History of the Monastery of Saint Matthew in Mosul (Publications of the Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church)

Located north of Mosul, St. Matthew's Monastery—commonly known as Dayr Sheikh Matti—is perhaps the most ancient religious institution in Iraq. Although the Syriac life story of St. Matthew was published together with that of St. Behnam by Paul Bedjan in 1891, and translated into Arabic by Elias Behnam, this present account is more extensive and informative. It includes in-depth physical and spiritual descriptions of the monastery as an outstanding institution which played a significant role in the history of the Syrian Orthodox Church of the East. Mar Ignatius Jacob III offers insight into the monastery's learned superiors, metropolitans and magnificent library. Machine Derived Contents Note: Table Of Contents -- Table Of Contents V -- Preface Xiii -- Translator¿s Introduction Xv -- Sources 1 -- Book One: The Establishment Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 5 -- Chapter One: The Renown Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 5 -- Chapter Two: The Mountain Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 6 -- Chapter Three: The Location Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 8 -- Chapter Four: The Climate Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 9 -- Chapter Five: St. Matthew¿s Life Story 10 -- Chapter Six: St. Matthew: The Syrian Ascetic 12 -- Chapter Seven: St. Matthew Proselytizes Prince Behnam And His Sister, Princess Sarah 13 -- Chapter Eight: The Establishment Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 14 -- Chapter Nine: St. Matthew¿s Companions 16 -- Saint Mar Zakai 16 -- Mar Abrohom 17 -- Chapter Ten: The Establishment Of Mar Behnam¿s Monastery 19 -- Chapter Eleven: Mar Daniel Builds His Monastery 21 -- Chapter Twelve: Mar Daniel¿s Monastery In The Iraqi Courts 23 --^ Book Two: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Fifth And Sixth Centuries 27 -- Chapter One: The Golden Age Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 27 -- Chapter Two: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Precipitate Nestorian Storm 28 -- Chapter Three: The Church Of The East In The Aftermath Of The Nestorian Storm 29 -- Chapter Four: The Church Of The East And The Legal Laying Of Hands (ordination) 31 -- Chapter Five: The Renovation Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Revival Of Its Spiritual Life 34 -- Chapter Six: St. Matthew¿s Monastery According To Nestorian Accounts 35 -- Chapter Seven: Monastic Life At St. Matthew¿s Monastery 38 -- Book Three: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Seventh And Eighth Centuries 41 -- Chapter One: St. Matthew¿s Monastery: A Corner Stone In The Renewal Of The Unity Between The Church Of The East And The Apostolic See 41 -- Chapter Two: The First Council Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Renewal Of The Covenant Of Union 42 --^ Chapter Three: The Renewal Of The Covenant Of Union As Related By Christophorus, Metropolitan Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 43 -- Chapter Four: The Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Letter Of Patriarch Mar Athanasius I 45 -- Chapter Five: The Canons Of The Second Council Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 46 -- Chapter Six: The Dignity Of The Maphryono Of Takrit And The Church Of The East 50 -- Chapter Seven: Education At St. Matthew¿s Monastery 52 -- Chapter Eight: The Library Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery In This Period. 56 -- Chapter Nine: The Recklessness Of The Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 58 -- Chapter Ten: The Rashness Of The Bishops And Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 59 -- Chapter Eleven: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 61 -- Bar Sohde, The Martyr Saint 61 -- Mar Garmay 61 -- Tubana, Yeshu¿ Zkha, Sahda And Simon 61 -- Mar Christophorus I 62 -- Mar John 1 62 -- An Anonymous Metropolitan 62 -- Mar John Ii 62 -- Daniel 63 -- Quryaqos 63 -- Christophorus Ii 64 --^ Book Four: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Middle Ages 65 -- Chapter One: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Patriarchs Of Antioch 65 -- Chapter Two: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Maphryone Of The East 67 -- Chapter Three: The Patriarchs Of Antioch Settle The Conflict Between The Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Maphryone Of Takrit 70 -- Chapter Four: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 73 -- Timothy Soghde 73 -- Bar Kotella 74 -- An Anonymous Metropolitan 75 -- Chapter Five: The Privileges Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 75 -- Chapter Six: Subjection Of The Diocese Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery To The Maphryone Of The East 78 -- Chapter Seven: The Privileges Of Villages Under The Jurisdiction Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery After Their Subjection To The Maphryono 80 -- Chapter Eight: Bartulli As The Seat Of The Maphryono 82 -- Chapter Nine: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And Traditions 84 -- Chapter Ten: The Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery Violate The Canons 86 --^ Book Five: St. Matthew¿s Monastery From The Twelfth To The Sixteenth Centuries 89 -- Chapter One: St. Matthew¿s Monastery During The First Kurdish Raid 89 -- Chapter Two: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Aftermath Of The First Kurdish Raid 90 -- Chapter Three: St. Matthew¿s Monastery According To Yaqut Al-hamawi 92 -- Chapter Four: St. Matthew¿s Monastery Theological School 93 -- Chapter Five: Adversities Of The Diocese Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 96 -- Chapter Six: St. Matthew¿s Monastery During The Second Kurdish Raid 99 -- Chapter Seven: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Aftermath Of The Second Kurdish Raid. 101 -- Chapter Eight: The Efforts Of Barsoum Al-safi To Draw Water To The Monastery According To The Account Of Gabriel Of Bartulli 103 -- Chapter Nine: The Superiors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 104 -- St. Matthew, Mar Zakai And Mar Abrohom 104 -- Addai 105 -- Hawran 105 -- Bar Kotella 105 -- Hasan Bar Shamma¿ 105 -- Abu Nasr 106 -- Matta Bar Hanno 106 --^ Chapter Ten: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 107 -- Saliba 107 -- Severus Jacob I 107 -- Gregorius John Iii 108 -- Ignatius 108 -- Sawera (severus) Yeshu¿ 108 -- Basilius Abrohom 109 -- Iyawannis 109 -- Chapter Eleven: The Miracles Of St. Matthew 109 -- Chapter Twelve: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Story Of The Nestorian Rabban Hormizd 111 -- Chapter Thirteen: St. Matthew¿s Monastery During The Third Kurdish Raid 114 -- Chapter Fourteen: Deterioration Of The Conditions Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Residence Of The Maphrianate Seat 114 -- Book Six: St. Matthew¿s Monastery From The Seventeenth To The Nineteenth Centuries 117 -- Chapter One: The Revival Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 117 -- Chapter Two: Maphryono Yalda Imprisoned For The Cause Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 118 -- Chapter Three: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Indian Mission 119 -- Chapter Four: The Superiors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 120 -- Ishaq I 120 -- Tuma Elias Al-banna 121 --^ Li¿azar Maqdisi ¿azar 122 -- Matta Rassam 122 -- Chapter Five: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 123 -- Jumu¿a Jubayr 123 -- Severus Ishaq 123 -- Severus Malke 124 -- Iyawannis I, Matta 124 -- Gregorius Li¿azar 125 -- Timothy ¿isa 125 -- Iyawannis Iv, John 125 -- Cyril Rizq Allah 126 -- Cyril Ii, Matta 127 -- Cyril ¿abd Al-¿aziz 128 -- Eustathius Musa 129 -- Gregorius I, Elias 130 -- Cyril Iii, Matta 131 -- Cyril Denha 132 -- Chapter Six: St. Matthew¿s Monastery And The Kurdsish Raids 135 -- Chapter Seven: The Buildings Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery In Three Centuries 136 -- Chapter Eight: St. Matthew¿s Monastery As Seen By Mr. Parry 139 -- Book Seven: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In The Twentieth Century 143 -- Chapter One: The Superiors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 143 -- The Chorepiscopus Sulayman Of Bahzani 143 -- Rabban (monk) Jacob Of Mosul 145 -- Rabban Ishaq Ii Of Bartulli 146 -- The Chorepiscopus Elias Sha¿ya Of Bartulli 146 -- Rabban (monk) Saliba Ka¿bawi 148 --^ Priest Tuma Of Ba¿shiqa 149 -- Chapter Two: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 149 -- Cyril Ii, Elias 149 -- Qlemis (clement) V, John 150 -- Dionysius Vi, John 152 -- Timothy Ii, Jacob 153 -- Chapter Three: The Third Council Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 154 -- Chapter Four: The Council Issues Forty One Resolutions 157 -- Chapter Five The Council Enacts A General Law For The Denominational Councils 164 -- Chapter Six: The Council Issues A Special Statute For St. Matthew¿s Monastery 168 -- The Monastery¿s School 169 -- On Visitors 170 -- Chapter Seven: The School Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 171 -- Chapter Eight: The Buildings Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 173 -- Chapter Nine: The Contribution Of The Faithful To St. Matthew¿s Monastery 174 -- Chapter Ten: The Benefactors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 177 -- The Masons 178 -- The Carpenters 179 -- Chapter Eleven: The Library Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 179 -- Chapter Twelve: St. Matthew¿s Monastery In Its New Garb 181 --^ Chapter Thirteen: The Churches Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 185 -- Chapter Fourteen: The Monastic Cells Of Al-faf¿s Mountain 188 -- Chapter Fifteen: The Diocese Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 190 -- Chapter Sixteen: The Metropolitans And Monks Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 193 -- Chapter Seventeen: The Visitors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 194 -- Chapter Eighteen: The Miracles Of St. Matthew 195 -- Chapter Nineteen: The Properties Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 198 -- Chapter Twenty: The Summer Resorts Project Of St. Matthew¿s Mountain 200 -- Book Eight: St. Matthew¿s Monastery: A Stage Of Intellectual Men 203 -- Chapter One: The Superiors Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 203 -- Chapter Two: The Metropolitans Of St. Matthew¿s Monastery 204 -- Chapter Three: The Patriarchs Who Graduated From St. Matthew¿s Monastery 206 -- Chapter Four: The Maphryone Who Graduated From St. Matthew¿s Monastery 209 -- Chapter Five: The Metropolitans Who Graduated From St. Matthew¿s Monastery 212 --^ Chapter Six: The Learned Men Related To St. Matthew¿s Monastery 219 -- Chapter Seven: The Fathers Who Were Buried In St. Matthew¿s Monastery 224 -- Chapter Eight: St. Matthew In The Syrian Church 227 -- About The Translator 228. Ignatius Yacoub Iii ; Translated By Matti Moosa. Includes Bibliographical References.