, Sultanate of Rûm

Sultanate of Rûm

The Sultanate of Rum , also known as the Anatolian Seljuk State , was a Turkic state centered in in Anatolia, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...

 (modern Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, today province Elazig) – 30 July 1286 in Maraga, Persia) was a catholicos

Catholicos

Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...

(bishop) of the Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....

 in the 13th century. He is noted for his works addressing philosophy, poetry, language, history, and theology; he has been called "one of the most learned and versatile men from the Syriac Orthodox Church" (Dr. William Wright

William Wright (orientalist)

William Wright was a famous British Orientalist, and Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. Many of his works on Syriac literature are still in print and of considerable scholarly value, especially the catalogues of the holdings of the British Library and Cambridge University Library...

).

Bar Hebraeus was born with the Arabic name

Arabic name

Long ago, Arabic names were based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names...

  . It appears that he took the Christian name Gregory ( Grigorios; , ) at his consecration as a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

. Throughout his life, he was often referred to by the Syriac nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 Bar-‘Ebrāyā , giving rise to the Latinised name Bar Hebraeus. This nickname is often thought to imply a Jewish background (taken to mean 'Son of the Hebrew'). However, the evidence for this once popular view is slim. It is more likely that the name refers to the place of his birth, ‘Ebrā, where the old road east of Malatya

Malatya

Malatya ) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of its eponymous province.-Overview:The city site has been occupied for thousands of years. The Assyrians called the city Meliddu. Following Roman expansion into the east, the city was renamed in Latin as Melitene...

 towards Kharput (modern Elazığ

Elazig

Elâzığ is a city in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey and the seat of Elâzığ Province. It has a population of331,479 according to the 2010 census, and the plain on which the city extends has an altitude of 1067 metres....

) and Amid (modern Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...

) crossed the Euphrates

Euphrates

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...

.

He collected in his numerous and elaborate treatises the results of such research in theology, philosophy, science and history as was in his time possible in Syria. Most of his works were written in Syriac. However he also wrote some in Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, which had become the common language in his day.

Life

A Syriac bishop, philosopher, poet, grammarian, physician, biblical commentator, historian, and theologian, he was the son of a physician, Aaron . Under the care of his father he began as a boy (a teneris unguiculis) the study of medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 and of many other branches of knowledge, which he pursued as a youth at Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

 and Tripoli

Tripoli, Lebanon

Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...

, and which he never abandoned. In 1246 he was consecrated bishop of Gubos

Gubos (West Syrian Diocese)

Gubos was a diocese in the Jacobite metropolitan province of Melitene , attested between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Around a dozen Jacobite bishops of Gubos are mentioned either by Michael the Syrian or Bar Hebraeus, and Bar Hebraeus himself was bishop of Gubos from 1246 to 1255...

 by the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius II, and in 1255 was transferred to the see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 of Laqabin. He was placed over the diocese of Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

 by Dionysius (1252) and finally was made primate

Primate (religion)

Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....

, or maphrian, of the East by Ignatius III (1264). His episcopal duties did not interfere with his studies; he took advantage of the numerous visitations, which he had to make throughout his vast province, to consult the libraries and converse with the learned men whom he happened to meet. Thus he gradually accumulated an immense erudition, became familiar with almost all branches of secular and religious knowledge, and in many cases thoroughly mastered the bibliography of the various subjects which he undertook to treat. How he could have devoted so much time to such a systematic study, in spite of all the vicissitudes incident to the Mongol invasion, is almost beyond comprehension. The main claim of Bar Hebræus to our gratitude is not, however, in his original productions, but rather in his having preserved and systematized the work of his predecessors, either by way of condensation of by way of direct reproduction. Both on account of his virtues and of his science, Bar Hebræus was respected by all, and his death was mourned not only by men of his own faith, but also by the Nestorians and the Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

. He was buried at the Mar Mattai Monastery, near Mosul

Mosul

Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

. He has left us an autobiography, to be found in Assemani

Giuseppe Simone Assemani

Giuseppe Simone Assemani , 1687–1768, was a Lebanese Maronite orientalist.-Life:Giuseppe Simone Assemani was born on August 27, 1687 in Hasroun, Mount Lebanon. When very young he was sent to the Maronite College in Rome, and was transferred thence to the Vatican library. He was ordained priest on...

, Biblioth. Orient., II, 248-263; the account of his death (ibid.) was written by his own brother, Bar Sauma

Bar Sauma

Barsauma was Metropolitan of Nisibis in the 5th century, and a major figure in the history of the Church of the East. A capable politician, he was on good terms with Peroz I, King of the Sassanid Empire of Persia, and wielded great influence in the Church of the East. As such he was frequently in...

.

Encyclopedic and philosophical

His great encyclopedic work is his Hewath Hekhmetha, "The Cream of Science", which deals with almost every branch of human knowledge, and comprises the whole Aristotelian discipline, after Avicenna

Avicenna

Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...

 and Arabian writers. This work, so far, has not been published, with the exception of one chapter, by Margoliouth, in Analecta Orientalia ad poeticam Aristoteleam (London, 1887), 114-139. The rest is to be found only in MSS., preserved at Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

, Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and elsewhere. (2) Teghrath Teghratha, "Commerce of Commerces", a résumé of the preceding, also unpublished. (3) Kethabha dhe-Bhabhatha, "Book of the Pupils of the Eyes"; compendium of logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

 and dialectics. (4) Kethabha dhe-Sewadh Sophia, "Book of Speech of Wisdom"; compendium of physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 and metaphysics

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

. To these should be added a few translations of Arabic works into Syriac, as well as some treatises written directly in Arabic.

Biblical

The most important work of Bar Hebræus is Aucar Raze, "Storehouse of Secrets", a commentary on the entire Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, both doctrinal and critical. Before giving his doctrinal exposition of a passage, he first considers its critical state. Although he uses the Peshitta

Peshitta

The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...

as a basis, he knows that it is not perfect, and therefore controls it by the Hebrew, the Septuagint, the Greek versions of Symmachus

Symmachus the Ebionite

Symmachus was the author of one of the Greek versions of the Old Testament. It was included by Origen in his Hexapla and Tetrapla, which compared various versions of the Old Testament side by side with the Septuagint...

, Theodotion

Theodotion

Theodotion was a Hellenistic Jewish scholar,, perhaps working in Ephesus who in ca. AD 150 translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. Whether he was revising the Septuagint, or was working from Hebrew manuscripts that represented a parallel tradition that has not survived, is debated...

, Aquila

Aquila of Sinope

Aquila of Sinope was a 2nd Century CE native of Pontus in Anatolia known for producing an exceedingly literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 CE. He was a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba...

, by Oriental versions, Armenian and Coptic, and finally by the other Syriac translations, Heraclean, Philoxenian and especially the Syro-Hexapla

Syro-hexaplar version

The Syro-hexaplar version is the Syriac translation of the Septuagint, as revised by Origen of Alexandria in his Hexapla....

. The work of Bar Hebræus is of prime importance for the recovery of these versions and more specially for the Hexapla

Hexapla

Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...

of Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

, of which the Syro-Hexapla is a translation by Paul of Tella. His exegetical and doctrinal portions are taken from the Greek Fathers and previous Syrian Jacobite theologians. No complete edition of the work has yet been issued, but many individual books have been published at different times. (See bibliography at the end of article.)

Historical

Bar Hebræus has left a large historical work called Makhtbhanuth Zabhne, Chronicon, in which he considers history from the Creation down to his own day. Bar Hebræus utilized almost all that had been written before him. The work is divided into two portions, which have been transmitted separately.

The first portion deals with political and civil history and is known as the Chronicon Syriacum. The standard edition of the Chronicon Syriacum is that of Bedjan

Paul Bedjan

Paul Bedjan was a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church and a Syriacist and orientalist.Born in Khosrova, Persia, the son of a Chaldean Catholic family, Bedjan was enrolled a pupil at the French Lazarist School in Khosrova in 1846. On 27 October 1856, at the age of eighteen, he became a Lazarist...

, Gregorii Barhebraei Chronicon Syriacum (Paris, 1890). An unsatisfactory English translation by Wallis Budge

E. A. Wallis Budge

Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...

 exists.

The second portion is known as the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum and covers the religious history. It begins with Aaron

Aaron

In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...

 and consists of a series of entries of important individuals. The first half covers the history of the West Syrian Church and the Patriarchs of Antioch, while the second half is devoted to the Eastern Church, the Nestorian Patriarchs, and the Jacobite Maphrians. The current edition of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum is that of Abbeloos

Jean Baptiste Abbeloos

Jean Baptiste Abbeloos was a Belgian orientalist and Rector of the University of Leuven.-Life:He was born 15 January 1836, at Goyck, Belgium. He was educated in the seminary of Mechelen, 1849 to 1860. After his ordination to the priesthood, 22 September 1860, he studied at Leuven and Rome,...

 and Lamy

Thomas Joseph Lamy

Thomas Joseph Lamy was a Belgian Biblical scholar end orientalist.Ordained priest in 1853 after completing his studies at Floreffe and at the seminary of Namur, he entered the Catholic University of Leuven and received from his professors, Ian Theodor Beelen, the distinguished exegete and...

 (3 vols., Louvain, 1872–77), Syriac text, Latin translation. No English translation has ever been published, although an unpublished translation by Sebastian Brock

Sebastian Brock

Sebastian Paul Brock is generally acknowledged as the foremost and most influential academic in the field of Syriac language today. He is a former Reader in Syriac Studies at the University of Oxford's Oriental Institute and currently a Professorial Fellow at Wolfson College...

 of most of the first part exists.

The Chronicon Syriacum was rendered into Arabic by Bar Hebraeus himself under the title of Ta'rîkh Mukhtasar al-Duwal, A Compendious History of Dynasties, and reworked in the process for a readership not specifically Christian. The latest and the best edition of his work is that of Fr. Anton Salihani (Beirut, 1890). A Latin translation exists in the older edition of Edward Pococke

Edward Pococke

Edward Pococke was an English Orientalist and biblical scholar.-Early life:He was the son of clergyman from Chieveley in Berkshire, and was educated at Lord Williams's School of Thame in Oxfordshire and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford...

, Historia Compendosia Dynastiarum (Oxford, 1663).

Theological

In theology Bar Hebræus was a Monophysite. He probably, however, thought that the differences between Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

s, Nestorians, and the rest were of a theological, but not of a dogmatical nature, and that they did not affect the common faith; hence, he did not consider others as heretics

Heresy

Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

, and was not himself considered as such, at least by the Nestorians and the Armenians. In this field, we have from him Menarath Qudhshe, "Lamp of the Sanctuary", and the Kethabha dhe-Zalge, "Book of Rays", a summary of the first. These works have not been published, and exist in manuscript in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, London, Oxford, and Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Ascetical and moral theology were also treated by Bar Hebræus, and we have from him Kethabha dhe-Ithiqon, "Book of Ethics", and Kethabha dhe-Yauna, "Book of the Dove", an ascetical guide. Both have been edited by Bedjan in "Ethicon seu Moralia Gregorii Barhebræi" (Paris and Leipzig, 1898). The "Book of the Dove" was issued simultaneously by Cardahi (Rome, 1898). Bar Hebræus codified the juridical texts of the Jacobites, in a collection called Kethabha dhe-Hudhaye, "Book of Directions", edited by Bedjan, "Barhebræi Nomocanon

Nomocanon

Nomocanon is a collection of Ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the Civil law and the Canon law.-Byzantine nomocanons:Collections of this kind were found only in Eastern law...

" (Paris, 1898). A Latin translation is to be found in Angelo Mai

Angelo Mai

Angelo Mai was an Italian Cardinal and philologist. He won a European reputation for publishing for the first time a series of previously unknown ancient texts. These he was able to discover and publish, first while in charge of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and then in the same role at the...

, "Scriptorum Veter. Nova Collectio", vol. x. Bar Hebræus has left besides many other works. On grammatical subjects we have the "Book of Splendours" and "Book of the Spark", both edited by Martin, "Oeuvres grammaticales de Aboul Faradj dit Barhebræus" (2 vols., Paris, 1872); also works on mathematics, astronomy, cosmography, and medicine, some of which have been published, but others exist only in manuscript.

Other works

A full list of Bar Hebraeus's other works, and of editions of such of them as have been published, will be found in W. Wright

William Wright (orientalist)

William Wright was a famous British Orientalist, and Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. Many of his works on Syriac literature are still in print and of considerable scholarly value, especially the catalogues of the holdings of the British Library and Cambridge University Library...

's Syriac Literature, pp. 268–281. The more important of them are:

1. Kethabha dhe-Bhabhatha (Book of the Pupils of the Eyes), a treatise on logic or dialectics
2. Hewath Hekmetha (Butter of Wisdom), an exposition of the whole philosophy of Aristotle
3. Sullarat Haunãnãyã (Ascent of the Mind), a treatise on astronomy and cosmography, edited and translated by F. Nau (Paris, 1899)
4. various medical works
5. Kethabha dhe-Zalge (Book of Rays), a treatise on grammar
6. ethical works
7. poems
8. Kethabha dhe-Thunnaye Mighaizjzikhanl (Book of Entertaining Stories), edited and translated by E. A. Wallis Budge
   E. A. Wallis Budge
   Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...
   
    (London, 1897).

Veneration

He is regarded as a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 by the Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....

, who hold his feast day on July 30.

External links

• Gregorii Barhebraei Chronicon ecclesiasticum: quod e codice Musei britannici descriptum conjuncta opera ediderunt, Latinitate donarunt annotationibusque ...illustrarunt Jean Baptiste Abbeloos, Thomas Joseph Lamy Also at Archive.org here.
• Encyclopaedia of Bar-Hebraeus (Abu al-Faraj) / SuryoyoNews.
• Gregorii Bar-Hebraei Scholia in Psalmum LXVIII. e codicibus mss. syriacis Bibliothecae Florentinae et Clementino-Vaticanae et Bodleianae Oxoniensis primum edita et annotationibus illustrata, Vratislaviae 1852.
• The Laughable Stories of Bar-Hebraeus, 1897 tr. by E.A.W. Budge, at sacred-texts (PDF version)