THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Rhetor (see Zacharias Scholastikos; Eng. transl., by F. H. Hamilton and E. W. Brooks, The Syriac Chronicle, known as that of Zachariah of Mitylene, London, 1899; cf. also K. Ahrens and G. Kriiger, in Scriptores Sacri et Profani Seminarii Philologici Jenensis, iii., Leipsic, 1899; the " Life of Severus " has been edited and translated by A. Kugener in PO, vol. ii., part 1 ; cf . further, A. Kugener, in ROC, 1900, parts 2-3, J. Gwynn, in Hermathena, xi., no. 24; the Syriac text includes the legend of Joseph and his wife, Asenath); the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (q.v.; cf. also M. Huber, Die Wanderlegende von den Siebenschldfern, Leipsic, 1910); a description of Rome in connection with the war of Totila; and an account of the world based on Ptolemy. Among the historical romances is the history of Julian called the Apostate (see Julian), which has been edited by G. Hoffmann (Julianos der Abtrunnige, Leiden, 1880) and, in selections, by R. J. H. Gottheil (1906); while a complicated history attaches to the so-called " Chronicle " of Dionysius of Tell Mahre (cf. H. G. Kleyn, in Feestbuundel aan Prof. M. J. de Goeje, pp. 57-75, Leyden, 1891; F. Nau, Nouvelles etudes sur le chronique attribue a Denys de Tellmahre, Paris, 1896; Bulletin critique, 1897, pp. 54-58; J A, viii. 2; ROC, 1897; the fourth part of the chronicle in question was edited by J. B. Chabot, Paris, 1895).
E. Nestle.
Bibliography: In addition to the works mentioned in the article, the following treatises may be consulted with advantage: from PO, Histoire nestorienne (chronique de Seert), i., Arabic text, ed. Addai Scher, transl. P Dib (vol. iv., part 3, vol. v., part 2) ; Les Legendes syriaques d' Aaron de Saroug, de Maxime et Domece, d' Abraham, maltre de Barsoma et de Vempereur Maurice, ed. and transl. F. Nau (vol. v., part 5) ; James of Edessa, the Hymns of Severus of Aniioch and Others, ed. and transl. E. W. Brooks (vol. vi., part 1; cf. W. E. Barnes, in JTS, xii. 304-305); Traite d'Im'i le docteur et de Hnana d'Adiabene sur les martyrs le vendredi d'or et les rogations, suivis de la confession de foi a reciter par les eviques avant V ordination, ed. and transl. Addai Scher (vol. vii., part 1); also F. Nau, " Hagiographie syriaque," in RCO, II., v., no. 1; id., La Version syriaque de la premiere lettre de Saint- Antoine: Analyse du traite de Denys bar Salibi contre les Nestoriens, Paris, 1909; Ignatius Ephraem II. Rahmani, " Documenta de antiquis haeresibus," in Studia Syriaca, part iv., 1909; H. W Codrington, " Liturgia praesanctificatorum Syriaca," in xpvo-oo-Tonita, Studi e ricerche intorno a S. Giovanni Crisost.<m,o, pp. 719-729, Rome, 1908; A. Baumstark, " Die Chrysostomusliturgie und die syrische Liturgie des Nestorios," ib. pp. 771-857; J. B. Chabot, " L'Autodafe des livres syriaques au Malabar," in Florilegium . , a M. le marquis Melchior de Vogue, Paris, 1909; B. Charon (pseudonym for C. P. Karalevsky), Histoire des patriarcats melkites depuis le schisme monophysite du vi. Steele jusqu'a nos jours, Rome, 1909-10; A. Rabbath, Documents inedits pour servir a Vhistoire du christianisme en orient, Beirut, 1910; S. Euringer, " Abyssinien und die heilige Stuhl," in TQS, xcii. 329 sqq.; Addai Scher, " Episodes de l'histoire du Kurdistan," in J A, X., xv. 119-139; id., " Joseph Hazzaya, ecrivain syriaque du viii. siecle," in Rivista degli studi orientali, iii.; G. Levi della Vida, " Pseudo-Beroso siriaco," ib.; G. Richard. Two Syriac-Arabic Glosses of Isho'bar 'AU, Rome, 1910; R. Duval, Les Homiliat cathedrales de Severe d' Antioche, Paris, 1907 (cf. JTS, viii. 465-167); J. Lebon, Le Monophysisme sevirien, Louvain, 1909 (cf. Revue d'histoire et de litterature religieuses, xi. 85-93); E. A. W. Budge, Coptic Homilies (London, 1910; contains the Syriac text, with translation, of John the Faster's homily; and also the text and transl. of portions of a homily of Alexander, the twelfth patriarch of Alexandria); I. Pizzi, " La Dottrina dell' apostolo Addai," in Giornale arcadico, aer. iii., vol. iv.
SYRIAN CHURCH: This organization, in spite of its importance, particularly in the earlier period, has by historians and investigators been sadly neglected. There is yet no really critical edition of its Bible, and no work devoted to the history of the church. Yet it has been noted by Harnack (Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, ii. 126, 2d ed., 2 vols., Leipsic, 1906, Eng. transl., Mission and Expansion of Christianity, 2d ed., London, 1908) that it is a church to which protection by the State has never been granted, while J. F Bethune- Baker (JTS, viii. 123) remarks upon the Nestorian branch that its magnificent history, its endurance under unparalleled persecution, its undoubted loyalty to the faith received from the Fathers, and its Eastern character combine to give it a unique postion.
In a sense its history begins when the apostles were in Damascus and Antioch, and each of the Gospels alludes to the Syrians (Matt. iv. 24; Mark vii. 26; Luke iv. 27; John xii. 20). It would appear that there were Christians at Damascus in the days of Origen, and the bishop of the city was present at Nicffia, though nothing is known concerning the number of Christians there. In the time of Chrysostom the inhabitants of Antioch were proud of the fact that there " the disciples were called Christians first" (Acts xi. 26); according to Ephraem Syrus the Gospel of John was written there; this city had its own bishops (although the list is not without variations), among them Ignatius, who termed Antioch " the Church of Syria." The national Syrian Church began, however, in Edessa (c>v.). It is possible that the Syriac translation of the Old Testament was at least in part a Jewish production, but Christianity did not become the dominant factor in Edessa until the early part of the third century. By the time of the first pilgrims to Palestine Edessa had come to be regarded almost as a part of the Holy Land, a fame which it retained throughout the period of the Crusades. The earliest certain names in the history of the church at Edessa are those of Bardesanes (q.v.) and his son, Harmodius, and their antagonist, Ephraem Syrus (q.v.).
Syriac literature (q.v.) is almost entirely Christian, and, indeed, theological (cf. Bible Versions, A, III.; Harmony of the Gospels, I, §§ 2-3), including a large number of Apocrypha, such as the Testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi (q.v.) and The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, together with the Apocalypses of each one of them (ed. J. R. Harris, Cambridge, 1900), while the Bible manuscripts frequently contain III Cor., but have neither the Catholic epistles nor the Apocalypse, for which they sometimes substitute the Testamentum Domini and the six books of Clement.* The art displayed in these manuscripts is an important factor in the determination of the influence of Syrian art on the Occident and of the significance of Syrian individuals and colonies in Italy and Gaul. There were Syrian popes: Anicetus, John V., Sergius, Sisinnius, Constantine I., and Gregory III. A new period in the history of the Syrian Church began when
* [The Testamentum Domini, in two books, together with six other books of church law, forms the " Clementine Octateuch," used both by Nestorians and by Jacobites.]