Paul the Persian

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Paul the Persian or Paulus Persa was a 6th-century

Nisibis (d. 571 AD)[1] and with Paul of Basra.[2] According to Jackson, he was "a Christian who may have studied Greek philosophy in the schools of Nisibis and Gundeshapur".[2] He is remembered for his writings in Syriac for his royal patron.[3] These include his notes in Syriac on Aristotle's Logic, in which he declares the superiority of science over faith.[4]

Life

Paul the Persian is known from the 9th-century

Ezekiel (567-580). According to Bar-Hebraeus, Paul was a cleric in the Church of the East
and well versed in ecclesiastical and philosophical matters.

Paul wrote two known works. He produced an introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle, which was delivered before the

Chosroes I, and later translated into Syriac by Severus Sebokht. The same work was also translated into Arabic at a later date.[5]
The other work extant is On Interpretation, which has never been published.

Both the Chronicle of Seert and Bar-Hebraeus record that he aspired to become metropolitan of

Fars, and, failing to be elected, converted to Zoroastrianism.[6] However this is not otherwise documented and may merely be the product of the rivalry between the Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church
and the Nestorian Church of the East. The entry in the Chronicle of Seert reads:

(Chosroes) was very learned in philosophy, which he had studied, it is said, under Mar Bar Samma, bishop of Qardu, and under Paul the Persian Philosopher, who, being unable to obtain the metropolitan see of Persia, renounced the Christian religion.[7]

Works

  • Prolegomena to Philosophy and Logic[8]
  • Treatise on the Logic of Aristotle the Philosopher addressed to King Khhuosrowousrowau (in Syriac; British Museum ms. 988 [Add. 144660], ff. 55v-67rv; Wright 1872, 1872, p. 1161);[9] translated into Latin by J. P. N. Land[10]

See also

  • List of pre-modern Iranian scientists and scholars

References

  1. ISBN 90-04-04855-3
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-7661-6655-4
  3. ISBN 1-60506-697-4
    )
  4. ISBN 2-7068-0779-2
  5. ^ D. Gutas, Paul the Persian on the classification of the parts of Aristotle's philosophy: a milestone between Alexandria and Baghdad, Der Islam 60 (1983), 231-67, esp. 250-254 on the Arabic translation, attributing it to Abu Bishr Matta.
  6. ^ Article on Priscianus of Lydia
  7. Addai Scher, ed., Histoire Nestorienne (Chronique de Seért), Patrologia Orientalis
    , 7 (1910), 147.
  8. ISBN 81-208-1540-8
  9. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original
    on 2008-07-12. Retrieved 2009-07-10. Contains a detailed bibliography of works on Paulus Persa.
  10. ^ J. P. N. Land, Anecdota Syriaca, vol. 4, v. 4, IV, Leiden, 1875

External links

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