Late Antique Historiography

Letter on the martyrs of Najran

Title(s):
  • Letter on the martyrs of Najran
  • ܐܓܪܬܐ ܐܘܟܝܬ ܬܫܥܝܬܐ ܡܛܠ ܣܗ̈ܕܐ ܚܡܝܖ̈ܝܐ
    (’eḡartā ’awkīt taš‘ītā meṭul sāhdē ḥimyārāyē, Letter, that is story, of the martyrs of Himyar)
Author:
Period covered:
Ca. 518-523
Language:
Syriac
State of Preservation:
Full
Genre:
  • Letter
Remarks:
Symeon of Beth Arasham's letter belongs to the dossier of texts relating the events of the martyrdom of the Christian community in Najran (South Arabia) around the 520s. The text edited by Guidi (1881) is commonly considered to be the original letter, but Taylor (2010) has recently proposed a reassessment of the relationships between this text, the second letter discovered by Shahid, the Book of the Himyarites and the versions preserved in Michael the Great's Chronicle, the Chronicle of Zuqnin (possibly via John of Ephesus), the Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah, and the manuscript London, British Library, Additional 14641.
Edition - Translation:
  • I. Guidi (1881) 'La lettera di Simeone vescovo di Bêth-Aršâm sopra i martiri omeriti'. Reale Accademia dei Lincei: Memorie della Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche: serie terza 7: 501-515, 480-495.
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • G. Bowersock (2013) The throne of Adulis. Oxford.
  • J. Ryckmans (1987) 'Les rapports de dépendance entre les récits hagiographiques relatifs à la persécution de Himyarites'. Le muséon 100: 297-305.
  • J. Ryckmans (1989) 'A confrontation of the main hagiographic accounts of the Najran persecution'. In: Arabian studies in honour of Mahmoud Ghul, ed. M.M. Ibrahim. Wiesbaden: 113-133.
  • I. Shahīd (1980) 'The Martyrs of Najran: Miscellaneous reflexions'. Le muséon 93: 149-161.
  • I. Shahīd (1989) 'Further reflections on the sources for the Najran martyrs'. In: Arabian Studies in Honour of Mahmoud Ghul, ed. M. M. Ibrahim. Wiesbaden: 161-172.
  • I. Shahīd (1990) 'The martyrs of Najran: Further reflections'. Le muséon 103: 151-153.
  • Y. Shitomi (1991) 'Réexamen de deux lettres attribuées à Simeon de Beth Arsham, relatives à la persécution de Nagran'. In: Études Sud-Arabes: Recueil offert à Jacques Ryckmans (Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 39). Leuven: 207-224.
  • D.G.K. Taylor (2010) 'A stylistic comparison of the Syriac Ḥimyarite martyr texts attributed to Simeon of Beth Arsham'. In: Juifs et chrétiens en Arabie aux Ve et VIe siècles: Regards croisés sur les sources, ed. J. Beaucamp - F. Briquel-Chatonnet - C.J. Robin. Paris.
  • L. Van Rompay (1982) 'The martyrs of Najran: Some remarks on the nature of the sources'. In: Studia Paulo Naster oblata. II: Orientalia antiqua, ed. J. Quaegebeur (Orientalia Lovaniensia Aaalecta, 13). Leuven: 301-309.
  • L. Van Rompay (2011) 'Shem'un of Beth Arsham'. In: Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage, ed. S.P. Brock - A.M. Butts - G.A. Kiraz - L. Van Rompay. Piscataway (NJ): 376.