Bar Hebraeus

Bar Hebraeus

Gregory Bar Hebraeus (born 1226 in the village of ʿEbra (Izoli, Turk.: Kuşsarayı) near Malatya, Sultanate of Rûm (modern Turkey, today province Elazig) – 30 July 1286 in Maraga, Persia) was a catholicos (bishop) of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the 13th century. He is noted for his works addressing philosophy, poetry, language, history, and theology; he has been called "one of the most learned and versatile men from the Syriac Orthodox Church" (Dr. William Wright).

Bar Hebraeus was born with the Arabic name Abū'l-Faraj bin Hārūn al-Malaṭī (Arabic: ابو الفرج بن هارون الملطي‎). It appears that he took the Christian name Gregory (Syriac: ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ Grigorios; Arabic: غريغوريوس‎, Ġrīġūriyūs) at his consecration as a bishop. Throughout his life, he was often referred to by the Syriac nickname Bar ʿEbrāyā (Syriac: ܒܪ ܥܒܪܝܐ, which is pronounced and often transliterated as Bar ʿEbroyo in the West Syriac dialect of the Syriac Orthodox Church), giving rise to the Latinised name Bar Hebraeus. This nickname is often thought to imply a Jewish background (taken to mean 'Son of the Hebrew'). However, the evidence for this once popular view is slim. It is more likely that the name refers to the place of his birth, ʿEbrā, where the old road east of Malatya towards Kharput (modern Elazığ) and Amida (Mesopotamia) (modern Diyarbakır) crossed the Euphrates.

He collected in his numerous and elaborate treatises the results of such research in theology, philosophy, science and history as was in his time possible in Syria. Most of his works were written in Syriac. However he also wrote some in Arabic, which had become the common language in his day.