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Chronography by Elias of Nisibis (aka Elijah Bar Shinajah)

Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Excerpts
English from Delaporte (1910)

Year 131 [A.H.]

Begins on Friday 30 Ab of the year 1059 of the Greeks [30 August 748 AD]

A year in which there were many earthquakes; many places ruined; a valley [located] near Mount Tabor was transported from its place to 4 miles with its houses and properties, without a single grain of dust falling from its houses, and without either a man nor an animal dying , or even a hen [sic]. In which the Church of the Jacobites, at Mabug, collapsed on a Sunday at the time of the Mass and many people perished there (Kuwarazmi'. - Daniel the Jacobite).

French from Delaporte (1910)

An 131. — - A commence le vendredi 30 Ab de l'an 1059 des Grecs [30 aout 748 de J.-C.].

En lequel il y eut beaucoup de tremblements de terre; beaucoup dendroits s'ecroulerent; une ville [situee] pres du mont Tabor fut transportee de son lieu a 4 milles avec ses maisons et ses biens, sans qu'un seul grain de poussiere tombat de ses maisons, et sans que mourut ou un homme, ou un animal, ou meme un coq [sic]. — En lequel l'eglise des Jacobites, a Mabug, s'ecroula un dimanche au moment de la messe et beaucoup de gens y perirent (Kuwarazmi'. — Daniel le Jacobite)

French from Delaporte (1910) - embedded



Syriac - embedded

  • not bookmarked


Chronology
Year Reference Corrections Notes
31 Aug. 748 - 19 Aug. 749 CE A.H. 131 none
  • Calculated with CHRONOS
  • Elias specifies the year of this earthquake as A.H. 131 (31 August 748 -19 August 749) while providing an explanation that A.H. 131 began on 30 Ab (August) of A.G. 1059 which is correct within a day.
  • 30 Ab A.H. 131 falls within A.G. 1059 whether one uses Babylonian reckoning or the Macedonian reckoning that was the standard among Syriac authors (Sebastian Brock, personal communication 2021).
  • Elias of Nisibis states that the church collapsed in Mabbug on a Sunday at the time of Mass unlike Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre who did not specify a day, did not describe the service as Mass, and seemed to describe an impromptu prayer service.
Seismic Effects
  • A year in which there were many earthquakes1
  • many places ruined
  • a valley [located] near Mount Tabor2 was transported from its place to 4 miles with its houses and properties, without a single grain of dust falling from its houses, and without either a man nor an animal dying , or even a hen [sic]
  • the Church of the Jacobites3, at Mabbug, collapsed on a Sunday at the time of the Mass and many people perished there
Footnotes

1 could refer to two or more earthquakes in the same year and aftershocks.

2 probably mislocated for theological reasons - i.e., to show that mankind's "sins" created earthquakes which affected "sacred geography". Mount Tabor was and is the the traditional location and pilgrimage site for the influential New Testament story of the Transfiguration. Byzantine authors associated this landslide with the Talking Mule Quake which would place it in or around northern Syria/Jazira.

3 Pseudo-Dionysius said they were Chalcedonians. This illustrates the propensity of authors of this time, particularly Syriac Authors, to emphasize seismic suffering by members of rival church factions as part of a belief that they were being punished for their sin of belonging to a rival faction.

Locations
Footnotes

2 probably mislocated for theological reasons - i.e., to show that mankind's "sins" created earthquakes which affected "sacred geography". Mount Tabor was and is the the traditional location and pilgrimage site for the influential New Testament story of the Transfiguration. Byzantine authors associated this landslide with the Talking Mule Quake which would place it in or around northern Syria/Jazira.

Sources
Sources

Online Versions and Further Reading
References