CHRISTIANSheld in 576 declared that the clergy received from their patriarch "the
power and authority to be princes and governors ... in all the churches
of the territory of this sublime and glorious kingdom of our lord the
victorious Khusraw, King of Kings."l1 Likewise, in 605 the Nestorian
Church was defined as the "holy churches of God of this glorious
kingdom, master of empires."12 Such terminology survived after the
conquest in a letter written in Persian to the priest and chorepiscopos
Mina in Fars by the catholicos George I (659-80/1), who referred to
"the universal Church of this empire of the east, that is of the land
of Fars and neighboring lands."13
Sasanian hierarchic concepts were applied to the organization of the
church. The catholicos or patriarch was at the top with his cathedral
church at Koke in Seleucia (Veh-Artakhshatr). The patriarchal see of
Beth 'Aramaye included the bishoprics of Kashkar (Kaskar), Firuz
Shapur (Anbar), Zawabi, Hirta (Hira), Beth Daraye, and possibly
Tirhan. Outside of the patriarchal see, the metropolitan bishoprics
were organized according to the principle established at the synod of
410 that "the see ought to be honored according to the greatness of
the city itself."14 According to the hierarchic ranking established in
410 and reaffirmed in 554, the metropolitan of Khuzistan was first,
followed by the metropolitans at Nasibin for Beth Arbhaye, perath
(Furat) for Mayshan, Irbil for Adiabene, and Karkha dhe Beth Selok
(Kirkuk) for Beth Garme (see fig. 7).15 Although subordinate bishoprics
came and went, the metropolitan structure survived intact at least until
the eighth century. By the mid-sixth century, the ecclesiastical hier-
archy of patriarch/catholicos, metropolitan, bishop, chorepiscopos,
inspector, priest, and deacon had been regularized.^16
The synod of 585 insisted that the cursus honorum be observed and
that the lower orders be subordinate to the higher ones in matters of
discipline, although higher church authorities were expected to behave
justly towards their subordinates. 17 The hierarchic organization of the
church was justified as being a microcosm of the celestial order gov-
erned by a hierarchy of Archangels, Powers, and Thrones.IS It is not
11 Chabot, Synodicon, pp. 121,380.
12 Ibid., pp. 208, 471.
13 Ibid., pp. 244, 514.
14 Ibid., pp. 32, 271.
15 Ibid., pp. 33-34, 109,272.
16 Ibid., pp. 108,365.
17 Ibid., pp. 154, 187,414,446.
18 Ibid., pp. 119-20, 159,379-80,419. This phraseology was probably derived from
the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers of Col. 1:16.