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Chronicle of Arbela
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Chronicle of Arbela
The Chronicle of Arbela claims to record the early history of Christianity in Arbela (modern Erbil of northern Iraq), then the capital of Adiabene, from the early second century to the mid-sixth century. It appears to date to the sixth century, though its age and historicity have been disputed. Today, the majority of specialists consider the work to be a modern forgery.
The Chronicle of Arbela relates the history of the Assyrian Church of the East in Adiabene, a Neo-Assyrian "northern Mesopotamian province located between the two Zab rivers" in what is modern Iraq. Arbela was an "important junction point on major east-west and north-south caravan routes, and has been an occupied site since remote antiquity."
A short devotional introduction describes the work as a history, in the form of a letter to one Pinhes, chronicling the history of all the Eastern Rite bishops of Adiabene, and its martyrs. According to the Chronicle, the first bishop of Adiabene was Peqida, who was ordained near the beginning of the second century AD by Addai the Apostle. The second bishop was Shemshon, who preached to participants of the festival Shahrabgamud, which included human sacrifice, and converted many to Christianity. Next was Ishaq, who was aided by Raqbakt, the governor of Adiabene, who opposed the "heathens" and contributed to the spread of Christianity into the countryside.
The fourth bishop, serving in the mid-second century, was Abraham I, who saved the Assyrian Christians during a war in which they were attacked by Zoroastrians. By performing miracles, he pacified the Zoroastrian attackers. His successor, Bishop Noh, continued to suffer from persecution at the hands of the Zoroastrians, but also managed to spread Christianity in neighboring regions, in part through a miracle in which he raised a dead boy to life, and through another miracle in which he caused a tree to disappear.
After a four-year vacancy of the bishopric due to persecution, a bishop by the name of Habel was appointed, who was diplomatic and improved relations between the Christians and Zoroastrians. In his days, Parthian king Vologases IV fought against and defeated both Roman and Persian armies, and his victory was credited by the author of the Chronicle to God.
Around the beginning of the third century, he was succeeded by Ebed Meshiha, who oversaw a peaceful thirty-five years. The next bishop, Hairan (bishop 217-250), oversaw Arbela during the end of the Parthian empire, at which time Arbela was incorporated into the Sasanian Empire as part of Asoristan. Unlike the Romans, or the Sasanians which followed Persia, Christianity was somewhat more tolerated by Persians and spread accordingly.
Allegedly written in the 6th century in classical Syriac the chronicle takes the form of a 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 (540–552)."[1] The historical accuracy of the chronicle is disputed.
"By the time of Trajan's invasion of Adiabene in 115 or 116 AD, 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." 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. Tertullian and others confirm there were Christians in Persia before the Sassanians [in 224] but give no indication how long they might have been there.
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Chronicle of Arbela
The Chronicle of Arbela claims to record the early history of Christianity in Arbela (modern Erbil of northern Iraq), then the capital of Adiabene, from the early second century to the mid-sixth century. It appears to date to the sixth century, though its age and historicity have been disputed. Today, the majority of specialists consider the work to be a modern forgery.
The Chronicle of Arbela relates the history of the Assyrian Church of the East in Adiabene, a Neo-Assyrian "northern Mesopotamian province located between the two Zab rivers" in what is modern Iraq. Arbela was an "important junction point on major east-west and north-south caravan routes, and has been an occupied site since remote antiquity."
A short devotional introduction describes the work as a history, in the form of a letter to one Pinhes, chronicling the history of all the Eastern Rite bishops of Adiabene, and its martyrs. According to the Chronicle, the first bishop of Adiabene was Peqida, who was ordained near the beginning of the second century AD by Addai the Apostle. The second bishop was Shemshon, who preached to participants of the festival Shahrabgamud, which included human sacrifice, and converted many to Christianity. Next was Ishaq, who was aided by Raqbakt, the governor of Adiabene, who opposed the "heathens" and contributed to the spread of Christianity into the countryside.
The fourth bishop, serving in the mid-second century, was Abraham I, who saved the Assyrian Christians during a war in which they were attacked by Zoroastrians. By performing miracles, he pacified the Zoroastrian attackers. His successor, Bishop Noh, continued to suffer from persecution at the hands of the Zoroastrians, but also managed to spread Christianity in neighboring regions, in part through a miracle in which he raised a dead boy to life, and through another miracle in which he caused a tree to disappear.
After a four-year vacancy of the bishopric due to persecution, a bishop by the name of Habel was appointed, who was diplomatic and improved relations between the Christians and Zoroastrians. In his days, Parthian king Vologases IV fought against and defeated both Roman and Persian armies, and his victory was credited by the author of the Chronicle to God.
Around the beginning of the third century, he was succeeded by Ebed Meshiha, who oversaw a peaceful thirty-five years. The next bishop, Hairan (bishop 217-250), oversaw Arbela during the end of the Parthian empire, at which time Arbela was incorporated into the Sasanian Empire as part of Asoristan. Unlike the Romans, or the Sasanians which followed Persia, Christianity was somewhat more tolerated by Persians and spread accordingly.
Allegedly written in the 6th century in classical Syriac the chronicle takes the form of a 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 (540–552)."[1] The historical accuracy of the chronicle is disputed.
"By the time of Trajan's invasion of Adiabene in 115 or 116 AD, 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." 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. Tertullian and others confirm there were Christians in Persia before the Sassanians [in 224] but give no indication how long they might have been there.
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