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{{short description|Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite}}
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'''Melkite''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|l|k|aɪ|t}}) or '''Melchite''' churches are various [[Eastern Christian]] churches of the [[Byzantine Rite]], and their members. The name comes from the [[Central Semitic]] [[Semitic root|root]] ''m-l-k''{{efn|[[Syriac language|Syriac]]: ''malkoyo'' ({{Script/Serto|ܡܠܟܝܐ}}), {{Langx|he|'מלך'}} {{Transliteration|he|melk-i}} or {{Transliteration|he|melech-i}}, and {{langx|ar|ملكي}} {{Transliteration|ar|malak-ī}}}} 'royal', referring to the loyalty to the [[Byzantine emperor]], and became a [[Christian denominations|denominational]] designation for Christians who accepted imperial religious policies, notably the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451).{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=190}}{{sfn|Dick|2004|p=9}}

Originally, during the [[Early Middle Ages]], Melkites used both [[Koine Greek]] and [[Aramaic]] ([[Syriac language|Classical Syriac]] & [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic|Syro-Palestinian]])<ref>{{cite book |title=CLASSICAL SYRIAC |publisher=Gorgias Handbooks |page=14 |language=English |quote=In contrast to "Nestorians" and "Jacobites", a small group of Syriacs accepted the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Non-Chalcedonian Syriacs called them "Melkites" (from Aramaic malka "king"), thereby connecting them to the Byzantine Emperor's denomination. Melkite Syriacs were mostly concentrated around Antioch and adjacent regions of northern Syria and used Syriac as their literary and liturgical language. The Melkite community also included the Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity in Palestine and the Orthodox Christians of Transjordan. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary work (mainly translation) in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect, using a script closely resembling the Estrangela cursive of Osrhoene.}}</ref><ref>"JACOB BARcLAY, Melkite Orthodox Syro-Byzantine Manuscripts in Syriac and Palestinian Aramaic" quote from the German book Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete, p. 291</ref><ref>"However, in contrast to what went on in northern Syria and Mesopotamia, where Syriac competed well with Greek to remain a great cultural language, Syropalestinian was in a weak position with regard to Greek and, later, to Arabic." quote from the book The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilād Al-Shām During the Umayyad Period: English section, p.31</ref><ref>"Some Chalcedonians of Palestine and the Transjordan chose to write in Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) rather than Syriac." quote from the book A Companion to Byzantine Epistolography, p.68</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Arman Akopian |title=Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies |date=11 December 2017 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=9781463238933 |pages=573 |language=English |chapter=Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites |quote= The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly of Roman, greek and lvantian descent converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.}}</ref> language in their religious life,{{sfn|Brock|2011d|p=285-286}} and initially employed the [[Antiochian rite]] in their liturgy, but later (10th–11th century) accepted the [[Constantinopolitan rite]], and incorporated [[Christian Arabs|Arabic]] in parts of their liturgical practices.{{sfn|Brock|1972|p=119-130}}{{sfn|Hohmann|2000|p=49-56}}{{sfn|Brock|2011b|p=248-251}}

In modern times, there are two [[Christian denominations|denominations]] called ''Melkite'':{{sfn|Brock|2011c|p=285}} ''Orthodox Melkites,'' the [[Greek Orthodox]] Christians of the Near East, and ''Catholic Melkites'', members of the [[Melkite Catholic Church]]. Melkites can be of various ethnic origins, and Melkite can be the denominational component of [[ethnoreligious]] classifications.{{sfn|Brock|2006|p=76}}

==Background==
[[File:Chalkedónmapa.svg|thumb|right|250px|Ecclesiastical order, established by the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451)]]
{{further|Christianity in the Middle East}}

Melkites view themselves as the [[Early Christianity|first Christian community]], dating the Melkite Church back to the time of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]].<ref name=Littlep322>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTuZJxwYltEC&q=melkites+arab|title=Peacemakers in action: profiles of religion in conflict resolution|author=David Little, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding|date=8 January 2007|edition=illustrated|publisher=Cambridge University Press, 2007|isbn=9780521853583}}</ref> Accordingly, notably to [[Holy See|Vatican]] historiographers and the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]], this first community is said to have been a mixed one made up of individuals who were [[Greek people|Greek]], [[Copts]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Terms for Syriac Christians#Aramean identity|Aramean (Syriac)]], [[Arabs]] and [[Jewish]].<ref>PR Ackroyd: The Cambridge History of the Bible: Volume 1, From the Beginnings to Jerome, CUP 1963</ref><ref>Abou Ackl, Rand. "The Construction of the Architectural Background in Melkite Annunciation Icons." Chronos 38 (2018): 147–170</ref> Secular historians like [[Edward Gibbon]] and [[Ernest Renan]] held similar views regarding the emergence of the Melkite community.

The emergence of [[Christological]] controversies in the first half of the 5th century gave rise to divisions among [[Eastern Christians]] in various regions of the [[Near East]]. Official state support, provided by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] imperial government to adherents of [[Chalcedonian Christianity]] (451), provided the base for a specific use of [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] terms that designated those who were loyal to the empire, not just in regard to their political loyalty, but also in relation to their acceptance of imperial religious policies. Throughout the Near East, all Christians who accepted state-backed Chalcedonian Christianity, became known as ''Melkites'', a term derived from the Hebrew word ''melekh'' (similar to Aramaic ''malkā'' or ''malkō'', meaning "ruler", "king" or "emperor"), thus designating those who are loyal to the empire and its officially imposed religious policies.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=190}}{{sfn|Dick|2004|p=9}}

The very term (''Melkites'') designated all loyalists, regardless of their ethnicity (Greeks, Copts, Hellenized Jews, Arameans (Syriacs), Arabs,...), thus including not only Greek-speaking Chalcedonians, but also those among Aramaic-speaking and Arabic-speaking Christians and [[Judeo-Christian]]s who were followers of Chalcedonian Christianity. All pro-Chalcedonian Christians throughout [[Byzantine Syria]], [[Byzantine Phoenicia]], [[Byzantine Palestine]] and [[Byzantine Egypt]] thus became commonly known as ''Melkites''. Since Melkite communities were dominated by Greek episcopate, position of Aramaic-speaking and Arabic-speaking ''Melkites'' within the wider Melkite community was somewhat secondary to that of Greek ''Melkites''. That led to the gradual decline of Syriac-Aramaic traditions. [[Syriac language|Classical Syriac]] was originally the [[liturgical language]] of the Syriac ''Melkites'' in [[Antioch]] and parts of [[Syria Prima|Syria]], while some other Aramaic-speaking ''Melkites'', predominantly of Jewish descent, used the [[Christian Palestinian Aramaic|Syro-Palestinian]] dialect in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]] instead.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Arman Akopian |title=Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies |date=11 December 2017 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=9781463238933 |pages=573 |language=English |chapter=Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites |quote= The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=CLASSICAL SYRIAC |publisher=Gorgias Handbooks |page=14 |language=English |quote=In contrast to "Nestorians" and "Jacobites", a small group of Syriacs accepted the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Non-Chalcedonian Syriacs called them "Melkites" (from Aramaic malka "king"), thereby connecting them to the Byzantine Emperor's denomination. Melkite Syriacs were mostly concentrated around Antioch and adjacent regions of northern Syria and used Syriac as their literary and liturgical language. The Melkite community also included the Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity in Palestine and the Orthodox Christians of Transjordan. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary work (mainly translation) in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect, using a script closely resembling the Estrangela cursive of Osrhoene.}}</ref><ref>"JACOB BARcLAY, Melkite Orthodox Syro-Byzantine Manuscripts in Syriac and Palestinian Aramaic" quote from the German book Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete, p. 291</ref><ref>"However, in contrast to what went on in northern Syria and Mesopotamia, where Syriac competed well with Greek to remain a great cultural language, Syropalestinian was in a weak position with regard to Greek and, later, to Arabic." quote from the book The Fourth International Conference on the History of Bilād Al-Shām During the Umayyad Period: English section, p.31</ref><ref>"Some Chalcedonians of Palestine and the Transjordan chose to write in Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) rather than Syriac." quote from the book A Companion to Byzantine Epistolography, p.68</ref> The Syriac ''Melkites'' changed their church's [[West Syriac Rite]] to that of [[Byzantine Rite|Constantinople]] in the 9th-11th centuries, requiring new translations of all their Classical Syriac liturgical books.<ref>"I found among them many Syriac manuscripts; but they were unable to read or understand them." quote from the book Maaloula (XIXe-XXIe siècles). Du vieux avec du neuf, p.95</ref><ref>"The west Syriac tradition covers the Syriac Orthodox, Maronite, and Melkite churches, though the Melkites changed their Church's rite to that of Constantinople in the 9th-11th centuries, which required new translations of all its liturgical books.", quote from the book The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, p.917</ref>
The decline of Syriac-Aramaic traditions among Melkites was enhanced (since the 7th century) by gradual [[Arabization]], that also affected Greek-speaking Melkite communities, since under the Islamic rule Arabic became the main language of public life and administration.{{sfn|Griffith|1997|p=11–31}}{{sfn|Dick|2004|p=13-54}}{{sfn|Brock|2011a|p=96–97}}

==Orthodox Melkites==
[[File:Syriac Sertâ book script.jpg|thumb|right|11th-century Melchite [[Hirmologion]] written in [[Syriac language|Syriac]] Sertâ book script, from [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], [[Mount Sinai]], now part of the [[Schøyen Collection]].]]

Internal divisions that emerged after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451) in the eastern patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, gradually led to the creation of distinctive pro-Chalcedonian (Melkite) and non-Chalcedonian branches, that by the beginning of the 6th century evolved into separate hierarchical structures.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|p=}}

Chalcedonian (Melkite) patriarchates of [[Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch|Antioch]], and [[Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] remained in communion with the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. On the other side, among [[miaphysite]] non-Chalcedonians, parallel patriarchates emerged in Alexandria (miaphysite [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]]) and Antioch (miaphysite [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Church]]).

In [[Byzantine Palestine]], the pro-Chalcedonian (Melkite) party prevailed, as well as in some other regions, like the Nubian kingdom of [[Makuria]] (in modern Sudan), that was also Chalcedonian, in contrast to their non-Chalcedonian [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Tewahedo]] neighbours, from {{circa|575}} until c. 710 and still had a large Melkite minority until the 15th century.

Main Melkite Orthodox Churches are:
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria]] 
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch]] 
* [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]]

Some typically [[Greeks|Grecian]] "ancient [[synagogal]]" [[priest]]ly [[Christian liturgy|rite]]s{{which|date=November 2016}} and [[hymn]]s have survived partially to the present,{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} notably in the distinct [[church service]]s of the Melkite and [[Greek Orthodox]] communities of the [[Hatay Province]] of Southern Turkey, [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]]. Members of these communities still call themselves {{Transliteration|ar|[[Rum (endonym)|Rūm]]}}, which literally means "Romans" in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] (that is, those of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], what English speakers often call "Byzantines"). The term {{Transliteration|ar|Rūm}} is used in preference to {{Transliteration|ar|Yūnāniyyūn}}, which means "[[wikt:Greek|Greek]]s" or "[[wikt:Ionian|Ionian]]s" in Classical Arabic and [[Biblical Hebrew]].

The Orthodox Saint, [[Raphael of Brooklyn|Raphael Hawaweeny]], reports that:

<Blockquote>"There is a local tradition which says that when the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab wanted to write the document of guardianship to Patriarch Sophronius, after he had heard that Christians were divided into different groups such as Jacobites, Nestorians, Armenians, Maronites, and so forth, he asked him: "What is the name of your branch of Christianity?" Sophronius entreated him to give him some time so that he could find a good name pleasing to the Caliph. While he was absorbed in praying fervently, he was inspired to call his people by the first word he would hear in the service. Then listening attentively, he heard the Deacon reading the fifth Psalm from the first hour: "Oh my King and my Lord." Then he knew that he should call his people "the Royal People, or the Kingly People." Upon finishing his prayer he told the Caliph that they should be called "Royal People," or "Melkites." The Caliph approved this name and ... From that time till the end of the Arabic period, the Orthodox people of Palestine and Syrian came to be called the Royal People."</blockquote>

This local tradition has been interpreted by some members of [[Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre|the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre]] to argue that [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|Patriarch Sophronius]] was Greek, and therefore claim that the term Melkite refers specifically to the Greek nation and ethnicity as a "Royal People", often as justification for racial discrimination against non-Greeks, which Saint Raphael argues against.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hawaweeny |first=Raphael |title=An Historical Glance at the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher |publisher=Oakwood Publications |year=1893 |isbn=1879038315 |location=California |publication-date=1996 |pages=28–30 |translator-last=Najim |translator-first=Michel}}</ref>

==Catholic Melkites==
[[File:Melkite-Christ-the-King.jpg|thumb|right| Melkite Catholic art of [[Christ the King]] in a Byzantine bishop’s regalia ([[Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral (Roslindale, Massachusetts)|Annunciation Cathedral]], Boston) ]]

From 1342, there were [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] clergy who were based in [[Damascus]] and other areas who had worked toward a union between Rome and the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]]. At that time, the nature of the [[East–West Schism]], normally dated to 1054, was undefined, and many of those who continued to worship and work within the Melkite Church became identified as a pro-Western party. In 1724, [[Cyril VI of Antioch|Cyril VI]] (Seraphim Tanas) was elected in Damascus by the Synod as Patriarch of Antioch. Considering this to be a Catholic takeover attempt, [[Jeremias III of Constantinople]] imposed a deacon, the Greek monk [[Sylvester of Antioch|Sylvester]] to rule the patriarchate instead of Cyril. After being ordained a priest, then bishop, he was given Turkish protection to overthrow Cyril. Sylvester's heavy-handed leadership of the church encouraged many to re-examine the validity of Cyril's claim to the patriarchal throne.

The newly elected [[Pope Benedict XIII]] (1724–1730) also recognised the legitimacy of Cyril's claim and recognized him and his followers as being in communion with Rome. From that point onwards, the Melkite Church was divided between the Greek Orthodox ([[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch]]), who continued to be appointed by the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople until the late 19th century, and the Greek Catholics ([[Melkite Greek Catholic Church]]), who recognize the authority of the pope of Rome. However, it is now only the Catholic group who continue to use the title ''Melkite''; thus, in modern usage, the term applies almost exclusively to the [[Arabic]]-speaking [[Greek Catholic]]s from the [[Middle East]].

==See also==
{{EB1911 poster|Melchites}}
* [[Chalcedonian Christianity]]
* [[Christian Arabs]]
* [[Melchizedek]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|35em}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Barclay|first=Jacob|title=Melkite Orthodox Syro-Byzantine Manuscripts in Syriac (Edessene Dialect of Aramaic) and Palestinian Aramaic (Indigenous Palestinian Dialect of the Peasant Jews)|journal=Liber Annuus|year=1971|volume=21|pages=205–219|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwQnAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=A Short Melkite Baptismal Service in Syriac|journal=Parole de l'Orient|year=1972|volume=3|number=1|pages=119–130|url=http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/bitstream/handle/2042/35011/po_1972_1_119.pdf|access-date=2021-02-21|archive-date=2021-06-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624195533/http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/bitstream/handle/2042/35011/po_1972_1_119.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=An Introduction to Syriac Studies|year=2006|orig-year=1980|edition=2nd revised|location=Piscataway, NJ|publisher=Gorgias Press|isbn=9781593333492|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bHUyvgAACAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|chapter=Christian Palestinian Aramaic|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage|year=2011a|location=Piscataway, NJ|publisher=Gorgias Press|pages=96–97|chapter-url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Christian-Palestinian-Aramaic}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|chapter=Liturgy|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage|year=2011b|location=Piscataway, NJ|publisher=Gorgias Press|pages=248–251|chapter-url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Liturgy}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|chapter=Melkite|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage|year=2011c|location=Piscataway, NJ|publisher=Gorgias Press|pages=285|chapter-url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Melkite}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Masters|first=Bruce|chapter=The Establishment of the Melkite Catholic Millet in 1848 and the Politics of Identity in Tanzimat Syria|title=Syria and Bilad al-Sham under Ottoman Rule|year=2010|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=455–473|doi=10.1163/9789004191044_024|isbn=9789004191044|s2cid=130827888|chapter-url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/69c2/177ce0ac8d71b400f89319459ab759cb308a.pdf|access-date=2021-02-26|archive-date=2020-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213211533/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/69c2/177ce0ac8d71b400f89319459ab759cb308a.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}}
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{{refend}}

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