Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/345

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BARI


295


BARI


Matthew, near Mosul. He has left us an autobiog- raphy, to be found in Assemani, "Biblioth. Orient.", II, 248-263; the account of his death (ibid.) was written by his own brother, Bar Saunia. The works of Bar Hebrseus are: —

I. Encyclopedic and Philosophical. — (1) His great encyclopedic work is his Hcwdth HekhmethA, "The Cream of Science", which deals with almost every branch of human knowledge, and comprises the whole Aristotelean discipline, after Avicenna and other Arabian writers. This work, so far, has not been published, with the exception of one chapter, by Margoliouth, in "Analecta Orientalia ad poeticam Aristoteleam " (London, 1887), 114-139. The rest is to be found only in MSS., preserved at Florence, Oxford, London, and elsewhere. (2) Tcghrdth Tcghrathd, "Commerce of Commerces", a r^sum^ of the preceding, also unpublished. (3) Ketkabhd dhe-Bhabhath6, "Book of the Pupils of the Eyes"; compendium of logic and dialectics. (4) Kethabhd dhe-Sewddh Sophia, " Book of the Speech of Wisdom"; compendium of physics and metaphys- ics. To these should be added a few translations of Arabic works into Syriac, as well as some treatises written directly in Arabic.

n. Biblical. — The most important work of Bar Hebrseus is Ari(;dr R4ze, "Storehouse of Secrets", a commentary on the entire Bible, both doctrinal and critical. Before giving his doctrinal exposition of a passage, he first considers its critical state. Although he uses the Peshitto as a basis, he knows that it is not perfect, and therefore controls it by the Hebrew, the Septuagint, the Greek versions of Symmachus, Theodotion, Aquila, by the Oriental versions, Armenian and Coptic, and finally by the other Syriac translations, Heraclean, Philoxenian and especially Syro-Hexapla. The work of Bar Hebra;us is of prime importance for the recovery of these versions and more specially of the Hexapla of Origen, of which the Syro-Hexapla is a translation by Paul of Telia. His exegetical and doctrinal portions are taken from the Greek Fathers and previous Syrian Jacobite theologians. No complete edition of the work has yet been issued, but many individual books have been published at different times. (See bibliography at end of article.)

in. Historical. — Bar Hebrseus has left a large historical work called M dklitbhanuth Zdbhru, "Chroni- con", in which he considers the history from the Creation dowm to his own day. It is di\nded into two portions: the first deals with political and civil history and is known as the "Chronicon Syriacum"; the second, "Chronicon Ecclesiasticum", comprising the religious history, begins with Aaron and treats in a first section of the history of the Western Syrian Church and the Patriarchs of Antioch, while a second section is devoted to the Eastern Church, the Nes- torian Patriarchs, and the Jacobite Maphrians. Bar Hebrseus utilized almost all that had been written before him. The best edition of the " Chroni- con Syriacum" is that of Bedjan, "Gregorii Bar- hebra;i Chronicon Syriacum" (Paris, 1890). The best edition of the "Chronicon Ecclesiasticum" is that of Abbeloos and Lamy (3 vols., Louvain, 1872- 77). The "Chronicon Syriacum" was rendered into Arabic by Bar Hebrsus himself under the name of "History of Dynasties"; the latest and best edition of this work is that of Salhani (Beirut, 1890).

IV. Theological. — In theology Bar Hebrseus was a Monophysite. He probably, however, thought that the differences between Catholics, Nestorians, and the rest were of a theological, but not of a dog- matical nature, and that they did not affect the common faith; hence, he did not consider others as heretics, and was not himself considered as such, at least by the Nestorians and the Armenians. In this field, we have from him Menardth Qiidhshr, "Lamp


of the Sanctuary", and the Kethabhd dhe-Zdlgi, "Book of the Rays", a summary of the first. These works have not been published, and exist in manu- script in Paris, BerHn, London, Oxford, Rome. Ascetical and moral theology were also treated by Bar Hebrseus, and we have from him Kethabhd dhe- 'Ithtqon, "Book of Ethics", and Kethabhd dhe- Ynund, "Book of the Dove", an ascetical guide. Both have been edited by Bedjan in "Ethicon seu Moralia Gregorii Barhebrgei" (Paris and Leipzig, 1898). The "Book of the Dove" was issued simul- taneously by Cardahi (Rome, 1898). Bar Hebrseus codified the juridical texts of the Jacobites, in a collection called Kethdiihd dhe-Hudhdyi, "Book of Directions", edited by Bedjan, "Barhebra-i Nomo- canon" (Paris, 1898). A Latin translation is to be found in Mai, "Scriptorum Veter. Nova CoUectio", vol. X.

Bar Hebrseus has left besides many other works. On grammatical subjects we have the "Book of Splendours" and "Book of the Spark", both edited by Martin, "(Euvres grammaticales de Aboul Faradj dit Barhebrseus" (2 vols., Paris, 1872); also works on mathematics, astronomy, cosmography, medicine, some of which have been published, but others exist only in manuscript.

Most editors of Bar Hebrseus' works also give in their in- troductions some valuable biographical and bibliographical notes. A.s.'^EM.\Nl, Bihliotheca Onentalis (Rome, 1719-28), II, 248-321; Wright, A short history of Syriac Literature (London, 1894), 265-281; Duval, La lilterature Syriaque (Paris, 1900), passim, see index; Gottsberger, Bar HebrfFiia u. seine Schoiien z. Heitigen Schrift (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1900).

For information as to works of Bar HEBR.«;t78 classified above under I: Duval, op. cit.,262, 432; Gottsberger, op. cit., 29-34.

For II (Biblical), lists of the published works are given in: Klostermann, Syrische Grammatik (Berlin, 1905). 138 eqq.; Duval, op. cit., 81, n. T; Gottsberger, op. cit., 76; to which should be added Gottsberger in Zeitschr. f. d. Atttest. Wis- senschafl (1901), 101-144. There exist several MSS. of the Storehouse of Secrets, for which see Duval, loc. cit.; Gott.s- berger, op. cit., 62-71.

III. For the Chronicon, see list of sources in Assemani, op. cit., 313 s(iq.

IV. {Theological) Assemani, op. cit., 284 sqq.; Duval,


235.


R. BUTIN.


Bari, Archdiocese of, is situated in the prov- ince of the same name, in Apulia, Southern Italy. The city of Bari is the principal city in the province, with a population of about 65,000, and is located on a peninsula which extends into the Adriatic. An- ciently called Barium, it fell into the power of the Romans after the war with Pjirhus, retaining, ho%v- ever, its autonomy. Being a seaport facing the Orient, Bari must have received Christianity at a very early date. According to a local tradition, St. Peter him- self preached the Gospel there and consecrated the first bishop. History, however, is silent as to the be- ginning of Christianity in this city.

The first known Bishop of Bari was Gervasius, who, in 347, assisted at the Council of Sardica. In 530 Bishop Peter held the title of Metropolitan under Epiphanius, Patriarch of Constantinople. In 780 Bishop Leontius was present at the Seventh (Ecumeni- cal Council, the Second of Nicsea. In the ninth cen- tury the Saracens laid waste Apulia, destroyed the city of Canosa (Canusium) and captured Bari. In 841, however, the Byzantine army reconquered Bari, and in 844 St. Angelarius, Bishop of Canosa, then in ruins, brought to Bari the relics of Sts. Rufinus, Memorus, and Sabinus, which he had rescued from the ruins. Pope Sergius II conferred on him the title of Bishop of the two dioceses of Bari and Canosa, a title which the Archbishops of Bari retain to the present time. In 933 Pope John XI granted the Bishops of Bari the use of the pallium. It seems that the Bishops were dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople until the tenth century. Giovanni II (952) was able to withdraw from this influence, refusing to accept the