List of Patriarchs: II. The Syriac Orthodox Church and its Uniate continuations
The present list starts with the patriarchate of Severus of Antioch (512–538). Earlier incumbents of the see of Antioch are known through the historical writings of the Imperial Church. While the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs obviously continued this earlier line of patriarchs, it is only with Severus that a distinct Syriac Orthodox hierarchy emerged.1
Main secondary sources:
- Y. Dolabani ܡܟܬܒܢܘܬܐ ܕܦܛܪܝܪ̈ܟܐ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟ ܕܣܘܪ̈ܝܝܐ ܬܪ̈ܝܨܝ ܫܘܒܚܐ – Die Patriarchen der syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche von Antiochen (1990).
- J. M. Fiey, Pour un Oriens christianus novus (Beiruter Texte und Studien 49; 1993), 20–41.
- C. Sélis, Les Syriens orthodoxes et catholiques (Fils d’Abraham, 1988), 212–15.
- B. Spuler, ‘Die morgenländischen Kirchen’, in Handbuch der Orientalistik I.VIII.2 (1964), 211–15.
| Severus of Antioch | 512 – 538 |
| Sergius of Tella | ca. 557 – 560 |
| Pawlos of Beth Ukome | 564 – 578 (d. 581) |
| Peter of Kallinikos | ca. 578 – 591 |
| Yulyanos I | 591 – 594 |
| Athanasios I Gamolo | 594/5 – 631 |
| Yuḥanon of the Sedre | 630/31 – 648 |
| Theodoros | 649 – 666/7 |
| Severus bar Mashqo | 667/8 – 684 |
| Athanasios II of Balad | 683/4 – 687 |
| Yulyanos II Rumoyo | 687 – 707/8 |
| Eliya I | 709 – 724 (d. 729) |
| Athanasios III | 724 – 739 |
| Iwannis (Yuḥanon III) | 739 – 755 |
| Isḥoq | 755 – 756 (?) |
| Athanasios Sandloyo | 756 (?) – 758 2 |
| Giwargis of Bʿeltan | 758 – 789/90 3 |
| Yawsep | 790 – 792 |
| Quryaqos | 793 – 817 |
| [Abraham] | |
| Dionysios of Tel Maḥre | 818 – 845 |
| Yuḥanon III (IV) | 847 – 874 |
| Ignaṭius II (I) | 878 – 883 |
| Theodosios (Romanos the physician) | 887 – 896 |
| Dionysios II | 896 – 909 |
| Yuḥanon IV (V) | 910 – 922 |
| Basilios | 923 – 935 |
| Yuḥanon V (VI) | 936 – 953 |
| Iwannis (Yuḥanon VI [VII]) | 954 – 957 |
| Dionysios III | 958 – 961 |
| Abrohom | 962 – 963 |
| Yuḥanon VI (VII) da-Srigteh | 965 – 986 |
| Athanasios (V) Loʿozar Ṣalḥoyo | 987 – 1002/3 |
| Yuḥanon (VII) bar ʿAbdun | 1004 – 1030 |
| Dionysios (IV) Ḥeḥe (Yaḥyo, Ḥoye) | 1031 – 1042 |
| Yuḥanon VIII (IX) bar ʿAbdun | 1042 (1048?) – 1057 |
| Athanasios (VI) Yaḥyo (Ḥoye) | 1057 – 1062 |
| Yuḥanon IX (X), Ishoʿ bar Shushan | 1063 – 1072 (1073) |
| Basilios II (III) | 1074 – 1075 |
| Yuḥanon X (XI) | 1075 – 1076 |
| Dionysios (V) Loʿozar | 1077 – 1079 |
| … | |
| Iwannis (Yuḥanon) | 1086 – 1087 |
| Dionysios (VI) Marqos | 1088 – 1090 |
| Athanasios (VII) Abulfaraj bar Kamoro | 1090 – 1129 |
| Yuḥanon XI (X, XII, or XIII) Mawdyono | 1129 – 1137 |
| Athanasios VII (VI) Yeshuʿ bar Qeṭreh | 1138/9 – 1166 |
| Michael I Rabo | 1166 – 1199 |
| [Theodoros bar Wahbun] | |
| Athanasios VIII (VII, IX) bar Ṣalibi Qroḥo | 1199 – 1207 4 |
| Michael II (Yeshuʿ Sephtono) | 1199 – 1215 |
| Yuḥanon XII (XI, XIII, or XIV) Yeshuʿ Kotubo | 1207/8 – 1219/20 |
| Ignatius III Dawid | 1222 – 1252 |
| Dionysios Ahrun ʿAngur | 1252 – 1261 |
| Yuḥanon bar Maʿdani | 1252 – 1263 |
| Ignatius IV Yeshuʿ | 1264 – 1283 |
| Philoxenos Nemrud | 1283 – 1292 |
The Patriarchate of Mardin
| Ignatius V bar Wahib | 1293 – 1333 |
| Ishmaʿil (Ignatius VI) | 1333 – 1365/6 |
| Shihāb (Ignatius VII) | 1366 – 1381 |
| Abrohom II Gharīb (Ignatius VIII) | 1382 – 1412 |
| Behnam Ḥadloyo (al-Ḥadlī) (Ignatius IX) | 1412 – 1454 |
| Khalaf Maʿdnoyo (Ignatius X) | 1456 – 1484 |
| Yuḥanon bar Shayullāh (Ignatius X) | 1484 – 1493 |
The Patriarchate of Cilicia (1292 – 1444/5) 5
| Michael I (III) | 1292 – 1312 |
| Yeshuʿ bar Shushan (Michael II [IV]) | 1313 – 1349 |
| Basilios III Gabriel | 1349 – 1387 |
| Philoxenos the scribe | 1387 – 1421 |
| Basilios (Shemʿun of Beth Manʿem) | 1421 – 1444/5 |
The Patriarchate of Ṭur ʿAbdin (1364 – 1816) 6
| Ignatius Sobo Ṣalḥoyo | 1364 – 1389 |
| Ignatius Yeshuʿ of Midyat | 1389 – 1418 |
| Ignatius Masʿud Ṣalḥoyo | 1418 – 1420 |
| Ignatius Ḥnukh (Enoch) ʿEnwardoyo | 1421 – 1444 |
| Ignatius Qumo of Beth Sbirina | 1444 – 1454 |
| Ignatius Yeshuʿ Ṣalḥoyo (or ʿEnwardoyo?) | 1455 – 1460 |
| Ignatius ʿAziz bar Sobto | 1460 – 1482 |
| Ignatius Sobo of Arbo | 1482 – 1488 |
| Ignatius Yuḥanon Quphar ʿEnwardoyo | 1489 – 1492 |
| Ignatius Masʿūd (of Ṭur ʿAbdin) Zazoyo | 1492 – 1512 (1509) |
| Ignatius Yeshuʿ Zazoyo | 1515 – 1524 |
| Ignatius Shemʿun of Hattakh | 1524 – 1551 |
| Ignatius Yaʿqub of Ḥisn | 1551 – 1571 |
| … | |
| Ignatius Sohdo of Midyat | 1584 – 1621 |
| Ignatius ʿAbdallah of Midyat | 1628 – ? |
| Ignatius Ḥabib of Midyat | 1674 – 1707 |
| Ignatius Denḥo of ʿArnas | 1707 – 1725 |
| Ignatius Barṣawmo of Midyat | 1740 – 1791 |
| Ignatius Aḥo and Ignatius Ishaʿya of Arbo | 1791 – 1816 7 |
The Continuation of the Patriarchate of Mardin, leading to the re-united Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate
| Ignatius Nuḥ the Lebanese | 1493 – 1509 |
| Ignatius Yeshuʿ I (III) | 1509 – 1510 |
| Ignatius Yaʿqub I | 1510 – 1519 |
| Ignatius Dawid I (II) | 1519 – 1521 |
| Ignatius ʿAbdullāh I bar Sṭephanos | 1521 – 1557 |
| Ignatius Niʿmatullāh | 1557 – 1576 |
| Ignatius Dawid Shah | 1576 – 1591 |
| Ignatius Pilatus | 1591 – 1597 |
| Ignatius Ḥidayatallāh | 1597 – 1640 |
| Ignatius Shemʿun | 1640 – 1653 |
| [Ignatius Shukrallāh | 1640 – 1670 ?] |
| Ignatius Yeshuʿ II (IV) bar Qamsho | 1653 (1655) – 1661 |
| Ignatius ʿAbdulmasīḥ | 1661 – 1686 |
| Ignatius Giwargis II | 1687 – 1708 |
| Ignatius Isḥoq ʿAzar | 1709 (1700) – 1723 |
| Ignatius Shukrallāh | 1723 – 1745 |
| Ignatius Giwargis III | 1746 – 1768 |
| Ignatius Giwargis IV | 1768 – 1781 |
| Ignatius Matay | 1782 – 1817 |
| [Behnam and Yawnon?] | |
| Ignatius Giwargis V | 1819 – 1839 (1836) |
| Ignatius Eliya (II) | 1839 (1836) – 1847 |
| Ignatius Yaʿqub II | 1847 – 1871 |
| Ignatius Peṭros IV (III) | 1872 – 1894 |
| Ignatius ʿAbdulmasīḥ II | 1895 – 1903 (1905) |
| Ignatius ʿAbdullāh Saṭṭūf (II) | 1906 – 1915 |
| Ignatius Eliya III Shakir | 1917 – 1932 |
| Ignatius Afram Barsoum | 1933 – 1957 |
| Ignatius Yaʿqub III | 1957 – 1980 |
| Ignatius Zakka I ʿIwas | 1980 to date |
The Syriac Catholic Patriarchate
| Ignatius Andraos Akhījān | 1662 – 1677 |
| Ignatius Peṭros Shahbadin | 1678 – 1702 |
| … | |
| Ignatius Michael Jarweh | 1782 – 1800 |
| Ignatius Michael Dāher | 1802 – 1810 |
| Ignatius Shemʿun Hindi (Zora) | 1814 – 1818 |
| Ignatius Peṭros Jarweh | 1820 – 1851 |
| Ignatius Anṭun Samheri | 1852 – 1864 |
| Ignatius Philippos ʿArkus | 1866 – 1874 |
| Ignatius Giwargis Shalḥat | 1874 – 1891 |
| Ignatius Behnam Benni | 1893 – 1897 |
| Ignatius Ephrem II Raḥmani | 1898 – 1929 |
| Ignatius Gabriel Tappuni | 1929 – 1968 |
| Ignatius Anṭun Hayyek | 1968 – 1998 |
| Ignatius Mūsā Dāʾūd | 1998 – 2001 |
| Ignatius Peṭros ʿAbdulaḥad | 2001 – 2008 |
| Ignatius Yawseph Younan | 2009 to date |
1 The traditional approach, which considers Peter to be the first of the Orthodox bishops (later patriarchs) of Antioch, is found in most existing lists. A list of ‘Patriarchs who sat on the apostolic throne of Peter, the head of the apostles, in Antioch’, however, which is preserved in ms. Dayr al-Suryān 31, f. 81r–v, counts Severus as the first patriarch (and runs until Patriarch Dionysios II, d. 909).
2 Isḥoq and Athanasios Sandloyo are regarded as illegitimate (see Dolabani, 67–68). They are not included in the list of ms. Dayr al-Suryān 31.
3 Around 760 there were two counter-patriarchs: Yuḥanon of Kallinikos and Dawid of Dara.
4 For this period, in which there were two competing patriarchs, see H. Kaufhold, ‘Zur syrischen Kirchengeschichte des 12. Jahrhunderts. Neue Quellen über Theodoros bar Wahbūn,’ OC 74 (1990), 115–51.
5 See E. Honigmann, Le couvent de Barṣauma et le patriarcat jacobite d’Antioche et de Syrie (CSCO 146; 1967), esp. 174–76, as well as Fiey, Pour un Oriens christianus novus, 269.
6 See Fiey, Pour un Oriens christianus novus, 275–77.
7 There are seven more patriarchs of Ṭur ʿAbdin between 1804 and ca. 1840, whose authority, however, was limited and contested. Their names are: Severus Isḥoq (1804–1816), Yawsep of ʿArnas (1805–1834), Barṣawmo of Ḥbob (1816–1839), Mirza of Beth Sbirina (1816–1842), Barṣawmo of Beth Sbirina (1821–1842), Grigorios Zaytun Ghalma of Midyat (1821–1844), and Severus ʿAbd al-Nūr of Arbo (1834–1839). See Fiey, Pour un Oriens christianus novus, 277.