Bardaisan of Edessa

Description

Bardaiṣan was probably born in 154 and died in 222, possibly in Edessa. He spent a large part of his life at the court of king Abgar VIII (‘the Great’) of Edessa, who took an interest in arts and sciences. At Abgar’s court he taught his pupils and followers whom he had assembled around him. He is said to have held a position of distinction in Edessene society. When in 214 the emperor Caracalla (211–217) put an end to Edessa’s independence as a kingdom, Bardaiṣan probably went to Armenia. He is said to have written a considerable number of works and several others have been attributed to him, but no writings of Bardaiṣan have been preserved. Fragmentsof his work as well as of lost works have been preserved in later sources. His best known work, The Book of the Laws of Countries, was not authentically his but written by his pupil Philippus, although it reflects Bardaiṣan’s ideas. Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v Introduction to the present edition ..................................................... vii Bibliography: Bardaiṣan of Edessa since 1966 .................................... xi List of Abbreviations ............................................................................ xix Chapter 1: Introduction. The Research and its Problems ................. 1 The First Period: 1855–1897 ......................................................... 3 The Second Period: 1897–1932 .................................................. 27 The Third Period: 1932 to the Present ...................................... 52 Chapter 2: The Book of the Laws of Countries ............................... 69 A. The Problem from the Point of View of Literary History .................................................................................... 69 B. Bardaiṣan’s Conception of God, Man and the World, According to the “Book of the Laws of the Countries” .............................................................................. 88 Chapter 3: The Cosmology ................................................................. 109 The First Cosmological Tradition ............................................. 118 The Second Cosmological Tradition ........................................ 126 The Third Cosmological Tradition ........................................... 130 The Muslim, and the Remaining Christian Arabic Traditions ............................................................................. 136 Chapter 4: Ephrem Syrus on Bardaiṣan ............................................ 143 A. Cosmology ............................................................................... 146 B. Bardaiṣan’s Hymns and Mythology ..................................... 160 C. Anthropology .......................................................................... 170 D. Fate and Astrology................................................................. 175 E. Bardaiṣan’s Personality, his Followers and his Writings .. 179 Chapter 5: The Other Traditions Regarding Bardaiṣan and the Bardesanites .................................................................................. 185 A. The Greek Tradition .............................................................. 186 B. The Further Syriac Tradition ................................................ 207 C. The Arabic Tradition ............................................................. 222 D. The Armenian tradition ........................................................ 232 E. The Other Works Ascribed to Bardaiṣan ........................... 233 Chapter 6: Conclusions: Bardaisan and the Bardesanites in the Setting of their Times ................................................................. 239 A. Edessa in the Second Century of our Era .......................... 240 B. Bardaiṣan’s Life ....................................................................... 243 C. Bardaiṣan’s Teachings ............................................................ 245 D. Bardaiṣan’s Relations to Marcion and Mani ...................... 252 E. The Fortunes of the Bardesanites ........................................ 254 Bibliography .......................................................................................... 257 Index of Subjects .................................................................................. 281 Index of Names .................................................................................... 295 Index of Modern Authors ................................................................... 299