Athanasius IV of Salh

Athanasius IV Salhoyo was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 986/987 until his death in 1002/1003.

Biography Lazarus studied and became a monk at the Monastery of Saint Aaron, in the vicinity of Callisura, a town near Melitene. Lazarus' sobriquet "Salhoyo" is interpreted by Aphrem Barsoum to reflect his origins in the town of Ṣalāḥiyya, east of Yarpuz, as opposed to the village of Ṣalaḥ in Tur Abdin. He was chosen to succeed John VII Sarigta as patriarch of Antioch and was consecrated on 21 October 986/987 (AG 1298) by Lazarus, metropolitan of Anazarbus, upon which he assumed the name Athanasius. The Monastery of Bārid, the residence of Athanasius' predecessor John and located near Melitene, was renovated by Athanasius and became the latter's residence also.

According to the histories of Michael the Syrian and Bar Hebraeus, Athanasius was praised for his piety by Agapius II, the Chalcedonian (later termed Greek Orthodox) Patriarch of Antioch, in spite of their religious differences, who subsequently put an end to the persecution of non-Chalcedonians. The monk Gabriel is attested as syncellus (secretary) to Athanasius from 994 to 999. He served as patriarch of Antioch until his death in 1002/1003 (AG 1314) at the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery, where he was buried in the sacristy. As patriarch, Athanasius ordained thirty-nine bishops, as per Michael the Syrian's Chronicle, whereas Bar Hebraeus in his Ecclesiastical History credits Athanasius with the ordination of thirty-eight bishops.

Works In 1000, Athanasius compiled lectionaries from both the Old and New Testaments that were then recorded by his pupil the monk Romanus (Brit. Mus. MS. 258).

Episcopal succession As patriarch, Athanasius ordained the following bishops:

Paul, archbishop of Tarsus Andreas, archbishop of Cyrrhus John, bishop of Arsamosata Isaac, bishop of Callisura Peter, bishop of Sarug Iwannis, bishop of Mardin, Reshʿayna, and Kfar Tutho Philoxenus, archbishop of Dara Christodulus, bishop of Baalbek Cyril, bishop of Armenia Moses, bishop of Samosata Basil, archbishop of Balesh Timothy, archbishop of Mabbogh Iwannis, archbishop of Herat Gregory, bishop of Birtha Moses, archbishop of Raqqa Philoxenus, bishop of Tella Qastra Ignatius, archbishop of Tikrit Basil, bishop of 'Arqa John, bishop of Zeugma Ignatius, archbishop of Edessa Dioscorus, archbishop of Emesa Joseph, bishop of Tur Abdin Thomas, archbishop of Anazarbus Dionysius, bishop of Claudia Timothy, bishop of Aphrah John, bishop of Tur Abdin Gabriel, bishop of Aleppo Theodosius, archbishop of Maipherqat Iwannis, bishop of Arsamosata Philoxenus, archbishop of Mabbogh and Gisra Jacob, bishop of Baalbek Daniel, bishop of Armenia Thomas, archbishop of Tiberias Peter, bishop of Arabissus Abraham, bishop of Zeugma John, bishop of Doliche Elias, bishop of Simandu Ignatius, bishop of Arzen Iwannis, archbishop of Melitene