confirm the existence of Christian Assyrian communities at certain places during this period. Secondly, they also show how far away the monastery\u2019s influence reached and how far people were willing to travel to devote themselves to the ascetic life there. Thus, we find the mention of Rabb\u0101n Israel of Tinn, 2 km to the south, and Rabb\u0101n David of B\u0113th-Murdn\u012b (B\u0101marn\u0113), 2 km to the east.[43]<\/sup><\/a> Another monk from B\u0113th-Murdn\u012b, who is described as being evil, returned home and took off his habit, but he was killed while out hunting when he accidentally ran onto a double-ended spear that he had thrown, and was pierced by it.[44]<\/sup><\/a> At least four monks, Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018, Rabb\u0101n John, Rabb\u0101n David and Rabb\u0101n \u1e24n\u0101n-\u012asho\u2018, came from the neighbouring D\u0101san district, while two monks, Rabb\u0101n S\u0101hd\u0101 and Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 came from the village of Miny\u0101nish in Lower \u1e6cy\u0101r\u0113, 30 km to the northeast.[45]<\/sup><\/a> We also find reference made to Rabb\u0101n Jacob Sh\u0101h\u0101y\u0101, i.e., of Sh\u0101he, which is in the mountain to the north of the Na\u1e25l\u0101 valley, 55 km to the southeast.[46]<\/sup><\/a> Additionally, two monks came from much further afield. We thus read of Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 of \u1e24datt\u0101, about 130 km to the south, below the junction of the Great Zab River with the Tigris, and Rabb\u0101n Gabriel of \u1e6c\u0101ron, a district 130 km to the northeast around the village of M\u0101r Beh-\u012asho\u2018, on the modern Turkish-Iranian border. Finally two monks come from unidentified locations \u2013 Rabb\u0101n Bar-\u1e24adhbshabb\u0101 \u1e24umayd\u0101y\u0101 and Rabb\u0101n Isaac Sh\u012bzor\u0101y\u0101.[47]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact and Movement between Monasteries<\/strong> <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is commonly known that the Church of the East, at the time in which the Vita<\/em> of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 was written possessed many monasteries in different places where its adherents lived, not much is known about how they interacted with each other. From the Vita<\/em>, however, we can see that contacts between monks at different monasteries, as well as the movement of monks from one monastery to another, was quite common. As we have already seen, Rabb\u0101n Joseph himself moved from the Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery to that of B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113, where he lived for the rest of his life. However, he had extensive contacts with certain monks at the monasteries of Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n, St. \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv and St. Gabriel, from whom he received instruction and advice. He also spent some time at the monastery of St. Abraham in the mountain of Shamrakh, and received correspondences from one of the monasteries founded by St. John of Dailam. Finally, his funeral was attended by monks from the previously mentioned monasteries of Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd (40 km away), St. \u012asho\u2018-Yahv (35 km away) and Shamrakh (20 km away), but also from those of Rabb\u0101n Joseph at \u012anishk (11 km away) and Rabb\u0101n Qayyoma.[48]<\/sup><\/a> In fact, we also know that the funeral of the abbot Moses was attended by a monk from the monastery of Rabb\u0101n Qayyom\u0101 named Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018.[49]<\/sup><\/a> Neither were these links solely between monasteries occupied by monks; we thus find one instance in the text where the monk Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018-Ra\u1e25meh was sent from B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 to Balad (Eski Mosul) and stayed for a night in the Dayr\u0101<\/em> <\/em>d-Bn\u0101th<\/em>–<\/em>Qy\u0101m\u0101<\/em> (\u0715\u0732\u071d\u072a\u0735\u0710 \u0715\u0712\u0308\u0722\u0735\u072c\u0323 \u0729\u071d\u0735\u0721\u0735\u0710, lit. \u201cMonastery of the Daughters of the Covenant\u201d), that is, a convent of nuns.[50]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, from the text of Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101\u2019s Vita<\/em>,<\/em> we can gather that, by the tenth century, Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery had begun to surpass that of B\u0113th-\u2018\u0100v\u0113 as being a centre from which monks would go out and either found new monasteries or rehabilitate old ones. For instance, Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018 of \u1e24\u0113l\u0101pt\u0101 began his monastic life at Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd, then left to be a solitary in the mountain of K\u016bm\u0101theh for some time before retiring at the Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n Monastery.[51]<\/sup><\/a> There, he provided advice and instruction to Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101, who would visit him from Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd. Additionally, Rabb\u0101n John of the \u1e24\u0113l\u0101pt\u0101 in Marg\u0101 also began his monastic training at Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd, then left to reside at Dayr\u0101<\/em> <\/em>d-R\u0113sh\u0101<\/em> (\u0715\u0732\u071d\u072a\u0735\u0710 \u0715\u072a\u0739\u072b\u0735\u0710, i.e., Monastery of the Head), in which Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd himself had lived with Rabb\u0101n Jehozadak, prior to them establishing their own monasteries in the mountains of Alqosh and Qardo respectively.[52]<\/sup><\/a> Moreover, we read about Rabb\u0101n Sh\u016bv\u1e25\u0101-l-\u012asho\u2018, who was a disciple of Rabb\u0101n John at Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery. He then left for that of Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv where he spent many years before dying at the monastery built in the eighth century by Abb\u0101 Joseph of Shahrizor near Aw\u0101n\u0101 opposite Balad.[53]<\/sup><\/a> Finally, reference is made to Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n Bar-Kartw\u0101y\u0113 (i.e., the son of Kurds), who resided in the unidentified mountain of Gidron and was often visited by the monks of Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery. He later died and was buried in the monastery of B\u0113th-Qoq\u0101.[54]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on, it appears that monks from the B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113 monastery would also depart to restore older monastic establishments. A prime example given is that of Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 of D\u0101san, who went to rehabilitate and live in the Rabb\u0101n Joseph Monastery at \u012anishk. As mentioned earlier, this was founded in the seventh century by Rabb\u0101n Joseph of D\u0101san \u2013 not Rabb\u0101n Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 as other scholars have posited.[55]<\/sup><\/a> The former, according to \u012asho\u2018-Dna\u1e25 of Basrah (c. 860), was a disciple of St. Jacob the Visionary, a former monk of B\u0113th-\u2018\u0100v\u0113, prior to the latter\u2019s departure for the St. \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv Monastery, which now bears his name.[56]<\/sup><\/a> At any rate, when Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 came to rehabilitate Rabb\u0101n Joseph\u2019s Monastery, he found it empty and abandoned. He thus brought monks back to live there and, together, they built a nave, martyrion, cloister and cells. This was, however, built in a higher place than the monastery\u2019s original location, overlooking the entire \u1e62apn\u0101 valley, in order to avoid Kurdish raids. Later on, Rabb\u0101n \u2018Avd-\u012asho\u2018 moved from there and died at the St. Abraham Monastery in Shamrakh.[57]<\/sup><\/a> Indeed, from the abovementioned cases, one can observe that monasteries and monks were part of a region-wide network and they had extensive contact with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Continued in the next issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources and References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  Most Syriac names in this article have been similarly anglicised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  In Syriac Christianity, the title Rabb\u0101n is used for monks, abbots and certain priests. Its actual meaning is chief, master, teacher, leader, authority or superior. It is also used in Judaism as a title of scholars and presidents of colleges. On the other hand, the title Abb\u0101, meaning father, is another title used for monks and especially abbots. Again, it is used in Judaism as a title for some Jewish scholars, especially some Amoraim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  George Percy Badger, The Nestorians and their Rituals: With the Narrative of a Mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in 1842-1844, and of a Late Visit to those Countries in 1850; Also, Researches into the Present Condition of the Syrian Jacobites, Papal Syrians, and Chaldeans, and an Inquiry into the Religious Tenets of the Yezeedees, London: Joseph Masters, 1852, Vol. 2, p. 378.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.  Istv\u00e1n Perczel, \u201cAccommodationist Strategies on the Malabar Coast: Competition or Complementarity,\u201d in Ines G. \u017dupanov and Pierre Antoine Fabre (eds.), The Rites Controversies in the Early Modern World, Leiden: Brill, 2018, p. 214.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.  James Hough, The History of Christianity in India: From the Commencement of the Christian Era, London: R. B. Seely and W. Burnside, 1839, Vol. 2, p. 544.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Jean-Baptiste Chabot (ed.), \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya \u00e9crite par son disciple Jean bar Kaldoun,\u201d Revue de l\u2019Orient Chr\u00e9tien (ROC), Vol. 5 (1900), p. 197.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Jacques Vost\u00e9, Catalogue de la Biblioth\u00e8que Syro-Chald\u00e9enne du Couvent de Notre-Dame d\u00e9s Semences pr\u00e8s d\u2019Alqo\u0161 (Iraq), Rome: Bureaux de l\u2019\u201cAngelicum,\u201d 1929, p. 74. This manuscript was numbered 95 in an earlier catalogue prepared by M\u0101r Adda\u00ef Scher, Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques conserves dans la biblioth\u00e8que du couvent des Chald\u00e9ens de Notre-Dame-des-Semences, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1906, p. 44. The earlier catalogue added that this manuscript had many lacunae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. David Wilmshurst, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318-1913, Louvain: Peeters, 2000, pp. 725, 729.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Yo\u1e25ann\u0101n Ch\u016bl\u0101gh (ed.), T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101 \/ Kth\u0101v\u0101 d-Yawsip B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101 [The History of Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101 \/ The Book of Joseph Busn\u0101y\u0101], Baghdad: al-Mashriq Printer and Offset, 1983\/4, pp. 3-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. A. E. Goodman, \u201cThe Jenks Collection of Syriac Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge,\u201d Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 71, Issue 4 (October 1939), p. 594. No further details are provided in the published inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11.  Alphonse Mingana, Catalogue of the Mingana Collection of Manuscripts now in the Possession of the Trustees of the Woodbroke Settlement, Selly Oak, Birmingham, Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons, Limited, 1933, Vol. 1 (Syriac and Garsh\u016bni Manuscripts), p. 168-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12.  Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent et al., \u201cJoseph Bousnaya (text) \u2014 \u071d\u0718\u0723\u0726 \u0712\u0718\u0723\u0722\u071d\u0710,\u201d in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca Electronica, last modified November 5, 2015, http:\/\/syriaca.org\/work\/1113. Unfortunately, the librarian at Catholic University of America did not reply to a request for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. This manuscript is available to view online, on the website of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML). I am indebted to His Eminence M\u0101r Michael Naj\u012bb, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, for providing me with a PDF of this manuscript, which had been digitised by the Centre Num\u00e9rique des Manuscrits Orientaux (CNMO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14.  Jean-Baptiste Chabot (ed.), \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya \u00e9crite par son disciple Jean bar Kaldoun,\u201d Revue de l\u2019Orient Chr\u00e9tien (ROC), Vol. 2 (1897), pp. 357-405; Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 77-121, 168-190, 292-327, and 458-480; Vol. 4 (1899), pp. 380-415; and Vol. 5 (1900), pp. 118-143 and 182-200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. Jean-Baptiste Chabot (ed.), Histoire du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya, Paris: Alphonse Picard et fils, 1900.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16. Fr. Yo\u1e25ann\u0101n (\u2018Abd al-A\u1e25\u1e25ad) Biny\u0101m\u0113n Ch\u016bl\u0101gh (1935-2006) was born in Alqosh and ordained a priest by Patriarch M\u0101r Paul II Sheikho in 1961. From 1962 onward he served the faithful in his hometown of Alqosh and, in 1974, was transferred to the parish of St. \u012asho\u2018-Y\u0101hv Bar-Qusr\u0113 (M\u0101r Esha\u2018y\u0101) at Mosul, where he served for about 32 years until his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17. Ralph Barczok, Die Vita des Josef Busnaya: Eine historische Quelle des Nordiraks des 10. Jahrhunderts, Berlin: Peter Lang, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18. Ugo Zanetti, \u201cLes saintes moines: t\u00e9moignages et vies,\u201d in Fadi Kabbani (ed.), Le Monachisme Syriaque du VIIe si\u00e8cle \u00e0 nos jours; Patrimoine syriaque, Actes du colloque VI (1998), Ant\u00e9lias, Liban: Editions du Centre d\u2019\u00e9tudes et de recherches orientales (CERO), 1999, Vol. 1 (Textes Fran\u00e7ais), pp. 189-209; Vincent\u2005van\u2005\u2005Vossel, \u201cLa spiritualit\u00e9 monastique syro-orientale du d\u00e9but du moyen \u00e2ge selon l\u2019histoire de Raban Youssif Busnaya,\u201d in Kabbani (ed.), Le Monachisme Syriaque, Vol. 1, pp. 149-186; Joel Thomas Walker, \u201cAscetic Literacy: Books and Readers in East-Syrian Monastic Tradition,\u201d in Henning B\u00f6rm and Josef Wieseh\u00f6fer (eds.), Commutatio et Contentio: Studies in the Late Roman, Sasanian, and Early Islamic Near East in memory of Zeev Rubin, D\u00fcsseldorf: Wellem, 2010, pp. 307-346.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19. Or B\u0101v\u016bs\u0101 (\u0712\u0735\u0712\u0323\u0718\u073c\u0723\u0735\u0710). This is the present-day Ezidi village of Boz\u0101n, east of Alqosh. Christians were last mentioned as residing there in 1834, when a priest monk from the Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd Monastery was sent to minister to their spiritual needs, Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 6, fn. 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20. Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh prefers the reading \u2018Umr\u016bn\u0101, ibid., p. 20, fn. 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21.  Also known as Dayr al-Za\u2018far\u0101n (\u062f\u064a\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0632\u0639\u0641\u0631\u0627\u0646, i.e., Monastery of Saffron). Its ruins are located near the Sl\u0113v\u0101n\u012b village of Gul\u012b, on the southern side of Mount B\u0113kh\u0113r, between Duhok and Zakho, Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, ibid., p. 30, fn. 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22. This is the now ruined monastery of St. Jacob the Visionary (M\u0101r-Y\u0101qo) in the mountains above Sh\u012byoz in the Duhok governorate. The village of this monastery is also known by local Kurds as Qash\u0101fir (meaning, \u201cthe priest flew\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23. The remains of this monastery became what is known today as the church of \u1e6c<\/em>\u0101hirat al-Kild\u0101n (i.e., Mary Immaculate of the Chaldeans), which became included within Mosul\u2019s walls as the city expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

24. This city was located on the East bank of the Tigris River, just south of its confluence with the Greater Zab, and is now identified with the modern town of Tell al-Sha\u2018\u012br in the al-Qayy\u0101rah district of Nineveh governorate, Ernst Herzfeld, \u201c\u1e24ad\u012btha,\u201d in B. Lewis, V. L. M\u00e9nage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht (eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Islam: New Edition, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986, Vol. 3 (H-Iram), p. 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25. Shamrakh is located on the other side of the mountain, to the south of the modern Assyrian town of Mang\u0113sh, in the Doski district of Duhok governorate, Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 34, fn. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26. The text mentions a monastery of St. John of Dailam. From the Book of Chastity by \u012asho\u2018-Dna\u1e25 of Basrah (c. 860), we know that this saint had actually founded two monasteries \u2013 one for Persian-speaking monks near Arrag\u0101n (Arjan) in the mountain of F\u0101rs, and another for Aramaic-speaking monks near Kashkar (W\u0101si\u1e6d) in Babylonia, Jean-Baptiste Chabot (ed.), Le Livre de la Chastet\u00e9, Rome, 1896, pp. 50, 60. Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh erroneously equates the former location with Argin, a Christian Assyrian village in the Gahr\u0101 Mountains, to the south of the \u1e62apn\u0101 Valley, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 49, fn. 3. However, this would not provide the desired effect of demonstrating how far people travelled just to see the saint, and the monastery which he founded at Kashkar would thus be a more likely candidate for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27. Vat. Syr. 467, 217v, 219r-219v; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 308, 311; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 5 (1900), pp. 186, 188-189; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 200, 202.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28.  Ch. B\u00fcrgel and R. Mottahedeh, \u201c\u02bfA\u017cod-Al-Dawla, Ab\u016b \u0160oj\u0101\u02be Fann\u0101 \u1e34osrow,\u201d in Ehsan Yarshater (ed.), Encyclop\u00e6dia Iranica, Vol. III: \u0100ta\u0161\u2013Bayhaq\u012b, \u1e92ah\u012br-al-D\u012bn, Fasc. 3, London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1989, pp. 265-269, available online at: http:\/\/www.iranicaonline.org\/articles\/azod-al-dawla-abu-soja (accessed on 30 December 2012).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29. Hugh Nigel Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century, Harlow: Longman, 2004, pp. 230, 272.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

30. Marius Canard, \u201c\u1e24amd\u0101nids,\u201d in B. Lewis, V. L. M\u00e9nage, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht (eds.), The Encyclopaedia of Islam: New Edition, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986, Vol. 3 (H-Iram), p. 128.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31. Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine, 634-1099, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 355.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32. The Syriac \u2013\u016bth\u0101 (-\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710) ending is equivalent to \u2013ism or \u2013ness in English. It is often used as a collective noun and examples include Sury\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u0723\u0718\u073c\u072a\u071d\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710), Arm\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u0710\u0732\u072a\u0721\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710), Yhudh\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u071d\u0717\u0304\u0718\u073c\u0715\u0323\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710), Y\u0101wn\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u071d\u0735\u0718\u0722\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710), \u1e6c<\/em>ayy\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u071b\u0732\u071d\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710) and Rhom\u0101y\u016bth\u0101 (\u072a\u0717\u0718\u073f\u0721\u0735\u071d\u0718\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710). Most frequently, such words refer to a people or nation, or to its dominion (sovereignty, control or domination). They may also relate to concepts similar to the Arabic terms Millah (\u0645\u0644\u0629, meaning anything from ideological community, worldview, philosophy, creed, doctrine, confession, denomination, sect, order, communion or guild) or Ummah (\u0623\u0645\u0629, meaning a community and its members [especially religious], a common group of people, followers of a certain religion, a tribe or tribal confederation, race, nationhood, a crowd, the general population, populace or public). Often, such Syriac terms ending in \u2013\u016bth\u0101 can refer to the language, learning, literature, faith or religion of a particular people. In the extreme case of Rhom\u0101y\u016bth\u0101, for instance, the word may refer to the rights of a Roman citizen, being a Roman or even to military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

33. Vat. Syr. 467, 51v-52r; CPB Syr. 193, p. 84; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 83-84.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

34. Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh believes that this area was either around the modern Assyrian village of Kom\u0101n\u0113 (50 km from Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd and 25 km from B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113) or rather the Kurdish village of D\u0113rash, in the Gahr\u0101 Mountains 9 km to the south of it (which is also 45 km from Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd and 30 km from B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113). He assumed that the name D\u0113rash derives from the Kurdish phrase D\u0113r-Rash, meaning \u201cthe black monastery,\u201d in reference to the name modern Aramaic word Kom\u0101 or K\u016bm\u0101, which means \u201cblack\u201d and is part of the names Kom\u0101n\u0113 and K\u016bm\u0101theh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 30, fn. 1. However, there is also the possibility that the name D\u0113rash could instead be a Kurdish rendering of the Syriac phrase Dayr-R\u0113sh\u0101 (\u0715\u0732\u071d\u072a \u072a\u0739\u072b\u0735\u0710, \u201cmonastery of the head\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

35. Another interesting point is the mention, within the text, of Church practises that are now obsolete \u2013 such as the use of Makhsh\u0101th\u0101 (\u0721\u0732\u071f\u0323\u0308\u072b\u0735\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710, rhipidia\/flabella, i.e., ceremonial fans), as are still used in Eastern and Oriental Churches today. At this time, we see that the Church of the East included them at least in processions with censers and lights, after the cross and Gospel. One more detail of something now obsolete concerns the B\u0113th-Y\u0101qund\u0113 (lit. house of the jacinths or rubies), which appears to have been a (burial?) chamber between the nave and martyrion in some medieval churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

36.  Z\u0101w\u012bth\u0101 (\u0719\u0735\u0718\u071d\u073c\u072c\u0323\u0735\u0710) is a Syriac word meaning corner or angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

37.  Vat. Syr. 467, 150v; CPB Syr. 193, p. 232; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 464-465; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 137.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

38. Vat. Syr. 467, 150v; CPB Syr. 193, p. 233; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 465; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 137. The B\u0113th-Qoq\u0101 Monastery was founded by St. Savr-\u012asho\u2018 of Aw\u0101n\u0101 (modern-day W\u0101n\u0101, Iraq) around 630. Its ruins can still be seen at the village of D\u0113r\u0101 B\u0113sh-Barm\u0101gh, 30 km west of Erbil and 8km south of Kalak, which is on the Great Zab River. Jean-Maurice Fiey, Assyrie Chr\u00e9tienne: Contribution a l\u2019\u00e9tude de l\u2019histoire et de la g\u00e9ographie eccl\u00e9siastiques et monastiques du nord de l\u2019Iraq, Beirut: Imprimerie Catholique, 1965, Vol. 1, pp. 136-139.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

39. Vat. Syr. 467, 119r, 125r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 189, 197; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 300, 306; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 110, 115.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

40. This probably occurred sometime during the Kharijite Rebellion against the \u2018Abbasid Caliphate (866-896), which was centred in Mosul and Upper Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

41. Vat. Syr. 467, 113r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 179-180; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 294; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 106.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

42. Vat. Syr. 467, 144r; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 327. In CPB Syr. 193, we find the term \u201cIndians\u201d (p. 222) which, in Syriac literature from this time, was also used to refer to Ethiopians, Cushites and Nubians. This error would lead one to believe that these attackers must have, in fact, been East African \u201cZanj,\u201d who led a major revolt against the \u2018Abbasid Caliphate from their base in Basrah between 869 and 883. Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, on the other hand, just uses the Arabic term for \u201cthieves,\u201d ignoring the ethnonym used in the original text, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

43. Tinn is still inhabited by Christian Assyrians belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church. B\u0101marn\u0113, however, is now a large Kurdish Muslim village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44. Vat. Syr. 467, 121r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 191-192; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 302; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 111-112.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45. Rabb\u0101n S\u0101hd\u0101 appears to have returned to his home village, since one of the four churches in Miny\u0101nish during the nineteenth century was dedicated to him. Rabb\u0101n \u012asho\u2018, on the other hand, is known for having seen angels serving the cells of abbots Rabb\u0101n Bar-Yald\u0101 and Rabb\u0101n Moses, Vat. Syr. 467, 159r-160v; CPB Syr. 193, p. 242; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 474-476; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 145-146.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

46. This village had an Aramaic-speaking Jewish community prior to their migration to Israel in 1951.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

47. It is not known if the gentilic of the first refers to a place or a tribe. For instance, is he a Christian Arab from the \u1e24umaydah tribe, or is he from a place called \u1e24umayd\u012byah?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

48. Vat. Syr. 467, 217v; CPB Syr. 193, p. 308; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 5 (1900), p. 186; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 200. The last one mentioned is most probably the same as the famous cave monastery near D\u016br\u0113 in Berw\u0101r\u012b-B\u0101l\u0101, 25 km away from B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113, which served as the residence of a bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East until 1973. However, there was also a shrine dedicated to the same saint in the mountain above Deh\u0113, about 7 km away, which might have been the former location of a monastery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

49. Vat. Syr. 467, 133r; CPB Syr. 193, p. 209; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 314; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 121-122. Incidentally, it is the tomb of this saintly man who revived B\u0113th-\u1e62ayy\u0101r\u0113, which has remained a place of pilgrimage for the local Kurdish Muslim population, who have renamed him P\u012bra-M\u016bs or Shaykh P\u012br-M\u016bs. Whereas M\u016bs is a variation of Moses or Syriac M\u016bsh\u0113, the saint\u2019s name, the Kurdish word P\u00eer has various meanings alluding to a saint, founder of an order, sage, father, patriarch, old man, grandfather, guardian, patron, custodian, protector, senior or venerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50. Vat. Syr. 467, 132r; CPB Syr. 193, p. 208; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 313; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 121.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

51. The text does not actually specify if this saint\u2019s native village was in Marg\u0101, where there is currently a village named Khelaft, divided into upper and lower quarters, roughly 20 km northwest of \u2018Aqrah and to the east of the Kh\u0101zir River. This, however, is about 50 km northeast and 105 km southeast of Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd and Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n monasteries respectively. There is, however, another village called Khelafta 9km to the southeast of Zakho, about 50 km northwest and less than 20 km west of the Rabb\u0101n Horm\u012bzd and Rabb\u0101n Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n monasteries respectively. The name \u1e24<\/em>\u0113l\u0101pt\u0101 (\u071a\u0739\u0720\u0735\u0726\u072c\u0735\u0710) is a Syriac word meaning a small willow tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

52. Vat. Syr. 467, 93r-97r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 149-155; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 171-175; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 89-92. Fr. Ch\u016bl\u0101gh identifies Dayr\u0101 d-R\u0113sh\u0101 with a ruin known locally as Mor Abrohom, in the mountain behind St. Matthew\u2019s Syriac Orthodox Monastery on Mount Maql\u016bb, rising above the Nineveh Plain. Indeed, Rabb\u0101n Abraham had restored the fourth century monastery around the turn of the ninth century, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 89, fn. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

53. Vat. Syr. 467, 107r-111r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 171-176; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 186-190; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 100-104. Abb\u0101 Joseph was a former abbot of B\u0113th-\u2018\u0100v\u0113 monastery who, around the year 728, left for the desert beside the Tigris opposite Balad. There, with two other monks whom he found, they built a new monastery, Chabot (ed.), Le Livre de la Chastet\u00e9, pp. 48, 58.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

54. Vat. Syr. 467, 126v; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, p. 116. Chabot, probably relying on the manuscript he consulted, omits the monk\u2019s lineage and information regarding his burial place, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), p. 307; CPB Syr. 193 does the same (p. 200). At any rate, he is not the same as St. Apn\u012b-M\u0101r\u0101n \u201cthe great\u201d of Kirkuk, who founded the abovementioned Dayr al-Za\u2018far\u0101n (i.e., Monastery of Saffron) in the seventh century, Chabot (ed.), Le Livre de la Chastet\u00e9, pp. 43, 51.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

55. Wilmshurst, Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, p. 132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

56. Chabot (ed.), Le Livre de la Chastet\u00e9, pp. 49, 59.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

57. Vat. Syr. 467, 134r-136r; CPB Syr. 193, pp. 210-214; Chabot, \u201cVie du moine Rabban Youssef Bousnaya,\u201d ROC, Vol. 3 (1898), pp. 315-317; Ch\u016bl\u0101gh, T\u0101r\u012bkh Y\u016bsuf B\u016bsn\u0101y\u0101, pp. 122-125.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicholas Al-Jeloo Without doubt, much of what we know about the demographic makeup of the medieval Middle East and its geography comes from contemporary texts 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