Jacob of Edessa

Jacob von Edessa (* around 633; ​​† June 12, 708 in Teleda Monastery) was an important Syrian scholar and Christian theologian.

Life and works

Jacob was born near Antioch . During this time Byzantium lost most of its eastern territories to the Arabs , including Syria (see Islamic expansion ). Jacob, who belonged to the Syrian Orthodox Church , entered a monastery at a young age and received a fairly comprehensive education (including theology, philosophy and Greek), which he was able to deepen during his studies in Alexandria . In 684 he became bishop of the city of Edessa , but he resigned this office as early as 688 after his strict administration had provoked opposition. Jacob initially retired to a monastery near Edessa, then taught for eleven years in the Eusebona monastery near Antioch, before he also left this in a dispute and retired to the monastery of Tell-'Adda (Τελεδά, Teleda). After the death of Habib von Edessa he was supposed to become bishop again there, but he died shortly afterwards.

Jacob was eclectic and a prolific author, but his writings are not fully preserved. Jacob translated Greek works into Syriac or revised them, including works by Aristotle and Severus of Antioch ; possibly he also intended to translate the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzen . He was also working on a Syrian version of the Old Testament that he could no longer complete. He also wrote poems (four are known to be directed against the Nestorians ) and wrote numerous letters, some of which have survived and document his extensive education. He also dealt with questions of canon law and philosophical topics. Several letters are addressed to his friend Johannes von Litharb (near Aleppo ), who may have written a chronicle that Theophilos of Edessa used as a source.

Jakob was also interested in history and wrote a Syrian chronicle that began in 326 and breaks off in the preserved (damaged, incomplete) manuscript 630. The fragment preserved is probably based only on a short version of the chronicle, which originally extended into the late 7th century and was later continued until 710. The work was a chronological-historical table with dates of the rulers (Persian and Roman) and counting of the Olympics as well as brief historical notes. The work is thus completely in the tradition of late antique Christian chronicles. Apparently it was a continuation of the Chronicle of Eusebius of Kaisareia ; it is unclear whether Jacob also treated the time before. Jacob's chronicle was also used by subsequent Syrian chroniclers.

Jacob was immensely respected for his erudition and the wide range of interests expressed in his writings. He is considered the most important Syrian intellectual of the Middle Byzantine / early Islamic epoch and one of the most important scholars of the Christian-Aramaic tradition.

bibliography

• Dirk Kruisheer, Lucas van Rompay Hugoye: A Bibliographical Clavis to the Works of Jacob of Edessa . In: Hugoye. Journal of Syriac Studies . tape 1 , no. 1 , 1998, p. 35–56 (English, bethmardutho.org [accessed April 11, 2017] Revised and expanded version in: Bas ter Haar Romeny (see below) 265–293.).

literature

• Anton Baumstark junior : History of Syrian literature excluding the Christian-Palestinian texts . Bonn 1922, p. 248 ff .
• Bas ter Haar Romeny (Ed.): Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day . Brill, Leiden / Boston 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-17347-7 .
• Karl-Erik Rignell: A Letter from Jacob of Edessa to John the Stylite of Litarab concerning ecclesiastical Canons . Lund 1979.

Remarks

1. ↑ Overview of editions and secondary literature
2. ↑ Carl Kayser: The Canones Jacobs von Edessa. Leipzig 1886.
3. ^ EW Brooks: The Chronological Canons of James of Edessa . In: Journal of the German Oriental Society . Vol. 53 (1899), pp. 261ff. (Edition with English translation).
4. ↑ Cf. also the articles in Bas ter Haar Romeny (ed.): Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac Culture of His Day . Leiden / Boston 2008.