Chronicle

The only manuscript of the chronicle (Aleppo-Edessa codex) was copied in 1598 from an antigraph of the autograph manuscript written by Moses of Mardin (d. 1592). From the Aleppo-Edessa manuscript a modern transcription was carried out and reproduced in the fourth volume of Chabot's French translation (Chabot 1910). A photographic reproduction of the Aleppo-Edessa manuscript has been published by G. Kiraz (2009). Since the manuscript lacks the preface and the beginning of the Chronicle, the title and the name of the author above refer to Bar Ebroyo's mention of Michael's work. From the Syriac text two Armenian adaptations were made, likely on the basis of the original manuscript, in 1229 (Version I) and 1248 (Version II), the last at the request of the Armenian patriarch Constantine (1221-1267). Chabot's translation of the preface is based on Version II of the Armenian text. The Chronicle is arranged in three columns devoted to civil, ecclesiastical and 'varia' matters. Weltecke (2003: 151-152) has shown that in the original layout the three columns were probably anchored to chronological canons, which the copyist of the Aleppo-Edessa manuscript moved to the bottom of the page.