The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq (review)

Joel Walker’s The Legend of Mar Qardagh uses an early seventh-century hagiographical text to provide an informative and extremely useful introduction to Syriac Christian life under the later Sasanian Empire. Walker’s study begins with a careful, flowing translation of J.-B. Abeloos’ edition of the History of Mar Qardagh. This rich text takes its readers through the life of Mar Qardagh, a man of high birth and great physical gifts, who shows himself at various points a potent archer, polo player, philosophical debater, and political official. After establishing his heroic credentials, the text then describes Qardagh’s conversion, the tangible sacrifices it requires of him, the close relationship with his mentor Abdišo it enables, and the martyrdom it precipitates. The picture that emerges is one of a distinctly Iraqi Christian who functions in a Persian imperial context. Detailed footnotes accompany the translation and serve to situate the text’s most substantive elements within their larger cultural and literary context.

Throughout the volume (and especially in a useful Appendix), Walker argues that the History of Mar Qardagh ought to be understood as a legend with little, if any, factual basis. When it was compiled in the early seventh century, it captured the spirit of an age more than the details of its subject’s life. This approach to the text authorizes Walker to use the legend as a point of entry into a larger discussion of the Christian experience in late antique Iraq.

This discussion begins with a general assessment of the position of the Church of the East and its leadership under Khusro II. Walker distinguishes the church’s unique theological and political position from that of its Roman cousin before embarking upon a survey of the distinctive geographical areas in which the church functioned. In a transition that seems a bit abrupt, the first chapter concludes with a leap back to the ostensible historical context of the Qardagh legend—the mid-fourth century persecution of Shapur II—and a survey of modern scholarship.

The pace quickens with the section’s second chapter, which offers an analysis of the Mar Qardagh text in light of the conventions and themes that animate Sasanian epic tradition. By illustrating thematic parallels to texts like the Chronicle of Ardashir, Walker argues that the Qardagh legend engages with and self-consciously redefines Sasanian epic themes, a feature that truly distinguishes the text.

Walker’s third chapter arises out of the debate scene that catalyzes Qardagh’s conversion to Christianity (§16–22). This debate turns on the point that idolatry does not distinguish between God and his creations. After acknowledging the role that this argument played in early Christian apologetic, Walker then proceeds to examine the specific place that this line of inquiry occupied in philosophical discussion among Christians in the sixth and seventh centuries. A picture emerges of a sort of international marketplace of ideas where institutions such as the School of Nisibis enable the ideas of John Philoponus and other Greek philosophers easily to cross over linguistic and political boundaries.

The family dynamics described in the legend are treated next. As Qardagh moves toward martyrdom, he memorably separates himself from all significant family obligations and breaks with his relatives. This is a common theme in Christian hagiographical literature, but Walker argues that the legend offers a specific treatment of family relations that engages with particular features of Persian elite family structures. This enables the author to emphasize the notion of a strong and enduring Christian family that can be substituted for one’s lost worldly family. Nevertheless, the Qardagh legend again distinguishes itself from similar stories by sketching out a model of Christian heroism that leaves no space for reconciliation with one’s physical family.

Walker’s final chapter traces the development of the commemorations of Mar Qardagh in the village of...