Late Antique Historiography

Cave of treasures

Title(s):
  • Cave of treasures
  • ܟܬܒܐ ܕܡܥܪܬ ܓܙ̈ܐ
    (ktābā d-me‘arat gazē, Book of the cave of treasures)
  • ܡܡܠܠܐ ܕܒܪܫܝܬ
    (mamlā d-berešīt, Exposition on Genesis)
  • ܟܬܒܐ ܕܥܠ ܝܘܒܠ ܫܖ̈ܒܬܐ
    (ktābā d-‘al yūbāl šarbātā, Book of the succession of generations)
  • ܟܬܒܐ ܕܛܟܣܐ ܕܝܘܒܠ ܫܖ̈ܒܬܐ ܕܡ̣ܢ ܐܕܡ ܥܕܡܐ ܠܡܫܝܚܐ
    (ktābā d-ṭaksā d-yūbāl šarbātē d-mēn adam ‘admā l-mešīḥā, Book of the order of successions of generations from Adam until Christ)
Author:
Period covered:
Adam-Christ
Language:
Syriac
State of Preservation:
Full
Genre:
  • Sacred history
Remarks:
Incorrectly attributed to Ephrem and traditionally identified as an apocryphal or pseudepigraphical work, the Cave of treasures can also be viewed as a Syriac historical text, as a ‘new version of sacred history’ (Minov 2013), which traces the genealogy of Christ to Adam. An Arabic recension of the Cave of treasures, called the Kitab al-Magall, must have been produced before the middle of the ninth century. The most recent manuscript dates from that time, earlier than the earliest extant Syriac versions (Gibson 1901; Ri 2000). There also exist Garshuni, Ethiopic, Coptic and Georgian versions (Ri 2000).
The Syriac version was used as a source for two Syrian Orthodox chronicles: the Chronicle of Zuqnin, written in c. 775 (Ri 2000) and the Chronicle of the year 1234 (Ri 2000; Hilkens 2018). The Arabic version was used by Arabic Christian (Eutychius of Alexandria) and Islamic historians (al-Tabari, al-Yaqubi). Serving as an introduction to Georgian history, a Georgian version of the Cave of treasures (Mahé 1992; Kourcikidzé 1993; Ri 2000) was appended to the Life of Georgia (K‛art‛lis ts‛khovreba) in at least one manuscript.
Edition - Translation:
  • C. Bezold (1883-1888) Die Schatzhöhle. Two Volumes. Leipzig.
  • E.W. Budge (1927) The Book of the cave of treasures. London
  • S.-M. Ri (1987) La caverne des trésors: Les deux recensions syriaques (Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 486-7: Scriptores Syri 207-8). Leuven.
Fragments:
Users:
Sources:
Bibliography:
  • M.D. Gibson (1901) Apocrypha Arabica (Studia Sinaitica, 8). London.
  • A. Götze (1923) ‘Die Nachwirkung der Schatzhöhle’. Zeitschrift für Semitistik 3: 51-94.
  • A. Götze (1924) ‘Die Nachwirkung der Schatzhöhle’. Zeitschrift für Semitistik 4: 53-71, 153-177.
  • A. Hilkens (2018) The anonymous Syriac Chronicle of 1234 and its sources (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, 272). Leuven: 187-190.
  • C. Kourcikidzé (1993) La caverne des trésors: Version géorgienne (Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 526: Scriptores Iberici, 23). Leuven.
  • J.-P. Mahé (1992) La caverne des trésors: Version géorgienne (Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, 527: Scriptores Iberici, 24). Leuven.
  • S. Minov (2013) 'The Cave of treasures and the formation of Syriac Christian identity in late antique Mesopotamia: Between tradition and innovation'. In: Between personal and institutional religion: Self, doctrine, and practice in late antique Eastern Christianity, ed. B. Bitton-Askhelony - L. Perrone (Cultural encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, 15). Turnhout: 155-194.
  • S. Minov (2014) ‘Dynamics of Christian acculturation in the Sasanian Empire: Some Iranian motifs in the Cave of treasures’. In: Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians: Religious dynamics in a Sasanian context, ed. G. Herman (Judaism in Context, 17). Piscataway (NJ): 149-201.
  • S. Minov (2017) 'Date and provenance of the Syriac Cave of treasures: A reappraisal'. Hugoye 20: 51-128.