Metropolitanate of Beth Garmai was an East Syriac metropolitan province of the Church of the East between the fifth and fourteenth centuries. The region of Beth Garmai (Syriac: ) is situated in northern Iraq, bounded by the Little Zab and Diyala Rivers and centered on the town of Karka d'Beth Slokh (Syriac: , modern Kirkuk). Several bishops and metropolitans of Beth Garmaï are mentioned between the fourth and fourteenth centuries, residing first at Shahrgard, then at Karka d'Beth Slokh, later at Shahrzur and finally at Daquqa. The known suffragan dioceses of the metropolitan province of Beth Garmaï included Shahrgard, Lashom (), Khanijar, Mahoze d'Arewan (), Radani, Hrbath Glal (), Tahal and Shahrzur. The suffragan dioceses of 'Darabad' and 'al-Qabba', mentioned respectively by Eliya of Damascus and Mari, are probably to be identified with one or more of these known dioceses. The diocese of Gawkaï, attested in the eighth and ninth centuries, may also have been a suffragan diocese of the province of Beth Garmaï. The last known metropolitan of Beth Garmaï is attested in the thirteenth century, and the last known bishop in 1318, though the historian Amr continued to describe Beth Garmai as a metropolitan province as late as 1348. It is not clear when the province ceased to exist, but the campaigns of Timur Leng between 1390 and 1405 offer a reasonable context.

Background Before the fourteenth century the Kirkuk region was included in the East Syriac metropolitan province of Beth Garmaï, one of the five great 'provinces of the interior' of the Church of the East.

The bishop of Karka d’Beth Slokh was recognised as metropolitan of Beth Garmaï in Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac in 410. He ranked sixth in precedence (after the metropolitan bishops of Seleucia, Beth Lapat, Nisibis, Prath d'Maishan and Erbil), and was responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Shahrgard, Lashom, Arewan, Radani and Hrbath Glal.Chabot, 272–3

There were several suffragan dioceses in the province of Beth Garmaï at different periods. Within Beth Garmaï itself (the region between the Lesser Zab and Diyala rivers) there were dioceses for Radani, Shahrgard, Lashom, Shahrzur and Tirhan. All of these dioceses except Tirhan (an outlying diocese in the province of the patriarch) were in the province of Beth Garmai. The dioceses of Hrbath Glal and Mahoze d’Arewan in the Lesser Zab valley were geographically in the Erbil region but seem to have been included in the metropolitan province of Beth Garmaï. The seat of the bishops of Mahoze d'Arewan was later transferred to the nearby town of Konishabur, also known as Beth Waziq, and this diocese still had a bishop in 1318. Within the Beth Garmaï region proper, however, only the metropolitan diocese of Daquqa and the diocese of Tirhan (the district between the Tigris and Jabal Hamrin) in the province of the patriarch seem to have survived into the fourteenth century. The last-known bishop of Tirhan, Shemon, was present at the consecration of Timothy II in 1318, and the diocese may have met its end during Timur's campaigns in the 1390s. No further bishops are recorded in the Kirkuk region until the early years of the nineteenth century, when a Catholic diocese of Kirkuk (which persists to this day) was established in the 1820s by the patriarchal administrator Augustine Hindi. Later in the nineteenth century a second Catholic diocese was established for the Sehna region in Persia, hitherto part of the diocese of Kirkuk.

Eliya of Damascus listed five suffragan dioceses in the 'eparchy of Bajarmi' in 893, in the following order: Shahrqadat (Shahrgard); Daquqa; al-Bawazikh (Beth Waziq); Darabad; and Khanijar and Lashom.Assemani, BO, ii. 485–9

The diocese of 'al-Qabba' in the province of Beth Garmaï, not attested elsewhere, is said to have been 'added to Wasit' (i.e. transferred to the province of the patriarch) during the reign of the patriarch Abdisho I (963–86), in exchange for the diocese of al-Bawazikh (Beth Waziq).Mari, 104 (Arabic), 92 (Latin)

The diocese of Karka d'Beth Slokh The bishop Yohannan of Beth Garmaï was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325.Fiey, POCN, 63

The bishops Shapur and Isaac of Beth Garmaï are mentioned in connection with the persecution of Shapur II (339–79).Fiey, POCN, 63

The bishop Aqballaha, 'bishop of Karka and metropolitan of Beth Garmaï', was present at the synod of Isaac in 410 and subscribed to its acts.Chabot, 273–4 He was also among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Dadisho in 424.Chabot, 285

The bishop Yohannan, 'bishop of Karka d'Beth Slokh, metropolitan of Beth Garmaï', was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Acacius in 486.Chabot, 306

The deacon and secretary Hormizd was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Babaï in 497, on behalf of the metropolitan Bokhtisho of Beth Garmaï.Chabot, 315

The bishop Dairaya of Karka d'Beth Slokh, 'metropolitan of this town and of all the country of Beth Garmaï', was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Mar Aba I in 544.Chabot, 344–5 and 350–1

The metropolitan Allaha-zkha of Beth Garmaï adhered by letter to the acts of the synod of Joseph in 554.Chabot, 366

The metropolitan Bokhtisho of Beth Garmaï adhered by letter to the acts of the synod of Ishoyahb I in 585.Chabot, 424

The metropolitan Bokhtisho of Beth Garmaï, perhaps the same man, was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Gregory in 605.Chabot, 478

The monk Gabriel of the monastery of Beth Abe was consecrated metropolitan of Beth Garmaï by the patriarch Sliba-zkha (714–28). Originally from Nisibis, he was surnamed Raqoda, 'the dancer', on account of his effeminate gait.Wallis Budge, Book of Governors, ii. 245–8

The monk Ishozkha of the monastery of Beth ʿAbe was elected 'metropolitan bishop of Karka d'Beth Slokh' at an unknown date in the second half of the eighth century or the first half of the ninth century.Wallis Budge, Book of Governors, ii. 448

The metropolitan Theodore of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Yohannan IV in 900.MS Paris BN Syr 354, folio 147

The metropolitan Ishozkha of Beth Garmaï was one of three bishops who went into hiding in 961 in protest against the election of the patriarch Israel.Mari, 99 (Arabic), 88 (Latin)

The metropolitan Nestorius of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Mari on 10 April 987.Sliba, 94 (Arabic)

The metropolitan Shemon, originally bishop of Beth Daraye and later bishop of Kashkar, was metropolitan of Beth Garmaï when Elijah of Nisibis completed his Chronography in 1018/19.Elijah of Nisibis, Chronography, i. 35

The metropolitan Yahballaha of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Abdisho II in 1074.Sliba, 101 (Arabic), 59 (Latin)

The bishop David Ibn Barsaha of Hrbath Glal was consecrated metropolitan of Beth Garmaï by the patriarch Abdisho II shortly after his own consecration in 1074.Mari, 130 (Arabic), 114 (Latin)

The bishop Thomas, formerly metropolitan of Ilam, was consecrated metropolitan of Beth Garmaï during the reign of the patriarch Eliya II (1111–32).Mari, 153 (Arabic), 129 (Latin); Sliba, 103 (Arabic)

The patriarch Abdisho III Ibn al-Moqli was metropolitan of Beth Garmaï before his consecration as patriarch in 1139, and was present as metropolitan of Beth Garmaï at the consecration of the patriarch Bar Sawma in 1134.Mari, 154 (Arabic), 131 (Latin); Sliba, 104–5 (Arabic)

The metropolitan Eliya of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Yahballaha II in 1190.Sliba, 115 (Arabic)

The patriarch Sabrisho V was metropolitan of Beth Garmaï before his consecration as patriarch in 1226.Sliba, 117 (Arabic), 67 (Latin) He was present as metropolitan of 'Daquq' (Beth Garmaï) at the consecration of the patriarch Sabrisho IV in 1222.Sliba, 116 (Arabic)

The metropolitan Eliya of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Denha I in 1265.Sliba, 121–2 (Arabic)

The metropolitan Eliya of Beth Garmaï, possibly the same man, was present at the consecration of the patriarch Yahballaha III in 1281.Sliba, 124 (Arabic)

The bishop Shemon of Beth Garmaï was present at the consecration of the patriarch Timothy II in 1318.Assemani, BO, iii. i. 567–80

The diocese of Shahrgard The bishop Paul of Shahrgard was confirmed as a suffragan bishop of the metropolitan Aqballaha of Beth Garmaï in Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac in 410.Chabot, 273

The bishop Paul of Shahrgard was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Babaï in 497.Chabot, 315

The bishop Abraham of Shahrgard was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Mar Aba I in 544.Chabot, 350–1

The bishop Bar Shabtha of Shahrgard was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Ezekiel in 576.Chabot, 368

The bishop Surin of Shahrgard was among the signatories of the agreement of Bar Qaiti in March 598 and the acts of the synod of Gregory in 605.Chabot, 465 and 478

The bishop Abraham of Shahrgard was present at the consecration of the patriarch Yohannan IV in 900.MS Paris BN Syr 354, folio 147

The bishop Abraham, metropolitan of Maishan when Elijah of Nisibis completed his Chronography in 1018/19, was formerly bishop of Sharhrgard.Elijah of Nisibis, Chronography, i. 35

The diocese of Lashom The town of Lashom (Syriac: ) was situated 'nine hours' to the south of Kirkuk, close to the town of Daquqa, which had replaced Karka d'Beth Slokh as the seat of the metropolitans of Beth Garmai by the thirteenth century. Wallis Budge has identified Lashom with the village of Lasim, three-quarters of a mile to the southwest of Daquqa.Wallis Budge, Book of Governors, 44

The bishop Bata of Lashom was confirmed as a suffragan bishop of the metropolitan Aqballaha of Beth Garmaï in Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac in 410.Chabot, 273 He was also among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Dadisho in 424.Chabot, 285

The bishop Mikha of Lashom was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Acacius in 486.Chabot, 306 He was among the many Persian bishops educated at the School of Edessa before its closure in 489, and is said to have written a commentary on I and II Kings, a discourse on his predecessor Sabrisho, another on a person named Kantropos, and a tract explaining the division of the Nestorian psalter into three sections.Wright, Syriac Literature, 60

The bishop Abraham of Lashom was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Babaï in 497.Chabot, 316

The bishop Joseph of Lashom was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Mar Aba I in 544.Chabot, 344–5 and 350–1

The bishop Saba of Lashom was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Ezekiel in 576.Chabot, 368

The bishop (and future patriarch) Sabrisho of Lashom adhered by letter to the acts of the synod of Ishoyahb I in 585.Chabot, 424

The bishop Ahishma of Lashom was among the signatories of the agreement of Bar Qaiti in March 598.Chabot, 465

The patriarch Hnanisho II was bishop of Lashom before his election and consecration as patriarch in 776/7.Elijah of Nisibis, Chronography, i. 87

The bishop Marqos of Lashom was present at the consecration of the patriarch Yohannan IV in 900.MS Paris BN Syr 354, folio 147

The diocese of Khanijar The patriarch Yohannan III (893–9) was earlier bishop of Khanijar, and was transferred from Khanijar to the metropolitan diocese of Mosul during the reign of the patriarch Enosh (877–84).Mari, 83 (Arabic), 74 (Latin)

The diocese of Mahoze d'Arewan The bishop Yohannan 'of Arewan' was confirmed as a suffragan bishop of the metropolitan Aqballaha of Beth Garmaï in Canon XXI of the synod of Isaac in 410.Chabot, 273

The bishop Addaï 'of Arewan d'Abra' was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Dadisho in 424.Chabot, 285

The bishop Papa 'of Arewan' was among the signatories of the acts of the synod of Acacius in 486.Chabot, 307