Five Hundred Bones from Constantinople: Monks, Manuscripts, and Memory at the Eastern Borders of Byzantium

Five Hundred Bones from Constantinople: Monks, Manuscripts, and Memory at the Eastern Borders of ByzantiumHarvard Theological ReviewSyriaca.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/WWAFVQQJ/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.ReyhanDurmazFive Hundred Bones from Constantinople: Monks, Manuscripts, and Memory at the Eastern Borders of Byzantiumhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/WWAFVQQJhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/WWAFVQQJhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/WWAFVQQJHarvard Theological Review115:32022363-386This article traces the diachronic uses of the literary motif of “relics coming from Constantinople to monasteries in the East” in Syriac hagiography. Although this motif was seen in Syriac literature as early as the sixth century, there seems to be an increase in the employment of these stories around the twelfth century in saints’ lives local to northern Mesopotamia. In light of two texts—the <i>Life of Abḥay</i> and the <i>Life of Aḥā</i>—the article argues that stories about Constantinopolitan relics (martyrs’ bones or pieces of the True Cross) were oriented toward different modes of remembering Byzantium in the Syriac Church in the Middle Ages. The article further argues that these stories also created space to reflect on the Syriac Church’s relations with the Armenian Church in the medieval Near East. The article thus shows the power of narrative in creating cultural memory, building communal identity, and catalyzing religious rivalry. Durmaz, Reyhan. “Five Hundred Bones from Constantinople: Monks, Manuscripts, and Memory at the Eastern Borders of Byzantium.” Harvard Theological Review 115:3 (2022): 363–86. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816022000232. Reyhan Durmaz, Five Hundred Bones from Constantinople: Monks, Manuscripts, and Memory at the Eastern Borders of Byzantium, Harvard Theological Review 115:3 (2022): 363–86, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816022000232.ConstantinopleHoly CrossJacobitesMar AbhayMar AhaMeliteneVII-XVIII CEXII CEhagiographymonasticismrelicssaints