The Syriac Martyrdom of *Jacob the Dismembered (martyr in Persia, ob. 421, S01660) is produced by an anonymous Syriac-speaking writer It describes the martyrdom of the Christian Jacob in the city of Bet Lāpāṭ in Khuzistan during the reign of Bahram V (r. 420-438). Written in Persia, possibly during the 5th or 6th century.
E07154
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Persian Martyrdom Accounts
Martyrdom of *Jacob the Dismembered
Summary:
The narrative opens with the chronological information that the martyrdom of Jacob took place in 'the year 732 of Alexander' (i.e. 421 CE). Jacob is said to be a native of the city of Bet Lāpāṭ in Khuzistan, descended from a noble Christian family. Favoured by King Yazdegerd I, whom he served, Jacob renounced Christianity. When his mother and wife learn about this, they send Jacob a letter in which they reproach and renounce him. Shamed, Jacob repents and returns to his former religion. (pp. 539-542 in Bedjan's edition)
After that, Jacob is denounced to the king (presumably already Yazdegerd's son Bahram). When the king summons him and asks him if he is Christian, Jacob acknowledges this. Offended, the king threatens Jacob with a cruel death if he doesn't change his mind. The martyr refuses to comply and engages the king in a theological discussion about true worship. Enraged by Jacob's audacity, the king orders that the martyr be sentenced to death by dismemberment. The martyr is taken to the place of execution, where he prays to God, asking for strength. The executioners offer him a last chance to change his mind, but Jacob refuses. (pp. 542-547)
In the following extended section of the narrative, the gradual dismemberment of the martyr is described: first, the fingers of his right hand are cut off, then those of the left one, then the toes of the right foot, then those of the left one, then the right leg, then the left one, then the right hand, then the left one, then the right arm, then the left one, then the right shank, then the left one. After Jacob offers a final prayer, he is beheaded. (pp. 545-556)
In the concluding paragraph, the date of the martyrdom is repeated, with the additional information that it took place on Friday, on 'the twenty-seventh of (the month of) the latter Teshri' Is it possible to give this in 'our' calendar as well [in a square bracket]?. The scattered remains of Jacob's body are said to have been watched over by guards, who refused to accept the bribe offered by the local Christians and allow them to take them away. Nevertheless, during the night the Christians manage to gather the limbs. While doing this, they witness a miracle - fire descending from heaven upon the remains' of the martyr and upon the bloodstained ground. After that, they bury the martyr's body secretly in an unspecified place. (pp. 557-558)
Summary: S. Minov
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesZoroastrians
Monarchs and their family
Source
The Martyrdom of Jacob the Dismembered is an account of the arrest and execution of the Christian Jacob that took place during the 1st or 2nd year of the reign of King Bahram V (r. 420-438) in the city of Bet Lāpāṭ in Khuzistan. While it is difficult to establish the work's date with certainty, the second half of the 5th, or the 6th century seem to be the likely time of the Martyrdom's composition.The Martyrdom is attested in no less than twenty-four manuscripts, the oldest of which seems to be Vatican Syr. 161, dated to the 9th century. There is not yet a critical edition of the text. Published for the first time in Assemani 1748 (presumably, on the basis of Vatican Syr. 161), it was reedited by Bedjan 1890-1897, who also used the 19th-century manuscript Berlin, Königliche Bibliothek, or. oct. 1257 [= Assfalg 27] (see Assfalg 1963, pp. 56-59).
Syriac text: Assemani 1748, vol. 1, pp. 242-257, Bedjan 1890-1897, vol. 2, pp. 539-558; Latin translation: Assemani 1748, vol. 1, pp. 242-257; French translation: Lagrange 1852, pp. 189-207, Leclercq 1904, pp. 333-343; German translation: Braun 1915, pp. 150-162; modern Arabic translation: Scher 1900-1906, vol. 2, pp. 300-315. For general information, see Fiey 2004, pp. 107-108; Devos 1953-1954.
Discussion
The Martyrdom bears witness to the cult of the martyr Jacob, which apparently developed after his death, during the second half of the 5th or the 6th century in the city of Bet Lāpāṭ in Khuzistan.Bibliography
Main editions and translations:Assemani, S.E., Acta Sanctorum Martyrum Orientalium et Occidentalium in duas partes distributa, adcedunt Acta S. Simeonis Stylitae. 2 vols (Roma: Typis Josephi Collini, 1748).
Bedjan, P., Acta martyrum et sanctorum. 7 vols (Paris / Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890-1897).
Braun, O., Ausgewählte Akten persischer Märtyrer (Bibliothek der Kirchenväter 22; Kempten / München: Jos. Kösel, 1915).
Lagrange, F., Les Actes des martyrs d’Orient, traduits pour la première fois en francais sur la traduction latine des manuscrits syriaques de Étienne-Evode Assemani (Paris: Librairie Ecclésiastique et Classique d’Eugène Belin, 1852).
Leclercq, H., Les martyrs: Recueil de pièces authentiques sur les martyrs depuis les origines du christianisme jusqu’au XXe siècle. Tome 3: Julien l’Apostat, Sapor, Genséric (Paris: H. Oudin, 1904).
Scher, A., Kitāb sīrat ’ašhar šuhadā’ al-Mašriq al-qiddisīn. 2 vols (Mossoul: Imprimerie des pères dominicains, 1900-1906).
Further reading:
Assfalg, J., Syrische Handschriften: syrische, karšunische, christlich-palästinensische, neusyrische und mandäische Handschriften (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 5; Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1963).
Devos, P., “Le dossier hagiographique de S. Jacques l’Intercis,” Analecta Bollandiana 71 (1953), 157-210; 72 (1954), 213-256.
Fiey, J.-M., Saints syriaques (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 6; Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 2004).
Sergey Minov
11/12/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01660 | Jacob/James the Dismembered, martyr of Persia under Bahram V, ob. 421 | ܝܥܩܘܒ ܡܦܣܩܐ | Certain |
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