ʿeltā

In the Syriac literature, an ʿeltā (plural ʿellātā) is a work explaining the reasons behind feast days, aspects of the liturgy or some other part of church tradition.[1] It is a distinctive literary genre of the Church of the East and is strongly associated with the schools, such as the School of Nisibis and the School of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.[2] It flourished between the 6th and 8th centuries.[3]

The word ʿeltā is Syriac for "cause" or "explanation".[4] The genre may be called "cause literature" in English.[5]

Works

Most surviving examples of the genre are derived from a single 16th-century manuscript collection called "Explanations of the Feasts of the Economy". All of these date to the 6th century:[4]

  • Cyrus of Edessa
    • On the Fast
    • On the Pascha
    • On the Passion
    • On the Resurrection
    • On the Ascension
    • On Pentecost
  • Thomas of Edessa
    • On the Birth of Christ
    • On the Epiphany
  • Ishai
    • On the Feast of the Martyrs
  • Henana of Adiabene
    • On Good Friday
    • On the Rogation
  • Posi
    • On the Fast
  • Anonymous
    • On the Commemoration of Mary

Outside of this collection are the ʿeltā on the Trisagion by the 6th-century Patriarch Ishoyahb I[2] and the Cause of the Foundation of the Schools by a certain Barhadbshabba, either Barhadbshabba of Hulwan or Barhadbshabba Arbaya.[6]

Many ʿellātā were written that no longer survive. They are known only through the bibliography compiled in the early 14th century by Abdisho bar Brikha. These include:[7]

  • Henana of Adiabene
    • On the Friday of Gold
    • On the Discovery [of the Cross]
  • Babai the Great
    • On Palm Sunday
    • On the Feast of the Cross
    • Book of Causes on Matthew the Wavering, Abraham of Nisibis and Gabriel Qatraya
  • Joseph Hazzaya
    • On the Glorious Festival
  • Abraham of Mahoze
    • On All the Festivals
  • Cyriacus of Nisibis
    • On the Birth of Christ
    • On the Epiphany
  • Gregory of Shushtre
    • On the Festivals

Abdisho also records that Shallita of Reshaina in the 8th century, the Patriarch Isho bar Nun in the 9th and the Patriarch Abdisho I in the 10th wrote ʿellātā, without specifying on what topics.[8]

References

  1. ^ Becker 2013, p. 103, citing Macomber 1974, Preface: "a lengthy theological discourse that explained both the reasons for some liturgical or other celebration and different aspects of the theological mystery that lay behind it".
  2. ^ a b Becker 2013, pp. 101–102.
  3. ^ Becker 2013, p. 103.
  4. ^ a b Becker 2013, p. 101.
  5. ^ Becker 2013, p. 98.
  6. ^ Becker 2013, pp. 98–100.
  7. ^ Becker 2013, pp. 102–103.
  8. ^ Becker 2013, p. 102.

Bibliography

  • Baumstark, Anton (1901). "Die nestorianischen Schriften 'de causis festorum'". Oriens Christianus. 1: 320–342.
  • Becker, Adam H. (2013). Fear of God and the Beginning of Wisdom: The School of Nisibis and the Development of Scholastic Culture in Late Antique Mesopotamia. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Macomber, William Francis (1964). "The Theological Synthesis of Cyrus of Edessa, an East Syrian Theologian of the Mid Sixth Century". Orientalia Christiana Periodica. 30: 5–38.
  • Macomber, William Francis, ed. (1974). Six Explanations of the Liturgical Feasts by Cyrus of Edessa, an East Syrian Theologian of the Mid Sixth Century. Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium.
  • Possekel, Ute (2020). "Transmitting Theodore to the Church of the East: The Contribution of Thomas of Edessa". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 71 (4): 712–737. doi:10.1017/S0022046920000706. S2CID 229010574.
  • Reinink, G. J. (2008). "The Cause of the Commemoration of Mary: Author, Date, and Christology". In George A. Kiraz (ed.). Malphono w-Rabo d-Malphone: Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock. Gorgias Press. pp. 517–534.
  • Riad, Eva (1988). Studies in the Syriac Preface. Almqvist and Wiksell.
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