Arameans

New Midyat Project Seeks to Draw Syriac-Arameans Back to Tur Abdin

Hano Qritho: A Little Spring of Joy Before the Great Fast

Mor Jacob (♱ ca. 521) is known by his followers as the flute of the Holy Spirit (sometimes even the Harp), second only in importance to St. Ephrem himself. From an early age, his prophetic voice and poetic splendor were recognized by ecclesiastical authorities. He spent the majority of his life preaching throughout the territory of Batnan, but was ordained Bishop of Serugh in 518. Jacob remains not only an important spiritual writer, but an important source for historians of anti-Chalcedonian theology. Of his approximately 700 works, only roughly half survive, some of which have yet to be edited and many of which have yet to be translated into modern languages.

Mor Jacob of Serugh

"Look and see the destruction of Omid (Diyarbakir) when it was handed over, when its foot was caught in the trap of the Assyrians who hunted it with skill and persistence, when they stirred it with the sounds of bowstrings and bows."

"The deceitful workers sent by Persia descended upon her, and with their swords they trampled her beautiful grapes, pressing her like clusters—the bodies of her children—and wine flowed within her, which the swords of Assyria pressed. Beautiful forms, beloved persons, were destroyed in the hasty trampling by captors when it was opened like a great winepress of blood."