Eliya I of Seleucia-Ctesiphon

Mar

Eliya I

Patriarch of All the East
Church| Church of the East
See| Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Installed| 1028
Term ended| 1049
Predecessor| Ishoyahb IV
Successor| Yohannan VII
Other post(s)| Bishop of Tirhan
Personal details
Died| 1049
Buried| Greek Palace, Baghdad

Not to be confused with his contemporary, the chronicler and Nestorian bishop Eliya of Nisibis.

Eliya I (Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ) was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1028 to 1049. He is also known as the author of an early grammar of Syriac written around the year 1000.

## Sources

[edit]

Brief accounts of Eliya's patriarchate are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (fl. 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari (twelfth-century), ʿAmr ibn Mattā and Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā (fourteenth-century). A modern assessment of his reign can be found in David Wilmshurst's The Martyred Church.[1]

## Eliya's patriarchate

[edit]

The following account of Eliya's patriarchate is given by Bar Hebraeus:

> He [Ishoʿyahb IV] was succeeded by Eliya I, formerly bishop of Tirhan, a man of advanced age and a learned doctor. He introduced the rite of genuflection on the holy Sunday of Pentecost, which the Nestorians previously did not observe. At the end of his life he was afflicted by a paralysis of his limbs and was confined to bed. He was consecrated on the third Sunday of the Apostles, on the seventh day of the third month of the Arabs in the year 419 [AD 1028/9] in the Greek Palace in Baghdad. His election was conducted by the drawing of lots. He died after fulfilling his office for twenty-one years, and was buried in the Greek Palace on the Sunday after Ascension, on the seventh day of iyyar [May] in the year 440 of the Arabs [AD 1048/9].[2]

His secretary was the famous polymath Ibn al-Tayyib.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* List of patriarchs of the Church of the East

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Wilmshurst, The Martyred Church, 201–2
2. ^ Bar Hebraeus, Ecclesiastical Chronicle (ed. Abeloos and Lamy), ii. 286–8
3. ^ Thomas, David Richard (Jan 2001). Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-12055-6.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum (3 vols, Paris, 1877)
* Assemani, J. A., De Catholicis seu Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum (Rome, 1775)
* Brooks, E. W., Eliae Metropolitae Nisibeni Opus Chronologicum (Rome, 1910)
* Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus (Rome, 1896)
* Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina (Rome, 1899)
* Wilmshurst, David (2011). The martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. London: East & West Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-907318-04-7.

Church of the East titles

Preceded by

Ishoʿyahb IV
(1020-1025)
Vacant
(1025-1028)

|  Catholicos-Patriarch of the East
(1028-1049)  | Succeeded by

Yohannan VII
(1049-1057)

* v
* t
* e

Patriarchs of the Church of the East

1st–4th centuries|

* Thomas the Apostle
* Addai (37–65)
* Aggai (66–87)
* Mari I (88–120)
* Abris (121–137)
* Abraham I (159–171)
* Yaqob I (172–190)
* Ahadabui (202–220)
* Shahlufa (220–240)
* Papa bar Aggai (c. 280–329)
* Shemon bar Sabbae (329–341)
* Shahdost (341–342)
* Barba'shmin (343–346)
* Tomarsa (363–371)
* Qayyoma (377–399)
* Isaac (399–410)

5th–8th centuries|

* Ahha (410–414)
* Yahballaha I (415–420)
* Mana (420)
* Farbokht (421)
* Dadisho (421–456)
* Babowai (457–484)
* Acacius (485–496)
* Babai (497–502/503)
* Shila (503–523)
* Elisha (524–537)
* Narsai (524–537)
* Paul (539)
* Aba I (540–552)
* Joseph (552–567)
* Ezekiel (570–581)
* Ishoyahb I (582–595)
* Sabrisho I (596–604)
* Gregory (605–608)
* Ishoyahb II (628–645)
* Maremmeh (646–649)
* Ishoyahb III (649–659)
* Giwargis I (661–680)
* Yohannan I (680–683)
* Hnanisho I (686–698)
* Yohannan the Leper (691–693)†
* Sliba-zkha (714–728)
* Pethion (731–740)
* Aba II (741–751)
* Surin (753)†
* Yaqob II (753/754–773/775)
* Hnanisho II (773/775–780)
* Timothy I (780–823)

9th–12th centuries|

* Isho Bar Nun (823–828)
* Giwargis II (828–831)
* Sabrisho II (831–835)
* Abraham II (837–850)
* Theodosius (853–858)
* Sargis (860–872)
* Israel of Kashkar (877) (Not consecrated)
* Enosh (877–884)
* Yohannan II (884–892)
* Yohannan III (893–899)
* Yohannan IV (900–905)
* Abraham III (906–937)
* Emmanuel I (937–960)
* Israel (961)
* Abdisho I (963–986)
* Mari II (987–999)
* Yohannan V (1000–1011)
* Yohannan VI (1012–1020)
* Ishoyahb IV (1020–1025)
* Eliya I (1028–1049)
* Yohannan VII (1049–1057)
* Sabrisho III (1064–1072)
* Abdisho II (1074–1090)
* Makkikha I (1092–1110)
* Eliya II (1111–1132)
* Bar Sawma (1134–1136)
* Abdisho III (1139–1148)
* Ishoyahb V (1149–1175)
* Eliya III (1176–1190)
* Yahballaha II (1190–1222)

13th–16th centuries|

* Sabrisho IV (1222–1224)
* Sabrisho V (1226–1256)
* Makkikha II (1257–1265)
* Denha I (1265–1281)
* Yahballaha III (1281–1317)
* Timothy II (1318–1332)
* Denha II (1336/1337–1381/1382)
* Shemon II (c. 1385–c. 1405)
* Eliya IV (c. 1405–c. 1425)
* Shemon III (c. 1425–c. 1450)
* Shemon IV (c. 1450–1497)
* Shemon V (1497–1502)
* Eliya V (1502–1503/1504)
* Shemon VI (1504–1538)
* Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1538/1539–1558)

Eliya line
(1558–1830)|

* Eliya VI (1558–1591)
* Eliya VII (1591–1617)
* Eliya VIII (1617–1660)
* Eliya IX (1660–1700)
* Eliya X (1700–1722)
* Eliya XI (1722–1778)
* Eliya XII (1778–1804)
* Yohannan VIII Hormizd (1780–1830)§

Shimun line
(1553–1861)|

* Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa (1553–1555)
* Abdisho IV Maron (1555–1570)
* Yahballaha IV (1577–1580)
* Shimun IX Dinkha (1580–1600)
* Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638)
* Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656)
* Shimun XII Yoalaha (1656–1662)
* Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1700)
* Shimun XIV Shlemon (1700–1740)
* Shimun XV Maqdassi Mikhail (1740–1780)
* Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820)
* Shimun XVII Abraham (1820–1861)

Josephite line
(1681–1828)|

* Joseph I (1681–1696)
* Joseph II (1696–1712)
* Joseph III (1714–1757)
* Joseph IV (1759–1781)
* Joseph V Augustine Hindi (1781–1828)§

19th century to present|

* Shimun XVIII Rubil (1861–1903)
* Shimun XIX Benyamin (1903–1918)
* Shimun XX Paulos (1918–1920)
* Shimun XXIII Eshai (1920–1975)

| Assyrian Church of the East|

* Dinkha IV (1976–2015)
* Gewargis III (2015–2021)
* Awa III (2021–present)

|

Ancient Church of the East|

* Thoma Darmo (1968–1969)
* Addai II Giwargis (1972–2022)
* Yakoob III Danil (2022)
* Gewargis III Younan (2023–present)

† Illegitimate; § Patriarchal administrator
Christianity portal

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* 2
* 3
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Sweden
* Israel

Academics|

* CiNii

People|

* DDB

*[fl.]: floruit ('flourished' – known to have been active at a particular time or during a particular period)
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa