Ischo-Jab III.

Ischo-Jab III. ( Īšōʻjahb ; † 659 ) was Catholicos of the Apostolic Church of the East from 649 until his death in 659. He is considered one of the most important Catholikoi of the Apostolic Church, whereby the sources of his life and work are comparatively favorable.

Life

Ischo-Jab was probably born around 590 and came from a wealthy Persian family who had important estates in the Adiabene . He received theological training in the important college of Nisibis , which he left with other students in protest after Metropolitan Gregorios had been deposed. Ischo-Jab then entered the Beth Abhe monastery and became bishop of Nineveh around 628 . He is attested to as Metropolitan of the Adiabene in Arbela around 640 , where he reformed monasticism in his area of ​​office. In 649 he was elected Catholicos. Ischo-Jab held this position at a politically extremely troubled time. The Sassanid Empire , in which he lived and worked as a Catholic, finally collapsed in 651 in the course of the Arab-Islamic conquest . As Metropolitan of Nineveh, Ischo-Jab had already gained experience in dealing with the Arab conquerors.

During his time as a Catholic, he aimed at the greatest possible cohesion of the Church and took action against the Miaphysites , who were viewed as heretics by the Church of the East . Ischo-Jab's reports are also the earliest evidence of relationships between Christians and Muslims. The Muslims are only ever mentioned in connection with reports on Christian issues. Letters reported that Christians in Oman had to cede half of their property to the Arab conquerors and had to pay a poll tax in order to continue practicing their faith. These reports, supported by parallel Arabic traditions, are considered credible, even though the amount of the respective tribute and poll tax (usually probably 1 dinar ) fluctuated.

In research it is controversial how good the relations between the Catholicos and the Assyrian Christians were with the Arab authorities, on whose accommodation the Christians now under Arab rule were dependent. On the basis of different sources, there are some indications that this was not least due to the behavior of the Arab governors, some of whom maintained good contacts with the Christians, but some of whom were also quite hostile. One report mentions a serious conflict between Ischo-Jab and a senior Arab official who had Ischo-Jab briefly incarcerated. Individual persecutions of Nestorian congregations are also reported, including the destruction of churches.

When Ischo-Jab died in 659, Elias von Merw , who wrote a church history that is now lost, was present.

literature

• Robert G. Hoyland : Seeing Islam as Others Saw It. A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam . Darwin Press, Princeton 1997, pp. 174ff.
• Ovidiu Ioan: Muslims and Arabs with Īšōʻjahb III. (649-659) . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009.

Remarks

1. ↑ For life and work see in detail Ovidiu Ioan: Muslims and Arabs in Īšōʻjahb III. (649-659) . Wiesbaden 2009, p. 5ff.
2. ^ Robert G. Hoyland: Seeing Islam as Others Saw It . Princeton 1997, pp. 179ff.
3. ^ Robert G. Hoyland: Seeing Islam as Others Saw It . Princeton 1997, pp. 181f.
4. ↑ Cf. Ovidiu Ioan: Arabia and the Arabs in the Church Leadership Action of the Catholicos Patriarch Ischo'jahb III. (649-659) . In: The Syriacs and their environment . Edited by Martin Tamcke and Andreas Heinz. Münster 2005, p. 43ff., Here p. 52f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Immeh	Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East 649–659	Guiwarguis I.