`Abdisho` bar Brika

'Abdisho' bar Brika (also known as Abdhiso bar Berikha, and in Latin as Ebed Jesu) was an East Syriac/Nestorian writer who was born around 1250 and died in 1318. He was bishop of Sinjar, and Bet 'Arbaye, and later Metropolitan of Soba (=Nisibis). He wrote in both Arabic and Syriac, and was one of the last Syriac writers.

Works

• The Metrical catalogue of Syriac Writers. This gives a list of Syriac writers and what they wrote, and is of very great use, particularly for lost works by these authors. The work is arranged in chronological order. The author lists his own works, which indicates that some of them have not reached us, including a Biblical Commentary, a work on the Dispensation of the Life of Christ on Earth, and one against Heresies and Philosophy.

• The Nomocanon, or collection of canons of synods, arranged by subject. A Latin translation exists of this work.

• Ordo Iudiciorum Ecclesiasticorum: a set of rules of ecclesiastical judgements, designed as a handbook for use in church courts. A Latin translation exists of this work.

• Marganitha, or Pearl. It is subtitled "The Truth of the Faith." It is a short but influential summary of East Syriac theology, and was written in 1298. An English translation of this work exists.

• The Paradise of Eden. This is a collection of 50 poems. It was first circulated in 1291, but the author later, in 1316, added a commentary to it because the poems contained a large number of rare or obscure words.

Bibliography

• Angelo Mai, Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio 10:1 (1838), p.1-331. Latin translation of the Nomocanon.

• J-M. Vosté (1883-1943), Ordo iudiciorum ecclesiasticorum ... a Mar Abdiso metropolita Nisibis et Armeniae latine interpretatus. Series: Codificazione canonica orientale. Fonti, ser.2. fasc. 15-16; Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis:Rome (1940). Contents: 2. Ordo iudiciorum ecclesiasticorum. Collectus, dispositus, ordinatus et compositus a Mar Abdiso. Latine interpretatus est, notis illustravit Iacobus M. Vosté, O.P. Latin translation of the Ordo Iudiciorum Ecclesiasticorum. There is a copy in Cambridge University Library.

• G.P.Badger, The Nestorians and their rituals (1852) vol. 2. Pp.361-379 contains an English translation of the Metrical Catalogue of Syriac Writers; Pp.380-422 contains a translation of Marganitha.

Links

• Metrical Catalogue of Syriac Writers - Badger's English translation.

• Marganitha or The Pearl - Badger's English translation.