Zuptara (West Syrian Diocese)
Zuptara (or Zupatra, Zubtara, Zupatra, Zipatra) was a West Syrian diocese in the Melitene region of eastern Turkey. The diocese of Zuptara is attested between the eighth and eleventh centuries, and twelve of its bishops are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian. The diocese almost certainly lapsed during the twelfth century.
Sources
The main primary source for the West Syrian bishops of Zuptara is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the Chronicle of the Syrian patriarch Michael the Syrian (1166–99).[1] In this Appendix Michael listed most of the bishops consecrated by the Syrian patriarchs of Antioch between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Twenty-eight Syrian patriarchs sat during this period, and in many cases Michael was able to list the names of the bishops consecrated during their reigns, their monasteries of origin, and the place where they were consecrated.
Location
Zuptara was a small town to the southwest of Melitene (modern Malatya) in eastern Turkey. It lay close to the border between the Byzantine Empire and the ʿAbbasid Caliphate, and for much of the ninth and tenth centuries it was disputed between the Byzantines and the Muslims.[2]
Bishops of Zuptara
Twelve West Syrian bishops of Zuptara between the eighth and eleventh centuries are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian.[3]
| Name | From | Consecrated in the reign of | Place of consecration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theophilus | Monastery of Elishaʿ | Quriaqos (793–817) | not known |
| Thomas | Monastery of the Easterners | Dionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45) | not known |
| Shemʿon | Monastery of Mar Yaʿqob of Kaishum | Ignatius II (878–83) | not known |
| Yohannan | Monastery of Mar Shemʿon | Dionysius II (896–909) | not known |
| Theophilus | Monastery of Yohannan | Dionysius II (896–909) | not known |
| David | Monastery of Mar Shlemun of Dolikh | Yohannan IV (910–22) | not known |
| Theodosius | Monastery of Mar Atonos | Yohannan V (936–53) | not known |
| Stephen | not known | Yohannan V (936–53) | not known |
| Basil | not known | Iwanis II (954–7) | not known |
| Yohannan | Monastery of Nahra d'Qarire | Dionysius III (958–61) | not known |
| Quriaqos | Monastery of Nahra d'Qarire | Yohannan VI Sarigta (965–86) | Melitene |
| Yohannan | not known | Yohannan bar ʿAbdon (1042–57) | not known |
The diocese of Zuptara almost certainly lapsed during the twelfth century.
Notes
References
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- Jean-Baptiste Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d'Antiche (1166-1199). Éditée pour la première fois et traduite en francais I-IV (1899;1901;1905;1910; a supplement to volume I containing an introduction to Michael and his work, corrections, and an index, was published in 1924. Reprinted in four volumes 1963, 2010).
