Chronicle Of 846
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The ''Chronicle of 846'' is a fragmentary
universal chronicle A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of humankind as a whole. Universal historians try to identify connections and patterns among individual historical events and phenomena, making them part of a general narr ...
written in Syriac by an anonymous author sometime between 846 and 873. Its focus for the later centuries, where it is most valuable, is
ecclesiastical history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of the ...
. It is written from a
Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...
perspective.


Date, authorship and transmission

The ''Chronicle'' is found on
folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...
s 1–36, 40 and 41 of a single manuscript, Brit. Mus. Add. MS 14642, which was copied in the early 10th century in '' Esṭrangela'' script. The copy is a
palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...
: the folios were taken from five different
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
manuscripts, erased and written over. A "perfectly distinct work", the '' Chronicle of 813'', is bound immediately after it in the codex but was originally a separate manuscript. The original text of the ''Chronicle of 846'' began with
Creation Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...
, but this part has been lost. The text as it stands begins with the birth of
Levi Levi ( ; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron ...
to the Hebrew patriarch
Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...
. Owing to damage and loss, there are lacunae in the preserved text for the periods 30 BC–AD 37, 230–275, 431–449, 540–574, 582–601 and 610–679. The end of the text is not defective. The last event recorded being the ordination of
John IV of Antioch John IV (Syriac language, Syriac: ''Mor Yuhanon'') was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 846 until his death in 873.Barsoum (2003) Biography John became a monk, and later priest, at the Monastery of St Zacchae ...
in 846, it was probably put in its final form shortly after this date and before John's death in 873. The original chronicle may have ended in 784, before a second compiler extended it with a list of names and dates down to 846. The text's first editor, E. W. Brooks, suggested that, to judge from the number of references to the bishops of
Ḥarrān Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...
, it may have been composed in that location. He later suggested that it may have been written at the
monastery of Qarṭmin Dayro d-Mor Gabriel (; the ''Monastery of Saint Gabriel''), also known as Deyrulumur, is the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world behind Mor Mattai Monastery in Northern Iraq. The monastery dint take its name as Mor Gabriel unt ...
, but Ephrem Barsaum points out that the connection to Qarṭmin derives from the chronicle's reliance on the '' Chronicle of 819'', which probably was composed there. The only surviving copy of the ''Chronicle of 819'' was made by a certain Severus for his uncle David, a monk of Qarṭmin consecrated bishop of Ḥarrān by John IV. Andrew Palmer therefore suggests that the ''Chronicle of 846'' is the work of David, who commissioned his nephew to make a copy of an earlier chronicle for this purpose. Even he is not the main author of the ''Chronicle of 846'', he may be the compiler who extended it from 784 to 846 and interpolated information from the ''Chronicle of 819''. Elsewhere, Palmer suggests that Nonnus of Ḥarrān, a monk of Qarṭmin who became bishop of
Ṭur ʿAbdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for its Christian monaste ...
shortly before 845, may have been the final redactor of the ''Chronicle of 846''.


Sources, content and structure

The ''Chronicle'' is a series of chronologically ordered short notices, typically preceded by the year given in the
Seleucid era The Seleucid era ("SE") or (literally "year of the Greeks" or "Greek year"), sometimes denoted "AG," was a Calendar era, system of numbering years in use by the Seleucid Empire and other countries among the ancient Hellenistic period, Hellenistic ...
. The early, universal part relies on the ''
Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
'' of
Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
. The later sections are local in character and rely on non-universal chronicles, as well as lists of bishops and the canons of church councils. For the 5th and 6th centuries its focus is ecclesiastical history. Among its sources are the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of
John of Ephesus John of Ephesus (or of Asia) (Greek: Ίωάννης ό Έφέσιος, Classical Syriac: ܝܘܚܢܢ ܕܐܦܣܘܣ, c. 507 – c. 588 AD) was a leader of the early Syriac Orthodox Church in the sixth century and one of the earliest and the most im ...
, the ''Ecclesiastical History'' of
Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor is the designation used by modern scholarship for the anonymous 6th-century author who compiled a twelve-part history in the Syriac language around 569. It contains portions of the otherwise lost ''Ecclesiastical History'' of ...
, the lost chronicle of
Jacob of Edessa Jacob of Edessa (or James of Edessa) () (c. 640 – 5 June 708) 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 theologica ...
and the '' Teaching of Addai''. It also shares sources with the
Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...
'' Chronicle of 641'' and the ''
Chronicle of Edessa The ''Chronicle of Edessa'' () is an anonymous history of the city of Edessa written in the mid-6th century in the Syriac language. "''Chronicle of Edessa''" is a conventional title; in the manuscript it is titled ''Histories of Events in Brief' ...
''. For the 7th and 8th centuries, after the
rise of Islam The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...
, it depends upon the ''Chronicle of 819''. For the period 679–784, the ''Chronicle of 846'' is uncharacteristically political in describing events in the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and the Islamic
Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
. Its account of this period is generally independent of any other surviving source. Down to 728 it is primarily a political history, but from 734 it reverts to ecclesiastical history with caliphal notices. The final section contains a
list of caliphs A caliph is the religious and political leader of an Islamic state known as the caliphate. Caliphs (also known as 'Khalifas') led the Muslim as political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and widely recognised caliphates have existed i ...
from 784 until the reign of
al-Maʾmūn Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...
(813–833), but does not mention his death, and a list of Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch from 784 until 846. The ''Chronicle of 846'' overlaps with certain works that depend on the same sources, such as the '' Chronicle of Zuqnin'' (775) and the works of
Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor (; 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second C ...
(9th century),
Michael the Syrian Michael the Syrian (),(), died AD 1199, also known as Michael the Great () or Michael Syrus or Michael the Elder, to distinguish him from his nephew, was a patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1166 to 1199. He is best known today as th ...
(12th century) and
Bar Hebraeus Gregory Bar Hebraeus (, b. 1226 - d. 30 July 1286), known by his Syriac ancestral surname as Barebraya or Barebroyo, in Arabic sources by his kunya Abu'l-Faraj, and his Latinized name Abulpharagius in the Latin West, was a Maphrian (region ...
(13th century). It does contain unique material not found elsewhere, almost entirely for the periods 574–582, 601–610 and 679–846. These include the exactions of the Arab governors of Iraq and an otherwise unknown
bishop of Edessa Below is a list of bishops of Edessa. Early bishops The following list is based on the records of the ''Chronicle of Edessa'' (to ''c''.540) and the ''Chronicle of Zuqnin''. Jacobite (Syriac) bishops These bishops belonged to the Syriac Orthodo ...
, Athanasius, around 750. As befits its Syriac Orthodox point of view, the ''Chronicle'' is hostile to the Byzantine emperor
Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian (; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was the first List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor of the Isaurian dynasty from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to the Twenty Years' Anarchy, a period o ...
and favourable to the Caliph
ʿUmar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...
. Its account of the campaign of Sharāḥīl ibn ʿUbayda against the
Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
during the
siege of Constantinople (717–718) In 717–718, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, was besieged by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borde ...
may be derived from an
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
source.


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{refend 846 9th-century Christian texts
846 __NOTOC__ Year 846 ( DCCCXLVI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Bulgarian War: The Bulgarians violate the peace treaty (see 815), and invade Macedonia along ...
Christianity in the Abbasid Caliphate Christian texts of the medieval Islamic world