Page 36 - Edessa, 'The Blessed City'-01, by J. B. Segal (Oxford, 1970). Chapters 1-3

TOPOGRAPHY OF EDESSA 23

probably did not extend far from the environs of the city. The title shallita
de'Arab appears in Syriac inscriptions at Sumatar Harabesi, in the rugged
Tektek plateau. Here, at an intersection of wadis some sixty kilometres south-
east of Edessa and thirty kilometres east-north-east of Harran, is an impor-
tant oasis, on which, to the present day, nomad shepherds converge with
their flocks and herds. In one inscription dated A.D. 165 found at Sumatar, a
shallita de'Arab prays for the life of his 'lord the king' and his sons, referring,
no doubt, to Wa'el, son of Sahru, the pro-Parthian king of Edessa. Another
shallita de'Arab has inscribed a memorial in honour of a certain Aurelius
Haphsai, his 'lord and benefactor'.1 The shallita de'Arab, we may conclude,
controlled the marches to the east of Edessa on behalf of the ruler of that city.

How far did the authority of the kings of Edessa extend ? In late Roman
times Edessa was the principal city of Osrhoene, which may derive its name
from the city.2 But we do not know where the boundaries of that province
stood. They are not defined in the accounts of the settlement of this region by
Pompey, Trajan, Hadrian, and their successors as Emperors of Rome, and
no doubt they varied in the course of time. The natural frontier to the west is,
of course, the river Euphrates. A Syriac inscription of Birtha (Birecik)
records the construction of a burial place by its ruler (shallita} in A.D. 6; he
was, we are told, tutor to the son of a certain Ma'nu bar Ma'nu.3 Ma'nu,
however, has no title, and therefore cannot reasonably be identified as king of
Edessa. Another Syriac inscription, on a tomb tower at Serrin on the Os-
rhoenian bank of the Euphrates opposite Mabbog, was dedicated in A.D. 73
by, probably, a religious notable,4 but again it has no obvious association
with Edessa. Nevertheless, we know that the king of Edessa went in A.D. 49
to escort Mihrdad, the pretender to the throne of Parthia, from Zeugma to
Edessa, and we may assume that the territory as far as the Euphrates was
subject to Edessa at this time. Less certain is the situation to the east of the
city. Mihrdad was accompanied by the army of Edessa as far as Adiabene;

1 It is tempting to identify (with Pognon, year 385, I, Ma'nu the qashshisha, budar of
Inscriptions semitiques 37 f.) this Aurelius with Nahai, son of Ma'nu, grandson of SDRW NJJ',
the Aurelianus son of Haphsai, who was Roman built this naphsha (tomb tower) for myself and
governor of Osrhoene after the abolition of the for my sons, at the age of ninety. Whoever
monarchy in the third century. But the con- shall give praise, all the gods shall bless him,
siderable interval in dates makes the theory dwelling and life shall he have. [But] he who
untenable. z p. 9 above. shall come and ruin this work and these
3 This, the oldest Syriac inscription, reads: bones . . . atonement for sin [? or 'burial'; this
'In the month of Adar of the year 317, I, word would then be Nabataean or dialectal] he
ZRBYN bar Abfgar] ruler of Birtha, tutor of shall not have, and sons who shall cast dust
'WYDNT bar Ma'nu bar Ma'nu, made [this upon his eyes shall not be found for him.' The
bu]rial place [for my]self and for HLWY', mis- interpretation of this text is due to the percep-
tress of my house and for [my] children [...]. tion of A. Maricq (Maricq-J. Pirenne, Classica
Whoever will enter this b[urial place] and shall et OrientaKa, 135, 141 ff.) The term qashshisha
show respect [lit., see] and shall give praise— probably has religious significance (see the
all the [gods shall bless him].' present writer's article in Iraq xxix, 1967, 6);
4 'In the month of the former Teshri of the on budar see pp. 57 ff below.

www.knanayology.org