Elias of Merv

'''Elias''' (or '''Elijah''', {{langx|syr|ܐܠܝܐ}}, ''Eliya''; died after 659) was the metropolitan bishop of Merv in the Church of the East.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}}

The ''Chronicle of Khuzestan'' records how Elias converted some Turks and their "kinglet" (<small>MLKWNʾ</small>) through preaching and miracles.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}}{{sfn|Hunter|1989|p=157}} He is said to have dispersed with the sign of the cross a storm conjured up by the kinglet's shamans, thus proving the superiority of Christianity.<ref>{{harvnb|Hunter|1989|p=160}}, points out that this may be one of the earliest references to the ''yat'' ritual.</ref> Since the chronicle does not mention any event later than 652, the conversion of the Turks probably took place before this date.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=185}}<ref>{{harvnb|Hunter|1989|p=157}}, dates it to 644.</ref> Elias was present at the deathbed of the Patriarch Ishoʿyahb III in 659.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}} He probably died not long after.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=185}}

Elias wrote a short church history, described by ʿAbdishoʿ bar Brikha around 1300 as comprising a single book.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}} The 10th-century ''Chronicle of Seert'' cites it as a source twice, especially for the life of Gregory of Nisibis.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}}{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=444}}{{sfn|Wood|2013|p=203n}} Elias's high standing in the church would have given him access to official records and possibly also to court gossip. Pierre Nautin argued that this history was in fact the ''Chronicle of Khuzestan'', with additions made by an associate after Elias's death, including the account of the conversion of the Turks. The beginning of the ''Chronicle of Khuzestan'' is lost.{{sfn|Hoyland|1997|p=183 and nn}}{{sfn|Wood|2013|pp=183–184}}

According to ʿAbdishoʿ, Elias also wrote antiphons, consolations, a commentary on the gospel readings and an account of the origins (''ʿeltā'') of the responsive prayers at nocturns. Besides these liturgical writings, he wrote commentaries on the biblical books of ''Proverbs'', ''Genesis'', ''Psalms'', ''Ecclesiastes'', ''Song of Songs'', ''Isaiah'', ''Sirach'', the Twelve Minor Prophets and the Pauline epistles. Several of his letters were also known to ʿAbdishoʿ.{{sfn|Badger|1852|p=371}}

==Notes== {{reflist|30em}}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |editor-first=G. P. |editor-last=Badger |editor-link=George Percy Badger |title=The Nestorians and Their Rituals |year=1852 |volume=2 |publisher=Joseph Masters |isbn=978-0-7905-4482-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnURAAAAYAAJ}} *{{cite book |authorlink=Robert G. Hoyland |first=Robert G. |last=Hoyland |title=Seeing Islam As Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam |publisher=Darwin Press |year=1997}} *{{cite journal |last=Hunter |first=Erica C. D. |title=The Conversion of the Kerait to Christianity in A.D. 1009 |journal=Zentralasiatische Studien |volume=22 |year=1989 |pages=142–163}} *{{cite journal |first=Pierre |last=Nautin |title=L'auteur de la "Chronique anonyme de Guidi": Élie de Merw |year=1982 |volume=199 |issue=3 |pages=303–314 |jstor=23670021 |journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions|doi=10.3406/rhr.1982.4673 }} *{{cite book |first=Philip |last=Wood |title=The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013}} {{refend}}

Category:660s deaths Category:Christians in the Sasanian Empire Category:Christians from the Rashidun Caliphate Category:Archbishops in Asia Category:7th-century bishops of the Church of the East Category:Syriac-language writers Category:Bible commentators Category:7th-century historians Category:People from Merv Category:Church of the East writers