Mabbug and Emesa

It had been Khusro's policy to restore Easterners to the East, at least at Emesa AG 922 (so Thomas, by Mardîn) and at Edessa (so Jacob Philoponos of Edessa).

Later, the Persians had to restore their own armies from the West - Edessa being problematic, but this blogpost needn't worry about that. In their backwash King Heraclius held court at Mabbug (Manbij). He received here the True Cross from general Shahvaraz. Hither the king also convoked an antisynod, inviting Athanasius.

The 1234 refers to "the ecclesiastic history" that this was AG 941 - just before Queen Boran took power across the Euphrates. Michael the Syrian delivers the summary with a roll-call of Athanasius' bishops. These include Mabbug of course; also Tadmur/Palymra, 'Urd, Qinnasrin, Edessa(!), Harran, Arabissos (Afşin), Ephiphania. From Cyrrhus came bishop John; from Emesa, bishop Basil. Severus, Athanasius' brother, came from Samosata; Michael later relates from a "patriarch Denys" - that is, Dionysius I Telmahroyo - of a miracle he performed at Mabbug.

Basil, then, was a Jacobite. The Persians in Emesa either installed the local priest Basil upon its episcopacy or left him there. This they did because the Queen favoured Athanasius' sect, at least up to AG 923 (AD 612) when Gabriel of Sinjar will disgrace himself back home.

By AG 941 the Orient had several new Athanasian sees. None of them sent anybody to Mabbug. Neither, it seems, did Aleppo. This implies those twelve bishops who did come did so at short notice and, perhaps, whilst the Persians were in turmoil.

In Mabbug the King demanded two natures unified in Christ, one will and one energy. Athanasius and most of the bishops with him would not accept this - they thought it sounded too similar to Nestorius. Michael 11.3 reports that the monks of Mabbug and Emesa, however, did accept this. Heraclius was then able to secure at least those episcopacies, including Edessa, along with the Maronites and "the southern regions". Severus retired to a monastery, dying AG 952. Most of the Jacobite ex-bishops returned after Mahmet's Tayyaye overran Syria.