Misplaced Pages

#287712

65-866: The monastery was famous for the number of monks and scholars it housed, and for its large library and considerable collection of Syriac Christian manuscripts. Today, it is an archbishopric ; the current archbishop is Mor Timothius Mousa Alshamany. The monastery was founded in 363 AD by Mor Mattai the Hermit who fled persecution in Amid under the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate with 25 other monks and took residence in Mount Alfaf. According to Syriac tradition, he converted Mor Behnam to Christianity and healed his sister, Sarah, whom he converted too. Their father, Sennacherib,

130-436: A Mongol attack. In 1171, neighboring Kurds led several attacks on the monastery and were repelled by a coalition of monks and local Christians. The Kurds promised the monks they would cease their attacks and paid them 30 dinars; believing their monastery would be safe, the monks sent the local Christians back to their villages. Later, a force of 1,500 Kurds pillaged the monastery and killed 15 monks who could not find refuge in

195-700: A Roman province , first in 214, and finally in 242. In 431 the Council of Ephesus declared Nestorianism a heresy. Nestorians, persecuted in the Byzantine Empire , sought refuge in the parts of Mesopotamia that were part of the Sasanian Empire . This encouraged acceptance of Nestorian doctrine by the Persian Church of the East , which spread Christianity outside Persia, to India, China, Tibet and Mongolia, expanding

260-547: A synonym , particularly during the 19th and the 20th centuries. Since the latter term proved to be very polysemic , a tendency occurred (firstly among scholars) to reduce the term "Syrian Christianity" to its primary (regional) meaning, that designates the Christianity in Syria , while more specific term (Syriac Christianity) came to be used as preferred designation for the entire Syriac branch of Eastern Christianity. That distinction

325-428: A partially accepted convention , but such distinctions do not exist in most of the other languages, nor on the endonymic (native) level among adherents of Syriac Christianity. Native terms ( ethnonyms , demonyms , linguonyms ) that were derived from the name of Syria did not possess a distinctive formal duality that would be equivalent to the conventional English distinction between terms Syrian and Syriac . Since

390-563: Is a list of Syriac Orthodox Church fathers and other clergy that are buried in Mor Mattai Monastery: Syriac Christian Syriac Christianity ( Syriac : ܡܫܝܚܝܘܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ , Mšiḥoyuṯo Suryoyto or Mšiḥāyūṯā Suryāytā ) is a branch of Eastern Christianity of which formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expressed in the Classical Syriac language, a variation of

455-586: Is a list of all the maphrians that studied and graduated from Mor Mattai Monastery. "Maphrian of the East" is a church title that was bestowed as a position below the patriarch to manage the affairs of the eastern dioceses of the Syriac Orthodox Church. This position was created in the past because of the political divisions and wars between the Byzantine Empire in the west and the Persian Empire in

520-507: Is divided on several theological issues, both Christological and Pneumatological . In 431, the Council of Ephesus , which is reckoned as the third ecumenical council, condemned Nestorius and Nestorianism . That condemnation was consequently ignored by the East Syriac Church of the East , which had been previously established in the Sasanian Empire as a distinct Church at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410, and which at

585-583: Is linguistically defined and thus refers to Aramaic-speaking Christians in general, while the second designation is more specific and refers only to Christian Arameans . Christianity began in the Near East , in Jerusalem among Aramaic-speaking Jews . It soon spread to other Aramaic-speaking Semitic peoples like Aramaic pagan peoples along the Eastern Mediterranean coast and also to the inland parts of

650-559: Is not yet universally accepted, even among scholars. It is gradually introduced in most of the English speaking world, with some notable exceptions. Churches of Syriac tradition in India still self-identify , in Indian English , as "Syrian" Churches, both for sociolinguistic and legal reasons. Modern distinctions between "Syrian" and "Syriac" (Christianity) are observed in English language as

715-570: Is person who would manage the daily activities inside and outside the monastery. This person was usually a priest or a monk ( Rabban ). Some of them went on to be metropolitans or bishops in the Monastery or other Syriac Orthodox dioceses. This is a partial list. This is a list of Syriac Orthodox church metropolitans and bishops that studied and graduated from Mor Mattai Monastery but served in different dioceses. The list also contains two brothers' names who were neither metropolitans nor bishops. This

SECTION 10

#1732852430288

780-591: The Church of the East and the Maphrianate of the East (Syriac Orthodox Church), with each branch claiming that its doctrines were not heretical while also accusing the other of teaching heresy. Their theological estrangement has persisted through the medieval and early modern periods and into the present era. In 1999, the Coptic Orthodox Church , a sister-church of the Syriac Orthodox Church, blocked admittance of

845-400: The Council of Constantinople , the fifth ecumenical council, anathematized Theodore of Mopsuestia , and also condemned several writings of Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas of Edessa (see: Three-Chapter Controversy ). Since those three theologians were highly regarded among Eastern Syriac Christians, further rifts were created, culminating in 612, when a major council of the Church of the East

910-740: The Curetonian Gospels and the Syriac Sinaiticus , the Peshitta Bible and the Doctrine of Addai . The bishops who took part in the First Council of Nicea (325), the first of the ecumenical councils , included twenty from Syria and one from Persia, outside the Roman Empire. Two councils held in the following century divided Syriac Christianity into two opposing parties. Syriac Christianity

975-809: The East Syriac Rite and the West Syriac Rite . The East Syriac Rite (also known variably as the Assyrian, Sassanid, Babylonian or Persian Rite), whose main anaphora is the Holy Qurbana of Saints Addai and Mari , is the rite of the Assyrian Church of the East (including its offshoot, the Chaldean Catholic Church and the component Chaldean Syrian Church ), the Ancient Church of the East , and

1040-596: The Eastern Aramaic Christian heritage found among the Assyrian people in what is today Iraq, Southeast Turkey and Northwest Iran, and its offspring. Such reduction was detaching Syriac Christianity from Western Aramaic Christian traditions, that were enrooted in the very homeland of Christianity, encompassing ancient Aramaic-speaking communities in Judea and Palestine , with Galilee and Samaria , and also those in

1105-695: The Eastern Protestant denominations like Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India , which originated from Churches of the West Syriac Rite, various Evangelical denominations continue to send representatives among Syriac Christians. As a result, several Evangelical groups have been established, particularly the Assyrian Pentecostal Church (mostly in America, Iran, and Iraq) from East Syriac Christians, and

1170-647: The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (an independent Oriental Orthodox Church not part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion ). The Syriac language is a variety of Aramaic language, that emerged in Edessa , Upper Mesopotamia ( Assyria ) during the first centuries AD. It is related to the Aramaic of Jesus , a Galilean dialect. This relationship added to its prestige for Christians. The form of

1235-664: The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India . In India, indigenous Eastern Christians ( Saint Thomas Christians ) of both liturgical traditions (East and West Syriac) are called Syrian Christians. The traditional East Syriac community is represented by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church of India. The West Syriac liturgical tradition

1300-535: The Monastery of Mor Hananyo near Mardin and was ordained deacon by Peter IV. The following year, Nasri became a novice before becoming a monk in 1889, upon which he assumed the name Elias. Elias was ordained priest in 1892 by Peter IV along with Osthatheos Saleeba. And during the Massacres of Diyarbakır in 1895, Elias gave refuge to approximately 7000 Armenian refugees in the Monastery of Mor Quryaqos. After this, Elias

1365-638: The Roman Empire and beyond that into the Parthian Empire and the later Sasanian Empire , including Mesopotamia , which was dominated at different times and to varying extents by these empires. The ruins of the Dura-Europos church , dating from the first half of the 3rd century are concrete evidence of the presence of organized Christian communities in the Aramaic-speaking area, far from Jerusalem and

SECTION 20

#1732852430288

1430-712: The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church . A small group, which split from these in the early 19th century, united at the beginning of the 20th century, under the name of Chaldean Syrian Church , with the Assyrian Church of the East. Those who in 1653 broke with the Catholic Church as dominated by the Portuguese in India and soon chose union with the Syriac Orthodox Church later split into various groups. The first separation

1495-809: The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church . The West Syriac Rite (also called Antiochian Syriac Rite), which has the Divine Liturgy of Saint James as its anaphora, is the rite of the Syriac Orthodox Church (including the component Jacobite Syrian Christian Church ), the Maronite Church , the Syriac Catholic Church , and the Indian Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , Syro-Malankara Catholic Church , and Malabar Independent Syrian Church . Protestant forms of this rite are used by

1560-614: The Words of Institution are absent. West Syriacs use the Syro-Antiochian or West Syriac Rite, which belongs to the family of liturgies known as the Antiochene Rite . The Syriac Orthodox Church adds to the Trisagion ("Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us") the phrase "who were crucified for us". The Church of the East interpreted this as heretical. Patriarch Timothy I of

1625-467: The 19th and 20th centuries many Syriac Christians, both East and West, left the Middle East for other lands, creating a substantial diaspora. In modern times, several Churches of Syriac tradition are actively participating in ecumenical dialogue . Indigenous Aramaic -speaking communities of the Near East ( Syriac : ܣܘܪܝܝܐ , Arabic : سُريان ) adopted Christianity very early, perhaps already from

1690-633: The Aramean Free Church (mostly in Germany, Sweden, America and Syria) from West Syriac Christians. Because of their new ( Protestant ) theology these are sometimes not classified as traditional Churches of Syriac Christianity. Ignatius Elias III St. Ignatius Elias III (13 October 1867 – 13 February 1932) (Syriac: ܐܝܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܐܠܝܐܣ ܬܠܝܬܝܐ ) was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1917 until his death in 1932. Nasri

1755-641: The Assyrian Church of the East to the Middle East Council of Churches , which has among its members the Chaldean Catholic Church, and demanded that it remove from its liturgy the mention of Diodorus of Tarsus , Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius , whom it venerates as "the Greek doctors". The liturgies of the East and West Syriacs are quite distinct. The East Syriac Rite is noted especially for its eucharistic Qurbana of Addai and Mari , in which

1820-782: The Church of the East declared: "And also in all the countries of Babylon, of Persia, and of Assyria, and in all the countries of the sunrise, that is to say, among the Indians, the Chinese, the Tibetans, the Turks, and in all the provinces under the jurisdiction of this Patriarchal See, there is no addition of Crucifixus es pro nobis". Among the Saint Thomas Christians of India , the East Syriac Rite

1885-679: The Mediterranean coast, and there are traditions of the preaching of Christianity in the region as early as the time of the Apostles . However, "virtually every aspect of Syriac Christianity prior to the fourth century remains obscure, and it is only then that one can feel oneself on firmer ground". The fourth century is marked by the many writings in Syriac of Saint Ephrem the Syrian , the Demonstrations of

1950-467: The Sasanian capital, in the east and comprised the whole or parts of present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and parts of Turkey and Iran, with its speakers being largely Semitic Assyrians , Arameans , Phoenicians and Judeans . In modern English , the term "Syriac Christianity" is preferred over the alternative form "Syrian Christianity", that was also commonly used in older literature, as

2015-525: The Synod of Dadisho in 424 had declared the independence of its head, the Catholicos , in relation to "western" (Roman Empire) Church authorities. Even in its modern form of Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East, it honours Nestorius as a teacher and saint. In 451, the Council of Chalcedon , the fourth ecumenical council, condemned Monophysitism , and also rejected Dyoprosopism . This council

Mor Mattai Monastery - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-623: The Syriac Orthodox church that had 32 articles. Mor Mattai Monastery had rich libraries containing thousands of manuscripts throughout its long history. However, most manuscripts were lost during a huge fire in 480 AD and in many attacks from hostile enemies. Today, only 224 manuscripts remain in its library. The oldest manuscript is a copy of the New Testament which dates back to 1222 AD. The Syriac Orthodox Church had three patriarchs that studied and graduated from Mor Mattai Monastery: This

2145-484: The attendees, along with other monks from the Monastery, traveled to Antioch to meet with the Patriarch Mar Athanasius to conclude the discussions of union and obtain his blessing to ordain three monks as bishops to fill some vacant dioceses in the east. The second synod was held in November 628 after returning from the trip to Antioch mentioned above. It was headed by Mar Christophorus I and attended by Mar Marutha (the newly ordained metropolitan of Takrit ) and many of

2210-449: The church and its dioceses. Later that year, on 1 December, Elias received a request from Lord Irwin , Viceroy of India, to help resolve a schism within the Malankara Church . Despite cautions from his doctor and eldest sister, Elias left Mosul on 6 February 1931, accompanied by Mor Clemis Yuhanon Abbachi, Rabban Quryaqos, Rabban Yeshu Samuel, Zkaryo Shakir, and Elias Ghaduri, despite his cardiac problems. Elias and his entourage left from

2275-544: The church. It is usually headed by the Patriarch. There were three synods that convened in Mor Mattai Monastery throughout its history. The first synod was held to renew the union between the Mor Mattai Monastery and the Syriac Orthodox Church. It was headed by Mor Mattai Monastery's Metropolitan Mar Christophorus and attended by John (secretary of the Patriarch Mar Athanasius I), Bishop Jirjis of Sinjar, Bishop Daniel of Banuhadra (modern Duhok), Bishop Gregroius of Baremman, and Bishop Yardafne of Shahrzoul. After long discussions,

2340-483: The city of Basra on 28 February and arrived at Karachi on 5 March 1931 where they were received by Patriarchal Delegate Mor Yulius Elias Qoro, Mor Athanasius Paulos of Aluva, as well as other clergymen. Elias then proceeded to Delhi the following day and arrived on 8 March. He met with Lord Irwin in Delhi before leaving to Madras where he was received as a guest of the governor, Sir George Frederick Stanley . Elias arrived in Malankara on 21 March and held meetings between

2405-448: The development of a distinctive Syriac form of Christianity which flourished throughout the Near East and other parts of Asia during Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval period, giving rise to various liturgical and denominational traditions, represented in modern times by several churches which continue to uphold the religious and cultural heritage of Syriac Christianity. Syriac Christianity comprises two liturgical traditions :

2470-463: The east. This office was abolished in 1860, by which time it had become a titular see , due to the decline in population of Syriac Orthodox Christians in the region. This is a partial list of Mor Mattai Monastery's metropolitans . There are gaps in time where the monastery didn't have a residing metropolitan for various reasons, such as when the monastery was abandoned for long periods of time due to attacks from hostile armies. The monastery superior

2535-502: The end of the 18th century most followers of the earlier patriarchate chose union with Rome and, with some others, now form the Chaldean Catholic Church. In India, all of the Saint Thomas Christians are still collectively called "Syrian Christians". The majority of the Saint Thomas Christians, who initially depended on the Church of the East, maintained union with Rome in spite of discomforts felt at Latinization by their Portuguese rulers and clergy, against which they protested. They now form

2600-418: The entire branch of Christianity that stemmed from the first Aramaic-speaking Christian communities, formed in apostolic times, and then continued to develop throughout history, mainly in the Near East and also in several other regions of Asia , including India and China. In English language, the term Aramaic Christianity should not be confused with term Aramean Christianity , since the first designation

2665-407: The establishment of full communion between some of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox and the Catholic Church. They now form the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church . In the Middle East, the newly enthroned patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Ignatius Michael III Jarweh , declared himself a Catholic and, having received confirmation from Rome in 1783, became the head of the Syriac Catholic Church. In

Mor Mattai Monastery - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-418: The first century, and began to abandon their three-millennia-old traditional ancient Mesopotamian religion , although this religion did not fully die out until as late as the tenth century. The kingdom of Osroene , with the capital city of Edessa , was absorbed into the Roman Empire in 114 as a semi-autonomous vassal state and then, after a period under the supremacy of Parthian Empire , was incorporated as

2795-424: The huge numbers of refugees, issued new canon laws, and sought to organize church affairs. Particular challenges included managing properties and endowments in different emerging nation-states in the Middle East and the globally scattered diaspora. Special attention was given to the situation of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India. The Synod issued 41 resolutions and enacted general law for the denominational synods for

2860-433: The ladders to prevent their entry. The Kurds rolled two large boulders against the walls from above, breaking a hole through which the Kurds tried to force entrance. The monks successfully fought back with stones and darts before repairing the walls. Abbot Abu Nser, the monastery superior, lost an eye in this battle. Eventually, the Kurds were bribed with gold and silver from the churches and retreated, since they were afraid of

2925-409: The language in use in Edessa predominated in Christian writings and was accepted as the standard form, "a convenient vehicle for the spread of Christianity wherever there was a substrate of spoken Aramaic". The area where Syriac or Aramaic was spoken, an area of contact and conflict between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire , extended from around Antioch in the west to Seleucia-Ctesiphon ,

2990-449: The monastery and on the mountain itself. Mor Mattai became the monastery superior and under his leadership the community developed a true monastic ethos. When Mor Mattai died, he was interred in the monastery. He was succeeded by Mor Zakai, one of the monks who came with him from Amid. In the 12th century, after storming a nunnery in Khudida, Kurds attacked the monastery for four months with 1,000 horsemen and foot soldiers. The monks burnt

3055-401: The monastery numerous times. The monastery is currently maintained by the Syriac Orthodox Church and serves the small farming villages below it. Every year, Christians of various church denominations gather in the monastery on September 18 to commemorate the day of Mor Mattai's death. A synod (or council) is a large church conference attended by many of the metropolitans and bishops of

3120-410: The old Aramaic language. In a wider sense, the term can also refer to Aramaic Christianity in general, thus encompassing all Christian traditions that are based on liturgical uses of the Aramaic language and its variations, both historical and modern. Along with Greek and Latin , Classical Syriac was one of the three most important languages of Early Christianity . It became a vessel for

3185-595: The other Eastern bishops. They organized the dioceses of the East into twelve bishoprics. By the authority of Christophorus I, the council issued twenty-four canons intended to enhance the position of the metropolitan of Mor Mattai Monastery while overlooking the interest of the metropolitan of Takrit. The third synod was presided over by Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Mor Ignatius Elias III (1917–1933) and moderated by Mor Severus Aphrem Barsoum (1889–1957), then Archbishop of Syria and Lebanon (later Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum ). The Synod discussed post-war challenges such as

3250-474: The proposed distinction is not yet universally accepted among scholars, its individual and often inconsistent application has created a complex narrative, that is additionally burdened by older problems, inherited from terminological controversies that originated much earlier, within Syriac studies in particular, and also within Aramaic studies in general. The use of Syrian/Syriac labels was also challenged by common scholarly reduction of Syriac Christianity to

3315-496: The range of this eastern branch of Syriac Christianity. The western branch, the Jacobite Church , appeared after the Council of Chalcedon 's condemnation of Miaphysitism in 451. West Syriac Rite East Syriac Rite East Syriac Christians were involved in the mission to India , and many of the present Churches in India are in communion with either East or West Syriac Churches. These Indian Christians are known as Saint Thomas Christians . In modern times, even apart from

SECTION 50

#1732852430288

3380-457: The regions of Nabatea and Palmyrene to the east, and Phoenicia and Syria proper to the north. Since Western Aramaic Christians did not fit into narrow scholarly definition of Syriac Christianity, focused on Eastern Aramaic traditions, various researchers have opted for an additional use of some wider terms, like "Aramaic Christianity", or "Aramaic Christendom", thus designating a religious, cultural and linguistic continuum, encompassing

3445-427: The slightly older Aphrahat and the anonymous ascetical Book of Steps . Ephrem lived in the Roman Empire, close to the border with the Sasanian Empire, to which the other two writers belonged. However, another source claims there is a significant amount of evidence from the fourth century and before about liturgical practices. Other items of early literature of Syriac Christianity are the Diatessaron of Tatian ,

3510-409: The throne in 1917. The decree was issued by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI and was confirmed in Elias' visit to Constantinople in 1919, during which he also received the Ismania medal. Elias travelled extensively in 1919 to visit surviving Syriac Orthodox communities in the Middle East in the aftermath of the Assyrian genocide . As a result of the end of the Turkish War of Independence in 1922, Elias

3575-473: The two factions within the church at Aluva, Karingachira, Panampady and Kuruppumpady for the remainder of the year. Despite failing to end the schism, Elias remained in India until February 1932 when he died at the Church of St. Ignatius Monastery Manjinikkara on 13 February. The remains of the patriarch were interred in St. Ignatius Monastery Manjinikkara . 55 years after his death, in 1987, his successor Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I officially declared him

3640-429: The upper citadel. The monks who survived the attack abandoned the monastery and relocated to Mosul. Upon hearing of the attack, the governor of Mosul attacked the Kurds, killing many; in retaliation the Kurds destroyed nine Assyrian villages, killing their inhabitants and attacked the Monastery of Mar Sergius. In 1369, another Kurdish attack on the monastery damaged many manuscripts. During the 19th century, Kurds looted

3705-413: Was appointed Chief of the Monastery of Mor Quryaqos and Monastery of Mor Hananyo. In 1908, Elias was consecrated bishop of Amid by Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho II , upon which he took the name Iwanius. In 1912, he was transferred to Mosul where he served until his elevation to the patriarchate in 1917. After the death of the Patriarch Abded Aloho II in 1915, Mor Iwanius was elected patriarch and assumed

3770-435: Was born on October 13, 1867, in the city of Mardin , son of Chorepiscopus Abraham and Mary, and had four brothers and three sisters. He was cared for by his eldest sister Helena upon the death of his mother, and as a teenager he worked as a goldsmith. He also worked for the Ottoman government for three months. Following the direction of Patriarch Ignatius Peter IV , Nasri joined the Forty Martyrs Seminary, and in 1887, he joined

3835-406: Was forced to flee the traditional patriarchal residence at the Monastery of Mor Hananyo to Jerusalem where he resided for three months. During this time Elias established a printing press for the church, and in 1925, Elias travelled to Aleppo and Mosul to establish printing presses there also. Elias held a synod in 1930 at the Monastery of Mar Mattai , near Mosul, to restructure the organisation of

3900-426: Was held in Seleucia-Ctesiphon . Presided by Babai the Great (d. 628), the council officially adopted specific Christological formulations, using Syriac term qnoma (ܩܢܘܡܐ) as designation for dual (divine and human) properties within one prosopon (person) of Christ. Theological estrangement between East Syriac and West Syriac branches was manifested as a prolonged rivalry, that was particularly intensive between

3965-413: Was introduced after 1665, and the community associated with it is represented by the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (a part of the Syriac Orthodox Church), the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (both of them belonging to the Oriental Orthodoxy ), the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic church in the Catholic Church ), the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (part of the Anglican Communion ), and

SECTION 60

#1732852430288

4030-480: Was rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Churches (among which is the Syriac Orthodox Church) that use the West Syriac Rite. The Patriarchate of Antioch was consequently divided between two communities, pro- Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian. The Chalcedonians were often labelled as ' Melkites ' (Imperials), while their opponents were labelled Monophysites (those who believe in the one rather than two natures of Christ) and Jacobites (after Jacob Baradaeus ). In 553,

4095-422: Was that of the Malabar Independent Syrian Church in 1772. At the end of the 19th century and in the course of the 20th, a division arose among those who remained united with the Syriac Orthodox Church who insisted on full autocephaly and are now called the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and those, the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , who remain faithful to the patriarch. A reunion movement led in 1930 to

4160-410: Was the Governor of the area of Nimrud, and appointed by the Persian King Shapur. He killed his son and daughter when he learned they became Christians, but he later recanted and built a church and a monastery per Mor Mattai's request on the Mount Alfaf . The church and monastery were surrounded by a strong wall and contained water tanks. The monks that came with Mor Mattai lived in huts and caves around

4225-403: Was the one originally used, but those who in the 17th century accepted union with the Syriac Orthodox Church adopted the rite of that church. A schism in 1552 in the Church of the East gave rise to a separate patriarchate, which at first entered into union with the Catholic Church but later formed the nucleus of the present-day Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East, while at

#287712