RESOURCESof the Eastern Saints," PO 18 (1924): 513-698, and 19 (1925): 153-
285, mostly concern people west of Iraq but are worth consulting.
There are two works from the Islamic period based on earlier sources
which contain biographical material going back to the sixth century.
One is the Ketaba dhe Nakhputa of Isho'denah, bishop of Basra, from
the late eighth or early ninth century. The Syriac text is published by
J. B. Chabot as "Le livre de la chastete compose par Jesusdenah, eveque
de Ba~ra," Melanges d'Archeologie et d'histoire 16 (1896): 1-80, with
a French translation on pages 225 to 293. There is an Arabic trans-
lation by P. Cheikho, ad-Diyura {t mamlakatay ai-Furs wa-I-'Arab
(Mawsil, 1939). For an evaluation see J. M. Fiey, "IshO'denah, me-
tropolite de Basra et son oeuvre," L'Orient Syrien 11 (1966): 431-
- The other is a history of the monastery of Beth 'Abhe in Margha,
composed by Thomas of Margha in 840, which consists mainly of the
lives of its abbots. It is published with an English translation by E. A.
Wallis Budge as The Book of the Governors (London, 1893). On this
author see J. M. Fiey, "Thomas de Marga. Notule de litterature sy-
riaque," Le Museon 78 (1965): 361-66. There is also a collection of
summaries of saints' lives by F. Nau, "Resume de monographes sy-
riaques," ROC20 (1915-17): 3-32. The Syriactext of the life of Mar
Aba I (540-52) may be found on pages 206 to 287 of P. Bedjan's
Histoire de Mar Jabalaha de trois autres patriarches, d'un pretre et
deux autres laiques nestoriens (Paris, 1895), while that of Sabhrisho'
(d. 604) is on pages 288 to 327.
Additional biographies of sixth-and seventh-century monks can be
found in F. Nau, "Histoire d'Abraham de Kaskar et de Babai de
Nisibe," RaC 21 (1918-19): 161-72, and in E. A. Wallis Budge, The
Histories of Rabban Hormizd the Persian and Rabban Bar-'Idta (Lon-
don, 1902), with an English translation. The seventh-century life of
Rabban Hormizd contains semilegendary elements, but the sixth-cen-
tury life of Bar 'Edta is a firsthand account by John the Persian.
Concerning the latter text, see A. Scher's "Analyse de l'histoire de
Rabban Bar 'Edta, moine nestorien du VIe siecle," RaC 11 (1906):
403-23; 12 (1907): 9-13, which contains a chapter by chapter sum-
mary; and J. M. Fiey, "Autour de la biographie du Rabban Bar 'Eta,"
L'Orient Syrien 11 (1966): 1-16. S. Brock's "An Early Syriac Life of
Maximus the Confessor," AB 91 (1973): 299-346, concerns a seventh-
century Syrian saint but also has important references for this period.
Some biographies are more legendary than others. One of the most
important for this period is the Syriac life of 'Abd al-Masil}. which