Chronicle of Zuqnin
| Chronicle of Zuqnin ܟܪܘܢܝܩܐ ܕܙܘܩܢ̈ܝܢ | |
|---|---|
| Vatican Library British Library | |
Excerpt from the chronicle (fol.136v) describing & illustrating the appearance of a comet in iyyōr 1071 SE (May 760 AD) | |
| Type | Chronicle |
| Date | mid-8th century AD |
| Place of origin | Zuqnin Monastery |
| Language | Classical Syriac with many Arabisms |
| Scribe | Elisha of Zuqnin |
| Author | Joshua the Stylite |
| Condition | Well-preserved palimpsest, damaged preface, missing first & last pages |
| Contents | Biblical history, late antique Near Eastern events, early Islamic rule, spiritual commentary, anti-Chalcedonian polemics |
The Chronicle of Zuqnin is an 8th-century Syriac historical work composed by a monk, most likely Joshua the Stylite, from the Monastery of Zuqnin near Amida on the upper Tigris. It covers history from the creation of the world to the mid-8th century AD with an account of political, social, and religious life in the Near East, in addition to spiritual affairs like miracles, martyrdom, and celestial observations from the author’s perspective and lived experience, during and after the Muslim conquest.
Divided into four parts, the chronicle draws from a variety of sources, both Syriac and non-Syriac, including the Bible and John of Ephesus, and also features the author's own original commentary. Some documents, such as the Revelation of the Magi, are only extant in this chronicle, making it an invaluable resource for modern academia and Syriac studies.