Saliba mentioned one Melekishoʿ for the late AD 640s, as the sahib dayri'l-Hadîtha. The al-Haditha I recall is the upriver Iraqi town which the US Army made infamous, followed by Rep. John Murtha poisoning any chance of getting an actual accounting over who did what and why. But anyway. Syriac!
Ishoʿdnah occasionally notes a city translated "Hadeth" in French, which EW Budge and Addai Scher both pronounced Hdhatta, both from the same Syriac consonants: 54, 108, 116, 122. It sounds like Ἔδεσσα with the dyosigma swapped for dyotau, as Greeks do. Obviously this is far too easterly to be Şanlıurfa; I'll leave to others if some Macedonian founded this town by Edessa's name.
... nah, I'll just leave that idea in the bin where it belongs. I expect the name went Hdhêtha > Hadhîtha (alif, but probably not maqsura; al- then-optional) > al-Hadîthah (marbuta). "Hdhêtha" here, then. Budge was famously amateurish; just ask Stargate.
Ishoʿdnah starts with Titus UPDATE 3/6 whom another post will cover. Bishop Zoke is #108, follower of Afnimaran. #116 is the account of John of Daylam - not a bishop (this post shall cover #122). Thomas of Marga notes a later bishop Solomon; involving Ishoʿyahb III's memory, but that one's surviving letters don't mention any of the above.
As for "Melekishoʿ", um. It means something: "Jesus is King". Ishoʿdnah #122 does note, finally, a monastery at Hdhêtha: Hnanishoʿ built this. Did Saliba intend Hnanishoʿ?
Fiey, "Ichoʿdnah, métropolite de Basra", 438-47 (apud Hoyland n. 137) noted that Ishoʿdnah's work, further, has made his own odyssey through the manuscripts. There is, Fiey claimed, an epitome of the "Book Of The Chaste" which noted that Ishoʿdnah had written about the heretics. We can assuredly ponder Mar Mattai, going toward Mount Alfâf of which Ishoʿdnah is well aware. So are we dealing with a Had-Qnoma monastery?
Sometimes this blog has answers. (Maybe TOO many times.) This is not one of those times.
MYSTERY SOLVED 3/6: Ishoʿdnah #98 knows the name: Rabban Melekishoʿ of Nine-of-ʿElam. This, obviously, stands nowhere near al-Haditha... in the ʿIraq, and I hadn't sussed it a week ago. To that Siʿrt #111 has the details: it's near Gundeshapor (Béṯ Lāpāṭ) and they called it ʿUmr al-Hadîth. This in turn is a misunderstanding for ʿûmra hadta which just means "new convent".
The next mystery is: when was it built. Siʿrt ain't good with numbers. Siʿrt #111 sits between Athanasius' sending of John to Alfâf and the secondary "Melkite" disciples of Hnana of Hidyab. Late AD 640s is possible; we're about to read about Ishoʿyahb III, if that MS extended so far.
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