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

96 Pages·2011·4.97 MB·English

by  A. Mengozzi (Ed.)

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RELIGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC
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589. Syr.230,T.-Mengozzi.,A.,IsraelofAlqoshandJoseph ofTelkepe.A StoryinaTruthfulLanguage. Reli FROM NORTHERN IRAQ (17th-20th CENTURIES)
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ALESSANDRO MENGOZZI
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Ethiopienne
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ANANTHOLOGY
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SCRIPTORES SYRI
TOMUS 241
RELIGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC
FROM NORTHERN IRAQ (17th-20th CENTURIES)
AN ANTHOLOGY
TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION
EDITEDBY
ALESSANDRO :MENGOZZI
WITHCONTRIBUTIONSBY
EMANUELA BRAIDA, SIMONADESTEFANIS,
RrrA SACCAGNO and SHAWQITALIA
LOVANII
INAEDIBUS PEElERS
2011
IN1RODUCTION
REuGIOUS POETRY IN VERNACULAR SYRIAC FROMNORTHERNlRAQ
byAlessandro Mengozzi
The earliest attested texts in Vernacular Syriac1 are religious poems
belonging to the dorekJa2 genre andcirculating among East-Syrian com
munitiesinNorthernIraq. Ourdirectknowledgeofthiskindofliterature
has significantly improved during the last few decades, thanks to the
publicationofanumberofdorekya!a: a collectionofpoemsbyIsraelof
Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe gives us an insight into the literature of
the 17th century; Poizat edited two 18th-century poems; Pennacchietti
editedtwo shorterpoems On Arsanis Jimjimma and three Neo-Aramaic
versions ofthe sogi!a ofThe 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Poizat presented the manuscript of an unpublished and uncompleted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, sur
veys genres and authors ofNeo-Syriac literature from Northern Iraq.4
The present publication proposes to move further in two directions.
The publication ofthe dorekla OnRepentance completes the picture of
the early period of Vernacular Syriac poetry and a selection of later
1 SeveralvarietiesofNorth-EasternNee-Aramaicareincludedhereundertheheading
ofVernacularSyriac. They were and are spokenbyEast Syrians and wereoccasionally
usedinliteraryworks. Spokenadwrittenvarietiesare also calledsure!« :h..rGiru:r:>'in
Syriac') by natives or, as far as the region ofMosul in the 19th century is concerned,
felliJ)i «L?"~ 'peasant's- i.e.Christian-language').Writtenvarietiesinparticularare
© 2011 byCorpus ScriptorumChristianommOrientalium variouslylabelledasNeo-Syriac, ModemSyriacorAssyrian. Forageneralpresentation
oftheNeo-Aramaic dialects,seeJastrow (1997). Fordialectalvariationinearly andlate
ChristianNeo-Aramaicpoetry,seeMengozzi(2002)andthelinguisticcommentsintroduc
Tous droits dereproduction, de traductionou d'adaptation,
ingthe originaltexts inthepresentpublication.
y comprisles microfIlms, de ce volumeoud'unautredecettecollection, 2 ThetermdorelqaprobablyderivesfromtheSemiticroot*drk'totread,stepon' and
reserves pourtouspays seems to berelated to the MesopotamianAramaic word 'drkt' 'song, hymn' (Kruisheer
1995: 162)_Thespellingdureg(fromClassicalSyriac*drg 'tostepforward') iscommon
inUrmia_ OtherKurdishandArabicetymologieshavebeenproposed.Inthemanuscripts
ISSN0070-0452
dorek!a is used as an equivalent ofvarious classical genres, such as memra, sogi!a or
ISBN978-90-429-2277-8
'oni!a (Mengozzi2002: vol. 509, 67-69).
D/2011/0602/36
3 Mengozzi (2002); Poizat(1990, 1993, 2002); Pennacchietti(1990a, 1993a, 1993b,
1996).
EditionsPeeters,Bondgenotenlaan 153,B-3000 Louvain 4 Poizat(2005).
._---_..._...__._-_..__..•_---_._----- _.__.•._..._-_.._-_._._------------_. ----------------_..._..
vu
VI INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
poems allows us toexplorethedevelopmentofthe genreduringthe 19th hopefullypreservedinthe Library ofthe ChaldeanPatriarchateinBagh
and 20th centuries. In the following pages, a history of the religious dad - and in a miscellaneous collection oftracts from different manu
poetry in Vernacular Syriac from NorthernIraq will be sketched;focus scripts 'written in different East Syrian hands, generally of about AD
ing onthe authors ofpoems editedhere for the first time. 1550-1759'.9
The date 1607/08 AD, preserved in Habbi 3, may lead us to identify
17th Century
the author with Hormizd, son of the well-known Israel of Alqosh. The
Inthemanuscripttransmission, dorekya[a weregivenatitle andattrib latter was the initiator ofthe Shikwana family of scribes and a highly
uted to an author. Often, in the scribal rubrics and/or within the texts, esteemedauthorin ClassicalSyriacas wellas inthevernacular (seehere,
they were also dated. Although attribution is sometimes imprecise or below), who might in his turn be son of another priest Honnizd of
erroneous and the overly regular dating of some poems raises some Alqosh.10 Hormizd of Alqosh son of Israel had two sons, Israel and
doubt, scribes did provide readers with the most relevant information 'Abdisho·, both active as scribes inthe secondhalfofthe 17thcentury.
11
about the poems they collected and the anonymity characteristic offolk References to lines ofHormizd > Israel as (grand) father> (grand) son
literature was clearly avoided. werefairly commoninAlqoshandmakeitalmostimpossibleto ascertain
whetherthe Hormizd ofAlqoshmentionedinHabbi 3 was father orson
Hormizd ofAlqosh
ofIsrael ofAlqoshP
The first poem published in the present collection, the dorelqa On Rhetore's attributionofthedorelqa OnRepentancetoIsraelofAlqosh
Repentance,isparadigmatic inthis connection.Itis attributedtoacertain re~ains a plausible alternative.
Hormizd ofAlqoshin two ofthe three extantmanuscripts (Habbi 3 and As far as the content is concerned, the poem clearly continues, in the
Mingana51),5whereas the attributionofamanuscriptoftheSachaucol modem tongue, the tradition ofthe penitential hymns, which were very
lection to Joseph of Telkepe is most probably erroneous. Rh6tore popularinlateEast-Syriachymnography.Therhythmofthecomposition
attributes it to Israel ofAlqosh.6 is stressedby Biblical exempla ofredeemedpenitents and series of ana
Only the latest manuscript, Habbi 3, in the rubric and in a verse phora like 'woe unto me..., have mercy..., what shall I do/say...'. As a
added at the end of the poem, gives the date of composition, which classicalmodel we may take the unusually long penitential ·oni[a attrib
would be the year 1919 ofthe Seleucid era, i.e. 1607/08 AD. Ifthis is uted to Giwargis Wardaandpublished byFolkmannP where the use of
true, thepoemis theearliestdatedextantexample ofthe dorek!a genre. Biblical exempla is remarkably richand living anda series ofanaphoras
Rh6tore mentions adorek!a On the Pestilenceby l:Jnanisho·ofRustaqa, ('Iheard...', 'Iread...', 'Isaw...', 'whatshallIdo...', 'woeuntome...')
which would have been written in the year 1902 of the Seleucid era introduce a tedious catalogue ofsins.
(1590/91 AD). Father Rhetore copied the text from an ancient manu-··
Israel ofAlqosh andJoseph ofTelkepe
scriptin Qudshanis, faithfully reproducing the phonetic orthography of
the original.? Israel ofAlqosh is the famous scribe and author, father and possibly
Style, content and language ofthe poem On Repentance confirm an alsosonofaHormizdofAlqosh. Scribalheadings andauthorialoredito-
earlydatingofthepoem (17thor18thcentury) andthetextwasincluded
in 18th-centurymanuscripts: acollectiondatedAlqosh 1758AD8- now
9 Mingana(1933: 149).
10 Macuch(1976: 48).
5 Mengozzi(1999)gives apreliminarygeneraldescriptionofthemanuscripttransmis 11 SeeFiey(1965: 407) andWilmshurst(2000: 244).
sionofthedorekyaJa,focusingontheSachaucollectionnowinLondon.Onthemanuscript 12 AscribeIsrael,sonofHormizd, oftheAudofamily, was activeinthelastdecades
Habbi3,seeHabbi(1978a, 1978-79).FortheMinganacollection,seeMingana(1933). ofthe 19thcentury(Wilmshurst2000: 255).ApriestH6mo(Hormizd)ofAlqosh,author
6 InRhetore (1913-: 53),thepoemis entitledOnRepentance (~~~b~.~~'peni inthevernacularandactivearound1830,ismentionedinRhetore(1913-: 64).Forvarious
tentialsupplication',thesametermwhichoccursintherubricoftheMinganams. 51). Israels of Alqosh, see Murre-van den Berg (2006: 527-528 and 2008: 500, including
7 Rhetore (1913-: 52), Sony(1997: ms.387, 1-6). furtherreferences).
8 Listedasm.650inthe cataloguebyHaddad-Isaac(1988). 13 FQlkmann(1896: GermantraIlsl.35-44,Syr.text 1-17).
_
......_._---_ _.._ _-_ _ _ _ --_.-._ _----_._ _------_ " _ ----------- .------_.. _.__ .
vm INTRODUCTION IN1RODUCTION IX
IsraelofAlqoshfreely adaptsthe apocryphalApocalypseofPaul, deal
rial interventions in the text lead us to attribute to Israel the following
ingwithintriguingdescriptions oftheotherworldandatleast one ofthe
poems in the vernacular: On Peifection (dated 1610/1 in the text), On
narrative detailsinhis hymnOnShmuniandHerSevenSonscomes from
theSinofMan, anda shorthymnOnShmuniandherSevenSons(1610/1
or 1631/2).14 As we have seen, Rhetore also attributes to Israel the the Fourth BookofMaccabees.18
15 In his poem On revealedTruth (including avernacular version ofthe
dorelqa On Repentance, elsewhere attributed to Hormizd ofAlqoSh.
homonymous hymn <al srara galya by Khamis bar Qardal).e), Joseph of
Thedorekyala attributed to Joseph ofTelkepehavebeenpreserved as
Telkepe gives an account of Adam's fall as described in apocryphal
a more or less unified corpus in 9 manuscripts and seem to correspond
sources such as the Cave ofTreasures and almost literally quotes the
to a conscious plan ofre-telling the Scriptures in the modem language,
16 Syriac Apocalypse ofPseudo-Methodius, probably via the Book ofthe
incorporating apocryphal narrative materials and exegetical motifs.
Bee.19 A dorekJ.a On the Childhood ofChrist, attributed to Joseph of
They are dated according to the ms. Habbi 3: On Divine Economy
Telkepein aBerlin Sachau manuscript, is the vernaculartranslation ofa
(1661/2), On Revealed Truth (1662/3), On the Life-Giving Words
hymnbyGiwargis Warda, initsturna poeticrendering ofanapocryphal
(1666n), On Parables (1665/6).17 As we have seen, the dorekta On
man~script 'Book of Childhood', partly incorporated into the prose History ofthe
Repentance is attributed to Joseph ofTelkepe in the Sachau
BlessedVirgin Mary.20
collection, which was compiled in the late 19thcentury.
Therefore, the emergence of Sureth literature in the 17th century can
IsraelofAlqoshandJosephofTelkepe appeartoremainfaithfultothe
be connected with Western- i.e., Catholic - missionary activities in
East-Syrian tradition. They show indebtedness towards Syriac sources,
the region, only in terms of polemical reaction,21 since one can hardly
although motifs and themes drawn from the classical tradition are often
imagine Catholicmissionaries accepting texts ofthiskind, deeplyrooted
barely recognizable in their modem adaptations. As they are preserved
in the Eastern tradition.
by Chaldeancommunities, thesepoemsmightleadoneto thinkthatthey
were composed in the vernacular under the influence of Catholic mis
YoJ:w.nnan Bishop ofMahwana
sionaries. Asregards thecontent,however, thepoems ofthe 17thcentury
In 1661/2 Yol;\annan Bishop ofMahwana wrote a dorekla On Divine
do not contain signs ofCatholic influence, which would have excluded
Economy, covering the sacred history from the creation ofthe world up
such free use ofapocryphal sources.
to the TowerofBabeL22 The textis preservedin atleast six manuscripts
14 SeeMengozzi(2002: vol.590,57-61),includingfurtherreferences.Allthemodem and is unpublished.23
poems attributed to IsraelofAlqosh arepublishedinMengozzi (2002). R1J.etore (1913-: . Intherubric ofthe Habbi3 ms. (pp. 208-209)thepoemis entitled On
53) confums what Fiey (1965: 394, n. 3) reported about a text of On Perfection 51
Creation and Resurrection. It consists of 160 verses of three rhymed
(manuscriptcopiedinMarYa'quv, 1879,upontherequestoftheDominicanFatherLouis
Roulland),inwhichitseemsthatIsraelofAlqoshmadeapolemicalcommenton 'Nest6~
rians', not 'Jacobites', as attestedin all the available manuscripts. Anti-Nestorian (and
filo-Catholic) variantsofthistextwereapparentlyreadinthemissionarymilieuxtowhich 18 Mengozzi(2002: vol.590,107-111).
FatherR1J.etorebelonged(Sony 1997: mS. 81,280). Thisdoesnotallow onetospeak of 19 Mengozzi (2005aand2006b).
a"Catholicconversion" oftheauthorin 1611,asFieydoes (1965: 390,394; seeMurre 20 A Classical Syriac text of the poem by Warda was published (Berlin SachauDlS.
188,f. 6-; MUnster1907) andtranslatedintoGermanbyVandenhoff(1908,firstpoem),
van.den Berg 1998: 509). The texts attributed to Israel ofAqosh, and that passage in
particular,showthathewas aproudmemberofthe ChurchoftheEast. who alsopublishedthemodemdorelqa (BerlinSachauDlS.223,f. 113a-; Germantransl.
inVandenhoff1908,secondpoem).Pritula(2005)publishedaClassicalSyriactext(Cam
15 R1J.etore (1913-: 52).
bridgems. Add. 1982,f. 8a,collatedwith StPetersburgms. Syr. 3,f. 2a-) andsketched
16 Murre-van den Berg (2008) points out a number ofsimilar exegetical remarks in
aconvincingQuellenstudie: thehymnwouldderivefromalostEast-Syriacversionofthe
Joseph ofTelkepe andin the Gospel translation and commentary attributedto a deacon
BookofChildhood, parts ofwhich were preserved in theHistory ofthe BlessedVirgin
IsraelofAlqosh,probablyactiveinthe secondhalfofthe 18thcentury.
Mary (Budge1899;Pritula,2005: 425,announcesanewstudyandtranslationofthetext
17 See Mengozzi (2002: vol. 590, 61-66, 122), including further references. The
dorekfa OnDivineE.conomyis.thelongestNeo-Aramaicpoemknownsofar, numbering byprof. ElenaN. Mescherskaja).
morethan700four-lineversesmthems.Habbi3.Itcontainsextra-biblicalnarrativesand 21 SeealsothegeneralremarksbyMurre-vandenBerg(2008: 516).
details,possiblydrawnfrom theBookoftheBee, andisunpublished. All the othertexts 22 R1J.etore (1913-: 53).
byJosephofTelkepe arepublishedinMengozzi(2002). 23 Mengozzi(1999: 488).
x INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Xl
octosyllabic lines and the refrain 'Come, people, and listen!'. The first Mary's father andmother are calledZadok or Yonakhir and Dinah or
29
narrative section re-tells the Biblical stories of the six days ofthe crea l:Ianna respectively, with tentative etymologies of their names. After
tion, AdamandEve, Cain andAbel, andthe TowerofBabel (1-71). The muchfasting andprayer, the sterile couple are granteda daughterwho is
secondsectiondeals withpaganismandmisconductinIsrael'smonarchic broughttotheTemplewhile stillveryyoung. Josephisrecognizedas her
period (72-102). The following verses are addressed to the Christians, chaste worthy husband when a white dove goes forth from the Temple
who presently suffer under Muslim oppression (103-112) and are andalights onhisstaff. GabrielannouncestoMarytheconceptionofOur
exhorted to respect the Lord's commandments in view of the Day of Lord and an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and encourages him to
Judgement (113-132). The last day is then described in detail, when the accept her pregnancy. Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. When Jesus is
dead will rise andreceive theirrewards according to Christ'sjudgement born, twelve Persiankings visit the holy family inBethlehemto honour
(133-158). The date of composition (f973 Se!.) is given in the penulti the new-born child with offerings and worship him.3D Mary is finally
mate verse (159; Habbi 3, p. 228). borne up to Heaven, where the heavenly hosts greet her as their Queen.
Thus the poet transfers old apocryphal narratives from the classical
18th Century
tradition31 to his modemcomposition. The storyruns pleasantly andflu
Neither 17th-centurynor 18th-centuryliterary activities inthe modem ently through the verses, which are here and there linked by means of
24
language show traces ofCatholic influence. So far, three 18th-century anadiplosis and anaphora.
dorekya!a are known. The poem On the BlessedVirgin Mary, attributed
lfnanisho ofRustaqa
to a certain Haydeni of Gessa, is unpublished, whereas Bruno Poizat C
publishedthepoems OnRepentancebyI:Inanisho ofRustaqaandOnthe In the ms. Habbi 3, the poem by Haydeni ofGessa is followed by a
C
Pestilence by ~omo ofPiyoz. dorek!.a OnRepentance and the LastDay byMar I:Inanisho ofRustaqa
C
(p. 240), dated 2035 Se!. (1723/24 AD). The regular dating of poems
Haydeni ofGessa
which are copied consecutively - one poem each year - can been
Accordingtothems. Habbi3p.228,HaydeniofGessa(villagelocated observed elsewhere in the ms. Habbi 3 and raises doubts about its reli-
inthemountaindistrictofTl.lUma,Hakkariregion),25 composedadore!qa
(DivineEconomy).incorporatingbiblicaland apocryphal sources, anditappears tohave
On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 2034 Se!. (1722/23 AD)?6 In
played a centralrole in the transmissionoftraditional Syriac lore to Neo-Syri~c po~try
Habbi 3 (pp. 228-240), the poem numbers 99 three-line monorhyme (see,above,onJosephofTelkepe).ItisattributedtoSolomonofBa~ra,East-Synacwnter
verses, with 10 syllables per line. The date is plausible since the text is activeinthefirsthalfofthe 13thcentury(Baumstark1922: 309).
preservedin the manuscriptcollectionBaghdad560, datedAlqosh 1758 29 The History ofthe BlessedVirgin Mary (Budge 1899: Syr. text: 9; Engl. transl.:
11; onthis apocryphalcollection, seethefollowing note) says thatan angel appearedto
and in the ms. Mingana 567, dated Zawitha, in the mountain district of Yonakhir,Mary's father, and toldhimthathis wifeDinahwaspregnant. Henceforthshe
Tiyari, 1744AD (nowinBirmingham).27The verbal systemis alsocom wascalledEJanna, sinceGodhadhadmercy(Qnn) onher.ThepriestZadokthenadopted
patible with arelatively early dating, since lateverbal forms such as the Mary as her l.A.oIlUU l.IloS:l 'daughter according to the law' (ibidem: 16 Syr., 17Engl.).
Hencethe doublenamingofMary'sparents (Yonakhirtzadok,Dinah/l:lanna)intheBook
preterites withprefIx kem- do not occurin the text. oftheBee(Budge1886: 76)andinthedorekJaOnMarybyHaydeniofGessa.The.obvi
The contentmay be described as apoeticrendering ofthe story ofthe ousexplanationofthenameEJanna 'Anne' isrepeatedintheBookoftheBeeandillthe
Holy Virgin Mary as it is told in the Bookofthe Bee, ch. xxrv_XXXV.28 modem poem, where Yonakhir's name is explainedas meaningmyalenul:Jraye 'strange
inclinations'? (sic; Habbi3,p.229).
30 BookoftheBee, ch. XXXIX (Budge 1886: 84). OntheMagiintheSyriactradition,
24 SeeMllIre-vandenBerg (2006), who presents aNee-Aramaic Gospel Lectionary, seeWitakowski(2008).
translatedbyanIsraelofAlqoshactiveinthesecondhalfofthe 18thcentury. 31 Forexample,thename DinahgiventoMary'smotheris characteristicoftheEast
25 Wilmshurst(2000: 297-298). SyriactraditionoftheCaveofTreasures(Su-MinRi2000: 435); thesamestoriesaretold
26 Ascribewiththesamenameasourauthor- HaydeniofGessa,butsonofthepriest much more extensively than in our unpublished Neo-Syriac text in the History ofthe
Yahbo, sonofMoses- was activearoundtheyears 1791-1822(Wilmshurst2000: 813). BlessedVirginMary, 'acarefulcollectionofthemostimportantofthestoriesconcerning
27 SeeHaddad-Isaac(1988: 307-309) andMingana(1933: 1078). theVirginandChildwhichwerecurrentinSyriaandPalestineas earlyastheendofthe
28 SeeBudge's edition(1886: 76-79).TheBookoftheBeeisaprosecollectionwhich IVthcenturyofourera,aswellassomewhichwereincorporatedwiththematalaterdate'
-~_..__.~_.._n-a_r.r_at-e-s-G-od-'s i-nte-rve-ntio-nin thehistoryoftheworld,from thebeginningup to the end ---_.._._-_.._._ -._(Bu-dg-e -189-9:-vr-n),-- _ _------_._-------
XII INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION XIII
ability.32 Nevertheless, even in this case, external and internal evidence The plague, which comes on stage only in the 117th verse, is inter
suggests a dating in the first half of the 18th century: the manuscript preted as God's punishment for the sins of the community, as the poet
collectionBaghdad 560, dated Alqosh 1758, features the poem On-Pen declares straightaway in the first lines of the poem. The insistence on
itence, providing a terminus ante quem for the date ofcomposition, and social sins is remarkable: userers (23), avaricious people (26), corrupt
the verbal system ofthe archetype mayreflect the more archaic tongues and greedy priests (34-44), rich people who deprive workers of their
ofthe mountain region.33 salaries (67), the whole community (expressed by the passage from the
3rd to the 1stplural person inverse 45) is responsible for raising God's
The poem is relatively short in comparison with other dorekya!a (28
verses, 6 seven-syllable lines per verse, rhyme ABABAB) and has the anger.
The secondpart (117-248) opens withthe date ofthe epidemic, given
structure andcontents oflateEast-Syriacpenitentialhymns. Anadiplosis
in a group ofverses connected by anaphora ('in the year...' 119-124).
marks the more narrative and descriptive parts of the text and is inter
Thediseaseispersonifiedasaterriblebeingwhomovesmercilesslyfrom
rupted where moral exhortations are addressed to the listeners (11-16).
house to house, from upperto lowerPiyoz, causing suffering and death.
The secondpart describes God's judgement.
Families and heads of families are listed by name and figures of the
Somo ofPiyoz casualties are givenfor eachhousehold.37
Haydeni of Gessa and J:Inanisho' of Rustaqa both came from the
19th Century
Hakkari region, whereas the third known Neo-Syriac poet of the 18th
Inthe 19thcentury,the genreofthe dorekya!a was cultivatedbyCath
centurywas apriestfromPiyoz, avillage situatedinthehills surrounding
the Northern border ofthe plain ofMosuI,34 olic, Chaldeanauthors as wellas byclergymenofthe ChurchoftheEast.
Their poems generally deal with spiritual themes: repentance, the Holy
Hecomposedaninfluentialcomplaintoccasionedbytheplaguewhich
Virgin Mary, Hell and Paradise, the ascetic life, etc. A number of
killed most ofthe inhabitants ofhis village inthe year 1738. According
to Father Rhetore it is one ofthe best examples ofNeo-Syriac poetry.35 dorekyalawerecomplaintsoccasionedbyhistoricalevents. Mostofthese
The composition is divided into two parts. The first long part (1-116) texts are unpublished.
The poems of two poets of the Church of the East - Haydeni and
takes the form of a penitential hymn, in which the verses are joined by
anadiplosis andlistanimpressivelylong,dullseries ofsins.36Theprofes Yonanof~uma- and those ofthree Chaldeanpoets- Thomas Tek
tekSindjari,DavidKoraandDavidofBarzane- havenotbeenincluded
sion offaith (9-11) uses terms and images whichfit the traditionalEast
inthis volume butdeserve publication apartinthe nearfuture.
Syriac christologyperfectly.
Haydeni and Yonan ofTl}uma
32 SeeMengozzi's concordancetable (1999: 488-489): thepoems byJoseph ofTel- . HaydeniandYonanbothcamefromthe~umaterritory,inthemoun
kepearedated1661/2,1662/3,1667/8,1666/7;Damyanos ofAlqosh: 1856,1855,1857;
tainregion ofHakkari, whichtraditionallytendedtoresistCatholicpros
Thomas Tektek Sindjari: 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1820. In Habbi 3, the date ofthe
dorelqaOnRepentanceandtheLastDayisrepeatedintherubricandinanalteredversion elitism.
ofthe last verse. Inverse 27, whichinthe othertwomanuscripts preserves an authorial According to Rhetore, Haydeni was active around the year 1830 and
signature(byMarI:Inanisho'ofRustaqa),Habbi3readsMarYoI:1annanofRustaqa,con
was theauthorofafamous dorelqa OnDivineEconomy, whichcanprob-.
tradictingthecorrectattributionoftherubric (poizat2002,wherethetextofamanuscript
now in Paris is published and translated; variants from Habbi 3 and a Berlin Sachau ably be identified with the poem beginning with the line: 'Come, oh
manuscript are given inthe apparatus). On the textual and social function of authorial Christianbelievers!'.38
signaturesinNeo-Syriacpoetry,seeMengozzi(2002: vol. 590, 95-96).
33 Poizat(2002: 544).
34 Wilmshurst(2000: 238).
35 Rhetore(1913-: 59). 37 AcriticaleditionandFrenchtranslationofthetext,basedonfive witnesses,canbe
36 SeeRhetore: 'C'estunthemequelespoetessourethaimentaexploiter,maisquiest found inPoizat(1990and 1993).
icitres encombrant' (quotedinPoizat 1990: 167). 38 SeeRhetore(1913-: 65) andMengozzi(1999: 489).
.....__..__•..__ -•.._-_...•......_--_.----_._--.-.__ _---_._._---_.__ _•..--_.•._ __._ _._-----_ _..•..__.__ - _--_ _-----_.-_ _._.-----_..__.........•..- -.._ -------
XIV INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xv
Rabban Yonan ofTl,lUmais described by FatherRhetore as a fervent Sindjari (la: 'Come, letus pray andbeseechGod!'),which was theIlIst
critic of the corruption and immoral behaviour within the 'Nestorian' Neo-Syriac poem published in Europe (Socin 1882). He died in Mosul
41
Patriarchate. Hetravelledfrequently intheplain ofMosul, wherehe-was in 1889.
well-accepted by the Catholic Chaldeans and felt that the atmosphere of In 1896 the Dominicans of Mosul printed a collection of metrical
that place changed his spirit, leading him closer to Catholicism. Never fables and a collection ofhymns.42 According to Rhetore, theypreferred
theless, he never did renounce his loyaity towards the Patriarch of the to attributethemto DavidKora,thewell-knownandpopularnativepoet,
Church ofthe East and died while on ajoumey in 188L39A manuscript rather than to Ja<quv Nukbraya 'Jacques l'Etranger', pseudonym of
of the London Sachau collection (Or. 4422, 106b-115b) attributes to FatherRhetore himself. At the author's request, David Korahad indeed
Yonan ofTl,:mmaadorelqa whichbegins withthe date 'Inthe year2181 helpedhim, correcting andrevising the texts, butthe FrenchDominican
43
ofthe Greek (1869/70 AD)'. claimsto betherealautbor. Nevertheless,Rhetorelists among David's
workthefamous dorelqa On the Holy Virgin (b-semma d-baba w-brona)
Thomas Tektek Sindjari, DavidKora andDavid ofBarzane
which hadbeen included in the Mosul collection44 and was to become a
Thomas Tektek Sindjariwas borninTelkepe anddiedaroundtheyear kind of 'national hymn' for the Chaldeans ofthe plain ofMosu1.45
1860.Inhis youth, hewasmuchfeared as abanditwhoattackedcaravans In the same collection, six poems by David ofBarzane were added to
intheDjebelSindjar- hencehislastname. Heconvertedandwentback those attributed to David Kora. David of Barzane was a priest in Kani
to Telkepe, where he workedas a weaver- hence the surname Tektek, falla46 and aversatile scribe47 andpoet, able to compose inClassical Syr
which recalls the sound of the shuttle. From time to time he wandered iac, in the vernacular as well as inKurdish. He was struck by the famine
48
throughthe Christianvillages, singinghis poems,collecting alms to sup of 1880 anddied in thehospital ofthe Dominicanmission inMosu1.
plement his rather scanty income.40
David Kora ofN~adraalso supported his numerous family partly in
41 SeeMacuch(1976: 104-105), Pennacchietti (1993: 13-14),Mengozzi (2002: vol.
this way. He had lost his sight when he was nine years old- hence the 590, 85-88).Rhetore(1913-: 63)listsamonghis works five dorekya!a: On theCreation
addition ofKora 'blind' to his name, studied atthe Dominican schoolin oftheWorld, OnRepentance, On theConflictbetweenthePatriarchAudoandtheHoly
See(1874-1878; onthefrequentclashesofthePatriarchwiththeVatican,seeWilmshurst
the small village where he was born (Mar Ya<quv in the district of
2000: 34), On the Famine of1880, On the Holy Virgin, On the Rosary. The poem On
Dohuk), and was appreciated as a talented poet, bard and story-teller. RepentanceispreservedinanumberofIraqimanuscripts (Mengozzi 1999: 489).
Every year, this blind poet, this 'Chaldean Homer', went down from 42 Daoud l'Aveugle (1896) and Recueil (see Coakley - Taylor, 2008: 94-95, nos.
44-45).
AlqoshtoMosultoreceiveawrittenauthorizationfrom thePatriarchand
43 Rhetore (1913-: 63). OnRhetore's criticismon thesepublications, seealso Poizat
starthis summertournee, wanderingfromvillagetovillagetelling stories . (1990: 166)andCoakley-Taylor(2008: 95).
and singing hymns, in Neo-Aramaic or in Kurdish. People gathered on .. 44 Recueil(198-230).
45 The dorelqa On the Holy Virgin Mary is preserved in manuscripts of the Sachau
theterraces to listento him andhe was thus able to collectwheat, barley
collections (Berlin andLondon; seeMengozzi 1999: 489) andwas includedinamanu
andraisins forhischildren.In 1870hemetthe German orientalistAlbert scriptcollectionofSyriactextsonMary(1931),nowinRome(Vat.Syr.521, 120a-123b).
Socin and dictated to him a dorek!a On Repentance by Thomas Tektek 46 BarzaneisavillageinthedistrictofZibar,northeastof'Aqra.Kanifalla(Cani-falan
or Cani-falhaninRh6tore's transliteration, 1913: 60; from Kurdishkani'spring, source'
andfele,jile,jileh 'Christian,Armenian')islocatedinthedistrictofShemkan,regionof
39 Rhetore (1913-: 66-68). 'Amadiya.
40 See RMtore (1913-: 55-56) and Macuch (1976: 101-102). Eight dorekyata are 47 Forvarious manuscripts copied by David ofBarzane, especially in Kanifallaand
attributedtoThomasSindjari: OntheMonasticLife,OntheHoly VirginMary, andthree 'Aynqawa,seethereferences inWilmshurst'sindex(2000: 807).
poems OnRepentance (1stlines: 'OhChrist, you aremyrefuge!" 'Ohbelievers, letus 48 Rh6tore (1913-: 60-61)listssevendorekyatabyDavidofBarzane: OnDeathand
believe in God!', 'Come,let us pray and beseech God!'). The ms. London Sachau Or. the Vanity ofthe World, On the Holy Virgin, OnRepentance (see OnMary inLondon
9322(92-115)features apoemwhichbeginswiththeline 'InthenameoftheFather,the Sachau9321, 670b-694b), On Mary atthe Cross, OnAdamandEve (also preserved in
Son and the HolyGhost' (Mengozzi 1999). RMtore (1913-: 56) lists two other poems: Baghdad,ms. 890.13 ofthecataloguebyHaddad-Isaac 1988),OntheDeathofaSinner;
OnHellFireandapoembeginningwiththeline'TestimonybefitsYou'(seealsoLondon thepoemOn theDeathofAnton, sonofthepoet,is notprintedintheRecueilofMosul
SachauOr.9322: 115-137 andSony 1997: ms. 88, 1-25). (R.hetore,ibidem,61; Sony 1997: ms. 82).
__
-_. .._._.__....._---------_._----_.
XVI INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xvn
Damyanos ofAlqosh he assimilated doctrine, spirituality and rhetorical schemes of Italian
52
baroque sermons on Hell and Paradise. Themissionaries had probably
Damyanos became a monk in his native Alqosh and, thanks to his
added, on the shelves of the traditional Syriac libraries in Alqosh, the
brilliantintelligence andmoralqualities, was electedassistantofthe-gen
works ofmasters of the Jesuit school of sacred oratory, such as PaoIo
eral superior of the monastic congregation of Rabban Hormizd. He
Segneri and GiovanPietro Pinamonti (1632-1703).53
appears to havebeen an intriguingpersonality, amanofactioninvolved
From those authors ofthe European "Age ofeloquence" Damyanos
in the political reality ofhis own time as well as an intellectual, a fine
of Alqosh borrowed motifs, images, biblical quotations, hagiographic
and learned poet, able to master various European and Middle-Eastern
exempla and inserted them into the formal framework of Neo-Syriac
languages.49
poetry. Texts inspired by orcomposedfor preaching inItalianrural dis
In 1838, the newly electedPatriarch.Nicholas I Zay<a, ofPersian ori
tricts ofthe 17thcentury servedasmodels for a 19th-centuryNeo-Syriac
gin, faced opposition from a number of Iraqi monks and bishops. His
poet who intended to spread Catholic spirituality among the Chaldean
opponents calledfor help from Rome and he finally decided to go back
54
peasants ofIraqiKurdistan.
to Khosrowa. When he resigned in 1846 and was succeeded by Joseph
The baroque sources define the agenda ofDamyanos' biblical quota
Audo, Damyanos tookthe lead ofthe party who resented the new Patri
tions, as, e.g., in On the Torments ofHell 56 or 85, and On the Delights
arch. WithTurkish support, he was chosen as regent ofthe Patriarchate,
ofthe Kingdom 3-4. The exempla ofSt Catherine (Hell 103-104) and St
but a French diplomatic intervention led the Sublime Porte to confIrm
Francis (Kingdom 51) are defInitelyItalianandtheirchoiceis mostprob
Joseph Audo as Patriarch of the Chaldeans and Damyanos decided to
ably conditioned by Damyanos' knowledge of Segneri's work. Hell, as
leave the Monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He retired to the village of
depicted byDamyanos, is not an objectiveplace, it has no geography. It
Alqosh and died as a humble priestin 1858.
is no longer one ofthe scenarios ofa Middle-Eastern- or a European
He wrote two ClassicalSyriac hymns On the Immaculate Conception
medieval - myth. It becomes nothing but the psychological and moral
which were commissionedbythePatriarchJosephAudo andincludedin
space of the soul committed to sin in this life and therefore damned
the official liturgy, and a poem On a Kurdish Attack againstAlqosh in
in the other. Every damned soul of a sinner is a Hell in itself, as
1832. Among the poets dealing with spiritual rather than historical
FatherPinamontipreachedandDamyanosofAlqoshrepeatedinhisNeo
themes, Damyanos ofAlqoshwasparticularly sensitivetoCatholic influ
Aramaic verses.
ence. In 1857 he translated the famous Latin hymn Stabat mater from
50
Arabic to Neo-Aramaic. He is also the author of a Classical Syriac
Neo-Syriac Poetry on Historical Events
translationoftheMursidal-Kahanah,51 anArabic adaptationofabaroque
Other poets followed the path of late East-Syrian masters such as
handbook for preachers, originally written by the Italian Jesuit Paolo .
Giwargis Warda in writing on historical - mostly catastrophic
Segneri (1624-1694).
events.55
His dorekyala On the Torments ofHell and On the Delights ofthe
Kingdom, whicharepublishedhereforthefusttime, showtowhatextent
52 SeeDestefanis (2005)andhere,below.
53 On the influence ofSegneri's sacred oratory in the history ofEuropeanrhethoric,
49 InformationaboutDamyanosisdrawnfromRh6tore(1913-: 57)andMacuch(1976: see Fumaroli (2002: 139). On Segneri and Pinamonti, see Majorana (1996: 266-268;
103-104).Onthehistoricalcontext, seeWilmshurst(2000: 33-34). 2001; 2007: 378-379,n. 47; allincludingfurtherreferences).
50 SeeHabbi3,p.277. The textis preservedinanumberofmanuscripts (Damyanos 54 Onthe Jesuitmissions inrural districts of17th-centuryItaly, seeMajorana(1999;
ofAIqosh,FortheHolyVirginMary,Mengozzi1999: 488).ItwasprintedbytheDomin 2001). IntheWesttoo, thefortune ofPinamonti appears inunexpectedplaces,e.g.,as a
icans (Recueil Mosul 1896, 265-276 and Baghdad 1954, 251-261) and included in the sourceofJoyce'sSermonsonHellinAPortraitoftheArtistasaYoungMan(firstedition
VaticancollectiononMarymentionedabove(Vat.Syr.521, 115b-119b). 1916; see Boyd 1960, Doherty 1963). The historical background ofJoyce's version of
51 TheSyriactranslationwaspublishedbytheDominicanPressinMosul: Mhadyana Pinamonti is the late 19th-centurycontroversy between Catholics and Protestants about
d-kahne.ManualeSacerdotumexoperibusP.Segneriexcerptum,inLinguamChaldaicam eternal damnation(Thrane 1960and 1962).
aD. Damiano, sacerdote Chaldaico, oUm translatum, nuper vero aD. Thoma Audo 55 SeeZwei syrische Lieder aufdie Einnahme Jerusalems durch Saladin (NOldeke
revisum,Mausili1882.Editiosecunda,Mausili1893.Coakley -Taylor(2008: 84,no. 16 1873andMengozzi2008a)orthe 'Onita iiberdieKatholikoidesOstens(Tamcke2006).
and86,no. 92)andKiraz (2008: 345). Some ofthe 'onyaJa by Giwargis Warda onfamines and othercalamities, published by