Jacob of Serugh
Also: Jacob of Sarug, Mar Jacob, Jacobus Sarugensis
Born probably between 449 and 452, probably in Kurtam on the Euphrates (now site not known; Serugh district, Turkey). Died in 521, in Batnae (Serugh), now Suruç, Turkey.
A Syriac poet and country priest who became bishop of Batnae in his last years. He wrote hundreds of sermons in verse and is called "the Flute of the Holy Spirit".
Wrote in Syriac. A major author.
Places lived
- 466 to 473Edessa (now Şanlıurfa, Turkey)studiedyears probable
- 519 to 521Batnae (Serugh), now Suruç, TurkeybishopFrom about 502 to 519 he was a visiting priest at Hawra in the same district. Its site is not sure.
Works
2 works, in the order they were written. 2 works can be read here.
- Verse HomiliesSermons in verse on the stories of the Bible; about 380 survive.4,669 words
- Letter to Stephen bar SudailiA warning to the monk Stephen bar Sudaili, who taught that the pains of hell will end.3,769 words
How we know the dates and places
- Born probable
- The Syriac Lives. See S. P. Brock, 'Ya'qub of Serugh', Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (2011).
- Place of birth probable
- The Syriac Lives of Jacob
- Died sure
- 29 November 521, from the notice printed in Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis; other sources give other days, and one gives 520. See Brock, 'Ya'qub of Serugh' (2011).
- Place of death sure
- The Syriac Lives of Jacob
- Edessa, years probable
- Jacob of Serugh, Letter 14 (he was at the school of Edessa about 470); the letter number is from memory. See Brock, 'Ya'qub of Serugh' (2011).
- Edessa, place sure
- Jacob of Serugh, Letter 14 (he was at the school of Edessa about 470); the letter number is from memory. See Brock, 'Ya'qub of Serugh' (2011).
- Batnae (Serugh), years sure
- The Syriac Lives of Jacob
- Batnae (Serugh), place sure
- The Syriac Lives of Jacob