The Book of the Laws of Countries

to escape this difficulty, we will stick to the oldest sources: Julius Africanus, Porphyry, Eusebius 1, and will only use the others insofar as they complete the first ones without contradicting them 2.

The father of Bardesan was named Nouhama and his mother Nahsiram. They were not of Syrian race, but left Persia (or Parthia) in the fifteenth year of Sahrouq, son of Narsé, which is the year 455 of the Greeks (144 A.D.) (Mi.). [They arrived in Edessa under King Manu VIII who reigned from 139 to 163, then, after an interregnum of four years, from 167 to 179 (D.)].

It is in Edessa, near the river Daiçan which waters this city, that Nahsiram had a son in the year 465 of the Greeks, 154 of our era (Mi.; chronicle of Edessa). She named him the son of the Daiçan, or Bar Daiçan, from the name of the river (Mi., Eph.). This foreign origin of Bardesan is attested by authors who call him the Parthian (A.) and the Babylonian (Po.) [let us add that it is also attested by the nature of his studies: astronomy and cosmology, and by the philosophical and Hellenic, if not Aryan, turn of his mind].

Babylon was then occupied by the Parthians who were sometimes confused with the Persians. These were tribes...

1. We admit all the assertions of Eusebius. Saint Ephrem also provides us with valuable indications provided that we omit the insults and make allowances for his hatred of astrology, which he did not understand (cf. § 8); we then find that he reproaches Bardesan only for astrological errors (apart from the non-resurrection of the bodies). In particular, we have not found that Saint Ephrem ever accused Bardesan of having adhered to the system of Valentinus, that is to say, of having been a Gnostic.

2. Here are the names of the main authors and the works cited in this work, with their era and the abbreviation that will designate them: Julius Africanus, contemporary of Bardesan, Kestoi (A.). — Porphyry (223-305). De abstinentia, IV, 17 (Po.). — Eusebius (267-338). Ecclesiastical History, l. IV, ch. xxx (E. H. E.); Evangelical Preparation, VI, 9 (E. P. E.). — Firmicus Maternus (4th century), Matheseos libri VIII, Teubner edition, 1894 (F. M.). — Epiphanius (310-403); Adversus haereses, 36 or 56 (Epi.). — Saint Ephrem (320-379); Adversus haereses sermones. Opera syrolatina, t. II (Eph.). — Theodoret (385-458), Haeret. Fab. Comp., I, 22 (T.). — Michael the Syrian (1126-1199). An unpublished biography of Bardesan the astrologer (Mi.). — Hahn, Bardesanes gnosticus, Leipzig, 1819 (Ha.). — Kuehner, Bardesanis gnostici numina astralia, Hildeburghusae, 1833 (Ku.). — Cureton, Spicilegium Syriacum, London, 1855 (C.). — Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa, Halle, 1863 (M.). — Hilgenfeld, Bardesanes der letzte gnostiker, Leipzig, 1864 (Hi.). Rubens Duval, History of Edessa, Paris, 1892 (D.). — We put in brackets the passages that we add ourselves to the biography of Bardesan. — The notation (§) refers to the paragraphs of the present translation which have been increased for the convenience of citations.