Ignatius George II was the

Patriarch of Antioch The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...

and head of the

Syriac Orthodox Church The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...

from 1687 until his death in 1708.

Biography

George was born at

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

in 1648, and was the son of ‘Abd al-Karim. He had a brother named Rizq Allah and a sister called Maryam, who had several sons,

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

, Matthew, and Jacob. George became a monk at the nearby

Mar Mattai Monastery Dayro d-Mor Mattai (; ; ''The Monastery of St. Matthew'' or ''Dayro d-Mor Mattai'') is a Syriac Orthodox Church monastery on Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq. Located 20 kilometers northeast of the city of Mosul, it is recognized as one of the oldest ...

, where he and his nephew Isaac were ordained as priests in 1669 by Basil Yeldo, Maphrian of the East. In 1673, George and Isaac aided Basil Yeldo in renovating the Mar Mattai Monastery, for which the three of them were imprisoned by the governor of Mosul for a short while. In 1677, he was ordained as

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

of Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar by Basil Yeldo, upon which he assumed the name Dioscorus. After the abdication of Basil Yeldo, George was ordained as his successor as Maphrian of the East by Patriarch Ignatius Abdulmasih I in 1684, upon which he assumed the name Basil. He was elected to succeed Ignatius Abdulmasih I as patriarch of Antioch, and was consecrated at the Church of the Forty Martyrs at

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

on 22 or 23 April 1687 ( AG 1998). George assumed the name Ignatius, and received a

firman A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...

from the Ottoman government thereby recognising his ascension to the patriarchal office. In the same year, he ordained his nephew Isaac as Maphrian of the East, and entrusted him with the authority to administrate the whole church. In George's tenure as patriarch, he undertook an effort to revitalise the church and to defend it against the inroads of the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac ...

, which had seceded from the Syriac Orthodox Church. After having spent a year in the courts at

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

in Syria, George recovered control over churches that had been seized by Syriac Catholics. In Aleppo itself, he retook the

Mar Assia al-Hakim Church Mar Assia al-Hakim Church () is a Syriac Catholic Church in Al-Jdayde quarter of Aleppo, Syria. The church belongs to the Archeparchy of Aleppo of the Syrian Catholic Church. It was completed in 1500 and is active up to now. History After Tame ...

more than once, and consecrated the Holy

Chrism Chrism, also called ''myrrh'', ''myron'', ''holy anointing oil'', and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Catholic Church, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian C ...

in the city in 1691. He rebuilt a church at Amid in 1693 ( AG 2004), as well as the churches of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

in the 1690s, Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar, and Mosul. In addition to this, he also renovated the

Mor Hananyo Monastery Mor Hananyo Monastery or Monastery of Saint Ananias (; ) is an important Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox monastery located five kilometers south east of Mardin, Turkey, in the Assyrian culture, Syriac cultural region known as Tur Abdin. Mo ...

by rebuilding its eastern wall, parts of the northern wall, and the

monastic cell A cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, nun or anchorite to live and as a devotional space. Cells are often part of larger cenobitic monastic communities such as Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Orthodox Christian monasteries, as well ...

s. In 1696–1699, George rebuilt parts of the Church of the Virgin at the Mor Hananyo Monastery, atop of which he constructed the patriarchal chapel dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

, where he intended synods to meet to elect a new patriarch. In , George constructed a church at Ḥisn Manṣūr, and also at

Zakho Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...

. After the death of the Syriac Catholic patriarch Ignatius Gregory Peter VI Shahbaddin in early 1702, George visited Aleppo and convinced most of the Catholic converts to return to the Syriac Orthodox Church. He visited Edessa in or 1703, where he was imprisoned for a time due to conflict with Syriac Catholics there. At Mardin, he rebuilt the Church of the Forty Martyrs, the Church of Mār Šemʿūn, and the Church of Mār Mīḫāʿīl in 1704 ( AG 2015). George assisted Basilius Gurgis, metropolitan of Bushairiyya, with the construction of the Monastery of Mor Quryaqos with bishops ʿAbd al-Aḥad of Jerusalem and Giwargi of Edessa. In 1708, in response to the outbreak of plague at Mardin and Amida, George led a procession of Christians of mixed confessions from Mardin to the nearby Monastery of Mār Yaʿqōb to pray for deliverance, and delivered a sermon, in which the patriarch preached that the plague was sent by God to punish those who had converted to Catholicism. George served as patriarch until his death on 5 June 1708 ( AG 2019), and he was buried at the Mor Hananyo Monastery. In a biography of George written in 1730 in

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 ...

by Timothy ’Isa, metropolitan of the Mor Hananyo Monastery, he is credited with several miracles. As patriarch, he consecrated twenty bishops.

Episcopal succession

As patriarch, George ordained the following bishops: # Basil Isaac, Maphrian of the East (1687) #Dioscorus Saliba, bishop of the

Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazir ...

(1691) #Gregorius Yaqub, metropolitan of Gargar (1692) #Gregorius Shim’un (Simon), metropolitan of Jerusalem (1693) #Severus Ibrahim, metropolitan of Edessa (1694) #Cyril Bishara, bishop of the Monastery of Mar Julian and

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

(1695) #Cyril Yeshu’, metropolitan of

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Ma’dan (1701) # Iyawannis Matta, metropolitan of the

(1701) #Dionysius Yuhanna (John), metropolitan of the

(1702) #Yuhanna (John), bishop of the Monastery of Qatra (1704) #Basilius ‘Abd al-Ahad, bishop of Zarjal (1705) #Gregorius ‘Abd al-Azali, bishop of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

(1706) #Basilius Ibrahim, bishop of Bushairiyya (1706) #Athanasius Aslan, metropolitan of the Patriarchal Office (1707) #Julius Zmaria, bishop of the Monastery of Mar Julian (1707) #Basilius Gurgis, metropolitan of Bushairiyya (1707) #Severus Iliyya (Elijah), metropolitan of Edessa (1707) #Dioscorus, bishop of the Monastery of Mar Musa ()

References

Notes Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ignatius George II George II 1648 births 1708 deaths 17th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops 18th-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire Maphrians Religious leaders from Mosul Prisoners and detainees of the Ottoman Empire Christian miracle workers Oriental Orthodox bishops in the Ottoman Empire 17th-century clergy from the Ottoman Empire 18th-century clergy from the Ottoman Empire