Laqabin was a diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church, suffragan of the archdiocese of Melitene. The diocese, also known as Qarna and Tella d'Arsenias, is attested between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. Twenty-three bishops of Laqabin are mentioned in the histories of Michael the Syrian and Bar Hebraeus and in other West Syriac sources. The last-known bishop of Laqabin, Timothy, was consecrated by the patriarch Philoxenus Nemrud (1283–92), and the diocese seems to have lapsed in the early decades of the fourteenth century.
The main primary source for the Syriac Orthodox bishops of Laqabin is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the Chronicle of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch Michael the Syrian (1166–99). In this Appendix Michael listed most of the bishops consecrated by the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Twenty-eight Syriac Orthodox patriarchs sat during this period, and in many cases Michael was able to list the names of the bishops consecrated during their reigns, their monasteries of origin, and the place where they were consecrated. For the thirteenth century, Michael's lists are supplemented by several references in the Chronicon Syriacum and Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of the Jacobite maphrian Bar Hebraeus (ob.1286).
The Jacobite diocese of Laqabin was also known as Qarna and Tella d’Arsenias. The diocese was usually styled Qarna in the tenth century. In the first half of the eleventh century its bishops bore various titles: Tella d’Arsenias, Qarna and Tella d’Arsenias, Tella and Laqabin, and Laqabin. Thereafter the diocese was normally known as Laqabin, though Tella d’Arsenias was still occasionally used, especially in formal contexts. The twelfth-century bishop Ignatius of Laqabin, consecrated by Michael the Syrian (1166–99), is referred to in Michael’s narrative as bishop of Tella d’Arsenias, but in his lists as bishop of Laqabin.[1] The diocese seems to have been divided for at least part of the thirteenth century, as bishops of both Laqabin and Tella d'Arsenias are attested in 1264.[2]
Fifteen bishops of Qarna, Tella d’Arsenias and Laqabin are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian.[3]
| Name | From | Consecrated in the reign of | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yohannan | Unspecified | Yohannan V (936–53) | Qarna | |
| Luqa | Unspecified | Iwanis II (954–7) | Qarna | |
| Sargis | Shegara d'Pisqin | Yohannan VI (965–86) | Qarna | |
| Timothy | Monastery of Mar Bar Sawma, Melitene | Yohannan VII bar ʿAbdon (1004–30) | Qarna and Tella d'Arsenias | |
| Shemʿon | Monastery of Mar Domitius | Yohannan VII bar ʿAbdon (1004–30) | Tella and Laqabin | |
| Dionysius | Monastery of the Ladders (sblatha) | Yohannan VII bar ʿAbdon (1004–30) | Tella d'Arsenias | |
| Yohannan | Monastery of Bar Gaghi | Dionysius IV Heheh (1032–42) | Tella and Laqabin | |
| Athanasius | Unspecified | Dionysius IV Heheh (1032–42) | Laqabin | |
| Basil | Monastery of Laʿzar of ʿArqa | Yohannan VIII bar Shushan (1063–73) | Laqabin | |
| Yohannan bar Toma | Melitene | Athanasius VI bar Khamara (1091–1129) | Laqabin | |
| Basil | ʿArnish | Yohannan X Maudiana (1129–37) | Laqabin | |
| Iwanis | Monastery of Sergisyeh | Athanasius VII bar Qutreh (1139–66) | Laqabin | |
| Dionysius | Melitene | Athanasius VII bar Qutreh (1139–66) | Laqabin | |
| Timothy Qustan (Constantine) | Monastery of Mar Ahron, Shigar | Michael I (1166–99) | Laqabin | |
| Ignatius | Monastery of Sergisyeh | Michael I (1166–99) | Tella d'Arsenias; Laqabin |
Further details of some of these bishops are supplied in the narrative sections of the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian and in the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus:
Several thirteenth-century bishops of Laqabin are mentioned in the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus:
In 1283, according to Bar Hebraeus, the diocese of Laqabin and the other suffragan dioceses of the province of Melitene were ruined:
Even if I wanted to be patriarch, as many others do, what is there to covet in the appointment, since so many dioceses of the East have been devastated? Should I set my heart on Antioch, where sighs and groans will meet me? Or the holy diocese of Gumal, where nobody is left to piss against a wall? Or Aleppo, or Mabbugh, or Callinicus, or Edessa, or Harran, all deserted? Or Laqabin, ʿArqa, Qlisura, Semha, Gubos, Qlaudia and Gargar—the seven dioceses around Melitene—where not a soul remains?[11]
Despite the gloomy testimony of Bar Hebraeus, there is evidence that the diocese of Laqabin continued to exist at this period. According to the colophon of a contemporary manuscript, the bishop Timothy 'of Tella d'Arsenias', from the monastery of Baʿuth, was among the fifteen bishops consecrated by the patriarch Philoxenus Nemrud (1283–92).[12]
The diocese of Laqabin is not mentioned in any later source, and probably lapsed in the early years of the fourteenth century.
. Jean Maurice Fiey. Pour un Oriens Christianus Novus: Répertoire des diocèses syriaques orientaux et occidentaux. 1993. Beirut. Orient-Institut. 9783515057189 .