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Syriac Monasteries, Schools, and Libraries
Christian monasticism emerged in the ancient Near East. An ascetic form of Christian living, characterized by celibacy and poverty, was evident in early Syriac Christianity by the 2nd or 3rd century. The eremitic life involved individuals seeking reclusion for intense prayer, modeled after figures like Elijah and John the Baptist. The cenobitic life evolved from this, with groups of ascetics gathering under an elder, leading to the construction of monasteries with established rules. The legalization of Christianity in 313 AD shifted spiritual aspiration from martyrdom to intense self-sacrifice and devotion in the desert, becoming a new form of "spiritual martyrdom."
The early Syriac Church also developed unique "proto-monastic" traditions that predated the widespread adoption of Egyptian monasticism in Syria. Central to this was the concept of Ihidaya, referring to Christ as "only-begotten" and signifying "unique," "single," "celibate," and "single-minded" devotion. Followers, known as Bnāy Qyāmā ("Members of the Covenant"), undertook a consecrated life, often based on an ascetic vow made at baptism, and typically lived in small groups or within their homes rather than rigidly organized monasteries. Qaddishutha denoted consecrated abstinence, and Bthulutha referred to consecrated virginity, often publicly expressed at adult baptism and inspired by biblical models.3 This "proto-monasticism" highlights Syriac Christianity's indigenous and distinctive forms of ascetic living, emphasizing individual spiritual commitment within daily life.
The Syriac heritage started and resided in the many monasteries and schools in the Syriac ancestral homeland in the Near East. This is a partial list of Syriac Monasteries, Schools, and Libraries from the end of the apostolic time to present. All of them had libraries and were centers of learning for some time during their existance and many of them are still functioning and playing the same role they played in keeping the West Syriac Heritage alife
Dayro d'Mor Abay
Dayro d'Mor Hobel and d'Mor Abrohom
Dayro d'Mor Abrohom: An acient monastery located in Mount of Izlō. It was built in 571 by Abraham the Great of Kaškar the renewer of the monastic life in the Church of the East.
Dayro al-Qaṭrā or al-Nāṭif: was built in the name of the Virgin and St. Theodore. It is a small Monastery hewn in the rocks in a mountain overlooking the Za‘farān Monastery, and housed a group of monks. We have a great deal of information about it since the fourteenth century. At times a bishop administered it. It was abandoned, however, about 1927
Dayro Azozoyel: was inhabited by monks between 1500 and 1600
Dayro d'Mor Demit
Dayro d'Mor Malke: Located 2 kilometers south of the village of Arkaḥ (Harapali). It was founded in the fourth century and is named after Morī Malkē, whose tomb is found in Beţ Qadīšē.
Dayro d'Mor Quryāqūs: Located near the village of Zarğil in the region of Bšeriyyah, was an Episcopal seat from the 15th century
Dayro d'Mor Ya‘koūb (Dayr Al-Gazal): Located in Mount of Izlō near the village of Bādebah/Dibek in the district of Nusaybin in the province of Mardin.
Sources:
Patriarch Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum (2004), The Scattered Pearls, A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences, Translated and Edited by Matti Moosa, New Jersey
Bcheiry, Iskandar (2010), Collection of Historical Documents in Relation With the Syriac Orthodox Community in the Late Period of the Ottoman Empire: The Register of Mardin MS 1006, New Jersey.
Bcheiry, Iskandar (2010), A List of Syriac Orthodox Ecclesiastic Ordinations from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century: The Syriac Manuscript of Hunt 444 (Syr 68 in Bodleian Librry, Oxford) , New Jersey.
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