George of Arbela

George of Arbela (Syriac: Giwargis bar Tobi[1][lower-alpha 1]) was an East Syriac churchman and author who served as the metropolitan of Mosul and Erbil (Arbela) from c. 960 until after 987.[2]

For the 13th-centuruy poet also known as George of Arbela, see Giwargis Warda. For Pseudo-George of Arbela, see Expositio officiorum ecclesiae.

George was relatively young man when he first put himself forward as a candidate for the patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 960/961.[lower-alpha 2] Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm, the Christian treasurer of the Emir Muʿizz al-Dawla, used his influence to procure the election of Israel of Kashkar. Already ninety years old, Israel died in September. George stood for election again when the metropolitans gathered in 963,[lower-alpha 3] being passed over in favour of ʿAbdishoʿ I, the emir's preferred candidate. George stood down at the next patriarchal election in 987, since the Emir Sharaf al-Dawla, who had just taken Baghdad by force, recommended the bishops elect Mari bar Toba patriarch.[3]

George was the author of a treatise on hereditary law.[4] In the 18th century, Giuseppe Simone Assemani assigned the anonymous work known as the Expositio officiorum ecclesiae to him. Modern scholars do not believe it was written by George of Arbela and may instead refer to its author as Pseudo-George.[5]

Notes
  1. His Syriac name may also be spelled Gewargis. Bar Tobi means son of Tobi.
  2. Patriarch Emmanuel I died in April 960 and his successor was consecrated in May 961.[3]
  3. Wilmshurst begins ʿAbdishoʿ's patriarchate in 963, but also six months after Israel's death, which would be March 962.[3]

References
  1. Fiey 1993, p. 112.
  2. Wilmshurst 2011, p. 499.
  3. Wilmshurst 2011, pp. 195–197.
  4. Brock 2011.
  5. Wilmshurst 2011, p. 228.

Bibliography
  • Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Gewargis of Arbela". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  • Fiey, Jean Maurice (1993). Pour un Oriens Christianus Novus: Répertoire des diocèses syriaques orientaux et occidentaux. Orient-Institut.
  • Wilmshurst, David (2011). The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. East and West Publishing.
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