Primary source · Syriac
The Synodicon Orientale
Synods of the Church of the East (compilation) · synods AD 410–775; compiled later
What this text is
The collected synods of the Persian church — beginning with Isaac's synod of 410 that ratified the primacy of Seleucia-Ctesiphon claimed by Papa bar Aggai a century before; the dossier's letters on Papa's case are of contested authenticity.
Public-domain translations
Summarized (from the Syriac)
[The tradition relates that when the bishops assembled to depose Papa, he struck the Gospel-book crying 'Speak, Gospel, speak!' — and was smitten with paralysis in the midst of the synod. The primacy he claimed was ratified for his successors in 410.]
Manuscript witnesses
Alqosh and Mosul manuscript tradition
13th–19th c. copiesLate East Syriac copies of the canonical collection, the base of Chabot's edition.
Chabot, Synodicon Orientale
1902Syriac text with French translation — still the standard edition.
Provenance
Seleucia-Ctesiphon; the canonical dossier of the Church of the East
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Synodicon Orientale, ou recueil de synodes nestoriensJ.-B. Chabot, 1902The editio princeps with French translation.
- The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the EastDavid Wilmshurst, 2011Accessible history built on the synodal record.