John bar Penkaye

John bar Penkaye (Syriac: ܝܘܚܢܢ ܒܪ ܦܢܟܝ̈ܐ Yōḥannān bar Penkāyē) was an East Syriac Nestorian Christian writer of the late 7th century. He lived at the time of fifth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty Abd al-Malik.

His surname indicates that his parents came from Feneq, on the Tigris (east of Tur Abdin). He was a monk at the monastery of Mar John of Kamul, and later at the monastery of Mar Bassima. Later writers confuse him with John Saba (John of Dalyatha).[1]

John bar Penkaye's writings provides an eye-witness account of the Arab conquests of his time but make no mention of an Arab sacred book in existence by the end of the 7th century.

Works

A number of his works are still in existence. Most of them have never been published and are extant only in manuscripts.

Ktâbâ d-rêš mellê or Summary history of the world

This is in 15 books.

Manuscripts

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 3 S. Brock, A brief outline of Syriac Literature, Moran Etho 9, Kottayam, Kerala: SEERI (1997), pp.56-57, 135

External links

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