Samuel Giamil (1847–1917) () was an Assyrian scholar,

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

and a

Chaldean Catholic The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...

monk. He was the superior of the Monastery of ''Notre Dame des Semences'' near

Alqosh Alqosh (, , , alternatively spelled Alkosh, Alqoš, or Alqush) is a town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif District situated 45 km north of the city of Mosul. The inhabitants of Alqosh are Assyrian peopl ...

from 1890 to 1917 and wrote numerous scholarly works in

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Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and translated and published many important Syriac manuscripts.

Biography

Samuel Giamil was born in

Tel Keppe Tel Keppe ( ', ', alternatively spelled Tel Kaif, Tilkepe, or Telkef) is a town in northern Iraq. It is located in the Nineveh Governorate, less than 8 mi (13 km) northeast of Mosul.Welcome to Tel Keppe at ChaldeansOnline http://www.cha ...

in Ninveh Governorate in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to Shimʿun Jamīl and Farīdeh. Tel Keppe was a predominantly Assyrian Christian town until the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

occupation on 6 August 2014. In 1866 he joined the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd of the Chaldean Catholic Church while Elishaʿ Tīshā was the Abbot of the monastery. In 1869, he accompanied Patriarch Mar Yawsep VI Audo to the First Vatican Council. There he attended college and continued his studies until 1879, when he was ordained a priest. As soon as he returned, he was sent out to serve in the Monastery of ''Notre Dame des Semences'' (the lower monastery) near Alqosh. There he established a school in 1880. In 1885 he was sent to the northern regions of Mesopotamia by Patriarch Eliya ʿAbū al-Yūnān as a Patriarchal envoy. For an year, he served as the Vicar of the Chaldean Diocese of ʿAqra. In 1890, he became the second superior of the monastery, succeeding Elisha of Dohuk (d. 1875). In 1892, he accompanied

Toma Audo Mar Toma Audo (), also spelled Thomas Audo (October 10, 1854 - July 27, 1918) was Archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Urmia (1890-1918), within the Chaldean Catholic Church.Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the Urmia Archeparchy, to the mountain villages for the purpose of healing a schism that developed in the church. He remained the superior of the lower monastery until his death in 1817. During his tenure he was responsible for substantial renovations in the monastery and has been commemorated in many inscriptions. Both he and his predecessor have been entombed in the monastery. The monastery also houses the tomb of Patriarch Joseph VI Audo.

Works

Giamil wrote a number of books and notably, he has translated a theological book written originally in Syriac by Adam ʿAqraya in the 1610s from Latin back into Syriac. The original Syriac version had been lost. In 1902, he published the "''Genuinae relationes''", an important and scholarly collection of dealings of the

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with the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

between thirteenth and nineteenth centuries. This work has helped to trace the history of the East Syriac Patriarchate and the allegiance of its branches after the

schism of 1552 The schism of 1552 was the division of Church of the East into two factions, one of which entered into communion with Rome becoming part of the Catholic Church at this time and the other remained independent until the 19th century. Although the E ...

. Between 1885 and 1902, he had also been the scribe of several manuscripts, including the text used by Chabot in ''Life of Rabban Joseph Busnaya'' of Yohannan Bar Kaldun.

Selected publications

Monte Singar: Storia d’un popolo ignoto
(1900)
Symbolum Nestorianum anni p. Ch. n. 612
(1901)

(1902).

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giamil, Samuel 1847 births 1917 deaths People of Iraqi-Assyrian descent Chaldean Catholics Assyrian Iraqi writers Syriacists Syriac writers