Alexander Treiger

Maronite, Melkite, or Jacobite? Investigating the Confessional Affiliation of 'Abd al-Masih ibn Na'ima al-Himsi, the Arab Christian Translator of Plotinus

Alexander Treiger-Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Program in Religious Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). atreiger@dal.ca

The present study attempts to determine the confessional backgroundof the ninth-century Arab Christian translator of Plotinus, Abd al-Masih ibn Na'ima al-Himsi. Three scenarios are examined: that he was a Maronite, a Melkite, or a Jacobite. Given that we have, unfortunately, no primary sources that contextualize al-Himsi within his Christian environment, any answer to this question must remain tentative. Nonetheless, it appears likely that al-Himsi was a Chalcedonian (either a Maronite/monothelete or a Melkite/dyothelete) and not a Jacobite, and that he had some connection to Syrian or Palestinian Origenism. It is as part of this probable Origenist background that he became exposed to Greek Neoplatonism and gained access to a Greek manuscript of Plotinus. If he was a Melkite, it seems likely that he received his philosophical and theological education and was trained as a translator in one of the monasteries of Palestine - such as the monastery of Mar Saba, which was a cutting-edge multilingual translation centre at the time, or the monastery of Mar Khariton. If he was a Maronite, he must have had ties to the likely Origenist milieu of the monastery of Mar Maron in western Syria.

Keywords: Middle Eastern Christianity, Melkites, Maronites, Jacobites, Origenism, Plotinus, Neoplatonism, Palestinian monasteries, Graeco-Arabic translation movement, al-Kindi, Muslim philosophy.

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In MODERN studies devoted to the so-called "Greek-Arabic translation movement" of the eighth and tenth centuries, Christian translators are usually considered exclusively as "intermediaries" who strictly followed the requirements of their Muslim "customers"and, consequently, practically did not influence either the choice of translated texts or the design and content of the texts themselves. transfers. Even in cases where Christians not only translated but also adapted Greek texts, as was the case with the Arabic Theology of Aristotle, an adaptation of Plotinus ' Ennead, prepared in the 1930s by the Christian scholar Abd al-Masih ibn Na'ima al-Himsi and edited by the Muslim philosopher al-Kindi,- studies of the Christian context have hardly been undertaken. This article attempts to advance in this direction by presenting some preliminary observations on the confessional affiliation and professional training of the Arab-Christian translator Plotinus.

Why is this question of scientific interest? The answer is simple: by identifying the confessional affiliation of ' Abd al-Masih ibn Na'im al-Himsi, we are more likely to identify the sources of Arab Neoplatonism and outline the continuity of Middle Eastern Christian and Muslim philosophical and theological thought. Arab Neoplatonism and Arab-Muslim philosophy will not appear to have emerged ex nihilo at all, as most modern studies do, because their true roots will be found in the labyrinth of philosophical and theological thought of Middle Eastern Christianity. This will make it possible to critically examine Arab Neoplatonism, as well as the direction of Arab-Muslim philosophy that al-Kindi initiated, in their broader philosophical and theological context. 1
1. For Plotinus ' Arabic translations, see Aouad, M. (1989) La Theologie d'aristote et autres textes du Plotinus Arabus, in R. Goulet (ed.) Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, 5 vols, in 7 parts to-date, vol. I, pp. 541 - 590. Paris: CNRS editions; Adamson, P. (2002) The Arabic Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of the Theology of Aristotle. London: Duckworth; Zimmermann, F. W. (1986) "The Origins of the So-Called Theology of Aristotle", in J. Kraye, W. F. Ryan, C. B. Schmitt (eds) Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages: The Theology and Other Texts, pp. 110 - 240. London: Warburg Institute, University of London; Gutas, D. (2007) "The Text of the Arabic Plotinus: Prolegomena to a Critical Edition", in D'Ancona, C. (ed.) The Libraries of the

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What do we know about Plotinus ' Arabic-Christian translator? From his nisbah, i.e. the name indicating his origin - al-Himsi - we know that he was originally from the western Syrian city of Homs or its environs. He was undoubtedly proficient in both Greek and Arabic, since he translated Plotinus ' Arabic directly from Greek. 2 He may also have been proficient in Syriac 3. Some researchers believe that his knowledge of Greek characterizes him as a Melkite 4. This is certainly possible, and even probable (as will be shown below), but it should not be forgotten that during this period the Melkites, Maronites, and Jacobites of Syria were not clearly distinguished in terms of language. Proficiency in Greek was not uncommon in all three confessional communities, especially in the monastic community and among the urban intelligentsia.5 Thus, the fact of proficiency in the Greek language is not enough to unambiguously identify the confessional affiliation of al-Himsi.

It is also obvious that al-Himsi had a thorough philosophical and theological training and was familiar with the works of Neo-Platonists firsthand. Read Plotinus in the original - let alone translate it from Greek to Arabic - without having to

Neoplatonists, pp. 371 - 384- Leiden - Boston: Brill. For the al-Kindi translation circle, see Endress, G. (1997) "The Circle of al-Kindi", in Endress, G. and Kruk, R. (eds) The Ancient Tradition in Christian and Islamic Hellenism, pp. 43-76. Leiden: Research School CNWS. For the philosophical direction associated with the name al-Kindi, see Adamson, R. (2007) "The Kindian Tradition: The Structure of Philosophy in Arabic Neoplatonism", in C. DAncona (ed.) The Libraries of the Neoplatonists, pp. 351 - 370. Leiden, Boston: Brill.

2. Brock, S.P. (2007) "A Syriac Intermediary for the Arabic Theology of Aristotle? In Search of a Chimera", in C. D'Ancona (ed.) The Libraries of the Neoplatonists, pp. 293 - 306. Leiden, Boston: Brill.

3. Ibn an-Nadim notes that the same Abd al-Masih ibn Na'imah translated Aristotle's "On Sophistical Refutations" [from Greek] into Syriac, and Ibrahim ibn Baqqush subsequently translated the Syriac text into Arabic, with some corrections. This statement, however, is not entirely consistent with the data of the surviving Arabic translations. The author of the oldest Arabic translation of the treatise "On Sophistical Refutations" is called "an-Na'imi", i.e. Abd al-Masih ibn Na'ima al-Himsi, there is no question of Ibrahim ibn Bakkush, and the translation itself was apparently made not from Syriac, but from Greek. См. Hugonnard-Roche, H. (1989) "Les Refutations Sophistiques", in R. Goulet (ed.) Dictionnaire desphilosophes antiques, 5 vols, in 7 parts to-date, vol. I, pp. 526 - 528. Paris: CNRS editions.

4. Zimmermann, F. W. "The Origins of the So-Called Theology of Aristotle", p. 136.

5. Among the Jacobites who were proficient in Greek, we may mention Theodosius of Edessa, who in 802 translated some of the poems of Gregory the Theologian from Greek into Syriac.

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such training would be unthinkable. It is most likely that he received similar training in a monastic environment. So, in the first half of the ninth century, in Syria or, possibly, in Palestine (assuming that al-Himsi got acquainted with Neo-Platonism in one of the Palestinian monasteries) Christian Neoplatonism still lingered, most likely a direct extension or offshoot of sixth-century Palestinian Origenism. 6

So, in order to characterize the philosophical and theological training of al-Himsi, it is necessary to trace the fate of Middle Eastern Christian Neoplatonism and Origenism in the era of late antiquity and the early Islamic period. It is also necessary to consider the existence of Christian Neoplatonism and Origenism directly in Homs and its environs. If, for example, it is established that Homs was the center of Christian Neo-Platonism and Origenism during this period, this will explain al-Himsi's acquaintance with Plotinus, as well as the fact that he obtained access to the Greek manuscript of Plotinus ' Ennead7. It is also necessary to review the programs of philosophical and theological training in various Christian communities in order to determine which of them is most correlated with the intellectual "profile" of al-Himsi as a translator of Plotinus 8. Of the Christian denominations of that time, three are to be considered: the Maronites, the Melkites, and the Jacobites.9 To opre-

6. Brock, S. P. "A Syriac Intermediary", pp. 305-306; ср. King, D. (2011) "Origenism in Sixth-Century Syria: The Case of a Syriac Manuscript of Pagan Philosophy", in A. Furst (ed.) Origenes undseinErbe in Orient und Okzident, pp. 179 - 212. Miinster: Aschendorff Verlag.

7. For an overview of what Homs was like in late antiquity, see Nasrallah, J. (1971) " Saints et eveques d'emese (Horns)", Proche-Orient Chretien 21: 213-234; Ryden, L. (1993) " Gaza, Emesa and Constantinople: Late ancient cities in the light of hagiography", in Ryden, L. and Rosenqvist, J. O. (eds) Aspects of Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium: Papers Read at the Colloquium Held at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul 31 May-5 June 1992, pp. 133-144. Stockholm: Swedish Research Institute.

8. On the formation of confessional programs of philosophical and theological education in the context of the church schisms of Christians in Syria, see Tannous, J. (2013) "You Are What You Read: Qenneshre and the Miaphysite Church in the Seventh Century", in P. Wood (ed.) History and Identity in the Late Antique Near East, pp. 425-4.. 96-102. Oxford - New York: Oxford University Press.

9. Due to al-Himsi's origin in western Syria, it is highly unlikely that he belonged to the" Nestorian " Church of the East. It should also be noted that during this period, Nestorians did not yet participate in translations directly from Greek to Arabic.

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to determine which of them al-Himsi most likely belonged to, we will try to "enter" him in turn in each of them.

Version A: Al-Himsi-Maronite

The most significant confessional component of the Christian population of Homs and its environs in the early Islamic period was, of course, Monothelitism (the doctrine of the unity of Christ, which was adhered to by the Maronites). The Muslim historian al-Masudi (d. 956) notes that the majority of the Maronites in his time "lived in the mountains of Lebanon and Sanyra, 10 and in Homs and its surrounding areas, such as Hama, Shaizar, and Ma'arrat al-Numan." 11 The Chalcedonian religion, in its Monothelitic form, became widespread in Syria during the reign of the Emperor Heraclius (610-641), when many Jacobites made a Monothelitic compromise and accepted the previously rejected teachings of the Council of Chalcedon (451) .12 In Syria, monothelitism was especially widespread in rural areas, as well as monasteries, especially in the monastery of Mar Marona, from which the Maronites got their name (this monastery will be discussed below). In urban areas, by contrast, the episcopate and the majority of priests and laity were Diphelitists, meaning they were Melkites rather than Maronites, but urban monasteries tended to be in solidarity with rural communities and professed monothelitism13.

directly from Greek (and not just from Syriac) to Arabic, is Hunayn ibn Ishaq, who lived a generation later.

10. North-eastern region of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range.

11. al-Mas'udi (1893) al-Tanbih wa-l-ishraf / Ed. M. J. de Goeje, s. 153 (emphasis added). Leiden: Brill.

12. Michel le Syrien (1899 - 1910) Chronique de Michel le Syrien, patriarche Jacobite d'Antioche (1166 - 1199)/Ed. and trans. J. B. Chabot, vol. II, p. 412 (French) / vol. IV, p. 410 (сир.). Paris: E. Leroux; Suermann, H. (1998) Die Grundungsgeschichte der maronitischen Kirche, S. 188. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz.

13. Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, S. 195 - 196. On the possible presence of Melkite monasteries in Homs, see Mouterde, R. (1934) "Un ermitage melkite en Emesene au Vllle siecle", Melanges de VUniversite Saint-Joseph 18: 101-106. It should be noted, however, that from the only inscription considered in the article mentioning the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch Theodoret (c. 787 G.) and his brother, the Melkite bishop Leo of Homs, it does not follow that this is a Melkite (and not a Maronite) inscription; according to Zurman, in the second half of the eighth century, the Maronites did not yet have a separate hierarchy and, therefore, still commemorated Melkite hierarchs.

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Is there any reason to believe that the Maronites of Syria at the time of al-Himsi might have been familiar with Plotinus ' legacy? Due to the fragmentary sources about the intellectual life of the Maronites of this period, it is hardly possible to give an exhaustive answer to this question. Nevertheless, some data allow us to clarify the picture. Let's turn to hagiography. The life of Simeon the Fool, compiled by Leontius of Naples in Cyprus in the 40s of the seventh century, 14 has preserved a curious record of the spread of Origenism in the vicinity of Homs. It reports that two monks "from a monastery near Emesa" (i.e., Homs) became interested in Origen's philosophy. They debated whether Origen's wisdom was from God. One monk defended the inspiration of Origen's writings, while another argued that if Origen's wisdom had come from God, he would not have deviated into heresy. Unable to resolve the dispute, they went to Palestine to seek help from the Palestinian elders. In the desert near the Dead Sea, they met the hermit Abba John, who sent them back to Homs to see Simeon the Fool. On their return to Homs, the monks found Simeon in a tavern, " eating beans like a bear." One of them mentally condemned Simeon, but Simeon read his mind, grabbed him by the ear and slapped him. Then, without any question on their part, Simeon resolved the argument himself: "Why do you disdain beans? After all, they were soaked for forty days, and Origen does not eat them, because he went too far into the sea and could not get out, and was drowned in the abyss. " 15
Of course, there is no way to determine whether these funny events occurred as they are described in the life. But it doesn't matter. The main point is that Origen's legacy was widely discussed in monastic circles both in the middle of the sixth century, when Simeon lived, and a century later, in the 40s of the seventh century, when Leontius of Naples compiled the life of this saint. ,

14. Krueger, D. (1996) Symeon the Holy Fool: Leontius' Life and the Late Antique City, pp. 4 - 5. Berkeley: University of California Press.

15. Polyakova S. The life and deeds of Abba Simeon, the fool for Christ's sake, recorded by Leontius, Bishop of Naples of Crete//The lives of Byzantine saints. St. Petersburg: Corvus, Terra Fantastica, 1995-p. 163-164; cf. Krueger, D. Symeon the Holy Fool, p. 157. Polyakova explains that soaking beans for forty days means that Simeon did not eat anything during Lent and at the moment was breaking down beans.

16. According to Kruger, " the following episode is from the life of Simeon... it can serve as evidence... the continuing relevance of Origenist controversies in the seventh century" - see Krueger, D. Symeon the Holy Fool, p. 27.

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that the place in which the dispute over Origen broke out, in the life of Simeon the Fool, is named a monastery in the vicinity of Homs. This is an important confirmation of the spread of Origenism in western Syria. The hagiography, alas, does not give the name of this monastery. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that it was a Chalcedonian monastery and a major cultural center with close ties to Palestine; otherwise, the concern of the monks of this monastery with Origenist disputes (in the VI century. nor would their journey to Palestine to visit the Chalcedonian elders there have made any sense. The most famous Chalcedonian monastery, founded in the vicinity of Homs shortly after the Council of Chalcedon in order to strengthen the position of Chalcedonism in western Syria, was the monastery of Mar Marona. Its exact location remains a matter of dispute, but it is known that it was located either near Hama or near Apamea, north of Homs. One source even says that the monastery of Mar Marona was located "in Homs" - apparently for the same reason as Hama, and (before the reign of the Caliph Abu Abiyya) Apamea was administratively part of "jund Hims" (district of Homs)17.

Taking into account the context of Leontius ' narrative, it can also be assumed that the monastery library had some of Origen's works - two monks from the life of Simeon the Fool were familiar with his interpretations of the Holy Scriptures and his Hexapla, 18 as well as, apparently, with the "Gnostic" works of Evagrius.19 Because of the names-

17. This is the report of the 14th-century Muslim historian, "the lord of Hama", Abu-l-Fida'. См. Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, S. 59; Naaman, P. (2011) The Maronites, the Origins of an Antiochene Church: A Historical and Geographical Study of the Fifth to Seventh Centuries, pp. 14 - 19. Collegeville: Liturgical Press.

18. " One spoke: "His inherent knowledge was not from God, but from the abundance of natural gifts: having a flexible mind in general, he sharpened it by reading the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy Fathers, and this helped him write his works." The second objected: "It is impossible for a man to say what he has said, especially in his Hexaplas, because of his natural abundance of gifts." Polyakova S. The Life and Deeds of Abba Simeon, p. 162; cf. Krueger, D. Symeon the Holy Fool, p. 156.

19. This conclusion can be drawn from the report that the monk who condemned Simeon for eating beans said in his heart: "Truly, we have found a man full of true knowledge [- said, obviously, with irony]: he can explain many things to us [ a play on words with the name of Origen's Hexa-

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but Origenists were predisposed to reading Plotinus 20, and it is possible to hypothesize that the monastery mentioned near Homs-probably the monastery of Mar Marona-may also have had a manuscript of Plotinus ' Ennead21. It is possible that this manuscript was genetically linked to the "Apamean" list of the Ennead, which was used by the fourth-century Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus, head of the Syriac School of Neoplatonism in Apamea22. If this hypothesis is true, then we get a very plausible localization of the source of the Plotinus Ennead manuscript used by al-Himsi to translate it into Arabic. If al-Himsi was a learned Maronite monk, he could have had unimpeded access to this manuscript in the library of the Mar Marona Monastery. It is possible that it was in this monastery that he received his philosophical and theological education.

It is noteworthy that some Greek-and Arabic-speaking Melkite authors see a connection between Monothelitism (Maronite) and Origenism. So, for example, St. John the Baptist. John of Damascus, in his Treatise on Right-Thinking, written in 726, compiled an exposition of the faith for a certain Elijah, the Monothelite (Maronite) bishop of Yabroud, who wished to restore Eucharistic communion with the Diphelite (Melkite) Metropolitan of Damascus Peter 23. This confession of faith required Elijah to denounce Origen, as well as to recognize all six ecumenical councils, including the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553), which, as a rule, was considered to be the first ecumenical Council in the world.

Polyakova S. The Life and Deeds of Abba Simeon, p. 163; cf. Krueger, D. Symeon the Holy Fool, p. 157 and approx.

20. Brock, S. P. "A Syriac Intermediary".

21. The monastery library has long been lost, and we do not have reliable data on its contents. One can only guess what Greek manuscripts she had at her disposal. We know, however, of one Syriac manuscript that came into the collection of the monastery of Mar Marona in 745, a sixth-century manuscript containing the works of the Syriac mystic John of Apamea: MS British Library Add. 17,169 [Wright, W. (1870-1872) Catalog of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum Acquired Since the Year 1838, vol. II, pp. 450 - 454. London: Longman (MS DLXXII)]. For this manuscript, see also Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, pp. 57-58, 271.

22. D'Ancona, C. (2012) "The Textual Tradition of the Graeco-Arabic Plotinus: The Theology of Aristotle, its 'Ru'us al-masa'il,' and the Greek Model of the Arabic Version", in A. M.I. van Oppenraay, R. Fontaine (eds) The Letter Before the Spirit: The Importance of Text Editions for the Study of the Reception of Aristotle, p. 43 (n. 25), p. 46. Leiden - Boston: Brill.

23. Russian translation: Fokin A. R. Venerable John of Damascus, A Treatise on right-thinking// Theological works. 2009. N42. pp. 8-14.

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emphasizes John of Damascus, condemned origenism 24. As the German scholar Harald Suhrmann has convincingly shown, this twice-emphasized demand for the condemnation of Origen indicates that John of Damascus suspected the Monothelites (Maronites) of Origenism and therefore particularly insisted on the renunciation of Elijah of Yabroud precisely from this teaching.25 In this connection, it is interesting to note that the Arabic-speaking Melkite theologian and poet of the XI century. Suleiman of Ghazi (al-Ghazi) claimed that the Fifth Ecumenical Council condemned both Origen and Maron! Of course, as far as the condemnation of Maron is concerned, this report does not correspond to historical reality; nevertheless, it eloquently shows that, according to Suleiman of Gaza, Origenism and Maronism were closely related.26 It is also important that Diphelitic (Melkite) sources regularly accuse Monothelites (Maronites) of not recognizing the Fifth Ecumenical Council (along with the anti-Monothelitic Sixth Council). Although initially the Maronite rejection of the Fifth Ecumenical Council was probably motivated by disagreement with the condemnation of the "Three Chapters" (i.e., Theodore of Mopsuestia, the writings of Theodoret of Cyrus against Cyril of Alexandria, and the epistle of Ivas of Edessa to Marius the Persian), rather than by a condemnation of Origen, it may have contributed to the preservation of Origenism in the Maronite milieu.

It is unlikely that we will be able to form any reliable picture of the impact of the decisions of the Fifth Ecumenical Council in Syria (as opposed to Palestine). Note, however, that we have no evidence that Origenism was ever persecuted in the Chalcedonian monasteries of Syria, such as Mar Maron (again, unlike in Palestine). Thus, it is possible that Greek and Syriac manuscripts of Origenistic (and Neoplatonic) content and a certain tradition of their study could have been preserved in the Mar Maron monastery up to the 9th century. This particular monastery may have been the place where al-Himsi - if he was a Maronite-gained access to the Greek manuscript of Plotinus ' Ennead.

24. It is characteristic that for John of Damascus the Fifth Ecumenical Council was convened solely to condemn Origenism. He does not mention the condemnation of the "Three Chapters" at this council at all.

25. Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, S. 263.

26. Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, S. 264; Suermann, H. "Sulaiman al-Gazzi".

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Thus ,the "Maronite version" seems quite plausible, but its consideration is complicated by the lack of primary sources, forcing researchers to rely-to a much greater extent than we would like - on fragmentary indirect evidence.

Version B: Al-Himsi-melkit

If we assume that al-Himsi was a Melkite, then it is very likely that he received philosophical and theological training in one of the Palestinian monasteries, since the Chalcedonian monasteries in Syria at this time were mainly Maronite, and not Melkite. This is quite likely. Moreover, it is much easier to argue for this hypothesis than the previous Maronite version, since we have an incomparably larger body of primary sources about the Palestinian Melkites [27] than about the Syrian Maronites.

To what extent Origenism remained influential in Palestine after the Fifth Ecumenical Council is a difficult question to answer. Cyril of Scythopolis ' picture of the complete and universal eradication of Origenism is undoubtedly exaggerated. 28 There is evidence that only one faction of Origenists, the so-called Isochrists, was defeated by the council's censures, while the other faction, the so - called Protoctists, managed to stand firm by renouncing the veneration of Origen and Evagrius and making changes to the church. some adjustments to your faith 29. This environment of "Origenism without Origen" adherents may have persisted in Palestinian monasteries until the early Islamic period. Signs that its existence continued are easily detected.

Thus, the Syriac life of St. John the Baptist, compiled at the end of the seventh century. Maximus the Confessor (d. 662) states that Maximus came from Palestine (as opposed to the later "Greek Greek").-

27. In this regard, the sources from the library of St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai are particularly important.

28. Hombergen, D. (2001) The Second Origenist Controversy: A New Perspective on Cyril of Scythopolis' Monastic Biographies as Historical Sources for Sixth-Century Origenism, pp. 323 - 328. Rome: Pontificio Ateneo S. Anselmo.

29. van Esbroeck, M. (1985)" L'homelie de Pierre de Jerusalem et la fin de l'origenisme palestinien en 551", Orientalia Christiana Periodica 51: 33-59; Lurie, V. M. Istoriya byzantiyskoy filosofii: Formativnyy period [History of Byzantine Philosophy: A Formative period]. SPb: Axioma, 2006, pp. 156-158.

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according to which he was originally from Constantinople) and that he was a disciple of the Origenist Pantoleon, abbot of the" Old Lavra", i.e., the monastery of Mar Chariton 30. According to his own writings (in particular, the anti-Origenist treatise Ambiguum 7), Maximus had access to an Origenist-Neoplatonic library of the same type as al-Himsi two centuries later.31 If the evidence from the Syriac hagiography that Maxim's early years were spent in Palestine is historically reliable, as most researchers tend to admit, then this library was probably the monastery library of the Mar Khariton Lavra. If we assume that al-Himsi was a learned Melkite monk who received philosophical and theological training in Palestine, he may well have used this monastery library.

We have at our disposal an important but still poorly studied written monument originating from the Palestinian environment of the VIII-IX centuries. and marked by an Origenist influence. This is "Smart Paradise"32. Originally written in Greek, it is co-written with-

30. Brock, S. P. (1973) "An Early Syriac Life of Maximus the Confessor", Analecta Bollandiana 91: 299 - 346; repr. Brock, S.P.N (1984) Syriac perspectives on Late Antiquity, Essay XII. London: Variorum Reprints, 1984; MuravyevA, N. V. Syriac psogos//Dispute with Pyrrhus: St. Maximus the Confessor and Christological disputes of the seventh century. (Smaragdos Philocalias), Moscow: Temple of Sophia of the Wisdom of God in Sredny Sadovniki, 2004, pp. 322-331. The name Pantoleon (spelling varies) was quite common in Palestine. On Pantoleon, hieromonk of the "Byzantine monastery" near Jerusalem-author of one or two homilies on the Exaltation of the Cross written c. 630-634 (CPG 7915 and 7918) and possibly identical to Pantoleon, addressee of Pope Martin I's epistle written in 649-see di Berardino, A. (2006) Patrology: The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (750) / Translated by A. Walford, p. 309. Cambridge (UK): James Clark; Schick, R. (1995) The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: A Historical and Archaeological Study, pp. 50, 60 - 61, 345 - 346. Princeton (NJ): Darwin Press; Nasrallah, J. (1979-1996) Histoire du mouvement litteraire dans l'Eglise melchite du Ve au XXe siecle, vol. II. 1, pp. 95-96. Louvain: Peeters; Damascus: Institut francais de Damas; Suermann, H. Die Grundungsgeschichte, S. 181 (Suermann argues that Pope Martin's epistle can be fake). Other (?) Pantoleon - Pantolene Deacon, whose "Miracles of the Archangel Michael" were translated into Georgian by Euthymius of Svyatogorets-see Lang, D. M. (1955)" St. Euthymius the Georgian and the Barlaam and Ioasaph Romance", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 17 (2): 315.

31. Sherwood, P. (1955) The Earlier Ambigua of Saint Maximus the Confessor and His Refutation of Origenism. Rome: Orbis Catholicus, Herder; cf. Benevich, G. (2009) "Maximus the Confessor's Polemics against Anti-Origenism: Epistulae 6 and 7 As a Context for the Ambigua ad Iohannem", Revue d'histoire ecclesiastique 104 (1): 5 - 15.

32. The Russian translation of excerpts from this treatise is published in: Treiger A. "Smart Paradise" - a mystical and ascetic treatise in Arabic translation / / Symbol. 2010. N 58.

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it was kept only in the Arabic translation (Arabic title: al-Fir-dawus al - ' akli). It contains a discussion about the fall of the" mind " (Greek. Arab, akl) from the" intelligent paradise", i.e. the spiritual world of contemplation (Greek: "the spiritual world of the soul"). and about the way to return to this paradise by fighting the passions and cultivating virtues. The motif of the fall of the "mind" and its subsequent ascent is obviously Origenist; it also correlates with the neo - Platonic scheme of "exodus" and "return." Speaking of the ultimate goal of this return, Smart Paradise reports that a mind cleansed of passion is reunited with God's light. It is said of the minds of the saints that they are united with the very nature of God, so that the miracles they perform are performed by virtue of this union and, therefore, must be perceived as coming from God. In general, such a description of the" deification " of saints corresponds to the general teaching of the Church fathers about deification (Greek: Deification). However, the specific emphasis on the ultimate unity of the minds of saints with God's nature reveals the Origenist orientation of this work. A detailed analysis of "Smart Paradise" cannot be presented in the framework of this work, but the comments made are sufficient to show that this treatise was written in the "fairway" of Origenist theological thought. This allows us to conclude that some Greek-speaking monks in Palestine of the eighth and ninth centuries were familiar with Origenist sources and wrote in accordance with this tradition.

It should also be noted - and this is especially important for this study - that in the eighth and tenth centuries, Palestinian monasteries were the most important centers of the translation movement, where works on theology and hagiography were translated using four languages: Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Georgian. 33 For example, in the Monastery of St. John the Baptist. Sava the Sanctified (Mar Saba) in Palestine the works of the East Syriac mystic Isaac the Syrian were first translated from Syriac into Greek (mo-

С. 297 - 316; ср. Noble, S., Treiger, A. (eds) (2014) The Orthodox Church in the Arab world (700 - 1700): An Anthology of Sources, pp. 188 - 200. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press. A critical edition of the Arabic text and a full English translation are under preparation.

33. This intensive translation activity remains largely unexplored. В качестве введения см. Treiger, A. (2015) "Christian Graeco-Arabica: Prolegomena to a History of the Arabic Translations of the Greek Church Fathers", Intellectual history of the Islamicate World 3: 188 - 227; Treiger, A. (2014) "Syro-Arabic Translations in Abbasid Palestine: The Case of John of Apamea's Letter on Stillness (Sinai ar. 549)", Parole de l'Orient 39: 79 - 131.

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nahami Avramiy and Patrikiy, c. 800), and then, in the first half of the 9th century, into Arabic and Georgian 34. At the same time, the works of John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Abba Dorotheus, Diadochus of Photia, Ephraem Graecus, Mark the Hermit, Neil of Ancyra, Evagrius of Pontus, Macarius the Great, Anastasius of Sinai, John Moschus, and others were translated into Arabic by Palestinian monks, both directly from Greek and from earlier Syriac translations. others. If al-Himsi was a learned Melkite monk who was educated in one of the Palestinian monasteries, it is easy to assume that one of the components of his training was instruction in the art of translation. In addition, it is possible that if al-Kindi knew about the translation activities of Palestinian monks, he was interested in attracting Melkite translators from this environment to work with the texts of interest to him. One of them may have been Abd al-Masih ibn Naima al-Himsi.35
Version B: Al-Himsi-yakovit

This version seems to be the least likely. Although the Jacobites had their own episcopal see in Homs, their numbers in this city, which is very remote from the main Jacobite centers of northern Syria, were relatively small. 36 In addition, although S. Brok pointed to the Jacobite monasteries of northern Syria as the most likely environment for creating a (hypothetical) intermediate Syriac translation of Aristotle's Theology. 37 it seems unlikely that these monasteries were the environment in which al-Himsi could have received the necessary training

34. Pataridze, T. (2011) "Les Discours ascetiques d'Isaac de Ninive: Etude de la tradition georgienne et de ses rapports avec les autres versions", Le Museon 124(1 - 2): 27 - 58.

35. A careful comparison of al-Himsi's translation techniques with those of the Palestinian translators could confirm (or refute) the hypothesis that he belongs to the Melkite community.

36. Hage, W. (1966) Die syrisch-orthodoxe Kirche in friihislamischer Zeit nach orientalischen Quellen, S. 100 - 101. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz; Fiey, J. M. (1993) Pour un Oriens Christianus Novus: Repertoire des dioceses syriaques orientaux et occidentaux, pp. 211 - 214. Beirut - Stuttgart: Steiner; cp. Takahashi, H. (2011) "Hims", in S. P. Brock [et al.] (eds) Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, pp. 196 - 197. Piscataway: Gorgias Press. Takahashi asserts that al-Himsi was a "Shiro-Orthodox" (i.e., a Shiro-Orthodox Christian). Yakovlev), however, does not provide any arguments.

37. Brock, S. P. "A Syriac intermediary".

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for Plotinus 'direct Greek-Arabic translation of what" Aristotle's Theology " really is. Apparently, the Jacobites were not involved in direct Greek-Arabic translations at all: they always translated either from Greek into Syriac (as, for example, Sergius of Resh'ain, 38 Athanasius of Bab, Phocas of Edessa, etc.), 39 or later from Syriac into Arabic (as, for example, the Bagdad Aristotelians X v. Yahya ibn Adi and Ibn Zur'a)40. It is precisely the absence of an intermediate Syriac translation that makes it unlikely that the Jacobites were involved in the creation of the Arabic Theology of Aristotle.

Similarly, we have no reason to believe that the Jacobites (with the possible exception of two sixth - century authors, the aforementioned Sergius of Resh'ain and Stephen Bar Sudaili, author of the Book of St. Jerotheus) were interested in Plotinus ' original Greek and had the Ennead Greek manuscript in one of their libraries. It seems that the access of Jacobite scholars to Plotinus ' heritage was always mediated: first, through the Dionysian Corpus, and second, through translations of Dionysius into Syriac. Characteristically, Phocas of Edessa (late seventh century), a Jacobite translator of Dionysius into Syriac, reports that the Greek manuscript with the Dionysian corpus came to him "by the providence of God" (i.e., actually by accident). This may indicate that in the time of Phocas of Edessa, the Jacobites were not in the habit of reading Dionysius in the original Greek, although they were certainly familiar with his works in the earlier Syriac translation made by Sergius of Resh'ain.41
38. His conversion to the Chalcedonian confession dates back to the later years of his life.

39. Tannous, J. "You Are What You Read", pp. 99 - 100.

40. One can find the claim that Ustas (i.e., Eustathius), the translator of Aristotle's Metaphysics from Greek to Arabic, who, like al-Himsi, is associated with the circle of al-Kindi, was a Jacobite, since one of the Jacobite apologies, written in Arabic in the ninth century, is attributed to a certain "monk Ustas" (Swanson, M. N. (2002)"' Our Brother, the Monk Eustathius': A Ninth-Century Syrian Orthodox Theologian Known to Medieval Arabophone Copts", Coptica 1: 119 - 140; Zimmermann, F. W." The Origins of the So-Called Theology of Aristotle", p. 136). However, the question of identifying these two Ustas - Ustas the translator and Ustas the apologist-remains open, since the latter's apology does not betray its author's familiarity with Greek philosophy.

41. Watt, J. W. (2011) "From Sergius to Matta: Aristotle and Pseudo-Dionysius in the Syriac Tradition", in Lossl, J. and Watt, J. W. (eds) Interpreting the Bible and Aristotle in

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It is also important that the Greek manuscript of Dionysius acquired by Phocas included the preface and scholia of the Chalcedonian author John of Scythopolis, and therefore was, in all probability, a Chalcedonian manuscript.42 After Phocas translated this manuscript (along with the scholia) into Syriac, and his translation became widespread in Jacobite circles in Syria, it is unlikely that the Jacobites continued to read Dionysius (let alone Plotinus) in the original Greek; the very existence of two Syriac translations of the Dionysian Corpus (by Sergius of Resh'ain and Phocas of Edessa) made it unnecessary to refer to the original Greek. It is no coincidence that the only texts of Plotinus preserved in Syriac are quotations from the Greek scholia of John of Scythopolis, translated into Syriac by Phocas of Edessa. Thus Plotinus was preserved in Syriac only as part of a translation of the Greek-language Chalcedonian work.

The study of Greek-language texts in Jacobite monasteries , such as the Kenneshre monastery on the Euphrates, seems to have been limited to Aristotle's logical writings and commentaries. 44 Some Yakovite scholars (in particular, a well-known author of the late seventh and early eighth centuries). James of Edessa), of course, also turned to the Greek originals of the works of the Church fathers, along with their Syriac translations, 45 but Dionysius the Jacobites (with the exception, of course, of the translators themselves: Sergius

Late Antiquity: The Alexandrian Commentary Tradition Between Rome and Baghdad, p. 249. Farnham [etc.]: Ashgate.

42. Or, if we accept the interesting hypothesis recently put forward by Sergio La Porta, a Miaphysite manuscript, but of Constantinople rather than Syriac origin-see La Porta, S. (2013) "Purging John of Scythopolis: A Miaphysite Redaction of the Scholia on the Corpus Dionysiacum and Its Armenian Version", Le Museon 126 (1 - 2): 45 - 82.

43. Frank, R. M. (1987) "The Use of the Enneads by John of Scythopolis", Le Museon 100: 101 - 108.

44. Watt, J. W. "From Sergius to Matta"; Watt, J. W. (2010) "Commentary and Translation in Syriac Aristotelian Scholarship: Sergius to Baghdad", Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture 4: 28 - 42; Watt, J. W. (2008) "al-Farabi and the History of the Syriac Organon", in G. A. Kiraz (ed.) Malphono w-Rabo d-Malphone: Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock, pp. 703 - 731. Piscataway: Gorgias Press.

45. Watt, J. W. (2007) "Les Peres grecs dans le curriculum theologique et philologique des ecoles syriaques", in A. Schmidt, D. Gonnet (eds) Les Peres grecs dans la tradition syriaque. Paris: Geuthner.

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and Phokas) read, as far as we know, only in Syriac 46. Reading Plotinus and other Neo-Platonists in the original Greek was out of the question among the Jacobites.

Note that the logical-philosophical bias of the Yakovite educational program is quite consistent with the type of Aristotelism that we later find in the Muslim philosopher al-Farabi (d. 950/1), but it does not correlate at all with al-Kindi's philosophy, and least of all with his Neoplatonic interests.47 This means that al-Himsi belonged to a very different intellectual circle from al-Farabi's foreign-language teachers and associates, whether Jacobites or Nestorians. The striking contrast between al-Kindi and al-Farabi suggests that these two Muslim philosophers continued two very different lines of Middle Eastern Christian philosophical thought. In the light of the above, the Jacobite origin of al-Himsi seems extremely unlikely: the Jacobite version does not explain the Neoplatonic training of the Arabic translator Plotinus and ultimately is unable to explain the emergence of the Arabic "Theology of Aristotle".

Conclusion

Let's sum up the results. Al-Himsi was most likely a learned Chalcedonian monk (i.e., a Maronite or Melkite, but not a Jacobite) who was proficient in Greek and Arabic (and possibly also Syriac). If he was a Maronite, it is most likely that he received philosophical and theological training and access to the Greek manuscript of the Ennead in the library of the Mar Marona Monastery, where Origenism probably still persisted because the Maronites did not recognize the Fifth Ecumenical Council. If he was a Melkite, he was most likely trained in philosophy and theology

46. Even James of Edessa, who was proficient in Greek, read Dionysius in a Syriac translation made by Phocas-see Brock, S. P. (1979) "Jacob of Edessa's Discourse on the Myron", Oriens Christianus 63: 20-36; Greatrex, M. (2004 )" The Angelology in the Hexaemeron of Jacob of Edessa", Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 4: 33-46. In this connection, we can only regret that Theodore bar Zarudi's commentary on the Dionysian Corpus (c. 800) and John Darsky's commentaries on the "Heavenly Hierarchy" and "Ecclesiastical Hierarchy" (1 Paul. IX century) are still practically unpublished. A study of the Jacobite tradition of reading and interpreting Dionysius would be of considerable interest.

47. The tradition of reading Dionysius (in Syriac) obviously did not translate into a broader interest in Neoplatonism.

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in Palestine. It appears that he may have had access to the original Greek version of the Ennead in a Palestinian monastery, where he probably began his translation career.

The two hypotheses presented, the Maronite and Melkite hypotheses, seem equally likely today; further research is needed to give preference to one or the other of them. Of course, other assumptions can be made: for example, that the roots of al-Himsi's Neoplatonism are to be found in the pagan circles of Harran, 48 or that his Neoplatonism (and Origenism), as well as the Greek Ennead manuscript, is of Egyptian rather than Syriac or Palestinian origin, 49 or, for example, that he is still a Christian.Taki was a Jacobite who, unlike his fellow believers, was interested in Dionysius ' Neoplatonic philosophical roots. By and large, we have no way to refute any of these assumptions. However, in a situation where the number of primary sources is limited, it is necessary to "weigh the probabilities" and look for the simplest and most "economical" solution. Based on the available evidence, the Maronite and Melkite versions seem to be the most likely. They are also the most "economical" in the sense that they allow us to reconstruct the intellectual "profile" of al-Himsi based onin the immediate context of his life and activities (before moving to Baghdad) - i.e., the Christian communities of the Syro-Palestinian region - and do not speculate about possible links between al-Himsi and pagan circles or remote countries. It is hoped that in the course of subsequent research, additional data will be discovered that will allow the scales to tilt in the direction of one or another version of the reconstruction of the intellectual appearance of al-Himsi and the history of the origin of the Arabic "Theology of Aristotle".

The most important task of further research is undoubtedly to reconstruct the "intellectual geography" of Middle Eastern Christianity in late Antiquity

48. Even if Michel Tardieu's hypothesis about the existence of a" platonic academy " in Harran does not hold water (see van Bladel, K. (2009) The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science, pp. 70-79. Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), it is possible that that the philosophical interests of the" Sabis " (pagans) of Harran can explain some aspects of al-Himsi's philosophical and theological training.

49. For Egyptian Origenism, see, for example, Lundhaug, H. (2013)" Origenism in Fifth-Century Upper Egypt: Shenoute of Atripe and the Nag Hammadi Codices", Studio Patristica 64: 217-228.

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and the early Islamic period. Special attention should be paid to the history of Christian Neoplatonism and Origenism, monastic libraries, educational programs of various Christian denominations, as well as translation centers, including the extremely important and, alas, still insufficiently studied translation movement in Palestine. The links between the Christian intellectual environment and Muslim society are also of considerable interest. Christian "intellectual geography" undoubtedly influenced the formation of Islamic philosophical and theological traditions, as shown, in particular, by the formation of such different philosophical schools as the al-Kindi and al-Farabi schools (each of which had connections with the corresponding Christian circles and a certain Christian philosophical and theological tradition). There is no doubt that research of this kind will be crucial for the history of Christian and Muslim philosophical and theological thought in the Middle East.

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