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E01198: After the death of Mara of Amida (ob. ca. 529), a West-Syrian scholar, in exile in Alexandria, his body was transferred by his sisters to his native land and buried in a martyrium shrine. Record in the Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor (6th c.).

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posted on 2016-03-13, 00:00 authored by sminov

Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor VIII.5

ܒܪܡ ܕܝܢ ܐܝܬܪ ܓܒܪܐ ܒܩܪܝܢܐ ܝܬܝܪ ܡܢ ܝܬܝܪ ܒܐܠܟܣܢܕܪܝܐ. ܘܬܡܢ ܐܬܬܢܝܚ. ܘܐܬܝܒܠ ܦܓܪܗ ܒܝܕ ܐܚܘ̈ܬܗ ܕܢܩܝܦܢ ܗܘ̈ܝ ܠܗ ܘܥܕܪܢܝܗܝ ܟܕ ܡܠܒܒܢ ܠܗ ܒܐܘܠܨܢܐ. ܐܝܟ ܕܟܬܝܒ. ܘܐܬܬܣܝܡ ܒܝܬ ܣܗ̈ܕܐ ܕܝܠܗ. ܒܩܪܝܬܐ ܕܒܝܬ ܫܘܪܠܐ.

'Nevertheless, the man (i.e. Mara) progressed in reading more and more while in Alexandria, and there he fell asleep. His body was carried [away] by his sisters who had accompanied him and who helped him, encouraging him in his distress, as it is written, and they placed him in his martyrium in the village of Bet Shurla.'

Ed. Brooks 1919-1924, v. 2, p. 80. Trans. Greatrex et al. 2011, p. 302.

History

Evidence ID

E01198

Saint Name

Anonymous martyrs : S00060

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Martyrs_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729267

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Syriac

Evidence not before

503

Evidence not after

569

Activity not before

529

Activity not after

530

Place of Evidence - Region

Mesopotamia

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Amida

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Amida Edessa Edessa Ἔδεσσα Edessa

Cult activities - Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Burial ad sanctos

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor is a historiographical work that, for the most part, deals with the period from the middle of the 5th to the middle of the 6th century. It was composed, apparently, around the year 568/9 by a Syriac-speaking writer, most likely a citizen of the city of Amida. Produced as a whole in Syriac, the Chronicle is a complex and composite work, which includes a number of texts translated into Syriac from Greek, such as the History of Joseph and Aseneth, the Acts of St Silvester of Rome, and the Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah of Mytilene. Syriac text: Brooks 1919-1924, vv. 1-2; English translation: Hamilton and Brooks 1899; Greatrex et al. 2011; German translation: Ahrens and Krüger 1899; Latin translation: Brooks 1919-1924, v. 3. For general information, see Greatrex 2006; Greatrex et al. 2011, pp. 1-92.

Discussion

The Chronicle reports that after the death of Mara, the former non-Chalcedonian metropolitan of Amida, in exile in Alexandria around the year 529, his body was transferred by his sisters to his native land and buried in a martyr shrine (Syr. bēt sahdē) in the village of Bet Shurla in the territory of Amida (see on this Menze 2008, pp. 163-164). The description of the church as "his martyr shrine" may imply that it was built by Mara. The passage bears witness on the existence of a martyr shrine in this village, as well as on the custom of using such churches for the burial of high-ranking clergy.

Bibliography

Main editions and translations: Ahrens, K., and Krüger, G., Die sogennante Kirchengeschichte des Zacharias Rhetor (Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, Scriptores Sacri et Profani 3; Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1899). Brooks, E.W., Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori vulgo adscripta. 4 vols (CSCO Syr. III.5-6; Louvain: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1919, 1921, 1924). Greatrex, G., Phenix, R.R., Horn, C.B., Brock, S.P., and Witakowski, W., The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity (Translated Texts for Historians 55; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011). Hamilton, F.J., and Brooks, E.W., The Syriac Chronicle Known as That of Zachariah of Mitylene (Byzantine Texts; London: Methuen & Co., 1899). Further reading (Pseudo-Zachariah): Greatrex, G., "Pseudo-Zachariah of Mytilene: The Context and Nature of His Work," Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 6 (2006), 39-52. Further reading: Menze, V.-L., Justinian and the Making of the Syrian Orthodox Church (Oxford Early Christian Studies; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).