The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption

by Stephen J. Shoemaker

Overview

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

The ancient Dormition and Assumption traditions are a collection of over 60 different narratives, preserved in 9 ancient languages, that commemorate the end of the Virgin Mary's life. This study aims to make this collection more accessible by analyzing the liturgical, archaeological, and narrative sources of the earliest traditions of Mary's death. Several of the most important narratives appear here in English for the first time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199250752
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Series:	Oxford Early Christian Studies
Pages:	500
Product dimensions:	14.20(w) x 22.00(h) x 3.40(d)

About the Author

University of Oregon

Table of Contents

1. Earliest Dormition Traditions
2. Palestinian Cult of the Virgin
3. Rival Traditions of Mary's Death
4. Prehistory and Origins of the Dormition Traditions
Appendices:
A. The Ethiopic Liber Requiei
B. Earliest Greek Dormition Narrative
C. Fifth-Century Syriac Fragments
D. The Ethiopic 'Six Books'
E. (Ps.-) Evodius of Rome
F. Jacob of Serug
G. Palm Narrative Parallels