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The Acts of Mar Mari is a Syriac Christian apocryphal acts. [1] It pertains to the introduction of Christianity in northern and southern Mesopotamia by Addai's disciple Saint Mari in the first century and in the beginning of the second century AD. [2]
The Acts of Mar Mari is preserved in multiple manuscripts. Six manuscripts written in either Syriac or Garshuni dated from the nineteenth century and are stored at the Library of the Rabban Hormizd Monastery. These manuscripts were copied at either Tel Keppe or Alqosh from a series called Stories of Saints and Martyrs. One manuscript was known to be copied at Alqosh in 1881 by a man named Abraham of the Qāshā (Priest) family. His copy was based on a nineteenth-century manuscript written by master copyist Īsā Aqrūrāiā. Jean Baptiste Abbeloos had compared the manuscript with an older one he had received from Bishop G. Khyyath of Amida. Abbeloos published it along with his Latin translation in his Acta Sancta Maris (1885) with a list of variants between the manuscripts. [3]
R. Raabe had compared a manuscript known as CB hereafter with Abbeloos's. He had published his German translation along with variants in his Die Geschichte des Dominus Mari, eines Apostels des Orients (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1893). [4]
Paul Bedjan edited his manuscript based on Abbeloos in his Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum Syriace (1890). Bedjan's manuscript was less descriptive than Abbeloos and Raabes. [5]
There are also two Arabic translations of the Acts of Mar Mari. The first was from Bishop Addai Scher of Seert (Turkey) in his Kitāb sītar ašher šuhadā al-mašriq al-qiddīsīn (1900). The other was an abridged translation with sections of the beginning and the end being omitted. It was published by Fr. Albert Abūjā in his Šuhadā al-mašriq (1985). [6]
The Acts of Mar Mari was translated for the first time from Syriac to English in Amir Harrak's The Acts of Mār Mārī the Apostle (2005). [3]
The Acts of Mar Mari derives from the Doctrine of Addai , but includes some insertions from the Bible (primarily the Book of Daniel ), Eusebius and ancient literary content from Mesopotamia. The author of the Acts of Mar Mari claims to have written down traditions transmitted from books but never identifies them. According to Amir Harrak, the author probably inserted fragmented information from old sources, but incorporated them in the Acts in way that has made the incorporations indistinguishable from the author's edition of the Acts. [7]
The introduction of the Acts begins with a correspondence between Abgar V and Jesus and Abgar's healing by Addai from the Doctrine of Addai. The Acts further usage of the Doctrine of Addai continues with a similar occurrence concerning the healing of the king who ruled over Arzen; The Arzen king was suffering from the exact disease gout as Abgar did, but the Arzen king is healed by Mar Mari as Abgar was healed by Addai. The king then conversed with Mar Mari as King Abgar did similarly with Addai in the Doctrine of Addai. Not much prior to his death, Mar Mari addresses his disciples with the exact words as Addai did when he was on his sickbed. [8]
A similar motif from a Syriac translation of Eusebius's Church History (7:17) can be found in the Acts of Mar Mari (Ch.1) which depicts a copper statue of a woman that had been bleeding for twelve years; The statue is in reference to a woman whom had been bleeding for twelve years in the Gospel of Mark (5:25–34). The statue's position has been described to be on a rock with the arms stretch out and knees bent and facing the opposite side of the house of the actual women referenced in Mark, and next to the statue, a copper statue of Jesus clothed with a cloak and having the arms stretched out towards the women statue. [9]
Many moments in the Act of Mar Mari were inspired by the Bible. In the Book of Daniel (Ch.3), Nebuchadnezzar II made threats to have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into a blazing furnace if they refused to worship a golden statue he had set up. A similar threat was made (Mar Mari Ch.12) to those who would violate a three-day prohibition of the use of fire during a ceremonial worship of gods. [9] A three-day motif is also alluded to Darius the Mede instituting a decree to have everyone pay homage only to him in a thirty-day period (Dan 6:7, 12). [10] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were eventually thrown into the blazing furnace, but by divine intervention because of their faith in God, they were miraculously unharmed by the fire (Dan 3:19–23). This event is mirrored in the Acts (Ch.23) when Mar Mari enters the fire but is unharmed. [11]
The date of the Acts of Mar Mari is not universally accepted. [12] Jean Baptiste Abbeloos who first edited the text, dated the Acts to the sixth or possibly during the seventh century AD. [12] Josef Markwart chose a late date because of the two geographical places mentioned, Gawar and Zawzan which are unattested in the early periods. [12] Harrak states that these names do not sound Arabic, and though Zawzan is found occurring only in Arabic sources, Harrak states it does not mean the name was coined in the Arab period. He further explains the majority of geographical places mentioned in the Acts are evidently present in Syriac sources of the pre-Islamic era. [13] Several scholars have dated the Acts to the mid seventh century after the fall of the Sasanian Empire by the Arabs, [12] however, Amir Harrak states that's unlikely since the Acts never mentions the end of the Sasanian Empire or near it. [12]
Abgar V, called Ukkāmā, was the King of Osroene with his capital at Edessa.
Edessa was an ancient city (polis) in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, and continued as capital of the Roman province of Osroene. In Late Antiquity, it became a prominent center of Christian learning and seat of the Catechetical School of Edessa. During the Crusades, it was the capital of the County of Edessa.
According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus had been imprinted—the first icon ("image"). The image is also known as the Mandylion, in Eastern Orthodoxy, it is also known as Acheiropoieton, or "icon not made by hand".
According to Eastern Christian tradition, Addai of Edessa or Thaddeus of Edessa was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus.
The Holy Qurbana, refers to the Eucharistic liturgy as celebrated in East Syriac Christianity and the liturgical books containing the rubrics for its celebration. Churches that celebrate this liturgy include various descendants of the Church of the East. East Syriac Christianity consists of an Edessan liturgical rite called the East Syriac Rite. The major anaphora of the East Syriac tradition is the Holy Qurbana of Saints Addai and Mari; Addai being a disciple of Thomas the Apostle and Mari being Addai's disciple. These churches are primarily based in the Middle East and India, with diasporic communities settled in the western world.
Saint Mari, also known as Mares and originally named Paluṭ, is a saint of the Church of the East. He was converted by Thaddeus of Edessa, or Addai, and is said to have had Mar Aggai as his spiritual director.
The Doctrine of Addai is a Syriac Christian text, written in the late 4th or early 5th century CE. It recounts the legend of the Image of Edessa as well as the legendary works of Addai and his disciple Mari in Mesopotamia.
John bar Penkaye was a writer of the late seventh century who was a member of the Church of the East. He lived at the time of the fifth Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are figures from chapter 3 of the biblical Book of Daniel. In the narrative, the three Jewish men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon for refusing to bow to the king's image. The three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the fourth ... like a son of God". They are first mentioned in Daniel 1, where alongside Daniel they are brought to Babylon to study Chaldean language and literature with a view to serving at the King's court, and their Hebrew names are replaced with Chaldean or Babylonian names.
Diocese of Kashkar, sometimes called Kaskar, was the senior diocese in the Church of the East's Province of the Patriarch. It see was in the city of Kashkar. The diocese is attested between the fourth and the twelfth centuries. The bishops of Kashkar had the privilege of guarding the patriarchal throne during the interregnum between the death of a patriarch and the appointment of his successor. As a result, they are often mentioned by name in the standard histories of the Nestorian patriarchs, so that a relatively full list of the bishops of the diocese has survived.
The Zuqnin Chronicle is a medieval chronicle written in Classical Syriac language, encompassing the events from Creation to c. 775 CE. It was most probably produced in the Zuqnin Monastery near Amida on the upper Tigris. The work is preserved in a single handwritten manuscript, now in the Vatican. The fourth part of the chronicle provides a detailed account of life of Christian communities in the Middle East, including regions of Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt, during and after the Muslim conquest.
Saints Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs were 4th-century Assyrian Christians who suffered martyrdom during the reign of Shapur II. They are venerated as saints in the Assyrian Church of the East and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Kashkar, also known as Kaskar,, was a city in southern Mesopotamia. Its name appears to originate from Syriac ܟܪܟܐ karḵa meaning "citadel" or "town". Other sources connect it to ܟܫܟܪܘܬܐ kaškarūṯá "farming". It was originally built on the Tigris, across the river from the later medieval city of Wasit.
The Acts of Sharbel or the Hypomnemata of Sharbel is a Syriac Christian martyrdom text pertaining to a pagan high priest who was martyred for converting to Christianity. The setting takes place at Edessa during the fifteenth year of Roman Emperor Trajan's reign and during the third year of King Abgar VIII's reign but is dated by scholars to the 5th century AD.
The Acts of Shmona and of Gurya is a Syriac Christian martyrdom text. The setting takes place at Edessa during Roman Emperor Diocletian's Great Persecution.
The Martyrdom of Habib the Deacon is a Syriac Christian martyrdom text. It pertains to the martyrdom of Habib, a deacon from the village Telzeha. Habib's martyrdom according to the text, occurs during the reign of Licinius. His martyrdom was first only known in an abridged version until a manuscript was discovered in the eighteen-hundreds from a collection of documents stored in the British Museum. The date and accuracy of the text is disputed, but Habib's martyrdom is accepted by scholars as having taken place.
The Acts of Thaddeus is a Greek document written between 544 and 944 CE which purports to describe correspondence between King Abgar V of Edessa and Jesus, which results in Jesus' disciple Thaddeus going to Edessa.
The History of Mar Qardagh is a Syriac martyrdom text pertaining to Qardagh, a Sasanian military leader and noble who converted from Zoroastrianism to Christianity. Though the narrative of the text is set during the reign of Shapur II, it was written in the final decades of the Sasanian Empire.
Simeon of Rev Ardashir, whose name in Syriac is Shemʿon, was a Persian priest and jurist of the Church of the East. He served as the metropolitan bishop of Fars with his seat at Rev Ardashir. His dates are uncertain, as is his identification with the metropolitan of the same name known from a pair of letters.
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