The Chronicle of Seert

Exploring the Church of the East's history, The Chronicle of Seert reveals the complexities of Christian identity and engagement in medieval Iraq.

This book delves into the intricate cultural and political history of the Church of the East, which is the primary Christian church in Iraq and Iran. Author Philip Wood utilizes medieval Arabic sources to explore the history-writing practices of Christians from the fifth to ninth centuries AD. Notably, The Chronicle of Seert serves as a pivotal text, providing insights that are often overlooked in other historical accounts. This title is available as open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 International license, allowing readers to access it freely through Oxford Scholarship Online and other selected platforms.

The Chronicle of Seert acts as a lens through which to understand the Christian narrative in Iraq. It documents events that remain undocumented in other historical texts, revealing much about the evolving priorities of historians and their audiences during the period from approximately 400 to 800 AD. By dissecting the Chronicle into its various components, Wood offers a nuanced cultural history that reflects the Christians' self-identity as a community of martyrs, while also confronting their complex relationship with the Sasanian state.

The insights provided by The Chronicle of Seert extend to the development of an international awareness among Iraqi Christians. As they began to look toward the Roman Empire, they encountered both a model of Christian governance and challenges posed by theological differences. Additionally, the text highlights the dynamics of patronage within the church, illustrating the tensions between lay and clerical authority, as well as the relationships between church and state, and central and peripheral communities. This monograph builds on previous scholarship by incorporating the unique perspectives offered by this later historical witness.