s valuable.

The best editions are by G. Bernhardy (1828) and C. Muller (1861) in
their _Geographici Graeci minores_; see also E. H. Bunbury, _Ancient
Geography_ (ii. p. 480), who regards the author as flourishing from
the reign of Nero to that of Trajan, and U. Bernays, _Studien zu Dion.
Perieg._ (1905). There are two old English translations: T. Twine
(1572, black letter), J. Free (1789, blank verse).

DIONYSIUS TELMAHARENSIS ("of Tell-Ma[h.]r[=e]"), patriarch or supreme
head of the Syrian Jacobite Church during the years 818-848, was born at
Tell-Ma[h.]r[=e] near Ra[k.][k.]a (ar-Ra[k.][k.]ah) on the Bal[=i]kh. He
was the author of an important historical work, which has seemingly
perished except for some passages quoted by Barhebraeus and an extract
found by Assemani in Cod. _Vat._ 144 and published by him in the
_Bibliotheca orientalis_ (ii. 72-77). He spent his earlier years as a
monk at the convent of [K.]en-neshr[=e] on the upper Euphrates; and when
this monastery was destroyed by fire in 815, he migrated northwards to
that of Kais[=u]m in the district of Samos[=a]ta. At the death of the
Jacobite patriarch Cyriacus in 817, the church was agitated by a dispute
about the use of the phrase "heavenly bread" in connexion with the
Eucharist. An anti-patriarch had been appointed in the person of Abraham
of [K.]artam[=i]n, who insisted on the use of the phrase in opposition
to the recognized authorities of the church. The council of bishops who
met at Ra[k.][k.]a in the summer of 818 to choose a successor to
Cyriacus had great difficulty in finding a worthy occupant of the
patriarchal chair, but finally agreed on the election of Dionysius,
hitherto known only as an honest monk who devoted himself to historical
studies. Sorely against his will he was brought to Ra[k.][k.]a, ordained
deacon and priest on two successive days, and raised to the supreme
ecclesiastical dignity on the 1st of August. From this time he showed
the utmost zeal in fulfilling the duties of his office, and undertook
many journeys both within and without his province. The ecclesiastical
schism continued unhealed during the thirty years of his patriarchate.
The details of this contest, of his relations with the caliph Ma'm[=u]n,
and of his many travels--including a journey to Egypt, on which he
viewed with admiration the great Egyptian monuments,--are to be found in
the _Ecclesiastical Chronicle_ of Barhebraeus.[1] He died in 848, his