History of the Za'faraan Monastery

Syrian Orthodox Patriarch and scholar Ignatius Aphram Barsoum (1887-1957), who is well known to Syriac scholars for his al-Lu lu al-Manthur, here offers, in Arabic, a full history of the famous Saffron Monastery, located outside Mardin, and the seat of the patriarchate from the 13th into the 20th century. Barsoum, who was a monk there, surveys the monastery and its personages from its origin forward, with chapters on, among other subjects, the monastery s location, its description, associated churches, its origin and original name, its renovation, biographical information on Mor Hnonyo (to whom it is dedicated), monasticism in and around Mardin, Mor Solomon (associated with the monastery s founding), patriarchs and maphrians associated with the monastery, studies undertaken there and the monastery s scholars, and the library with some of its manuscripts and printed editions. An English translation of the work by Matti Moosa is also available from Gorgias Press.