, a Christian author, of the sect of the Melchites, was born at
, a Christian author, of the sect of the
Melchites, was born at Cairo, in Egypt, in the year 876,
and became eminent in the knowledge of physic; which
he practised with so much success and reputation, that
even the Mahometans reckoned him one of the best physicians in his time. Towards the latter part of his life, he
applied himself to divinity; and was chosen in the year
935, patriarch of Alexandria. He then took the name of
Eutychius; for his Arabic name was Said Ebn Batrick;
Said, meaning happy, in Arabic, as Eutychius does in,
Greek. He had the misfortune not to be very acceptable
to his people; for there were continual jars between them,
from his first accession to the see, to the time of his death,
which happened in the year 950, or, according to SaxiuSj
in the year 940. He wrote annals from the beginning of
the world to the year 900; in which may be found many
things which occur no where else; but certainly many
which were collected from legends, and are entirely fabulous. An extract from these Annals, under the title of
“Annals of the Church of Alexandria,
” was published by
Selden, in Arabic and Latin, London, 1642, 4td and
the Annals entire were published by Pocock, in Arabic and
Latin, in 1659, Oxford, 2 vols. 4to, with a preface and
notes by Selden. Besides these, Eutycbius wrote a book
“De rebus Siciliac,
” after Sicily was conquered by the
Saracens the manuscript of which is now in the public
library at Cambridge, subjoined to the Annals; also “A
disputation between the heterodox and the Christians,
” together with some small medical performances.