Evidence ID
E00072Saint Name
Shmona and Gurya, martyrs in Edessa, ob. 309/10 : S00081
Habbib, martyr in Edessa, ob. 310/12 : S00090Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)Evidence not before
540Evidence not after
600Activity not before
345Activity not after
346Place of Evidence - Region
MesopotamiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
EdessaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Edessa
Edessa
Edessa
Ἔδεσσα
EdessaCult activities - Liturgical Activity
Cult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - bishopsSource
The Chronicle of Edessa is a collection of mainly short entries, most of which are related to the history of the city of Edessa. It is an original Syriac composition, produced in the second half of the 6th century by a pro-Chalcedonian Syriac-speaking author.
Syriac text: Guidi 1903, vol. 1, 1-13; English translation: Cowper 1864, 30-39; German translation: Hallier 1892, 84-138; Russian translation: Пигулевская 1959. For general information, see van Rompay 2011; Witakowski 1986.Discussion
The Chronicle refers to the building in Edessa by bishop Abraham in the year 345/6 of 'a church of the Confessors' (bet mawdyane). The chronicler appears to be well-informed about events of the fourth century. There is no reason to doubt this information.
Although the Chronicle does not name the saints, who are referred to as 'confessors' (mawdyane) and not as 'martyrs' (sahde), it is certain that the particular group of the three 'Edessan martyrs' (i.e. Shmona and Gurya, Habbib) is meant here. Cf. the evidence of The Story of Euphemia and the Goth (E00220), where 'the martyr-shrine of the holy Confessors Guria and Shmona and Habbib' is mentioned (ed. Burkitt 1913, 134).Bibliography
Editions and translations:
Guidi, I., Chronica minora, Pars prior. 2 vols (CSCO Syr. III.4; Paris: Typographeo Reipublicae, 1903).
Cowper, B.H., “Selections from the Syriac. No. I: The Chronicle of Edessa,” Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record NS V, 9 (1864), 28-45.
Hallier, L., Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik, mit dem Syrischen Text und einer Übersetzung (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 9:1; Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1892).
Пигулевская, Н.В., “Эдесская хроника,” Палестинский сборник 4 [67] (1959), 79-96; reprinted in: Пигулевская, Н.В., Сирийская средневековая историография. Исследования и переводы (С.-Петербург: Дмитрий Буланин , 2000), 468-476.
Further reading:
Rompay, L. van, “Chronicle of Edessa,” in: S.P. Brock, A.M. Butts, G.A. Kiraz and L. van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), 97-98.
Witakowski, W., “Chronicles of Edessa,” in: T. Kronholm and E. Riad (eds.), On the Dignity of Man: Oriental and Classical Studies on Honour of Frithiof Rundgren (Orientalia Suecana 33-35; Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1986), 487-498.
