The Syriac Chronicle of Edessa records the transfer in 394 of the chest with the relics of *Thomas (the Apostle, S00199) to the church dedicated to him in Edessa (northern Mesopotamia) during the episcopate of Cyrus. Written in Edessa, in second half of 6th c.
Evidence ID
E00077
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of Edessa 38
ܫܢܬ ܫܒܥܡܐܐ ܘܚܡܫ ܒܐܝܪܚ ܐܒܝ ܒܝܘܡ ܬܖ̈ܝܢ ܘܥܣܖ̈ܝܢ ܒܗ. ܐܝܬܝܘ ܓܠܘܣܩܡܗ ܕܡܪܝ ܬܐܘܡܐ ܫܠܝܚܐ. ܠܗܝܟܠܐ ܪܒܐ ܕܝܠܗ. ܒܝܘ̈ܡܝ ܡܪܝ ܩܘܪܐ ܐܦܝܣܩܘܦܐ
'The year 705 [AD 394], in the month Ab [August], on the twenty-second day in it, they brought the coffin of Mar Thomas the Apostle to his great temple in the days of Mar Qura the bishop.'
Text: Guidi 1903, 5.
Translation: Cowper 1864, 33, lightly modified.
Cult PlacesUnspecified relic
RelicsBodily relic - unspecified
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismUnspecified relic
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
RelicsBodily relic - unspecified
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Reliquary – institutionally owned
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Chronicle of Edessa is a collection of mainly short entries, most of which are related to the history of the city of Edessa. It is an original Syriac composition, produced in the second half of the 6th century by a pro-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking author.Syriac text: Guidi 1903, vol. 1, 1-13; English translation: Cowper 1864, 30-39; German translation: Hallier 1892, 84-138; Russian translation: Пигулевская 1959. For general information, see van Rompay 2011; Witakowski 1986.
Discussion
The Chronicle reports that on 22 August of the year 394 the 'coffin' (Syr. gluskma, from Gr. γλωσσόκομον) with the relics of the Apostle *Thomas was transferred from an unidentified place to the church dedicated to him in Edessa, at the initiative of bishop Qura (i.e. Cyrus).Bibliography
Editions and translations:Guidi, I., Chronica minora, Pars prior. 2 vols (CSCO Syr. III.4; Paris: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1903).
Cowper, B.H., “Selections from the Syriac. No. I: The Chronicle of Edessa,” Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record NS V, 9 (1864), 28-45.
Hallier, L., Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik, mit dem Syrischen Text und einer Übersetzung (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 9.1; Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1892).
Пигулевская, Н.В., “Эдесская хроника,” Палестинский сборник 4 [67] (1959), 79-96; reprinted in: Пигулевская, Н.В., Сирийская средневековая историография. Исследования и переводы (С.-Петербург: Дмитрий Буланин , 2000), 468-476.
Further reading:
Rompay, L. van, “Chronicle of Edessa,” in: S.P. Brock, A.M. Butts, G.A. Kiraz and L. van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), 97-98.
Witakowski, W., “Chronicles of Edessa,” in: T. Kronholm and E. Riad (eds.), On the Dignity of Man: Oriental and Classical Studies on Honour of Frithiof Rundgren (Orientalia Suecana 33-35; Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1986), 487-498.
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
13/10/2014
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00199 | Thomas, the Apostle | ܬܐܘܡܐ | Certain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Sergey Minov, Cult of Saints, E00077 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00077