Ecclesiastical history

Title(s):
  • Ecclesiastical history
  • ܩܠܣܣܛܝܩܐ
    (qlesisṭiqā, Ecclesiastical history)
Period covered:
Unknown
Language:
Syriac
State of Preservation:
Hypothetical
Genre:
  • Ecclesiastical history
Remarks:
Assemani (1725: 216) identified Meshiha Zekha with the monk Jeshu Zekha quoted by Thomas of Marga (Book of Governors, 23) and deduced from the the passage that he had written a history. Mingana (1908: viii-ix) refuted this identification and ascribed to Meshiha Zekha a text discovered and published by him, the so-called Chronicle of Arbela, claiming that Meshiha Zekha was mentioned as author in a marginal note of the manuscript where he found the text (see also Baumstark 1922: 134-135). Since it has been proven that the note was added by a copyist on request of Mingana himself (Jullien - Jullien 2001: 48; Vosté 1947: 517), and the identification of Meshiha Zekha with the author of the Chronicle of Arbela cannot be otherwise proven, the chronicle is now commonly referred to as anonymous (except for Kawerau 1985). The identification of Meshiha Zekha with Jeshu Zekha is far from certain, as well, since, contrary to what Assemani assumed (followed by Duval 1907: 349-350), Thomas of Marga's passage does not allow us to infer that Jeshu Zekha had written an Ecclesiastical history, or indeed a historical work of any other kind.
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