Babai of Nisibis (6th/7th cent.) [Ch. of E.]
Monastic author. According to the Khuzistan Chronicle there was rivalry between him and Babai the Great, as a result of which he was known as ‘Babai the Small’. His authorship of a monastic ‘Letter to Cyriacus’, transmitted in W.-Syr. mss. and attributed to ‘Babai whom the wicked Barṣawma slew’ (i.e., the Cath. Babowai, 457–84), is confirmed by a quotation, attributed to him, in Dadishoʿ ’s ‘Commentary on Abba Isaiah’ (13:18). He was also author of some memre, one being ‘On the final evil hour’ (of which a fragment in Sogdian translation also survives), and at least one Tešboḥtā (which is also found in the Maronite Weekday Office).
Sources
- S. P. Brock, Malponuto d-abohoto suryoye d-ʿal ṣluto (Glane/Losser, 1988), 93–114. (Syr. of Letter to Cyriacus)
- S. P. Brock, The Syriac Fathers on Prayer, 136–65. (ET of Letter to Cyriacus)
- S. P. Brock, ‘Some early witnesses of the East Syriac liturgical tradition’, JAAS 18 (2004), 9–45, esp. 38–9.
- A. J. Maclean, East Syrian Daily Offices (1894), 157–8. (ET of Tešboḥtā)
- N. Sims-Williams, The Christian Sogdian manuscript C2 (Berliner Turfantexte XII; 1985), 87–100.
How to Cite This Entry
Footnote Style Citation with Date:
Sebastian P. Brock , “Babai of Nisibis,” in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition, edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay (Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018), https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Babai-of-Nisibis.
Bibliography Entry Citation:
Brock, Sebastian P. “Babai of Nisibis.” In Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Edited by Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay. Digital edition prepared by David Michelson, Ute Possekel, and Daniel L. Schwartz. Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Babai-of-Nisibis.
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