Acts of Shmona and of Gurya

The Acts of Shmona and of Gurya is a Syriac Christian martyrdom text. The setting takes place at Edessa during Roman Emperor Diocletian's Great Persecution.[1][2]

Publications

The Acts of Shmona and of Gurya was only known to exist in a Syriac manuscript.[1] The manuscript was first translated to English by Francis Crawford Burkitt in his Euphemia and the Goth with the Acts of Martyrdom of the Confessors of Edessa (London, 1913).[3] It wasn't until Ernst von Dobschütz had published his German translation of the Syriac manuscript, that a Greek, Armenian, and a Latin manuscript became known to the public in his Die Akten der edessenischen Bekenner Gurjas, Samonas and Abios aus dem Nachlass von Oscar von Gebhardt (Leipzig, 1911).[4] Dobschütz had obtained the manuscripts from leftover works by Theologian Oscar von Gebhardt who had passed away in 1906.[5][6]

Narrative overview

The introduction of the text begins with mentioning names of current figures at the time in which the martyrdom began such as Diocletian, Aba, Bishop Qona, and Abgar son of Zora[1] During the Diocletianic Persecution,[7][1] the two martyrs dwelling in Edessa were compelled to worship the sun,[2][lower-alpha 1] but they refused to do so. An extensive discussion had occurred between the martyrs and the Eddessian governor Mysianus[8] on why the two martyrs refused to worship the sun.[2][lower-alpha 2] They were killed after that.[11]

Evidence of the martyrs

The historicity of the text is considered reliable.[12][1][lower-alpha 3] Relics of the two martyrs were found in Edessa,[13] and Ephrem the Syrian mentions the martyrs as heroes of Edessa celebrated there.[7] Ignatius Ephrem II Rahmani mentions the martyrs in his Carmina Nisibena,[14] and the names of the two martyrs were written on a fourth century AD calendar which list names of martyrs from Edessa.[1][15]

Connection with other texts

The Acts of Shmona and Gurya and the Martyrdom of Habib are claimed to be authored by a Theophilus who also claims to have witness their martyrdoms.[7] The Acts of Shmona and Gurya and the Martyrdom of Habib text are often compared with the Acts of Sharbel and the Martyrdom of Barsamya by biblical scholars in order to determine the reliability and existence of the martyrs. The historicity of the Acts of Sharbel and Martyrdom of Barsamya are universally accepted as fictitious by biblical scholars[1] as similar concepts of literary can be found between the two texts and the Acts of Shmona and Gurya and the Martyrdom of Habib,[16] and the names Sharbel and Barsamya were not found on a fourth century AD martyrdom calendar as Shmona, Gurya, and Habib are.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Though not mentioned in the text, the sun can be alluded to Zeus or equivalent to Bel.[2]
  2. ↑ The refusal to worship the sun by the two martyrs evidently helps prove a sun-cult tradition had long existed in Edessa.[9][10]
  3. ↑ The descriptive account of the cities condition in the text reflect key elements of what life was like in the city during the Diocletianic Persecution.[1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Millar 1993, p. 486.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kaizer 2008, p. 256.
  3. ↑ Efthymiadis 2016, p. 278.
  4. ↑ Michelson, David A. "Guria and Shmona (text) — ܓܘܪܝܐ ܘܫܡܘܢܐ". Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca Electronica. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Burkitt 1913.
  6. ↑ Ockerbloom, John Mark. "Oscar von Gebhardt". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Valantasis 2000, p. 413.
  8. ↑ Heal & Kitchen 2013, p. 22.
  9. ↑ Drijvers 1980, pp. 156 & 157.
  10. ↑ Layton 1972, p. 361.
  11. ↑ Reinink 1999, p. 272.
  12. ↑ Attridge & Hata 1992, p. 223.
  13. ↑ Saint-Laurent 2015, p. 40.
  14. ↑ Attridge & Hata 1992, pp. 223 & 224.
  15. 1 2 Attridge & Hata 1992, p. 224.
  16. ↑ Attridge & Hata 1992, p. 228.

Sources

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