INTRODUCTION

MANUSCRIPT AND TITLE

The Chronicle of Zuqnīn is a universal chronicle which begins with the creation of
the world and ends with the time of writing, A.D. 775–776.1 The Chronicle is
known from a single largely palimpsest manuscript of 179 folios, 173 of which are
now housed in the Vatican Library (Codex Zuqninensis, Vat. Syr. 162), and an
additional six are currently in the possession of the British Library (formerly British
Museum), labelled Add. 14.665 folios 2 to 7.2 The Vatican Library purchased the
manuscript from the Syrian Monastery of Saint Mary in the Egyptian desert of
Naṭrūn, whereas the other six folios were acquired by the British museum between
1839 and 1842. That both were part of one and the same manuscript was confirmed
on the basis of the Septuagint texts by Cardinal Eugène Tisserant, who wrongly
dated to the 9th century in light of the Syriac script.3
As is often the case, the first and last folios of the manuscript of Zuqnīn have
been lost. The preface of the work, however, has survived, albeit in a very damaged
condition. It was written in Sel. 1087 (A.D. 775–776) “in which (year) Mahdi son of
ʿAbd-Allāh is ruling over Syria, Egypt, Armenia, Azarbayjān, all of Persia, Sind,
Kho[rasan], as well as over the Arabs, and over the Greeks Leo son of Constantine,
and over the Romans Pepin.”4 The addressees in the preface are the “spiritual
fathers (of the writer), George, chorepiscopos of Āmid, the abbot Euthalius,
Lazarus the Visitor, the honorable Anastasius, and the rest of the monastic

1 Edition: Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum, ed. I.-B. Chabot,
CSCO I 91/43 (hereafter C1) and II 104/53 (hereafter C2) (Louvain 1927–1933). Complete
translation: Parts I–II: Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum I, inter. I.-B.
Chabot, CSCO 121 (Louvain 1949). Study: W. Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle of Pseudo
Dionysius of Tel-Maḥre: A Study in the History of Historiography (Uppsala 1987).
2 W. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum, vol. II (London,

1871), xiii–xiv.
3 Eugène Tisserant, Codex Zuqninensis rescriptus Veteris Testamenti (Roma: Tipografia

Poliglotta Vaticana, 1911), xxix, xxxi. On page v Tisserant oscillated between the 9th and 10th
centuries.
4 C2 419:27–31.

xi
xii THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

community (of Zuqnīn).”5 Unfortunately, the Chronicler’s name, and perhaps

indications of his status and origin have not survived, a fact which led to false
attributions and unusual titles. Assemani6 attributed it to the early 9th-century west
Syriac patriarch, Dionysius I of Tell-Maḥrē, and he was followed by Tullberg7 and
(at first) Chabot.8 After Chabot edited the manuscript in the 1940s, he realized the
attribution error since Dionysius was contemporary of Al-Maʾmun (813–833) and
Al-Muʿtaṣim (833–842) whereas the Chronicler of Zuqnīn was contemporary of al-
Manṣur (754–775), and as a consequence he gave it the title Pseudo-Dionysius of
Tell-Maḥrē.9 Abramowski, who published a study on the real Dionysius, wisely
called the Syriac content of Codex Zuqninensis, the Chronicle of Zuqnīn,10 since Zuqnīn
was apparently the place where its author had lived. In one passage the Chronicler in
fact mentions that several monks “from our monastery of Zuqnīn,” succumbed to a
pestilence.11 Furthermore, he dedicated his work to the officials and monks of the
monastery in question, as is clear from the Chronicle’s preface.12 Moreover, Zuqnīn
as a concrete location seems somehow a more appropriate anchor for the
anonymous Chronicle than a phantom author dubbed Pseudo-Dionysius. The latter
is not only an imaginary person, but his name fosters confusion with the real
Dionysius of Tell-Maḥrē, who had no connection whatsoever with the Zuqnīn
Chronicle. For these reasons, Abramowski’s label has been used in the present
translation.

IDENTITY OF THE CHRONICLER AND HIS POSITION

In discussing this subject, I have strongly defended that the author was none other
than Joshua the Stylite, mentioned in a note appended to the source compiled in
Part III of the Chronicle, and which deals with events relevant to the Jazīrah and
Edessa (see below). This note of a script other than the one found in the entire
codex, was written by the 9th century Elisha of Zuqnīn who repaired it. That the

5 C2 420:10–12.
6 G. S. Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. II (Romæ: Typis Sacræ Congregationi de
Propaganda Fide, 1721), p. 98ff.
7 O. F. Tullberg, Dionysii Telmahhrensis Chronici Liber Primus e Codice Mss. Syriaco Biblithecae

Vaticanae (Uppsala, 1851), i ff.

8 J.-B. Chabot, Chronique de Denys de Tell Maḥré: Quatrième Partie (‫‏‬Paris 1895), 1ff.
9 Chabot had previously accepted Assemani’s identification, as the title given above of

his French translation of Part IV of the Chronicle shows.

10 R. Abramowski, Dionysius von Tellmahre jakobitischer Patriach von 845–818‫‏‬. Zur Geschiche

der Kirche unter dem Islam, Abhandlungen ‫‏‬für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 25:2 (Leipzig,
1940), p. 11.
11 Harrak, Zuqnīn, p. 188.
12 C2 420:10–12. The Preface does not mention Zuqnīn as such, but the name of

“George, chorepiscopus of Āmid,” the district in which the monastery was located, hints at
it. Most importantly, “Euthalius, the abbot,” named in the Preface, is also mentioned
elsewhere in the Chronicle as the abbot of Zuqnīn; see Harrak, Zuqnīn, p. 219 and note 3.
 INTRODUCTION xiii

author of our Chronicle was almost certainly a resident in the monastery of Zuqnīn
is suggested in Part IV as mentioned above. He was a priest and formerly a stylite,
on the assumption that he is the Joshua of Elisha’s note. In Part IV of his work,
Joshua discusses with bitterness the violence that engulfed northern Syria during the
governorship of Mūsā son of Muṣʿab, including attacks against monks, recluses and
stylites: “They attacked hermits, recluses, and stylites, bringing down many from
their pillars …” He may well have been among them. There is clearly no reason to
disqualify a stylite from having been a literary author. John, the Stylite of Litarb, near
Aleppo, corresponded with Jacob of Edessa,13 and wrote a chronography at the
beginning of the 8th century.14 Similarly, Joshua too appears to have been both a
stylite and an author.
Witakowski suggested that he was the ‫“ ܣܥܘܪܐ‬steward” of his monastery,
because, according to Witakowski,15 only monks in that position could travel and
gather information about the events he discusses in his Chronicle. Nonetheless, the
author mentions a monk named Dionysius, who held that position until 766–767,16
although he became the bishop of Ḥarrān in 767–768, but he also mentions another
monk of Zuqnīn, Lazarus, who served as “steward” in the year he finished his
Chronicle, namely, S. 1087 (775–776). He also dedicated his work to this monk, as
well as to the other fellow monks of his monastery.17

DATE OF THE MANUSCRIPT AND TIME OF WRITING

I have previously given several reasons to believe that the Chronicle is an
autographon: The script of the entire codex is different from that of Elisha, whom
we know that he lived in the 9th century thanks to other dated manuscripts he
copied in Egypt; the manuscript contains blank spaces found in Part IV of the
Chronicle (folios 135v, 136r, 137r, 138r, and 144v), meant to be filled later on by the
Chronicler, but then they were left blank; the Chronicler depicted heavenly portents
(folios 121v, 136v, 146r, 150v, 154v, 155v) some of which bear captions of the same
script of the entire codex; there are also notations made on two occasions in the
margins of Part IV of the Chronicle (folio 137v, 138v) whose script is also identical
to that of the main text – aides-memoire, since they consist of titles discussed later
on by the author.18
In 1997, Andreas Luther published a translation of the Edessene Chronicle
(the so-called Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite), and while he considered Codex

13 A. Harrak, “Jacob of Edessa as a Chronicler,” in Gregorios Ibrahim & George Kiraz

(eds.), Studies on Jacob of Edessa, Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 25 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias
Press: 2010), pp. 58–77.
14 Michael II 358, after Dionysius of Tell-Maḥrē.
15 Witakowski, Study, p. 92.
16 See below p. 219.
17 See C2, p. 420:11
18 Harrak, Zuqnīn, pp. 9–17.
xiv THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

Zuqninensis as an autographon, he took Joshua the Stylite of Zuqnīn as the author of

the Edessene Chronicle.19 By contrast, Frank Trombley and John Watt, in their
translations of the same short chronicle, wrote that Joshua was not the author of
this work “but probably also the author of the Chronicle of Zuqnīn.”20
We know reasonably well when the Chronicler begun writing his universal
history and when he completed it. In his introductory letter the Chronicler mentions
the year in which he completed his Chronicle which he dedicated to the leaders of
his monastery: Sel. 1087 (=AD 775–76), corresponding to the first year of Caliph al-
Mahdī’s reign. Part IV of the Chronicle covers the entire reign of Caliph al-Manṣūr,
the father of al-Mahdī, and while writing the former was still alive, a fact which
explains why the Chronicler left a blank space meant to be filled with the total years
of his reign. The author seems to have been very busy with his undertaking, since
Caliph al-Manṣūr died in 775 and he failed to fill the gap with the necessary
information about the sum of years he ruled. It is therefore not farfetched to believe
that the Chronicler began his work in 773–774 and completed it in 775–776. Two
years’ time was necessary to compile a great number of sources which he copied,
interview people, including soldiers who had returned from war zones, and gather
his own ideas and memories to create the first universal chronicle in Syriac.
We can follow the progress of his writing through the events he discussed. The
year 769–770, witnessed the martyrdom of Cyrus of Ḥarrān21 and the appointment
of Mūsā son of Muṣʿab as governor of the Jazīrah (Chabot 252). In fact, this
administrator was appointed as such in Hijra 155 which corresponds to AD 771–
772. The year AD 772–773 dates the “first year of affliction” at the hands of the
new governor, atrocities described by the Chronicler in great detail (C1 290), and the
second year of affliction is dated to 773–774 (C1 331). The author mentions four
years of “afflictions” (C1 330), which means that they ended in the year he wrote his
introductory letter, AD 775–776. Since codex zuqninensis misses a number of folios at
its end, one can speculate that what is missing may have contained a description of
the last two years in question. Or he left out discussing them since the martyrdom
of Cyrus of Ḥarrān, with which codex zuqninensis ends, can be conserved as a fitting
conclusion of the whole work. The first two years of “afflictions” included anti-
Christian persecution at the hands of the early Abbasids, and presenting the example
of Cyrus, the one who persevered at the cost of his own life, as an ideal of Christian
bravery and victory.

19 Andreas Luther, Die syrische Chronik des Josua Stylites (Berlin and Boston: de Gruyter,
1997), pp. 11–14. For the author, Joshua of Zuqnīn could have been in Edessa between 494
and 506 and at the monastery of Zuqnīn before and after this period.
20 Frank R. Trombley and John W. Watt, The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite,

Translated Texts for Historians 32 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000), pp. xxv–
xxvi.
21 On him see A. Harrak, “Piecing Together the Martyrdom of Cyrus of Harran,” AB

121 (2003), pp. 297–328.

 INTRODUCTION xv

SOURCES OF PARTS I AND II

Occasionally the Chronicler of Zuqnīn spelled out his major sources in the right
place, e.g. “Then from the Chronicle of Socrates” for the period from Constantine
to Theodosius the Younger. Unfortunately this was not his practice in Parts I and II
of his opus. By the time he began to write Part IV of his chronicle, the part that he
himself authored, he decided to give his most important sources:
This account, that is this history, commences with the beginning of creation, and
takes us to the birth of Abraham and the reign of Ninos, who built Nineveh and
reigned here for fifty-two years – in Ninos’ forty-second year, Abraham the
patriarch was born – Eusebius testifies to this, and it is from him that we have
taken the contents of his history, up to the year of Constantine the Believer.
From here until Theodosius the Younger, the material is from Socrates of the sect
of Novatian. From Theodosius to Justinian the Emperor, that is the year eight
hundred and eighty-five (573–574), the contents are from the holy John, Bishop of
Asia…22
The major sources identified in Parts I and II of the Zuqnīn Chronicle had been
discussed in great detail by Witakowski.23 In the following, the major sources will be
identified according to chronological periods beginning with the biblical account of
the Creation to the year 506/507 AD, and thereafter the sources will be discussed in
more or less details.
Periods Events Sources

Beginning – 1569 Biblical Creation to the death  Pentateuch, “Books of Moses,”

BC of Moses in 1569 BC according to the Septuagint
version;
 Cave of Treasures
 Euseb. Chronici canones
1468 – 1035 BC Israelite settlement to the year  Joshua, Judges, Samuel
of the death of David  1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2
Kings (unspecified)
 Euseb. Chronici canones

22 Harrak, Zuqnīn, p. 138.

23 Witakowski, Study, p. 124–135; “The Sources of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Maḥrē for
the Second Part of his Chronicle,” in J.O. Rosenqvist (ed.), ΛΕΙΜΩΝ Studies Presented to
Lennart Rydén on his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (Uppsala, 1996), pp. 181–210; “Sources of Pseudo-
Dionysius of Tel-Mahre for the Christian Epoch of the First Part of his Chronicle,” in G.J.
Reinink and A.C. Klugkist (eds.), After Bardaisan: Studies on Continuity and Change in Syriac
Christianity in Honour of Professor Han J.W. Drijvers (Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters en Department
Oosterse Studies, 1999), pp. 329–366.
xvi THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

1031 – 432 BC Building of the Temple under  Unspecified sources

Solomon in 1031 BC to  Euseb. Chronici canones
Nehemia’s rebuilding of
Jerusalem and its wall in 432
BC
334 – 323 BC Alexander’s expeditions in 334  Story of Alexander
BC and his death eleven years
after
319 – 49 BC Ptolemaic period beginning  Unspecified sources
with Ptolemy I to the time of  Euseb. Chronici canones
Cleopatra II
48 – 1 AD Roman period beginning with  Revelation of the Magi
Gaius Caesar Dynasty to the  Cave of Treasures
birth of Christ  Teaching of Addai (unspecified)
 Report Concerning the Passion and
the Solemn Judgement of Our Lord
 Euseb Chronici canones
52 – 72 AD Roman Period; early Church  Eusebius’s Ecclesiastic History
history including heresies;  A Chronicle of Edessa
history of Edessa (unspecified)
78 – 250 AD Roman Period, early Church  Ditto
history including heresies,
history of Edessa
250 – 345/6 AD Roman period from Decius to  Eusebius’s Ecclesiastic History
Constantine the Great  ‘The Sleepers Ephesus’ (Part I)
 From the Account on Constantine
the Great
298/9 – 429/30 AD Roman period to Theodosius;  Socrates’ Ecclesiastic History
Church history including  A Chronicle of Edessa
Arianism; Sassanian warfare; (unspecified)
Edessan history; Nestorius’s  ‘The Sleepers of Ephesus’ (Part II)
tenure
 Plerophoria of John Rufus
432/3 – 445/6 AD Council of Ephesus to the  Plerophoria of John Rufus
Second Council of Ephesus  A Chronicle of Edessa
(unspecified)
 Other unspecified sources
450/1 – 484/5 AD Council of Chalcedon to the  Plerophoria
reign of Zeno  A Chronicle of Edessa
(unspecified)
 Anti-Chalcedonian sources
from John of Ephesus
(unspecified)
 Henoticon
297/8 – 506/7 AD Northern Mesopotamia and  Short Edessene Chronicle (its
Byzantine-Sassanian warfare entirety)
 INTRODUCTION xvii

The Bible constitutes a major source from the beginning to the Seleucid period. The
Pentateuch, “according to the Seventy tradition (the Septuagint),” was used “(from the
Creation up to) this point (=death of Tuthmosis III); it tells the events of three
thousand seven hundred and thirty years.” The Books of Joshua, Judges, and
Samuel “tell the events of four hundred and seventy years.” The Chronicler used
other biblical books, including 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings, Jonas, but without
naming them. The Chronicler, not knowing Greek, used the Syriac Pešiṭta version
of the Old Testament even when he refers to the ‘Seventy’ version. For the Creation
he quotes Genesis fairly verbatim, but most probably from memory since some
words are misspelled, e.g. ‫ ܬܗܘ‬for ‫ ܪܩܝܥܐ ;ܬܘܗ‬for ‫ܐܪܩܝܥܐ‬, etc. It is not farfetched to
believe that he knew at least the first chapter of Genesis by heart, and in any case,
the first word in this chapter, b-rēšīt, was in his mind when he linked it to John 1:1 to
prove to the Muslims the eternal nature of Christ.24 And lest his quotations appear
mere copying, he interjects between verses; for example, after the first day of
creation, he adds: “These were created on the first day, that is on Sunday.” He
commented on the first Friday as follows: “in it Adam was created and there was the
cross on Golgotha through which the world was redeemed.” For dynastic
successions and some important events of the Israelites, he draws from the Old
Testament names and basic information, sometimes out of no choice: “Because we
did not find computations agreeing with one another, we list here the first fathers as
they are found in the Scripture” (p. 26).
The Cave of Treasures narrates biblical history from the Creation to Pentecost, a
period of 5500 years in total, using a variety of legends, including fictitious
genealogies. It was wrongly attributed to Ephrem the Syrian and is now believed to
date to the 6th century at least in its present shape.25 The Christological expression
“you are above all suffering and of the lineage of the One who does not suffer (p.
150) echoes 6th century Theopaschite controversies. The Chronicler uses the Cave of
Treasures in two ways: he adds details from it to biblical accounts about Adam and
the first generations, e.g. so-and-so “was buried in the Cave of Treasures in the
mountain called Shir,” and also borrows long excerpts “from the Books that were in
the Cave of Treasures of the Hidden Mysteries” on Seth, Noah, and the Flood (p.
114).
Eusebius is mentioned by the Chronicler as his source, but does not specify
whether it is his Ecclesiastical History or his Chronici canones, in a Syriac translation. The
Chronicler relied heavily on the Canones for the period as early as the Creation
(following the biblical account) and as late as the time of Constantine the Great, that
is the entire history covered by the Canones. Eusebius’ Chronici Canones is no longer
extant but it survived in the Latin translation of Jerome (Hieronymus; abbreviated

24 Harrak, Zuqnīn, p. 327.

25 See E.A. Wallis Budge, The Book of the Cave of Treasures: History of the Patriarchs and the
Kings, Their Successors from the Creation to the Crucifiction of Christ (London: Religious Tract
Society, 1927), and A. S.-M. Ri, La Caverne des trésors, CSCO 486–87 (Louvain: Peeters, 1987).
xviii THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

hereafter as Hier.),26 in an Armenian translation (abbreviated hereafter as Arm.),27

and in Syriac translations,28 including a version used by the Chronicler. In the
footnotes of our translation some dates and sometimes pieces of information found
in the Chronicle are compared with Hier. and Arm. and the discrepancies resulting
from these comparisons tell how risky it is to rely on the dates of Eusebius in all
these translations. In a symposium on Chronography organized in 2006 in Ottawa
by the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies and the Department of Classics,
University of Ottawa, Richard Burgess compared dates for every event given in
these versions, using for the Syriac Chabot’s Latin translation of the Chronicle of
Zuqnīn. His statistics also highlight the unreliability of these versions in
reconstructing the original Chronici canones: 14.3% exact match and 32.4% no
agreement!29 In fact in the Chronicle some dates were tampered with, as in the case
of the original Abr. 1848, which happens to agrees with both Hier. and Arm., but
which was changed to Abr. 1850. None of the editors of the Chronicle paid
attention to the different ink used in this emendation and or to the failed erasure of
some original digits, and thus the year was always taken for 1850, including in
Chabot’s Latin translation of the Chronicle. The fact that someone emended that
date to agree with the one in the Latin and Armenian versions is quite interesting.
Did he use a Syriac translation of the Chronici canones that is no longer extant, and
was he at the monastery of Zuqnīn or at the monastery of the Syrians in Sketes
when he changed it?
As for Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, it covers early church history in the
Chronicle from the time of Herod (year 5 AD) to Constantine the Great, including
calamities befalling the Jews after the Passion of Christ, material borrowed by
Eusebius from Josephus. Eusebius’ EH is extant in Syriac, but the version used by

26 Rudolph Helm, Eusebius Caesariensis Werke, Band 7: Die Chronik des Hieronymus, Die
griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte 47 (Berlin: Academy-Verlag,
1956; repr. De Gruyter, 2012).
27 Josef Karst, Die Chronik: aus dem Armenischen übersetzt mit textkritischem

Commentar, Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte 20 (Leipzig:

J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1911).
28 The translation of the Canones by Jacob of Edessa survived in a mutilated version; E.

W. Brooks, Chronicon Jacobi Edesseni, (in) Chronica Minora III, T. CSCO 5/Syr. 5,‫ ‏‬pp. 261–330;
V. CSCO 6/Syr. 6, pp. 197–258 (Paris, 1905–1907).
29 Richard W. Burgess, “A Chronological Prolegomenon to Reconstructing Eusebius’

Chronici canones: The Evidence of Ps-Dionysius (The Zuqnin Chronicle),” Journal of the
CSSS 6 (2006), pp. 29–38. See also on the issue of disagreements Muriel Debié, L’Écriture de
l’histoire en syriaque: Transmissions interculturelles et constructions identitaires entre hellénisme et islam
(Peeters : Leuven, 2015), pp. 294; id., “L’Historiographie tardo-antique: une littérature en
extrais,” in S. Morlet (ed.), Lire en extraits (Paris, PUPS, 2015), pp. 411–12.
 INTRODUCTION xix

the Chronicler differs slightly from the one published by Wright and McLean,30 and
in any case he was selective in copying events from this largely quoted source.
An Edessan source covers the kingdom of Edessa (=Urhay), beginning with
“the first king reigning over Urhay (whose name is) Urhay son of Ḥewia (Urhay son
of the Sneak);” (p. 98). No source exists pertaining to the earliest history of Edessa
with its “first” king. The Chronicler could have used an independent list of local
rulers drawn on royal archives, or perhaps the so-called Original Chronicle of Edessa,31 a
non-extant source that must have given rise to the known Chronicle of Edessa.
The Story of Alexander (p. 82) is fully legendary, and the Chronicler’s short
version contains important variants compared with longer ones,32 suggesting the
existence of a series of versions. The core of the story must have dealt with the
exploits of Alexander but was eventually Christianized, adding a legendary character
in it. The Qurʾan refers to the legend in surah al-Kahf (18:83–102).33
The Story of the Magi (p. 152), known only in the Chronicle, has Iranian and
Jewish backgrounds, Iranian with the twelve magi and Jewish with the admonition
of Adam to Seth. Thus the story draws on the Cave of Treasures. The Opus
Imperfectum in Matthaeum of the 5th or 6th century, an Arian commentary of the
Gospel of Matthew, is the closest to the Story of the Magi, although it is much
shorter.34
The Letter on the Passion with its title ʾqṭwn betrays its Greek origin. This
apocryphal source based at least in its beginning on Matthew 27:2, Mark 15:1, Luke
23:1, and John 18:28, is not complete due to a sizable gap in the manuscript. What
remains from the document, including its title, has no parallel in Syriac or in any
other literature.

30 W. Wright and N. McLean (eds.), The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius in Syriac Edited
from the Manuscripts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1898).
31 See W. Witakowski, “The Chronicles of Edessa,” Orientalia Suecana 33–35 (1984–86),

pp. 487–498.
32 Ernest Wallis Budge, The History of Alexander the Great (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1889).

33 See lately K. van Bladel, “The Syriac Sources of the Early Arabic Narratives of

Alexander’, in Memory as History: The Legacy of Alexander in Asia, ed. H. Ray and D. T. Potts
(2007), pp. 54–75, and Qurʾan in its Historical Context, ed. G. S. Reynolds (2008), pp. 175–203.
34 Landau, Brent, The Sages and the Star-Child: An Introduction to the Revelation of the Magi, an

Ancient Christian Apocryphon (Harvard Divinity School, 2008). See also his dissertation:
Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem (New York: Harper
One, 2010); I thank Dr. Landau for sending me a PDF version of his dissertation and high-
resolution photographs of the folios containing the story. G. Levi Della Vida, Le leggende
orientali sui magi evengelici, Studi e Testi 163 (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Orientalia,
1952); W. Witakowski, “The Magi in the Syriac Tradition,” in G. Kiraz (ed.), Malphono w-Rabo
d-Malphone: Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock (Piscataway: Gorgias Press, 2008), pp. 809–
843.
xx THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

The Sleepers of Ephesus, or the original title Account Concerning Ephesus and
Concerning the Eight Children martyred in it, must have witnessed fame in late antiquity
since even the Qurʾan refers to it surah al-kahf (18:9–26]). It is conveniently divided
in the Chronicle into two parts: the first covers the persecution under the Roman
Emperor Decius (249–251), and the second covers the awakening of the Sleepers
during the reign of Theodosius son of Arcadius (408–450). The Chronicler’s version
of the legend, where the sleepers are eight, was taken from the Ecclesiastical History of
John of Ephesus which is non-extant. Another version is found in the Ecclesiastical
History of Ps. Zachariah of Mitylene, where the sleepers are seven, and Jacob of
Sarug35 wrote a mīmrō on it.
From an Account on Constantine the Great, which narrates the conversion of
Constantine, is an abbreviated version of the Latin Acts of Sylvester, bishop of Rome
(314–335). It is found in various forms, including the one in Ps.-Zachariah of
Mytilene and Michael the Syrian;36 The Chronicler, however, must have borrowed it
from the Ecclesiastical History of John of Ephesus, currently non-extant.
Socrates “of the sect of Novatian” (p. 250) is the source with which Part II
begins. Socrates is mentioned by name at the forefront: “Then from the Chronicle
of Socrates: Another account in chapters.” The Chronicle relies heavily on the
former’s Ecclesiastical History, using a Syriac non-extant version of it, covering the
period from Constantine to Theodosius the Younger, in which the ‘Sleepers of
Ephesus’ (Part II) and brief accounts from an Edessan chronicle are inserted.
The Ecclesiastical History of John of Ephesus (or of Asia) (p. 324–366) is made
of three parts, the first non-extant, the second extensively quoted in Parts II and III
of the Chronicle (not cited as source), and the third survived independently.37 The
second part of the Ecclesiastical History quoted by the Chronicler goes from
Constantine the Great to the 6th year of Justin II, information known from other
sources.38 The Chronicle’s Part II used also anti-Chalcedonian sources: The

35 Jacob of Sarug, Homilies of Mar Jacob of Sarug (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2006),
vol. VI, 324–30. I. Guidi published this mīmrō along with a later expanded version of it in
Testi orientali inediti sopra i sette dormienti di Efeso (Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Anno
CCLXXXII, 1884–85), p. 18–29.
36 Ps. Zachariah (hereafter Ps. Zech.): E. W. Brooks, Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori

vulgo adscripta, T. I, CSCO 83/Syr. ‫‏‬ 38 (Paris, 1919), I vii p.56:1–93:5 (Latin trans. E. W.
Brooks, Historia ecclesiastica Zachariae Rhetori vulgo adscripta, T. I, CSCO 87/Syr. ‫‏‬ 41 [Louvain:
Peeters, 1950], pp. 39–65]; Michael the Syrian (hereafter Mich. Syr.): Gregorios Yuhanna
Ibrahim (ed.), The Edessa-Aleppo Syriac Codex of the Chronicle of Michael the Great (Piscataway,
NJ.: Gorgias Press, 2009), 124c, 125a, 126c (trans. J.B. Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien
patriarche jacobite d’Antioche (1166–1199), ‫ ‏‬vols. I (Paris, 1899), pp. 241–243].
‫‏‬
37 Iohannis ephesini historiae ecclesiasticae pars tertia, ed. E.W. Brooks, T. CSCO 105/Syr. 54
(Paris, 1935); R. Payne Smith, The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John ‫‏‬Bishop of Ephesus
(Oxford, 1860).
38 Michael the Syrian 124b [I 239]: ‫ܝܘܚܢܢ ܕܐܣܝܐ ̇ܐܡܪ ܒܫܘܪܝ ܟܬܒܗ ܕܟܕ ܩܘܣܛܢܛܝܢܘܣ‬
... ‫“ ܚܕܬܐܝܬ ܦ ݂ܢܐ ܡܢ ܕܚܠܬ ܦܬܟ̈ܪܐ‬John of Asia says at the beginning of his book that when
 INTRODUCTION xxi

Plerophories of John Rufus,39 (p. 320–334) a source made of tales of visions and
prophecies of Palestinian monks; the apocryphal Letter of the “Hebrews” to the
Emperor Marcian asserting that their forefathers crucified a man not God “as
showed by the Holy Council of Chalcedon;” (p. 342), Zeno’s Henoticon, a formula
meant to bring together the Miaphysites of Egypt and Syria (p. 348). Most of these
sources were excerpted by the Chronicler from John of Ephesus who himself used
Pseudo-Zechariah’s Ecclesiastical History;40 this is based on the Ecclesiastical History of
Zachariah of Mitylene, and the Chronicle of John Malalas.41
The so-called “Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite” is an Edessene
chronicle composed by a monk of a monastery in Edessa at the request of its abbot
named Sergius. The title “historical account of the times of affliction that took place
in Edessa, Āmid, and all of Mesopotamia” highlights an epidemic plaguing Edessa
between 494 and 502 and a devastating war between Persia and Byzantium within
the years 502 and 506. The Chronicler included this source in its entirety verbatim.
It also inspired him to write about similar themes that happened during his own
time.42 The author of the short chronicle consulted old people, military personnel,
and eye-witnesses to write his history and was well aware of events and trends
occurring in his region of northern Syria and beyond. For example, he mentions the
“heresy” of ‫( ܙܪܕܘܫܬܩܢܐ‬zaraduštaqnā) which “teaches that women belong in common
and that everyone may have intercourse with whomever he wants.” The author was
not only the contemporary of this Sassanian unorthodox way of thinking but was
also the first ever to report about it, since what we know about the heresy derives
from centuries after it had taken place. Its name comes from Zaradusht son of
Khurrakān (‫ )زرادشت بن خركان‬which gave the Syriac form Zaradushtaqna and later
Arabic Zaradushtakan (‫)زردشتگان‬. Incidentally, the practice of Zaradushtakan was
known in Baʿalbek at the time of Constantine the Great (p. 252): “they (people
Baʿalbeck) have such a practice as their wives are shared, and because of this, there

Constantine the victorious had recently returned from the worship of idols…” ‫ܘܗܝܕܝܢ ܒܬܪ‬
‫ܟܢܫܢ ܘܣܕܪܢ ܐܢܝܢ ܠܬܫܥܝܬܐ ܥܕܬܢܝܬܐ ܥܕܡܐ ܠܫܢܬ ܫܬ ܕܡܠܟܘܬܗ ܕܝܘܣܛܝܢܐ ܗܢܐ ܐܚܪܝܐ ܒܪ ܚܬܗ‬
‫“ ܕܝܘܣܛܝܢܝܢܐ‬after we had compiled and classified the ecclesiastical accounts up to the 6th year
of the reign of the Justin II, the nephew of Justinian; Iohannis ephesini 4:11–14.
39 F. Nau, Jean Rufus, Évêque de Maïouma, Plérophories: témoignages et révélations contre le concile

de Chalcédoine, PO 8:1 (1911).

40 See most recently The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late

Antiquity, [edited by] Geoffrey Greatrex; translated from Syriac and Arabic sources by Robert
R. Phenix and Cornelia B. Horn, with introductory material by Sebastian Brock and Witold
Witakowski (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011).
41 English translation: E. Jeffreys et als., The Chronicle of John Malalas (Melbourne, 1986).
42 The Edessan chronicle is very well-known in Western scholarship: P. Martin,

Chronique de Josué le Stylite écrite vers l’an 515, Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes
VI/ 1 (Leipzig, 1876); W. Wright, The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite (Cambridge, 1882); F. R.
Trombley and J. W. Watt, The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite (Liverpool: Liverpool
University Press, 2000).
xxii THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

is a discord among them concerning the newborn: of whom is he the son?” The
Chronicle mentions that Constantine abolished this practice.

HISTORIOGRAPHICAL REMARKS
The Chronicle of Zuqnīn begins with a letter, just as the Edessene Chronicle
mentioned above does. From the quite mutilated letter we learn that it was
addressed to the author’s “spiritual Fathers, George the Chorepiscopos of Āmid,
Euthalius the Abbot, Lazarus the Periodeute, the honourable Anastasius, and the
entire monastic community,” in “the year one thousand eighty-seven of Alexander
of Macedonia,” which corresponds to A.D. 775–776. A list of living rulers ensues,
including Al-Mahdī, the son of al-Manṣūr who ruled from 775 to 785. This letter
cannot be fictitious since two of the “spiritual fathers” mentioned in the letter are
referred to in Part IV of his Chronicle: Dionysius who became the bishop of Harran
and Euthalius the Abbot mentioned in the context of a visit paid by the Patriarch
George to Āmid and the nearby monastery of Zuqnīn in AD 766–67;43 Also
Lazarus, being the sōʿūrō of Zuqnīn, cannot be imaginary. There is correlation
between the content of the letter and what the Chronicler wrote in the latter part of
his work, including the jeremiad permeating both sections of the Chronicle. The
Chronicler witnessed the succession of empires and recalled what the Book of
Daniel said about the same, a theme familiar to apocalyptic literature, but his work is
not apocalyptic, save perhaps the end of the Chronicle in which the suffering under
the early Abbasids discussed with an apocalyptic note. Otherwise, the Chronicle was
written to prove that what happened in history, especially natural and manmade
catastrophes, is but foretold in the Scriptures and the proof are the quotations from
Isaiah, Zachariah, and Joel which occur in his letter and recur in Part IV of his
Chronicle.
In the letter the Chronicler calls his work scholion “commentary,” but this
should not be taken literally, but rather in a general sense, in that he considers his
work as a learned enterprise. The usual term for chronicle is maktebōnūt (zabnē)
“Chronicle,” from Greek χρονικόν, χρονικά, or χρονογραφία, and the Chronicler
knew it when he compiled the maktebōnūtō d-tašʿītō d-zabnē “a historical account of
the times” in the title of the short Edessene Chronicle from which he benefitted
much in writing his own portion of the Chronicle. When he introduced the part that
he authored (and elsewhere), he used two key terms referring to chronography: “this
ḥušbōnō (computation), I mean this maktebōnūtō (chronicle)…”44 In fact he gives a
variety of names to his work, including menyōnō “computation, account”, šarbō
“story”, tašʿītō “story, account,” -ʿuhdōnō “memorandum, memory,” etc., and thus

Harrak, Zuqnīn, p. 219.

43

Chabot (ed.), Chronicon II, 145:17. See Witakowski, Study, pp. 148–152, for a
44

comprehensive discussion of terms used by the Chronicler in reference to his work not
including scholion.
 INTRODUCTION xxiii

one occurrence of the term scholion does not necessarily describe the entire work
even if he mentioned it in his letter.
In compiling a great number of literary sources while undertaking his writing
activity, the author learned from these sources how to write a universal chronicle:
fabricando fit faber “by doing blacksmith work, one becomes blacksmith.” This is
certainly true with two major sources that he appreciated most: the Ecclesiastical
History of John of Ephesus and the Edessene Chronicle. From the first he learned how
to lament, including the use of Jeremiad, but most importantly how to compose an
account on such natural disasters as epidemics, and from the second how to report
from time to time the fluctuation of prices of goods in the local markets.45

WRITING PRACTICES
Even though the Chronicler merely compiled sources in Parts I and II of his
Chronicle, his copying method sheds some light on his Syriac writing practices and
on his way of expression. His work contains many phonetically-spelled words, a fact
which explains why Chabot’s edition (C1) contains numerous footnotes correcting
these unusual words and thereby offering their full spelling forms. The Chronicler’s
practice of copying includes the following cases:
— Elimination of glottal stops in the middle of words: ‫“ ܠܘܬܐ‬fatigue” instead of ‫;ܐܠܘܬܐ‬
‫“ ܕܒܬܪܢ‬which is in our land” instead of ‫“ ܘܥܠܝܢ ;ܕܒܐܬܪܢ‬they enter” instead of ‫;ܘܥܐܠܝܢ‬
whether or not ‫ ܕܐܬܡܪܘ‬is the phonetic rendering of ‫ ܕܐܬܐܡܪܘ‬or it is just a mistake is not
sure. In the active participle, the glottal stop is also eliminated: ‫“ ܕܛܝܢ‬for being
diligent” instead of ‫“ ܛܝܦ ;ܕܛܐܢ‬floating” instead of ‫ܛܐܦ‬.
— Clipped suffixes, thus again terms phonetically written: ‫“ ܕܒܪܝܫ‬of my head” instead
of ‫“ ܪܓܠܘ ;ܕܒܪܝܫܝ‬his feet” instead of ‫̈ܪܓܠܘܗܝ‬. In reading Syriac, suffixes are
shortened unlike the written forms.
— Sometimes matres lectionis is employed to indicate vowels: ‫( ܒܡܝܬܝܬܟܘܢ‬misread in
C1) instead of ‫ ܥܕܥܝܕܐ ;ܒܡܐܬܝܬܟܘܢ‬instead of ‫ ܩܝܛܐܝܬܐ ;ܥܕܥܐܕܐ‬where the first olaf stresses
zqōfō.
— In verbs, the plural marker wāw (masculine) and the feminine verbal marker yōd,
phonetically silent, sometimes disappear: ‫“ ܩܘܡ ܙܠ‬Get up and go (plural)” instead of
‫ܕܫܘܝܬ ;ܩܘܡܘ ܙܠܘ‬ ̣ “for you (Mary) became worthy of …” instead of ‫ܕܫܘܝܬܝ‬ ̣ . There is
at least one case where a wāw is unnecessarily added: ‫ܘܗܘ ܐܬܐܣܪܘ‬
̣ ‫“ ܐܬܚܪܒܘ‬they were
destroyed and him, they were taken captive (sic);” the subject in the first case is an
army and in the second case a commander.
̄̄
— Compound ̄ tenses sometimes phonetically written: ‫ ܝܕܥܬ‬instead of ‫ܨ̇ܒܢܐ ;ܝ̇ܕܥ ܐܢܬ‬
instead of ‫ ܡܫܟܚܬ ;ܨ̇ܒܐ ܐܢܐ‬instead of ‫ܡܫܟܚ ܐܢܬ‬. This practice is also evident in texts

45A. Harrak, “The Making of a Syriac Chronicler: The Case of Joshua the Stylite of
Zuqnīn,” (forthcoming).
xxiv THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

composed by the chronicler, in this case his introductory letter: ‫ ܡܫܪܢܐ‬instead of ‫ܡܫܪܐ‬.
‫ܐܢܐ‬
— Metathesis: a few words erroneously switch letters: ‫“ ܐܬܒܐܠ‬he grieved” for ‫;ܐܬܐܒܠ‬
‫“ ܣܐܢ̈ܐ‬enemies” for ‫ܣܢܐܐ‬
̈ .
— Syōmē not marked: ̈ , or are superfluous: ‫ܥܒܕ ̈ܚܠܐܠ‬
‫ ܐܢܫܐ‬for ‫ܐܢܫܐ‬ ̣ “he made a trench
(not trenches).”
— There are cases where a hook appears at the end of words, giving the impression
that it is the suffix yōd: ‫ )ܒܐܝܪܚ( ܐܒܝ‬where the month’s name is just ‫ܐܒ‬. In ‫ܟܘ<ܪ>ܣܢܝ‬
“Khorasan,” which must be ‫ܟܘ<ܪ>ܣܢ‬, the final yōd is not a hook, but unnecessary
addition attested elsewhere in the Chronicle.
— Dōlat is sometimes confused with tāw: ‫ ܢܬܚܠ‬for ‫ܢܕܚܠ‬ ̣ ; ‫ ܢܬܚܩܘܢ‬instead of ‫ܢܕܚܩܘܢ‬
“they eliminate”; in ‫ ܚܬܐܝܬ‬the tāw is eliminated and thus the form is phonetic (instead
of ‫)ܚܕܬܐܝܬ‬.
The countless phonetic forms found in the Chronicle suggest that someone dictated
to the Chronicler the sources that he compiled, and thus, some words were
phonetically written. There are of course wrong spellings in the Chronicle that
Chabot, and before him Assemani, Tullberg, and Martin, had identified and that he
included in his valuable edition.

PRESENT EDITION AND TRANSLATION

Codex Zuqninensis is largely palimpsest, especially Parts I and II, a fact which adds
much value to its 1927 edition and publication by Chabot, since the manuscript
deteriorated even after that year. Thus, the present edition of Parts I and II cannot
and does not replace Chabot’s edition, which is our only source for numerous folios
that turned simply dark with no text visible or legible. Our edition is published
alongside the translation so as to give the reader the ability to compare between
both versions, and in case of questions about the Syriac text, one ought to verify
with Chabot’s edition.
Not all of Chabot’s corrections of errors of the Syriac text are included in the
present edition, which contains a number of Chabot’s wrong readings and printing
typos. Chabot’s edition was collated against Codex Zuqninensis at the Vatican
Library, and here I would like to thank the trustees of this Library for outing at my
disposal this fragile and rare manuscript. The digital version which lately became
available online: http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.sir.162, was also consulted to
verify certain readings in the Chabot’s edition. The correlation was not an easy
undertaking given the bad condition of the manuscripts, and therefore, the
corrections are not exhaustive.
The digital text published in this book was provided by Gorgias Press which
ultimately obtained it from the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious
Texts, housed at Brigham Young University. A variety of Syriac documents were
typeset, thanks to the initiative and generosity of Dr. Kristian Heal of Brigham
Young University. This much appreciated digital text required enormous time and
effort to bring it in line with Chabot’s Syriac text, and thus, it is hoped it now
 INTRODUCTION xxv

reflects more or less Codex Zuqninensis. I thank Adam Lehto, Colin Clarke and
Reagan Patrick for going through the translation, and Muriel Debié for her many
insights on the contents of the Chronicle. I am also grateful to Shane Martland for
working on the indices. All errors in this book are obviously mine. Last but not
least, I thank my wife Sarah and our son Ryan for their moral support throughout
my academic career.
The present volume is dedicated to the memory of J.-B. Chabot whose work
on Syriac chronography is most appreciated and whose edition of Codex
Zuqninensis is truly exceptional.
The present edition and translation were financially supported by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.

EDITORIAL ABBREVIATIONS

Special and Frequent Abbreviations

Abr. Era of Abraham
Arab. Arabic
AD Anno Domini (Gregorian calendar)
BC Before Christ
Akk. Akkadian
Arm. Armenian (especially the translation of Chronici canones)
ca. circa
F Folio
Hier. Hieronymus (Jerome’s Latin translation of Chronici canones)
Ms. Manuscript (Codex Zuqninensis)
n. Note
p. Page
Sel. Seleucid Era
s.a. sub anno
s.v. sub voce (see under)
Syr. Syriac

<> Enclosed portion is a correction made on the manuscript

(-) Enclosed portion is Anno Mundi or Seleucid date converted
into A.D.
() Enclosed portion is a supplied word or words
[…] Small portion of uncertain length missing
[… …] Long portion of uncertain length missing
[ ] Enclosed portion is a reconstruction
[F000] Folio number in Codex Zuqninensis
[000] Page number in Chabot’s edition (C1)
xxxxx Illegible word or words in Codex Zuqninensis
////////// Effaced or darkened word or words in Codex Zuqninensis
! Conjecture reading or translation (caution must be used)
√ Root of a verb
┌ Enclosed portion discussed in a footnotes.
xxvi THE CHRONICLE OF ZUQNĪN

Syriac Editions of the Chronicle of Zuqnin

C1 Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum (ed.
Chabot, CSCO I 91/43)
C1 (trans.) Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum I (trans.
Chabot, CSCO 121)
C2 Incerti Auctoris Chronicon Pseudo-Dionysianum vulgo dictum II (ed.
Chabot, CSCO 104/53
M Martin, Chronique de Josué le Stylite
T Tullberg, Dionysii Telmahharensis Chronici liber primus
W Wright, The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite