Chapter XI.

THE PERSECUTION OF MAR YAHBH-ALLAHA AND THE CHRISTIANS IN MARAGHAH.

And a certain man, one of the Amirs, who was called NAWRIZ, and who feared not God bestirred himself, and sent letters by the hands of envoys, and he made to fly to the four quarters of the dominions of this kingdom, an order to this effect:--"The churches shall be uprooted and the altars overturned, and the celebrations of the Eucharist shall cease, and the hymns of praise, and the sounds of calls to prayer shall be abolished; and the heads (or chiefs) of the Christians, and the heads of the congregations [i.e. synagogues] of the Jews, and the great men among them shall be killed."

And that same night [the Arabs] seized Mar Catholicus in his Cell (i.e. palace) in MARAGHAH, and outside the building no man knew anything about the seizure of him until the day broke. And from the morning of that day, which was the second day of the week (Monday) they went into his Cell and plundered. everything that was in it, both that which was old and that which was new, and they did not leave even a nail in the walls.

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And the night of the third day of the week (Tuesday) following, which was the 27th day of Ilul (September), the (101) Catholicus was buffeted the whole night long by those who had seized him. And in respect of the venerable men who were with him, the Arabs tied some of them up naked with ropes; others cast aside their apparel and took to flight, and others cast themselves down from high places [and perished]. And they suspended the Catholicus by a rope head downwards, and they took a cloth used for cleaning, that is to say, a duster, and they put ashes in it, and tied it over his mouth, and one prodded him in the breast with skewer (bukshina) saying, "Abandon this Faith of thine that thou perish not; become a Hagaraya (Muhammadan) and thou shalt be saved." And the Catholicus, weeping, answered them never a word. And they smote him with a stick on the thighs and seat (i.e. posterior). And they also took him up on to the roof of the Cell, saying, "Give us gold and we will let thee go; point out to us they treasures, show us the things which thou had hidden away, and reveal to us thy hiding things and we will let thee go."

And Mar Catholicus because he was clothed with a body feeble and sensitive to pain, was afraid of death. And he began to cry out on the roof, "Where are the disciples? How is it that those whom I have brought up have betaken

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themselves to flight? Of what use are possessions (or riches) to us? (102). Come ye and buy me back from those who would sell me wrongfully, redeem your master. "Now the people, men, and women, and youths, and children, in the darkness of midnight were crying out with bitter tears, but no man was able to approach the Catholicus because of [his] fear. Nevertheless they received help from [their] weeping, and took refuge in [their] prayer, saying, "Yea, ye mountains fall upon us! O ye hills cover us" (Luke xxiix.30). And thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the prophet of the Syrians [Aphrem Syrus], who said "Because we have despised the way, and have regarded it with great contempt, [God] hath made us a reproach to those who are outside; that we may drink from them mockery. The filthy ones have ruined our churches, because we have not prayed in them in a right manner; they have defiled the altar which is before Him [because] we have not ministered thereto with pure service. [Bedjan's note in Syriac reads, "Mar Aphrem. Reading I. Section II. Fourth day of Rogation Week in the first half of the Reading."]

Finally, not to make our narrative too long, some of the disciples of the Patriarch's palace went and incurred a debt of fifteen thousand zuze (either £2,500 or £7,500) and gave the money little by little [to the Arabs], with the hope of (103) redeeming the Catholicus. And when those

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who had seized the Catholicus had received the sum of five thousand dinars, and the chalices, and the eucharistic patens, and everything that was in the palace, and that debt [i.e. the money which the disciple had undertaken to pay], they went forth from the palace at mid-day of the third day of the week.

And then a great tumult took place, and the peoples of the Arabs came with a great rush to destroy the great church of Mar Shalita, the holy martyr, and they destroyed it. And they took everything that was in it, the veils (or hangings), and the vessels and other objects used in the service. And the uproar made by their outcries, and the storm of their shoutings shook almost the earth itself and the inhabitants thereof. Peradventure the reader of this history, since he was not caught in the middle of that storm, may think that the writer is telling a fabulous story; but to speak the real truth, he who stateth what is here written calleth God to witness, that it is impossible for even one of the events which took place to be adequately described and written!

Then King KHETAM (or HATHOM), TAKPUR (TAKAWOR) of the ARIMNAYE (ARMENIANS), came down (104} into that church which RABBAN SAWMA had built, and by means of the greatness of his gifts (i.e. bribes), and by his soldiers, saved it from destruction. And the Catholicus

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having made his escape from the hands of those who had seized him, fled to it and hid himself therein that night. In the morning of the following day, which was the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), a certain Amir, who was one of the envoys of the Nawruz mentioned above came and brought certain letters [ordering] the murder of the Catholicus. And he seized many of the men, among whom were some belonging to the TAKPUR, i.e. king, [and said unto them "Show me the Catholicus, for I have certain business with him." When Mar Catholicus heard this his heart quaked and he fled from the church and left TAKPUR; and King TAKPUR appeased the Amir with certain gifts which he gave to him, and he departed from MARAGHAH.

After a few days, King TAKPUR himself (105) went to TABHRIZ, and Mar Catholicus changed all his apparel, and went forth by himself in the guise of one of the servants, and he accompanied TAKPUR as far as the city of Tabhriz, where King KAZAN had arrived. And the Catholicus kept himself hidden for seven days, until TAKPUR had been able to go unto the presence of King KAZAN, and make his story known to him, then TAKPUR asked him to go and see the king. Now, since the men who were in the regular service in the palace of the Catholicus were scattered, there remained with the Catholicus a certain number of poor young men 'who

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cleaved to him, and these went into the presence of King KAZAN with him. And the king did not know him. And when he had saluted him he asked him two questions: "Whence comest thou?" and "What is thy name?" and that was all. And the Catholicus answered him in a word, i.e. briefly, and blessed him, and then went forth, trembling having entered his bones. But this was not due to [his fear of] death, but to his seeing to what a pass the children of baptism (i.e. the Christians) had come! And because of the angel who consoled him, and his wakeful mind (106) admonished him, saying, "No temptation hath come to you except that which is of the children of men" (I Cor. x.13), he still kept up his courage with weeping and groaning, saying, "Who gave my head water, and my eyes fountains of tears, that I should weep by day and by night over the breaking of the daughter of my people? " (Jer. ix.1). Thus did these things happen.

Now it was cold in those days, and the Camp was removed to the winter station of MUGHAN; and NAWRUZ, the accursed one, was at TABHRIZ. And the Catholicus, without money for expenses, and without a beast to ride, and without any baggage-animal, returned to MARAGHAH. He remained a few days in [his] Cell, and then other men came seeking for him, but he escaped from their hands by flight, but, though with considerable

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risk, he went back there day after day. Now it was well known that all glory which is of this world bringeth upon itself in the end the humiliation which is from God, and that glory attaches in the end only to the abject humiliation which [is endured] for God's sake. That winter the Catholicus sent to the Camp [of the king] one of [his] disciples so that (107) he might effect a change in the orders, and make known [to the king] how matters were. And he returned as one fleeing [for his life], for there was no one who would espouse the cause of the Christians, or who would show compassion on those who were broken[hearted]. This disciple only escaped with the greatest difficulty from the hands of a man who was an unbeliever, and who had abandoned his Faith and had become a Hagaraya (i.e. Muhammadan).

After the Feast of the Nativity of the year of the Greeks, one thousand six hundred and seven (A.D. 1295), on the Sunday [when the prayer beginning] " Mare kul kadh badhemutha" (i.e. "the Lord of all in the Image") [is said], messengers of Nawruz, the accursed one, again came down against the Catholicus. They bore in their hands orders which said, "Give us, O Catholicus, the ten thousand dinars which thou didst receive in the time of King KAIKHATO. Behold the `Tamgha,' that is to say the document which is sealed with the seal of the Amir, and

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contains the order for giving them back."Now the [treasury of the] palace of the Catholicus was empty, for it had been plundered long ago. When the servants of the palace heard this they straightway dispersed and sought refuge in flight, and the Catholicus remained in the hands of the Mongols who had become Muhammadans and those who had brought them (108). And fear fell upon the sons of the Church (How [sad] wouldst thou say. How [sad] !), and even the reverend old men who were in the palace fled, Mar Catholicus remained alone in the hands of those accursed and impudent men. That night he promised to give them a village, but they would accept nothing but gold. And when straightway, they threatened to beat him, he began to borrow [money] and to give it [to them], and throughout that day, which was the first of the week (Sunday), until towards the evening they took [from him] two thousand dinars.

Then certain of [his] disciples took counsel with Mar Catholicus in order to help him to flight, and to deliver him from the hands of those [impudent men]. He was afraid [at first] of this, but when they pressed him he harkened (i.e. consented). And at cock crow they brought him out through a small opening in the chamber in which he was imprisoned. Now the size of the opening was so small that a

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person would think that not even a child could come out through it, and they lowered him down and he went to other places and kept himself hidden.

And when the day dawned the Muslim Mongols were sorely vexed and they did not know what they were to do. And they were also afraid lest someone should take vengeance on them (109), saying, "Ye have destroyed the Catholicus." Thereupon they straightway went forth from the city, and made their way to Baghdad.

And whilst these men were in the act of parting, another messenger arrived, an evil man who was more wicked than Nawruz, the accursed. And there was with him a Christian who had become a Muhammadan, and he brought with him another Order to the effect that thirty-six thousand dinars (£18,000) should be given [by the Catholicus]. And because Mar Catholicus was in hiding, those impudent messengers seized certain of the disciples in the palace, and by means of many blows and tortures they reduced the bodies of the disciples to a state of helplessness. And they hung them up head downwards [in the open air] during the days of frost and snow when the cold was more intense than any which had ever before been experienced. And after all [the people] in the city had been gathered together to obtain their release, the disciples were only delivered from the hands of these

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wicked men with the greatest difficulty by paying sixteen thousand dinars (£8,000). And the Catholicus and all those who cleaved to him, whether venerable old men, or monks, or members of the laity, were persecuted by every man, and were obliged to hide themselves (110) in the houses of the laity. And when the persecutors knew that they were in a certain house [those who were hidden therein] straightway departed to other houses. [And this state of affairs lasted] until the great Feast of the Resurrection [A.D. 1296].

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