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Document Details : Title: New Light from a Dark Star Subtitle: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172 Author(s): ULISHNEY, Paul Journal: Le Muséon Volume: 137 Issue: 3-4 Date: 2024 Pages: 357-383 DOI: 10.2143/MUS.137.3.3293892 Abstract : Many of the letters of Jacob of Edessa remain an underutilized source for reconstructing ecclesiastical and religious history after the rise of Islam in greater Syria, in part because the vast majority remain unedited. This essay examines one part of that collection as preserved in British Library Add. 12,172: Jacob’s correspondence with a shadowy figure named Eustathius of Dara, known to us only from these letters and a passing reference in Michael the Great’s Chronicle. By isolating this correspondence within the larger collection for study, this article clarifies certain misconceptions about the nature of Jacob’s letter collection, and, secondly, argues that Eustathius was a member of the Hellenized aristocracy of Dara who sought Jacob out for advanced learning in Greek literature and philosophy. In this capacity, he acted as his potential patron; thus, these letters help shed light on networks of patronage that existed between monastic and aristocratic elites in the early Islamic Jazīra. I tentatively suggest that Jacob’s correspondence with Eustathius should be dated to the years prior to his bishopric (684-688), when he operated from the monasteries of Edessa, and therefore has the potential to shed light on a period of his life about which little is known. |
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