Anazarbus (West Syriac diocese)

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The city of Anazarbus was an archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church, attested between the sixth and twelfth centuries. Nearly thirty Syriac Orthodox bishops or metropolitans of Anazarbus are mentioned either by Michael the Syrian or in other Syriac Orthodox narrative sources. The archdiocese is last mentioned towards the end of the twelfth century, and seems to have lapsed in the early decades of the thirteenth century.

Contents

Sources

The main primary source for the Syriac Orthodox metropolitans of Anazarbus is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the Chronicle of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch Michael the Syrian (1166–99). In this Appendix Michael listed most of the bishops consecrated by the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Twenty-eight Syriac Orthodox patriarchs sat during this period, and in many cases Michael was able to list the names of the bishops consecrated during their reigns, their monasteries of origin, and the place where they were consecrated. For the sixth and seventh centuries, Michael's lists are supplemented by several references in other Syriac Orthodox narrative sources.

Location

Anazarbus was a large city of Cilicia, which lay on the river Pyramus or Gihon, 24 miles away from Sis. The city was the metropolis of the Chalcedonian ecclesiastical province of Cilicia Secunda. It was an obvious site for a Syriac Orthodox diocese, and was the seat of a Syriac Orthodox bishop or metropolitan as early as the sixth century. It is one of the oldest attested Jacobite dioceses. [1]

Bishops and metropolitans of Anazarbus

Sixth- and seventh-century bishops

The Jacobite diocese of Anazarbus is attested between the sixth and twelfth centuries. The earliest known Jacobite bishop of Anazarbus, Yohannan (Iwanis), consecrated the patriarch Sargis of Tella (538–40). [2]

Two seventh-century Jacobite bishops of Anazarbus are known: Stephen (680/1) and Isidore (692). [3]

Eighth- to twelfth-century bishops

Twenty-five Syriac Orthodox metropolitans of Anazarbus from the end of the eighth century to the end of the twelfth century are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian. [4]

NameFromConsecrated in the reign ofPlace of consecration
IgnatiusMonastery of Natfa Quriaqos (793–817)not known
AnastasiusMonastery of Qarqafta Dionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45) not known
Mikha'ilMonastery of Mar Yaʿqob of Cyrrhus Dionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45) not known
GiwargisMonastery of Sandalaya Dionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45) not known
SeverusMonastery of Mar Zakkai, Callinicus Dionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45) not known
AhronMonastery of Mar Zakkai, CallinicusYohannan III (847–74)not known
AbrahamMonastery of HadbshabbaIgnatius II (878–83)not known
QuriaqosMonastery of ShlemunIgnatius II (878–83)not known
CyrilMonastery of ZuqninTheodosius Romanus (887–35)not known
HabibMonastery of Mar SargisTheodosius Romanus (887–95)not known
IgnatiusVillage of BalaBasil I (923–35)not known
Yohannannot knownYohannan V (936–53)not known
Davidnot knownYohannan V (936–53)not known
Athanasiusnot knownYohannan V (936–53)not known
Laʿzarnot knownDionysius III (958–61)not known
ThomasMonastery of MasharʿaAthanasius IV Laʿzar (987–1003)Monastery of Barid
BasilMonastery of Abu'l HauriYohannan VII bar ʿAbdon (1004–30)not known
IwanisMonastery of BuqaDionysius IV Heheh (1032–42)Monastery of Buqa
BasilMonastery of Abu'l HauriYohannan bar ʿAbdon (1042–57)not known
BasilMonastery of Mar AbhaiBasil II (1074–5)not known
IshoʿMonastery of Abu'l HauriDionysius VI (1088–90)not known
ShemʿonNot knownAthanasius VI bar Khamara (1091–1129)Kaishum
BasilNot knownAthanasius VI bar Khamara (1091–1129)Not known
Athanasius ZakkaiMonastery of Mar Bar Sawma, MeliteneYohannan X Maudiana (1129–37)not known
Athanasiusnot known Michael I (1166–99)not known

Further details of some of these bishops are supplied in the narrative sections of the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian and in the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus:

The archdiocese of Anazarbus is not mentioned in any later source, and probably lapsed in the early decades of the thirteenth century, perhaps on the death of Athanasius (1166/1199).

Notes

  1. ↑ Fiey, POCN, 166
  2. ↑ Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 448; Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, i. 214
  3. ↑ Fiey, POCN, 166
  4. ↑ Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 451–82 and 495
  5. ↑ Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 462; Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, i. 398
  6. ↑ Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 467; Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, i. 416

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References

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