Chronicle of Arbela: Difference between revisions

[[File:Parthia 001ad.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Parthian Empire 011 CEAD]]

[[File:SassanianEmpireHistoryofIran.png|thumb|upright=1.8|Sassanian Empire 750620 AD showing Adiabene to the East of Antioch]]

Allegedly written in the 6th century in classical Syriac the chronicle takes the form of a [[Liber Pontificalis|''liber pontificalis.'']] "Mĕšīḥā-Zĕḵā drew primarily on ... Habel the Teacher, whose reports reveal that Christianity had spread east of the Tigris, in Adiabene, before 100... The Chronicle ends during the term of the patriarch Mār Āḇā of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (540-552540–552)."[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chronicle-of-arbela] The historical accuracy of the chronicle is disputed.<ref name="Everett Ferguson">{{cite book| last=Ferguson|first=Everett| title=Doctrinal Diversity: Varieties of Early Christianity| volume=volume 4| year=1999|publisher=Garland Publishing| location=New York|isbn=0-8153-3071-5}}</ref>{{rp|270}}

"By the time of [[Trajan]]'s invasion of Adiabene in 115 or 116 CEAD, the [[satrapy]] had been ruled by a Jewish dynasty for more than 75 years. According to the Chronicle of Arbela, Christianity firmly rooted itself in Adiabene in Trajan's time. This tradition has been rejected by several historians, most notably [[F. C. Burkitt]]."<ref name="Jacob Neusner">{{cite book| last=Neusner| first=Jacob|title=A History of the Jews in Babylonia: From Shapur I to Shapur II| year=1968| publisher=E.J.Brill| location =Leiden, Netherlands}}</ref> Burkitt says a Syriac speaking version of Christianity was in Adiabene and there were bishops in Arbela before the collapse of the Parthian empire, but after the conversion of Abghar in Edessa around 200.<ref name="Jacob Neusner"/>{{rp|356}} Tertullian and others confirm there were Christians in Persia before the Sassanians [in 224] but givesgive no indication how long they might have been there.<ref name="Ian Gillman"/>{{rp|92}}<ref name="Robin Waterfield">{{cite book| last=Waterfield| first=Robin| title=Christians in Persia (RLE Iran C): Assyrians, Armenians, Roman Catholics and Protestants|volume=volume 24| year=2011| publisher=Routledge|location=New York| isbn=978-0-415-61048-3}}</ref>{{rp|16,17}}<ref name="John C. England">{{cite book|last=England|first=John C.|title=The Hidden History of Christianity in Asia: The Churches of the East Before 1500|year=2002|publisher=ISPCK|location=Delhi|isbn=81-7214-242-0}}</ref>{{rp|15}}

Burkitt is contradicted by other information. Eusebius, in ''HE 1.13.1-22'' and ''HE 2.1.6-7'' writing before 324 AD, records ''from a Syriac source'' that Thomas sent Thaddaeus (in Syriac 'Addai') "one of the seventy disciples" to preach in Edessa.<ref name="Harold W. Attridge">{{cite book|editor1-last=Attridge|editor1-first=Harold W.|editor2-last=Hata|editor2-first=Gohei|title=Eusebius, Christianity, and Judaism|year=1992|publisher=Wayne State University Press|location=Detroit, Michigan|isbn=0-8143-2361-8}}</ref>{{rp|213}} Others dismiss this claim and argue for Tatian as the founder of the church in Persia. "Samuel Hugh Moffett, under the title "Tatian the Assyrian," writes that the first verifiable historical evidence of Christianity is provided by the life and work of Tatian (cac.110-180 110–180 AD) after the middle of the second century."<ref name="George V. Yana">{{cite book| last=Yana| first=George V.| title=Ancient and Modern Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis| year=2008|publisher=Xlibris corp.|isbn=978-1-4363-1028-4}}</ref>{{rp|97}} "Whatever conclusions we draw from these and other traditions", not only is there "firm evidence for the existence of Christians in the area by AD 170",<ref name="Ian Gillman"/>{{rp|109}} there is also "extensive evidence for the movement of Christianity eastwards, in the earliest centuries, from bases in Arbela in Adiabene and Edessa in Osrhoene."<ref name="John C. England"/>{{rp|15}}

"The Chronicle assumes Christianity reached the satrapy [of Adiabene] by 100 AD, and [[Eduard Sachau]] considers the tradition sound."<ref name="Jacob Neusner"/>{{rp|354}} According to Luke's account in Acts 2:9, those who responded first at Pentecost were 'Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia'."<ref name="Ian Gillman">{{cite book|author1-last=Gillman|author1-first=Ian|author2-last=Klimkeit|author2-first=Hans-Joachim|title=Christians in Asia Before 1500|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=0-7007-1022-1}}</ref>{{rp|109}} Tradition also says many "fled eastwards after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD".<ref name="John C. England"/>{{rp|15}} "One of the first Aramaic-speaking Christian centers might have been Adiabene...where the local ruling house had converted to Judaism in about 40 AD. This Jewish city-state had regular contacts with Palestine, and it seems possible that through this route Christianity reached Adiabene as early as the first century."<ref name="Ken Parry">{{cite book| editor-last=Parry| editor-first=Ken| title=The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Malden, MassachusettesMassachusetts|isbn=978-0-631-23423-4}}</ref>{{rp|251}}<ref name="Robin Waterfield"/>{{rp|16}} With Adiabene as a possible refuge from persecution elsewhere, the number of Christians grew markedly "so that by AD 235 they had more than 20 Bishops and some 18 dioceses."<ref name="Ian Gillman"/>{{rp|109}}

After the conversion of King Abgar VIII (r.179-212 179–212) of Edessa, the Aramaic language (later called Classical Syriac) spread and became the ''lingua franca'' for a wide variety of Aramaic speakers.<ref name="Ken Parry"/>{{rp|251}} "The revitalization of Zoroastrianism under the Sassanid rulers [in the third century] brought with it a revitalization of the [historic] Pahlavi language of the Persians as well." Whereas the church's established status facilitated their continued use of Syriac instead of Pahlavi."<ref name="Dale T. Irvin">{{cite book| editor1-last=Irvin|editor1-first=Dale T.|editor2-last=Sunquist|editor2-first=Scott| title= History of the World Christian Movement: Volume 1: Earliest Christianity To 1453|volume=volume 1|year=2001| publisher= T&T Clark| location=Edinburgh| isbn=0-567-08866-9}}</ref>{{rp|112,113}}<ref name="Thomas A. Robinson">{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Thomas| title=Who Were the First Christians?: Dismantling the Urban Thesis|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York| isbn=978-0-190-62054-7}}</ref>{{rp|174}} "The Syrian churches of today all trace back their origin to the Christian communities that developed in Syria and Mesopotamia in the second and third centuries, especially to those that in this period used some variety of Aramaic rather than Greek as their primary language."<ref name="Ken Parry"/>{{rp|251}}

From 53 BC to about 215 AD, the "two super-powers" Rome and Persia repeatedly "engaged each other in a vicious cycle of invasions and counterattacks".<ref name="Douglas Kelly">{{cite book|editor1-last=Phang|editor1-first=Sarah| editor2-last=Spence|editor2-first=Iain|editor3-last=Kelly|editor3-first=Douglas| editor4-last=Londey| editor4-first=Peter|title=Conflict in Ancient Greece and Rome: The Definitive Political, Social, and Military Encyclopedia|volume=volume 1| year=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC|location=Santa Barbara, Cal.| isbn=978-1-4408-4978-7}}</ref>{{rp|1107}} "Throughout the third century, the border zone between the Romans and the Sassanids remained a region of conflict. Cities passed back and forth between the two powers, affecting the churches within them."<ref name="Dale T. Irvin"/>{{rp|113}} "The Syriac [Christian] churches straddled the Late East Roman and Early Byzantine empires, as well as the Parthian and Sassanian empires (in Persia). The Syriac Christian tradition thus found itself in two opposing worlds, [west and east] both of which it needed to accommodate, and both of which would sporadically and violently persecute it."<ref name="William Taylor">{{cite book| last=Taylor|first=William| title=Narratives of Identity: The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Church of England: 1895-1914| year=2013| publisher= Cambridge Scholars Publishing| location=Newcastle upon Tyne, UK| isbn=978-1-4438-4526-7}}</ref>{{rp|78}}

In 224-226224–226 AD, Parthian rulers of the Persian empire that embraced Adiabene and Arbela, fell to a coalition force of southern Medes and Persians, with the collaboration of Adiabene. This Thewas the beginning of Sassanid empire began.<ref name="Douglas Kelly"/>{{rp|1106–1112}} The new ruler assumed the title of "Shah of Shahs" and vigorously began defending the state religion, Zoroastrianism. The next generation saw "an imperial revival of the Zoroastrian faith among the Sassanids that eventually brought about brutal persecution of Christians in the Persian empire."<ref name="Dale T. Irvin"/>{{rp|113}} "It is impossible to estimate the numbers [of Christians in the Persian empire by this time] but we know that they formed a substantial minority of the population and on the whole were well educated and famous for their skills in medicine and the sciences."<ref name="Robin Waterfield"/>{{rp|18}}

In 258 AD, Shapur the First pushed west, besieged Edessa, captured emperor Valerian and vast numbers of prisoners were brought into Persia. Many of these were Christians. "The first figure of the Christian church who emerges clearly is Papa who became Bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon around 300 AD.<ref name="Robin Waterfield"/>{{rp|18}} The Chronicle references Papa and from Papa onward there is good support for the historicity of the text. On Good Friday, April 17, 341, Shapur the second had 100 Christians put to death beginning a persecution lasting nearly forty years without remission, calling them "traitors who shared sentiments with Caesar."<ref name="Robin Waterfield"/>{{rp|19}} "The persecution was reported to be very fierce between AD 344 and 367 in Susiana and Adiabene with some 16,000 names listed as martyrs, which points to an even larger number of victims."<ref name="Ian Gillman"/>{{rp|112}} By the late fourth century, Christianity is recognized as a legitimate minority with a decree of toleration from Yazdgard I. Some persecution returns under Bahram V. and in "AD 422 a new treaty is signed between Persia and the Roman Empire which guaranteed freedom of worship to Christians in Persia."<ref name="Ian Gillman"/>{{rp|113}}

In 1959, social scientist [[Paul Kahle]] wrote a book supporting the authenticity of the ''Chronicle'', saying that Christianity reached Adiabene at an earlier date than previously thought due to the conversion of the Jewish ruling family. He concludes, "similarities with the Edessene ''Abgar'' (c. 200 AD) are the result of that legend having its origins in Arbela and was only adapted to Edessa at a later date."<ref name="Everett Ferguson"/>{{rp|270}} Other scholars who have supported the (at least partial) authenticity and historical credibility of the ''Chronicle'' include [[Eduard Sachau|Carl Eduard Sachau]], orientalist (1915), [[Adolf von Harnack]], theologian and historian (1924), and [[Sebastian Brock|Sebastian Paul Brock]], scholar in Syriac languages (1967 and 1992) who also says the account of the early spread of Christianity in the Parthian period cannot have any historical basis. Historian Peter Kawerau wrote in 1985 and 1991 that authenticity is confirmed by "the bi-lingual inscription at [[Bishapur|Bīšāpūr]] and by the mention in the text of a solar eclipse that occurred on 10 July 218".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kawerau|first1=Peter|title=Chronicle of Arbela|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chronicle-of-arbela|website=Encyclopædia Iranica|accessdateaccess-date=24 January 2018}}</ref> Professor of Iranian Studies Marie Louise Chaumont, (1988), among many others, support the text as having historical credibility.<ref name="Michał Marciak">{{cite book|last=Marciak| first= Michał| title= Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West|year=2017| publisher=Koninklijke Brill Publishing|location=The Netherlands|isbn=978-90-04-35070-0}}</ref>{{rp|282}}

The ''Chronicle of Arbela'' was "first published by [[Alphonse Mingana]] in 1907." He attributed it to a "little known church historian of the sixth century," 'Mšīhā-Zkā' "(a compound East-Syrian name meaning 'Christ has conquered')".<ref name ="Joel Thomas Walker">{{cite book| last=Walker| first=Joel Thomas|title =The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq| year=2006|publisher=University of California Press| location=BerkleyBerkeley, Cal.|isbn=0-520-24578-4|chapter=Appendix: The Qardagh legend and the Chronicle of Arbela}}</ref>{{rp|287}} Historian Joel Walker has asserted the author of the text was Mingana himself based on his knowledge of Mar Qadagh.<ref name ="Joel Thomas Walker"/>{{rp|289}} Kettenhofen says the author was most likely a medieval author working from a pool of narrative traditions that contributed to all three heroes in both the text of Arbella and Qardagh. Christelle and Florence Jullien, "while conceding Mingana's manipulation of the text, have vigorously defended the ''Chronicle'' as a legitimate East-Syrian source" that reflects an "early documentary core" and a Syrian author.<ref name ="Joel Thomas Walker"/>{{rp|288}}

The ''Chronicle'' includes the stories of two key characters: "Gufrašnasp the ''[[mobad|mohapat]]'' of Adiabene" in third-century [[Greater Iran]] during the rule of the Sasanian emperor, [[Bahram II]] (c. 274-291274–291 CEAD), and Raqbakt, a ruler with an unspecified leadership position in Adiabene. Their combined careers resemble the historical figure of Mar Qardagh, a Sasanian ''marzban'' (guard) of [[Upper Mesopotamia]], who became a Christian martyr c. 360 during Shapur II's large-scale persecution of Christians.<ref name="Walker2006">{{cite book|author=Joel Walker|title=The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=snwkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA289|date=24 April 2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-24578-5|page=289}}</ref><ref name="Sebastian P. Brock">{{cite book|last=Brock| first=Sebastian P.| title=Fire from Heaven: Studies in Syriac Theology and Liturgy|year=2006| publisher=Ashgate| location=Hampshire, England| isbn=0-7546-5908-9}}</ref>{{rp|72}} The "History of Mar Qardagh" and the Chronicle of Arbela have thematic connections through these characters.<ref name="Walker2006"/>

*''[https://web.archive.org/web/20171026053945/https://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/ChronicleofArbela.pdf Chronicle of Arbela]'', English translation by Timothy Króll.

[[Category:SyriacTexts literaturein Syriac]]

[[Category:IraqIraqi literature]]

[[Category:History of Erbil]]