Ephrem the Syrian, also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint Ephraim, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, was a prominent Christian theologian and writer, who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa.
Dhū Nuwās,, real name "Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar", "Yosef Nu'as", or "Yūsuf ibn Sharhabīl", also known as "Masruq" in Syriac, and Dounaas (Δουναας) in Medieval Greek, was a Jewish king of Himyar between 517 and 525–527 AD, who came to renown on account of his persecutions of peoples of other religions, notably Christians, living in his kingdom.
Jacob of Edessa was Bishop of Edessa and prominent Syriac Christian writer in Classical Syriac language, also known as one of earliest Syriac grammarians. In various works, he treated theological, liturgical, canonical, philosophical and historical subjects, and contributed significantly to scholarly and literary development of Syriac Christianity. He is considered to be one of the most important scholars of the Christian-Aramean tradition.
Bardaisan, known in Arabic as Ibn Daisan and in Latin as Bardesanes, was a Syriac-speaking Assyrian or Parthian Christian writer and teacher with a gnostic background, and founder of the Bardaisanites. A scientist, scholar, astrologer, philosopher, hymnographer, and poet, Bardaisan was also renowned for his knowledge of India, on which he wrote a book, now lost. According to the early Christian historian Eusebius, Bardaisan was at one time a follower of the gnostic Valentinus, but later opposed Valentinian gnosticism and also wrote against Marcionism.
Athanasius II Baldoyo, also known as Athanasius of Balad, and Athanasius of Nisibis, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 684 until his death in 687.
Quriaqos of Tagrit was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 793 until his death in 817. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba, and his feast day is 13 or 16 August.
The existence of a Christian community in the city of Najran is attested by several historical sources of the Arabian peninsula, where it recorded as having been created in the 5th century AD or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia.
Barḥadbshabba ʿArbaya was a teacher, historian and biblical commentator of the Church of the East.
Athanasius I Gammolo was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 594/595 or 603 until his death in 631. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba, and his feast day is 3 January.
Julian I was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 591 until his death in 594/595. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Simeon of Beth Arsham was a Syrian bishop who spread his teachings at the beginning of the sixth century. He was the bishop of Beth Arsham, which was located near Seleucia-Ctesiphon.
Mar Paul, usually known as Paul of Edessa or Paul of Cyprus, was the Byzantine Syriac Orthodox metropolitan of Edessa who was forced to abandon his see between about 602 and 629, when it fell under the Sasanian Empire. He was an important translator of Greek theological works into Syriac. He should not be confused with the Bishop Paul of Edessa who died in 526.
Qenneshre was a large West Syriac monastery between the 6th and 13th centuries. It was a centre for the study of ancient Greek literature and the Greek Fathers, and through its Syriac translations it transmitted Greek works to the Islamic world. It was "the most important intellectual centre of the Syriac Orthodox ... from the 6th to the early 9th century", when it was sacked and went into decline.
John bar Aphtonia (c.480–537) was a Syriac monk of the Miaphysite persuasion who founded the monastery of Qenneshre around 530. A key figure in the transmission of Greek thought and literary culture into a Syriac milieu, his monastery became the intellectual centre of the West Syriac world for the next three centuries.
George was the Syriac Orthodox bishop of the Arabs around Aleppo and the upper Euphrates from 686 or 687 until his death. A polymath steeped in ancient Greek philosophy, his writings are an important source for Syriac history and theology.
John the Stylite, also known as John of Litharb, was a Syriac Orthodox monk and author. He was a stylite attached to the monastery of Atarib and part of a circle of Syriac intellectuals active in northern Syria under the Umayyad dynasty.
Athanasius III was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 724 until his death in 739/740.
David was a monk, bishop and historian of the Church of the East in the 7th or 8th century.
The Book of the Himyarites is an anonymous Syriac account of the persecution and martyrdom of the Christian community of Najran in the Kingdom of Himyar around 523 AD and the ensuing Aksumite interventions. It was written sometime between the sixth and tenth centuries in a Syriac Orthodox milieu.
Lots of the Apostles is the name of several texts used in Christian divination, based on the Acts of the Apostles 1:26, which describes how the Apostles cast lots to select a replacement for Judas Iscariot.