History of Mar Yahballaha and Three Other Patriarchs

that we know of, we have only been able to find the history of Mar Guiverguis George the priest, of Mar Grigor Gregory, and of Mar Yezzidpennah, which is found in the British Museum, add. 7200, fol. 14—37—63^b—80; but we know this manuscript, it is very incomplete, and in many places illegible. However, we tried to have these pages copied without being able to succeed, and as we could not wait, we contented ourselves with what we had.

Mgr. de Harlez, the learned professor at the University of Louvain, had the kindness to come to our aid by giving us some explanations in order to facilitate the understanding of words borrowed from the Avesta the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism of the Mages. We thank him with all our heart.

In publishing these Lives, we have no intention whatsoever of approving the errors of Nestorianism which are so warmly supported, especially by Babai a prominent 7th-century Syriac theologian in his history of Mar Guiverguis; and while respecting the good faith of these personages, we do not intend in any way to place them among the saints who are honored by the holy Church of God.