Biology:Chronicle of Edessa

The Chronicle of Edessa (Latin: Chronicon Edessenum) is an anonymous history of the city of Edessa written in the mid-6th century in the Syriac language. "Chronicle of Edessa" is a conventional title; in the manuscript it is titled Histories of Events in Brief (Syriac: ܬܫ̈ܥܝܬܐ ܕܣܘܥܪ̈ܢܐ ܐܝܟ ܕܒܦܣܝ̈ܩܬܐ, Tašʿyātā d-suʿrāne a(y)k da-b-pāsiqātā).[lower-alpha 1]
The Chronicle of Edessa is generally agreed to have been written around 540–550 CE.[lower-alpha 2] The Chronicle primarily used old Edessan royal archives as its source, as well as some more recent church records,[1] and accordingly is thought to be historically reliable.[2][3][4] It may make use of a lost history of Persia.[5]
It is extant only in an abbreviated version in a single manuscript, Vatican Syriac 163 (Vat. Syr. 163).[6][7] This manuscript, from the Syrian Convent of Our Lady in the Wadi El Natrun,[5] was acquired by Giuseppe Simone Assemani during a trip to the Near East from 1715 to 1717 taken at the request of Pope Clement XI.[6] Some excerpts of the lost full version of the text—sometimes called the Original Chronicle of Edessa—are preserved in other Syriac chronicles.[7]
The Chronicle covers the period from the founding of the kingdom of Osrhoene in 133/132 BCE until 540,[7] but few events are recorded before the 3rd century.[5] The Chronicle picks up with a record of a flood of the river Daysan during the reign of Abgar VIII in November 201, which damaged a Christian church building in Edessa.[8][9] This is the earliest mention of a building dedicated exclusively to Christian worship,[10] as well as one of few records of Christianity in Edessa at this time.[11][9] Unlike other Syriac literature, the Chronicle does not contain any legends of the Apostle Thaddeus.[3][4]
Published editions
Syriac
- "Vatican Syriac 163". Brigham Young University. 2004. http://www.aramaic-dem.org/English/History/Chronicle%20of%20Edessa.pdf.
- Guidi, Ignatius, ed (1903). Chronica minora. Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalium. Leipzig/Paris: Harrassowitz. pp. 1–13. https://cpart.mi.byu.edu/home/sec/digital-texts/chronicles/chronicle-of-edessa/. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
English
- Cowper, Benjamin Harris (1865). "The Chronicle of Edessa". Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record 5 (9): 28–45. https://archive.org/stream/journalsacredli17unkngoog#page/n42/mode/1up. (Transcription by Robert Pearse)
Notes
- ↑ Per Griffith 1991; Witakowski 2018, p. 336, translates it as Stories of Events in Brief.
- ↑ Dates given are: mid-6th century (Ferguson 1999), 540 CE (Palmer 1999), 550 CE (Schnabel 2004, p. 899; Yamauchi 1983, p. 85). (Samuel Santiago) claim without explanation that it was written in 590 CE (p. 97).
Citations
- ↑ Palmer 1999, p. 421.
- ↑ Teixidor 2015, p. 148.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Baum & Winkler 2003, p. 13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Yamauchi 1983, p. 85.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cross & Livingstone 2009.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Brigham Young University 2004.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Witakowski 2018, p. 336.
- ↑ Ferguson 1999, p. 267.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Schnabel 2004, p. 899.
- ↑ Myers 2010, p. 35.
- ↑ Frenschkowski 2015, p. 464.
References
- Baum, Wilhelm; Winkler, Dietmar W. (2003). The Church of the East: A Concise History. London-New York: Routledge-Curzon. ISBN 9781134430192. https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSCAgAAQBAJ.
- "Chronicon Edessenum (Edessene Chronicle)". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN 9780192802903. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001/acref-9780192802903-e-1427?rskey=yZ5Yuy.
- Ferguson, Everett (1999). Doctrinal Diversity: Varieties of Early Christianity. Doctrinal Diversity: Varieties of Early Christianity. 4. Garland Pub.. ISBN 978-0-8153-3071-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=GC4vwTXJSaMC&pg=PA267.
- Frenschkowski, Marco (2015). "Christianity". in Stausberg, M.. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism. Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion. Wiley. p. 457ff. ISBN 978-1-118-78627-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=cm_-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA464.
- Template:ODB * Myers, S.E. (2010). Spirit Epicleses in the Acts of Thomas. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. Coronet Books Incorporated. ISBN 978-3-16-149472-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=R7oK3kaI4U0C&pg=PA35.
- Palmer, Andrew (1999). "Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World". in Bowersock, G.W.. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Harvard University Press Refer. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-674-51173-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=c788wWR_bLwC&pg=PA421.
- Samuel, G.J.; Santiago, J.B.; Thiagarajan, P. (2008). Early Christianity in India: (with parallel developments in other parts of Asia). Madras, India: Institute of Asian Studies. ISBN 978-81-87892-40-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=oJtAAQAAIAAJ&q=November+201+chronicle+edessa+flood.
- Schnabel, Eckhard J. (2004). Early Christian Mission: Jesus and the Twelve. Early Christian Mission. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-1-84474-045-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=jBNPAQAAIAAJ&q=November+201+chronicle+flood.
- Teixidor, J. (2015). The Pagan God: Popular Religion in the Greco-Roman Near East. Princeton Legacy Library. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-7139-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=m5Z9BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA148.
- Template:ODLA
- Yamauchi, E.M. (1983). Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of the Proposed Evidences. Twin brooks series. Baker Book House. ISBN 978-0-8010-9919-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw2KAAAAMAAJ.
Further reading
- Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Encyclopædia Iranica". in Daniel, Elton. Encyclopædia Iranica. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chronicle-of-edessa-a-short-local-history-of-edessa-modern-urfa-written-in-syriac-by-an-anonymous-author-and-covering-c.
- Ginkel, Jan van (2016). "Chronicon Edessenum". Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. Brill. doi:10.1163/2213-2139_emc_SIM_00506.
- Witakowski, Witold (1984). "Chronicles of Edessa". Orientalia Suecana 33: 487–498.
