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[German Version] (c. 815, Neḥšon [Adiabene]), was an East Syrian writer (Syria: VI, 2.a) who lived as a monk at the monastery of Beth Abhe from 832. He had been secretary to the catholicos Abraham II (837–850), who then consecrated him as bishop of Marga. His Book of Governors recounts the history of the monastery of Beth Abhe (Syrian monasteries) based on the lives of its abbots, integrating important references to the history of the Apostolic Church of the East. The five books of the history of Beth Abhe are followed by one book recounting …

[German Version] (died 536 Constantinople). After studying in Alexandria (esp. medicine and philosophy), Sergius worked as a leading physician and priest in Reshaina, where his contacts across theological boundaries brought him into conflict with Askolius, the local bishop. During a stay in Antioch, he gained the support of the patriarch of the imperial church and turned to Chalcedonian Christology (II, 1.b.c). At the behest of the patriarch, shortly before his death he worked with Pope Agapetus t…

[German Version] (Gk Philoxenos of Hiera­polis, Syr. Akzenaya of Mabbug; mid-5th cent., Tahal –Dec 10, 523, Gangra). As a monk Philoxenus had assumed the name Joseph and studied at the so-called Persian School in Edessa, where he opposed the dominant Diplophysite Christology and espoused a Miaphysite Christology (Monophysites). Among the Syrian monks, both Western and Eastern, he argued for adding crucified for us in the Trisagion; he championed the cause of Peter Fullo, urging the emperor Zeno to depose the Antiochene patriarch Calandio, and was thereupon…

[German Version] title in the Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenia: II) for highly educated hieromonks, formerly of high renown. A special ordination is required. A vardapet’s staff marking him as a teacher is a sign of his dignity and office. Besides teaching, his primary duty is preaching. In recent years, a special qualifying program is being required once more for ordination as a vardapet. Martin Tamcke Bibliography R. Thomson, “Vardapet in the Early Armenian Church,” Muséon 75, 1962, 367–384.

[German Version] (c. 305, Lycopolis, Assiut – c. 394/395, Lycopolis). John withdrew to a grotto near Mount Lycos (close to his home town) as a 40-year-old and lived there as a hermit. On the basis of the miracles ¶ and prophecies attributed to him, he was widely referred to in monastic literature. The grotto became an attractive destination for many pilgrims. Syriac texts speak of an author by the same name. Martin Tamcke Bibliography Works: BHG 2189f.; BHO 514f.; BHL 4329 W. Till, Koptische Heiligen- und Märtyrerlegenden, OCA 102, 1935, 138–154 P. Peeters, “Une vie copte de St. Jean …

[English Version] I. Kirchen- und theologiegeschichtlich Die »Berge der Knechte« im Südosten der Türkei erlangten ihre Bedeutung durch das Mönchtum, dessen Anfänge hier mit Jakob von Nisibis und Augin von Clysma im 4.Jh. zu fassen sind. Im östlichen Teil, Izla, fanden sich die Klöster der Nestorianer. Von hier ging die ostsyr. Mönchsreform im 6.Jh. unter Abraham von Kaškar im sog. Großen Kloster auf dem Izla aus. Die Berge sind das Zentrum des syr.-orth. Mönchtums (syrische Klöster). Dessen Kloster i…

[German Version] I. Church History The “Mountains of the Servants (of God)” in southeastern Turkey gained their fame from monasticism, which began in the 4th century with Jacob of Nisibis and Augin of Clysma. Mount Izla, in the east, was home to the monasteries of the Nestorians (Nestorianism); the so-called Great Monastery on Izla was the fountainhead of the East Syrian monastic revival in the 6th century under Abraham of Kashkar. The mountains are the heart of Syrian Orthodox monasticism (Syrian mo…

1. Begriff 1.1. AskeseA. (Aszese) ist ein »Grundbegriff der europ. Kulturgeschichte« [18. 287], dessen nzl. Verwendung ohne Kenntnis seiner antiken und frühma. Geschichte kaum plausibel wird. Der Begriff leitet sich von dem griech. Verb askeín (»sich in etwas üben«) ab; die damit gemeinte – häufig methodisch geprägte – »Übung« (griech. áskēsis) bezog sich auf körperliche (z. B. sportliche oder militärische) und im übertragenen Sinn auf geistig-moralische Lebensbereiche (wie Philosophie und Tugend). In diesem Kontext fehlte noch der erst später …

1. Concept 1.1. AsceticismAsceticism is a “fundamental concept of European cultural history”, [18] whose use in the Modern Period can scarcely be said to make sense without a knowledge of its history in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period. The term goes back to the Greek verb askeín (“to practise something”); the “practice” (Gr. áskesis) referred to was frequently defined in terms of method, and related to physical (e.g. sportive or military) as well as, by extrapolation, intellectual and moral areas of life (such as philosophy and virtue). S…

[English Version] I. Geographie Griech. Συρι´α/Syría entstand als verkürzte Bildung zu ᾿Ασσυρι´α/Assyría (Assyrien); in der griech. und lat. hschr. Überlieferung werden beide Landschaftsbez. z.T. promiscue verwendet. Syría bez. zunächst, der pers. Satrapie ʿEbar-naharā entsprechend, das Gebiet zw. Ägypten und Kleinasien unter Einschluß der Landschaft östlich des Euphrat, die jedoch seit der Zeit des Alexanderzugs Mesopotamien genannt wurde. Das nun im Osten an den Euphrat grenzende S. schied man seit der …

[German Version] I. Geography Greek Συρία/ Syría is an abbreviated form of ’Ασσυρία/ Assyría (“Assyria”); Greek and Latin manuscripts often use the two terms indiscriminately. Initially Syría, corresponding to the Persian satrapy of ʿEbar-naharā, denoted the region between Egypt and Asia Minor, including the area east of the Euphrates, which was called Mesopotamia after Alexander’s campaign. After the time of the Seleucids, Syria, with the Euphrates now marking its eastern border, was divided into northern Syria Coele and southern Syria Phoenice (Phoenicia), bordering on Pa…