Within the rich literary tradition of the West Syrian (i.e., Syriac Orthodox) Church, two ninth-c... more Within the rich literary tradition of the West Syrian (i.e., Syriac Orthodox) Church, two ninth-century authors stand out thanks to a curious problem. The authors are the bishops John of Dara, who lived in the first half of the century, and Moses bar Kepha, who died in northern Iraq in 903. The problem is the literary relationship between several of the texts transmitted in their names. Applying a three-pronged approach to this synoptic problem, this article offers a path toward a solution. On the basis of biographical, stylistic, and philological arguments, it is argued that at least one text that goes under John's name, On Heretics, was not in fact written by him. The author of that text, likely operating in the tenth century, drew heavily from Moses bar Kepha's treatise On Paradise, while reshaping the material from Moses, and also incorporating additional material from other sources.
F. P. Barone & L. Bossina (a cura di), La Bibbia ad Antiochia. Tra questioni di canone, pratiche erudite e storia dell’istruzione, sezione monografica della Rivista di storia del cristianesimo 18/2 (2021), p. 365-384, 2021
Le calame et le ciseau : colophons syriaques offerts à Françoise Briquel Chatonnet, dirigé par S. Brelaud, J. Daccache et al., Cahiers d'études syriaques 8, Paris, Geuthner, 2021, p. 383-420
Religion in the Roman Empire 4/3 -- F. Massa (ed.), Mystery Cults and Heresies in the Roman Empire: Polemics, Identities and Interactions, 2018
This paper addresses the role played by the rhetoric connected to mystery cults in Syriac heresio... more This paper addresses the role played by the rhetoric connected to mystery cults in Syriac heresiological discourse. It deals in particular with the Hymns against Heresies by Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), one of the first Syriac heresiographers. It first discusses the occurrences of the word ‘mystery’ (râzâ) in relation to the depiction of heretics, before focusing on a range of themes and notions which are traditionally associated by Christian authors with the critique against the mystery cults and further applied to heretics (secrecy, drunkenness, madness, misconduct and depravity). The comparison of the negative representations of the emperor Julian, the so-called Apostate, in Ephrem’s works and in other contemporary Greek polemicists reveal that they all rely upon a certain stereotyped depiction of the (invented) mysteries of Aphrodite, and more particularly their lascivious orgies: I argue that the same stereotype lies behind the representation of the Chaldeans as heretics in Ephrem’s Hymns. By highlighting this indirect use of the mystery cults rhetoric in Syriac heresiology, this paper contributes to the history of polemical representations circulating in the Mediterranean late antique world.
Within the rich literary tradition of the West Syrian (i.e., Syriac Orthodox) Church, two ninth-c... more Within the rich literary tradition of the West Syrian (i.e., Syriac Orthodox) Church, two ninth-century authors stand out thanks to a curious problem. The authors are the bishops John of Dara, who lived in the first half of the century, and Moses bar Kepha, who died in northern Iraq in 903. The problem is the literary relationship between several of the texts transmitted in their names. Applying a three-pronged approach to this synoptic problem, this article offers a path toward a solution. On the basis of biographical, stylistic, and philological arguments, it is argued that at least one text that goes under John's name, On Heretics, was not in fact written by him. The author of that text, likely operating in the tenth century, drew heavily from Moses bar Kepha's treatise On Paradise, while reshaping the material from Moses, and also incorporating additional material from other sources.
F. P. Barone & L. Bossina (a cura di), La Bibbia ad Antiochia. Tra questioni di canone, pratiche erudite e storia dell’istruzione, sezione monografica della Rivista di storia del cristianesimo 18/2 (2021), p. 365-384, 2021
Le calame et le ciseau : colophons syriaques offerts à Françoise Briquel Chatonnet, dirigé par S. Brelaud, J. Daccache et al., Cahiers d'études syriaques 8, Paris, Geuthner, 2021, p. 383-420
Religion in the Roman Empire 4/3 -- F. Massa (ed.), Mystery Cults and Heresies in the Roman Empire: Polemics, Identities and Interactions, 2018
This paper addresses the role played by the rhetoric connected to mystery cults in Syriac heresio... more This paper addresses the role played by the rhetoric connected to mystery cults in Syriac heresiological discourse. It deals in particular with the Hymns against Heresies by Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), one of the first Syriac heresiographers. It first discusses the occurrences of the word ‘mystery’ (râzâ) in relation to the depiction of heretics, before focusing on a range of themes and notions which are traditionally associated by Christian authors with the critique against the mystery cults and further applied to heretics (secrecy, drunkenness, madness, misconduct and depravity). The comparison of the negative representations of the emperor Julian, the so-called Apostate, in Ephrem’s works and in other contemporary Greek polemicists reveal that they all rely upon a certain stereotyped depiction of the (invented) mysteries of Aphrodite, and more particularly their lascivious orgies: I argue that the same stereotype lies behind the representation of the Chaldeans as heretics in Ephrem’s Hymns. By highlighting this indirect use of the mystery cults rhetoric in Syriac heresiology, this paper contributes to the history of polemical representations circulating in the Mediterranean late antique world.
Chapters gathered in Syriac Hagiography: Texts and Beyond explore a wide range of Syriac hagiogra... more Chapters gathered in Syriac Hagiography: Texts and Beyond explore a wide range of Syriac hagiographical works, while following two complementary methodological approaches, i.e. literary and cultic, or formal and functional. Grouped into three main sections, these contributions reflect three interrelated ways in which we can read Syriac hagiography and further grasp its characteristics: “Texts as Literature” seeks to unfold the mechanisms of their literary composition; “Saints Textualized” offers a different perspective on the role played by hagiographical texts in the invention and/or maintenance of the cult of a particular saint or group of saints; “Beyond the Texts” presents cases in which the historical reality behind the nexus of hagiographical texts and veneration of saints can be observed in greater details.
Les auteurs de cet ouvrage montrent que le zoroastrisme et le manichéisme, qui partagent une visi... more Les auteurs de cet ouvrage montrent que le zoroastrisme et le manichéisme, qui partagent une vision dualiste du monde et des entités primordiales, ont posé de façon similaire au judaïsme, au christianisme et à l’islam la question du rapport des adeptes à la vérité et donc à l’erreur des autres. Cet ouvrage apporte donc une pierre fondamentale à l’étude du phénomène de la controverse religieuse dans l’Antiquité tardive et au début du Moyen Âge. Il nous permet de mieux appréhender deux systèmes de pensée de l’Orient, en ce qu’ils ont de commun mais aussi dans leur irréductible singularité.
Le christianisme syriaque nous a légué le troisième corpus littéraire du monde chrétien ancien, l... more Le christianisme syriaque nous a légué le troisième corpus littéraire du monde chrétien ancien, le plus important après le grec et le latin. Les écrits poétiques d’Éphrem de Nisibe (306-373) comptent sans aucun doute parmi ses plus belles pages. Les Hymnes contre les hérésies présentées ici, outre leur qualité littéraire, ont la valeur d’un texte de fondation. Alors que la légende veut qu’Édesse, ville-berceau des chrétiens syriaques, ait été convertie au temps de Jésus, le chantre de Nisibe nous fait découvrir l’élaboration complexe de l’« orthodoxie » au IVe siècle, au cœur de multiples courants religieux. C’est cette orthodoxie, construite sur des oppositions, alternant attaque et défense, qui constitua par la suite la « tradition syriaque » tout court. Ces 56 hymnes composent un ensemble théologique à l’architecture admirable où une conception précise de Dieu, du monde, de l’homme et du salut est définie contre des croyances alternatives – celles des systèmes de Bardesane, Marcion et Mani principalement. Elles permettent en creux de mieux connaître les premières formes de christianisme de la région. L’engagement dans la lutte théologique s’incarne dans une écriture poétique dense, qui fourmille d’images entrelaçant allusions bibliques, scènes de la vie courante et monde naturel. Éphrem n’hésite pas à s’adresser à ses destinataires – ses coreligionnaires rassemblés lors de la liturgie – ou à ses adversaires, par de vives interpellations qui viennent animer le texte et lui donner sa force persuasive.
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Papers by Flavia Ruani
Ephrem’s works and in other contemporary Greek polemicists reveal that they all rely upon a certain stereotyped depiction of the (invented) mysteries of Aphrodite, and more particularly their lascivious orgies: I argue that the same stereotype lies behind the representation of the Chaldeans as heretics in Ephrem’s Hymns. By highlighting this indirect use of the mystery cults rhetoric in Syriac heresiology, this paper contributes to the history of polemical representations circulating in the Mediterranean late antique world.
Ephrem’s works and in other contemporary Greek polemicists reveal that they all rely upon a certain stereotyped depiction of the (invented) mysteries of Aphrodite, and more particularly their lascivious orgies: I argue that the same stereotype lies behind the representation of the Chaldeans as heretics in Ephrem’s Hymns. By highlighting this indirect use of the mystery cults rhetoric in Syriac heresiology, this paper contributes to the history of polemical representations circulating in the Mediterranean late antique world.
Ces 56 hymnes composent un ensemble théologique à l’architecture admirable où une conception précise de Dieu, du monde, de l’homme et du salut est définie contre des croyances alternatives – celles des systèmes de Bardesane, Marcion et Mani principalement. Elles permettent en creux de mieux connaître les premières formes de christianisme de la région.
L’engagement dans la lutte théologique s’incarne dans une écriture poétique dense, qui fourmille d’images entrelaçant allusions bibliques, scènes de la vie courante et monde naturel. Éphrem n’hésite pas à s’adresser à ses destinataires – ses coreligionnaires rassemblés lors de la liturgie – ou à ses adversaires, par de vives interpellations qui viennent animer le texte et lui donner sa force persuasive.