Life and Martyrdom of Athanasios of Clysma
Titles
- Life and Martyrdom of Athanasios of Clysmaen ( )
- ገድል፡ ወስምዕ፡ ዘቅዱስ፡ ወብፁዕ፡ አትናቴዎስ፡ ዘብሔረ፡ ቍልዝምgez (Gadl wa-sǝmʿ za-qǝddus wa-bǝḍuʿ ʾAtnātewos za-bǝḥera Qʷǝlzǝm gez)
- Martyrdom of Athanasius of Clysma (Arabic version)ar ( )
General description
There is nothing original about the Passion. It tells of the following events: under Diocletian and Maximian, persecution set in throughout the whole empire. Athanasius is a burning light because of his faith and holds an important post in the imperial household. His two brothers, Sergius and Bacchus, resemble him. Maximian sends Athanasius as a faithful servant and a relative to close all the churches in Egypt as far as the Thebaid and to open temples to the gods. Athanasius sheds tears as he takes leave of his brothers, Sergius and Bacchus, foreseeing the martyrdom to which they are all called. Arriving at Alexandria he treats Bishop Peter like a brother and shows contempt for idols. At once he is denounced to Maximian. The latter appoints a judge to interrogate Athanasius. The prefect of Egypt receives the letter and summons him. The dialogue follows the most classical of patterns. Athanasius states that he is stopping at Clysma where his heart’s desire will be fulfilled. Once at the town, Athanasius halts “not far from the spot where today there is a cross” and there makes a prayer. He enters the town just when Christ’s nativity is being celebrated, participates in the rejoicings, and then announces the closure of the churches in accordance with the emperor’s order. The judge then orders Athanasius to sacrifice to the gods, but the saint refuses and turns to God in his prayers. Confronting the judge, Athanasius quotes Saint Paul against the wisdom of the heathen. The judge argues to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” but the saint continues to save his soul, forcing the judge to demand the supreme sacrifice. In the final prayer before he is beheaded, Athanasius makes a strange and rare invocation; he calls on God to protect the Christian kings in the lands of the Romans and the Ethiopians. This phrase, which has disappeared in the Greek but remains in the Arabic and Georgian, is also found in the Ethiopian Synaxarion. In fact, Saint Athanasius of Clysma is one of the rare saints not in the Coptic-Arabic SYNAXARION but present in Ethiopian tradition. The Arabic text of the Passion adds an epilogue after the decapitation on 18 Tammuz. The population of Clysma went out to the judge with Julian, their bishop, and asked him for the body. They arranged for its burial at the church of Our Lady of Clysma, covering it with precious cloths and laying it in a marvelous coffin. From then on numerous cures took place at his tomb.
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Witnesses
The following manuscripts are reported in this record as witnesses of the source of the information or the edition here encoded. Please check the box on the right for a live updated list of manuscripts pointing to this record.
- BNZ 131: 16 (XIII s.): ff. 164ra-169vb (f. 164r: 18 Ḥamlē); BNZ "Martyre de S. Athanase de Clysma. BnF Éthiopien 131Gadla samāʿtāt
- BNA 179: 27 = BNAC 179: 1 e 28 = BNACR 163: 1 e 29 (1509): ff. 1ra-vb (framm.: nota bene che il framm. è scritto su 2 coll., a differenza del resto del ms., che è su 3; si tratta quindi di un f. di guardia, prove-niente da altro ms.) e ff. 171ra-173rb (f. 171r: 18 Ḥamlē); BnF Éthiopien d'Abbadie 179Gadla samāʿtāt
- VVL 264: 6 (1362-63): ff. 34ra-36rb (f. 34r: 17 Ḥamlē); VVL "Passion d’Athanase de Qwelzem […] (f. 34r, une note marginale fait lire la passion au 17 de ce mois)"
- EMML 1826: 18 (XIV-XV s.): ff. 164ra-167vb (f. 164r: 18 Ḥamlē); MS EMML no. 1826EMML 1826
- EMML 1827: 14 (XV s.): ff. 169ra-173vb (f. 169r: 18 Ḥamlē); EMML "Combat of Athanasius of Clysma [Qʷelzem] […] MS EMML no. 1827EMML 1827
- EMML 2514: 39 (1382-88): ff. 190ra-191vb (f. 190r: 18 Ḥamlē); EMML "Martyrdom of Athanasius of Clysma […] MS EMML no. 2514EMML 2514
- EMML 6244: 16 (XIX s.): ff. 104ra-106rc (f. 104r: 13 Ḥamlē); MS EMML no. 6244EMML 6244
- EMML 6834: 18 (XIV s.): ff. 135rb-138r (f. 135r: 18 Ḥamlē); MS EMML no. 6834EMML 6834
- EMML 6951: 40 (XV s.): ff. 198rb-200ra (f. 198r: 18 Ḥamlē); MS EMML no. 6951EMML 6951
- Ṭānāsee 122 = Dāgā Esṭifānos 11: 16 (XV s.): VII: 1: ff. 93ra-96rb (f. 93r: 18 Ḥamlē). Ṭānāsee 122Gadla samāʿtāt
Editions Bibliography
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Raineri, O. 2001. ‘Passione di Atanasio di Clysma (vat. Et. 264)’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 67 (2001), 144–156.
Editions Bibliography
Secondary Bibliography
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Van Esbroeck, M. 1974. ‘L’Éthiopie à l’époque de Justinien: S. Arethas de Neǧrān et S. Athanase de Clysma’, in IV Congresso Internazionale di Studi Etiopici (Roma, 10-15 aprile 1972), I: Sezione storica, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 371, Problemi attuali di scienza e di cultura, 191 (Roma: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1974), 117–139.
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Grébaut, S. 1923. ‘Fin du Martyre d’Athanase de Clysma’, Aethiops, 2 (1923), 27–28.
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Nabil Farouk Fayez 2011. ‘The Martyr Athanasius of Clysma in the Arabic trans. of the Ethiopic Synaxarium’, Studia Orientalia Christiana Collectanea, 44 (2011), 69–80.
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Monferrer Sala, J. P. 2013. ‘Christians in the Red Sea area in Late Antiquity: On the Arabic version of the “Martyrdom of Athanasius of Clysma”’, in F. Feder and A. Lohwasser, eds, Ägypten und sein Umfeld in der Spätantike: vom Regierungsantritt Diokletions 284/285 bis zur arabischen Eroberung des Vorderen Orients um 635-646: Akten der Tagung vom 7.-9.7.2011 in Münster, Philippika, 61 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2013), 247–274.
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Graf, G. 1944. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, I: Die Übersetzungen, I, Studi e Testi, 118 (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944). 516
Secondary Bibliography
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