It'll be very

When last we left Nisibin, the burghers were refusing pope Ishoʿyahb's choice of Metropolitan. To that, Guidi's Khuzestan has this as #39 - immediately followed by #40 Mar Ishoʿyahb held the patriarchate for eighteen years. His body was laid in the martyrion of the church of Karka in Beth Garmai.

Later #42: Maremmeh also went up to Nisibis to make peace between its inhabitants and their metropolitan, but they would not submit. [p.33] He then sent for Isaac bishop of Arzon and appointed him over them.

For Ishoʿyahb Siʿrt #105 has a different account. Again, I'm basing this from Addai Scher's French, which I needs de-correct to the Arabic:

Following the disagreement between the inhabitants of Nisibis and their metropolitan Isaac, Ishoʿyahb left for Nisibis from the Madain, so as to set an agreement between them. He fell ill at Karkh-Jiddân [Fr: "Guedan"], and died - may God sanctify his soul. There he was buried. Thus death delivered him from the misfortunes and sorrows with which he had been overwhelmed following the upheaval of the empire, and from the outrages to which he had been subjected since his arrival in the country of the Greeks, where he had celebrated mass. Yazdin's family took care of his burial. He had been Catholicos for nineteen years and six months...

In that light, Ṣalībā: Ishoʿyahb died in Kark-Gidâna [supp. pasch. 19. 15. 6] and was buried there, when he had sat for nineteen years. [The seat vacated after him for a year.]

It is thought that Ṣalībā like ʿAmr-Marī used Siʿrt, so if Siʿrt erred the error is going to dribble down. I further note that Siʿrt's translator Addai Scher knew Gismondi's translations of both texts (into Latin). For one thing, when did the Catholicate return to what was now "al-Madain"? Khuzestan doesn't say; although, Bar Hebraeus says that Maremmeh was ordained there. But I am not assured Khuzestan is infallible, either.

A later synopsis is in effect for Maremmeh's life; today we shall observe his death. Siʿrt #108: Three years after his ordination, he went out to Karkh-Jiddân. He fell ill there with a malady from the fatigue of the journey, due to its difficulties and heat. Likewise Ṣalībā: When he went out to Karh-Gidana, he was seized with extreme fatigue and heat. Here ʿAmr gets into this act: But three years later, he went out to Karkh-Jiddân, he labored on account of the labor and heat of his journey. Why was another pope going there? No-one will tell us!

Also the wording is similar in all five (5) spots. Elsewhere in Gismondi's two extracts, I find ʿAmr has sited the vita of Phetion at the karkh Jiddân. But I've not heard of Karkh-Jiddân in any actual Syriac (nor in Siʿrt). I further must ask, if Yazdin's family is burying this man, why they are burying him at obscure Kark-Gedān and not... somewhere important in Bet-Garmay, which was the Yazdin base.

Someone is doing history bad. (inb4 "this blogger".)

The first fix is to assume Siʿrt #105 has inserted a gloss "Ishaq", and honestly min al-Madain looks narratively backward as well.

Might Siʿrt #105 wa-dufina hunâk render Syriac for then he was buried? - that little homily afterward harking back here might have drifted into the original Syriac, where it threw off the translator who wondered why the narrative was burying this man twice.

Alternatively the problem may lie in the word jiddân. I know this one in Arabic class! as I look at modern colloqual Iraqi Arabic, an earlier version of which the latest author of Siʿrt would have spoken, I find it there too. It means "very". If so, these journeys are simply strenuous journeys to The Kark - which will just be Kirkuk. Either that or each pope fell "very" ill.

In light of Guidi, I like the jiddân idea best. Strunk and White always did warn us off that word.

Next fix: break the paragraph. It now translates:

Following the disagreement between the inhabitants of Nisibis and their metropolitan Isaac, Ishoʿyahb left for Nisibis from the Madain, so as to set an agreement between them.

He fell ill - very - at Karkh [de Beit Selouq], and died - may God sanctify his soul. There he was buried. Thus death delivered him from the misfortunes and sorrows with which he had been overwhelmed following the upheaval of the empire, and from the outrages to which he had been subjected since his arrival in the country of the Greeks, where he had celebrated mass. Yazdin's family took care of his burial. He had been Catholicos for nineteen years and six months...

So much better! And #108 doesn't need nearly as much red-sharpie. As to kharaja, Siʿrt assumes Marammeh had based himself in the Madain; but we based Guidi readers can allow for Nisibis.

MATHS 3/9: This paragraph at the end teased what to make of the dueling number of years for the earlier pope, Ishoʿyahb II. Tonight: the younger Ishoʿyahb puts his oar in. Bit more than sixteen years, from spring AD 628 to autumn 644.