School of Qenneshrin

School of Qenneshrin

The Monastery of Qenneshrin was a influential center of learning in ecclesiastical history of the Syriac Orthodox church for four centuries. It's school served as a successor to the renowned School of Edessa. It is often considered to have surpassed it in importance, standing on par with the theological Schools of Alexandria and Antioch. Flourishing from approximately 530 to 915 (about 385 years), it was a beacon of learning in the Syriac East.

While the specific rules of its famous school are not preserved, its curriculum was evidently extensive and advanced, taught in both Syriac and Greek. Subjects included Greek Literature and Philology, Scriptural Commentary, Logic and Philosophy, Natural Sciences, and Theology and Jurisprudence

The high academic standard and the monks' rigorous discipline—which blended strict asceticism with scientific study and likely followed the rules of the older Monastery of St. Thomas in Seleucia—produced a remarkable number of scholars. At its peak, the monastery was estimated to house 370 monks.

The Monastery of Qenneshrin produced an exceptional number of learned men, fathers, saintly monks, and bishops, fundamentally shaping the Syriac Orthodox church and its scholarship.

Patriarchs of Antioch

Seven Patriarchs of Antioch graduated from this institution; Mor Julian (591–595), Mor Athanasius I (d. 631), Mor Theodore (649–667), Mor Athanasius II (684–688), Mor Julian III (683–708), Mor Gewargi I (758–790), and Mor Dionysius of Tell Mahre I (818–845)

Mor Athanasius II, Mor Gewargi, and Mor Dionysius are particularly highlighted as the Church’s most prominent learned men.

Scholars and Bishops

• Mor Tuma of Harkel: Metropolitan of Marash, who amended the New Testament translation based on Greek versions in 616.

• Mor Sawera (Severus) Sabokht of Nisibin: Metropolitan of Qinneshrin, a renowned philosopher and mathematician who taught at the monastery. He was the second Syrian scientist to write on mathematics and astronomy, authoring treatises on logical and astronomical problems, the Zodiac, and the astrolabe.

  • His notable pupils included Athanasius I, Jacob of Edessa, and Gewargi (George), bishop of the Arab tribes.

• Mor Jacob of Edessa: A highly distinguished and learned figure who wrote crucial works on philology, theology, philosophy, jurisprudence, history, literature, and church rituals. Though he completed studies in Alexandria, he received his foundational knowledge and mastered Greek at Qenneshrin.

• Mor Theodosius Tell Mahre: Metropolitan of Edessa, brother of Patriarch Dionysius Tell Mahre. He was proficient in Syriac, Greek, and Arabic, well-versed in philosophy, and translated the poems of Gregory the Theologian from Greek into Syriac.

• Mor Demutius: Metropolitan of Latakia, who encouraged the writing of the life story of Mar Severus of Antioch.

• Mor Theodore: Metropolitan of Samosata (d. 738).

• Mor Mikha’il Rabo lists fifteen bishops who graduated between 813 and 915, including Theodosius of Edessa and Basilius of Samosata.

The school's massive output of professors and students in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries cemented its reputation as a crucial institution that raised the banner of learning, specifically in the lands of the Syriacs and generally over the whole East.