The Nestorians and their Rituals/Volume 2/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
WRITINGS OF THE NESTORIANS.
Although science of every kind, among the Nestorians of the present day, is at its lowest ebb, yet the monuments still extant of the learning of their fathers from the earliest ages of Christianity down to the thirteenth century, display a wonderful ability of writing combined with a vast amount of intellectual energy. The famous schools of Edessa and Nisibis, whilst they lasted, sent forth giants in literature, who, so far back as five hundred years after Christ, had scattered the seeds of their own acquirements from the vast plains of Mesopotamia to the uttermost limits of ancient Persia. These seeds, sown in a grateful soil, and nurtured by the native warmth and acumen of the Oriental mind, like indigenous plants sprang up at once with an almost rank and inexpressible fertility, and displayed, in their varied productions, whatever was peculiar and excellent in their nature, on a scale the most magnificent. And long after the splendour of Edessa had grown dim, and the nursery of Nisibis had followed the downfall of her elder sister, Nestorian writers continued to flourish, and to bring forth fresh fruits of intellectual exertion, until the dark curse of Mohammedan despotism and tyranny hid from them the sun which enlightened and warmed them, and doomed them to wither and fade almost entirely away.
In order to convey a just idea of the number and extent of Nestorian compositions, I have in Appendix A. given the translation of a literary catalogue, drawn up by the learned Mar Abd Yeshua, as far back as a.d. 1298. From this list, containing the names of no less than one hundred and fifty authors, it will be seen over how wide a range of literature their researches extended. Though religion was evidently the main spring and end of almost all their writings, still they do not appear to have confined themselves to what is strictly called Divinity, but to have carried their investigations into all the known sciences. The catalogue referred to makes us acquainted with at least twenty commentators on the whole or parts of the Bible, many ritualists, controversialists, canonists, ecclesiastical and profane historians, more than one hundred poets, several lexicographers and grammarians, logicians, writers on natural philosophy, metaphysics, geography, and astronomy, besides many other learned essayists on miscellaneous subjects.
Nor did the Nestorians confine the workings of their vigorous minds to compositions in their own language; but carried their investigations into the wide field of Greek ecclesiastical and profane literature. I have before me a short chronological table, written some centuries ago, in which the following notice of the famous siege of Troy is recorded. "During the time of Elon, of Zabulon, the great city of Ilion was destroyed, after a siege of twelve years. This war arose on account of Helen the wife of king Menelaus, who had been carried away by Paris, the son of Priam, king of Ilion. Menelaus slew Paris, and took back his wife after she had borne three children to Paris." The list of Mar Abd Yeshua contains the names of forty western writers, among which are some of the most celebrated theologians of the Greek or Eastern Church; and the same respectable authority mentions several Syriac versions and expositions of Aristotle, besides the translation of the Septuagint, the voluminous works of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and other Greek authors, by Nestorian scholars.[1]
That the learning of the Greeks was eagerly sought after, and the study of their language highly cultivated by the early Nestorians, is placed beyond dispute by the fact that several writers from among them are mentioned as having held controversies with Grecian divines, and as having themselves written elaborate treatises in Greek. The effects of this intercourse upon Syriac literature were the enrichment of the language by a great variety of words from the Grecian classics, especially of such as are requisite to express compound and abstract ideas not represented in their own native dialect, and which, in the course of time, became embodied with their own vocabulary. These terms and phrases are of constant occurrence in the metaphysical and theological writings still existing among the Nestorians, and this foreign, but now naturalized, idiom is met with in every page of their latest ritual and other ecclesiastical compositions, and thus seems to have formed a part of their ordinary literary discourse. Moreover in order to assist beginners in the cultivation of the Greek language, and to inform such as had no other means of attaining to the true signification of these exotic additions, several Greco-Syriac lexicons were compiled, and many smaller vocabularies of difficult words drawn up, some of which are still extant, in which such terms and phrases are fully and clearly expounded.
Besides the study of Greek classical authors, the Nestorians appear to have acquired great eminence in the languages of their Persian and Arabian masters. Mar Abd Yeshua mentions several Bishops who wrote learned treatises in Persian; and it is certain that a Nestorian translated the works of Aristotle into that language for Chosroes the then ruling prince. Under the Caliphs of Baghdad also, the native literature seems to have been highly cultivated among them, as their skill and learning frequently secured their appointment to the most important offices both in the cabinet and in the provinces. Some few ancient Arabic works of Nestorian authorship are still occasionally to be met with, one of which is a poem by Mar Elia el-Hadeethy, written after the style of the famous Hariri, and which, by competent judges, is deemed to rival the excellencies of his model. And Mar Abd Yeshua has left behind a Nestorian creed in the same language, a translation of which is given under Chapter VI., which for vigour of style, purity of diction, and elegance of arrangement, deserves to be ranked with the compositions of those Arabian classics to which the suffrages of the learned have adjudged the first place of genius and glory.
The familiar acquaintance of the Nestorians with Arabic literature is further evinced by the controversial treatises which they wrote against the tenets of their despotic and fanatical rulers. Unlike their abject and timid representatives of the present day, the early Nestorians seem to have dared an invasion of the enemy's camp, and to have fought them on their own ground, instigated thereto, doubtless, by the desperate attempts made to proselyte them to a licentious and heretical creed, as well, perchance, from a desire to wipe out the stigma, that a Nestorian monk was the preceptor and friend of the arch impostor. The list of Mar Abd Yeshua records the names of three authors who feared not to impugn the authority of the False Prophet. Timataos, a Metropolitan, wrote a treatise against the Mehdi; Paulos of Ambar, or Piros-Shaboor, the seat of the first Abbaside Caliphs, wrote a dissertation against the Epistle of Omar, the companion of Mohammed; and Aboo Nuah drew up a confutation of the entire Koran. Polemics such as these could only spring from men of vigorous minds, who possessed intellect equal to the task which they undertook, and sufficient moral courage to abide the probable consequences of their temerity in so good a cause.
But if the Nestorian authors acquired great distinction in these foreign languages, they did not neglect their own native Syriac, but cultivated it with the most assiduous care. Many of their writings which have been preserved to us display great originality, acuteness, and erudition. Their metaphysics, borrowed from the Aristotelian school, are remarkable for their comparative simplicity; their histories and narratives are written in an easy and flowing style; their expositions of Holy Scripture, though often learned and ingenious, are plain and suited to ordinary capacities; and the services of their ritual breathe great spirituality of feeling and depth of devotion. Most of these latter, as well as many of their other literary productions, are written in poetry or measured verse, for which style of writing the Syriac seems to be admirably adapted. Some of these poems display a degree of sentiment and spirit combined with the softest tenderness, a command of phraseology, and a fertility of imagination frequently rising to an almost sublime enthusiasm, together with a thrilling and varied versification, worthy of the most exalted genius. And even their polemical essays, except when directed against the Monophysites, towards whom they harbour an innate dislike, are devoid of that rancour so common among the ancient and modern controversialists of the west.
Enough has already been said upon this subject; more especially because in the numerous extracts contained in this volume, the reader will have abundant matter from which to form a correct judgment of the merit of Nestorian compositions, provided that a just allowance is made for the loss which they have necessarily suffered by translation into a language differing so widely from the original. His attention is more particularly called to the treatise contained under Appendix B, to which reference will hereafter frequently be made, but which is given entire in order that it may serve as a specimen of Nestorian literature in the thirteenth century.
Most deeply is it to be regretted that so few of these valuable records of Nestorian talent and learning have survived the vicissitudes of the times. The Church books, from being kept constantly in use, have been preserved, and not any of those required for the celebration of divine service and other holy rites are missing. But even these are gradually diminishing in number, and are in a fair way of disappearing altogether, especially in the villages where no episcopal supervision is exercised, and where the poor inhabitants are left to shift for themselves, and to perish in their poverty and ignorance. The long extinction of parochial schools, once a matter of great importance with the Nestorians, as appears from the decrees of many provincial synods ordering their establishment and maintenance, caused a dearth of transcribers, and ultimately led to the loss of many useful works, from the simple fact that there were few or none capable of re-writing them. At the present day there can scarcely be found twelve individuals among the Nestorians able to copy an old Syriac manuscript with any degree of correctness. Unacquainted with grammar, and possessing no critical knowledge of the language, as is the case with the most intelligent among them, their copies are generally replete with inaccuracies, and require to be thoroughly revised before they can be confidently relied on.
The cause just noticed has doubtless operated largely in bringing about that lack of knowledge and dearth of ancient literature which exist at the present day. But, added to this, there have been other measures at work equally deplorable and destructive. It is still witnessed by the descendants of their first proselytes that the Latin missionaries, after they had succeeded in obtaining a footing in these parts, made use of every possible artifice to destroy whatever relics of Nestorianism, in the shape of books, were to be found within the circuit of their newly acquired influence. The circumstances under which they had secured this power and the natural zeal of their first converts conspired in a high degree to favour this project, and it is a common tradition among the people of the town, that the extensive library of Mosul, consisting of many thousand volumes, was at the instigation of the Latin monks carried in baskets to the Tigris by the new proselytes and by them thrown into that river.
Nor has this same influence been confined to acts of such summary vandalism, but has been extended to the patrimonial relics in the guise of books, to be found occasionally in the dwellings of the poorest villagers. And not satisfied with erasing the names of Nestorius and Theodorus, and whatever had any reference to their persons or heresy from the Church rituals, the abettors of this expurgation caused it to be deemed a virtue to blot out the memory of these two individuals wherever they were found; and thus many manuscripts are now to be met with sadly mutilated at their beginning and end, where the authors' names and Nestorianism were generally recorded. With such fanaticism did they carry on this literary crusade, especially with regard to the much disputed title of "Theotokos," that many valuable books are known to have been destroyed, simply because in them the Blessed Virgin was styled " Mother of Christ," and such as were not destroyed were in most instances mutilated or defaced. I have before me, at this moment, an old MS., one page of which has been well nigh obliterated, evidently because it contained the phrase, "Holy Mary, Mother of Christ our God," an approximation to the title sanctioned by the council of Ephesus, which one might have thought would have been suffered to remain uninjured.
But, besides the above, other lamentable events have contributed their full share in bringing about this literary destitution. It is traditionally recorded, that on more than one occasion the Mohammedan rulers of Baghdad seized the books of the Nestorian patriarchate there, and committed them to the flames upon the same ground that Omar is said to have burnt the famous library of Alexandria. A similar auto-da-fé is said to have been perpetrated at Jezeerah; but the last occurred so late as 1832, when Mohammed Pasha, the Coordish chief of Rawandooz, entered the convent of Mar Rabban Hormuzd, near Mosul, where a goodly number of volumes had been preserved, and after pillaging and desecrating the church, and slaughtering several of the monks, ordered every book found there to be destroyed.
The Nestorians of the present day have scarcely any other books beside the Church Rituals, all the remaining MSS. being in the possession of the so-called Chaldeans. At the patriarchate in Mosul there are about fifty volumes, several of which are imperfect, and few of much value. At Baghdad and Mardeen there are also small collections, and report says that a good library still exists at Sert under the Chaldean Bishop of that diocese, and that among them is a very ancient MS. of the New Testament written on vellum. During my residence in the country I succeeded in collecting upwards of a hundred MSS. for the Christian Knowledge Society, among which was an entire series of the Church Rituals, one or two copies of the Syriac New Testament written about the tenth century, a copy of the Old Testament and Apocrypha in separate parts, besides some other valuable and rare works. The Chaldeans have at length learned to lament the folly of their fathers, and the few books which they now possess are guarded with such jealous care, that it is somewhat difficult to obtain them even on loan.
Grateful, as we should be, for the mass of learning and devotion hitherto preserved to this ancient community in their Rituals and other ecclesiastical compositions, still one cannot forbear deeply regretting the irreparable shipwreck of so large an amount of Nestorian science and genius. For although it cannot be fairly presumed that any important truth, or any useful discovery in art or nature, has been snatched away from the curiosity of modern ages, still how many interesting occurrences may it in all probability be conceived, have been buried in oblivion through the successive catastrophes, which have swept away so much of the labour of past ages from the knowledge of the world. How many facts and historical traditions, carefully recorded by these Fathers of old, connected with the downfall of the ancient Assyrian dynasties, and the fortunes of the successive kingdoms which rose upon their ruins, and respecting which our information is so very scanty, might have been transmitted to our day, and have solved several of those difficult points in the history of that period, which still continue to baffle the skill and research of the most learned men of Europe. What a clue might not these traditions have afforded us to the real history of those astonishing relics of antiquity, which are being dug up out of the grave of many centuries from the mounds of Nineveh and Nimrood. It is by no means beyond the limits of probability, that such records, had they been preserved, would not only have thrown light upon the origin of these monuments, but would also have supplied us with a key to their long forgotten language. The study of the numerous cuneiform inscriptions which have been discovered within the last three years is still in its infancy; but there is some ground for believing that the fragments of ancient Nestorian literature still extant, will, when once these remote annals are truly decyphered, tend to confirm and to illustrate their at present hidden import. This remark is not intended in the least degree to detract from the merit of those enterprising and learned men, who are assiduously pursuing this new science, and whose researches have already been crowned with some degree of success; but the most partial estimate of the progress hitherto made will leave a conviction upon the mind, that much has yet to be done before accuracy and certainty can be predicated of the result of their labours.
All the Syriac MSS., Nestorian as well as Jacobite, up to about the twelfth century, are written in the Estrangheli alphabet, consisting of uncial characters which are now used only for the heading of chapters, ornamental caligraphy, and monumental inscriptions. About that period a change seems to have taken place gradually, and the characters now in use became generally adopted. These are in form a modification of the Estrangheli, and by a misnomer are called by Europeans Syro-Chaldaic. The alphabet used by the Syrian Jacobites differs from that of the Nestorians; but its shape plainly indicates a common origin from the Estrangheli. Gregory bar Hebraeus, called Abulpharaj, the greatest of the Monophysite doctors, is considered the author of the characters still in use among the Jacobites, and of their system of vowel and diacritical points, in which respect also it differs from that of the Nestorians.
- ↑ One of the most learned ecclesiastics at Mosul maintains, that the entire chain of western writers mentioned by Mar Abd Yeshua existed in Syriac. This does not positively appear from the catalogue itself, although there is some ground for believing the inference to be correct.