01 — Foundations

The historical St. Isaac the Syrian: his origins in Beth Qatraye on the Arabian Gulf, his consecration as bishop of Nineveh under Catholicos George and his resignation after only five months, his near-blindness, and his withdrawal into the solitary life from which the Ascetical Homilies came. The few and fragile biographical sources, and the discipline of keeping the historical figure clear of later legend.

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beth-qatraye-and-nineveh.md Origins in Beth Qatraye; consecration as bishop of Nineveh and resignation after five months; near-blindness; the few biographical sources
the-solitary.md The anchoritic life at Mount Matout and the Monastery of Rabban Shabur; the solitary vocation that shaped the whole corpus

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