On Epistle 4

Today this blog presents a Hnanishoʿ whose monastery was attacked, and a Hnanishoʿ who is the recipient of the Ishoʿyahb epistle (Scott-Moncrieff "III") which the compiler assigned early in that bishop's career. The Gabriel whose death inspired Hnanishoʿ to build his own monastery might be the metropolitan of Bet-Garmay but Siʿrt suggests it's the heretic of Sinjar. To be conservative, I'll go with Siʿrt.

Ishoʿdnah #21 also exists but its bones are barer than Siʿrt's - and a mess, as we'll get to. I am further directed to Paul Bedjan's Histoire de Mar Yabalaha pp. 514f.

A sketch of Hnanishoʿ's life would be: honourable discharge under al-Nuʿman (who shall be discharged with... less honour, AD 602 = AG 913) and then involvement with Mar Elijah and George for the AD 612 disputation. I haven't constrained Gabriel's death but let's say AD 614 / AG 925, which stretches Hnanishoʿ's life to the middle 630s / 940s.

As to "ʿAmr-Hanûn": the hnâna in Hnânishoʿ's Christian name and in his (alleged) miracle means "grace" or "mercy". Addai Scher had added earlier, n.3: could be translated by the words "Paste of Relics"; it designates a kind of firm paste, cut into threads and composed of dust from the tombs of the Saints, water and eight blessings; the Nestorians use it especially in illnesses. But honestly this looks like folk-etymology to me; it's just his two names together. Although, yes, lives-of-saints, at least in the Had-Qnoma, do sometimes have epilogues involving the saint's relic, as Mar Severus and Mar Ahudemmeh.

Where Siʿrt has Darabad, Ishoʿdnah has the country of Salak and of Dâbur for #21 and the tûr of Dara Badûr Selûk in #14 p.8 l.6. Darabad today is in northeastern Tehran; the main city of the region then was Rhages, Arabic Rayy. It happens that the Greek part of Rhages had been "Europos" for the Seleucids. Therefore I read #14 as "Darabad of Seleucid Europos", which Ishoʿdnah (himself!) didn't understand anymore so garbled #21.

This means: by c. 630s/940s Hnânishoʿ had got himself across a mountain-range from Nineveh and from whatever Tayyaye got up there. As a result if ʿAmr Hnanishoʿ said anything about the Tayyaye religion, directly or indirectly we should not expect it worth the read.

Pourshariati tells me that Rayy was a kingdom under Bahrām Chōbīn, albeit in vassalage. After his failure to become shah "Bahram VI", Rayy may have lost some of its sovereignty. I sense confusion between his son Mihran, said to have lost to the Futûh; and Mihran's son Siavax, supposedly an ally of Azarmidokht (against Boran) in the queens' strife before them. Anyway in the early 650s / 960s the Futûh crossed the mountains, defeating Siavax.

Ishoʿyahb uses the same 2 Thessalonians reference as he uses to the bishop Abba in #38. It also ends similarly with a request for prayers so Ishoʿyahb may be found worthy. And Ishoʿdnah suffixes #14's Hnanishoʿ with et Mar Abba, son maître. 'Tis best then to assign Abba as bishop of Rhages.

FIEY 4/16/23: E. IV is summarised and indeed half-translated ch. III, p. 316-7, 319 in French. Fiey opines also that #8's superscript better applies here.