E01286: Barḥadbešabbā ‘Arbāyā, an East-Syrian author (late 6th/early 7th c.), in his Syriac Ecclesiastical History ascribes a particular importance to such ecclesiastical leaders of the past as *Athanasios (bishop of Alexandria, ob. 373, S00294), *Gregory the Miracle-Worker (bishop and missionary in Pontus, ob. c. 270, S00687), *Basil (bishop of Caesarea, ob. 379, S00780), *Flavianos (bishop of Antioch, ob. 404, S00781), *Diodoros (bishop of Tarsus, ob. c. 390, S00782), *John Chrysostom (bishop of Constantinople, ob. 407, S00784), *Theodoros (bishop of of Mopsuestia, ob. 428, S00783) and *Nestorios (bishop of Constantinople, ob. 450, S00778).

In his work, Barḥadbešabbā offers a particular vision of church history, in which he ascribes special importance to such ecclesiastical leaders of the past as Athanasios of Alexandria (ch. 9), Gregory Thaumatourgos (ch. 12), Basil of Caesarea (ch. 15), Flavianos of Antioch (ch. 16), Diodoros of Tarsus (ch. 17), John Chrysostom (ch. 18), Theodoros of Mopsuestia (ch. 19) and Nestorios (ch. 20), dedicating to each of them an individual chapter, with details of their lives as well as of their writings. The author of the History presents them as defenders of the orthodox faith, while referring to them regularly as 'blessed' (ṭubānā) and 'holy' (qadišā) men. While that in itself is not enough to be regarded as a clear sign of the cult of these figures among East-Syrian Christians during the last decades of the 6th century, this evidence definitely bears witness to the high regard in which they were held in the circles related to the School of Nisibis during that period, which in its turn gave rise to the development of the cult of at least some of them later on.