Religious Poetry in Vernacular Syriac from Northern Iraq (17th-20th Centuries). An Anthology Translated with Introduction

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CORPUS SCRIPTORUM CHRISTIANORUM ORIENTALIUM DE

LOWAIN ET WASHINGTON

CORPUS SCRIPTORUM CHRISTIANORUM ORIENTALIUM

fonde en 1903 par J.-B. Chabot (tI948) et H. Hyvernat (tl941) reeree en 1948 par R. DRAGUET (t 1980)

EDlTUM CONSJLIO

UNIVERSITATIS CATHOLICAE Al\1ERICAE En 1950 a ere insrauree une designation simplifiee des volumes, qui doit remplacer l'ancienne dans les references bibliographiques. Un sigle en deux parties exprime successivement le numero d'ordre du volume dans la collection et clans l'une des sept sections: Aeth(iopica), Ar(abica), Arm(eniaca). Copt(ica). Iber(ica), Syr(iaca), Subs(idia); lorsque le volume est une version, le second element du sigle est mis en iraliques _ p.a. CSCO 189. Syr. 120 (un rexte), mais CSCO 190. Syr. 120 (une version). Puis, lorsqu'il ya lieu, les sigles T(exte) et V(ersion) mettent en concordance le texte et la version d'une m~me publication. ErrEn, le sigle Cft renvoie it des volumes susceptibles de completer de quelque fac;:on le volume concerne.

ET UNIVERSITATIS CATHOLICAE LOVANIENSIS Vo!. 628

SCRIPTORES SYRI TOMUS 241

Derniers volumes parus: 585. Subs. 107. - Leonhard, c., Ishodod ofMerws Exegesis ofthe Psalms 119 and 139-147, 2000, VI-28? p. ISBN: 90-429-0960-9. 586. Subs. 108. - Aleksidz':, Z., Mah':, }.-P., Le nouveau manuscrit georgien sinaftique N Sin 50 _ Introduerion par Z. Aleksidze, tene franc;:ais de J.-P. Mahe, 2001, VI-285 p. ISBN: 90-429-0981-1. 587. Arm. 25, T. - Mathews, E.G., The Armenian Commentilry an Exodus-Deuteronomy attributed to Ephrem the Syrian, 2001, X-216 p. ISBN: 90-429-1009-7. - V: vo!. 588. 588. Arm. 26, V. - Mathews, E.G., The Armenian Commentary on Exodus-Deuteronomy attributed to Ephrem the Syrian. 2001, XIV-160 p. ISBN: 90-429-1018-6. - T: 'la!. 587. 589. Syr. 230, T. - Mengozzi., A., Israel ofAlqosh andJoseph ofTelkepe. A Story in a Truthful Language. Religious Poems in Vernacular Syriac (North Iraq, 17th Century), 2002, 278 p. ISBN: 90-429-1022-4. - V: vo!. 590. 590. Syr. 231, V. - Mengozzi, A., Israel ofAlqosh andJoseph ofTelkepe. A Story in a Truthful Language. Religious Poems in Vernacular Syriac (North Iraq, 17th Century), 2002, 321 p. ISBN: 90-429-1023-2. - T: vo!. 589. 591. Subs. 109. - Shedinger, R.F., Tatian and the Jewish Scriptures: A Textual and Philological Analysis ofthe Old Testament CitlZtions in Tatian's Diatessaron, 2001, VI-186 p. ISBN: 90-429-1042-9. 592. Syr. 232. T. - Bnkke, D., Pseudo-Athanasius an Virginity, 2002, 48 p. ISBN: 90-429-1080-1. - V: vo!. 593. 593. Syr. 233, V. - Brakke, D., Pseudo-Athanasius an Virginity, 2002, 48p. ISBN: 90-429-1091-7. - T: vo!. 592. 594. Subs. 110. - Weltecke, D., Die «Beschreibung Jer aiten» van Mor Michael dem Grojen (J 126-1199). Eine Studie zu ihrem historischen und historiographiegeschichtlichen Kontext, 2003, XVI-314 p. ISBN: 90-429-1132-8. 595. Aeth. 105, T. - Bausi, A., La «Vital> e i «Miracoli» di Libanos, 2003, XXX-226 p. ISBN: 90-429-11603. - V: vo!. 596. (voir suite au recto) ,

RELIGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC FROM NORTHERN IRAQ (17th-20th CENTURIES) AN ANTHOLOGY TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION

EDITED BY

ALESSANDRO

MENGOZZI

PEETERS-LEUVEN ISBN 978-90-429-2277-8

LOVANll IN AEDIBUS PEETERS

PEETERS

9 789042 922778

2011

fonde en 1903 par I.-B. CHABOT (t 1948) et H. ~~~!~r'm'::}:71;tt~]t;,M~~;:~j,;;~:~i;i -recree en 1948 par R. DRAGUET (t 1 A. DE lIALLEUX (1980-:t 1994)

Editeur scientifique: AndreaSCHMIDT

Responsables scientifiques des sections: Arabe Armenienne Copte Ethiopienne

RELIGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC

Georgienne

FROM NORTHERN IRAQ (17th-20th CENTURIES) AN ANTHOLOGY

Syriaque Subsidia

Adresse de l'editeur scientifique (Editor):Prof. A. SCHMIDT Secretariat du CSCO Place Blaise Pascal, 1 B - 1348 Louvain-Ia-Neuve [email protected]

INTRODUCTION AND TRANSLATION

CORPUS SCRIPTORUM

CHRISTIANORUM

ORIENTALIUM

EDITUM CONSlllO

UNIVERSITATIS CATHOLICAE AMERICAE ET UNNERSITATIS CATHOLICAE LOVANlENSIS Vol. 628

SCRIPTORES SYRI TOMUS 241

RELIGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC FROM NORTHERN IRAQ (17th-20th CENTURIES) AN ANTHOLOGY TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION EDITED BY

ALESSANDRO

:MENGOZZI

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY

EMANUELA BRAIDA, SIMONA DESTEFANIS, RrrA SACCAGNO and SHAWQI TALIA

LOVANII IN AEDIBUS PEElERS 2011

IN1RODUCTION REuGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC FROM NORTHERN

lRAQ

by Alessandro Mengozzi

The earliest attested texts in Vernacular Syriac1 are religious poems belonging to the dorekJa 2 genre and circulating among East-Syrian communities in Northern Iraq. Our direct knowledge of this kind of literature has significantly improved during the last few decades, thanks to the publication of a number of dorekya!a: a collection of poems by Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe gives us an insight into the literature of the 17th century; Poizat edited two 18th-century poems; Pennacchietti edited two shorter poems On Arsanis Jimjimma and three Neo-Aramaic versions of the sogi!a of The Cherub and the Thiep Poizat presented the manuscript of an unpublished and uncompleted work by Father Jacques Rhetore: La versification en Soureth - dated 1913, but containing later additions up to 1920 - which, besides the technical description of Sureth metrics, with commented samples, surveys genres and authors of Neo-Syriac literature from Northern Iraq.4 The present publication proposes to move further in two directions. The publication of the dorekla On Repentance completes the picture of the early period of Vernacular Syriac poetry and a selection of later

© 2011 by Corpus Scriptorum Christianomm Orientalium Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction ou d'adaptation, y compris les microfIlms, de ce volume ou d 'un autre de cette collection, reserves pour tous pays ISSN 0070-0452 ISBN 978-90-429-2277-8 D/2011/0602/36 Editions Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Louvain

1 Several varieties of North-Eastern Nee-Aramaic are included here under the heading of Vernacular Syriac. They were and are spoken by East Syrians and were occasionally used in literary works. Spoken ad written varieties are also called sure! « :h..rGiru:r:> 'in Syriac') by natives or, as far as the region of Mosul in the 19th century is concerned, felliJ)i «L?"~ 'peasant's - i.e. Christian -language'). Written varieties in particular are variously labelled as Neo-Syriac, Modem Syriac or Assyrian. For a general presentation of the Neo-Aramaic dialects, see Jastrow (1997). For dialectal variation in early and late Christian Neo-Aramaic poetry, see Mengozzi (2002) and the linguistic comments introducing the original texts in the present publication. 2 The term dorelqa probably derives from the Semitic root *drk 'to tread, step on' and seems to be related to the Mesopotamian Aramaic word 'drkt' 'song, hymn' (Kruisheer 1995: 162)_ The spelling dureg (from Classical Syriac *drg 'to step forward') is common in Urmia_ Other Kurdish and Arabic etymologies have been proposed. In the manuscripts dorek!a is used as an equivalent of various classical genres, such as memra, sogi!a or 'oni!a (Mengozzi 2002: vol. 509, 67-69). 3 Mengozzi (2002); Poizat (1990, 1993, 2002); Pennacchietti (1990a, 1993a, 1993b, 1996). 4 Poizat (2005).

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poems allows us to explore the development of the genre during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the following pages, a history of the religious poetry in Vernacular Syriac from Northern Iraq will be sketched;focusing on the authors of poems edited here for the first time.

hopefully preserved in the Library of the Chaldean Patriarchate in Baghdad - and in a miscellaneous collection of tracts from different manuscripts 'written in different East Syrian hands, generally of about AD 1550-1759' .9 The date 1607/08 AD, preserved in Habbi 3, may lead us to identify the author with Hormizd, son of the well-known Israel of Alqosh. The latter was the initiator of the Shikwana family of scribes and a highly esteemed author in Classical Syriac as well as in the vernacular (see here, below), who might in his turn be son of another priest Honnizd of Alqosh. 10 Hormizd of Alqosh son of Israel had two sons, Israel and 'Abdisho·, both active as scribes in the second half of the 17th century. 11 References to lines of Hormizd > Israel as (grand) father> (grand) son were fairly common in Alqosh and make it almost impossible to ascertain whether the Hormizd of Alqosh mentioned in Habbi 3 was father or son ofIsrael of AlqoshP Rhetore's attribution of the dorelqa On Repentance to Israel of Alqosh re~ains a plausible alternative. As far as the content is concerned, the poem clearly continues, in the modem tongue, the tradition of the penitential hymns, which were very popular in late East-Syriac hymnography. The rhythm of the composition is stressed by Biblical exempla of redeemed penitents and series of anaphora like 'woe unto me ... , have mercy... , what shall I do/say.. .'. As a classical model we may take the unusually long penitential ·oni[a attributed to Giwargis Warda and published by FolkmannP where the use of Biblical exempla is remarkably rich and living and a series of anaphoras ('I heard... ', 'I read... ', 'I saw ... ', 'what shall I do ... ', 'woe unto me... ') introduce a tedious catalogue of sins.

17th Century In the manuscript transmission, dorekya[a were given a title and attributed to an author. Often, in the scribal rubrics and/or within the texts, they were also dated. Although attribution is sometimes imprecise or erroneous and the overly regular dating of some poems raises some doubt, scribes did provide readers with the most relevant information about the poems they collected and the anonymity characteristic of folk literature was clearly avoided.

Hormizd ofAlqosh The first poem published in the present collection, the dorelqa On Repentance, is paradigmatic in this connection. It is attributed to a certain Hormizd of Alqosh in two of the three extant manuscripts (Habbi 3 and Mingana 51), 5 whereas the attribution of a manuscript of the Sachau collection to Joseph of Telkepe is most probably erroneous. Rh6tore attributes it to Israel of Alqosh. 6 Only the latest manuscript, Habbi 3, in the rubric and in a verse added at the end of the poem, gives the date of composition, which would be the year 1919 of the Seleucid era, i.e. 1607/08 AD. If this is true, the poem is the earliest dated extant example of the dorek!a genre. Rh6tore mentions a dorek!a On the Pestilence by l:Jnanisho· of Rustaqa, which would have been written in the year 1902 of the Seleucid era (1590/91 AD). Father Rhetore copied the text from an ancient manu-·· script in Qudshanis, faithfully reproducing the phonetic orthography of the original.? Style, content and language of the poem On Repentance confirm an early dating of the poem (17th or 18th century) and the text was included in 18th-century manuscripts: a collection dated Alqosh 1758 AD8 - now

Israel ofAlqosh and Joseph ofTelkepe Israel of Alqosh is the famous scribe and author, father and possibly also son of a Hormizd of Alqosh. Scribal headings and authorial or editoMingana (1933: 149). Macuch (1976: 48). 11 See Fiey (1965: 407) and Wilmshurst (2000: 244). 12 A scribe Israel, son of Hormizd, of the Audo family, was active in the last decades of the 19th century (Wilmshurst 2000: 255). A priest H6mo (Hormizd) of Alqosh, author in the vernacular and active around 1830, is mentioned in Rhetore (1913-: 64). For various Israels of Alqosh, see Murre-van den Berg (2006: 527-528 and 2008: 500, including further references). 13 FQlkmann (1896: German traIlsl. 35-44, Syr. text 1-17). 9

10

5 Mengozzi (1999) gives a preliminary general description of the manuscript transmission of the dorekyaJa, focusing on the Sachau collection now in London. On the manuscript Habbi 3, see Habbi (1978a, 1978-79). For the Mingana collection, see Mingana (1933). 6 In Rhetore (1913-: 53), the poem is entitled On Repentance (~~~b~ .~~ 'penitential supplication', the same term which occurs in the rubric of the Mingana ms. 51). 7 Rhetore (1913-: 52), Sony (1997: ms. 387, 1-6). 8 Listed as m. 650 in the catalogue by Haddad-Isaac (1988).

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IN1RODUCTION

rial interventions in the text lead us to attribute to Israel the following poems in the vernacular: On Peifection (dated 1610/1 in the text), On the Sin ofMan, and a short hymn On Shmuni and her Seven Sons (1610/1 or 1631/2).14 As we have seen, Rhetore also attributes to Israel the dorelqa On Repentance, elsewhere attributed to Hormizd of AlqoSh. 15

Israel of Alqosh freely adapts the apocryphal Apocalypse ofPaul, dealing with intriguing descriptions of the other world and at least one of the narrative details in his hymn On Shmuni and Her Seven Sons comes from the Fourth Book of Maccabees. 18 In his poem On revealed Truth (including a vernacular version of the homonymous hymn
vm

The dorekyala attributed to Joseph of Telkepe have been preserved as a more or less unified corpus in 9 manuscripts and seem to correspond to a conscious plan of re-telling the Scriptures in the modem language, incorporating apocryphal narrative materials and exegetical motifs. 16 They are dated according to the ms. Habbi 3: On Divine Economy (1661/2), On Revealed Truth (1662/3), On the Life-Giving Words (1666n), On Parables (1665/6).17 As we have seen, the dorekta On Repentance is attributed to Joseph of Telkepe in the Sachau man~script collection, which was compiled in the late 19th century. Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe appear to remain faithful to the East-Syrian tradition. They show indebtedness towards Syriac sources, although motifs and themes drawn from the classical tradition are often barely recognizable in their modem adaptations. As they are preserved by Chaldean communities, these poems might lead one to think that they were composed in the vernacular under the influence of Catholic missionaries. As regards the content, however, the poems of the 17th century do not contain signs of Catholic influence, which would have excluded such free use of apocryphal sources. 14 See Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590,57-61), including further references. All the modem poems attributed to Israel of Alqosh are published in Mengozzi (2002). R1J.etore (1913-: . 53) confums what Fiey (1965: 394, n. 3) reported about a text of On Perfection 51 (manuscript copied in Mar Ya'quv, 1879, upon the request of the Dominican Father Louis Roulland), in which it seems that Israel of Alqosh made a polemical comment on 'Nest6~ rians', not 'Jacobites', as attested in all the available manuscripts. Anti-Nestorian (and filo-Catholic) variants of this text were apparently read in the missionary milieux to which Father R1J.etore belonged (Sony 1997: mS. 81,280). This does not allow one to speak of a "Catholic conversion" of the author in 1611, as Fiey does (1965: 390,394; see Murrevan.den Berg 1998: 509). The texts attributed to Israel of Aqosh, and that passage in particular, show that he was a proud member of the Church of the East. 15 R1J.etore (1913-: 52). 16 Murre-van den Berg (2008) points out a number of similar exegetical remarks in Joseph of Telkepe and in the Gospel translation and commentary attributed to a deacon Israel of Alqosh, probably active in the second half of the 18th century. 17 See Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590, 61-66, 122), including further references. The dorekfa On Divine E.conomy is. the longest Neo-Aramaic poem known so far, numbering more than 700 four-line verses m the ms. Habbi 3. It contains extra-biblical narratives and details, possibly drawn from the Book of the Bee, and is unpublished. All the other texts by Joseph of Telkepe are published in Mengozzi (2002).

YoJ:w.nnan Bishop of Mahwana In 1661/2 Yol;\annan Bishop of Mahwana wrote a dorekla On Divine Economy, covering the sacred history from the creation of the world up to the Tower of BabeL22 The text is preserved in at least six manuscripts and is unpublished. 23 In the rubric of the Habbi 3 ms. (pp. 208-209) the poem is entitled On Creation and Resurrection. It consists of 160 verses of three rhymed Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590,107-111). Mengozzi (2005a and 2006b). 20 A Classical Syriac text of the poem by Warda was published (Berlin Sachau DlS. 188, f. 6-; MUnster 1907) and translated into German by Vandenhoff (1908, first poem), who also published the modem dorelqa (Berlin Sachau DlS. 223, f. 113a-; German transl. in Vandenhoff 1908, second poem). Pritula (2005) published a Classical Syriac text (Cambridge ms. Add. 1982, f. 8a, collated with St Petersburg ms. Syr. 3, f. 2a-) and sketched a convincing Quellenstudie: the hymn would derive from a lost East-Syriac version of the Book of Childhood, parts of which were preserved in the History of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Budge 1899; Pritula, 2005: 425, announces a new study and translation of the text by prof. Elena N. Mescherskaja). 21 See also the general remarks by Murre-van den Berg (2008: 516). 22 R1J.etore (1913-: 53). 23 Mengozzi (1999: 488). 18 19

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octosyllabic lines and the refrain 'Come, people, and listen! '. The first narrative section re-tells the Biblical stories of the six days of the creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and the Tower of Babel (1-71). The second section deals with paganism and misconduct in Israel's monarchic period (72-102). The following verses are addressed to the Christians, who presently suffer under Muslim oppression (103-112) and are exhorted to respect the Lord's commandments in view of the Day of Judgement (113-132). The last day is then described in detail, when the dead will rise and receive their rewards according to Christ's judgement (133-158). The date of composition (f973 Se!.) is given in the penultimate verse (159; Habbi 3, p. 228).

Mary's father and mother are called Zadok or Yonakhir and Dinah or l:Ianna respectively, with tentative etymologies of their names. 29 After much fasting and prayer, the sterile couple are granted a daughter who is brought to the Temple while still very young. Joseph is recognized as her chaste worthy husband when a white dove goes forth from the Temple and alights on his staff. Gabriel announces to Mary the conception of Our Lord and an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and encourages him to accept her pregnancy. Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. When Jesus is born, twelve Persian kings visit the holy family in Bethlehem to honour the new-born child with offerings and worship him. 3D Mary is finally borne up to Heaven, where the heavenly hosts greet her as their Queen. Thus the poet transfers old apocryphal narratives from the classical tradition31 to his modem composition. The story runs pleasantly and fluently through the verses, which are here and there linked by means of anadiplosis and anaphora.

18th Century Neither 17th-century nor 18th-century literary activities in the modem language show traces of Catholic influence.24 So far, three 18th-century dorekya!a are known. The poem On the Blessed Virgin Mary, attributed to a certain Haydeni of Gessa, is unpublished, whereas Bruno Poizat published the poems On Repentance by I:Inanisho of Rustaqa and On the Pestilence by ~omo of Piyoz.

lfnanisho of Rustaqa C

In the ms. Habbi 3, the poem by Haydeni of Gessa is followed by a dorek!.a On Repentance and the Last Day by Mar I:Inanisho of Rustaqa (p. 240), dated 2035 Se!. (1723/24 AD). The regular dating of poems which are copied consecutively - one poem each year - can been observed elsewhere in the ms. Habbi 3 and raises doubts about its reli-

C

C

Haydeni of Gessa According to the ms. Habbi 3 p. 228, Haydeni of Gessa (village located in the mountain district of Tl.lUma, Hakkari region),25 composed a dore!qa On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 2034 Se!. (1722/23 AD)?6 In Habbi 3 (pp. 228-240), the poem numbers 99 three-line monorhyme verses, with 10 syllables per line. The date is plausible since the text is preserved in the manuscript collection Baghdad 560, dated Alqosh 1758 and in the ms. Mingana 567, dated Zawitha, in the mountain district of Tiyari, 1744 AD (now in Birmingham).27 The verbal system is also compatible with a relatively early dating, since late verbal forms such as the preterites with prefIx kem- do not occur in the text. The content may be described as a poetic rendering of the story of the Holy Virgin Mary as it is told in the Book of the Bee, ch. xxrv_XXXV. 28 24 See MllIre-van den Berg (2006), who presents a Nee-Aramaic Gospel Lectionary, translated by an Israel of Alqosh active in the second half of the 18th century. 25 Wilmshurst (2000: 297-298). 26 A scribe with the same name as our author - Haydeni of Gessa, but son of the priest Yahbo, son of Moses - was active around the years 1791-1822 (Wilmshurst 2000: 813). 27 See Haddad-Isaac (1988: 307-309) and Mingana (1933: 1078). 28 See Budge's edition (1886: 76-79). The Book of the Bee is a prose collection which narrates God's intervention in the history of the world, from the beginning up to the end

(Divine Economy). incorporating biblical and apocryphal sources, and it appears to have played a central role in the transmission of traditional Syriac lore to Neo-Syri~c po~try (see, above, on Joseph of Telkepe). It is attributed to Solomon of Ba~ra, East-Synac wnter active in the first half of the 13th century (Baumstark 1922: 309). 29 The History of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Budge 1899: Syr. text: 9; Engl. transl.: 11; on this apocryphal collection, see the following note) says that an angel appeared to Yonakhir, Mary's father, and told him that his wife Dinah was pregnant. Henceforth she was called EJanna, since God had had mercy (Qnn) on her. The priest Zadok then adopted Mary as her l.A.oIlUU l.IloS:l 'daughter according to the law' (ibidem: 16 Syr., 17 Engl.). Hence the double naming of Mary's parents (Yonakhirtzadok, Dinah/l:lanna) in the Book of the Bee (Budge 1886: 76) and in the dorekJa On Mary by Haydeni of Gessa. The .obvious explanation of the name EJanna 'Anne' is repeated in the Book of the Bee and ill the modem poem, where Yonakhir's name is explained as meaning myale nul:Jraye 'strange inclinations'? (sic; Habbi 3, p. 229). 30 Book of the Bee, ch. XXXIX (Budge 1886: 84). On the Magi in the Syriac tradition, see Witakowski (2008). 31 For example, the name Dinah given to Mary's mother is characteristic of the EastSyriac tradition of the Cave ofTreasures (Su-Min Ri 2000: 435); the same stories are told much more extensively than in our unpublished Neo-Syriac text in the History of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 'a careful collection of the most important of the stories concerning the Virgin and Child which were current in Syria and Palestine as early as the end of the IVth century of our era, as well as some which were incorporated with them at a later date' (Budge 1899: vrn),

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ability.32 Nevertheless, even in this case, external and internal evidence suggests a dating in the first half of the 18th century: the manuscript collection Baghdad 560, dated Alqosh 1758, features the poem On-Penitence, providing a terminus ante quem for the date of composition, and the verbal system of the archetype may reflect the more archaic tongues of the mountain region. 33 The poem is relatively short in comparison with other dorekya!a (28 verses, 6 seven-syllable lines per verse, rhyme ABABAB) and has the structure and contents of late East-Syriac penitential hymns. Anadiplosis marks the more narrative and descriptive parts of the text and is interrupted where moral exhortations are addressed to the listeners (11-16). The second part describes God's judgement.

The plague, which comes on stage only in the 117th verse, is interpreted as God's punishment for the sins of the community, as the poet declares straightaway in the first lines of the poem. The insistence on social sins is remarkable: userers (23), avaricious people (26), corrupt and greedy priests (34-44), rich people who deprive workers of their salaries (67), the whole community (expressed by the passage from the 3rd to the 1st plural person in verse 45) is responsible for raising God's anger. The second part (117-248) opens with the date of the epidemic, given in a group of verses connected by anaphora ('in the year.. .' 119-124). The disease is personified as a terrible being who moves mercilessly from house to house, from upper to lower Piyoz, causing suffering and death. Families and heads of families are listed by name and figures of the casualties are given for each household. 37

XII

Somo of Piyoz

Haydeni of Gessa and J:Inanisho' of Rustaqa both came from the Hakkari region, whereas the third known Neo-Syriac poet of the 18th century was a priest from Piyoz, a village situated in the hills surrounding the Northern border of the plain of MosuI,34 He composed an influential complaint occasioned by the plague which killed most of the inhabitants of his village in the year 1738. According to Father Rhetore it is one of the best examples of Neo-Syriac poetry.35 The composition is divided into two parts. The first long part (1-116) takes the form of a penitential hymn, in which the verses are joined by anadiplosis and list an impressively long, dull series of sins. 36 The profession of faith (9-11) uses terms and images which fit the traditional EastSyriac christology perfectly.

19th Century

In the 19th century, the genre of the dorekya!a was cultivated by Catholic, Chaldean authors as well as by clergymen of the Church of the East. Their poems generally deal with spiritual themes: repentance, the Holy Virgin Mary, Hell and Paradise, the ascetic life, etc. A number of doreky al a were complaints occasioned by historical events. Most of these texts are unpublished. The poems of two poets of the Church of the East - Haydeni and Yonan of ~uma - and those of three Chaldean poets - Thomas Tektek Sindjari, David Kora and David of Barzane - have not been included in this volume but deserve publication apart in the near future. Haydeni and Yonan ofTl}uma

32 See Mengozzi's concordance table (1999: 488-489): the poems by Joseph of Tel- . kepe are dated 1661/2,1662/3,1667/8,1666/7; Damyanos of Alqosh: 1856,1855,1857; Thomas Tektek Sindjari: 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1820. In Habbi 3, the date of the dorelqa On Repentance and the Last Day is repeated in the rubric and in an altered version of the last verse. In verse 27, which in the other two manuscripts preserves an authorial signature (by Mar I:Inanisho' of Rustaqa), Habbi 3 reads Mar YoI:1annan of Rustaqa, contradicting the correct attribution of the rubric (poizat 2002, where the text of a manuscript now in Paris is published and translated; variants from Habbi 3 and a Berlin Sachau manuscript are given in the apparatus). On the textual and social function of authorial signatures in Neo-Syriac poetry, see Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590, 95-96). 33 Poizat (2002: 544). 34 Wilmshurst (2000: 238). 35 Rhetore (1913-: 59). 36 See Rhetore: 'C'est un theme que les poetes soureth aiment a exploiter, mais qui est ici tres encombrant' (quoted in Poizat 1990: 167).

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Haydeni and Yonan both came from the ~uma territory, in the mountain region of Hakkari, which traditionally tended to resist Catholic proselitism. According to Rhetore, Haydeni was active around the year 1830 and was the author of a famous dorelqa On Divine Economy, which can prob- . ably be identified with the poem beginning with the line: 'Come, oh Christian believers! ' .38 37 A critical edition and French translation of the text, based on five witnesses, can be found in Poizat (1990 and 1993). 38 See Rhetore (1913-: 65) and Mengozzi (1999: 489) .

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INTRODUCTION

Rabban Yonan of Tl,lUma is described by Father Rhetore as a fervent critic of the corruption and immoral behaviour within the 'Nestorian' Patriarchate. He travelled frequently in the plain of Mosul, where he-was well-accepted by the Catholic Chaldeans and felt that the atmosphere of that place changed his spirit, leading him closer to Catholicism. Nevertheless, he never did renounce his loyaity towards the Patriarch of the Church of the East and died while on ajoumey in 188L39 A manuscript of the London Sachau collection (Or. 4422, 106b-115b) attributes to Yonan of Tl,:mma a dorelqa which begins with the date 'In the year 2181 of the Greek (1869/70 AD)'.

Sindjari (la: 'Come, let us pray and beseech God! '), which was the IlIst Neo-Syriac poem published in Europe (Socin 1882). He died in Mosul in 1889.41 In 1896 the Dominicans of Mosul printed a collection of metrical fables and a collection of hymns.42 According to Rhetore, they preferred to attribute them to David Kora, the well-known and popular native poet, rather than to Ja
XIV

Thomas Tektek Sindjari, David Kora and David ofBarzane Thomas Tektek Sindjari was born in Telkepe and died around the year 1860. In his youth, he was much feared as a bandit who attacked caravans in the Djebel Sindjar - hence his last name. He converted and went back to Telkepe, where he worked as a weaver - hence the surname Tektek, which recalls the sound of the shuttle. From time to time he wandered through the Christian villages, singing his poems, collecting alms to supplement his rather scanty income. 40 David Kora of N~adra also supported his numerous family partly in this way. He had lost his sight when he was nine years old - hence the addition of Kora 'blind' to his name, studied at the Dominican school in the small village where he was born (Mar Ya
41 See Macuch (1976: 104-105), Pennacchietti (1993: 13-14), Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590, 85-88). Rhetore (1913-: 63) lists among his works five dorekya!a: On the Creation of the World, On Repentance, On the Conflict between the Patriarch Audo and the Holy See (1874-1878; on the frequent clashes of the Patriarch with the Vatican, see Wilmshurst 2000: 34), On the Famine of 1880, On the Holy Virgin, On the Rosary. The poem On Repentance is preserved in a number of Iraqi manuscripts (Mengozzi 1999: 489). 42 Daoud l'Aveugle (1896) and Recueil (see Coakley - Taylor, 2008: 94-95, nos. 44-45). 43 Rhetore (1913-: 63). On Rhetore's criticism on these publications, see also Poizat (1990: 166) and Coakley - Taylor (2008: 95). 44 Recueil (198-230). 45 The dorelqa On the Holy Virgin Mary is preserved in manuscripts of the Sachau collections (Berlin and London; see Mengozzi 1999: 489) and was included in a manuscript collection of Syriac texts on Mary (1931), now in Rome (Vat. Syr. 521, 120a-123b). 46 Barzane is a village in the district of Zibar, north east of 'Aqra. Kanifalla (Cani-falan or Cani-falhan in Rh6tore's transliteration, 1913: 60; from Kurdish kani 'spring, source' andfele, jile,jileh 'Christian, Armenian') is located in the district of Shemkan, region of 'Amadiya. 47 For various manuscripts copied by David of Barzane, especially in Kanifalla and 'Aynqawa, see the references in Wilmshurst's index (2000: 807). 48 Rh6tore (1913-: 60-61) lists seven dorekyata by David of Barzane: On Death and the Vanity of the World, On the Holy Virgin, On Repentance (see On Mary in London Sachau 9321, 670b-694b), On Mary at the Cross, On Adam and Eve (also preserved in Baghdad, ms. 890.13 of the catalogue by Haddad-Isaac 1988), On the Death of a Sinner; the poem On the Death of Anton, son of the poet, is not printed in the Recueil of Mosul (R.hetore, ibidem, 61; Sony 1997: ms. 82).

Rhetore (1913-: 66-68). See RMtore (1913-: 55-56) and Macuch (1976: 101-102). Eight dorekyata are attributed to Thomas Sindjari: On the Monastic Life, On the Holy Virgin Mary, and three poems On Repentance (1 st lines: 'Oh Christ, you are my refuge! " 'Oh believers, let us believe in God!', 'Come, let us pray and beseech God!'). The ms. London Sachau Or. 9322 (92-115) features a poem which begins with the line 'In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost' (Mengozzi 1999). RMtore (1913-: 56) lists two other poems: On Hell Fire and a poem beginning with the line 'Testimony befits You' (see also London Sachau Or. 9322: 115-137 and Sony 1997: ms. 88, 1-25). 39

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INTRODUCTION

Damyanos ofAlqosh Damyanos became a monk in his native Alqosh and, thanks to his brilliant intelligence and moral qualities, was elected assistant of the-general superior of the monastic congregation of Rabban Hormizd. He appears to have been an intriguing personality, a man of action involved in the political reality of his own time as well as an intellectual, a fine and learned poet, able to master various European and Middle-Eastern languages. 49 In 1838, the newly elected Patriarch .Nicholas I Zay
INTRODUCTION

he assimilated doctrine, spirituality and rhetorical schemes of Italian baroque sermons on Hell and Paradise. 52 The missionaries had probably added, on the shelves of the traditional Syriac libraries in Alqosh, the works of masters of the Jesuit school of sacred oratory, such as PaoIo Segneri and Giovan Pietro Pinamonti (1632-1703).53 From those authors of the European "Age of eloquence" Damyanos of Alqosh borrowed motifs, images, biblical quotations, hagiographic exempla and inserted them into the formal framework of Neo-Syriac poetry. Texts inspired by or composed for preaching in Italian rural districts of the 17th century served as models for a 19th-century Neo-Syriac poet who intended to spread Catholic spirituality among the Chaldean peasants of Iraqi Kurdistan. 54 The baroque sources define the agenda of Damyanos' biblical quotations, as, e.g., in On the Torments of Hell 56 or 85, and On the Delights of the Kingdom 3-4. The exempla of St Catherine (Hell 103-104) and St Francis (Kingdom 51) are defInitely Italian and their choice is most probably conditioned by Damyanos' knowledge of Segneri's work. Hell, as depicted by Damyanos, is not an objective place, it has no geography. It is no longer one of the scenarios of a Middle-Eastern - or a European medieval - myth. It becomes nothing but the psychological and moral space of the soul committed to sin in this life and therefore damned in the other. Every damned soul of a sinner is a Hell in itself, as Father Pinamonti preached and Damyanos of Alqosh repeated in his NeoAramaic verses. Neo-Syriac Poetry on Historical Events Other poets followed the path of late East-Syrian masters such as Giwargis Warda in writing on historical - mostly catastrophic events.55 See Destefanis (2005) and here, below. On the influence of Segneri' s sacred oratory in the history of European rhethoric, see Fumaroli (2002: 139). On Segneri and Pinamonti, see Majorana (1996: 266-268; 2001; 2007: 378-379, n. 47; all including further references). 54 On the Jesuit missions in rural districts of 17th-century Italy, see Majorana (1999; 2001). In the West too, the fortune of Pinamonti appears in unexpected places, e.g., as a source of Joyce's Sermons on Hell inA Portrait ofthe Artist as a Young Man (first edition 1916; see Boyd 1960, Doherty 1963). The historical background of Joyce's version of Pinamonti is the late 19th-century controversy between Catholics and Protestants about eternal damnation (Thrane 1960 and 1962). 55 See Zwei syrische Lieder auf die Einnahme Jerusalems durch Saladin (NOldeke 1873 and Mengozzi 2008a) or the 'Onita iiber die Katholikoi des Ostens (Tamcke 2006). Some of the 'onyaJa by Giwargis Warda on famines and other calamities, published by 52 53

49 Information about Damyanos is drawn from Rh6tore (1913-: 57) and Macuch (1976: 103-104). On the historical context, see Wilmshurst (2000: 33-34). 50 See Habbi 3, p.277. The text is preserved in a number of manuscripts (Damyanos of AIqosh, For the Holy Virgin Mary, Mengozzi 1999: 488). It was printed by the Dominicans (Recueil Mosul 1896, 265-276 and Baghdad 1954, 251-261) and included in the Vatican collection on Mary mentioned above (Vat. Syr. 521, 115b-119b). 51 The Syriac translation was published by the Dominican Press in Mosul: Mhadyana d-kahne. Manuale Sacerdotum ex operibus P. Segneri excerptum, in Linguam Chaldaicam aD. Damiano, sacerdote Chaldaico, oUm translatum, nuper vero aD. Thoma Audo revisum, Mausili 1882. Editio secunda, Mausili 1893. Coakley - Taylor (2008: 84, no. 16 and 86, no. 92) and Kiraz (2008: 345).

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INTRODUCTION

INIRODUCTION

Beside the classical models, the 18th-century dorek!a On the Pestilence in Piyoz inspired compositions on similar disasters (pestilence, famine, war) which befell the Chaldean communities. Israel of Alqosh Jr. wrote a poem on an epidemic which struck Alqosh in 1828.56 Isaac of Alqosh wrote on the famine of the year 1879,57 also described by Eduard Sachau in his Reise in Syrien und Mesopotamien. 58 Both texts are unpublished. As we will see, Anne of Telkepe composed a poem on the famine of the year 1898, caused by locusts and drought. The religious approach prevalent in these poems does not hide and, indeed, puts into a theological perspective the dramatic historical reality by which they were occasioned. As Sarah Shields writes in her excellent study on the economy of the Mosul region in the 19th century, 'Drought and pests were serious impediments to production, as artificial irrigation and chemical pesticides were not used. Even when water was adequate, locusts could severely damage the harvest. '59 As we have seen, David Kora composed a dorek!a on one of the querelles between the Patriarch Joseph Audo and the Holy See. A certain Stephen of Alqosh is probably the author of a dorelqa On the Russian-

Turkish War of 1877-1878,60 which cannot be described as a religious poem and bears witness to the use of the traditional genre for secular subjects. Thetext goes beyond the traditional scope of Neo-Syriac poetry. The war causes suffering and death, but it is not interpreted as a punishment sent by God. Instead, it is narrated in the framework of a precise historical context. History is not just the spiritual life or the harvest in the villages around Mosul, it is a grand battle-field in which the Syrians are invited to feel involved. The author seems quite well-informed about the diplomatic scenario surrounding the war of 1877. As is well-known, the casus belli was a Christian revolt in Bulgaria and the European Powers as well as the United States took part in the conflict. The poet mentions the diplomatic contacts and, in a markedly anecdotal way, the military activities on the Armenian front (Erzurum, Kars).

Hilgenfeld (1904) contain a detailed account of specific historical events, such as the hymn In the year 1547 of the Greeks on the attack by the Mongols at Karamlish (see Braida, A poetic adaptation of historical sources, below), the fourth 'onila On the Famine of the Year 1224/5 AD, or, more clearly, the third one On the Calamities of the Years from 1223/4 to 1227/8, where the disasters caused by droughts, famines, plagues and locusts are told season by season, or even month by month. However, these hymns cannot be considered as historical texts. Bundy read them as an 'essai de theologie narrative' (1983) and emphasized their importance as examples of theological reflection on history (1993). More properly, they should be interpreted according to their main declared function, i.e., as liturgical texts. E.g., the rubric of the second 'onila On Drought, Pestilence and Famine says that the text may be conveniently sung during the Rogation of the Ninivites; the poem on the attack by the Mongols at Karamlish is 'suitable for the commemoration of Stephen (St S. Protomartyr?)'. Referring to specific historical events or, more in general, to disasters which were dramatically recurrent in the region, they probably functioned as textual supports for public commemorations or as petitional or apotropaic prayers (Mengozzi, forthcoming a, including further references). A prayer of this kind ('Woe to us! Because of our ill-doings the earth and all its fruits are dry... ') is written on an East-Syriac fragment (12th or 13th cent.) found in the Tangut settlement of Har~-Hoto, Gansu province, North-Western China (Pigoulewsky 1938). 56 Rhetore (1913-: 61). The text is preserved in Iraqi manuscripts: RMtore 1.5, described in Pozat, unpublished) and Habbi 2, 249-254 (Rabbi 1978a, 1978-79). 57 Fiey (1965: 474, n. 2). The text is preserved in three manuscripts: London Sachau Or. 9321, 243b-369b; Cambridge Syr. 1130, Ib-12a; Paris Syr. 427, 2b-18a. 58 Sachau (1883: e.g., 358 and 380). 59 Shields (1991: 22).

Neo-Syriac Versions of Classical Poems A number of religious poets active in the 19th century translated Classical Syriac poems into the vernacular. As we have seen, the custom of rendering classical texts in Neo-Aramaic has been known since the very beginning of Neo-Syriac poetry. Demand for texts in the vernacular seems, however, to increase in the 19th century, when we fmd them well represented in the manuscript collections. The genre of the sogyaJa, which was popular in the late East Syriac tradition, appears to be still in vogue among Chaldean and Assyrian poets and their audiences. At least three Neo-Aramaic poetic versions of the dispute poem The Cherub and the Thief are known. 61 The language of two of them (A and B in Pennacchietti's edition, 1993a) is close to the dialects of the plain of Mosul, whereas C displays archaic linguistic features, preserved in the Upper Tiyari, Hakkari region. 62 The sogi!a of The 60 Paris Syr. 427, 22b-45b; London Sachau Or. 9321, 26b-68b; Cambridge Syr..1130, 1b-12a. It numbers around 200 verses, each containing four lines of seven syllables m the Paris and London versions, but only three lines per verse in the Cambridge m~uscript. For a general description and critical details on this original dorelqa, see MengozZl (2008a and forthcoming b). 61 They are all published in Pennacchietti (1993a). . 62 A rubric attributes the A version to David Kora (Sachau 1896: 193). Accordmg to Pennacchietti (1993a: 15), the B version (published by Alichoran 1957) might also be by David Kora or by Father Rhetore; in the rubric, the C version is attributed to Marogen of Farashin. Rh6tore (1913-: 65) attributes to Marogen of Farashin, priest of the Church of the East, a long translation of the sogi!a. which is probably the C version, and does not mention any translation of the text among the works of David Kora (above). On the uncer-

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INTRODUCTION

Sinful Woman and Satan is known in two versions, anonymously written down by the end of the 19th century in a dialect of the Mosul region: a version was published by Zettersteen in 1906 and an edition of another version has recently appeared, in synopsis and compared with the classical model. 63 Joseph CAzarya of Telkepe translated into the modem language two classical poems On Joseph son of Jacob, traditionally attributed to Narsai. 64 Joseph CAzarya is known as a scribe and author of liturgical and profane poems (a hymn for the solemn yisit of Mar Elias Patriarch of the Chaldeans in Telkepe 1878, two poems on love and friendship - all unpublished), preserved in Cambridge and London manuscripts. The London ms. Or. 9321 (130b-143b) attributes to him six dispute poems, two of which were printed in the Dominican collection of fables ascribed to David Kora. 65 An anonymous poet of the Mosul region translated the famous Christmas hymn 'al beJll'}.em, attributed to Khamis bar Qarda1}.e. 66

ters addressed the remote past of East-Syriac history (Thomas l:Ianna, On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish), more recent (Anne of Telkepe, On a Famine in the Year 1898) or even contemporary events (Yol}.annan Cholag, On Exile). These late texts bear witness to the vitality of a genre which survived through the centuries as a way of transmitting elements of the Classical Syriac heritage in the vernacular and to give a traditional poetic form to modem themes and emotions. Anne ofTelkepe Anne of Telkepe, who was still alive in 1914 when Father Rhetore was writing his La versification en Soureth, is the only Chaldean poetess we know of. She is described as a pious lady, illiterate, passably instructed in religious matters, but able to compose original verses. According to Rhetore, in 1911 she dictated a dorek!a on the Qopta or Sun, an insect pest then raging in the fields around Telkepe. 67 The first verse, entirely copied by Rhetore, allows us to identify this poem with the dorekJa On a Famine in the Year 1898, which is published here from a Paris manuscript. In contrast with the learned adaptation of European sources that we find in Damyanos and the elegance of his concatenated verses, Anne's verses give a rather rustic impression. Her language is often difficult to understand, the style is umefined. In the rapid rhythmical repetition of invocations and vivid images, biblical allusions are difficult to grasp. What matters to her is the effectiveness of her invocation concerning the needs of the community. Nevertheless, her hymn is interesting in that it shows to what extent Catholic culture had permeated the traditional religious lore of the Chaldeans of the plain of Mosul by the end of the 19th century. Mary was invoked in the prologues of a number of hymns of the Warda collection. 68 In an 18th-century poem like that by Haydeni of Gessa (see here, above), who probably lived and wrote in a traditional East Syrian milieu, the stories about Mary served as narrative devices to confirm her priestly geneaology and exalt the supernatural conception, birth and infancy of the Saviour. In the Catholic hymn composed by Anne of Telkepe, the intercession of the Virgin Mary is constantly invoked, occasionally together with that of St Joseph, and becomes the leitmotif of the entire composition.

20th Century As in the preceding centuries, Chaldean poets of the 20th century wrote dorekyala on various subjects. Those who wrote on historical matrain attributions, see also Poizat (2005; 419), who publishes 8 verses of the C version from a manuscript fragment and reports that Dr. Roberta Borghero, University of Cambridge, attended a performance of the C version in an Assyrian church in London and came across a modem Syrian edition of the same text (Q. Marogeyl d-Farashin, Sugi!ii dakrovii udgayasii, Imprimerie de l' Ancienne Eglise de 1'000ent, Hasseke, Tell Hormizd). The priest of that church informed her that Farashin is a summer settlement in the mountain territory of Ashitha, Tiyari, which would confirm the interpretation given by Pennacchietti (l993a: 17) to the saying [tu lewit bi!aya m-FarraSine! 'Come on, you do not come from Farashin! " addressed to someone shivering all over with cold. 63 Mengozzi (2008b). 64 See Rhetore (1913-: 65) and Mengozzi (1999: 482, n. 117). According to an AIqosh manuscript (dated 1924; Voste 1929: 121), the author of these poems was a certain Stephen Rayes (to be identified with the Stephen of AIqosh to whom the dorelqa On the Russian-Turkish War is attributed?). Kristian S. Heal, Brigham Young University, is currently studying the Classical Syriac texts on Joseph, some of which were published in Bedjan (1901) and translated by Rodrigues Pereira (1991). 6S See Mengozzi (1999: 481, nn. 111, 114-115) and Coaldey - Taylor (2008: 95, no. 45). 66 In Mengozzi (2006), the Neo-Syriac translation is compared with the East Syriac text published by Baumstark (1911). Variants of the classical versions published by Mosinger (East Syriac, 1878) and Dogan (West Syriac, 1997: 107-108) are given in the footnotes. Another modem version of the hymn, in the Urmi literary language, is inspiringly sung by the Assyrian pop-star Linda George in the album Harp of the Spirit. Mr. David G. Malick, Berwyn n.., kindly provided me with this information.

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Rhetore (1913-: 73). See, e.g., the first and fourth 'oniJa in Hilgenfeld (1904).

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INTRODUCTION

Catholic devotional practices such as the litany or the rosary69 are alluded to or explicitly mentioned in the text. However, the poetess carefully avoids the title 'Mother of God' in her litany and, in line WIth the apocryphal stories that inspired Haydeni of Gessa in the 18th century, she uses the epithet' daughter of priests' (2c) when speaking of the Virgin.70

In the dorelqa On Arsanis Jimjimma, Thomas I:Ianna said that he translated from Kurdish the legend about a skull that was restored to life by Our Lord to describe the torments of Hell. He converted from paganism and finally led the retired life of an ascetic as St Arsenius. Pennacchietti questions Thomas's attribution of the work to himself and holds it more probable that the poet recorded in written form a poetic text of the story On Arsanis Jimjimma, which must have circulated in various oral versions. 75 The same story is told in a dorelqa copied in the last decades of the 19th century by the Chaldean bishop Joseph Katola of Telkepe. The two poems derive from the same narrative archetype, heavily influenced by Kurdish Muslim lore,76

XXII

Joseph libbaya and Thomas lfanna The rubrics of the ms. Habbi 3 and, in one case, an authorial signature within the text attribute a number of dwekyaf.a to poets of the first half of the 20th century. According to Habbi 3, e.g., in 1912 Joseph 'Abbaya of Alqosh wrote the dorekf.a On the Hermit Barmalka, a living composition which lies on the tenuous borderline between hagiographical stories and edifying fables. 71 A dorekf.a on St George and a dorekf.a On a Kurdish Attack on Alqosh in 1832 are attributed to Joseph 'Abbaya in two manuscripts of the Chaldean Patriarchate, Baghdad. 72 Thomas I:Ianna was born in the village of Karamlish, 25 km East of Mosul, and became a monk in the Monastery of Rabban Honnizd near Alqosh. He wrote the poem On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish, which is published here, and the poem On Arsanis Jimjimma, published by Pennacchietti in 1990. Both texts are dated 1930 AD in Habbi 3. In 1931 he copied a collection of dorekyaf.a.73 In the dorelqa On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish the poet echoes the traditional way of reflecting on history, but instead of addressing a recent or contemporary event, he rewrites historical sources on a dramatic event of the past and adapts a poetic model by Giwargis Warda for modem verse form. 74 69 Rheton~ (1913-: 64) attributes to David Kora a long dorelqa On the Rosary. In the second half of the 19th century, various booklets on the rosary were printed in Arabic or Neo-Aramaic at the Dominican Press in Mosul. The Neo-Aramaic text is 'possibly an abbreviated version of Andrew Prade1 (1822- ), Manuel du tres-saint Rosaire renfermant les excellences de cette devotion, ses indulgences, ses pratiques et des miracles choisis (paris 2nd ed. 1862)' (Coakley - Taylor 2008: 86, no. 23; see also 98, no. 50 and 109, no. 78). 70 The title 'Mother of God' might still have been perceived as too explicitely Catholic. On Mary •daughter of priests', see, above, n. 29. These choices, which are in line with the East Syriac tradition, probably explain the ingenerous comment by Father Rhetore on the poetess's 'passable' instruction in religious matters. 71 See Braida, below. 72 Haddad-Isaac (1988, 661.1 and 654.3). 73 Braida (2005). 74 Braida (2005) and here, below.

XXIII

YoJ:umnan Choliig The most recent text, translated into English for the first time here, addresses a contemporary social problem that is even more pressing today than in 1980,77 when the poem was published in Baghdad, i.e. the emigration of the Chaldeans from Iraq to the West. The author, the Alqosh priest Yol}.annan Cholag (1935-2006),78 uses the traditional poetic language of the dorekya]a to describe the emotional impact of emigration on those who leave and those who remain. The intertextual play of Biblical allusions suggests the insertion of the dramatic modem condition of Iraqi Chaldeans in the sacred history of the Babylonian exile and evokes the homesickness of the Israelites. The poet does not confine himself to yearning and lamentation, but asks his compatriots who left Iraq, maybe only in search of economic wealth (17), to return to their magnificent homeland (45-55). No wonder this text enjoys great popularity among the Chaldeans scattered throughout a world-wide diaspora! Short stays abroad are allowed for study and education and even recommended for the sake of the community (41-42) - and this is probably an auto-biographical allusion, since Yol;J.annan Cholag studied theology for a year in Paris - but finally everyone is called to come back to serve his native country. Pennacchietti (1993b: 127). London Or. 4422, 100b-103b, published in Pennacchietti (1993b). 77 Like the dorekta On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish (see Braida, below), the text was pUblish~d in Qala Suryaya, an important periodicai of the Chaldean communities in Iraq. An unpublished MA. thesis (Tosco 1979-1980) investigated the history of Qala Suryaya and especially its significance for the socio-linguistic profile of the Iraqi Chaldeans. 78 See Talia, below, for bio-bibliographical information on Yol;iannan Cholag. 7S

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IN1RODUCTION

The final invocation 'Have mercy on US! " which is probably the most frequent formula in Neo-Syriac poetry, is here addressed not to the Lord, but to those who emigrated and caused loss and painful separation. In a Chaldean poem which does not forgo traditional religious inspiration, in the end the social and emotional issues of emerging secular poetry prevail.

AN EARLY NEO-ARAMAIC POEM by Rita Saccagno

According to the last verse (163), which was probably added by a scribe and is preserved only in the Habbi 3 ms. (H), the poem On Repentance by Hormizd of Alqosh dates from the year 1919 of the Seleucid Era, i.e. 1607/08 AD, which would make this dorekfa the earliest dated NeoAramaic text published so far. Metre and Rhyme

The metrical system of Classical Syriac and Neo-Syriac poetry is based on the syllable, which counts as one foot with no regard to the length of the vowels. Each verse of the poem On Repentance numbers four seven-foot lines, usually with a caesura after the fourth foot. E.g., 1: 'axtu
As is customary in early Neo-Syriac poetry, anaphora and anadiplosis (or concatenatio) are placed so as to complement each other as stylistic devices for connecting consecutive verses. 2 In the first part of the poem, anaphora occurs at the beginning of the fourth line of a series of verses (1-46) so as to form an alphabetic acrostic. The first line of every second verse begins with a letter of the alphabet. The last two letters mark the beginning of every third verse (sin 41-43; taw: 44-46).

I 2

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Mengozzi (2002: vo!. 590, 74 and n. 238). Mengozzi (2002: vo!. 590, 75-79).

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ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

The Classical Syriac rubric preserved in the manuscript Mingana 51 suggests a possible Sitz im Leben of the text:

Anadiplosis runs through the rest of the poem in a remarkably elegant way. Only at the end, the two verses in Classical Syriac (159 and 162) and the last one, probably added by a scribe (163), interrupt the concatenation of the verses. The dorelqa, as a poetic genre, is composed for oral transmission and the formal features described so far - metre, rhyme, alphabetic acrostic, anaphora and anadiplosis - all concur to create a text which is both listener-friendly and easy for the performer to memorize. 3 Thus, stylized poet-audience interaction is evoked at the beginning (la-c: 'You, Christian people, listen to the sinner who speaks thus ... ') and at the end of the poem (162b: ' ... those who listen to the poem'; 163: 'a sinner recited this poem').

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,.

'Penitential supplication, which the penitent recites in a low voice as a prayer before God, beseeching His for~iveness and ?itterly.lam~n~g his sins and errors. By the late priest Hornnzd. May Christ forgIve him!

A penitential hymn As all the rubrics suggest, repentance is the central theme of this poem by Hormizd of Alqosh. The poet exploits the conventional repertoire of penitential hymns. The poetic 'I' masks the character of the old sinner (1), incoherent teacher and preacher (25-26), who committed a hackneyed list of common sins (9, 121: excess in eating and drinking; 13: singing and dancing), throughout his life (17, 20-22). Now, as death is approaching, he implores God's forgiveness, mentioning Biblical examples of sinners who repented and were granted salvation. Exempla are drawn from the Old and New Testaments: David, who is called 'Prophet', according to the Eastern Christian tradition, which also spread in Islam; Hezekiah; the Ninevites, saved thanks to Jonah's exhortation to fasting and penance; Peter, chief of the apostles; Paul; Zacchaeus; Mary, 'sinner and prostitute' (107);4 Titus, as the Eastern Christian tradition calls the robber who was crucified with Jesus and entered': Paradise as the first man to be saved. 5 The use of the Scriptures for apologetic and paraenetic purposes is not confined to the exempla. Prayers and moral exhortations are interspersed with references to Biblical images, sayings and parables. Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590, 82-104). As in early Christian traditions, the sinful woman of Luke 7:36-50 is called Mary (105) and thus identified with Mary MagdaIene (Luke 8:2) and/or Mary of Bethany (John. 12:1-6). The allusion to her name being written down by the Lord (l1lc) may reflect further confusion with the adulteress in John 8: 3-11. The name Mary is also given to the sinful woman in a manuscript of the East-Syriac sogi!a of the Sinful Woman and Satan (Brock 1988: 21, n. 3). 5 Pennacchietti (1993: 94, n. 8). 3

4

. "-_

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"T

ON REPENTANCE

5

Have mercy on me, oh merciful One! ON REPENTANCEl

7.

You, Christian people listen to this sinner who speaks thus crying: 'Have mercy on me, oh Lord!'

You set a Dinar as my reward that I might work in Your vineyard, 4 oh Lord, but I did not work. How can I make amends? Have mercy on me, my Saviour!

8.

I was full of shame and sins. I never had enough of wrong-doing and now, above all I seek You. Have mercy on me and forgive me!

I have always trampled on Your Commandments and followed the demons' path. Grant me Your pardon, have mercy on me and forgive me 1

9.

By day and night and ever before You, Son of God, I call on You. Please, reply to me now! Have mercy on me, oh God!

I turned my mind to sin and pleasures, and to eating and drinking. On the Great Last Day have mercy on me, oh Creator1

10.

On the day You judge us with Your almighty power may I not be grieved before You! Have mercy on me, oh righteous One!

My mind grew dark with wrong-doing, my heart was blinded with foolishness, and I felt no repentance. Save me from this gulf!

11.

You made me2 from the dust and by You I was discovered, by Your grace and glorious love. Have mercy on me, oh Christ!

Woe unto me! I took up each of the great sins, one by one. What shall I doS in the torments of Hell? Save me from temptation!

12.

Woe unto me, for there was no crime my oppressed person did not commit and Your justice accuses me. Save me, oh Creator!

13.

By singing, dancing, and dissipation by feasts and flattery the fIlthy covered me, too, with their fIlth. Save me from evil doers!

Penitential hymn .1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

You made me radiant and like Your spiritual image, but I dove in Satan's dust. 3

1 H: A dorelqa composed by the priest Honnizd of Alqosh, in the year 1919 of the Greeks; M: By the late priest Honnizd. May Christ forgive him!; S: Another dorekta On Repentance by the priest Joseph Jemdani of Telkepe. , 2 Lit., H: 1 mixed with Satan's dust; S M: 1 got dirty with Satan's dust. 3 H: 1 rolled (lit. '1 mixed') in Satan's dust.

4 5

Matthew 20:1-16, 21:33-46. M: How shall 1 do from the torments? (sic); S: How shall 1 flee from the torments?

6

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

ON REPENTANCE

14.

Singers together with fornicators did Paul of Tarsus include. I am wicked,6 my life is black. Save me from disaster!

2l.

I joked all my time and I even took part in evil-doing. When the angel holds me back, save me, Jesus, my hope r

15.

Abuse and sins in the world I committed more than anyone else, when my neck twists before You. 7 Save me on that Day!

22.

All my time did I waste and from evil-doing I did not draw back. When the angel distresses me, save me that he may not crush me!

16.

I was guilty before You, I, Your miserable servant. On the day I come into Your peace, save me that I may be glad with You!

23.

I did not heed the Holy Scriptures and I did no good deeds. How shall I escape the flames? 11 Save me from those wolves!

17.

My youth got stuck and fell and myoid age grew confused with fault. Wash it with the water of Your love, save me! My soul is in danger.

24.

I wished for l2 neither prayer nor fasting and I did not shrink from shame or blame. What shall I do on that Day? Save me, King in the highest r

18.

Before my burial, may Your grace take me in, oh Lord, though there is no escape for me, save me, oh mighty One!

25.

I taught Your teaching, Your true preaching, but I did not draw near unto You. Save me by Your grace!

19.

Day after day I go on lying, saying that I will turn back8 from my way, yet I do not move9 a single stone. Save me, that I may not fall!

26.

Teacher of un-truths was I because I did not do as I taught. As Your mouth enjoins me, save me! I ruined them.

27. 20.

All the days of my life have passed by and turned round and gone away. My sins have fallen on my neck. Save me! My life has been struck down. IO

The fire You prepared for me because of my sin and my deeds, my Lord, may it not worsen my condition, save me! I loathe my sins.

28.

Your spiritual seal did seal abomination within me,

M S: let me uproot (M: it?). 7 H: My neck will twist before You. S S: I will drag away. 9 S: I do not roll away. 10 Lit.: my soul became weak. 6

11

12

H: How whatshall I do amidst the flames? (sic; see lle). M: I loved.

7

8

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

ON REPENTANCE

so that it may draw me back 13 from Hell. Save me from Satan!

Before he brings me to ruin, save me, oh Saviour!

29.

Blind have I been until now, and I did not see that I was full of sin. 14 By the grace of God, Your father, . Save me as ever!

36.

Shout with Your thundering voice, disperse him like smoke before me, so that I may know what to do, save me, oh Saviour!

30.

I confirmed my hope in You and obtained trust in You. Your mercy15 suffices me. Save me and take me to Your side t

37.

Before You I weep and implore so I may be redeemed by my tears from the fire I remember with fainting heart. Save me that I may not bum.

31.

It is time for me to repent from my sin and turn towards You. Otherwise, what shall I answer in the morning? Save me, that I may not fall! 16

38.

I fear greatly for my deeds and for the Hell that awaits me. I have turned my mind to you.l 9 Save me! I am ruined.

32.

May Your help be with me and in Your Kingdom write down my name. You are father and mother to me. Save me and open my mouth]l7

39.

Pride and glory are senseless, they have made me hollow and miserable2O • You are good and righteous. Save me from torment!

33.

I am guilty of my sins, because I did not do well before you. Have mercy, oh my God, save me! What escape is there for me?

40

My head bent down21 with shame, my guilt has no bounds and the world collapsed through my wickedness. Save me from my pride t

34.

I have no fruits of good deeds, such as those the books prescribe. Lord, what will my life be like? Save me from suffering and from sorrow!

41.

My torment is never-ending and my flame is never put out. Today that I am here, save me, that I may find rest!

35.

I became a prey to Satan and the son of Hell imprisoned me. 18

42.

Forgive my sins and my faults, have mercy on me before my departure! If You so will, make white my face, save me from my follies!

13 14

IS 16 17

18

M: that it may save me. H: when I filled myself with every sin. M : Your help. See H; 19d; M; Have mercy on me, oh Christ! Psalm 51: 17. S: And I became a son of Hell.

19 20

21

H s: May my mind turn to You! S: vain. H: my face became black; S: I bent down my head.

9

10 43.

Although I did not do what is pleasing to You and trampled on Your law and Your rules, take me in as if I were Your son, save me from Your judgementl

Salvation for those who repent 44.

45.

50.

The word You spoke by the Prophet in the Old Testament: it is not pleasing to You, oh Creator, that mankind should die in sin.

51.

You do not wish man to die in sin, rather that he should repent of every single transgression and ill-deed and inherit the life of the Kingdom.

52.

You consented, in the Scriptures, to give Your Kingdom to those who repent. You said that everyone who does good deeds shall be by Your side.

53.

You want man to do good, pure deeds. To this end purposely You came and made him turn away from his wrong-doing.

54.

When he was led astray,25 ruined by worshipping idols, and possessed by evil spirits, he was driven int026 the nether regions.

55.

He was driven into the nether regions of death while he27 was alive. He was cast down28 in disaster to the end of time.

56.

He saw the time of Your Grace and saw his hateful enslavement whereupon he felt disgusted with it, and hence he achieved salvation.

You gave us the sacrament of penance, from the death of sin bring us to life again! We repented of our disgraceful behaviour, take us in,22 save us from our sins! our23

That You may accept repentance hear our23 prayers to You, and despise not our17 rogation, save us, Son of the Virgin!

46.

Those who repent truly and never go back to their ill-doing, You will take them in without question and take them into Your assembly.

47.

Into Your assembly You will take them. Among the righteous You will number them and to Your Kingdom You will raise them up. On this earth You will not abandon them.

The Scriptures promise Salvation for the penitent 48.

49.

You will not leave in trouble those who repented and saved themselves from Hell. Thus You did herald the Good Tidings with Your living, life-giving words 24 • With Your living words You did herald the Good Tidings and thus You taught us and You made a solemn promise and on the word You spoke, You did not go back.

2S 22 23

24

M: I repented. May You take me in from our mind! (sic) MS: my. Lit.: mouth.

11

ON REPENTANCE

HORM.IZD OF ALQOSH

26 TI

2ll

Lit.: When he darkened with mistakes. S: he was overwhelmed. H: she. Lit.: he was caused to fall; H: they enchained him.

--_._

_

..

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12

57.

ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

Buffeted from sea to sea, he came to Your vineyard, which is there for all the miserable souls who suffer oppression.

ascended33 to the Heavenly Kingdom and sat34 on the throne of Glory. 64.

When he sat3S on the throne, of light and spirit, wonderful with honour and glory, on the right hand of the Heavenly Father.

65.

On the right hand of Your Father the Creator You have us human wretches sit, who fell 36 into disgrace because of the decision of" Eve and the serpent.

66.

Eve and the serpent and Satan, these three enacted that misdeed. Adam was brought to ruin. lost and made Satan's partner. 3S

67.

Partner in Hell and part of Hades those three made him. Had You not had mercy on him, by Your grace, he would have been lost to the world.

Biblical examples: Adam and Eve 58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

They were oppressed and robbed by the plunderer Satan cursed and perverse, from the time of the first man Adam untilYou came, You one and only. You came to the aid of this creature, that You made very beautiful. Since Adam and frail Eve fell into sin and guilt and went out in disgrace. Into sin and guilt the creature29 fell. By Your love he wished You to raise him Up30 from his fall. You raised him up from his fall 31 and absolved him of his sin. To that door You created for him You bore him back. He was restored32 to its dignity and comforted in his trouble and oppression. He freed himself from contempt and shame and grew in honour.

The widow He was lost by wrong-doing and was brought low by unbelief. You sought him on purpose like in the parable of the widow's mite.39

68.

The coin and the sheep lost and found 69.

63.

He grew in honour, thanks to the Man who took on his likeness, 33 34 35

29

30 31

32

S: he went. Here and hereafter 'he' refers to 'this creature' (58a, 59a). MS: he wished to be raised up. M S: he was raised up from its fall... etc. H: You restored him.

36 37 38

39

In that parable of the lost coin that You told us of, You taught us M: he let ascend; S: he was raised. M: he had him sit; S: he was seated. M: he had him sit; S: he was seated. Lit.: who had fallen; H: who fell. H: because of. H: they made him Satan's partner. Luke 18:1-7.

- - - - - - - - _..•.

_---~

.. _ - - - - -

13

..•. r

14

.

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

ON REPENTANCE

that You came to mankind, You went, found and saw it. 40

70.

71.

72.

76.

You gathered together all sinners who repent and do penance. Through You they will obtain life45 as you interceded for the ancients.

77.

That shepherd who owned a hundred sheep and one of them got lost and he was saddened. He got up and went after it.42

Among the ancients is the prophet David,46 he, who had Uriah killed, committed adultery with the wife of that wretched man and fell into this filthy sin.

78.

The shepherd went out43 and searched everywhere for his sheep, which had strayed from the flock, and saw it was in trouble.

He fell into sin and guilt and repented of his sin, that time. You, Son of God, took him in as though he had never sinned.

Hezekiah

You found it, oh merciful One. Another parable witnesses that You were speaking about the sheep lost by the shepherd. 41

73.

He saw it and placed it on his shoulders and took it to its fold. The sheep is mankind44 • You are its shepherd and Heaven its dwelling-place.

74.

Your Grace, that created it, took it to its dwelling-place, was greatly cheered by it, rejoiced and held it up as an example.

75.

40

41 42 43 44

David the Prophet

79.

As though he had never sinned, like Hezekiah,47 when his power grew and he grew proud in his heart. This was his sin.

80.

With that he went to perdition. You mortified him with a disease in the chest. He repented once more and before You he prayed.

81.

He bowed down, that guilty man, before You, and became penitent. You took him in, oh gentle One, and healed him of that pain.

82.

You healed him of that disease, because he48 had repented,

You appeared well-pleased with humankind freeing itself from the snare of Satan, repenting, casting off sin and joining the saints.

H: you went, sought for it and found it. Matthew 18:12-14. H: He went after it and found it; M: For it and he went after it. H: The shepherd sought it. Lit.: our genus.

45

46 47 48

·

....

m~_

.. ·

MS: Among the saints they obtain life. 2 Samuel 11. Isaiah 38; 2 Kings 18-20. S: He who.

_

15

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16

ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

and he gained two more weeks of life.

He routed the Christians and destroyed their churches. 55

Simon Peter 83.

84.

90.

As he achieved repentance, Your Love cried aloud from Heaven,56 took him in, rejoiced and loved him and set him up as a pillar of Your Church.

He repented and wept, let tears stream from his eyes 50 , beat his breast, called on Y OU51 and his voice reached You.

Titus the robber

When his voice reached You and he turned his mind back to You, You took him in and restored his condition. You comforted him in his anxiety and confinned him in his state.

91.

You placed57 him as a strong pillar and Titus, thief and plunderer, repented before You and soon You took him in, toO. 58

86.

You raised him from his sadness and affliction , entrusted Your key to his hand. All Your mysteries did You reveal to him and called him the foundation of Your Church. 52

92.

Soon You took the robber in, who repented as he hung on the cross. After all that thieving, You made him the frrstbom of Paradise.

Paul a/Tarsus

The Ninivites

87.

You called pious his companion Paul, the wrathful persecutor5 3, who stoned that blessed soul Saint Stephen the deacon. 54

93.

The firstbom of Paradise he became and also the Ninevites,59 whose sins were overwhehning, shook rivers and seas and caused upheaval in mountains and plains.

88.

He stoned Saint Stephen to death and wounded believers with his sword.

94.

Mountains and plains were in upheaval and arches 60 large and heavy

49

51 52 53 54

-

He destroyed their churches, until You reproached him fiercely and he understood his foolishness, returned and repented.

85.

50

_._

89.

More than once Simon,49 too, chief of the Apostles, denied with his oaths and sinned three times. But he turned back and repented.

Matthew 26:69-75.

55

s: in front of You.

56

H: and struck himself. Matthew 16: 18-19. Lit. 'bandit'. Acts 8:1,22:4,26:16-18.

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57 58 59

60

_

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_ _-------------_

_

E.g., Acts 9:1; 26:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10. s: a voice called from Heaven; Acts 26:12-18. M S: You made. Luke 23:39-43. Jonah 3:2-10; Matthew 12:38-42. H: things.

__ _ _ - - - - - - - .. ..

17

18

with the wickedness of those renegades unclean, evil and adulterers. 95.

96.

97.

98.

99.

With adultery and uncleanliness, fornication and death, with the fathomless depths 61 of all evil the hated Nineveh was filled. Hated and living in evil, Your Justice accused her, surrounded her on all sides 62 and wished to drag her away. Justice wished to drag her and all her people to Hell until a messenger came unto her, she repented and followed Your principles. She followed Your principles and repented, she cleansed herself of all her sins. She won Your justice through repentance, she did not tremble nor turn back. She did not turn back and You took the Ninivites in and they inherited life. They were saved from every misfortune, by doing penance they became innocent.

Zacchaeus 100. They became truly innocent and Zacchaeus,63 too, the tax collector and bailiff that avaricious and miserly man, oppressor of the poor and his neighbour64 •

61 62 63 64

ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

M s: the end. M: and the Blamer (garkeniir) ruined her; S: that the Blamer pointed her out. Luke 19: 1-10. Sic in H; M S: of the poor in?

101. No sooner did the oppressor hear of Your clemency than he wished to come and see You and he repented before You. 102. You saw him repent, took him in, rejoiced and loved him. From all of his faults You absolved him and called him son of Abraham. 103. You called him so for his faith, because he believed as Abraham did. He took You to his home with him and made You his guest in his home. 6s 104. His guest You became in his home and his home You blessed. You brought him to the true religion and You made him a son of the Kingdom.

Mary the sinful woman 105. You made him a son of the Kingdom because he repented, and Mary,66 too, who lived in fornication, evil and guilt. 106. Sin she committed and made the world filthy. She made it unclean and abominable. She contaminated and dishonoured it. 107. She dishonoured Creation that sinner and prostitute and there was no young man who did not perish because of her sin.

65

66

H S: You became his guest in his house. See, above, An Early Neo-Aramaic poem, n. 4.

19

20

ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

108. She ruined folk with her fornication and her ugly sin, but she was deeply moved when she heard Your holy name voiced abroad 67 .

115. Life, beatitude and rest, and the delights of the Kingdom, You will give them with joy to those who repent.

109. She heard Your name voiced abroad67 and she renounced fornication. She came running to Your side and became a penitent.

116. TIrrough repentance the ancients to those between unto those last, who had repented as sinners, You took them in and they inherited life.

110. She repented of her every fault and sin, with pure heart and intention. You took her in, Lord of Creation.

117. They themselves inherited Life and I, the meanest of all, I, who did not repent like them, take me into their company70!

111. Lord of Creation, You took her in and from all her faults You absolved her. You wrote down her name68 and preserved it to the end of the world.

118. Into their company70 take me, do not reproach me with Your wrath, do not banish71 me from Your sight from all my faults absolve me!

112. You preserved her name in the books so that young and old shall see it, women and sinners altogether, so they shall emulate her69 and repent.

119. Forgive me all my sins, oh my God and my Lord, and ask not why with your talent I did not make even a penny! 72

The penitent inherit the Kingdom

120. I did not earn even a penny from the talent I received from You, but with wickedness I mixed it.?3 I gave myself up to pleasures, drank and ate.

113. All of us repent so that Your great love may receive us and cleanse us from all of our sins like those penitents we have enumerated.

121. I ate and drank with drunkards with the dissolute and fornicators. I never thought either to make it yield or to harvest the fruits.

114. Those we have just enumerated, among countless thousands of others, they repented. You rejoiced greatly for them and granted them life and rest.

70

67 68

69

..........

_

__ __.. __

MS: mentioned. Lit.: the memory (H: the fame) of her name. MS: they shall be envious.

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_ __

__

_----_.-_ _-_

71 72

73

-

_._

-

--_

__.._ _

_

MS: on a par with them. M: do not overthrow me; S: do not pick me up. Matthew 25:14-30. MS: but I cried aloud.

_ _------_.

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21

'~r

22

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

122. I lost the harvest and caused the loss of profit. My Lord, what will become of me? Have mercy on me, my Creator. 123. My Creator, have mercy on me by Your grace grant me a truce so that I may be given an opportunity, to seek out and fmd my capital. 124. May I find my capital and balance my accounts and increase it. May I bring it guiltlessly and hand it to You, my Lord. 125. May I offer to you with clear countenance what You gave me, oh my Lord. I deserved74 the reward of those who increased the value of their talent. 126. I offered You talents in abundance, merciful Lord. Let me share in Your goodness and in eternal delight! 127. Lasting is the delight they will inherit on the day of the Resurrection and their goods up above know no end or completion. 128. There is no end to the goods You will give them in the Kingdom, which they will enjoy for eternity for ever and ever in glory. 129. In this joy me too, Your needy and poor servant, 74

H: Make me deserving of.

.,.,......

ON REPENTANCE

who knelt imploring before You, let me share, oh merciful One! 130. Oh merciful One, let me share, try me and know me, because I did not behave well! do not repay me according to my sin! 131. Do not repay with Your uprightness and do not judge me according to Your justice, but take me in by Your grace, Your love and Your mercy! 132. In Your mercy take me in, forgive me my sins, let me enter Your Kingdom and let me share Your riches! 133. Let me share the heavenly delights, with the spiritual beings, the just and the righteous, with those who fasted and with those who prayed! 134. In these delights, my Lord, prepare my reward and my prize and do not remind me of my shortcomings! You are my refuge and salvation. 135. You are my salvation, oh Christ robed in love, have mercy on me and in Your glorious bride-chamber, may I know happiness with You! 136. Make me happy there with You, because I have confessed here in Your name, I put on your sign and symbol and I partook of your body and your blood.

137. Of Your body and Your blood I partook, beneath Your cross I knelt and bore witness, ------.-------------

23

..

24

,--

under the yoke of your Church75 I trod and I never abandoned my faith in You. 138. I never abandoned my faith in You and I did not doubt Your faith, but, according to Your preaching, I entered under the yoke of Your penance. 139. I entered under the yoke of Your penance. Here I remembered Your word, which Your mouth spoke to me:' 'How sweet is my yoke! '.76 140. You called Your teachings a yoke, Your religion, precepts and law. You Yourself promised that those who bear it will become Your sons. 141. Your sons will they be called and dear, loved and cherished when You said: 'Come, oh you weary, burdened and groaning. 142. Weary, groaning and bent under the burden of the works of Satan, flee from evil and sin J77 I will give you rest. 143. I will give you rest from all the weight of your labours. In place of the weight of your guilt, I will impose my burden on you.,n 144. Your burden, that is Your Commandments and the fine words of Your teachings. 75 76

77

78

s: in Your misery. Matthew 11 :30. s: come to me so that I may give you rest! Matthew 11 :28-29.

25

ON REPENTANCE

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

Thus it was clarified by the divine interpreters who worship You.

Saints and spiritual leaders 145. May the divine ones worship You the wise and righteous, the saints and spiritual men, who clarify the parables of the Prophets! 79 146. They explained the parables of the Prophets and explored the words of the Apostles. With their minds they rose up to You. They embraced Your divine nature with their spirit. 147. With their spirit they embraced Your divine nature. they strolled80 through your Kingdom. With the living wine of Your grace they were inebriated and forgot this world of Yours.

Vanity of the world 148. This world of Yours, abandoned, forgotten Violent, hateful81 and rejected, they realized it resembles nothing but a dream of the night. 149. In his dream man believes he has become a sultan or a pasha but when he is wide awake he is nothing but poor and unhappy. 150. Poor, unhappy and miserable he wakes up and feels ashamed and guilty. This is the glory of the world, hence it seems like a dream.

79

80

8!

H: and may the saints and spiritual men I clarify the parables of the prophets. H: they took delight. H: they repudiated it.

.......•............•.....

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'-'."

"'~~

l

26

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

151. Like a dream it seems and like a shadow. This deceptive world let me uproot82 , fool and sinner! What am I stumbling83 after? Final confession 152. I stumbled after a fair flower which reddens a bush 84 and in no time it dies 85 and falls into the furna.ce. 153. A furnace that does not go out and its flame never grows cold. I inherited it, but I am here: what shall I reply to the angel? 154. To my angel, what shall I reply? I do not know what to say to him. For many years of my life he taught me and I did not obey him. 155. My troubled heart did not obey the holy angel, but indeed it was fatuous and in unclean deeds it was confused. 156. I was soiled with sin and guilt and I never felt regret. In Your goodness make me holy now, oh Christ, Son of God J

27

ON REPENTANCE

158. In the latter days You saved mankind. Glory be to You and life to Your Father and to the everlasting Spirit 159. You show Yourself as a Trinity, You are proclaimed one, one powerful86 and one ruler one single mighty God. 160. Eternal in His divine nature, one in His Trinity, no beginning has His existence and His perpetuity87 has no end. 161. His benevolence has no bounds and His mercy has no end, for He created from nothing this world and made it as it is. 88 162. Stand, You who raise mankind, come for those who listen to the poem! Blow upon them the spirit of life so that they may honour and glorify You!

89

The end.

Doxology and final prayer 157. Son of God the merciful, second Qnoma, only begotten of the Father, who put on our human nature in the latter days. 82 83 84 85

H: I. S: going. MS: makes a bush pale. H: it withers.

86 87 88

89

H: dignity. H: Kingdom. M is in Classical Syriac. H: His Kingdom has no end / and His mercy is without bounds, / for He created this world / by His word and His utterance. Had: . 163. In the year 1919 of the Greeks / a sinner recited this poem, the poor priest Hormizd / of the lineage of Alqosh.

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HELL AND PARADISE: BAROQUE SOURCES by Simona Destefanis

The poetic dyptich The Torments of Hell (1855) and The Delights of the Kingdom (1856) by Damyanos of Alqosh is a late re-working of a long literary tradition proposing the religious theme of the soul's destiny in the other world. It is extremely difficult to date most of the texts belonging to this tradition or to place them in a specific geographical and cultural area. The Book of the Watchers, a work preserved in chapters 1-36 of the apocryphal 1 Enoch is probably one of the earliest of its kind. l The visions of the afterlife were composed with the pedagogical intent of frightening people by the images of eternal torments and so preventing them from sinning. At the same time, they exhorted believers to holiness in this world so they might earn the delights of Heaven. Moral dissuasion and the rhetoric of sensation Usually these visions are presented as tours in the world to come where the narrative voice is a living man walking through a desolate scene. Sometimes the traveller looks round these unknown lands with the help of an authoritative guide, such as an angel, a saint or a deceased erudite. In the poems of Damyanos of Alqosh the visions of Heaven and Hell do not take the fonn of a guided tour. In the epilogue of the text The Torments of Hell the author justifies his detailed knowledge of infernal conditions openly declaring: 'Listen! Hear me, / all you Christians, so I may explain what I found / and read in the Book of Life / and what I learned from my teachers / about the tonnents of Hell' (Hell 18).2 Besides the reading and the learning, he also introduces a vision, more or less direct, of the punishments. In Hell lOc-f he addresses listeners with an exhortation to look now and personally at the awful hellish view: 'You who are alive, go down / Himmelfarb (1983: 2). It is not clear what the author means when he speaks of 'the Book of Life' or who 'his teachers' are. From our analysis of the sources (see below), they may be identified with the Holy Scriptures and the Italian Baroque preachers with whom the poet was clearly familiar. 1

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into that grave full of those who neglect faith, / claw and writhe in its fire / and see what the condition of the wicked will be.' Damyanos is not a touring player nor a real guide for his listener. His journey through Hell and Paradise - named with the biblical appellations 'Gehenna' and 'the Kingdom', respectively, as is customary in the Syriac tradition - is rhetorical and paraenetic. He is a preacher who threatens his flock with visions of Hell, puts them on their guard against sin which is cause of eternal damnation. In Damyanos' text no emphasis is placed on the relation between punishment and crime and no damned soul has a specific psychological make-up or personal character. There is no description of earthly sins and no individual traits survive in the hellish common fire. Nevertheless, Damyanos brings the listener to perceive Hell through sensation. Awful sounds offend the ear of those who abandon themselves to his narration: weeping, groaning, gnashing of teeth, howling and barking dogs (Hell 22), the devils' terrible din (Hell 51). Fire 'kindled by the wrath of the Creator' (Hell 55c) has a long histOlY of association with retribution in the Bible. 3 It is a natural feature of torture in the apocalyptic literature4 and it comes to dominate all descriptions of Hell in later works. Damyanos often calls the hellish place a 'furnace', emphasizing its burning character (Hell 58, 60, 61, 73, 112, 113).5 The hellish fire bums afflicting the touch and sight of the damned. Sight and blindness are combined. In addition to its unbearable heat, infernal fire has the unexpected quality of being dark. In Hell fire is at the same time light and darkness. God's voice separates them as in a new creation: light is granted by Him, while darkness is left in Hell (Hell 64). Darkness is in itself a torment and shares with fire the burning character: that tortures the damned, for it is deprived of the blessing of God and it bums those who hate Him (65). Fire spreads over the whole range of Hell, so that sinners have no place of refuge from it, nor a corner in which they can avoid the flames (59). This hellish fire spreads through everything soaking inside and outside the bodies (61).

The offended sight and blindness, as its negative counterpart, lead the damned souls - and Damyanos' audience - to suffer from awful hallucinations, in which an upside-down world and images of scalding tears are evoked (Hell 95-96). Thick smoke accompanies the scorching darkness of the hellish fire and pervades the gulf. 6 It rises from the gulf and sun and sky are darkened by it. Because of it the damned suffer a painful blindness and this is a recurrent theme of punishment in Greek (e.g., Oedipus) and Jewish (Samson) literature and also in apocalyptic visions.? In Damyanos' poem, fire is linked to the scriptural image of a tireless worm 'that tears and nibbles' the hearts (Hell 25), a filthy beast that 'does not die' (26), i.e., it is not mortal but constantly gnaws the bodies of the damned. They 'do not rest nor escape / from the bite of that worm, / forever they will bum and suffer' (27). This image is drawn from a verse in Mark 9:47-48 where Jesus quotes Isaiah 66:24 and claims: 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. ' The sense of touch is affected not only by heat but by cold as well. 'Both the heat of that fire / and the cold will assail them without pity. / With the freezing cold / their teeth will chatter and rattle' (Hell 76ad), which is echoed in: 'Here they are in the middle of Tartarus, / in the sea of fire and ice' (116). Hellish ice is known in other apocalyptic texts, as Apocalypse of Paul 42. Like sight and blindness, fire and ice, chilling warmth and burning cold are combined in painful oxymora. Except for this mention of a 'sea' in the poem of Damyanos there is no real description of the geography of Hell. As in the sermons of the Baroque period, and still in the 18th century, where the perimeter of Hell grows more and more restricted until it changes into a narrow place, where the number and kind of punishments are fewer but their intensity

30

3

See, e.g., Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalm 21:9; Isaiah 30:27; 33:14; Amos 1; Matthew

18:8,24:41,25:41; Mark 9:43. 4 See, e.g., Apocalypse ofPeter 22. The apocryphal Apocalypse ofPeter was composed around 135 AD, probably in Greek. Clement of Alexandria (2nd-3rd centuries) mentioned it as canonical work (Erbetta 1969: vol. 3, 209-214). 5 See, e.g., Matthew 13:42, 50.

6 See, e.g., Genesis 19:28, referring to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; Revelation 9:2. 7 See, e.g., Apocalypse of Paul 40. The date of the apocryphal Apocalypse of Paul is problematic. Greek, Latin and Syriac versions contain a prologue or an epilogue which claim that the book was discovered under a house in Tarsus in 338. According to Barhebraeus, Origen (d. ca. 254) mentioned the Apocalypse of Paul as work accepted by the Church, but in the 5th century Augustine affIrmed that the Ecclesiastical Canon did not include it. However, it won widespread fame until the 8th century and inspired a great number of works during the Middle Ages (Erbetta 1969: vol. 3,353-358). A Neo-Aramaic poetic adaptation of the Apocalypse of Paul is attributed to Israel of Alqosh (early 17th century). The text was circulating among East-Syrians and its popUlarity was condemned by Western missionaries (Mengozzi 2002: 107-108).

--132

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increases,S Damyanos describes a condition of narrowness. ill Hell 108 he portrays the damned as: 'Fallen down and gathered together / like sheep in a narrow fold, / sharing every action, / there is no place more agonising for them. / Like the flesh and the veins / they are joined and bound one to another.' The sensation of narrowness also derives from the use of tenns such as 'gulf, depth, well, etc' (e.g., Hell 2, 70, 100, 107, 117), common Biblical synonyms for Sheo!. Smell too is affected. As in apocalyptic literature,9 the deep gives off a terrible stench (e.g., Hell 91-92). The bad smell of the dead coming from the gulf10 mixes with the stench <:>f infernal materials like bitumen, pitch and sulphur, that appear several times as punishment for the wicked. 11 Even the sense of taste is mentioned as a side-effect of the sickening smell: 'like a bitter taste / when it tonnents the mouth' (92et).

unbearable sorrow is the complete and irreversible loss of God: 'That tonnent is the loss / of the praised and good Creator. / He went away and they see Him no more / nor can they approach Him. / They will yearn for Him forever / in anguish, from afar' (Hell 20). Since in life they were 'unwise traitors' (38c), God rejected them without remission for all eternity (l3ab). If the damned curse the Lord, in His turn He curses them (16d) and no-one, neither human nor divine, can help them anymore (1415).

Physical and moral punishments

In addition to this range of punitive features of the 'graves / that have no door to leave by' (Hell 50et), the damned have to suffer other corporal punishments, such as chains (11a), spits piercing their hearts (62d) and such an awful thirst and hunger (83ab) that they eat the fire (84a) and everyone would feed on his companion (85). All will eat their own flesh and bowels 'groaning / like wounded howling dogs' (22). Devils too have great importance in the economy of the infernal torments, because they have many tasks. They beat the damned (Hell 89), scare and make noise with their terrible voices (51) and take the dreamlike fonn of wild beasts to thrill prisoners with horror (95-96). The most important task of the devils is psychological punishment, as they claim with malice: 'You have become like our fellows and our equals' (45bc) and 'we will laugh at you' (43t). In this life in which there is nothing but hate (Hell 54ab) the only way' the damned can rebel against punishment, both physical and psychological, is to give vent to their anger on themselves (22), their inmates (54), the Saints and the Virgin Mary (101) and lastly on the Lord (22 and 52). With his frequent mention of the cursing of the damned, Damyanos points out that physical tonnents are the least of their sufferings in the afterlife. Moral punishment is the worst of all because the greatest and Camporesi (1987: 101). See, e.g., Apocacalypse of Paul 4l. 10 See, e.g., Apocacalypse of Paul 16. 11 See also, e.g., Revelation 14: 10.

Quellenstudie

As far as literary and linguistic choices are concerned, Biblical narratives are the most direct sources. References to both the Old and New Testaments are disseminated throughout the text with explicit rewritings and quotations of some passages 12 or with echoes of scriptural passages. 13 ill addition to biblical motifs, Damyanos inserts two impressive and colourful tales in his poems: the agreement of two companions (Hell 70-75) and the monk drawn up into Heaven (44-50). The choice of inserting short tales is useful in the context of popular literature because they catch the listeners' fancy and they can be easily remembered. Exempla and short improving stories were well known by preachers since the early centuries of the Christian era. They circulated widely, particularly in the Middle Ages. We need only think of the collection of Dialogus miraculorum by the Gennan monk Caesarius von Heisterbach, active in the first half of the 13th century. However, Damyanos' description of the other-worldly kingdoms is heavily influenced by the visions of Western Christian preachers of the 17th century.14 His knowledge of Roman Catholic literature of the Baroque period is chiefly due to his work as a translator. ill fact, towards the end of his life he translated from Arabic into Syriac a MUrSid alKahanah, a handbook for Catholic priests,15 that was in its turn a translation of passages by the 17th-century Italian preacher Paolo Segneri. A Jesuit, Father Segneri was an ecclesiastical consultant of Pope funocent xn and wrote a large number of texts in which he taught the art of writing sennons with rhetorical rules and practical advice. His work reflects

8

12

9

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14 15

E.g., the story of Luke 16: 19-26 'Lazarus and the rich man' in Hell 79-80. E.g., Genesis 25:29-34 in Hell 21; Jeremiah 2:13 in 28; Isaiah 21:11 in 98. Destefanis (2005). Macuch (1976: 103).

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the culture and the religions conception of the afterlife typical of the 17th century. Through him Damyanos got into touch with the European literature of the Baroque period, written two centuries before him. The following table shows some of the more significant parallels between the Neo-Aramaic poem and the work Il Cristiano istruito nella sua legge ('The Christian instructed in His law') by Father Segneri: 16 The Torments ofHell by Damyanos of Alqosh (19th century)

Il Cristiano istruito nella sua legge by': Paolo Segneri (17th century)

Verse 19 It is a worm in the heart / that affords the soul no respite. 26 'Their worm dies not', / said Christ, the Saviour. I 'Not even for a moment I does it grant rest and peace, I not even for the blinking of an eye, I to those who abide in Hell... 56 The Lord gave it such strength I that it melts a mountain like wax (Psalm 97:5). 57 Should mountains fall in it I they would melt in the blinking of an eye. 61 Really their limbs will roast / all of them in the forge, I sinners and the unclean, I forever and not just for a time / in the inside and the outside of their bodies.

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64 Light and darkness are in the fIre I according to the law of nature. I 'The voice of the mighty Lord', I said David the Psalmist, / 'divides it, takes the light / and leaves behind only the darkness'. 76 Both the heat of that fIre I and the cold will assail them without pity. I With the freezing cold / their teeth will chatter and rattle.

Page 288 Sollievo dunque dell'intelletto sara l'esser roso perpetuamente dal verme della coscienza, che sempre 10 mordera. 'Relief for the mind will be the perpetual gnawing of the worm of conscience, that will bite him for ever.'

278 ... se vi cadesse in mezzo una montagna di macigni 0 marmi, vi si disfarebbe subito come cera.

106 Down there every inhabitant / is a complete Hell.

'should a mountain of rocks and marble. fall into it, it would melt like wax'

281- Cll fuoco) affliggera tanto nell'intimo le 282 loro anime, cke il dannato non si potra' distinguere mai dal fuoco, ne il fuoco si potra mai distinguere dal dannato; in quella guisa cke it metallo, liquefatto nella fornace, non si distingue mai dalle fiamme liquefattrici, ma pare una cosa medesima col suo incendio. 'Fire will sear their souls so deeply that it will be impossible to distinguish the damned from the fire and the fIre from the damned, as metal melted in a furnace can-

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not be distinguished from the melting flames, but seems to be one with the [ue' 287 Dio fara loro per supplizio eke it fuoco arda ma non risplenda. 'God will make the fIre burn but not shine as a punsihment for them.'

281 Il fuoco dunque farO. l'ujfizio taggiu di tutte le carneficine e di tutti i carnefici eke potrebbono unirsi insieme: ed esso farO. sentire it fervor della brace, il /reddor delle brine, i morsi de' vermi, le stirature dellefuni, gli squarei de' fern, la tempesta delle sferzate, le mannaje, i ceppi, le catene, le ruote. 'Down there fIre will do the job of all tortures and torturers combined together: it will make them feel burning embers, freezing frost, biting worms, stretching ropes, gashing irons, the whip's raging lashes, axes, logs, chains, wheels.' 283 questa pena, C•.. ) !'inferno del medesimo inferno, eonsistera in una violenta separazione dell'anima dal sommo bene e dai centro di tutti i euori, cke e Dio. 'this punishment (...), Hell within Hell, will be a forced separation of the soul from its supreme good and the centre of all hearts, which is God.'

It is clear how the thoughts and atmosphere of Segneri's works influenced Damyanos. The influence of Italian Baroque literature becomes even clearer if we consider the texts of a disciple and friend of Segneri, Father Giovanni Pietro Pinamonti. 17 Father Pinamonti wrote a short work entitled L'Inferno aperto at Cristiano perche non v'entri ('Hell disclosed 17 Giovanni Pietro PinanJonti (Pistoia 1632 - Orta 1703) was only fourteen years old when he entered in a Jesuit Seminary, where he studied rhetoric and philosophy. In Rome he began to study theology but his poor health forced him to give it up. He was a teacher of the novices, confessor of the duchess Lucrezia Barberiui and author of many penitential works which enjoyed wide renown.

Segneri (1832: vol. V, 274-292). _...•.

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to the Christian so that he may not enter it') in which he presented his readers with a frightful vision of the underground prison with its torments and pains. IS The resemblances of this text to Damyanos' poem are significant. Many a passage of the dorelqa illustrate the author's indebtedness to the Italian preacher: The Torments of the Hell by Damyanos of Alqosh (19th century) Verse 19 There is such great torment I in the prison of Hell... It is a worm in the heart I that affords the soul no respite. 25 That is the worm Ithat tears and gnaws their hearts. 26 Christ, the Saviour. / 'Not even for a moment I does it grant rest and peace, I not even for the blinking of an eye, / to those who abide in Hell... 27 They do not rest nor flee / from that consuming worm. 20 That torment is the loss I of the praised and good Creator. 27 They abandoned their God and lost / the Creator of all creatures

22 They will curse their Creator. 52 They will curse the name of the most High. / 18

Pinamonti (1718: 266-281).

L'lnferno aperto al Cristiano... by Giovanni P. Pinamonti (17th century) Page 273 dalla corruzione del peccato nasce ne' dannati un rimorso perpetuo, che si chiama verme delta coscienza, perehe rodera loro Con rabbioso dispetto il cuore senza mai posare. 'an ever-lasting regret wells up in the hearts of the damned from the corruption of sin and it is called the worm of conscience, since it will unceasingly gnaw their hearts with spiteful rage.'

272 Considerate la gran perdita, ehe fa un'anima dannata, perdendo per sempre Dio... sopra di cill stafondata la diversitlJ': 273 della pena, che sentiranno i peccatori di haver perduto Dio. 'Consider what a terrible loss it is for the damned soul, when it loses God for ever... this is what makes the difference in the punishment of those who will realize that they have lost God' 272 la creatura odier&, detestera, bestemmiera per sempre il Creatore... gl'infelici male275 diranno con rabbia... ora Dio, che odiano come nemico, ora i demoni, che aborris-

HELL AND PARADISE

Forever will they do so / night and day, without pause. 54 With spiteful rage they curse / each other for all eternity.

101 Then the sinners and the wicked ones/ will swear and curse/the Virgin Mary and the Saints. 43 We ourselves, servants of the Righteous, / incessantly will torture you, I because of your worldly pleasures / forever we will laugh at you. 55 What can I say of the merciless fIre / that is revived by justice / and kindled by the wrath of the Creator ... ? 112 There is nothing here like that furnace / blazing with the Lord's wrath. 56 No human ear ever heard / nor can any hear it. I No eye ever perceived or saw / such a searing fire (Isaiah 64:3-4).

56 The Lord gave it such strength / that it melts a mountain like wax (Psalm 97:5). 57 Should mountains fall in it / they would melt in the blinking of an eye.

37

cono come traditori, ora i compagni, ehe li guidarono al male, ora se sopra ogn'al-

tro 'the creature will hate, despise and curse its Creator for ever... the unhappy will curse angrily... God, whom they hate as an enemy, the devils, whom they despise as traitors, their fellows, who led them into evil ways, and above all they will curse themselves' 271 Or che fara quando all'aspetto si uniranno le beffe, e gli scherni? 'Now, what will he do, when they add mockery and scorn to their hideous appearance' 269 il fiato dell'ira di Dio le serve da mantice

per aumentare a dismisura la forza delle sue vampe. 'the breath of God's wrath serves as a bellows to give measureless force to its flames'

267 come non vi e oechio ehe mai vedesse, ne vi e orecchia, che mai udisse, ne euore ehe

mai eoncepisse alcuna cosa simile a quella gloria, che Dio tiene appareeehiata a chi 10 serve,. COS! non v'e ne occhio, ne oreeehia, ne cuore che possa figurarsi degnamente it castigo che Dio tiene appareechiato a chi lo oltraggia. 'as no eye ever saw, no ear ever heard, no heart ever thought anything like the glory that God has prepared made ready for those who serve Him, so there is no eye nor ear nor heart that can faithfully conceive the punishment which God has made ready for those who offend Him' 269 Chi pull adesso dubitare, che se una montagna cadesse in quell'ineendio, si liquefarebbe di subito come una palla di cera? 269 'Who can doubt that if a mountain should fall into that fire, it would melt at once like a ball of wax'

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61 Really their limbs will roast / all of them in the forge, / sinners and the unclean, / forever and not just for a time / in the inside and the outside of their bodies.

62 The brain will boil in the skull / and the blood in every vein.

63 They will be in darkness and blinded.

64 Light and darkness are in the fire / according to the law of nature. / 'The voice of the mighty Lord', / said David the Psalmist, / 'divides it, takes the light / and leaves behind only the darkness'. 91 A sickening smell is given off / by the dead in the gulf.

92 Like bitumen and pitch / everything in the world that is sickening / is gathered and mixed there / to torture those people. 93 Their eyes will be tormented / by awful moving shapes. 94 In this dark night, / which has no ray of light, / everyone will see / those dreadful forms distinctly / without fire and smoke / flaring up and burning the body.

HELL AND PARADISE

269 quella fiarnma si viva... non ci affliggera solo di fuori, ... ma ci penetrera nell'ossa, e nelle midolle, e nell'intimo dell'esser nostro... Sara ogni dannato come unforno aeeeso, eke ka le sue vampe dentro di se. 'that vivid flame... will afflict not only the outside of us... but will penetrate our bones and marrow, to our inner being... Every damned soul will be like a fiery furnace, with its flames within it' 269 bollira. quel sangue immondo nelle sue vene, it eervello dentro il suo cranio. 'that filthy blood will boil in his veins and the brain in his skull' 268 gli occki dei dannati, eosi ottenebrati e mezzo ciecki... 'the eyes of the damned, filled with shadows and half-blinded... ' 268 nell'Inferno al fuoeo sara tolto il lume e lasciata la vampa. 'The fires of Hell will be left blazing with their light put out'

100 This is the gulf and the well ... / every soul who entered in it / has no way out. 103 Listen to the voice of the blessed / St Catherine: 'One day I felt / the image of the devil appear to me. / By his sight I was shaken / and I was left senseless. 104 So I said: 'Oh Lord, / I pray You, oh merciful One, / pure of heart, I beseech You. Until the Judgement Day, / may I go to the burning fire, / But may I not behold the devil.' 106 Down there every inhabitant / is a complete Hell. 109 In those harsh torments/ they can not move from their place. 109 They can not move from their place/and among them no-one can/take away the worm from his own eyes.

268 medesimi corpi de' dannati spireranno un'odore si pestifero 'those same bodies of the damned will give off a pestilential stench' 268 eoleranno ivi tutte le immondezze dell-a terra... il zOlfo stesso rendera una puzza insoffribile. 'all the fl1th of the earth will drain into it... sulphur will give off an unbearable stench' 267 E vero, eke sara quivi i1 fuoeo, ma vi sara spogliato di luee in modo, eke patiseano bene gli occki eon la vista di orribilissime apparenze. 'There will be flIe, it is true, but it will be stripped of light so that their eyes will suffer greatly at the painful sight of dreadful images'

39

269 quel corpo infeliee, eke cireondato da un abisso di fuoco non avra scampo 'the unhappy body, surrounded by a gulf of fire, will have no escape' 270 Santa Caterina da Siena affermava..., parlando eol Signore, ehe prima di ritornare a vedere quella spaventevole Forma Infernale, avrebbe eletto di carnminare per una strada di fuoeo fin al giorno estremo del Giudizio. Speaking with the Lord, St Catherine of Siena said that she would rather walk along a burning street until the day of the Last Judgement than see again that frightful hellish image.'

270 basterebbe un solo di que' mostri per formare un intero Inferno. 'one of those monsters would suffice to make a complete Hell' 267 quei miserabili non solo saranno ristretti, ma saranno anehe irnmobili. 'Not only will those miserable ones be cramped together, but they will also be unable to move' 267 un reprobo sara eosl fiaeeo, ehe non potrebbe allontanarsi da un oeehio un verme, che glielo rodesse. 'a sinner will be so listless that he will not be able to remove from his eye a worm that is gnawing it'.

Speaking of Heaven

In apocalyptic literature Hell is fitter for human fancy than Heaven, since Hell would seem to allow an author great flights of imagination, the description of dreadful tonnents and cruel punishments. It is certainly more difficult to describe a heavenly delight, though it may have great chann in itself, without the use of references to earthly pleasures. So, the 'hellish part' of the realms of the after-life is generally more descriptive and extensive. Damyanos does not move away from this trend: his poem on the tonnents of Hell runs to 121 verses, whereas the one devoted to the delights of the Kingdom does not go beyond 66. ..

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er than this one, which is the greatest, compensation / that is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard. treasured up for the good. 43 ... in the listening to the I, 170 ... vi verra in contro un corD di angeli, che con festosa sinfonia di stromenti e con lyre / with which canori applausi di voci vi intoneranno Michael accompanies A choir of angels will come towards you, the chant / together with who will entone for you a festive symall the angels of the phony of instruments, hand clapping, and light. songs of praise. 51 An angel appeared / to n,203 Non udiste piu volte, che il prima suono di un violino toccato per mani angeliche, Saint Francis, the great, / basta ad affogare l'animo di Francesco when he fell gravely ill / febbricitante in torrente di giubilo COSl with a terrible painful alto, che rotti gli argini trabocca ancora illness / and was racked nel corpo; e vi trabocca in maniera, che by that misfortUne / and ne porta via rapidamente ogniforma d'inafflicted by that torment. fermita, benche contumace, ogni debolezza, ogni doglia? Have you not heard many a time that the first note of a violin played by angelic handS was enough to plunge Frands' feverish soul in a stream of joy, so exalted that it burst its banks and overflowed from the soul into his body? It overflowed in such manner that it quickly carried away every form of illness, weakness and pain with it, although he was still convalescent.

:ne heavenly delights described by Damyanos do not present original traIts.. An earthly pen ~an perhaps dare to paint a vision of songs, praises, angelical parades but It must not go too far. As many authors before him the poet admits his limit in describing the ineffable. ' In contrast with the outrageous hellish torments which offend the senses of the listener, Heaven is pervaded by melodic songs and praises and a clear, beneficial light issuing from God. Surrounded by this music and splendour, the blessed souls move in perpetual ecstacy, eternally engaged in thanking God (Kingdom 14). The list of heavenly delights is not so long and is complemented by the lack of earthly pains, such as hunger and thirst, and a total absence of temptation, desire and hence the occasion to sin. The real and eternal delight is the vision of God: 'face to face will He be seen' (Kingdom 22f). As in his description of Hell, Damyanos' portrait of Heaven establishes no relation between retribution and the degree of holiness and the blessed souls have no specific personality. Their earthly merits are not specified and their terrestrial condition unimportant in the general perfect happiness. As far as the literary sources are concerned, the content of the dorekta On the Delights of the Kingdom and the work of Father Segneri ~e analogous, but there are few specific resemblances. Nevertheless, some passages echoing the sermons of the baroque Italian preacher can be found: 19 The Delights of the Kingdom by Damyanos of Alqosh (19th century)

As exempla, the Neo-Aramaic poet chooses two rather marginal episodes in the lives of St Catherine (Hell 103-105) and St Francis (Kingdom 51-55),20 As we have seen, both exemplary tales are nevertheless to be found in Baroque Italian literature, which in the second half of the 19th century found its way into Vernacular Syriac poetry of Northern Iraq. The poetic adaptation of Roman Catholic sermons by Damyanos of Alqosh were successful and 'enjoyed very great popularity, which they deserved because of the rare qualities which their author gave proof of in them'21.

Prediche e Panegirici by Paolo Segneri (17th century)

Verse Page 3 when the Creator wipes 1,174 Iddio medesimo con le sue mani riasthe tears from the eyes ciughera it vostro pianto sino all'ultima of the glorious ones stilla. (Isaiah 25:8) God himself will wipe your tears with His 4 Never did bodily eye see hands to the last drop. / - said Paul, the blessed IT,202 Figuratevi dunque, che altra felicita non (1 Corinthians 2:9) - / avesse Dio promessa in Cielo a' suoi servi, di questa ch'e la maggiore, quam nor did the ear of the flesh hear, / nor mind oculus non vidit, quam auris non audivit. encompass the image / Imagine, then, what other happiness God of the reward and full promised to His servants in Heaven, great19

Segneri (1832, volt I and

41

20 In his invaluable hagiographic collection, Jacobus de Varagine (d. 1298) devoted only a few words to the story of Francis' illness: •... usque ad vicesimum aetatis suae annum vane vivendo consumsit. Quem Dominus infirmitatis flagello corripuit et in virum alterum subito transformavit, ita quod jam spiritu prophetico pollere coepit' (Jacobi a Voragine, Legenda aurea, Th. Graesse ed., Osnabriick 1969: 663). 21 [Elles] jouissent d'une tres grande vogue et elles le meritent a cause des qualites rares dont l'auteur y fait preuve (RMtore 1913-: 57).

m. --_.._.

__. _ - - - - - - -

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

a great big roof! May the faithful not fall in that flaming gaol.

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELLI

Invocation and prologue 1.

2.

So they shall be afeared, hate sin and the whole host of devils, do penance before You and observe all the commandments so they shall be saved from the gulf and praise Your name.

3.

There is no-one there who gives blessings and thanks or sings Your praises. Nay, they curse night and day, saying, 'From this darkness save us, oh2 Lord! '

4.

5.

May the baptised not fall nor enter into the prison fIlled with groaning, may they be kept forever far away from that darkness, since by Your blood they were multiplied and saved in our Lord Jesus.

6.

Oh Lord, let them know the light of the faith and also save those in whom You are not pleased4, (save them) from the torments that come after death, for the world leads them astray and the devil and temptations too.

7.

Since the world leads them astray and the light of their minds grows dark with pleasures that flee like a dream: they forget their aims and from now on, day after day, their faith will grow weaker.

8.

During life faith weakens in him who is without memory and who does not reflect on the torments of Hell. Blessed are those who during their lives have Hell engraved in their minds!

9.

If everyone keeps Hell always engraved in his mind and how bad the end will be, if each man bridles his nature,

Oh my merciful God I beg you: hear my voice! Open my mouth, loosen my tongue, increase my understanding and let me tell of imprisonment in Hell before the faithful, so they shall be afeared.

Oh Lord, make my speech a fIrm floor3 and my words

1 H: An0t?er poem by the same writer, the priest Damyanos of 'Alqosh, monk of Rabban Homuzd, on the torments of Hell. Composed in the year of our Lord 1855. S: First I copy a poem written by the priest Damyanos son of Yuhannan Gundira in the year 1855 of our Lord. . K: Another poem by the priest Damyanos on the torment.of Hell. L: Another poem by the priest Damyanos. Oh brother, skip over this line: Oh Lord, open my lips I and create in me a new mouth and lift up my thoughts / from contemplating eartly things so that I may speak to my brothers I on the fire of Hell. 2 S K L R G: even (from this darkness ...). 3 L: glass, bowl.

4

KL: you quarrel.

43

44

DAMYANOSOFALQOSH

his soul will be protected from all ills and saved from all wickedness.

Descent into Hell 10.

So, listen, believers, hear what the Scriptures say! You who are alive, go down into that grave full of those who neglect the faith, claw and writhe in its fire and see what the condition of the wicked will be.

11.

They will be forever chained in the gulf at the heart of the earth. No ills will be spared to their suffering hearts. They will be slaves of the evil ones and the door will be shut in their faces.

12.

The door of compassion will be closed, no-one will feel pity for them and the net5 of pleasures will vanish. Since the moment they fell the Saviour has appeared no more. God has rejected them.

13.

God has rejected them. There is no remission for all eternity and He is no way merciful towards them, not in the least. He who does not satisfy Him now will remain far away from Him.

14.

The Virgin will go from them, all the angels and saints no longer hear the supplications of those cursed and evil dead.

5

L: flower-bed.

--,-= .,

46

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

ON TIlE TORMENTS OF HELL

either in or out of time. It is a worm in the heart that affords the soul no respite. 20.

That torment is the loss of the praised and good Creator. He went away and they see Him no more nor can they approach Him. They will yearn for Him forever desperately,9 from afar.

21.

His image escaped them as from the devils. They weep as Esau wept for his birthright10 and will burn, the wretches. Instead of having His love and goodness they will curse Him forever.

22.

They will curse their Creator and gnash their teeth at Him, because of the weight of their conscience they will eat their flesh groaning like wounded howling dogs and will tear open their own bowels.

23.

Those wretches grow depressed and disheartened when they plunge into these thoughts. Like the blind, eyeless, all grounds for good foregone, now they are the Devil's mates. They can see no ending.

47

their thought wickedll and blasphemous. This shortcoming is a terrible thing. 25.

Those who satisfy their desires in sin, just a moment, have turned their backs on God, the Creator. That is the Worm that tears and gnaws their hearts I

26.

'Their worm dies not', 12 said Christ, the Saviour. 'Not even for a moment does it grant rest and peace, not even for the blinking of an eye, to those who abide in Hell.

27.

They do not rest nor flee from that consuming worm, forever will they bum and suffer in yearning for Me and in torment. 13 They abandoned their God 14 and lost the Creator of all creatures.

28.

They turned from the source of life and chose leaking cisterns there where water is not held, 15 so that they are forever empty.16 They chose the created things which had been laid down for them. '

Created goods are not the real Good 24.

They will plunge into this thought and will never again come before their Lord, so good that there is no-one else like Him' in the world. Their understanding is blind,

29.

11 12

13 9 10

SKL: pain. Genesis 25:29-34.

14

15 16

They left the Creator and His beauty and loved the beauty of creatures, SKL: perverse. Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:47-48. KL: because they lost the Kingdom. KL: its eternity. KL: gush. Jeremiah 2: 13.

.-------------------_.

48

ON TIIE TORMENTS OF HELL

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

they shaded their eyes from His light and turned to a wicked temptation. When His light shines on them they will be touched by new understanding. 30.

31.

32.

33.

Understanding comes to their minds when they fall into the bottom 1? of the gulf. There they will understand their wickedness and what sin it is, to put that which has no substance before God. They exchanged pearls, like babes without understanding, for lies and vanity. They behave like those who have stupendous dreams when asleep, but nothing is left of them when they wake up. In the sleep of sin and wickedness fools discern happiness, cheerful and happy in this world 18 they believe they are 19 in the Kingdom20 and21 when justice takes revenge they awake from their sleep.

They awake from their sleep in Hell and understand the real truth. The goods of time, held dear in youth as precious and colourful, have vanished like sleeping dreams.

KL: heart. S: when their mind is obscure and rejects (?); L: when it is obscure and they see it (?); K: when it is obscure and it is going (?). 19 With S. 20 SL: (and) they believe they are in the Kingdom; they believe it is the Kingdom. 21 With S.

34.

They will understand in Hell what goodness and bliss are and that the great and heavenly glory is the only precious thing, even though it has been changed into dung and mud22 by those who have an obscure destiny.

God is the right Judge 35.

Down there they will be called foolish, for their Judge is right. He took vengeance upon them but he is not their persecutor. He gave them time. He did not wish for their torments.

36.

He will increase their torments. How they will remember this change, and still more when they see that they cannot change any more. When they drown, cursing, He will stab their hearts with swords.

37.

With an incurable wound He will strike the heart of the dead who went astray, who had no wisdom. God, King of kings, will destroy the dwelling of the devil: forever they will perish23 •

38.

He will destroy the dwelling of the devil and say to them thus: 'Oh unwise traitors, who dost disown the Lord, Him who took on their nature and also died for their sakes.

17

18

__ _-_

.... ~~ .._~ ..

..

_._---

22 23

SKL. According to S and L.

49

".-.-.- r"""-" , 50

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

Jesus Christ suffered death to save mankind 39.

40.

41.

42.

44.

Forever we will taunt you,25 every agony will we prepare for you by God's orders. Since He who gives blessings has cursed, there is no more refuge.

45.

You shall fmd no refuge, you shall not save yourselves from our hands! There is no forgiveness for your sin. You have become like our fellows and our equals, you, who were children of the light, caused us to take up our stand.

46.

There is no forgiveness for your sin, oh you who disown blessings. Your Lord, the Saviour, gathered treasures for you, dying for your sake with terrible wounds and sores.

47.

The wounds of your Lord will become the fire of your torture, His cross and nails will draw every calamity upon your heads, the body and the blood consecrated by the priests will burn you.

48.

Other divine gifts gave He to you, gifts full of life, from which you have drawn no benefit and which will be like arrows of fire forever thrust through your hearts. '

49.

Thus will the devils rebuke the wicked.

Who forgives as the Lord, full of compassion and loving kindness? When He dwelt in the light, since time immemorial on His Father's bosom, for your sake He took on a body and suffered death and torment. Death and torments He suffered. Yet you forgot His love. For thirty-three years He showed you the way, but you followed others forgetting His blessings. You gave up His love out of temptation. Wickedly you struck His heart, you evil ones with shameless faces. You despised His torment repaying good with evil. With evil you repaid the good of the merciful Lord, like a hateful enemy you repaid the Saviour. Now with justice and equity you have received this reward.

Devils reproach and threaten the damned souls 43.

'Now you receive a reward fit for your wickedness! We ourselves, servants of the Righteous, incessantly will torture you, because of your worldly pleasures forever we will taunt yoU. 24

24 SKL: forever we will gaol you in your hole (gawa is here understood as guba 'hole').

.. __ ._----_._ . _ - - -

25

,~-'"-~,-,.,,-~~~,-~,~-~

SKL: forever we will gaol you J in your hole. .................. _-.-.--

51

52

Before them they will recount forever all their iniquities and sins and they will faint and grow mad on hearing those sounds. 50.

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

When they hear these sounds their hope will come to an end, their hearts will fill up with dread and unheard-of fear: they will grow disheartened in their graves that have no door to leave by.

The power of Hellfire 55.

What can I say of the merciless fire that is revived by justice and kindled by the wrath of the Creator for the punishment of sin? On earth it has no equal nor was such heard by any ear.

56.

No human ear ever heard nor can any hear it. No eye ever perceived or saw such a searing fire. 26 The Lord gave it such strength that it melts a mountain like wax.

57.

Should mountains fall in it they would melt in the blinking of an eye27 and every strong body that falls in it will be destroyed. Among the dead and the devils forever will they lie and dwell.

58.

They will dwell in the flame in the midst of the furnace, they will be like a log amid a raging fIre that becomes fIre itself, so it is indistinguishable from the fIre.

59.

Like this log will the dead be in the fire. They have no place left, not even a little corner, untouched by that flame, safe and protected from the fIre.

60.

They seem like steel and iron in the blacksmith's forge

Devils torment the sinners 51.

52.

53.

54.

Then will the devils start to raise fear and a terrible din with their cries. They will tear out the hearts and loins of those poor wretches and they will bark like dogs. Like wounded dogs will they bark. They will curse father and mother and mingle with the devils. They will curse the name of the most High. Forever will they do so night and day, without pause. They do nothing but swear those cursed outcasts, enemies of each other and of their Lord, these disowners and oppressors. Woe to them in this life bereft of all good and mercy! Woe in this life that has nothing but hate! All that cursed multitude enjoys no friendship. With spiteful rage they curse each other for all eternity.

26

27

Isaiah 64:3-4. Psalm 97:5.

53

54

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

28

29

ON TIlE TORMENTS OF HELL

DAMYANOSOFALQOSH

and so, in any way and fonn, He afflicts them in that night.

and they have no joint left untouched by the everlasting fire, the strong flames roast their veins and nerves. 28

66.

Really their limbs will roast all of them in the forge29 , sinners and the unclean, forever and not just for a time in the inside and the outside of their bodies. Such is the power of nature.

Whatever they hate will they happen on in Hell. All that they want and wish for their souls will never see again. The mighty Lord is their enemy and naught else.

67.

'What are the faults for which they dwell in the burning fire?' Isaiah calls out and says. 'In the fIre of Hell will plunge and enter every fornicator and haughty man.'

68.

In it will be burned all those guilty of swearing and perjury. In the middle of the fire will be buried all drunkards and blasphemers, in this prison chained and bound all the wicked and the sinners.

69.

Woe to those that try to avoid this fIre! Unceasingly will they plead for death but without any hope. Save us, oh Lord and Master, from this bitter torment!

The brain will boil in the skull and the blood in every vein. They will roast maimed and blackened spits will pierce their hearts. That endless fire is fate and destiny for the rebels. Like fish in the water in the flames will they be buried. Those who have a dark destiny will be in darkness and blinded by the fire and the thick smoke, in which they will be buried. Light and darkness are in the fire according to the law of nature. 'The voice of the mighty Lord' , said David the Psalmist, 'divides it, takes the light and leaves behind only the darkness.'

The agreement of two companions 70.

The darkness in the fire He left to torture the wicked ones. He deprived it of his blessing so it should bum those who hate Him, KL: bones. With S. H: fire; KL: Hell.

30

Hard and bitter is the tonnent of this fIre. If a spark from this gulf should touch the body it would leave a hole30 in it, like that of a bullet or an arrow. S: mark, sign.

55

.....

56 71.

72.

73.

,''''''.

DAMYANOSOFALQOSH

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

It would pierce like a bullet!

With the freezing cold their teeth will chatter and rattle. Thus is agony united in their tortures.

A drop of sweat of one wicked man would putrefy the palm of another's hand. This happened to one who had shared with another in life the doings31 of evil men.

77.

The two promised each other that the one who died first should not hide his condition from his mate, but come and reveal it frankly. So when the first of them died he appeared before his companion.

Because of the heat their thirst33 will grow unbearable. In every moment they will beg for someone to pour a drop of water in their mouths, but no drop is ever granted34 to them. No mercy nor pity will be for them there.

78.

The latter on seeing him burning like a furnace, besought him to show him the affliction of those who have the misfortune to abide in Hell's fire.

They will ask for water to slake their thirst but no-one will ever give them any. Instead the devils will pour lead in their mouths, which will increase their thirst. This will be their condition, instead of drinking and fornicating.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

74.

He answered: 'Hold out your hand, companion, try a little suffering! ' The man held out his hand, he held it out like a leper. A bead of sweat trembled on the other's hand. and fell like a .burning ember32 •

79.

This has been confirmed by the proud rich man. For the drop of water dripping from the leper's finger he longed, hopeful and yearning, but that merciful man did not give it to him.

75.

It dripped onto his palm and burnt it. Like an arrow or a bullet in a flash it pierced it, stronger than a rifle. It reduced all his hand to pulp leaving it blistered.

80.

That man was Abraham, the righteous, compassionate, (who) at once answered: 'There is a gulf between us! ' And he had no pity for the poor wretch who was in the flame.

76.

Both the heat of that fire and the cold will assail them without pity.

81.

'This gulf does not allow us to pass and reach your side,

31

32

SKI...: works. With S,

33 34

._--

_--

_.

SKI...: (the thirst) will arise. SKI...: it touches.

57

.."' •...

58

;.~

ON TIIE TORMENTS OF HELL

DAMYANOSOPALQOSH

we have no pennission to feel pity for you. You were our companions and children, because of wickedness you parted from us'. 35

By divine revelation he will become a preacher. Listen, oh Christian people, and fear this righteous 38 religion.

82.

Their thirst would not be slaked even if one poured the waters of all the seas in the mouth of him who roasts there in fIre and flame. His ardour will not even be quenched by all the water there is in the world.

87.

83.

Both thirst and hunger torture them ceaselessly. Vlhen hunger comes and grows stronger, like dogs they howl and bark and sleep enters not their eyes. They neither rest nor sleep.

Devils beat the damned and awful beasts torment them

84.

85.

86.

So hungry are they, they eat fire, unceasingly they swallow coals, but their pangs grow no less and their bellies suffer too. Here are their torments. Never can they be assuaged. 'Manasseh will devour Ephraim and Ephraim his companion Manasseh. 36 He will cut off and gnaw his own arm, he will tear to pieces37 his own flesh like a dog and with his mouth will he pull off pieces. He will not spare even his own body' Thus said Isaiah when he saw Hell.

88.

Listen to the frightful beating down there, removed from love. We can not see its like in all the strokes of the oppressors. It has been ordered by the Lord and put there to torture outcasts.

89.

Like blacksmiths that hammer the iron upon the anvil the devils will strike them while they are chained up. The hosts of the devils inflict on them countless strokes that never cease.

90.

On all sides snakes and awful dragons will be their neighbours. Insects, scorpions and vipers will bite those culprits in exchange for pleasure and delight.

A sickening smell pervades the Gulf 91.

36

Luke 16: 19-26. Isaiah 9:20.

37

SKI...: he will gnaw, snatch.

35

They will thirst and hunger after justice all the greedy and miserly. Truly they are confused all the proud and the adulterers. Those who disown the Lord are entrapped in their passions.

38

A sickening smell is given off by the dead in the gulf. Acording to SKI....

59

!..",..

60

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

New stench increases it and mingles with that of those who already belong to this company, as well as39 the smell deeply emerged in it by order of Justice.

forms and appearances will the prisoners see in that awful darkness. Devils show the damned their eternal fate

92.

Like bitumen and pitch everything in the world that is sickening is gathered and mixed there to torture those people, like a bitter taste when it torments the mouth.

Dreadful shapes frighten the sinners 93.

Their eyes will be tormented by awful moving shapes. They will shout infamous things at the lions and the dragons and they, opening their mouths, will swallow them on all sides.

94.

In this dark night, which has no ray of light, everyone will see those dreadful forms distinctly without fire and smoke flaring up and burning the body.40

95.

In the darkness they will see mountains turned upside-down. The devil will take on· now the image of a tiger or of a dog, then another form more dreadful than the bear.

96.

In the form of wild boars and tigers the devils will come to them. All the most frightful

39

40

With SL. SKL: eyes.

97.

They will shout and turn to the leader of the devils. A cry for help they will send him like madmen: 'Oh watchman, will the dark nights never end?

98.

How much is left of this dark, obscure night? Such a long time has gone by and we are still here without succour.' 'The night has only just begun.' The Evil one will answer them.

99.

'Now the night begins, there is no way out. He whom my Lord has branded will be forever tied. Oh insane and foolish people, do not ask such questions!

100. This is the gulf and the well the psalmist spoke of. Every soul who entered in it has no way out. The mighty Lord has shut it forever and not just for a time.' 101. Then the sinners and the wicked ones will swear and curse the Virgin Mary and the Saints. Like wounded men they will shout, they will be dragged along by the devils who will rage against them with torments.

61

62

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

Apostrophe and St Catherine 's exemplum 102. Listen, oh believers, rouse your minds and understand, spend the night in meditation, do not sink into the sleep of wickedness, die to all passions, open your ears and listen! 103. Listen to the voice of the blessed Saint Catherine: 'One day I saw the image of the devil appear to me. By his sight I was shaken and I was left senseless.41 104. So I said: 'Oh Lord, I pray You, oh merciful One, pure of heart, I beseech You. Until the Judgement Day, may I go to the burning fire, But may I not behold the devil.' 105. To avoid seeing that awful, great and sickening dragon, she would accept even the burning fire for a long, not for a short time. Everyone who abides in Hell is filled with all evils.

Mankind cannot comprehend the torments of Hell 106. Down there every inhabitant is a complete Hell. When he leaves this earth everything is over for him. Therefore, heed, oh wise man, what is there in that cursed land.

41

Lit.: the soul did not stay in me.

,-- r"""" 64

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

It burns not with wood, straw, sulphur, bitumen or pitch. It is a fire so intense that it cannot be imagined on earth. 113. Never does the fire die down nor do the other pains end for them who in this furnace are gathered, at the mercy of their enemies. Our Lord is a mighty God, for ten thousand generations and years. Warnings to bad Christians

114. Woe to them who close their eyes before evil! They bask and lie in wickedness. Every day they seek a pretext . because they do not want to pray and fast and none can lead them to repentance. 115. Woe to those who despise and mock the fIre of Hell ! They give themselves over to pleasures, they drink and eat, those senseless devilish ones. They will soon fall into it. Like a mole will they open their eyes. 116. Like a mole will they open their eyes. Here they are in the middle of Tartarus, in the sea of fire and ice. Under the rule of Lucifer, their lot, destiny and fate will they share with Julian the Apostate. 117. Woe unto those sons of the light who fell to these depths. Of their own will they left the way of the Kingdom, sealed their eyes with pitch and shut their souls up in that well.

~

ON THE TORMENTS OF HELL

Epilogue

118. Oh merciful God, You created us by Your love. Even though we be dust and mud You honoured us with Your image. When we were at the mercy of the devil You saved us through Your Son. . 119. You gave us Your Son as our Saviour and He took upon Himself the burden of our srn. He gained for us Your forgiveness and made our world anew. Do not plunge us into Hell nor close its door in our faces! 120. Mary, full of grace, for the sake of all the poor, pray that they may repent of their sins. Those who are plunged in it and those who serve You save them from these torments. 121. Say a prayer for the poor and wretched writer, Damyanos, who wrote a poem on Hell on torment and torture, in the year 1855 of our Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour.43

43

SKL om.

65

ON THE DEUGHTS OF THE KINGDOM

where thieves cannot plunder and pillage the granaries and there is neither weevil nor worm to spoil their precious stores.

ON THE DELIGHTS OF THE KINGDOMl

Invocation and prologue 1.

Lord, open my lips and create in me a new heart , raise my thoughts above the care of earthly things, that I may tell my brothers of the delights of the Kingdom.

6.

They will be honoured as sovereigns in the divine assembly, since they are no lower than the angels they will shine even more brightly than the sun, forever will they be blessed and kept far from all calamities.

2.

Heavenly Kingdom that has no equal in this world; compared with it everything good in creation is like a dream, no words can make that pleasure understood.

7.

The calamities of this world shall flee from those who come to the Paradise of delight. They no longer waver nor do they sin. Here is the fruit of peace: they will be tempted to sin no more.

3.

The human mind cannot understand what joy the Saints feel in the longed-for mansions, when the Creator wipes the tears from the eyes of the glorious ones.

8.

Sin, cause of torments, approaches them no more and their desire drives them no more, but rather their Lord's will, each, according to his capability praises his Creator.

9.

The Creator who chose them they praise with honour, He willlove2 them as his children and brothers of Christ, those who bore the burden of His cross bearing with love body and spirit.

10.

Their spirit will cleave to God, cause of goodness. It no longer suffers hunger nor thirst for in Him is it made perfect.

Heavenly Reward 4.

5.

Never did bodily eye see - said Paul, the blessed nor did the ear of the flesh hear, nor mind encompass the image of the reward and full compensation that is treasured up for the good. The treasures of the righteous and good are, in that country, hidden

1 H.: Another poe!D by the priest Darnyanos of Alqosh, monk of Rabban Hormizd, on the delights of the Kingdom. Composed in the year 1856 of our Lord.

2

K: He loved.

67

68

ON nm DELIGHTS OF THE KINGDOM

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

Behold, the exaltation of unending delight. 11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

3

There is no ending to the delight the blessed ones enjoy, and there is no end to that day, never again will it grow dark or be eclipsed, forever boundless, neither shifting nor moving. It neither moves nor does it grow dark the everlasting day, every Saint shall reign there, with the Creator, without doubt or fear that he may ever perish. There is no doubt in the Kingdom that is governed in peace by God's will, standing fIrm for all eternity. Glory be to the Supreme Being Whom no tongue can describe.

In their mouths praises and never-ending chants,3 forever will they thank God and praise the Persons of the Holy Trinity, circling their heads with crowns.

16.

The Creator of all creatures, He delights them 1 He, who created by the word both worlds and all their beauty, more than all fathers He desires their good. 4

17.

He greatly loves His beloved children for whom He became Father: they are in need of nothing for they are brimful and sated with love gladdened and cheered by His beauty.

18.

Gladdened and cheered by their Lord Who is perfect and rich and their hearts cleave to Him. Never are they sated with His beauty, nay, they shall forget themselves and shall plunge into His all-embracing love.

God the source of love 19.

Their love does not age, nor does it wear thin or grow weak or detach itself from the source it springs from, it does not dry up or change: it foretells a new sweetness, from which their minds take flight.

20.

The Divine source runs and overflows ceaselessly for those who dwell in the Kingdom: water unseen by the eyes of flesh in this world for it is not mixed with their corruption.

With spiritual crowns woven not with gold or silver nor made of any earthly stuff, gems or precious stones; they are crowns of life braided by the Creator of the world. L: canticles go on and never end.

4

KL (instead of 1. c-f): They saw the Kingdom. / He gave them their reward.

69

..-r= i

70

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

The sight of God 21.

22.

Every man is a mixture of dust and sin,s his eyes are dazzled by the sun for he is but a created thing stumbling over his senses; how, then, might this creature6 see the Holy Lord? The son of the flesh does not .see Him , the Lord said to Moses, the Prophet, since he is finite and lives but a short time; whereas there in the land of light face to face will He be seen. 7

ON THE DELIGHrS OF THE KINGDOM

26.

The souls behold Him,9 they are happy and joyful in His tenderness, with all their might they plunge into the sea of His goodness. All their concerns are to rejoice in His blessedness.

Jesus' blood saves from the devil 27.

They rejoice 10 with great joy. In praise of Jesus the Saviour, they sing a hymn of praise to the mightyll King who saved them forcefully 12 from the hand of the devilish enemy.

23.

The eagles will see .the sun, the source of light, through sparkling eyes unscreened8 by dust and the birds that look at it their eyes will be not dazzled by it.

28.

He saved them by His blood from the hand of the harsh enemy, with His suffering He rescued them from its poison, with His great, sublime help in glory He let them partake in Himself in the everlasting Kingdom.

24.

The eyes of the Saints in their glory are not dazzled by looking into the light but they will be sharpened and will gaze unflinchingly: their sight will not be troubled by any action, praiseworthy though it be. Forever will they gaze on the Lord.

29.

He let them partake in honour and glory together with the angels, the bright armies of cherubim, seraphim and authorities. In this world He bequeathed to them the thrones of the devils.

25.

They will behold in bright light the perfection of the Creator and the skill of the Modeller. Two worlds in a single moment did He set up with discernment and beauty, with inexplicable wisdom.

30.

They never tire of blessing the merciful King. By His grace they are united with the heavenly hosts who rejoice in their Lord standing forever in His presence.

5 6 7 S

SKL: mud. SKL: a man. L: he will see the Lord. SKL.

SKL: they turn their eyes to Him. SKL: special. 11 SL: blessed; K: heavenly. 12 K: from slavery.

9

10

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71

72

ON THE DELIGHTS OF THE KINGDOM

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

31.

32.

33.

34.

She, Queen and Lady, Sovereign of them all, of great and especial bliss their hearts are full. 14

Forever will they sing the sweet song: 'Holy art You', will they say 'Holy are You, oh Lord' 'Holy are You', will they say as they fly aloft repeating 'Hallelujah'.

37.

'Holy are You', they will say. Oh Lamb, who has been offered up for us, all minds are purified in Your blood in which the vestment was washed, so that the eyes are dazzled at the sight of its perfect beauty.

They are glad and rejoice in Her beauty and the sweetness of Her voice, their minds are immersed in Her light and they delight in Her lovely song: there is none other who sings as she does.

38.

By Your blood have been washed the robes we wear and with Your goodness they have been woven. We, who were not separated from those who bum in the evil flames of Hell!

She is the nightingale in the garden and all listen to Her voice, and even Archons and Powers are glad and rejoice at Her chant of Hallelujah. With a clear fresh voice, they attribute all blessings to Her.

39.

When they see from on high, the dangers they were rescued from their tongues will give thanks to the Lord who glorified 13 them, to Him, who is greater than the Hellfrre they fled from.

Blessed is he who attained to that lovable vision and heard the voice of that nightingale full of every pleasant note. He found eternal peace in it having earned every delight.

40.

They will rejoice in the Creator, source of perfection, and in the spiritual nature that is hidden in that place, in a perfect, sweet way15 to serve our Lord.

41.

These are the servants, angelic and shining, made up not of bodies, but spirits and minds;

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Heaven's nightingale 35.

36.

They will thank for all eternity the blessed Virgin Mary to whom they offered their devotions. From Her they received the steadfastness to loathe wickedness and sin and follow the way of perfection. The perfection of the Virgin advised them from on high.

14 13

L: who wanted them.

15

L: great and especial bliss fills their hearts. SKL: beauty.

73

74

ON TIIE DELIGHTS OF THE KINGDOM

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

they have no colours 16 nor features and are unseen by the eyes.

When he drew near to his superiors he thought 'These are dreams! '

42.

Their heavenly hosts cannot be numbered, the one sweeter 17 than the other including Michael, their chief, who stands in the highest rank, whose light is the brightest of alL

47.

When they asked questions of this foreign monk, his tales astonished them. They realised the power of God. Three centuries had gone by since the hermit left l

43.

Hearken, then, oh Christians, to what delight is kept in heaven for those Saints in glory in the listening to the lyre with which Michael accompanies the chant together with all the angels of the light.

48.

A number of years went by, three centuries, brother! He did not notice how the times had changed, nor the cold, the stifling heat and other great changes, the hunger or the thirst.

49.

He felt neither hunger nor thirst throughout those long years, he forgot everything that exists in the world thanks to the intervention of an angel who took on the likeness of a bird, the sight of which had cheered him.

50.

Then, what sweetness do the Blessed ones taste, what heights of pleasure do they enjoy all those heavenly beings that dwell in the Kingdom as companions of the angels!

The monk ravished in heaven 44.

45.

46.

16 17

The chant of an angel ravished the mind of a monk in a flash: when he came out from his cell a many-coloured bird lifted him up and he looked at and saw the creation. He saw it and his heart was enchanted by the lovely voice (of the angel). A lapse of time went by which to him seemed short. When he turned round and went back to his monastery it no longer seemed to him as before. He saw monks unknown to him. Even the shape of the monastery and its building had been changed: he had never seen them like that before. S: bodies. SKL: nicer.

St Francis' exemplum 51.

An angel appeared to Saint Francis, the great, when he fell gravely ill with a terrible painful illness and was racked by that misfortune and afflicted by that torment.

75

.~.

76

52.

53.

54.

55.

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

'Do not fight against your punishment, Frands, beloved of the Lord. There awaits a reward lavished by the Creator, on everyone who suffers here a short-lived affliction. If all the seas should become as oil of balsam and the dust of all the bare plains a mine of pure gold and the stones of mountains and highlands should turn. to hyacinth and true diamond,

if you gathered all this and placed it under your control, you would sell it as you liked to obtain the beatitudes of the Saints in glory and you would not keep it forever but for a short time only.' And so Saint Frands bore and accepted his affliction. His mind, buffeted by the violence of the illness, was restored to health and he was spared all pain by bearing it with resignation.

ON THE DEUGHTS OF THE KINGDOM

they beheld it through their faith. They left their homes and villages 18 and lived in hiding and nameless. 58.

Ever faithful, the martyrs bore their bitter death, while the ungodly watched them. At their hands they suffered the martyrdom of the saw but did not deny their faith under any kind of torture.

59.

The agonies of the saw, the blazing fIre and every harsh torment with fortitude beyond human nature they suffered as chosen heroes, to win the reward of the afterlife.

60.

A new and virtuous life they led, neglecting the world. Excellent people and sovereigns left their mothers and fathers knowing that the world will vanish and with it every precious thing.

61.

A short-lived asset they sold and bought a pearl, as wise men they chose of their own free will to scorn the things of this world, so that God should give them the reward of the Kingdom.

62.

The Kingdom is a pearl not to be found in this world and that men cannot buy with what is held dear in this world.

Christians carry their crosses 56.

57.

Thousands of men and women bore heavy crosses, racking pain and torture. They lived poor and wretched they gave up all they had keeping away from wickedness and sin. They fled from every passion, to achieve that beatitude. While still in this world,

18

KL: place and people.

77

... j"'o/""

,

78

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH

Fighters win it by suffering and shedding their blood. AN EXAMPLE OF POPULAR DEVOTION 63.

Martyrs won it shedding their blood and laying down their lives, hermits and monks by quenching their desires, just men bearing every kind of affliction to keep their lust under control.

by Alessandro Mengozzi

The poem On the drought and the adversity which occurred in the year 1898 AD is an example of religious folk poetry, occasioned by contemporary historical events.

Final exhortation

Formulaic features

64.

The composition reproduces, though imperfectly, the traditional form of the dorekya!a. The customary tripartite structure is loosely preserved. The first two verses introduce the subject of the poem (locusts eating the poor peasant's crops) and the last verses contain a prayer for the poetess and her audience. Patterns of repetition connect the 83 quatrains of rhyming heptameters, but do not generate the regular rhythm which is characteristic of Neo-Syriac verses linked by either anaphora or anadiplosis. 1 Anadiplosis is confined to the first ten verses and seldom occurs elsewhere (28-30). Anaphora is only occasionally present, where formulae such as mraIJem 'Have mercy!' (12-14) or lqalbux m- 'We implore... ' (58-60) are repeated in the first lines of the verses. The poetic language is highly formulaic. A few images (parched fields, burning hearts, weeping of hungry people...) recUr with no apparent order in a series of invocations, marked by the vocative particle ya or the above-mentioned formula ktalbux m- 'We implore.. .' (11, 17, 32, 58-60...). The line 'We implore our blessed Lady' opens prologue and epilogue, creating a kind of circular composition. Following the patterns of popular Catholic devotion, invocations are addressed to the Lord, Mary and St Joseph (52-53, 78?). Mary is invoked in a variety of epithets reminiscent of the Litany of Loreto: blessed Lady (1, 58, 82), Queen of creation (lb), daughter of priests (2c), Mother (12), Mother of the sinner (30), noble Lady (50), compassionate Lady (60), Lady on high (62), Mother of light (63), second Eve (82b). Other typically Catholic practices are mentioned, such as reciting the Rosary (7 4b).

Hearken, then,19 believers, think over what He said to us, do not go astray in the world, take heed of what he bid us remember, keep firm hold on your minds! The earth is not our land.

65.. Our land is Heaven, inheritance received from our honoured Father, redeemed by our Lord Jesus, after Adam lost it. A land that lies open for us, if we ignore and mortify20 our bodies. 66.

19 20

Say a prayer for the writer of this poem, Damyanos, priest and monk, so that his soul shall rejoice in the Kingdom. Written in the year 1856 of Jesus, sea of goodness.

KL: do not sleep. S: we bridle.

1

Mengozzi (2002: voI. 590,75-79).

80

ANNE OF TELKEPE

Guilt and punishment God is usually addressed as 'Creator', but He is also called Father, Lord of creation, Shepherd and Master of the house). All these appellations evoke biblical images. 'Lord of clouds' (33c) is particularly apt in a text dealing with drought. In 17 God is described as 'a hero and a lion', epithets which might equally figure in a biblical or profane epic poem. The frequent, almost formulaic, mention of God's ~ath evokes Old Testament scenarios of guilt and punishment. Drought and parasites are plagues (4-5) sent by God to punish His sinful people. Although the locusts are central to the thematic structure of the poem, no explicit reference is made to the plagues of Egypt. Egypt was fmally punished, whereas the poetess prefers to insist on the parallel between her own village and the people of Nineveh, who were eventually spared God's punishment because they repented. In 12 and 67 she asks Mary to intercede to obtain mercy as Nineveh obtained it in the Book of Jonah. 2 In 60 the condition of the Chaldeans is compared to the three boys in the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. In 45 and 79 Elijah is mentioned, probably referring to his prophecies about the drought and famine that would be sent as a punishment, followed by the return of rain (1 Kings 17-18). Other biblical references are rather obscure: 11 possibly refers to Jonah and 78 to Joseph in Egypt. The worm of 63b might stem from Jonah 4:7. The use of formulae such as '(it is) our fault' (7d-8a, 31d, 34b) or '(we are) full of sins' (6b, 20b, 27c) makes the poem a public confession of collective guilt. This is perhaps the most traditional topos in the poem. Natural catastrophes are interpreted as God's punishment for the moral trespasses of Christians. The questionable theological assumption that God sends plagues to punish His people is often, sadly, repeated in Neo-Syriac religious literature. 3 The problem of theodicy is not even touched upon.

ON A FAMINE IN 1HE YEAR 1898

81

text similar to ours may have played a role. The poetess appears to be aware of the social value of her poem as the textual and musical component of an act of worship, in which the identity of the community is appealed to and openly asserted. Her prayers are explicitly intended on behalf of a people who shared the faith of the 'Chaldean tribe' (59d) and she asks for Mary' s protection from foreigners who may take 'the East of the Chaldeans' into captivity (12d). Although quite out of context in a poem that focuses on the famine of 1898, this r~mark is ~tere~t~g and bears witness to the degree of chronic insecunty and IDstabillty that afflicted, then as now, the Christian minorities in Northern Iraq. The poetess does not pray for salvation in the after-life nor does she exhort to penitence. She knows the hard life of the peasants: who sta:t work early in the morning, endure bad weather and place theIr hopes ID the furrows (3). She interprets the most urgent needs of the village she lives in, imploring mercy for the starving people. Despite the rigidity of the verses and the formulaic character of Neo-Syriac poetry, she is very concrete in her requests and touches the hearts of her listeners with unexpected realism: 'We beg You, ... God most High, to fill our bellies with bread!' (17).

The East of the Chaldeans The reaction of the community is to hold a religious service, in which all the clergy (Patriarch and priests) are involved (72-77) and in which a 2 The identification with the biblical Niniveh is obvious for geographical reasons and is traditional among the East-Syrians, who celebrate the so-called Rogation (ha 'u!a) of the Ninivites, three days of fast and prayer in memory of the penitence observed by the ancient Ninivites (Jonah 3:5), every year at the beginning of the fifth week after Epiphany. See also the two 'onya!a on Jonah and the Ninivites attributed to Giwargis Warda (Deutsch 1895: 14-26, Syr., 22-29, German transl.). 3 Mengozzi (1999: 478-479).

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ON A FAMINE IN TIIE YEAR 1898

83

The locusts fly through the country and He set fire to men's hearts. ON A FAMINE IN THE YEAR 1898 1 1.

We implore our blessed Lady, the Queen of creation, because sin, locusts and pestilential insects2 have come upon us. 3

2.

The locusts destroyed4 the grains of wheat and the pests2 the little buds. Oh Mary, daughter of priests, Feed him who is in distress! 5

3.

Feed the ploughman who used to rise in the morning! What cold weather he endured and how many sheaves he grew!

4.

How many sheaves he grew and how often he got up in the night I God became angered against us and sent all the plagues.

5.

He sent all the plagues and is enraged with the rulers of the village. The heavy ears of corn He shrivelled to a weed.

6.

7.

They fired our hearts and withered this seed on the plain. We do not produce6 anything. Oh Lord, it is our fault.

8.

Oh Lord, what is our fault and why are You so angered? We beg for corn and You, provide us with it!

9.

Oh Creator, provide it and listen to the voice of the sinner, redeemed by innocent blood, parched and thirsty.

10.

The seeds are thirsty for water and the people are perishing hungry for food. Have mercy, oh Creator!

11.

We beg You, oh desirable One, who returned a sweet word belied the prophet? and reconciled with His Creation. 8

12.

Have mercy on us, oh Mother, and listen to our voice like the Ninevites, that foreigners may not take prisoner this East9 of the Chaldeans!

13.

Have mercy on this village for the sake of the drops of His blood

The shrivelled seeds grew wild and our hearts were full of sins.

1 P: By God's help, I copy now the poem composed by Anne Beth Setto of Telkepe on the drought and the calamity which occurred in the year 1898 AD. 2 The meaning of the world qa~qa~ira is not clear. The Arabic root means 'to break, shutter, clip, trim' or refers to something 'virulent, malignant (disease), disgusting (animal)'. 3 R: 'Because of her sin, locusts... have come upon us'. Rhetore (1913-: 72 and in R) conjectured: 'We implore our blessed Lady, daughter of straying/haughty (from -..;?) Eve, because of her (Eve's) sin, locusts... have come upon us.' 4 Lit.: sucked; R: 'ate'. 5 R: 'Feed them who are in distress! '

Lit.: breed. Jonah 4:1-4? 8 Jonah 2? P: 'and he prayed to You from within the creature' or 'and he prayed to You with the creature'. 9 R: 'this generation of Chaldeans'. 6

7

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r'2 I 84

2l.

Therefore we were left in this plight and the Lord revealed our sin. Who remembers and in which generations? The locusts devour the barley too.

22.

The locusts devoured the barley, piled up all the dead creatures 12 and filled the people with fear. Every sign of life went out, one by one.

23.

Do so with us, Lord Who descended from the highest glory and made Yourself rejected of men to save this miserable creature!

24.

How hungry is this country, how bitter and stricken down! Your Lord is angered (and says): 'Let me pound it!' while the little ones revile religion.

25.

The people of this village are stricken and the streets are full of them. The children of the widows are hungry and beg to die.

Therefore there are no teachers anymore and they put on the beads 13 of the priests. The rulers have no loving kindness and therefore the world will perish.

26.

The orphan invokes his nurse: 'Enough! Life has vanished Come, bury me alive! I will choose it like the elders.'

The Father is angered with us that we do not keep the word of the Lord, we break the feasts and Sunday. A trial has been put upon us.

27.

The Lord of the creatures is angered that we 14 honour him with our lips, but our hearts are full of sins. So, may He be benevolent to this village!

and of those three nails! Listen to the voice of the widows! 14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

10

11

85

ON A FAMINE IN THE YEAR 1898

ANNE OF TELKEPE

Come, have mercy, oh Creator on the little buds thirsty for water, our hearts burning like fire, and the child weeping for hunger! Oh Lord, enough, our cup is full! Care for our children! 10 The seed has no speech, but it cries out and invokes You. The Christian liar, where is he going? He enters his home trembling, empty, and he has no food. We ask You, oh Lord, Hero and Lion, and You, God most High, that You fill our bellies with bread pI

Alas for this village that has been filled with sins! Priests and churches were ill-treated and therefore there are no blessings anymore. Perhaps: 'Give us the minds (lit.: intention) of children!' R: 'Our bellies are not filled with bread'.

12

Lit.: the extinc:tions.

13

vane, pI. of);>- 'beads, strung beads' (the rosary?).

14

With R.

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]T ,

86 28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

IS 16

ANNE OF TELKEPE

ON A FAMlNE IN THE YEAR 1898

Let us all cry out with one mouth and invoke the Mother. He shed His blood for us and saved this world,

36.

this sorrowful world. The Shepherd is angered with us and a trial has burdened us. Come, have mercy, oh merciful One!

We beg you, oh Mary, we stretch our hands out to you, and let tears flow from our eyes. We do not turn from our ways.

37.

Come, have mercy, oh Creator! Mary, Mother of the sinner, we invoke you weeping that He may perhaps turn back from striking.

How bitter are herbs! They long to drink without rain. Animals like tigers eat them as pigs do.

38.

Before Mary we will lie prostrate, offering ourselves up. Our hearts cleave to each other. Let us invoke Him with a contrite heart: 15 'Oh Lord, it is our fault.'

Oh Lord, enough 1 We are in distress. As long as we worked and were fooling around indeed, we sinned. But now, it is enough! We will repent. Take us in!

39.

We implore the little Mary and her only beloved Son. Our seed brought forth trouble and the world has collapsed in ruins.

When the Lord gives rain the small folk will not be grieved by the fellow who reviles religion and night prayer. The Lord will have mercy on the aged.

40.

How sorrowful are our fields! Their fruits (and) their stems are scalding. The Lord of clouds is angered. He did not give rain in its time.

If they increase evil doings the ungodly will be starving. Oh Lord, have mercy on the widows who are dying of hunger.

41.

The Creator is angered with us and our fault cries before him. The animals are thirsting for water and the people are 16 perishing.

Since You created us, You redeemed us with the blood of Your son, oh Lord, do not abandon us among the heathen.

42.

Save us with rain drops so that we may not be dispersed abroad and the Muslims may not take us prisoner! Oh Lord, have mercy on Your creatures!

43.

The creatures weep with indignation and the young weep in their nests.

Oh Lord, give us water to care for our crying children!

Our cisterns are thirsting for water, while animals are crying. E.g., Psalm 51:17. Lit.: were.

87

1~

88

I

89

ON A FAMINE IN THE YEAR 1898

ANNE OF TELKEPE

So, have mercy on the birds, that committed no sin!

and ask of him a prodigious thing for us redeemed by precious blood,

44.

Spare, Lord, the children! The young cry out to You. Let rain and millet1? fall for them so that we may not die in these dire straits!

5l.

redeemed by innocent blood. You hung naked on the cross, all your wounds flowing, and You saved the Christians.

45.

Elijah, prophet of light, stopped the rain with his prayer. Clouds brought no rain. It did not lighten for three years. 18

52.

Oh Saint Joseph,20 our existence ruined. We call on Him and He does not listen to our voice we are weeping for hunger. Our escape lies with you.

46.

Thirsty the earth cries out to You, creator of the world. Oh Lord, there has been much sinning, but there is no mercy.

53.

Oh peaceful Saint Joseph, you, innocent, married Mary and provided for the Creator. Come, ask Him for water for us! 21

47.

Ploughmen are watching the clouds all the time. They wait longing for rain, while tears flow from their eyes.

54.

The poor have become helpless in their lives. Whatever they collected they cooked it with bitter things. Though hungry they cannot eat it.

55.

Oh Lord, enough, our cup is full! You sent death to all. The food of the cooked dishes, the poor were disappearing too.

48. Lord, have mercy on children and boys! They call: 'Father and Mother, give us bread and water so that we may not die like the mountain folk! ' 49.

Let us not die! Feed these boys! Oh Lord, enough, our cup is full! Have mercy on these miserable ones so that we may not die in these dire straits l9 !

56.

The sinner and the guilty22 who does not turn from his sin, may he remember in the morning the image that he presents at home.

50.

We beg our noble Lady, oh wise Governor,

57.

The good One became angered with us. since we do not want the good of our neighbours

17 18 19

Lidzbarski 495. 1Kings 17:1. R: 'left hands'? The whole verse is corrupt in R.

20

21 22

P: Lord of life? R: We asked you. Lit.: black-faced.

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j="

90

and hate sprang in our hearts. Death comes like a thief. 58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

ON A FAMINE IN TIIE YEAR 1898

ANNE OF TELKEPE

We implore our blessed Lady. Although She is the highest in name She is called Mother of sinners, yet She is mercifuI.23 We implore YOU,24 oh Mother our life was cast away when it was still in us and we joined the tribe of the Chaldeans. We implore You,24 our compassionate Lady. Since the right moment has passed, we have entered the month of the flower. Cry out for us like the boys in the furnace! We have entered springtime and the master of the house is angered with us. It is He who will kill us in a moment and not a stranger's foot. We take refuge in You, our Lady on high. How oppressed is this village! Like Lazarus Martha' s brother so let the ears of wheat rise up!

Prayers, Mother of light, the worm has come again. 25 Have a little pity on us! 26 He does not break your word.

23 R: Your prayer, oh blessed Lady, / although you are the highest in name, I you are called Mother of sinners, / while you are merciful. 24 R: We take refuge in You. 2S The whole verse is corrupt, including the rhyme. In P the worm might refer to Jonah 4:7. 'agga means 'again' in the dialect of Telkepe (Talia). R: Your prayer, oh Mother of light, / our eyes from names it did not cut/kill. 26 See the Iraqi Arabic idiom: lJatyya 'alay 'pity on him!' (Talia).

64.

Queen of virgins, do not let go of our hands! The ploughman can not go out. Roads are blocked.

65.

Oh Mary, these lives of ours went to rack and ruin. Death is better for us, since we do not know where to gO.27 Our escape lies with You.

66.

What afflicted hearts we have! How small is this seed! God has detennined so. The door of Heaven is closed.

67.

The Lord of creation is angered and has closed the heavens like Nineveh in the beginning, but he had mercy on them in the end.

68.

The Creator is angered with us." Our sin cries out before him. Take us in like the prophet Moses! He brought water out of the rock. 28

69.

Come, save us, 0 Creator. 29 The people are dying of hunger, going to bed without supper and our hearts are burning like fIre.

70.

Feed the poor, while the doors are closed in their faces, they beg for death and they render it not shamefuPo

91

R: our children are weeping by hunger. Numbers 10:9-11. P: Take us in like the Ninevite. / He took him out of the deep waters (lit.: of the sea of water; Jonah 2:3, 2:5?). 29 R: The Creator is angered with us. 30 Lit.: it does not become miserable in their hands. 1:1 28

92

ANNE OF TELKEPE

71.

Oh Lord, enough, our cup is full! May your heart relent a little! A man who has children does not know where to go.

72.

The new Patriarch31 proclaimed three days of prayer. 32 The priests of the churches lifted voices of repentance on behalf of the village.

73.

He saw the suffering and the Lord of clouds had mercy. He saw the poor and he had mercy on them in the end.

74.

Weeping and sighing they recited the Rosary. All the villages fasted, including the babes in their cradles.

75.

The clever priest stood up and a lot of people with him. He himself addressed that suffering. Before Mary he lay prostrate, offering himself up.

76.

He got down on his knees, tears streaming down his face. He besought the Father of his Master and the Lord accepted his prayer.

77.

Then he cried out, called upon the Virgin and let the tears flow from his eyes. He sought refuge in Mary and let all the people weep.

This dorekJa has reached its end and glory be to God. Amen!

R: the chain (gdiltha)? Allusion to Genesis 41 ff.? The whole verse is difficult to understand and possibly corrupt. R has an invocation to Saint Joseph wazira (perhaps nazira?). 3S R: We asked the glorious One. 36 R: Open for us the door of Heaven! 37 R: She who composed this hymn I is called Anne. 33

'Abdisho' V :ijayyat was Patriarch of the Chaldeans from 1894 to 1899, Joseph Emmanuel IT from 1900 to 1947 (Wilmshurst 2000: 35). It is therefore not clear who 'the new Patriarch', active in the year 1898, was. 32 An allusion to the Rogation of the Ninivites (see, above, n. 2)? R: that the village 31

make err?

34

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·,····w !

.~

A HAGIOGRAPlllCAL TALE by Emanuela Braida

The dorek!a On the hermit Barmalka was written in 1912 by the priest Yawsip
prologue apostrophe main text Bannalka goes hunting and comes across a corpse the youth wants to be a hermit and leaves his father he meets an old hermit and learns to weave baskets he meets Khatun and falls into her trap an angel saves him epilogue apostrophe and brief summary moral exhortations prayer on behalf of the community attribution and invocation on behalf of the author dating and moral intent final invocation

The main text is a long moral tale about a young prince, who decides to leave his father's kingdom and live the holy life of a hermit. The 1 M. l'abbi Yi:4sif ~baya d'Alqos se souvient que,dans sa jeunesse, il y a quelque soixante ans, il accompagna, avec quelques pretres d'Alqi5s, un notable juif. .. (Fiey 1965: 399).

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1"'-

96

JOSEPH 'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

ON TIlE HERMIT BARMALKA

author describes the protagonist as ber d-malka, 'the son of a king' (1). In the rubric the phrase is read barmalka, as in Classical Syriac, without the preposition d-, thus suggesting a shift from a character ('the son of a king') to a proper name (Barmalka). Our young man decides to become a hermit after coming across a corpse by chance. This makes him meditate on the vanity of life and the ineluctability of death and affects him so deeply that he forsakes his father and ventures into the desert. Leaving huge material goods, giving up comforts and power deriving from a high social condition to live a monastic and pious life is a common theme in many biographies of saints, in Eastern as well as Western hagiographicalliterature. As the monastic tradition requires, our "novice" needs a spiritual guide and when he meets an old, holy hermit in the neighbourhood of Baghdad, he asks him to act as his father confessor and master. As was customary among the early Christian fathers living in the desert, they earn their living by weaving baskets and selling them in the market. One day, while the young hermit is in town, Khatun, the wife of the local king, notices him and she is seized by an insane passion. The Persian term Khatun means 'lady, matron'2 and is used as a feminine proper name to make the character impersonal, almost anonymous. Barmalka is simply a 'son of a king', as he really is by birth, and Khatun is a 'noblewoman' in name and social condition, even though she is not noble-minded, going so far as to lay a snare for the poor hermit. Our young man falls into her trap: he enters her palace and finds himself face to face with the shameless woman. From this point, a long dialogue (3864) leads into the narrative part of the poem: the woman shows her intent, offering the hermit her person and descendants, her richesan,d power. The man refuses her offers sharply, calling on her to repent arid renounce evil, but to no avail. She yields to her foolish lust and goes so far as to threaten him with death. The character of Khatun has a single role in the economy of the poem. She is the evil agent who brings out the man's shining virtue. The figure of the woman as an instrument of the Devil, leading men into temptation, is common in Christian culture, imbued with the misogyny that runs through part of the Old Testament and the Patristic tradition. The link between "woman" and "devil" is not greatly emphasized: only on three

occasions (31, 45,68) do we fmd a veiled allusion to the diabolical nature of women. Literary merit apart, the author manages to portray a lively, determined figure of a woman with a bold tongue. Notwithstanding her efforts, the hermit, frightened but of course steady in his faith, fervently asks Jesus and Mary for help. In answer they send an angel to take his hand, lead him out without opening the door and put him safely down before his cell. The theme of a heavenly being who saves people who invoke divine help is frequent in Christian hagiographic literature. In our dorekta, the saviour is an angel sent by God whereas in other tales or Acta this role is a prerogative of the Saint called on by his votary.3 In the economy of this poem, the angel is also a deus ex machina, an over-simple solution to the plot. In verse 69, the narrative part ends with a very obvious, rapid coup-de-scene, quite out of harmony with the previous narrative.

2

Steingass (1947: 437). The telTIl is of Mongolian origin.

97

3 A curious and quite unknown example in Western hagiographical literature is the story of a young Italian pilgrim on his way to Santiago de Compostela from his native village of Novalesa, in the North-Western Italian Alps. When he was within three days' walking distance, he was unjustly sentenced to death and was imprisoned in a tower. He begged Saint James and Saint Eldrado of Novalesa to save him and the next morning he woke up safe and sound in Galicia. In the abbey of Novalesa you can still see a fresco portraying the indigenous Saint Eldrado beside the well-known figure of Saint James (Cipolla 1898: vol. 1, 365).

fT· !

ON THE HERMIT BARMALKA

7.

Again he spoke: 'Listen, father, if indeed all men taste death it is useless to reign over a kingdom, or over people or lands.

8.

r do not want honour or wealth,

ON THE HERMIT BARMALKAl Prologue 1.

Listen, oh brothers, I will tell you a story about the son of a wise king, member of the royal family.

The King's son goes hunting and meets a dead man 2.

3.

4.

5.

This powerful and honoured king had a handsome and wise son with a brilliant mind, well and honourably brought up. One day he went out of his house, called the slaves and servants and (together) they rode out towards the steppe to hunt animals. He stayed away, hunting, for two days, then, on his way home, on the road he came across a corpse and fear and trembling filled his heart. Long he thought upon death, sadness and decay that are men's lot in the grave. This creature was galling in his eyes!

gold, silver or treasures, herds or wagons, because this world does not last.

9.

and serve the Mighty King, so that when I lie decaying in the grave my soul will rejoice in the light'.

10.

'Oh my son, what has befallen you? Spend your life in pleasures, and then, even if you die, your life will have been happy!

11.

Oh my son, do not satisfy this desire! I want you to marry, I will give you my throne and all the world will admire you.

12.

Oh my son, sit on the throne administer this wealth and abundance! Your soul too will be satisfied with them and you will rejoice in your wife and sons.'

13.

'Oh my father, I do not want a wife nor to sit on the throne, I reject all honours and wealth and I will flee from this galling world.

14.

I will leave this kingdom and flee from this royal condition living in solitude until I die and go to the Kingdom'.

The youth wants to become a hermit and leaves his father 6.

He went straight home and stood before his wise father: 'Oh my father, king and sultan, your honour will vanish like smoke! '

1 H: A poem on the hennit Bannalka and about his chastity by the priest Joseph ' 'Abbaya of Alqosh in the year 1912.

r will flee from this bitter world

99

100 15.

ON TIlE HERMIT BARMALKA

JOSEPH 'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

Then he left his home and took leave of his father and mother; he went to a distant country and at last he reached the land of Baghdad.

with the money he bought food and came back to the hut singing Psalms. 23.

The master led him in the way of virtue, and as he was a good-looking young man with noble features 3 people were amazed at his beauty.

The youth meets the old hermit and learns to weave baskets 16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

2

Here he met an old man whom he asked to teach him and show him the way of the Lord to save him from this world.

The young hermit meets Khatun 24.

In that town there was a woman, wife of the king, called Khatun; she cast a wicked glance on him, and laid a terrible snare for him.

25.

The young man followed the hermit who taught him to pray and work. His wisdom grew with his spiritual practices and he refused all things of this world.

One day, while he was passing by carrying his load on his back, she made an excuse to call him into the courtyard.

26.

He stayed in the hut praising God, saying prayers and reciting Psalms, weaving baskets, large and small, hampers, shopping baskets and panniers.

'Oh handsome young man', she said, 'I will pay you a pound: weave me a hamper this morning and bring it in the royal palace'.

27.

By day they worked at weaving to buy themselves food, by night they prayed until morning .and served Our Lord Jesus.

She started a stream of silly chatter and crazy laughter. His heart was filled with fear and he quickly ran away from there.

28.

Whenever they had made a good store2 he took a load and carried it to town, sold it and then came back.

He came home very sad, tears flowed from his eyes Before his master he began to cry: 'Oh master, forgive me for I have sinned.

29.

I left my kingdom and ran away from all yearnings, and now, when I have to go to town, I am afraid of falling into sin.'

This good hennit . lived on a mountain, he served and prayed to the Lord and also wove baskets.

He sold baskets and hampers, panniers and shopping baskets too, Lit. 'their production increased'.

3

Lit. 'a face full of nobility'.

101

'1~.

1-'-

102

JOSEPH 'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

103

ON TIIE HERMIT BARMALKA

30.

'Do not be sad nor weep, oh son, believe in the name of the Lord Jesus and if misfortune befalls you r will remind you to obey your Father.

38.

'Oh hennit, sweet youth, you need not tire yourself at this mean trade. You have nothing to eat nor to drink.

3l.

My son, fear not the devil but call on the Saviour to help you, confide in Him with love and trust, (the devil) will vanish before you like smoke'.

39.

Oh poor young hennit, leave this harsh trade, lie down here on the throne and the carpet, eat, put on sumptuous clothes!

32.

Then his heart was filled with joy and he obeyed his master trustingly, Our Lord saw his simplicity and gave his heart relief.

40.

Oh you who make baskets and panniers, stop this demeaning work [ Come, I have elegant dwellings, all of them palaces and villas.

33.

At dawn he awoke early, went to the mountains, cut a load of branches, came back and wove hampers.

41.

Oh you, basket-maker, come into this house ready to welcome you, wear the gold embroidered mantle take the prince's wife! ' .

34.

Re wove a special hamper, then at dawn he set off. Re sold all his load except the hamper for Khatun.

42.

Re answered calmly: 'Oh Khatun, full of wisdom, I will not commit this sin leaving the Lord of all creation.

The hermit falls into her trap 35.

He took it to the prince's house, and having come in the court he set it down. He gave it to Khatun and remamed standing in a corner.

43.

I have no father nor mother nor brothers nor cousins nor work that earns me bread. r am a hennit who has renounced the world.

36.

Then Khatun was inflamed with desire, at once she called her maid-servant and with a glance ordered her to close the door on them.

44.

I have given up everyone, rejected all desires and despised all delicacies to be worthy of the Kingdom.

37.

She began to look at the hamper while the hennit waited to be paid. Then, with regrettable morbid lust she addressed him saying:

45.

Oh wise and prudent Khatun, let not the devil rule your heart! I order you: remember that you will die and appear before the King and Judge.

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104 46.

ON TIIE HERMIT BARMALKA

JOSEPH'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

Remember the torments and tortures that lie ready for the wicked! Devote your life to doing good so that He will remit yoUJi great sins.

54.

Come, oh dervish hermit, I will soothe your every pain, I will give you a rank and descendants, you will envy neither governor nor pasha.

105

\

47.

Remember the burning fire, the sickening smell, the thirst and hunger, the cold, the darkness as well as the smoke and the separation from the Lord forever' .

55.

Oh you who make hampers and shopping baskets, I will set you in the assembly of princes, I will fill your pockets with money and you will forget worry and pain! '

48.

Khatun drew no benefit from these words, .she became even more inflamed with passion, became even more shameless and swiftly went up to the hermit.

56.

'Khatun, enough of this chatter! I do not wish for rank, descendants, slaves or servants, nor even the government of towns.

49.

'Oh fair young hermit, enough! You really are a fooL All the governors, chiefs and noblemen would love me to speak to them'

57.

Oh Khatun, think on this: the world will come to an end. There will be no escape from death and in the life beyond there will be no corruption nor blackmaiL

50.

'Oh Khatun, wife of the sovereign prince, why do you wish, my sister, for a poor stupid foolish hermit? Shame on you for this base trick! '

58.

Oh Khatun, greedy for pleasure, this world will come to an end for you too. there you will meet dusky fate, suffering, illness, dishonour and blame!

51.

'Oh heedless youth, compare what you have with these riches and wealth! Everything will be granted to you if you satisfy my desire.'

59.

Oh Khatun, leave off sinning, call upon the Lord submissively, let tears of repentance flow and adorn your soul with virtues! '

52.

'Oh proud Khatun, cease your madness, fear the Creator of the world, go from me, sin not! '

60.

Then Khatun grew angered flaring up in the fire of lust and, aggressive as a she-bear, attacked the hermit, seizing him by the hand.

53.

'Come, you poor servant, I will make you a vizier by my side! You will envy neither lord nor prince and everyone will serve you with honour.

61.

Then she said to the hermit: 'And now, what will you do, you fool? I will accuse you before the prince who will treat you to a bitter death.'

106

JOSEPH 'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

ON THE HERMIT BARMALKA

62.

'I am ready to taste death, to bear all their tortures and blows rather than commit this sin and break my oath of chastity'.

70.

63.

'Enough of all this chatter, say not a word more! When the prince comes what will you do, you wretch?

Epilogue: moral exhortation

64.

I will tell him this stupid mm asks a shameful action of me. I will dishonour you before great and small and the prince will kill you without doubt'.

He brought him out from that house blameless of sin. He offered up glory and thanksgiving to Him who strikes down wickedness and impiety.

71.

Think, oh Christians, on what the patient achieve after all their sufferings and afflictions! Suffering and affliction come to an end.

72.

So this poor hennit refused earthly beauty, gave up riches and earthly goods for love of Jesus, the Saviour.

An angel saves the hermit 65.

The good hermit gave himself up to despair because he was a prisoner in that house. He began to cry, Jesus and Mary he called on for help.

73.

Every honour and praise of this time were dust and smoke to him. He lived in a hut like a poor man to achieve heavenly glory.

66.

'Oh Mary, mother of the Creator, alas, my father, the hermit who serves the Lord Jesus, save me from this misfortune!'

74.

God rewarded him and made Khatun ashamed by his words, He spread word of his good name throughout the world and comforted him at last in His Kingdom.

67.

Because he went on praying thus calling faithfully upon the Lord, God had pity on him and saved him from his affliction.

75.

Think, oh you faithful, on this good and righteous hermit on how he trampled on the pleasures of this world to gain heavenly glory!

68.

To his side He sent an angel who said to him: 'Fear not! '. He gave him his heart and the angel purified it of the devil and his furnace.

76.

Who ever trusted in the Lord, with clean and pure heart in this world full of misfortunes without obtaining the Lord's help?

69.

He took him by the hand and brought him out without opening the door and he put him down before his cell. He praised the name of the Creator.

77.

Then, oh you oppressed and suffering, live like the righteous who bear afflictions and break the devil's bonds!

107

108

JOSEPH 'ABBAYA OF ALQOSH

Prayer, dating and attribution 78.

Let us beg Mary, virgin and mother, that she may save all the children of the Church and give them victory over the devil and all his armies!

79.

That she may help monks, hermits, all the tired and moaning virgins, all the masters and disciples! May she save them from all misfortune!

80.

And those who listen to this poem, May she protect their sons and daughters, fill their homes with every blessing and help them in the hour of death!

81.

Oh chaste holy Mary, sweet to the mouth and the lips, help unto the last the author of this poem.

82.

Oh chaste holy hermit, pray for me and implore, beg the Lord to bless the writer, a sinner, priest Yawsip CAbbaya

83.

who is an apostle among the Christians, that he may overcome all misfortune, die in the love of the Lord Jesus and repose in the Kingdom of Heaven.

84.

In the year 1912 of Our Lord he wrote this poem so that the young men and maids may recite it and learn chastity from it.

85.

Oh you who tell and you who hear, raise up a hymn of glory without cease to Him who fonned all earthly beings making them like angels.

A POETIC ADAPTATION OF HISTORICAL SOURCES by Emanuela Braida

The dorelqa On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish is an elegy of 113 monorhyme verses of four seven-syllable lines, composed by the Chaldean priest Thomas I:Janna in 1930. The author was born in the village of Karamlish (about 25 km East of Mosul) and became a monk in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd in Alqosh. He also worked as a priest in the region of the Lower Barwar (Northern Iraq). A short poem On Arsanis Jimjimma and a collection of dorekya!a (1931) are attributed to him. I The poem laments the suffering and disasters caused by a Mongolian raid in the plain of Mosul in the year 1236. The author lingers over his grief and sorrow for the unarmed people of his native village.

Structure of the poem The poem has the customary structure of later East-Syriac conya!a and modern dorekya!a (prologue, main text, epilogue). It begins with an invocation and then introduces a long prior history (verses 7-28) in which the author tells of the Mongolian army's arrival in the East. The main text starts from verse 29. The narrative is structured according to a recurring pattern: first a description of the Mongolian attack against an unarmed town, usually focusing on a special holy place (monastery, church...), and then a panegyric on the town and an elegy on human suffering. The epilogue (verses 98-108) contains moral teachings, prayers and invocations on behalf of the Christian community. 1 2-6 7-28 29-33 34-35 36-41 42-46 47-56 57-75 1

invocation contents of the poem prior history attack main text: Erbil panegyric monastery of Beth Qoqa main text: Karamlish siege of Karamlish description of the village attack and massacre

prologue

Pennacchietti (1991).

110

maMAS I;IANNA OF KARAMLISH

76-80 81-87 88 89-97 98-108 109-112

main text: Tel Isqof

epilogue

113

the good and the wicked commanders Church of the Forty Martyrs elegy on TelIsqof attack on Tel Isqof monastery of Apni-maran prayers and exhortation invocation on behalf of the author: dating, sources and attribution apostrophe and moral exhortation

Quellenstudie In verses 109-110 Thomas I:Iann~ signs his work and declares himself to be the author of the poem. Furthermore he explicitly acknowledges his sources: (1) the work of Gregorius Abu al-Faraj Barhebraeus; (2) a poem by Giwargis Warda and (3) an author called Sabrisho' of Mosul. (1) In his Chronicon syriacum, Gregorius Abu al-Faraj Barhebraeus (1204-1286) told of the Mongolian raid in the year 1236 against the country of Nineveh. 2 His report is rather short and describes the arrival of the Mongols in Erbil and Karamlish without lyrical additions or authorial commentaries. (2) The poem by Warda beginning In the year 1547 of the Greeks3 is undoubtedly the most important source on which our author models his work. It is an elegy composed in 1236 by the East-Syrian poet Giwargis Warda of Erbil,4 who personally lived through those tragic events. This poem is a 'onira of 73 monorhyme verses of four verses, written in Classical Syriac. Its subject is a deeply felt tale about the arrival of the MOJ;lgols, their violent sack of the villages of Erbil, Karamlish and Tel Isqof and the bloody slaughter of their inhabitants. In his work Thomas I:Ianna keeps to the same narrative scheme, inserting more detailed descripti~ns of the villages and their daily life. (3) As far as the author called Sabrisho' of Mosul is concerned, historical research has failed to solve the problem of his real identity. Syriac literature since the 13th century does not record any author of this name, except the Patriarch Sabrisho' v (d. 1256), but he came from the region of Baghdad (not Mosul!) and he did not write any works on a Mongolian raid. A plausible hypothesis might be an identification of this name not with an author, but with a character, a misunderstanding quite common in popular works. Indeed, the histories of Syriac literature list an unpublished 'oni!a 2

3

......

_-_

_._

Budge (1932: 402). Hilgenfeld (1904: 49-59, 105-112).

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111

ON AN ATTACK BY THE MONGOLS

about Mar Sabrisho', founder of the monastery ofBeth Qoqa, composed in the 13th century by Gabriel Qamsa, Metropolite of Mosul.s However, a first cursory reading of the text in two manuscripts (Vat. syr. 180 and Vat. syr. 186) did not provide evidence to support this hypothesis, since, notwithstanding the great number of verses, this poem does not provide any historical context and it is lacking in geographical descriptions.

The 'oni!a In the year 1547 of the Greeks by G. Warda A comparison between the dorelqa by Thomas I:Ianna and the 'onira In the year 1547 of the Greeks by Giwargis Warda brings out several affinities between the two texts. Both display the same narrative patterns in the main text and follow the same chronology in telling the story. The modem text, however, adds a few episodes, such as the long prior history and a number of descriptive details about the village of Karamlish. From a lyrical point of view, the poem by Thomas I:Ianna does not achieve the high level of pathos and participation in human suffering that we find in the work of Warda. 6 Thomas is doubtlessly focusing on action, on the happenings of the story. His prologue contains a summary of the prior history (v. 7-28) and tells the reasons for the Mongolian invasion. According to his narration, Gengis Khan declared war on Mul).ammad Shah, Sultan of Khorezm, in retaliation for the killing of Tartar merchants in Persia. This episode is not a poetic invention by Thomas I:Ianna, but can be found with minor variations in the historiographical work by alNasawi (d. 1250; Histoire du sultan).7 As a matter of fact, Gengis Khan beat Mu};lammad Shah in 1221, but he was not directly responsible for the raid in the Mosul plain, since his leadership of Mongolian tribes lasted from 1206 to his deat~, in 1227. Other Mongolian leaders sent their armies against the Middle East, Korea, China and Europe in 1235. In the same year Azerbaijan was occupied and a Mongolian army ventured as far as Northern Iraq, slaughtering the inhabitants. 8 Baumstark (1922: 304-306). Baumstark (1922: 323) defined it as a monstrous 'oni!a (eine monstrose 'Onft(h)ti), full of barely recognizable Greek words. With its woolly plot, from the crea~on of Adam to the history of Mar Sabrisho' the text certainly does not make pleasant reading. See also Abuna (1970: 444) which refers to Baumstark (1922: 323). 6 On Warda's poems with historical content see Bundy (1993: 7-20) and, above, p. 16, n.55. 7 Houdas (1895: 57-60). 8 Fiey (1975: 5). 4

A

S

. .•..

_

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112

mOMAs I:IANNA OF KARAMLIsH

The town of Erbil Mongoli~ hordes entered Erbil9 on the first Sunday of November. The town ,.of Erbil has been known since the 3rd millennium B.C. and ,as F'ley . . says, It IS one of several towns ill the world which claim to be the Id 0 est " . town inhabIted wIthout interruption. '10 Tradition has it that Saint Mari evangelized this region in the 1st century and, even allowing for possible flights of fancy, Christianity can really boast a long and illustrious life there. In his panegyric on Erbil ~omas I.Ianna mentions certain outstanding Christians of the town, i.e. appesqope, matrane, and malpane .(34). Erbil was indeed a metropolitan s.eat from ~e early 4th up to the 9th century and Christian priests established an lInportant school for ecclesiastics, which trained their ranks more th~ a ce~tury be~ore the Muslim conquest (probably in 637).11 A MetropolItan still had his seat in town in 1222, when Erbil became the capital of a Kurdish princedom (1167-1232). By the year of the Mongolian raid, Erbil was controlled by generals of the Calip~ Mustan~ir (1226-1242). From the 14th century, Mongolian and Muslim persecutions further reduced the Christian community whi h had been wiped out by the end of the 18th century P ,c

The Monastery of Beth Qoqa

Four days after the raid on Erbil, the Mongolian anny arrived at the monastery of Beth Qoqa,13 West of the town, on the bank of the Great Zab. When the Mongols reached the holy place, they killed the monks pillaged their riches and destroyed books and reliqUaries (36-41). .' The monastery of Beth Qoqa was probably built in the first half of the 6th century by the anchorite Mar Sabrisho' of Awana. The appellative Beth Qoqa probably derives from the name of a man who was cured . of leprosy. at the beginning of the 7th century. The early history of the monastIC community is well-documented,14 until the end of the 13th century, when we know that the monastery offered hospitality to the Patriarch Mar Yahballaha ill on his way to Baghdad. 15 From that moment we Wilmshurst (2000: 168-169). 1~ [Erb~l] est u.ne des quelques villes au monde qui se disputent le titre de la [us anClenne cite contmuellement habitee (Piey 1965: 39). . P II Fiey (1965: 62). 12 Piey (1965: 95). 13 Wilmshurst (2000: 170). 14 Scher (1919: 583-589). 15 Borbone (2008: 298). 9

w ," ON AN ATIACK BY THE MONGOLS

113

have scarce, uncertain information about the life of the monastery, which was probably closed in the 17th century.16 Karamlish

When the Mongols left Beth Qoqa, they crossed the Great Zab on the way to Karamlish and camped beside the stream of Tarjilla (42-49). This village, 6 km North East of Karamlish, is renowned for its sulphurous spring mentioned by the geographer Yaqut (1179-1229).17 Verse 49 mentions 'five (or) six /Jabrata' which seem to be a kind of water tank used by the inhabitants of Karamlish. An oral tradition goes that the monks dug some tanks to contain water from an underground aqueduct linking the monastery of Mar Daniel on Mount 'Ain Safra' to Karamlish, about 8 km away.I8 After a short rest, the Mongolian army left Tarjilla and besieged Karamlish (50-87). From this point, the poem gets to the very heart of the narration: after a detailed description of the rich village with its flourishing trade, blooming fields and vineyards, and the comfortable life of its inhabitants, the author lingers over the bloody slaughter of the people overtaken by their killers, the voices of SUffering and pain and the damage to the churches and their ornaments. Karamlish, about 25 km South East of Mosul, is now merely a village, but it was an Old Assyrian town, as two archeological tells suggest. 19 In 1846 excavations started in the neighbouring hills under the guidance of Austin Henry Layard, who found many sculptures in low relief with cuneiform scripts in Tell Ghanim and Tell Barbara. Karamlish was the temporary capital of the kingdom of Sargon IT (721-705 BC). In 331 BC in Karamlish Alexander the Great and the Persian emperor Daryos ill engaged in a famous battle that ushered in Greek rule over the Near East. 20

Fiey (1965: 156). Geographisches Worterbuch (Wustenfeld 1866-73: vo!. 1, 836), quoted by Fiey (1965: 273). Sulphurous water appears to be corrunon in this area. The Gennan traveller Carsten Niebuhr (1780: vo!. 2, 283), six centuries later than the facts reported in our text, describes 'une source, dont l'eau est froide etjaune, et dont on se sert en p1usieurs maladies (a spring with cold yellow water used to cure various illnesses)' as situated on Mount 'Ayn $afra', not far from Tarjilla. 18 Fiey (1965: 619). 19 Wilmshurst (2000: 218-221). 20 http://betnahrain.net/AssyriaLand/; http://karmles.8m.com/ 16

17

114

maMAS I;lANNA OF KARAMLISH

There must have been Christians in the village from quite early on. In 562 AD the inhabitants were involved in the building of the nearby monastery of Mar "Eta. 21 From 1332 to 1426 Karamlish was the Patriarch's seat. 22 As a Classical Syriac note in the text of our poem claims (53), Bishop Athanasius consacrated the Holy Oil in the Forty Martyrs Church in the year 1680 of the Greeks (1369 AD), when Karamlish was the center of a principality. As Yaqut says, it was a village 'nearly as big as a town' and a trade center of some importance, with a famous suq crowded with merchants. 23 In 51-56, Thomas I;Ianna gives a description of the village that is absent both in the poem by Warda and in the work of Barhebraeus. According to this description, Karamlish was a small, industrious town with a castle, inns, shops and baths, enclosed by walls and surroun ded by four towers (48 and 50). The location of the towers as described by the author is not very clear. He says that the western tower, called 'Tower of the Plane-trees', and the eastern one, called 'the Lady Queen ', were defensive ramparts at the gates of the town (51-52), as the tale of two Mongo lian commanders seems to show (76-80), but Fiey does not make any reference to walls around the village. 24 Warda 's 'oni!a is not clear on this point, wherea s Barhebraeus consistently speaks of 'doors of the church' instead of 'gates of the town'.25 The third tower is not explicitly mentioned, but it appears to be in the building of the Forty Martyrs Church (53). The Syrian Orthodox church of the Forty Martyrs26 (also simply called Beth Sahde), South East of the village, was built in the 13th century and destroyed in 1743 by Nader Sah of Persia. According to Fiey,27 there is now a small tell and a garden where it used to stand. The fourth tower is placed 'over the monastery' of Saint George, North of the village. The Chaldean monastery of Saint George (a monk, discipl e of the hennit Mar "Eta) is the oldest Christian building in the town, since Fiey (1965: 401). http://betnabrain.net/AssyriaLand/; http://kannles.8m.com/ 23 Wiistenfeld (1866-73: vol. 4,267; Le Strange 1966: 90). 24 Fiey (1965: 402). 2S Budge (1932: 402). 26 The so-called 'Forty Martyrs ' of Sebaste (now Siwas in Turkey) were forty Christian soldiers of the Roman Legio XlI Fulminata. According to tradition, they were martyred during the persecution of the emperor Licinius (250-325; Bibliotheca Sanctorum, Romae 1968: vol. 11, col. 768). 27 Fiey (1965: 411). 21

22

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115

it was built during the 6th century .28 Fiey describes it in ruin, with a cemetery in the COurt. 29 According to verse 54 the monastery stood at the foot of a hill called 'Hill of the Sheep' , on the top of which was the Northern tower of the village. Thomas I;Ianna also mentions a 'castle of the emirs' (56), but he does not give a clear explanation of where this castle would have been situated. Perhaps he hints at an ancient governor's palace, probably built on the top of the tell behind St Barbar a's Church. 30 According to traditio n, the relics of St Barbara still lie in this church, built on the ruins of the Assyrian temple where the daughter of the pagan governor of the village was imprisoned and executed. 31

Tel Isqof After their raid on Karam lish,th e Mongols struck camp and made for the village ofTel Isqof. 32 There they gathered all the people in the church of Saint Jacob Intercisus 33 and killed them all without pity (88-97). The fIrst mention of the church of Saint Jacob in Tel Isqof can be found in the 'oni!a by Warda,34 but the original building was enlarge d and completely changed in the 20th century.35 Thomas I;Ianna also mentions the monastery of Apni-maran, 'on the caravan road' (94-95), near Tel Isqof. At present the monastery is completely ruined and this area is used as a cemetery. Village and conven t were very close together and divided by a small brook, as Fiey says: 'Only a stretch of wall running from north to south, with traces of a vault on the west side, that is to say the side towards the village, is said to have been the wall that separated the altar from the church. As there is no room for the church between this wall and the stream, people say the latter changed its course and gradually undenn ined the church'.36 The http://betnahrain.net/AssyriaLand/; http://kannles.8m.com/ Fiey (1965: 413). 30 Fiey (1965: 412). 31 http://betnahrain.net/AssyriaLand/; http://ka nnles.8m.com/ 32 Wilmshurst (2000: 234-237). 33 Born in a Persian Christian family, saint Jacob was martyred at the time of king Bahram probably in the year 420 (Bedjan 1895: vol. 2, 539-558). 34 Hilgenfeld (1904: 110). 35 Fiey (1965: 383). 36 Seul un pan de mur oriente nord-sud et portant des vestiges de voute du cote ouest, c'est-a-dire du cote du village, est dit avoir ete le mur separant l'autel de l'eglise. Comme il n'y a pas de place pour l'eglise entre ce mur et le ruisseau, les gens disent que ce dernier a change de place et grignote l'eglise. (Fiey 1965: 383-385). 28

29

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THOMAS I;IANNA OF KARAMLISH

identity of the eponym Apni-maran is unknown, notwithstanding his popularity in folk devotion. ON AN ATTACK BY THE MONGOLS AT KARAMLISH!

Circulation of the text Our text is the most recent dorek!a contained in the manuscript collection, called Habbi 3. 37 It does not present important formal peculiarities if compared with earlier dorekya!a and therefore bears witness to considerable continuity in the religious literary tradition of Iraqi Chaldeans. Copies of this poem were to be found in the homes of many inhabitants of Karamlish, as Piey noted38 and in-1977 the text of the ms. Habbi 3 was published in the Iraqi Chaldean journal Qala Suryaya, with a detailed summary of the story written in Arabic. 39

Invocation and prologue 1.

With the help of the Trinity do I begin a poem full of sadness on the destruction of the village of Karamlish.

2.

From the East came destruction and blazed like a raging fire through the poor village of Nineveh in the year 1236.

3.

In the year 1236 of Our Lord a whirlwind descended from the East on the glorious Christian people who were slaughtered without mercy.

37

38 39

Mengozzi (1999). Fiey (1965: 403). Haddad (1977).

4.

The Christians were sacrificed by barbaric peoples from the land of China the Tartar Mongols.

5.

I will tell of the Mongols and the massacre of the Christians and who was guilty of laying waste the land.

6.

So many lands and towns surrounded with walls! Their inhabitants were killed by the wicked Tartars.

1 H: A poem on the capture and the massacre of Karamlish by the Tartars, or Mongols, worshippers of the sun, composed by the priest Thomas I;Ianna, monk of Karamlish, in the year 1930 of Our Lord.

f 118

All the country mourned for the Mongols who had been killed.

Prior history of the Mongolian attack on the Eastern countries 7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

119

ON AN ATTACK BY THE MONGOLS

mOMAS I:IANNA OF KARAMLISH

Gengis Khan, the Tartar, who lived in the land of China, reigned as an emperor over the Tartars.

15.

This king of the Tartars sent chosen men from the inland regions to the land of the Persians.

Gengis Khan, king of the Mongols, wrote to MuQ.ammad, the sultan: 'An edict has been issued against you! Flee not, join battle!

16.

From his country he sent to Persia a merchant together with outstanding people before the sultan, king of Bukhara.

Join battle, flee not! Were you a fish in the sea or a bird on the wing, you would not escape my armies.'

17.

The mighty army advanced like a strip of black cloud destroying the town of Awtrar, capital of Persia.

18.

The capital city was left without inhabitants: (Gengis Khan) killed thousands of people and took women and girls captive.

19.

He took Bukhara captive too, besieged it from all sides and cried out to the fool MliQ.ammad to go up and look at his castle:

20.

'Go up and look at the city before your soul is taken from you! You will not see again your flourishing Bukhara! '

21-

Bukhara, too, he destroyed and killed three thousand (people), but MuQ.ammad, the sultan, fled and (Gengis Khan) sent his army after him.

Sultan MuQ.ammad, the devilish one, witless shah of Persia! The devil possessed him and wanted neither peace nor quiet. He did not want peace nor good and became the stone of damnation. He provoked this misfortune from the far land of Tartars. He killed the Tartar merchants and stole their goods. Only one of them managed to escape to tell Gengis Khan (what happened). When Gengis Khan heard it, he rent his garments, did not eat for three days and lay grieving. Night and day he wept but he did not get over his distress. .__

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120

ON AN ATIACK BY THE MONGOLS

THOMAS I:IANNA OF KARA.MLISH

22.

He sent his annies to eight lands, more than sixty thousand (soldiers) to kill folk and to take prisoners.

30.

The streets of the town were shattered by the weeping and wailing of people murdered in the streets of the town of ErbiL

23.

Gengis Khan ordered them to kill. They subdued all from Baghdad to Hamadan, vanquished Azerbaijan and invaded the land of Erzinjan.

31.

People's blood flowed through the streets like water. They called on their Creator for help on that fIrst Sunday.

24.

The afflicted land of the East was cloaked in suffering like a flIe that starts in a wood before the wicked people of the Tartars.

32.

On the fIrst Sunday of November they sang the antiphon We will enter into the temple before the Lord

25.

So did they plunge, this wicked people, worshippers of the sun, killers of men causing upheaval on sea and land.

33.

They entered giving thanks, lovingly, in the church on Sunday evening and on Wednesday Erbil had already been laid waste

26.

Turmoil, chaos, cries! Thirsty for blood and destruction he gave no quarter and stayed in the East cutting off heads.

34.

Erbil, seat of leaders, bishops and archbishops! From it rose masters, skilled in teaching.

27.

To cut heads off he came like a flash from the far oriental land, he spared neither the old nor the young, neither the wicked nor the righteous.

35.

Scholars and men of learning whose books are scattered round the world. Erbil, with its sturdy tower, was reduced to a nest of owls.

28.

The wicked and the righteous they killed and plundered their goods, laid waste all the land and headed for Erbil, the great.

Pillage of the monastery ofBeth Qoqa 36.

From Erbil to the Great Zab: they attacked the impressive monastery, the venerable Beth Qoqa, and they plundered it.

37.

They plundered the peaceful monastery of Mar Sabrisho' 'Anwaya, full of monks. It was put to the sword.

The Mongols in Erbil 29.

The Tartars advanced towards Erbil and its people were unaware. Suddenly they filled everyone with terror, old and young people were filled with dread.

121

122 38.

45.

The poor people of Karamlish poured into the lanes, locked their houses and shops barring the streets too.

46.

They had barred their streets and locked their shops, all wept for their unhappy state and lamented the fate of Karamlish.

They despoiled the reliquaries glorious and holy and angrily threw the corpses into the places devoted to prayer.

40.

In the house of prayer and in the Sancta Sanctorum, where the priests offIciate, they plundered reliquaries of saints, chalices and holy patens.

47.

What can I say about the village of Karamlish and what it was like once? In the land of Nineveh the great it had no equal, no fellow.

41.

Chalices and patens from the sanctuary and the holy vestments for the Mass those wicked people took away at nightfall.

48.

It had no fellow and it was five or six generations old, enclosed on all sides, and surrounded with walls and towers.

Siege ofKaramlish and slaughter of its inhabitants 42. On Tuesday evening they crossed the Great Zab bringing terrible disorder to Karamlish, the loving.

49.

Surrounded with its walls and towers, in it there were fifty wells and five or six tanks for drinking-water in time of war.

50.

Every time wars broke out, the young men of the village of Karamlish' quickly went up onto the walls and the four towers.

51.

A tower was built at the great western gate. It was called the Tower of the Plane-trees and there was not another like it on earth.

52.

There was another, still stronger one, built over the eastern gate: its name was Lady Queen and it was very high.

44.

2

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By the sword were killed monks, priests and hermits, masters and blessed anchorites. They despoiled the monasteries 2 of their votive gifts.

ON AN AITACK BY THE MONGOLS

39.

43.

•...

THOMAS l,iANNA OF KARAML!SH

Countless Mongols climbed like smoke up to Karamlish, and camped near a spring to rest for a while. The Mongolian army rested up-stream from Tarjilla, then it rose up from there and attacked Karamlish.

Lit.; them.

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124

ON AN ATIACK BY THE MONGOLS

mOMAS I:iANNA OF KARAMLISH

53.

High, flourishing and lovely like the Church of the Forty MartyrS,3 place of prayer and worship that saved them from every misfortune.

60.

No-one escaped and in the morning evil surrounded them. They did not spare husband nor wife nor bride nor groom nor maid.

54.

It saved them from calamities like Saint George, the pure, over whose monastery stood the Northern tower on the high Hill of the Sheep.

6l.

They killed young brides beautiful as basil seedlings, who did not rejoice in their bridal chambers but cried out in the streets.

55.

High, with vineyards before it and trees on all sides, gardens, orchards and good, flourishing olive-trees.

62.

They cried out in anguish before the evil people of the Tartars who spared none and left neither the righteous nor the wicked alive.

56.

Outside the town olive-groves and vineyards and inside streets and shops, baths, four inns and the castle of the Emirs.

63.

The good died along with the wicked, their corpses decayed and filled streets and baths. This is what the people of Karamlish saw!

57.

They went up to the castle and towers, saw to the East Tartars approaching and sent word to the brides and grooms.

64.

This is what the people of Karamlish saw in those fIrst moments, while they were celebrating, those who lived on the upper floors.

58.

In those days seven weddings

65.

Their houses had upper floors and their castles were thriving: They destroyed their buildings and attacked their walls.

66.

They attacked walls and towers, castles and mansions too, they filled the houses with corpses, fIve, six or three (at a time).

67.

Five or six (at a time) they killed. Some fled before them, they left their houses and went off without their children.

had been celebrated and everybody was glad for the brides and grooms when suddenly the village was besieged. 59.

The village they besieged and laid siege on all sides. Doggedly the Tartars allowed none to escape.

3 H, footnote: In the year 1680 of the Greeks, the Jacobite bishop Athanasius consacrated the holy oil in this church. See Barhebraeus, Ecclesiastic, at the end of the 3rd treatise.

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ON AN ATIACK BY THE MONGOLS

THOMAS I;IANNA OF KARAMLISH

68.

They left their houses and went off without their children, but wherever they fled they ran into the Tartars.

76.

A Tartar commander stood at the Eastern gate his unsheathed sword in his hand, but he feared God a little.

69.

In the village the Tartars went from house to house, lanterns in hand searching for the young girls.

77.

The fear of the righteous God came over the young commander. Every girl who went out on his side he let her escape.

70.

They had no pity on the young girls and did not spare the virgins who were like Europeans and grew like Indian women.

78.

He let every good youth get away, unlike the old commander who stood by the Western gate.

71.

Like Indian women from so much weeping, they let their tears flow like water so that the Creator should save them from the Tartar people.

79.

The one near the Westem gate was an old man who feared not God: he killed everyone who went out.

72.

Like wolves the Tartars seized the good youths and tied them up like sheep and lambs before the butchers'.

80.

He killed without compassion, dipped his sword deep in their blood and let nobody leave. He killed them all.

73.

Like lambs, young and old men died in torment, bitter, harsh and terrible torture. Kararnlish was reduced to ruins.

81.

In church they killed the priests and the beloved rows of deacons, the bodies of the martyrs and saints were trampled upon.

74.

Karamlish, which had been full of peace, became a slaughter-house for five days, it perished by the cruel sword.

82.

Trampled on and killed with contempt, on leaving this world, none said that day: 'Oh Church, farewell! '.

75.

The whole town perished by the sword of the wicked, impious people: they spared neither the good nor the evil the unredeemed and wicked Tartars.

83.

That day those unbelievers took away icons and vestments and tore up Kashkulas, Hudras and wonderful Gazzas and Taksas. ----_.._._--

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128

THOMAS

~A

OF KARAMLrSH

129

ON AN AITACK BY THE MONGOLS

84.

Books of the liturgy on the altars, holy chalices and patens, under-raiments and robes, cassocks and all the furnishings.

92.

They were gathered in the church of the holy martyr Saint Jacob Intercisus and the door was shut in their faces. They let none escape.

85.

The furnishings and all the cassocks along with the stoles and carpets were plundered by the Tartar hordes from the church of the village of Karamlish.

93.

They spared no-one in the church, neither deacons nor priests, neither old men nor women, those wicked people killed them alL

86.

They filled the church with corpses, the great church of the Forty Martyrs; instead of voices and songs the owls dwelt in it.

94.

They killed unmarried boys, handsome as camomile flowers, and along with them priests and monks from the monastery that stood on the caravan road.

87.

The Mongols rose up from Karamlish after they had killed, plundered and pillaged great riches and they went straight on to Tel Isqof.

95.

The monastery of Apni-maran was destroyed by the troops of Gengis Khan; they left not a monk and seized their things as booty.

96.

Those finely-wrought, brightly coloured ornaments were a great haul! Tel Isqof with its flourishing oaks, became a stork's nest.

97.

Storks and jackals dwelt in the village of Tel Isqof and mighty Karamlish. They became an uninhabited steppe.

Attack on Tellsqof and the monastery ofApni-maran

88.

I weep for Tel Isqof! With my hand I beat my breast for its children struck by the sword of the idolatrous Tartar people.

89.

The heathen Tartar people, having surrounded the village since morning, entered like fire sparing neither young nor old men.

90.

Those furies did not spare the poor people of Tel Isqof. They treated those Christians like a wingless sparrow.

98.

Oh Lord of lords, protect our chosen Church and with her all Christianity, as You established in the GospeL

91.

They were left wingless and could not escape. After their houses had been plundered they were gathered in the great church.

99.

You have ordered the angels to throw out the tares of discord, that is the haughty idolaters who kill the Christians.

Epilogue

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130

mOMAS I:IANNA OF KARAMLISH

ON AN ATIACK BY TIlE MONGOLS

100. Our dear Christians, who burn for love of You, save them from the calamities sown by the idolatrous, killing tares!

108. Oh Lord of all the world, until the end You help us to bear our distress, now and to the hour of our death.

101. Tares so strong that they choke the good wheat. Oh Creator of the world and generations, throw them into the furnaces like insects!

109. In the hour of our death save, oh Lord, Your servant who has taken pains to compose this poem and wrote it in the year of Our Lord 1930.

102. In the red-hot furnace throw them, in Your anger burn them and save the children of Your Church and let them rejoice in Your Kingdom!

Final invocation, dating and attribution

103. Let all the churches rejoice and multiply their houses and monasteries so they may send up hymns of praise to You all those born anew in Baptism. 104. Take unto You Your repented sons and give them better times, save them from sufferings and pain so that Your sheep may escape from the wolves. 105. 'Like sheep I send you, they will hate you because of Me, they will take away all your possessions and then they will kill you.

131

110. Re composed it with the help of Our Lord the priest Thomas, monk, native of Karamlish, who begs You for pity and forgiveness. 111. Forgive Your servant, oh Lord, who drew this poem from Barhebraeus, Sabrisho' of Mosul and Giwargis of Erbil. 112. Thanks to these masters of truth, he wrote this poem and, as a modest token of gratitude, he gives thanks to the village of Kararnlish. 113. Oh you who hear and read this poem, pray and beg for intercession on behalf of the deceased Christians so they may escape from harsh punishment!

106. Do not fear a violent death, you are to imitate Me and, if you give heed to My words, you will be happy up there with Me.' 107. Make us happy in Your Kingdom, look on us with pity, remember not the foolishness of Your servant, oh Lord of the world. - - - - - - - _.. _--_ .. _.. _

LAMENTATION ON SEPARATION by Shawqi Talia

This most moving dorelqa d-nuxrayufa was composed in 1970 by the Rev. Yol,J.annan Cholag of the town of Alqosh, in the province of Nineveh, Iraq. It consists of sixty-one rhymed couplets of twelve-syllab le lines, and is written in the Alqosh dialect. It was published only once in Qala Suryaya,l in 1980, in Baghdad. The Rev. Yol,J.annan Cholag was born in Alqosh on November 27th, 1935. In 1951 he entered the Chaldean seminary in Mosul. After his initial studies, he was sent to Paris to study theology, but returned after a year for reasons of health. He was ordained in 1961, and began teaching at the seminary, his alma mater. Subsequent to this he became a parish priest in the town of Alqosh. 2 In 1974 he was transferred to the city of Mosul as the pastor of Mar Isha
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134

ON EXILE

YOI:IANNAN CHOLAG

In addition to being a fine poet he was also a superb cantor, highly skilled in mellifluous and melodious chanting. Truly, his chanting, whether live, in public, or recorded, has always moved his listeners to tears. The title of this poem is dorek!.a d-nuxrayu!.a, from Cl. Syr. nkr 'i:u, meaning 'separation, alienation, etc.' However, the real subject of this dorelqa is lamentation on exile. This theme, strongly-felt both in both the ancient and the modern Semitic worlds, speaks about the pain of exile. The dorelqa is a lament not only for the loss of loved ones, but also for the towns and villages of the Christian communities of Iraq, especially those of the plain of Nineveh. These Christians have been forced into exile by the many tragedies that have befallen them. When one is forced to move to another land, one becomes an exile, in no matter what circumstances one left one's native land. In this poem the poet sings of his homeland and its Christian community, a place where the soul and spirit· of the community is in torment. He tells of the desolation of body and soul in distant lands. Yet, while he speaks of earthly things, such as work, sustenance and the new places they have settled in, it is the "forced exile" from home and each other that is slowly extinguishing this Christian community. Various circumstances, ranging from persecution, discrimination, second class citizenship, Islamic fundamentalism, and political and economic insecurity, have all forced Christians to leave. No one wants to abandon his native land and family. This "forced emigration" is an unspoken process of "being exiled." Our bard laments what has befallen his people and their homes. His lament is no less moving and powerful than that of the Jewish exile: 'By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept.' And the poet of Nuxrayu!.a is echoing the words of Jeremiah's Lamentation (2: 11), which runs: 'My eyes are spent with weeping, my soul is in tumult.' Our poet laments (1): 'When I remember the separation of the people of my land, my spirit grows mournful and my eyes shed sorrowful tears'.

15-17 18-25 26-32 33-43 44 45-55 56-61

135

biblical allusions: 'what use is it to gain the whole world and lose my soul' lament on death while in a strange land the affliction of separation from all a critique of those who leave: they have disobeyed God and have abandoned their loved ones petition to those who left to return home and rejoin with their beloved. invocation on the many blessings of homeland, to encourage those in the diaspora to return. epilogue: a tearful petition to all, to come back, where they will live and die together.

Structurally, the poem opens with a prologue which presents the theme of lamentation. This is seen in the fIrst couplet as the poet invokes the memory of his loved ones who have been separated from him. This dorekta is an exercise in the art of pathos. But it has within it sub-themes that are woven together like tapestry. There is lament for the community, for towns, family, the Christian way of life and the pain of separation. He then moves on to appeal to his audience; he recalls those who left their towns and villages. He states that they have disobeyed God and gone against their faith, for they have left their co-religionists to fate and left their homes and villages to fall into ruin. Though the speaker is the poet, he does not speak for himself. He is only the symbol of the Christian community. The true subject is the community itself, now very much in decline. In a most moving way, the poet compares the past and the present. Where there was life in long-inhabited homes and villages, there are now ruins that have become a home for the owls. These places are redolent of despair, hopelessness and painful memories. Having painted a haunting portrait of his people, he begs them all, those who have left, and those who are thinking of leaving, to return or not to leave.

Structure of the Poem 1 2-5 6-9 10-14

prologue: theme of lamentation separation of members of the community abandonment of homes and loved ones suffering of those left behind, torment of loved ones as they remember those who left

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ON EXILE

137

Suffering of those left behind ON EXILE

Prologue: Lamentation 1.

When I remember the separation of the people of my country, my spirit becomes mournful and my eyes shed sorrowful tears.

10.

Look you, what pleasure is there in life without a family? Even should I gain the whole world in the land of my exile. 1

11.

And what is the joy of one living far away, from his family, when his heart is always anxious to see them.

12.

Neither food, nor drink, nor garment shall be pleasing to him. Separation torments the mind at all times.

13.

It banishes sleep and kindles a burning fIre in the heart. like a thirsty branch, that grows parched and withered.

14.

However happy separation may be, it does not quench your thirst. Yearning for the homeland dries up every spring.

Separation from loved ones 2.

For the people of my native land, dispersed in many a land. Some on land, some at sea, everywhere.

3.

They turned their backs on us, went away, leaving us forlorn, mournfully bidding us farewell, 'Peace be upon you! ' , said they.

4.

When departing from before our eyes, our eyes grew dark. We were in tears and, all of us, our eyes were red.

5.

They went away, far away from us, leaving their homes empty. Now, we see them like shadows, for they have departed and gone away.

Biblical allusions 15.

What profIt is there in the wealth I earn? I work hard for it, yet I forget myself and my family.

16.

I left my native land and people for love of money. Indeed, there is no gain in this, for it is a deprivation.

17.

Though my pocket is full of dollars,2 my body is tired day and night; my heart is heavy with sorrow and lament.

Abandonment of home and family 6.

Without mercy they emptied their homes; yet the doors remain shut up, masterless day and night.

7.

Those who were kind, sold them for a small price, in great haste, leaving the land of their forefathers.

8.

The blessed land of their ancestors they abandoned. They were weary of it, and on a stranger they bestowed it.

9.

The earth that holds the remains of my loved ones I shall not forsake, Until I follow them and, like them, to this earth do return.

Lamentation on death while in a foreign land 18.

Sorrows of yearning for my people. Whether I die or they do, there is still no way of seeing each other.

19.

I may die alone in exile, I have no-one to shed a tear for me.

I The adage of couplet 10 reminds us of Mark 8 :36: 'For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul' (se~ also Matthew 6;26;. LuJ:e 9:25). 2 The poet specifies 'dollar' because most of the dlaspora Chaldeans live ill North America.

138

30.

With the passing of generations, the earth's landscape is changed. Kinship is muddled and confused, taking this one for that.

To eat dry bread in my homeland and home, is more satisfying than meals eaten as an outcast.

31.

Like the sun, which rises and sets, so do the days of one's life grow short. Not a soul can escape death.

Perchance, a brother meets his brother, and he recognizes him not. What a calamity, the brother is a stranger to his own brother.

32.

Father, mother and children who lived in a house. In time they cannot recall each other's faces.

Eternal sleep may arrive at any time. How bitter if death calls me when I am in a strange land.

Dialogue with those who leave

20.

A hard life in my land is preferable to comfort afforded me in the land of the diaspora.

21.

22.

23.

ON EXILE

Y0I:IANNAN CHOLAG

33.

Everyone who left has locked the door of his heart to all. Shut his eyes and intoned, 'I am not able to see him.'

34.

Tell me, what causes such coldness in this generation. Everyone is worried about himself and his wealth.

35.

If I do not see my people, nor they me, Why did I come into this world, why did I grow up and enter the autumn of life?

He who leaves the path of God and faith, wanders in the darkness of this world of illusions.

36.

He neither knows the love of family, nor the Creator who holds this world together with His love.

27.

Even heaven, without loved ones, gives no pleasure. 4 Heaven and earth long for togetherness.

37.

To earn an extra Dinar you toil and labor; how can you love it more than yourself?

28.

Distance cools the warmth of love in people's hearts, and families do not remember their beloved ones.

38.

29.

Even when they recall their loved ones, it is but for a short and brief moment. With the passage of years, remembrance fades and forgetfulness replaces it.

This person of your own flesh and blood, you have dishonored. for love of money, yet feel no remorse for offending him.

39.

Wealth is the servant of man, not his master, If it is your master, wealth will lead you humbled to your grave.

40.

Use wealth for your family and for your welfare, for the poor. And do that which brings blessings to others.

24.

He who dies in his homeland is, surely, there in his home, and he who dies in an alien land is devoured by the sea. 3

25.

However long he may live, in a foreign land, far from his home, he is, indeed, like a dead man.

Suffering caused by separation 26.

Like one lost at sea, he who dies in the diaspora is also lost to his people. The well-known Chaldean proverb is: MalkuJa d-Ia naIwaJa layla bassimta 'Paradise without your family is not pleasant'. 3

4

139

140

YOI;IANNAN CHOLAG

41.

Leaving for another land, seeking wisdom and learning, is, indeed, good. It confers knowledge and benefit.

42.

Surely, I can attain much wisdom and learning. Yes, but then let me return to my homeland and country, to serve them with devotion.

43.

To him who departs and lives far away from the land of his forefathers, we do not exclaim 'Bless your soul!' nor say 'Our congratulations! '

ONEXll..E

51.

Why do we live separated one from the other like vagabonds on this earth, like a dove without a cage?

52.

My house, built in my homeland, why ruin it? Let me return to it, live in it once more.

53.

In these times, my land knows peace and tranquility. There is work and opportunity, day and night.

54.

There is no one in need, and no one without a livelihood; there is employment for all. And when in need of help it comes from the lands nearby.

55.

Do you have a trade, whatever your qualifications, migrate again and work here. Come, return and be with us, that we may find joy in each other.

First petition to return home 44.

Seeing that I am not banished, nor a captive in the land of exile, why should I not return to my home, my motherland?

Invocation on the many blessings of home and community 45.

46.

47.

48.

My native land is fruitful and full of blessings. let me return, to work in my homeland, even accomplishing miracles.

Epilogue: petition for all to return and live together 56.

My homeland has mountains, plains, and rivers; and people capable of great endeavour and good administration.

The soil of my homeland is thirsty for your sight. Your return shall quench its thirst with much rain.

57.

The clouds are dressed in the sadness of your separation. Disperse them with the dawn of your reappearance.

A people of learning, trade, and the arts. Everyone is working and producing for humanity.

58.

Hurry, come see your deserted homes, orchards, sad and melancholy, where the sun does not rise.

59.

Dwellings of your forefathers, built with blood and sweat. You left them in ruins, where owls come to screech.

My native land is in need of me, to return and build. How could I leave it in backwardness and in ruins, in the hands of men full of ill-will?

141

49.

Why do I labor for a stranger, when my heart is in distress? Why not toil with joy and dignity, in my homeland?

60.

Enough, enough of this itch for separation. This cruelty of separation, replace it with love.

50.

In the presence of my father and mother, and family all joyful in our being together.

61.

Have mercy on us, come, return and stay with us, that we may sojourn in our homeland, where together we will live and pass away.

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Tamcke, M. (2006). 'Die islamische Zeit in Giwargis Wardas 'Onita uber die Katholikoi des Osten'. In: E. Grypeou - M. N. Swanson - D. Thomas (eds.), The Encounter of Eastern Christianity with Early Islam, Leiden: 139-152. Thrane, J.R. (1960). 'Joyce's Sermon on Hell: Its Source and Its Backgrounds'. Modern Philology 57.3: 172-198 Thrane, J.R. (1962). 'Joyce's Sermon on Hell: Its Source and Its Backgrounds'. In: A James Joyce Miscellany: Third Series. Southern lllinois University Press: 33-78. Tosco, M. (1979-80). La rivista caldea "Qala Suryaya" e il suo ruolo nella rinascita della cultura e della lingua neo-aramaica in Iraq. Tesi di laurea. Universita degli Studi di Torino. Vandenhoff, B. (1908). 'Vier geistliche Gedichte in syrischer und neusyrischer Sprache aus den Berliner Handschriften Sachau 188 und223 ubersetzt und mit Einleitung versehen'. Oriens Christianus 8: 389-452. Voste, J. (1929). Catalogue de la bibliotheque syro-chaldeenne du couvent de Notre-Dame des semences pres d'Alqos (Iraq). Paris. Wilmshurst, D. (2000). The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318-1913. CSCO 582, Subsidia 104. Leuven. Witakowski, W. (2008). 'The Magi in Syriac Tradition'. In: G.A. Kiraz (ed.), Malphono w-Rabo d-Malphone. Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock, Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 3, Piscataway, NJ: 809-843. Wustenfeld, F. (Hrg.) (1866-73). Jacut, Geographisches Worterbuch. Leipzig. Zettersteen, K.V. (1906). 'Ein geistliches Wechsellied in Fellil;tI'. In: C. Bezold (Hrg.), Orientalische Studien. Theodor Noldeke zum siebzigsten Geburtstag (2. Miirz 1906) gewidmet von Freunden und SchUlern. GieBen: Vol. 1,497503.

GENERAL INDEX Abraham: V. 19,57 acrostic: T. IX-X, XV; V. 1-2 Adam: V. IX-X, 12-13,78,111 Alexander the Great: V. 113
XIX classicisms: T. XI, XV

Clement of Alexandria: V. 30 Damyanos of Alqosh: T. XVI-XVIII; V. XII, XVI-XVll, 29, 42, 66 Daoud l' Aveug1e, see David Korn David Kora: V. XIV-XV, XVIII-XIX, XXII David of Barzane: V. XV David: V. 2, 15,35, 38, 54 dialects, Neo-Aramaic: T. X-XI; V. V, XIX, 90,133 Dinah: V. XI Djebel Sindjar: V. XIV Dohuk: V. XIV Dominican Press of Mosul: V. XV-XVI, XX, XXII Dominicans of Mosul: T. XVlll; V. VIII dorelqa (pI. dorekya!a): V. V economy of the Mosul plain: V. XVIII Egypt: V. 80 Mar Elias, Patriarch: V. XX Elijah: V. 80, 93 Erbi1: V. 109, 112, 120-121, 131 Erzurum: V. XIX Europe: V. xv,xvn, XIX, 34, 111, 126 Eve: V. X, 12-13,82,93 exempla: V. vrr, xvn, 2, 33, 41, 62,75 Farashin: V. XIX-XX felliIJi: V. V folk literature: V. VI, 79, 95, 116 Forty Martyrs Church: V. 114 St Francis: V. xvn, 41, 75 Gabriel Jeremiah Sbamir: T. xvn Gabriel Qamsa: V. 111 Gengis Khan: V. 111, 118-120, 129 genitive phrase: T.XI geme, literary: V. V-VI, XIII, XIX, XXI, 2 Giwargis Warda: V. VTI, IX, xvn, XXIXXII, 80,110-111,114-115,131 Gomorrah: V. 31 Great Zab: V. 113, 121-122 Greek: V. 30-31, 111, 113

152

GENERAL INDEX

Habbi 3 (manuscript): T. VII, IX, XVI, XVllI; V. VI-VIII, X-XI, XVI, XXII, I, 116 Hakkari: V. X, XII-XIII, XIX Haydeni of Gessa: V. X-XII, XXI-XXII Hertevin paradigm (preterite): T. XIII Hezekiah: V. 15 J:lnanisho' of Rustaqa: V. VI, IX-XII Homo, see Hounizd Hounizd of Alqosh: T. IX; V. VI-VII, 1-3 hyparchetype, see text criticism Innocent XII: V. 33 Isaac of Alqosh: V. XVllI Isaiah: V. 55, 58 Israel of Alqosh: V. VII-IX, 31 Israel of Alqosh, deacon: V.VIII Ja'quv Nukhraya, see Rhetore: V. XV St Jacob Intercisus: V. 115, 129 "Jacobites": V. VID, 124 St James: V. 97 Jeremiah Shamir: T. XVII Jesuits: V. XVII, 35 Jews: V. 31, 134 Jonah: V. 2, 80 St Joseph: V. IX, XVI, XXI, 79, 89 Joseph 'Abbaya of Alqosh: T. XVllI; V. XII, 95, 98 Joseph Audo: V. XVI, XVllI Joseph 'Azarya: V. XX Joseph Emmanuel II: V. 92 Joseph of Telkepe: T. X; V. VIII-IX, 4 Joseph Katola of Telkepe: V. XXIII Joseph, son of Jacob: V. XX, 80, 93 Joyce, James: V. XVII Kanifalla: V. XV Karamlish: V. XXII, 109, 111, 113-116, 122, 129, 131 Kars: V. XIX Khamis bar Qarda1).e: T. X; V. IX, XX Khatun: V. 95-96 Khosrowa: V. XVI Kurdish: T. XIII; V. V, XV, XXIII, 112 Lachmann, see text criticism Layard, Austin Henry: V. 113 Lazarus: V. 33,57,90 Linda George: V. XX

linea occultans: T. XIX litany: V. XXII, 79 locusts: V. XVllI, 79-80, 82-83, 85 London Sachau collection: T. XVI-XVII; V. VI, XIV-XV, XVllI-XX, XXIII Magi: Vol IT XI Mar 'Eta: V. 114 Mar Daniel: V. 113 Mar Ya'quv: V. VIII, XIV Marogen of Farashin: V. XIX Mary: V. X-XI, XVI, XXI-XXII, 32, 61, . 65,72,79-82,86,89-93 Mary, the sinful woman: V. 2, 19 m2mra: V. V metre: T. XIX, 124; V. 1-2 Mingana collection: T. IX; V. VI, X, 3 Modern Syriac: V. V Mongolian, Mongols: V. 96, 109-112, 118 Mosul: T. X, XVID; V. V, XIV-XV, XVID-XX, 109, 111, 133 Mother of God, Mary: V. XXII Mul;tarnmad Shah: V. 111 Muslims V. X, XXIII, 87, 112 Mus~ir: V. 112 Nader Sah: V. 114 al-Nasawi: V. 111 Neo-Aramaic, see also dialects: V. V Neo-Syriac: V. V "Nestorians", see also Church of the East: V. VIII, XIV Nicholas I Zay'a: V. XVI Niebuhr, Carsten: V. 113 Nineveh, Ninivites: V. xvrn, 17, 80, 91-92,133 Novalesa: V. 97 Oedipus: V.31 'oni!a (pI. 'onya!a): V. V, XVllI, XXI, 111 orality; T. XVII; V. XXIV, 1-2, 113 orthography: T. IX-XIX; V. VI Paris: V. XII, XIX, XXI, XXIII, 133 Paul: 2, 6, 16~ 66 Persia(n): V. XVI, Ill, 115, 118-119 St Peter: V. 2, 16 Pinamonti, Giovan Pietro: V. XVII, 35 Piyoz: V. XII prepositions: T. XIII

GENERAL INDEX

preterital forms: T. XII-Xli; V. X pronominal system: T. XI, XIII Psalms: V. 100-101 Qala Suryaya: T. XVIll; V. XXIII, 116,133 qopta, see locusts Qudshanis: V. VI Rabban Hormizd: V. XVI, 42, 66, 109 refrain:T.IX-X,XV;V.X Rhetore, Jacques: V. V-VllI, xn, XV, XXI,82 rhyme: T. XV, XVII, 9; V. 1 Robber, see also Titus: V. 2, 17 Rome: V. XVI, 35 rosary: V. XXII, 79, 85, 92 rukkiikha: T. XIX Sabill). Cholag: V. 133 Sabrisho' V: V. 110 Mar Sabrisho' of Awana: V. 112 Sabrisho' of Mosul: V. 110, 131 Sachau, Eduard: T. XVII; V. XVIII Samson: V. 31 Santiago de Compostela: V. 97 Satan: V. 4, 8, 12-14,24 Scriptures, see Bible Segneri, Paolo: V. XVII-XVIll, 34-35, 40 Sbemkan: V. XV sogi!a (pI. sogyafa): V. V, XIX Sodom: V. 31 Solomon of B~ra: V. XI Somo of Piyoz: V. XII Soureth, see Sureth spelling, see orthography Stephen of Alqosh: V. XVIll, XX

153

St Stephen: V. XVIII sun, see locusts Sureth: V. V, IX syllabic structure: T. XI-XII; V. 1 Tangut: V. XVIII Tarjilla: V. 113, 128 Tartars: V. 117-118,120-127 Tel Isqof: V. 115, 128 text criticism: T. IX-XIX Thomas l:Ianna: V. XXII, 109-110, 131 Thomas Tektek Sindjari: V. XII, XIV Titus, the robber: V. 17 Tl),uma: V. X, XIII Tiyari: V. X, XIX transliteration: T. XI Turkish: T.XIV,XXII United States: V. XIX, 137 Urmia: V. V, XX Vatican: V. XV-XVI verbal system: T. XII-XIII; V. X, XII Vernacular Syriac: V. V-VI vowel1ength: T. XI Mar Yahballaha ID: V. 112 Yaqut: V. 113 Yol;uuman Bishop of Mahwana: V. IX Yol.J,annan Cholag: V. XXIII, 133 Yonakhir: V. XI Yonan of Tl),uma: V. XIV Yu1;tarman Gumlira: V. 42 Zacchaeus: V.2, 18 Zadok: V. XI Zawitha: V. X Zibar:V.XV

155

BffiLICAL TEXTS

BmLICAL TEXTS (V.) Genesis 19:20 25:29-34 41 ff.

31 33,46 93

Daniel 3

80

91

Jonah

i Deuteronomy 32:22

30

2 Samuel 11

15

1 Kings 17:1 17-18

88 80

2 Kings 18-20

15

Psalms 21:9 51:17 97:5

30 8, 86 34,37,53

Isaiah 9:20 21: 11 25:8 30:27 33:14 38 64:3-4 66:24

58 33 40 30 30 15 37,53 31,47

Jeremiah 2:13

33,47

Lamentations 2:11

134

13 19 17

26:9-11 26: 12-18 26: 16-18

17 16

John 8:3-11 12: 1-6

2 2

1 Corinthians 2:9 15:9-10

40 17

Acts 8:1 9:1 22:4

16 17 16

Revelation 9:11 14:10

31 32

17

Amos

30 Numbers 10:9-11

18: 1-7 19:1-10 23:39-43

2:3 2:5 3:2-10 3:5 4:1-4 4:7

83 91 91 17 80 83 80

Matthew 6:26 11:28-29 11:30 12:38-42 13:42 13:50 16: 18-19 18:8 18:12-14 20:1-16 21 :33.46 24:41 25:14-30 25:41 26:69-75

137 24 24 17 30 30 16 30 14 5 5 30 21 30 16

Mark 8:36 9:43 9:47-48

137 30 31,47

Luke 7:36-50 8:2 9:25 16: 19-26

2 2 137 33,58

NEO-SYRIAC TEXTS

APOCRYPHAL AND CLASSICAL SYRIAC TEXTS (V.) Apocalypse of Paul: IX,31-32 Apocalypse of Peter: 30 Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius: IX In Bethlehem: XX Book of the Bee: VIII, X-XI 4th Book of Maccabees: IX Book of the Watchers: 29 Cave of Treasures: IX, XI On the Childhood of Christ: IX 1 Enoch: 29 History of the Blessed Virgin Mary: IX-XI On the Immaculate Conception: XVI On loseph son oflacoh: XX On a Kurdish Attack against Alqosh in 1832: XVI Mhadyiind d-kiihne: XVI Mursid al-Kahanah: XVI, 33

'Onila On the Calamities of the Years from 1223/4 to 1227/8: XVIII 'Onita On Drought, Pestilence and Famine: XVIII 'Onyata auf die Einnahme lerusalems durch Saladin: XVII 'OJlila On the Famine of the Year 1224/5

AD: XVIII 'Onila uber die Katholikoi des Osten: XVII 'Onita on Mar Sabrisho': 111 'Onila In the Year 1547 of the Greeks: XVIII,l1D Sogi!a of the Cherub and the Thief: XIXXX Sogila of the Sinful Woman and Satan: XX Stabat mater: XVI

On Adam and Eve: V. XV On Arsanis Jimjimma: V. XXII-XXIII, 109 On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish: T. XVIII; V. XXII, 109 In Bethlehem: V. XX On the Blessed Virgin Mary: V. X On the Childhood of Christ: V. IX On the Conflict between the Patriarch Audo and the Holy See: V. XV On Creation and Resurrection: V. IX On the Creation of the World: V. XV On Death and the Vanity of the World: V.

XV On the Death of a Sinner: V. XV On the Death ofAnton: V. XV On the Delights of the Kingdom: T. XVI; V. XVI-XVII, 29 On Divine Economy (2): T. X; V. VIII,

XIII On Exile: T. XVIII-XIX; V. XXIII, 133 On a Famine in the Year 1898: T. XVIII; V. XXI, 79 On the Famine of 1880: V. XV On St Genevieve: V. 133-134 On St George: V. XXII On Hell Fire: V. XIV On the Hermit Barmalka: T. XVIII; V. XXII, 95

On the Holy Virgin Mary: V. XIV On the Holy Virgin: V. XV On Joseph son oflacob: V. XX On a KurdishAttack on Alqosh in 1832: V. XXII On the Life-Giving Words: V. VIII On Mary at the Cross: V. XV On Mary: V. XV On the Monastic Life: V.XIV On Parables: V. VIII On Perfection: V. VIII On the Pestilence in Piyoz: V. Xli-XIII On Repentance (2): T. IX-XV; V. VI-VIII,

XIV-XV, 1 On Repentance and the Last Day: V. XIXI1 On Revealed Truth: T. X; V. VIII On the Rosary: V. XV, xxn On the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878: V. XVIII-XIX On Shmuni and her Seven Sons: V. VIII-IX On the Sin of Man: V. VIII On the Sinful Woman and Satan: V. XX Story of the Martyred Princess: V. 133134 On the Torments of Hell: T. XVI; V. XVI-

Xvn,29

TABLE OF CONTENTS lNrRODUCTION

V

Religious Poetry in Vernacular Syriac from Northern Iraq (by A. Mengozzi) . .

v

17th Century Hormizd of Alqosh Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe Yo1:}.annan Bishop of Mahwana . 18th Century . . . . Haydeni of Gessa. . l:Inanishoeof Rustaqa . ~omo of Piyoz. . . 19th Century Haydeni and Yonan of T1:}.uma . Thomas Tektek Sindjari, David Kora and David of Barzane Damyanos of Alqosh. . Neo-Syriac Poetry on Historical Events . Neo-Syriac Versions of Classical Poems. 20th Century Anne of Telkepe . Joseph eAbbaya and Thomas IJ:anna Yo1:}.annan Cholag. . . . . . An Early Neo-Aramaic Poem (by R. Saccagno)

VI VI VII

IX

x x Xl XlI

XlII XlII XlV

XVI

XVII XIX

xx XXI XXII XXllI

1

Metre and Rhyme. . . . . . . . Anaphora, anadiplosis and the oral character of the poem A penitential hymn . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 2

HORMIZD OF ALQOSH

On Repentance. . Penitential hymn Salvation for those who repent . The Scriptures promise Salvation for the penitent.

- - - - - _.._

4 4 10 10

__ ..- - . _ . _ - - - - -

160

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biblical examples: Adam and Eve. . The widow . The coin and the sheep lost and found David the Prophet . Hezekiah . Simon Peter. . Paul of Tarsus . Titus the robber. The Ninivites Zacchaeus Mary the sinful woman The penitent inherit the Kingdom Saints and spiritual leaders Vanity of the world Final confession Doxology and final prayer

12 13 13 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 19 20 25 25 26 26

Hell and Paradise: Baroque sources (by S. Destefanis)

29

Moral dissuasion and the rhetoric of sensation . Physical and moral punishments Quellenstudie . Speaking of Heaven .

29 32 33 39

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH On the Tonnents of Hell . Invocation and prologue . Descent into Hell . Apostrophe . . God is the right Judge Jesus Christ suffered death to save mankind Devils reproach and threaten the damned souls. Devils tonnent the sinners . The power of Hellfire. . The agreement of two companions. The Rich Man and Lazarus. . Devils beat the damned and awful beasts tonnent them A sickening smell pervades the Gulf. . Dreadful shapes frighten the sinners . Devils show the damned their eternal fate

42 42 44 45·· 49 50 50 52 53 55 57 59 59 60 61

161

Apostrophe and St Catherine's exemplum Mankind cannot comprehend the tonnents of Hell. Warnings to bad Christians Epilogue.

62 62 64 65

DAMYANOS OF ALQOSH On the Delights of the Kingdom Invocation and prologue . Heavenly Reward . God the source of love The sight of God Jesus' blood saves from the devil The Blessed Virgin Mary, Heaven's nightingale The monk ravished in heaven St Frands' exemplum. Christians carry their crosses Final exhortation

66 66 66 69 70 71 72 74 75 76 78

An Example of Popular Devotion (by A. Mengozzi) .

79

Fonnulaic features. Guilt and punishment . The East of the Chaldeans

79 80 80

ANNE OF TELKEPE On a Famine in the Year 1898

82

A Hagiographical Tale (by E. Braida)

.

95

JOSEPH eABBAYA OF ALQOSH On the Hennit Barmalka . 98 Prologue. 98 The King's son goes hunting and meets a dead man 98 The youth wants to become a hermit and leaves his father 98 The youth meets the old hermit and learns to weave baskets 100 The young hermit meets Khatun 101 The hermit falls into her trap 102 An angel saves the hermit 106 Epilogue: moral exhortation. 107 Prayer, dating and attribution 108

162

A Poetic Adaptation of Historical Sources (by E. Braida) Structure of the poem. . Quellenstudie . The ·oniia In the year 1547 of the Greeks by G. Warda . The town of Erbil. . The Monastery of Beth Qoqa Karamlish Tellsqof. . . . Circulation of the text.

163

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

109 109 110

GENERAL lNDEX .

151

TEXTs .

154

BmLICAL

111 112 112

APOCRYPHAL AND CLASSICAL SYRlAC TEXTS.

156

113

NEO-SYRlAC TEXTS.

157

•

•

•

.

115 116

THOMAS 1:IANNA OF KARAMuSH

On an Attack by the Mongols at Karamlish . Invocation and prologue . Prior history of the Mongolian attack on the Eastern countries The Mongols in Erbil. . . . . . Pillage of the monastery of Beth Qoqa . Siege of Karamlish and slaughter of its inhabitants Attack on Tel Isqof and the monastery of Apni-maran Epilogue . . . . . Final invocation, dating and attribution Lamentation On Separation (by Sh. Talia) Structure of the Poem. YO!:IANNAN ClioUG On Exile. . . Prologue: Lamentation . Separation from loved ones. Abandonment of home and family. Suffering of those left behind . . Biblical allusions . Lamentation on death while in a foreign land Suffering caused by separation . Dialogue with those who leave. . . . First petition to return home. Invocation on the many blessings of home and community. Epilogue: petition for all to return and· live together BmLIoGRAPHY

117 117 118 120 121 122 128 129 131 133 134 136 136 136 136 137 . 137 137 138 139 140 140 141 143

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_

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596. kth. 106, V. - Bausi, A, La «]lita» e i «Miracoli. di Libanos. 2003, XVIII-l38 p. ISBN: 90-4291161-1. - T: yol. 595. 597. Aeth. 107, T. - Marrassini, P., • ]lita••• Dmelia», «Miracoli. del Santo Gabra Manfas Qeddus. 2003, XVI-396 p. ISBN: 90-429-1170-0. - V: vol. 598. 598. kth. 108. V. - Marrassini. P., «]lita., «Omelia•••Miracoli. del Santo Gabra Manfas Qeddus. 2003, LXVIII-l36 p. ISBN: 90-429-1171-9. - T: yol. 597. 599. Subs. 111 - Emmel, S., Shenoute's Literary Corpus Volume One, 2003, XXVI-536 p. ISBN: 90-4291230-8. 600. Subs. 112 - Emmel. S., Shenouu's Literary Corpus Volume Two. 2003. VIII-457 p. ISBN: 90-429-1231-

6. 601. Subs. 113 - Rapp Jr, S.H., Studier in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts and Eurasian Contexts, 2003. JaV-496 p. ISBN: 90-429-1318-5. 602. Syr. 234, T. - Jullien. C. et E, Ler Mer de MiiY Mtlri, 2003, VIII-50 p. ISBN: 90-429-1356-8. - V: vol. 603. 603. Syr. 235. V. - Jullien, c. et E, Lt!! Aeter de Mar Mliri, 2003. VIII-60 p. ISBN: 90-429-1357-6. - T: yol. 602. 604. Subs. 114 - Jullien, C. et E. AIIX originer de l'Egliu de Pene: Ler Aetes de Mar Mari, 2003, VIII-137 p. ISBN: 90-429-1358-4. 605. Subs. 115 - Boisson-Chenorhokian, P., Yovha.nnis DriiIXanakertc'i, Hirtcire d'Arminu, 2003, IV-454 p. ISBN: 90-429-l369-x. 606. Subs. 116 - Mardirossia.n, A, Le lillrtf der canons arminienr (Kanonagirk' Hayoc) de Yovhannis Awjnec'i. Eglire, droit et rocittl en Arminie du IV' au VIIf< rieck, 2004, XXII-702 p. ISBN: 90-429-1381-9. 607. Arm. 27, T. - Ch6tanian, R. v., La version armlnienne ancimne des Homllier rur les Mtr des Apotrer de Jean Chrysortome. Homelies I, II, VII, VIII, 2004, LXVI-152 p. ISBN: 90-429-1404-1. - V: vol. 608. La vmion arminienne ancienne der Homllier sur les Aetes des ApfJmr de 608. Arm. 28, V. - ChCtanian, R. Jean Chryrostome. Homelies I, 11, VII, 'VIII, 2004, XXXII-239 p. ISBN: 90-429-1405-X. - T: yol. 607. 609. Subs. 117 - Dorfmann-Lazarev, 1., Arminiens I!t Byzantins It l'ipoque de Photius: Deux debats thiologiques apres le Triomphe de l'Orthodo:cie, 2004, XX-322 p. ISBN: 90-429-1412-2. 610. Cope. 49, T. - Schenke Robinson G., Das Berliner "Koptische Buch" (P20915). Eine wiederhergestellte ftUhchrirtlich-theologircheAbhandlung, 2004, XLII-462 p. ISBN: 90-429-1453-X. - V: vel. 611. 611. Copt. 50, V. - Schenke Robinson G., Das Berliner "Koptische Buch" (P20915). Eine wietlerhergestellte ftUhchrirtlich-theologirche Abhandlung, 2004, XVI-258 p. ISBN: 90-429-1454-8. - T: yol. 610. 612. Syr. 236, T. - Lane, D.}., Subf;almaran. The Boo!e ofGifts, 2004, IV-232 p. ISBN: 90-429-1518-8.V: yol. 613. 613. Syr. 237, V. - Lane, D.J., Subf;almaran. The Book ofGiftr, 2004, VIII-226 p. ISBN: 90-429-1519-6. T: vo!. 612. 614. Syr. 238, T. - Amar, J.P., Dionysius bar $alibf. A &sponse to theArabs, 2005, X-142 p. ISBN: 90-4291567-6. - V: vol. 615. 615. Syr. 239, V. - Amar, }.P., Dionysizts bar $ali'bf. A Response to the Arabs. 2005, XII-I 50 p. ISBN: 90-4291568-4. - T: yol. 614. 616. Subs. 118 - Lange, C., The Portrayal ofChrist in the Syriac Commentary on the Diaussaroll, 2005, VI226 p. ISBN: 90-429-1569-2. 617. Aeth. 109, T. - Wechsler, M.G., Evangelium Iohannir Aethiopicum, 2005, IV-210 p. ISBN: 978-90429-1648-7. 618. Subs. 119 - Toepd, A., Die Adam- und Seth-Legenden im Syrirchm «Buch tier Schatzhiihle». Eine quellen!eritische Untersuchung, 2006, XXX-259 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1739-2. 619. Aeth. 110, T. - Haile, G., The Ge'ez Acts ofAbba Estifanos of Gwendagwmde, 2006, VI-88 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1740-8. - V: yol. 620. 620. Aeth. Ill, V. - Haile, G., The Ge'ez Am ofAbba Estifanos ofGwendagwende, 2006, XII-79 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1741-5. - T: vol. 619. 621. Subs. 120 - Schilling, AM., Die Anbetung der Magier und die Taufe tier Siisliniden. Zur Geistesgeschichu dt!! iranirchm Chrirtmtums in tlerSpiitantike, 2008, XLVIII-376 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1815-3. 622. Subs. 121 - Jullien, E, Le monachisme en Pme. La reforme d'Abraham le grand, pere des moiner de l'Orient, 2008, L-263 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-2090-3. 623. Arm. 29, T. - La Porta, S., Two Anonymous Sets of Scholia On Dionysius the Areopagite's «Heavenly Hierarchy., 2008, IV-124 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1918-1. - V: vol. 624. 624. Arm. 30, V. - La Porta, S., Two Anonymous Sets of &holia on Dionysius the Areopagiu's «Heavenly Hierarchy., 2008, VI-152 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1919-8. - T: yo!. 623. 625. Subs. 122· La Porta, S., The Armmian Scholia on Dionysius the Areopagi~e. Studies on their Literary and PhiMogical Tradition, 2008. XX-149 p. ISBN: 978-90--429-1920-4. 626. Subs. 123 - King, D., The Syriac Vmionr ofthe Writings ofCyril ofAlexandria. A Study in Translation uchnique, 2008, XXVIII-614 p. ISBN: 978-90-429-1999-0.

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