Mar Denha I (also written Dinkha I) was Patriarch of the Church of the East (sometimes referred to as the Nestorian church) from 1265 to 1281. He was widely suspected of murdering Shem'on Bar Qaligh, bishop of Tus, and was remembered by later generations as Denha Qatola, 'Denha the Murderer'.

Patriarchate

In 1268 the Patriarch had moved from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, first to Oshnou in Azerbaijan and later to

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an al ...

and

Maragheh Maragheh ( fa, مراغه, Marāgheh or ''Marāgha''; az, ماراغا ) is a city and capital of Maragheh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Maragheh is on the bank of the river Sufi Chay. The population consists mostly of Iranian Azerba ...

. Denha I was patriarch when

Rabban Bar Sauma Rabban Bar Ṣawma (Syriac language: , ; 1220January 1294), also known as Rabban Ṣawma or Rabban ÇaumaMantran, p. 298 (), was a Turkic Chinese ( Uyghur or possibly Ongud) monk turned diplomat of the "Nestorian" Church of the East in China. ...

and his companion Rabban Markos arrived in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, on their pilgrimage from China towards

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Denha had his seat in Baghdad at that time, and requested the two monks to visit the court of

Abaqa Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hul ...

in order to obtain confirmation letters for Mar Denha's ordination as Patriarch. Intending to establish them as leaders of the

Church of the East in China The Church of the East (also known as the Nestorian Church) historically had a presence in China during two periods: first from the 7th through the 10th century in the Tang dynasty, when it was known as ''Jingjiao'' ( zh, t=景教, w=Ching3-chiao4 ...

, Denha consecrated Markos as Mar Yahballaha, Bishop of Katai and Ong, and named Rabban Bar Sauma vicar general. Later, Denha charged the monks to return to China as his messengers. However, their departure was delayed due to armed conflict along the route. When Denha died, Markos was elected as his successor. A modern assessment of Denha's reign can be found in David Wilmshurst's ''The Martyred Church''.Wilmshurst, ''The Martyred Church'', 244–8

Notes

References

*James A. Montgomery, ''History of Yaballaha III'', (New York: Columbia University Press, 1927). * E. A. Wallis Budge, ''The Monks of Kublai Khan'', (London: Religious Tract Society, 1928). * *

Paul Bedjan Paul Bedjan (27 November 1838 – 9 June 1920) was an Assyrian priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church and a Syriacist and orientalist. Born in Khosrova, Persia, an ethnic Assyrian, he was born into a Chaldean Catholic family, and enrolled as ...

, ''Histoire de Mar Jab-Alaha, Patriarche'', (1888, 2nd ed 1995; reprint Gorgias, 2007). Syriac text on which the translations of Montgomery and Budge are based. *Gregory

Barhebraeus Gregory Bar Hebraeus ( syc, ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ ܒܪ ܥܒܪܝܐ, b. 1226 - d. 30 July 1286), known by his Syriac ancestral surname as Bar Ebraya or Bar Ebroyo, and also by a Latinized name Abulpharagius, was an Aramean Maphrian (regional primat ...

, ''Chronicon Ecclesiasticum'', ed. J. B. Abbeloos and

T. J. Lamy Thomas Joseph Lamy (Ohey, Belgium, 27 January 1827 – Leuven, 30 July 1907) was a Belgian Biblical scholar and Orientalist. Biography Lamy was ordained a priest in 1853 after completing his studies at Floreffe and at the seminary of Namur, he ...

, (Paris: Maisonneuve, 1877), 3: II, cols.451ff. *Wilmshurst, David, ''The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East'' (London, 2011).

External links

Chaldeans, History and Cultural Relations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denha 1 Patriarchs of the Church of the East Year of birth missing 1281 deaths 13th-century bishops of the Church of the East