Iustinian Ioan Mindrila

Georg-August-University Göttingen

Saint and Patriarch? Remarks on the unedited memra on the life of Ishoʿyahb III (649-659) ascribed to Henanishoʿ I (685/686–699/700)

Catholicos Henanishoʽ I remains a special figure in the Assyrian Church of the East, despite the relatively brief duration of his pontificate. The majority of his diverse oeuvre appears to be lost, while the surviving works remain understudied. This is also the case of a metrical homily (memra) about his revered teacher, the Catholicos Ishoʽyahb III of Adiabene, ascribed to him. The manuscript, which may be found in the library of Cambridge University (Cambridge Add. 2818, fol. 119-138), mentions the Catholicos Henanishoʽ I as the author of the text. Although the question of attribution remains open, it is a text that portrays a church leader as a saint, at a time when the church has had to adapt to the new social and theological realities after the Islamic conquest. In addition to the natural hagiographical aspects, the poem addresses two further principal themes, namely Christology and the ethics of Christian life by using the example of Ishoʽyahb III. The aim of this paper is to analyse this vita from both a historical and a content perspective. Firstly, an attempt will be made to situate the text within a potential historical and cultural context. Secondly, an evaluation will be conducted of the Christological doctrine, the ethics developed by this memra, and the other theological and practical issues contained in the metrical homily.