Edessa, Chronicle of
EDESSA, CHRONICLE OF
The Chronicum Edessenum, an anonymous chronicle of the late 6th century. It begins with an official record of the flooding of the city in a.d. 201. In this flood, says the record, the ecclesia christianorum or Christian church was hit by the waters, thus supplying valuable witness to early Christianity in osrhoene. This document is the first dated Syriac writing. The chronicler uses generally trustworthy sources for his brief, almost annalistic recital of the main events, the succession of bishops, and other matters pertaining to the history of Edessa. It is thus a fine historical source and is preserved in only one manuscript (Vat. syr. 163, 7th century).
Bibliography: i. guidi et al., eds. and trs., Chronica minora, 6 v. (Corpus scriptorum Chritianorum 1–6, Scriptores syri ser. 3.4; 1903–05); Eng. tr. b. h. cowper, The Journal of Sacred Literature, 4th ser., 4 (1864) 28–45. j. tixeront, Les Origines de l'église d'Édesse (Paris 1888). i. ortiz de urbina, Gregoriana 15 (1934) 82–81, origins.
[i. ortiz de urbina]