October 1694 when the two rivals came to an agreement after the arbitration of Salmon, an Aleppian Jew. The terms of the agreement were: Athanasius recognized Cyril as Patriarch in change of 13,000 Écus, the appointment to the See of Aleppo and the right to succession at Cyril's death. This agreement was judged in 1698 null by the Vatican, which continued to consider Athanasius as Patriarch. From 1700 to 1704 Athanasius Dabbas traveled in Eastern Europe to beg for financial help. He visited in particular the Wallachia where he got the support of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu. At end 1705 Patriarch Gabriel III of Constantinople had him elected as regent (proedros) Archbishop of Cyprus, an office Athanasius kept till early 1707. When back to Aleppo, with the help of Abdallah Zakher he established a printing press. In 1716 the reigning Patriarch Cyril V Zaim made he too a Roman Catholic profession of faith and was received in communion with Rome on May 9, 1718. After Cyril's decision, Athanasius declared himself Orthodox, leading the Orthodox party to which he remained faithful to his own death. On 16 January 1720 Cyril V Zaim died and, after a try of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to appoint an own bishop as Patriarch, Athanasius was finally proclaimed Patriarch of Antioch, winning also over the candidature, in Damascus, of the pro-Catholic Euthymios Saifi, a friend of Cyril Zaim. During his four years of patriarchate, he preferred to live in Aleppo rather than in Damascus where there was the Patriarchal See. He died in Aleppo on 13 July 1724. Athanasius Dabbas’ succession laid bare the divisions in the Melkite Church: between the pro-Catholic and the pro-Orthodox parties, and also between the communities of Damascus (that supported Cyril V Zaim) and of the Aleppo (tied to Athanasius). Athanasius Dabbas on his deathbed chosen as his own successor the priest Sylvester (1696–1766), a fierce supporter of the Aleppine Orthodox party, while the Melkite community in Damascus proceeded with the formal election of the new Patriarch and elected the pro-Catholic Cyril VI Tanas. Later, the Patriarch Jeremias III of Constantinople declared Cyril's election to be invalid, excommunicated him, and appointed Sylvester to the patriarchal See of Antioch, consecrating him bishop in Istanbul. This division marked the split between the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Works Athanasius Dabbas was a prolific writer and publisher. His