Chronicle

Title(s):
  • Chronicle
  • ܡܟܬܒܘܬ ܙܒ̈ܢܐ ܕܒܬܪ ܗܿܝ ܕܐܘܣܒܝܣ ܕܩܐܣܪܝܐ
    (maktbūt zabnē d-bātar hāy d-’eūsebīs d-qāsaryā, Chronicle following the one by Eusebius of Caesarea)
  • ܩܢܘܢ ܕܫ̈ܢܝܐ
    (qanūn da-šnayē, Canon of the years)
Period covered:
327-710
Language:
Syriac
State of Preservation:
Partial
Genre:
  • Chronicle (chronica)
Remarks:
The manuscript London, British Library, Additional 14685 is the only direct testimony of the work. It consists of just 23 leaves, many of which are severely damaged and present lacunae. Jacob's chronicle is a continuation of Eusebius', and is modeled on it. In the manuscript the work is ascribed to 'Jacob the Laborious' and the identification with Jacob of Edessa was denied by Nau (1898), but his arguments have been definitively proved wrong, as shown by Witakowksi (2008: 27-29). The text in the manuscript ends with the year 631, but according to Michael the Great the chronicle covered the period up to 710. Since Jacob died in 708, the last two years (at least) must have been added by a continuator. In his metrical catalogue of Syriac writers, Abdisho bar Brika (Assemani 1725: 229) says that Jacob 'wrote about the times/years and the chronicon' which might mean that Jacob's chronicle, like Eusebius', consisted of two parts, the 'chronography' and the 'chronological canons'.
Jacob might also be the author of the West-Syrian translation of Eusebius' Chronicle: see Anonymous (Syriac translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius).
Fragments:
Bibliography:
  • J.S. Assemani (1725) Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana. Volume Three, Part One. Rome.
  • E.W. Brooks (1899) 'The Chronological Canon of James of Edessa'. Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlänsichen Gesellschaft 54: 100-102.
  • M. Debié (2015) L'écriture de l'histoire en syriaque: Transmissions interculturelles et constructions identitaires entre hellénisme et Islam (Late antique history and religion, 12). Leuven - Paris - Bristol: 548-551.
  • S. Fraenkel (1899) 'Zur Chronik des Jacob von Edessa'. Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlänsichen Gesellschaft 53: 534-537.
  • F. Nau (1898) 'Notice sur un nouvaeu manuscrit de l'Octoechus de Sévère d'Antioche, et sur l'auteur Jacques Philoponus, distinct de Jacques d'Édesse'. Journal asiatique 9.12: 346-351.
  • A. Palmer (1993) The seventh century in the West-Syrian chronicles, including two seventh-century Syriac apocalyptic texts (Translated texts for historians, 15). Liverpool: 36-42.
  • H. Teule (2009) 'Jacob of Edessa'. In: Christian-Muslim relations: A bibliographical history. Volume One: 600-900, ed. D. Thomas - B. Roggema (The history of Christian-Muslim relations, 11). Leiden - Boston: 226-233.
  • J.J. van Ginkel (2002) 'Jakob von Edessa in der Chronographie des Michael Syrus'. In: Syriaca: Zur Geschichte, Theologie, Liturgie und Gegenwartslage der syrischen Kirchen, ed. M. Tamcke. Münster - Hamburg - London: 115-124.
  • J.J. van Ginkel (2005) 'History and community: Jacob of Edessa and the West Syrian identity'. In: Redefining Christian identity: Cultural interaction in the Middle East since the rise of Islam, ed. J.J. Van Ginkel - H.L. Murre Van den Berg - T.M. Van Lint. Leuven: 67-76.
  • W. Witakowski (2008) 'The Chronicle of Jacob of Edessa'. In: Jacob of Edessa and the Syriac culture of his day, ed. B. Ter Haar Romeny. Leiden - Boston: 25-47.
  • W. Wright (1872) Catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1838. Volume Three. London: 1062-1064.