Thomas of Edessa (or Tōmā ūrhāyā;[1] died c. 540) was a theologian of the Church of the East who wrote several works in Syriac, most of them lost.

Thomas was educated in Edessa.[2] There he taught Greek to the future patriarch, Aba. He later travelled with Aba around the Roman Empire, including to its capital, Constantinople.[3] He studied under Aba at the school of Nisibis in the Persian Empire.[4] He also taught at Nisibis.[2] He may have died in Constantinople or on his return journey to Nisibis.[1]

Thomas was influenced by the theology of Theodore of Mopsuestia.[2] He wrote several works, but only two survive and only one of these has been printed. ʿAbdishoʿ bar Brikha ascribes to him some buyyāye (hortatory discourses), a refutation of astrology, some treatises against heresy in the form of disputations and an epistolary treatise on qāle, that is, stanzaic syllabic chants.[4] His commentaries on the feasts of Nativity and Epiphany are the oldest extant examples in the genre of ʿelta (cause, explanation, etiology).[2] Only his explanation of the Nativity has been printed.[4] Cyrus of Edessa continued the work of Thomas by writing etiologies for the spring festivals.[5][6]

Editions

  • Carr, Simon Joseph, ed. (1898). Thomae Edesseni Tractatus de nativitate Domini Nostri Christi: textum syriacum. Rome: Accademia dei Lincei.
    Reprinted as Thomas of Edessa on the Nativity of the Lord. the Syriac Studies Library, 79. Gorgias Press, 2012.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Carr 1898, p. 7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Possekel 2018a.
  3. ↑ Van Rompay 2018 & Possekel 2018a; but Becker 2018 doubts that the teacher of Aba was the theologian. He has at times been confused with Thomas of Harkel.
  4. 1 2 3 Becker 2018.
  5. ↑ Possekel 2018b.
  6. ↑ Hainthaler 2006, p. 64.

Bibliography

  • Becker, Adam H. (2018) [2011]. "Toma of Edessa". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Beth Mardutho, print Gorgias Press. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  • Hainthaler, Theresia (2006). "Thomas of Edessa, Causa de Nativitate: Some Considerations" (PDF). Parole de l'Orient. 31: 63–85.
  • McCrindle, J. W., ed. (1897). The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk: Translated from the Greek, and Edited with Notes and Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Possekel, Ute (2018). "Cyrus of Edessa". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 1: A–I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 447. ISBN 978-0-19-881624-9.
  • Possekel, Ute (2018). "Thomas of Edessa". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 2: J–Z. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1497. ISBN 978-0-19-881625-6.
  • Possekel, Ute (2020). "Transmitting Theodore to the Church of the East: The Contribution of Thomas of Edessa". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 71 (4): 712–737. doi:10.1017/S0022046920000706. S2CID 229010574.
  • Van Rompay, Lucas (2018) [2011]. "Aba I". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Beth Mardutho, print Gorgias Press. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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