The Final Act of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-Attaching Head

The Final Act of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-Attaching HeadApocryphaSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/4UK3DZMU/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.J. AndrewDooleThe Final Act of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-Attaching Headhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/4UK3DZMUhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/4UK3DZMUhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/4UK3DZMUApocrypha30201987-106There is a little-known tradition which attests to Paul’s decapitated head being lost just outside Rome and discovered much later by a shepherd. I will present four Syriac versions of this tradition, including the Letter of (Pseudo-)Dionysius the Areopagite to Timothy, a thirteenth century encyclopaedia by an East Syrian bishop called The Book of the Bee, and two hagiographic manuscripts. All of these attest to Paul’s head miraculously re-attaching to his body during a vigil/experiment in Rome. I will examine and compare these texts to see what motifs and possible historical events lie behind this unusual posthumous miracle. Doole, J. Andrew. “The Final Act of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-Attaching Head.” Apocrypha 30 (2019): 87–106. J. Andrew Doole, The Final Act of Paul: The Miracle of the Apostle’s Re-Attaching Head, Apocrypha 30 (2019): 87–106.NT apocryphaPaulPseudo-Dionysius the AreopagiteSolomon of BasrahVII-XVIII CEapostlesprimary sources [Syriac] + English translationrelics