Zuptara (or Zupatra, Zubtara, Zupatra, Zipatra) was a Syriac Orthodox diocese in the Melitene region of eastern Turkey. The diocese of Zuptara is attested between the eighth and eleventh centuries, and twelve of its bishops are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian. The diocese almost certainly lapsed during the twelfth century.
Sources The main primary source for the Syriac Orthodox bishops of Zuptara is the record of episcopal consecrations appended to Volume III of the Chronicle of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch Michael the Syrian (1166–99).Michael the Syrian, Chronicle (ed. Chabot), iii. 451–82 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 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.
Location Zuptara was a small town to the southwest of Melitene (modern Malatya) in eastern Turkey. It lay close to the border between the Byzantine Empire and the ʿAbbasid Caliphate, and for much of the ninth and tenth centuries it was disputed between the Byzantines and the Muslims.Fiey, POCN, 283
Bishops of Zuptara Twelve Syriac Orthodox bishops of Zuptara between the eighth and eleventh centuries are mentioned in the lists of Michael the Syrian.Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, iii. 451–82 and 504
Name From Consecrated in the reign of Place of consecration TheophilusMonastery of ElishaʿQuriaqos (793–817)not known ThomasMonastery of the EasternersDionysius I of Tel Mahre (818–45)not known ShemʿonMonastery of Mar Yaʿqob of KaishumIgnatius II (878–83)not known YohannanMonastery of Mar ShemʿonDionysius II (896–909)not known TheophilusMonastery of YohannanDionysius II (896–909)not known DavidMonastery of Mar Shlemun of DolikhYohannan IV (910–22)not known TheodosiusMonastery of Mar AtonosYohannan V (936–53)not known Stephennot knownYohannan V (936–53)not known Basilnot knownIwanis II (954–7)not known YohannanMonastery of Nahra d'QarireDionysius III (958–61)not known QuriaqosMonastery of Nahra d'QarireYohannan VI Sarigta (965–86)Melitene Yohannannot knownYohannan bar ʿAbdon (1042–57)not known
The diocese of Zuptara almost certainly lapsed during the twelfth century.
Notes
References
Jean-Baptiste Chabot, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche Jacobite d'Antiche (1166-1199). Éditée pour la première fois et traduite en francais I-IV (1899;1901;1905;1910; a supplement to volume I containing an introduction to Michael and his work, corrections, and an index, was published in 1924. Reprinted in four volumes 1963, 2010).