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University of California Press

The Wandering Holy Man

The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine

by Johannes Hahn (Editor), Volker Menze (Editor)
Price: $95.00 / £80.00
Publication Date: Jun 2020
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 324
ISBN: 9780520972957
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 5 maps, 3 b/w illustrations
Series:

About the Book

 Barsauma was a fifth-century Syrian ascetic, archimandrite, and leader of monks, notorious for his extreme asceticism and violent anti-Jewish campaigns across the Holy Land. Although Barsauma was a powerful and revered figure in the Eastern church, modern scholarship has widely dismissed him as a thug of peripheral interest. Until now, only the most salacious bits of the Life of Barsauma—a fascinating collection of miracles that Barsauma undertook across the Near East—had been translated. This pioneering study includes the first full translation of the Life and a series of studies by scholars employing a range of methods to illuminate the text from different angles and contexts. This is the authoritative source on this influential figure in the history of the church and his life, travels, and relations with other religious groups.
 

About the Author

Johannes Hahn is Professor of Ancient History at Münster University and author of Gewalt und religiöser Konflikt. He is editor of several volumes on religion, violence, and society in the later Roman Empire.
 
Volker Menze is Associate Professor of Late Antique History at Central European University and author of Justinian and the Making of the Syrian Orthodox Church.
 

Table of Contents

List of Illlustrations 
Acknowledgments 

Introduction 
Volker Menze

1. Barsauma and the Emperors 
Simon Corcoran

2. Ascetic History and Rhetoric in the Life of Barsauma 
Cornelia B. Horn

3. Barsauma’s Travels to the Holy Land and Jewish History 
Gu¨nter Stemberger

4. Barsauma, Eudocia, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount 
Jan Willem Drijvers

5. Cleansing the Sacred Space: The Holy Land and Its Inhabitants in the Pilgrimage 
Narrative of Barsauma 
Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer

6. “It is not lawful for Samaritans to have dealings with Christians!”
Samaritans in the Life of Barsauma
Johannes Hahn

7. Wandering Monks Remembered: Hagiography in the Lives of Alexander the 
Sleepless and Barsauma the Mourner 
Daniel F. Caner

Conclusion: Barsauma between Hagiography and History 
Johannes Hahn

Appendix: The Life of Barsauma 
Andrew Palmer

Bibliography 
List of Contributors
Index

Reviews

"This series of essays shows how the Life of Barsauma illuminates central issues in the study of late antiquity: asceticism, Jewish-Christian relations, and Christian identity formation. The contributors, accomplished experts in the field, admirably demonstrate how this previously understudied work sheds new light on these issues and others."—Yonatan Moss, Assistant Professor of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“This book presents the first full translation of the fifth-century Life of Barsauma of Samosata, accompanied by detailed essays exploring how the text relates to broader themes in late Roman history. This volume will be particularly useful for specialists in Syriac, Jewish, and Samaritan studies.”—Philip Wood, Professor of History, Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations