The Syriac Chronicle of the Year 819 records the building of church of the *Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (martyrs of the early 4th c., S00103) in the city of Amida (Mesopotamia) by Bishop John Sa‘ārā (483-502). Written probably near Mardin in the early 9th c.
Evidence ID
E01242
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Chronicle of the Year 819
ܘܒܫܢܬ ܫܒܥܡܐܐ ܘܬܫܥܝܢ ܘܚܡܫ܆ ܐܬܬܣܪܚ ܡܪܝ ܝܘܚܢܢ ܣܥܪܐ ܡܢ ܕܝܪܐ ܕܩܪܬܡܝܢ. ܡܝܛܪܘܦܘܠܝܛܝܤ ܠܥܡܕ. ܘܒܢܐ ܒܗ̇ ܗܝܟܠܐ ܪܒܐ ܘܫܒܝܚܐ ܕܐܖ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܣܗ̈ܕܐ. ܘܓܫܪܐ ܪܒܐ ܕܠܒܪ ܡܢܗ̇ ܥܠ ܕܩܠܬ.
'In the year 795 [= 483/4 CE], John Sa‘ārā from the monastery of Qartamin was consecrated metropolitan bishop of Amida. And he built in it a great and splendid church of the Forty Martyrs, and a bridge over the river Tigris outside it.'
Text: Chabot 1916-1937, v. 1, p. 7.
Translation: Sergey Minov.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Chronicle of the Year 819 is a historiographical work that begins with the birth of Christ and reaches the year 819, covering events from both secular and ecclesiastical history. The Chronicle is an original Syriac composition, produced soon after the year 819 by a West-Syrian author. A large number of references to the abbey of Qartamin, located near the city of Mardin, in the Chronicle suggests that its author might have been a monk of this monastery.Syriac text: Chabot 1916-1937, v. 1, pp. 3-22; Latin translation: Chabot 1916-1937, v. 3, pp. 1-16. For general information, see Palmer 1990, 9-13.
Discussion
The Chronicle reports that during the episcopate of John Sa‘ārā (483-502), a monk from the monastery of Qartamin, the church dedicated to the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste was built in the city of Amida. It is the earliest reference that relates the building of this shrine to a particular person. We know, however, about the existence of this church in the early 6th century from other sources, such as the Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor (7.4), according to which it served as an asylum for survivors of the siege of the city by the Persian troops of Kavadh I in the year 503.It is unclear from where the medieval Syriac chronicler derives this information. In light of the fact that the bishop responsible for the building of the church came from the abbey of Qartamin, our author might have relied upon the local historiographic tradition of this West-Syrian monastery. However it may be, since this evidence does not contradict what we know about the church of the Forty Martyrs in Amida from other sources, there is no reason to doubt this evidence.
Bibliography
Main editions and translations:Chabot, J.B., Anonymi auctoris Chronicon ad annum Christi 1234 pertinens. 3 vols (CSCO 81, 82, 109, Syr. 36, 37, 56; Paris: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1916, 1920, 1937).
Further reading:
Palmer, A., Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier: The Early History of Tur ‘Abdin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
05/04/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00103 | Forty Martyrs of Sebaste | ܐܖ̈ܒܥܝܢ ܣܗ̈ܕܐ | 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, E01242 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01242