The chronography of Gregory Abû'l Faraj, the son of Aaron, the Hebrew physician, commonly known as Bar Hebraeus : being the first part of his political history of the world / translated from the Syriac by Ernest A. Wallis Budge.

  • Bar Hebraeus
Date:
1932
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The chronography of Gregory Abû'l Faraj, the son of Aaron, the Hebrew physician, commonly known as Bar Hebraeus : being the first part of his political history of the world / translated from the Syriac by Ernest A. Wallis Budge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In Part I of the Chron. Eccles.y col. 749, we read: And after the consecra¬ tion of the Patriarch had been accomplished, the Patriarch himself and the bishops of the East also, who had been deprived for a long time [of a Father General], were anxious to appoint a Maphrian. And because they knew that the deceased bar ma'dani had aforetime chosen mar Gregory of aleppo to be the Maphrian, and had made known to those who were in the East concerning him, and in many of his epistles had called him the elect of the East, and they had sent to him their consent, and because his dispatch had been delayed through the disturbed state of ’athor through the troops of the Mongols, they did not change their election, and they committed to him the headship of the East. And the Patriarch together with the bishops came to sis, and there were present also King haytum and his sons, and his nobles, and certain bishops and doctors of the Armenians, and a great crowd of people, in the catholic church of the Mother of God, and Gregory was proclaimed ‘Maphrian of the East5. And on that same day the Maphrian himself preached on the headship of the priesthood from the text ‘Thou hast fashioned me and hast laid thine hand upon me5. And Theodore of smakriah translated [the discourse] into Armenian. And that day was a very famous day. The life and activities of bar hebraeus from the time of his appointment as Maphrian to his last illness are described by him (Chron. Eccles. ii, cols. 432 f.; B.O. ii, pp. 248-63) thus: At the time when ignatius, the Maphrian, that is to say salibha, died (i.e. A.Gr. 1576 = a.d. 1265), the countries were in a disturbed state. Baghdad was destroyed, and after it aleppo, and the whole of Syria, and beth nahrin were laid waste. And after this the Arabs of ’athor and nineveh rose up against the Christians who were there, and massacred them. And after a short time the Tatars came and killed the arabs, and thus they were all involved in a general state of ruin. And the wasted Church of the East remained a widow for the space of six years. Now before the death of salibha the Maphrian also the Church was deprived of a Father General for three years more. Therefore when the Synod of holy bishops had assembled in cilicia, and had appointed mar ignatius Patriarch, that is rabban Isho', the head of the monastery of gawJkhath, they elected a Maphrian also. And a few days after the appointment of the Patriarch in the city of sis, they summoned Gregory, that is ’abu’l faraj, the son of ’ahron (aaron). And on Sunday, the 16th day of the latter kanon, of the year of the Greeks 1575 (a.d. 1264), they proclaimed him Maphrian of tagrith and the East. For mar John the Patriarch bar ma'dani wished them to proclaim him, and he made known to the Orientals concerning him that he was fit to stand up for them. And through the disturbed state of the countries his ordination was delayed. And on the day when the Maphrian was ordained there were present the King of