The Syriac Letter Sent by the Abbots of Arabia to the Orthodox Bishops is subscribed on behalf of a presbyter of a martyr shrine dedicated to *Sergios (soldier and martyr of Rusafa, S00023) in the Roman province of Arabia. Written in Arabia in 569/570.
Evidence ID
E01621
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Subscription #55
ܐܢܐ ܣܪܓܝܤ ܟܕ ܡܦܣܢܘܬܐ ܢܣܒܬ ܡܢ ܡܪܝ ܣܪܓܝ ܩܫܝܫܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܣܗ̈ܕܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܪܓܝܤ ܕܥܠܡܬ. ܐܪܡܝܬ ܐܝܕܐ ܚܠܦܘܗܝ.
‘I, Sergios, having received permission from Mar Sergios, presbyter of the martyr shrine of Mar Sergios of ‘Almat, have subscribed on his behalf.’
Text: Chabot 1907-1933, vol. 1, 218.
Translation: Millar 2009, 110, lightly modified.
Cult Places
Cult building - independent (church)
Source
The Letter Sent by the Abbots of Arabia to the Orthodox Bishops is an original Syriac document that comprises part of the extensive dossier of Monophysite documents preserved in ms. British Library 14602, datable to the late 6th or early 7th century (for description, see Wright 1870-1872, vol. 2, 701-715; van Roey & Allen 1994, 267-303). Composed in the year 569/570, the Letter is an answer sent by the monastic leaders of the Roman province of Arabia (a region that for the most part coincides with the territory of modern Jordan) to the letters regarding the Tritheist controversy that were sent to the church of Arabia by the synod of Monophysite bishops in Constantinople.The Letter is comprised of two parts: (a) the main part, in which the abbots of the province express approval of the bishops' struggle against Tritheism, condemn this heresy and its followers, and confess their belief concerning the Trinity; and (b) the long list of subscriptions (137 in number), in which their names and the locations of their monasteries are stated. This list provides invaluable and for the most part unparalleled information on the geography and onomastics of Monophysite monasticism in Roman Arabia during the second half of the sixth century.
Syriac text: Chabot 1907-1933, vol. 1, pp. 209-224; Latin translation: Chabot 1907-1933, vol. 2, pp. 145-156; French translation: Lamy 1898, pp. 121-134; English translation (only the subscriptions): Millar 2009, pp. 109-113. For general information, see Millar 2009, pp. 106-109.
Discussion
In the subscription made on behalf of the presbyter Sergios from ‘Almat, the monk Sergios refers to his church as "the martyr shrine (Syr. bet sahde) of Mar Sergios". This is certainly Sergios of Rusafa, whose cult was widely diffused across the Near East by the later sixth century; the Letter offers additional witness to the cult of Sergios specifically among the Monophysite Christians of Roman Arabia.Bibliography
Main editions and translations:Chabot, J.B. (ed.), Documenta ad origines monophysitarum illustrandas. 2 vols (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Syri II.37; Paris: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1907, 1933).
Lamy, T.J., “Profession de foi adressée par les abbés des couvents de la province d’Arabie à Jacques Baradée,” in: Actes du Onzième Congrès International des Orientalistes, Paris–1897. Quatrième section: hébreu – phénicien – araméen – éthiopien – assyrien (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1898), 117-137.
Further reading:
Millar, F., “Christian Monasticism in Roman Arabia at the Birth of Mahomet,” Semitica et Classica 2 (2009), 97-115.
van Roey, A., and Allen, P., Monophysite Texts of the Sixth Century (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 56; Leuven: Peeters, 1994).
Wright, W., Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, Acquired since the Year 1838. 3 vols (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1870-1872).
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
12/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00023 | Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa | ܣܪܓܝܤ | Certain |
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