Shemon III

Mar

Shemʿon III

Patriarch of All the East
Church| Church of the East
See| Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Installed| c.1425
Term ended| c.1450
Predecessor| Eliya IV
Successor| Shemon IV
Personal details
Born| 14th century
Died| 15th century

Mar Shemʿon III was the patriarch of the Church of the East in the early 15th century. There is uncertainty over his existence, his dates and his place in the order of patriarchs.

Traditionally, Shemʿon III is listed between patriarchs Shemʿon II, whose reign began in 1381/2, and Eliya IV, who is said to have died in 1437.[1] A manuscript made in the reign of the Shemʿon who succeeded Eliya IV casts doubt on this reconstruction, however. In a copy of the Book of the Bee, a list of patriarchs has been extended from the time of Timothy II to "Shemʿon of our days". The intervening patriarchs are Denha II, a certain Shemʿon and Eliya IV. This can only be Shemʿon II.[2]

Manuscript colophons from 1429/30 and 1437 attest to a patriarch named Shemʿon, and David Wilmshurst suggests that this person, along with the "Shemʿon of our days" of the Bee manuscript, was Shemʿon III, who succeeded Eliya IV around 1425.[3][4] He dates his patriarchate from c. 1425 to c. 1450.[5] Jean Maurice Fiey went so far as to deny the existence of Shemʿon III entirely.[6] This would give Shemʿon IV (successor of Eliya IV or Shemʿon III, depending on the list) a reign of sixty years or more.[3]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Burleson & Van Rompay 2011.
2. ^ Wilmshurst 2011, p. 287.
3. ^ a b Wilmshurst 2011, p. 292.
4. ^ Wilmshurst 2000, p. 348.
5. ^ Wilmshurst 2019, p. 800.
6. ^ Wilmshurst 2000, p. 3.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Burleson, Samuel; Van Rompay, Lucas (2011). "List of Patriarchs: I. The Church of the East and its Uniate Continuations". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Gorgias Press.
* Wilmshurst, David J. (2000). The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913. Peeters.
* Wilmshurst, David J. (2011). The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. East and West Publishing.
* Wilmshurst, David J. (2019). "The Patriarchs of the Church of the East". In Daniel King (ed.). The Syriac World. Routledge. pp. 799–805.

Church of the East titles

Preceded by

Eliya IV
(c.1405-c.1425)

|  Catholicos-Patriarch of the East
(c.1425-c.1450)  | Succeeded by

Shemon IV
(c.1450-1497)

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* e

Patriarchs of the Church of the East

* Until the schism of 1552
* Full list

1st–4th centuries|

* Addai
* Aggai (66–87)
* Mari (ob.104)
* Abris (121–37)
* Abraham (159–71)
* Yaʿqob I (c. 190)
* Ahadabui (204–20)
* Shahlufa (220–4)
* Papa (c. 280–317)
* Shemʿon Bar Sabbaʿe (329–41)
* Shahdost (341–3)
* Barbaʿshmin (343–6)
* Tomarsa (363–71)
* Qayyoma (377–99)

5th–8th centuries|

* Isaac (399–410)
* Ahha (410–14)
* Yahballaha I (415–20)
* Maʿna (420)
* Farbokht (421)
* Dadishoʿ (421–56)
* Babowai (457–84)
* Acacius (485–96)
* Babai (497–503)
* Shila (503–23)
* Elishaʿ (524–37)
* Narsai intrusus (524–37)
* Paul (539)
* Aba I (540–52)
* Joseph (552–67)
* Ezekiel (570–81)
* Ishoʿyahb I (582–95)
* Sabrishoʿ I (596–604)
* Gregory (605–9)
* Ishoʿyahb II (628–45)
* Maremmeh (646–9)
* Ishoʿyahb III (649–59)
* Giwargis I (661–80)
* Yohannan I (680–3)
* Hnanishoʿ I (686–98)
* Yohannan Garba intrusus (691–3)
* Sliba-zkha (714–28)
* Pethion (731–40)
* Aba II (741–51)
* Surin (753)
* Yaʿqob II (753–73)
* Hnanishoʿ II (773–80)
* Timothy I (780–823)

9th–12th centuries|

* Ishoʿ bar Nun (823–8)
* Giwargis II (828–31)
* Sabrishoʿ II (831–5)
* Abraham II (837–50)
* Theodosius (853–8)
* Sargis (860–72)
* Israel of Kashkar intrusus (877)
* Enosh (877–84)
* Yohannan II (884–91)
* Yohannan III (893–9)
* Yohannan IV (900–05)
* Abraham III (906–37)
* Emmanuel I (937–60)
* Israel (961)
* ʿAbdishoʿ I (963–86)
* Mari (987–99)
* Yohannan V (1000–11)
* Yohannan VI (1012–20)
* Ishoʿyahb IV (1020–5)
* Eliya I (1028–49)
* Yohannan VII (1049–57)
* Sabrishoʿ III (1064–72)
* ʿAbdishoʿ II (1074–90)
* Makkikha I (1092–1110)
* Eliya II (1111–32)
* Bar Sawma (1134–6)
* ʿAbdishoʿ III (1139–48)
* Ishoʿyahb V (1149–75)
* Eliya III (1176–90)

13th–16th centuries|

* Yahballaha II (1190–1222)
* Sabrishoʿ IV (1222–5)
* Sabrishoʿ V (1226–56)
* Makkikha II (1257–65)
* Denha I (1265–81)
* Yahballaha III (1281–1317)
* Timothy II (1318–c. 1332)
* Denha II (1336/7–1381/2)
* Shemʿon II (c. 1385–c. 1405)
* Eliya IV (c. 1405–c. 1425)
* Shemʿon III (c. 1425–c. 1450)
* Shemʿon IV Basidi (c. 1450–1497)
* Shemʿon V (1497–1502)
* Eliya V (1503–4)
* Shemʿon VI (1504–38)
* Shemʿon VII Ishoʿyahb (1539–58)

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