Social Life of the Church of the East according to its canons1. SourcesFirst we have some canons from the Antiochean Church which were adopted in the Church of the East, such asDidascalia, Constitutiones Apostolorum1, the decrees of Nicaea (325), of which we have at least 2 translations:that which Marutha, bishop of Maipharkat undertook at the request of patriarch Isaac in 4102, and we have aSyriac version of the so called 'Arabic Canons'.3 The codifiers of the Church of the East have inserted in theircollections some of the canons of the councils of Ancyra (314), Neocesarea (318), Gangra (340) Antioch (341),Laodicea (380?), Constantinople (381), and Chalcedon (451). Secondly, we have the decisions of the synodsand patriarchs, of which most are together in a collection4 attributed to Patriarch Elias I (11th C), but accordingto its editor, Chabot, the collection dates from the 8th C. and was completed later by the addition of latersynods. It contains the synods beginning with that of Isaac (410), the last one, the 14th, is that of Henanjesu II(775). The 5th one of Barsauma is in reality 6 letters of this metropolitan. The 10th one of Isoyab I (585) isfollowed by a disciplinary and dogmatic letter addressed to a bishop James of Deirin, the 11th one of Sabriso I(596) by a synodal letter addressed to the monks of Bar Qaiti, the 13th of George I (676) by a dogmatic letter tochorepiscopus Mina. The ms of Paris has also the first synod of Timothy I (790) of which some (or all) of thedecisions are addressed in a letter to metropolitan Ephrem of Elam.Elias Djauhari, metropolitan of Damas (9th C.) made an Arabic version, and Aboulfaradj Ibn at-Tayib5 (11thC.), in his arabic version, "Christian jurisprudence", added the other synods of Timothy (805), Iso bar Nun etYohannan III (9th C.). Gabriel, metropolitan of Bassora (9th C.) made a collection of canons divided in 2 parts6.Patriarch Elias I (11th C.) collected all canons, constitutions and judgments in a short volume7. Elias...