Evidence ID
E01201Saint Name
Zakchaios from Gadara and Alpheios from Caesarea, martyrs in Palestine, ob. 303 : S00119
Zakchaios, martyr at Antioch : S00795Saint Name in Source
ܙܟܝ
ܙܟܝEvidence not before
449Evidence not after
535Activity not before
400Activity not after
449Place of Evidence - Region
MesopotamiaPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
EdessaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Edessa
Edessa
Edessa
Ἔδεσσα
EdessaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Source
Convened in 449 by the emperor Theodosius II, the Second Council of Ephesus dealt mostly with Christological matters. Orchestrated and directed by the representatives of the Miaphysite party, it resulted in the condemnation and deposition of bishops from the Diophysite party such as as Hiba of Edessa, Domnus of Antioch and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Written originally in Greek, the proceedings of this council are preserved only in Syriac translation.
Syriac text: Flemming 1917; English translation: Perry 1881; Doran 2006, 133-188 (sections relating to Hiba); French translation: Martin 1874; German translation: Flemming 1917. For general information, see Millar 2009.Discussion
One of the official documents included in the Acts is a petition against bishop Hiba (435-457), submitted to the council by citizens of Edessa. This document starts with a description of the visit to the city by Chaereas, comes and praeses of the province of Osrhoene (PLRE II, p. 282). It is reported that when this official arrived at the 'boundary' (Syr. tḥumā) of the city, he entered the martyr shrine (Syr. bēt sahdē) dedicated to Zakhaios. The exact identity of this martyr is unclear. Among the possible candidates are *Zakhaios (martyr of Antioch, S00795) and *Zakhaios from Gadara (martyr of Palestine, S00119). Neither is it clear where exactly this church was located in relation to the city of Edessa.Bibliography
Main editions and translations:
Flemming, J.P.G., Akten der Ephesinischen Synode vom Jahre 449: Syrisch (Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, N.F. 15.1; Berlin: Weidmann, 1917).
Doran, R., Stewards of the Poor: The Man of God, Rabbula, and Hiba in Fifth-Century Edessa (Cistercian Studies Series 208; Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 2006).
Martin, J.-P.P., Actes du Brigandage d’Éphèse: traduction faite sur le texte syriaque contenu dans le manuscrit 14530 du Musée britannique (Amien: Emile Glorieux, 1874).
Perry, S.G.F., The Second Synod of Ephesus, together with Certain Extracts Relating to it, from Syriac Mss. Preserved in the British Museum (Dartford: Orient Press, 1881).
Further reading:
Millar, F., “The Syriac Acts of the Second Council of Ephesus (449),” in: R.M. Price and M. Whitby (eds.), Chalcedon in Context: Church Councils 400–700 (Translated Texts for Historians, Contexts 1; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009), 45-69.
