The Late Antique Syriac Book of Mary and a New Witness to the Departure of Mary in Six Books from Sinai Arabic 588

The Late Antique Syriac Book of Mary and a New Witness to the Departure of Mary in Six Books from Sinai Arabic 588ApocryphaSyriaca.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/GTQXCB2A/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.AndrewHochstedlerThe Late Antique Syriac Book of Mary and a New Witness to the Departure of Mary in Six Books from Sinai Arabic 588http://syriaca.org/cbss/GTQXCB2Ahttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/GTQXCB2Ahttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/GTQXCB2AApocrypha33202291-166This article presents for the first time an edition and translation of an important early Syriac witness to ancient traditions about the Virgin Mary’s Assumption and Dormition, known as the Departure of Mary in six books (CANT 123-124), also referred to as the Transitus Mariae and the Six Books Dormition Apocryphon. Dating to the 6th century, the lower-layer palimpsest folios of Sinai Arabic 588 contain Syriac fragments of the Departure as well as of the Protevangelium of James (CANT 50) and of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Paidika Iesu) (CANT 57). These three works originate from the same manuscript and constitute a unique witness to this Syriac Marian compilation found in other 6th-century manuscripts, the only known pairing of the Departure’s long recension with both the Protevangelium and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. New textual and paratextual evidence from these manuscripts offers proof that late antique Syriac Christians understood the three works to form a single unified volume, a Book of Mary. This compilation functioned as a hagiographical account of the Virgin’s life, a witness to the growth of the cult of Mary in the 6th century. Internal details within the account of the Departure indicate that it was edited to be integrated with the Protevangelium, likely in the Book of Mary. Furthermore, an internal date together with references to Christmas in both December and January shed new light on the origins of the Departure. Hochstedler, Andrew. “The Late Antique Syriac Book of Mary and a New Witness to the Departure of Mary in Six Books from Sinai Arabic 588.” Apocrypha 33 (2022): 91–166. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1484/J.APOCRA.5.134682. Andrew Hochstedler, The Late Antique Syriac Book of Mary and a New Witness to the Departure of Mary in Six Books from Sinai Arabic 588,” Apocrypha 33 (2022): 91–166, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1484/J.APOCRA.5.134682.