Bar Hebraeus

Gregory Bar Hebraeus (1226 – 30 July 1286), previously known by his Latin name Abulpharagius, was a catholicos (bishop) of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the 13th century. He is noted for his works concerning philosophy, poetry, language, history, and theology; he has been called "one of the most learned and versatile men from the Syriac Orthodox Church" (Dr. William Wright).

He collected in his numerous and elaborate treatises the results of such research in theology, philosophy, science and history as was in his time possible in Syria. Most of his works were written in Syriac. However he also wrote some in Arabic, which had become the common language in his day.

Name

It is not clear when or why he adopted the Christian name Gregory (Syriac: ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ‎ Grigorios, Ġrīġūriyūs), but it may have occurred at the time of his consecration as bishop. Throughout his life, he was often referred to by the Syriac nickname Bar ʿEbrāyā (Syriac: ܒܪ ܥܒܪܝܐ‎, which is pronounced and often transliterated as Bar Ebroyo in the West Syriac dialect of the Syriac Orthodox Church), giving rise to the Latinised name Bar Hebraeus. This nickname refers to his Jewish background, which means 'Son of the Hebrew'. His father was a Jewish physician. The name does refer to the place of his birth as well, ʿEbrā, where the old road east of Malatya towards Kharput (modern Elazığ) and Amida (Mesopotamia) (modern Diyarbakır) crossed the Euphrates. He is also known as Abu'l Faraj (in Latin, Abulpharagius).