Gregory Bar Hebraeus (1226 – July 30, 1286) is a catholicos (bishop) of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the thirteenth century.
He is noted for his works addressing philosophy, poetry, language, history, and theology.
Bar Hebraeus was born in the village of ʿEbra (Izoli, Turk.
: Kuşsarayı) near Malatya, Sultanate of Rûm (modern Turkey, now in the province of Elazig).
It appears that he took the Christian name Gregory at his consecration as a bishop[citation needed].
Throughout his life, he was often referred to by the Syriac nickname Bar ‘Ebraa, which is pronounced and often transliterated as Bar ʿEbroyo in the West Syriac dialect of the Syriac Orthodox Church), giving rise to the Latinized name Bar Hebraeus.
This nickname is often thought to imply a Jewish background (taken to mean 'Son of the Hebrew').
However, the evidence for this once popular view is slim.
It is more likely that the name refers to the place of his birth, ʿEbrā, where the old road east of Malatya towards Kharput (modern Elazığ) and Amida (Mesopotamia) (modern Diyarbakır) crosses the Euphrates.
He collects in his numerous and elaborate treatises the results of such research in theology, philosophy, science and history as is in his time possible in Syria.
Most of his works sre written in Syriac.
However he also writes some in Arabic, which has become the common language in his day.
