293. The Priest Yaqub (Jacob) Saka (d. 1931)
The Priest Yaqub (Jacob) Saka (d. 1931) Priest Yaqub is son of Butrus (Peter), son of the Deacon Saka (Isaac). He was born at Bartulli in 1864 and studied under some of his contemporaries, especially the Chaldean chorepiscopus Butrus of Karmlays. He became well-versed in etymology. He was ordained a deacon in 1906 and taught at the school of his village as well as at the school of St. Matthew’s monastery. He became a priest in 1929 and died on April, 1931. He was proficient in composing poetry and his early poems show the influence of old poets. However, his themes were restricted to...
Read More292. Deacon Naum Faiq (d. 1930)
Deacon Naum Faiq (d. 1930) Deacon Naum is son of Elias Palach. He was born at Diyarbakr in 1868, where he studied and mastered the Syriac language, of which he became greatly fond. He also mastered the Turkish language. In 1889 he was ordained a deacon and for twenty years He taught in the school at Diyarbakr. In 1912 he immigrated to the United States and resided at west New York, New Jersey. He died on February 5, 1930. We have read twenty lines of verse of his which are a translation of some of the Rubaiyyat (Quatrains) of Umar-i-Khayyam into Syriac.662 He also composed rhymed song in the...
Read More291. The Chorepiscopus / Matta (Matthew) Konat (d. 1927)
The Chorepiscopus Matta (Matthew) Konat (d. 1927) Corepiscopus Konat was born at Pampakoda in Malabar, India in 1860. He studied the Syriac language and religious sciences under some of his relatives. In 1883 he was ordained a priest and began teaching at the seminary in Kotaym. Then he established and operated a small seminary in his own village, from which a group of priests graduated. In 1926 he became a chorepiscopus and died in 1927. Chorepiscopus Konat wrote a book on church festivities and letters. He translated from Syriac into Malyalim, chapters from Bar Salibi’s Scholia on the...
Read More290. Metropolitan Zaytun of Inhil (d. 1855)
Metropolitan Zaytun of Inhil (d. 1855) Metropolitan Zaytun was born at the village Inhil in Tur Abdin. He studied under teachers of his time, particularly the Metropolitan Abd al-Nur of Arbo. He also acquired a fair knowledge of literature, church rituals and calligraphy. He became a monk and was ordained a priest at the Qartamin Monastery. In 1848 he was ordained a metropolitan under the name Philoxenus and in 1851 he headed the diocese of Midyat. He died, a middle-aged man, in April 1855. He was a pious and venerable person. While still a monk, he composed an excellent ode comprising one...
Read More289. Bishop Gurgis of Azekh (d. 1847)
Bishop Gurgis of Azekh (d. 1847) Bishop Gergis was a priest of the church of Azekh in 1832. After he became a widower he became a monk at the Zafaran Monastery. In 1842 he was ordained a bishop for Azekh under the name Cyril, to assist his brother Yeshu, metropolitan of the Jazira. Five years later he was treacherously and perfidiously murdered by the governor of the Jazira, Badr Khan Bey the Bakhti. He, may God have mercy on him, was a virtuous man. With his knowledge of Syriac, he composed an ode in the heptasyllabic meter on the invasion of Muhammad Pasha of Rwanduz of his country.659 It...
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