New Light from a Dark Star: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172

New Light from a Dark Star: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172Le MuséonSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/ZFNEPBJB/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.PaulUlishneyNew Light from a Dark Star: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172http://syriaca.org/cbss/ZFNEPBJBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/ZFNEPBJBhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/ZFNEPBJBLe Muséon137:3-42024357-383Many of the letters of Jacob of Edessa remain an underutilized source for reconstructing ecclesiastical and religious history after the rise of Islam in greater Syria, in part because the vast majority remain unedited. This essay examines one part of that collection as preserved in British Library Add. 12,172: Jacob’s correspondence with a shadowy figure named Eustathius of Dara, known to us only from these letters and a passing reference in Michael the Great’s <i>Chronicle</i>. By isolating this correspondence within the larger collection for study, this article clarifies certain misconceptions about the nature of Jacob’s letter collection, and, secondly, argues that Eustathius was a member of the Hellenized aristocracy of Dara who sought Jacob out for advanced learning in Greek literature and philosophy. In this capacity, he acted as his potential patron; thus, these letters help shed light on networks of patronage that existed between monastic and aristocratic elites in the early Islamic Jazīra. I tentatively suggest that Jacob’s correspondence with Eustathius should be dated to the years prior to his bishopric (684-688), when he operated from the monasteries of Edessa, and therefore has the potential to shed light on a period of his life about which little is known. Ulishney, Paul. “New Light from a Dark Star: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172.” Le Muséon 137:3-4 (2024): 357–83. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2143/MUS.137.3.3293892. Paul Ulishney, New Light from a Dark Star: Reassessing the Correspondence of Jacob of Edessa and Eustathius of Dara in British Library Add. 12,172, Le Muséon 137:3-4 (2024): 357–83, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2143/MUS.137.3.3293892.