Milakovich Zhanna

A forgotten Syrian stylite Timothy of Kakhushta

Abstract

The article is devoted to a little-known Syrian saint of the VIIIth — IXth century Timothy of Kakhushta, whose hagiographical «dossier» comprises texts in Arabic and Georgian. The analysis of his Arabic Life clearly reveals that he was a stylite. Therefore his Life can be used as a source for studing the history of Syrian stylitism in the Muslim era as well as its reception in the hagiography. The fact that the author of Timothy’s Life gives no accent to the stylitism of the saint is also typical of the Byzantine hagiography of the same period. The narration of saint’s miracles which occupies more than a half of the text demonstrates the life of the Christian countryside in Syria in the early Abbasid Caliphate. One can also find two particularly important episodes in the Life. The fi rst one mentions Maronites as Monothelites and the second one is related to caliph Harun ar-Rashid and Theodoretus, patriarch of Antioch and has a parallel in the chronicle of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria.

Keywords

Timothy of Kakhushta, stylite, Syrian stylitism, the Church of Antioch, saint’s Life, miracles, Arabic Melkite hagiography, Maronites, Theodoretus patriarch of Antioch, Harun ar-Rashid.

References

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Information about the author

Milakovich Zhanna