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.
Hexapla, also called Origenis Hexaplorum, is a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible in six versions, four of them translated into Greek, preserved only in fragments. It was an immense and complex word-for-word comparison of the original Hebrew Scriptures with the Greek Septuagint translation and with other Greek translations. The term especially and generally applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by the theologian and scholar Origen, sometime before AD 240.
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.
John X bar Shushan was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, from 1063/1064 until his death in 1072/1073.
Paul II the Black, also known as Paul of Bēth Ukkāme, was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from c. 551 or 564 to his deposition in 578. He succeeded Sergius of Tella as the spiritual leader of the Syrian non-Chalcedonians, in opposition to the Chalcedonian Imperial Church, and led the nascent Syriac Orthodox Church as it endured division and persecution.
Peter III of Callinicum was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 581 until his death in 591. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba, and his feast day is 22 April.
Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic. Portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic and there are Aramaic phrases in the New Testament. Syriac translations of the New Testament were among the first and date from the 2nd century. The whole Bible was translated by the 5th century. Besides Syriac, there are Bible translations into other Aramaic dialects.
The Syro-Hexaplar version is the Syrian Aramaic (Syriac) translation of the Greek of the Septuagint as found in the fifth column of Origen's Hexapla. The translation was made by Bishop Paul of Tella at the monastery of the Enaton in Egypt around 617.
Mar Ishodad of Merv was a bishop of Hdatta during the Abbasid Caliphate and prominent theologian of the Church of the East, best known for his Commentaries on the Syriac Bible.
Thomas of Harqel was a miaphysite bishop from the early 7th century. Educated in Greek at the monastery of Qenneshre, he became bishop of Mabbug in Syria. He was deposed as bishop by the anti-miaphysite metropolitan Domitian of Melitene before 602. He and Paul of Tella lived as exiles in the Coptic monastery of the Enaton near Alexandria, Egypt. At the request of Athanasios I, they worked on a Syriac translation of the Greek Bible. Translation of the New Testament, known as the Harclensis was completed in 616. At this time, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation were added to the Syriac Bible. Until then they were excluded.
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.
Iwannis I was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 739/740 until his death in 754/755.
Athanasius IV Salhoyo was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 986/987 until his death in 1002/1003.
Theodosius Romanus was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 887 until his death in 896.
Basil IV Simon was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1421/1422 until his death in 1444/1445.
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.
The Enaton was a monastic district in Egypt during the Middle Ages. It lasted into the 15th century, but it was at its height between the 5th and 7th centuries. It takes its name, which means "ninth", from its location at the ninth milestone southwest of Alexandria along the coastal road.