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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


The Greek Martyrdom of *Kriskes (martyr of Myra, S01880) is translated into Syriac during the 5th or 6th century.

Evidence ID

E05906

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom

The two earliest textual witnesses of the Syriac translation of the Greek Martyrdom of Kriskes [for a description and discussion, see E05105] are represented by ms. Vatican, Syr. 160, and ms. British Library, Add. 14654 (+ ms. Deir al-Surian, Syr. Fragments 71 amd 135), both dating from the late fifth or the sixth century.

Both witnesses preserve almost complete text of the
Martyrdom, with only the opening part missing. They represent the same translation of a Greek version, which, however, was different from the one published by J. Wortley on the basis of the Menaion. According to Brock (p. 5), the Syriac version could be derived from the lost earlier version of the Martyrdom, to which the brief notice in the Greek Synaxarion of Constantinople (on April 15th) seems to bear witness.

The Syriac text of the
Martyrdom was published in Brock 2017, together with English translation and discussion of its relation to the Greek version.

Non Liturgical Activity

Composing and translating saint-related texts

Discussion

The Syriac translation of the Martyrdom bears witness to the spread of the 'Western' cult of Kriskes among Syriac-speaking Christians during the fifth or, at latest, the sixth century, and is the earliest witness of the saint's cult in this milieu.

Bibliography

Edition and translation:
Brock, S.P., “The Martyrdom of Crescus (Crescens) of Myra,”
Analecta Bollandiana 135:1 (2017), 5-22.


Record Created By

Sergey Minov

Date of Entry

10/07/2018

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S01880Kriskes, martyr of MyraܩܪܣܩܘܤCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Sergey Minov, Cult of Saints, E05906 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05906