Chronicle of Zuqnin (aka Annals Part IV) by Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre

Background and Biography

Background and Biography

Excerpts

English from Harrak (1999)

• Part 4
• from Harrak (1999:177-178)

[747-748] The year one thousand and fifty nine:

A powerful and terrible earthquake took place in the Western region:

The earth is utterly broken apart,
the earth is split open,
the earth is shaken violently.
The earth staggers like a drunkard
and sways like a shack.⁵

The earth shall shake violently, the earth shall move exceedingly, and it shall swing like a hut⁵. The iniquities, sins and evil doings that are done by us everyday bring about these things, similar ones, and others which are much worse. Where can we show the causes of the earthquakes if these were not brought on by the sins of people? Is it the case that the earth becomes feable, and then, when she quakes and quivers, does she call upon her Maker to come and strengthen her? I do not believe so! But that she cries for help as she quakes, it is because of the wicked deeds that are on her, as she clearly indicated once in the following event.

A tremor took place during the night, and something like the noise of a roaring bull was heard from a great distance. When the morning came, the bishop emphatically ordered that all must gather and go out for prayer, saying that this happened because of sins. When everyone came to the prayer, they went out of the city altogether to a shrine called Church of the Mother of God, which was located outside the city of Mabbug in the West⁶. Those people were also Chalcedonians and their bishop marched before them. When they arrived, they all went inside the shrine like goats inside the fold. As they cried out together in prayer, a tremor suddenly occurred. The church collapsed on them, crushing them to death, along with their bishop. None came out alive; all were abruptly crushed in fatal and horrifying fashion, as if in a wine-press. The righteous perished alongside the sinner.

Footnotes

5. Isaiah 24:19-20

6. Elias I 172: Same date as above. Michael IV 467 [II 5101].

Syriac - embedded

• not bookmarked
• from archive.org

Chronology

Date

Year	Reference	Corrections	Notes
1 October 747 - 30 September 748 CE	A.G. 1059	none	calculated for Macedonian reckoning CHRONOS Macedonian reckoning with a New Year starting on 1 October would be the standard for Syriac sources of the time (Sebastian Brock, personal communication - 2021). The date range for Babylonian Reckoning is 2 April 748 - 1 April 749 CE (calculated using CHRONOS) This account, unlike later author Elias of Nisibis, does not specify that the earthquake struck on a Sunday. In fact, the account suggests that the priest ordered the parishioners to attend an impromptu prayer service. This is potentially important because 18 January 749 CE fell on a Saturday (calculated using CHRONOS).

Time of 1st shock - the Holy Desert Quake

Time of Day	Reference	Corrections	Notes
during the night	A tremor took place during the night, and something like the noise of a roaring bull was heard from a great distance	none	al-Muqaffa, al-Makin, and Chronicon Orientale, all reporting from Egypt, described an earthquake which struck at night. Mujir al-Din, reporting from Jerusalem, also described an earthquake which struck at night. The nighttime earthquake was the Holy Desert Quake which would have been felt in Egypt and cause damage in Jerusalem Thus, the tremor experienced in Mabbug which took place during the night and was heard from a great distance was the Holy Desert Quake

Time of 2nd shock - the Talking Mule Quake

Time of Day	Reference	Corrections	Notes
mid morning	When the morning came, the bishop emphatically ordered that all must gather and go out for prayer, saying that this happened because of sins. they went out of the city altogether to a shrine called 'Church of the Mother of God', which was located outside the city of Mabbug in the West their bishop marched before them When they arrived, they all went inside the shrine As they cried out together in prayer, a tremor suddenly occurred. The church collapsed on them, crushing them to death, along with their bishop	none	The time it took to march to the shrine, gather inside, and start prayer from when the morning came suggests the time of the church collapse was mid morning Paul the Deacon, Anastasius Bibliothecarius, and Theophanes all specified that the Talking Mule Quake struck at ~10 am - i.e., mid morning

Seismic Effects

• A powerful and terrible earthquake took place in the Western region
• A tremor took place during the night, and something like the noise of a roaring bull was heard from a great distance
• a tremor suddenly occurred. The church collapsed on them, crushing them to death, along with their bishop

Locations

• the Western region
• Mabbug

Sources

Sources

Background Information

Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre vs. Dionysius of Tell-Mahre

Online Versions and Further Reading

References

Notes

Misc. Notes

A good example of the effect of textual transmission is illustrated in Pseudo-Dionysius' description of the prayer service. Pseudo-Dionysius does not supply the day of the service and implies that it was prompted by the Priests' observation of the distant seismic shock from the night before. It appears to be an impromptu prayer service. By the time Elias of Nisibis tells this story in the early 11th century CE, however, a day is supplied - Sunday. Elias adds that the earthquake struck at the time of mass. When Michael the Syrian tells the story in the 12th century, the church collapse again takes place at Sunday Mass but when Chronicon Ad Annum 1234 tells the story in the 13th century, the earthquake struck not only at mass but at the exact time the priest was raising his hands over ablation for the Sunday sacrifice. Chronicon Ad Annum 1234 reports that all inside the church perished; indicating that there were no witnesses. Obviously, if there were no witnesses to report that the earthquake struck at the very moment in the service described, the timing of the earthquake striking at that moment is a literary invention. Specifying that the earthquake struck on a Sunday at mass appears to be either a literary invention or a misinterpretation from sources. As this was a time of schisms in Christendom, it can also be noted that Pseudo-Dionysius specifies that the Church was of the Chalcedonians while Elias of Nisibis specifies that it was a Jacobite church. These rival factions emerged in schisms that appeared after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE where what we know today as the geographically western churches of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants descend from the Chalcedonians and the geographically eastern churches of the Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Indian, and Syriac (aka Jacobite) churches descend from Christian groups that rejected the Council of Chalcedon. The schisms were apparently very bitter and the church faction in these reports was very likely reported as a faction of a rival church to the author of the account. The individual author likely viewed the church collapse as "God's punishment" for engaging in what the author believed to be some form of heresy. This illustrates the nature of these chronicles which were composed primarily as moral instruction with history as a backdrop. This is the reason why, for example, I take a skeptical view when seismic effects are potentially re-located compared to other authors to a place that would have had biblical significance to the author of the work (e.g. the landslide re-located to Mount Tabor and the spring move located at Jericho). The days of the week for 18 January between 746 and 750 CE are noted below:

Date	Day of the Week
18 January 746 CE	Tuesday
18 January 747 CE	Wednesday
18 January 748 CE	Thursday
18 January 749 CE	Saturday
18 January 750 CE	Sunday

Only 750 CE has an 18 January date on a Sunday, which is roughly one to two years after A.G. 1059. Apparently, by the 4th Century CE, the days of the week were shared across all groups in the Roman empire despite their using different calendars. This habit apparently continued long after the Western Roman Empire fell at the end of the 5th century CE. The fourmilab converter was used to construct the table.