Syriac Orthodox ChurchThe Syriac Orthodox Church (ʿIdto Sūryoyto Trīṣath Shubḥo; الكنيسة السريانية الأرثوذكسية, സുറിയാനി ഓർത്തഡോക്സ് സഭ), also known as West Syriac Church or West Syrian Church, officially known as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and informally as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox church that branched from the Church of Antioch. The bishop of Antioch, known as the patriarch, heads the church and possesses apostolic succession through Saint Peter (Šemʿōn Kēp̄ā), according to sacred tradition.
PatriarchatePatriarchate (πατριαρχεῖον, patriarcheîon) is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were established by the apostles as apostolic sees in the 1st century: Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. Constantinople was added in the 4th century and Jerusalem in the 5th century. Eventually, together, these five were recognised as the pentarchy by the Council of Ephesus in 431.
DiyarbakırDiyarbakır (diˈjaɾ.bakɯɾ; Տիգրանակերտ, local pronunciation: Dikranagerd; Amed; ܐܡܝܕ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern Turkey. It is the second-largest city in the Southeastern Anatolia Region.
First seven ecumenical councilsIn the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. All of the seven councils were convened in modern-day Turkey. These seven events represented an attempt by Church leaders to reach an orthodox consensus, restore peace and develop a unified Christendom.
Tur AbdinTur Abdin (طور عبدين, Tor, Turabdium, Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for its Christian monasteries on the border of the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire. The area is a low plateau in the Anti-Taurus Mountains stretching from Mardin in the west to the Tigris in the east and delimited by the Mesopotamian plains to the south.
Ephrem the SyrianEphrem the Syrian (Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, mɑr ʔafˈrem surˈjɑjɑ; Efrém o Sýros; Ephraem Syrus; ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; 306 – 373), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint Ephraim, Ephrem of Edessa or Aprem of Nisibis, was a prominent Christian theologian and writer, who is revered as one of the most notable hymnographers of Eastern Christianity. He was born in Nisibis, served as a deacon and later lived in Edessa. Ephrem is venerated as a saint by all traditional Churches.
AsoristanAsoristan (𐭠𐭮𐭥𐭥𐭮𐭲𐭭 Asōristān, Āsūristān) was the name of the Sasanian province of Assyria and Babylonia from 226 to 637. The Parthian name Asōristān (𐭀𐭎𐭅𐭓𐭎𐭕𐭍; also spelled Asoristan, Asuristan, Asurestan, Assuristan) is known from Shapur I's inscription on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, and from the inscription of Narseh at Paikuli. The adjective āsōrīg in Middle Persian accordingly means “Assyrian”. The region was also called several other names, mostly relating to it's Assyrian inhabitants: Assyria, Athura Bēṯ Nahren (ܒܝܬ ܐܪܡܝܐ), Bābēl / Bābil, and Erech / Erāq.
Franco-Mongol allianceSeveral attempts at a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Islamic caliphates, their common enemy, were made by various leaders among the Frankish Crusaders and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Such an alliance might have seemed an obvious choice: the Mongols were already sympathetic to Christianity, given the presence of many influential Nestorian Christians in the Mongol court.
Emperor Xuanzong of TangEmperor Xuanzong of Tang (xuan3.zong1; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Through two palace coups, he seized the throne and inherited an empire still in its golden age. He was initially assisted by capable chancellors like Yao Chong, Song Jing and Zhang Yue who were already serving as government officials before Xuanzong ascended the throne.
Full communionFull communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but typically when two or more denominations are in full communion it enables services and celebrations, such as the Eucharist, to be shared among congregants or clergy of any of them with the full approval of each.
