Title(s):
- Book of martyrs
- ܟܬܒܐ ܕܣܗ̈ܕܘܬܐ(ktābā d-sāhdwātā, Book of the martyrdoms)
- ܬܫܥܝܬܐ ܕܣܗ̈ܕܐ ܕܒܐܪܥܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ(taš‘ītā d-sāhdē d-b-’ar‘ā d-madnḥā, History of the martyrs of the East)
Period covered:
Persecutions of Shapur II (339/340-379/380)
Language:
Syriac
State of Preservation:
Full
Genre:
- Biography (collective)
Remarks:
The attribution of the work to Marutha has been questioned by Wiessner (1967), but Van Esbroeck (1977) has argued that the existence of a fifth-century Armenian translation speaks in favour of Marutha’s authorship. Marutha probably gathered and compiled extant biographies during the first period of peace after the persecutions of Shapur II (Bettiolo 2006: 447). Abdisho bar Brika ascribes to Marutha a 'Book on the martyrdoms' together with various songs and hymns on the martyrs. According to the seven-book Liber Turris (Gismondi 1849: 26-27), Marutha only collected and copied the books on the martyrs that he found during his trip to Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and he then circulated copies of those books in the West.
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