Page 108 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

EDESSA A MONOPHYSITE CENTRE 95
Dyophysites. Hiba then pleaded for the reconsideration of his case, and was
reinstated at Edessa. He remained there until his death in 457.
Hiba was succeeded by Nona, who had occupied the see during the two
years of Hiba's exile from Edessa. Under Nona, who accepted the rulings of
the Council of Chalcedon but was not actively opposed to the Dyophysites,
there seems to have been a recrudescence of activity among the supporters of
Nestorius. Bishop Cyrus followed Nona in 471, and resolved to take decisive
action. He persuaded Emperor Zeno to close the School of the Persians at
Edessa and to expel the staff. On the site of the School was erected a church.
Thus came to an end, in 489, a centre of theological learning and disputation
which, for over a century, had contributed greatly to the reputation of Edessa
in eastern Christendom. It was, it is true, the last outpost of Nestorianism in
the Byzantine empire; it is only with the conquest of Edessa by Persia in
609 that Nestorians were to return to western Mesopotamia. But the School
was also an important source from which Persian Christians derived their
knowledge of Greek culture, and where they studied the profane and ecclesi-
astical masterpieces of the West; it has been appositely called 'a communi-
cating door between East and West'. Antipathy between Persians and Syrians
had, however, never ceased to hamper the School. Nestorians ascribed its
closure by 'the crafty worker, the mad dog, and the teacher of deceit' to envy
of the Nestorian scholar, Narseh. Western theologians at Edessa, they alleged,
resented the superiority of the Persian, who had not received the conventional
training in Greek logic. There were also, it was hinted, allegations of treason
against Narseh, which caused him to leave Byzantine territory precipitately.
Monophysites, on the other hand, while admitting that 'Persians are in
general keen enquirers', maintained that 'the holy Cyrus . . . tore up the
bitter plant [of heterodoxy] by its roots'. The exiled scholars had already
before 489 begun to make their way across the frontiers to Nisibis; some
attained high office in the hierarchy of the Persian Church, others (notably
Narseh himself) taught in the Academy of Nisibis, and conferred upon it a
renown that spread far beyond the boundaries of Persia.

At Edessa the wearisome struggle was now between Monophysites and
Chalcedonians. The less extreme among the former were largely placated by
the document of union (Henoticon) of Emperor Zeno, which reaffirmed the
decisions of all synods except those of Chalcedon. Notable exponents of
Monophysitism, in the region of Edessa, were John, Bishop of Telia and
Philoxenus (Aksenaya), Bishop of Mabbog. The latter had studied theology
at Edessa, and instigated a new translation of the whole Bible from Greek
into Syriac which was completed in about 508. He was an active advocate of
his views; but the writer of the so-called 'Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite',
describing the celebration at Edessa of the pagan spring festival in 498,

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