Jacob of Edessa (d. 89/708) was a renowned polymath Syriac scholar and the Miaphysite (i.e., Syriac Orthodox or monophysite) bishop of Edessa. His extant writings include many of the most important Christian observations concerning the first century of Islam. According to later mediaeval historians, Jacob was born in about 11/632 in the province of Antioch. Ordained as bishop of Edessa (present-day Urfa, Turkey) in about 64/684, Jacob gained a reputation for strict adherence to church regulations. Frustrated by his contemporaries' disregard for ecclesiastical rules, he