[1][2] Dionysius was born in Tal Mahre, near the city of Raqqa, into a wealthy family from Edessa, and became a monk at the Monastery of Qenneshre, where he studied philology, jurisprudence, philosophy, and theology.
[4] In 826, Dionysius visited Egypt in the company of the Abbasid general Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani.
He held another council at the city of Tagrit in 834, and met with Al-Ma'mun in Baghdad, and also his successor, Caliph Al-Mu'tasim.
A total of one hundred bishops were ordained by Dionysius during his tenure and he served as patriarch until his death on 22 August 845.
[6] The Annals were cited extensively by Michael I, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (r. 1166–1199), and the anonymous author of the Chronicle of 1234.