Papers

s of Islam. It simultaneously focuses on three domains: texts, social contexts, and ideological developments relevant for the study of Islam’s beginnings — taking the latter expression in its broadest possible sense. The intersections of these domains need to be examined afresh in order to obtain a clear picture of the concurrent phenomena that collectively enabled both the gradual emergence of a new religious identity and the progressive delimitation of its initially fuzzy boundaries.

abriele Boccaccini (University of Michigan, USA) and Jason M. Zurawski (University of Michigan, USA) Part I: 4 Ezra in the Apocalyptic Tradition 1. More than the Present: Perspectives on World History in 4 Ezra and the Book of the Watchers – Veronika Bachmann (University of Zurich, Switzerland) 2. Apocalyptic Ideas in 4 Ezra in Comparison with the Dead Sea Scrolls -Bilhah Nitzan (Tel-Aviv University, Israel) 3. The "Meaning of History" in the Fifth Vision of 4 Ezra – Laura Bizzarro (Universidad Catolica, Argentina) Part II: Ezra 2, Baruch, and Early Christian Literature 4. The Woman Who Anoints Jesus for his Burial (Mark 14) and the Woman Who Laments her Dead Son (4 Ezra9-10) – Twice the Same Person? – Andreas Bedenbender (University of Dortmund, Germany) 5. Days of Creation in 4 Ezra 6:38-59 and John 1-5 – Calum Carmichael (Cornell University, USA) 6. 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and the Epistle to the Hebrews:Three Approaches to the Interpretation of Ps 104:4 – Eric F. Mason (Judson University, USA) 7. "Good Tidings" of Baruch to the Christian Faithful (The Epistle of 2 Baruch78-87) – Rivka Nir (Open University of Israel, Israel) Part III: Close Readings of 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch 8. The Two Worlds and Adam's Sin: The Problem of 4 Ezra 7:10-14 -Jason M. Zurawski (University of Michigan, USA) 9. Eschatological Rewards for the Righteous in Second Baruch – Daniel M. Gurtner (Bethel Seminary,USA) 10. Death and the Afterlife in 2 Baruch – Jared Ludlow (Brigham Young University, USA) 11. The Calendar Implied in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra:Two Modifications of the One Scheme – Basil Lourie (St Petersburg State University, Russia) 12. The Fate of Jerusalem in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra: From Earth to Heaven and Back? – Carla Sulzbach (McGill University,Canada) Part IV: 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch in their Social and Historical Settings 13. 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch:Archaeology and Elusive Answers to Our Perennial Questions – James Hamilton Charlesworth (Princeton Theological Seminary, USA) 14. The Use of Cryptographic and Esoteric Scripts in Second Temple Judaism and the Surrounding Cultures – Stephen Pfann (University of the Holy Land, Israel) 15. Apocalyptic as Delusion: A Psychoanalytic Approach – J. Harold Ellens (University of Michigan, USA)

stʹ ob Akire Premudrom) was produced in Bulgaria as a direct translation from Syriac, whereas the original Christian (Syriac) recension was created in the Syriac-speaking anti-Chalcedonian milieu within the Sassanid Iranian Empire in the late fifth century; in this latter context, it originated as a hagiographic legend inaugurating a new cult directed against the pro-Chalcedonian Ctesiphon cult of the Three Youths in Babylon. This anti-Chalcedonian and anti-Byzantine work was never accepted in Byzantine culture.

indirect meanings is discussed within the semantic theory of indirect meaning proposed by the present authors in a dialogue with Hintikka’s and Sandu’s theory. The authors preserve the key notion of the latter, the meaning line, but putting it into different semantics (non-Fregean situational) and logic (paraconsistent). Like the contradictions, the indirect meanings tend to an explosion (there are always such possible worlds where they are true); to make them meaningful, there is a need of singling out the only relevant transworld connexion among the infinite number of the possible ones. The meaning line serves to this purpose. An analysis of the simplest semantic constructions with indirect meaning (tropes, humour, hints, riddles, etc.) is proposed.

. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija, 2021 The recent data related to the legend of St Anastasia in Byzantium require a fresh analysis of the mutually connected cults of Anastasia and Febronia in both the Christian East and West. Part One of the present study is focused on the East, whereas Part Two will be focused on the Latin West. In Part One, the cult of Anastasia is discussed especially in Constantinople from the mid-fifth to the fourteenth centuries, with special attention to the epoch when the Imperial Church was Monothelite (seventh century). In this epoch, a new avatar of St Anastasia was created, the Roman Virgin, whose Passio was written on the basis of Syriac hagiographic documents. The cult of this second Anastasia was backed by Monothelite Syrians, whereas the fifth-century cult of Anastasia in Constantinople was backed by the Goths. Transformations of Anastasia cults in the era of state Monothelitism were interwoven with a new Syriac cult of Febronia of Nisibis that appeared in the capital shortly after its cr…

cians in Santa Maria Antiqua church in Rome. Two saints are identified for the first time (Jonas and Procopius), one previously hypothetical identification is confirmed (Barachisius), and the meaning of the cult of St Dometius in Rome is discussed. The hagiographical dossier of Sts Jonas and Barachisius is examined in detail. Based on this examination, it is argued that the earliest recensions of their martyrdom must go back to the Syriac Chalcedonian archetype written in the 590s, which, in turn, derived from a Syriac “Nestorian” hagiographical work produced in sixth-century Iran and related to the mid-sixth-century rebellion of prince Anōšazād against his father Khosrow I. The Chalcedonian counterpart of this lost hagiographical work was paraphrased by Ferdowsi.

of Holy Physicians in Santa Maria Antiqua church in Rome. Two saints are identified for the first time (Jonas and Procopius), one previously hypothetical identification is confirmed (Barachisius), and the meaning of the cult of St Dometius in Rome is discussed. The hagiographical dossier of Sts Jonas and Barachisius is examined in detail. Based on this examination, it is argued that the earliest recensions of their martyrdom must go back to the Syriac Chalcedonian archetype written in the 590s, which, in turn, derived from a Syriac “Nestorian” hagiographical work produced in sixth-century Iran and related to the mid-sixth-century rebellion of prince Anōšazād against his father Khosrow I. The Chalcedonian counterpart of this lost hagiographical work was paraphrased by Ferdowsi.

t one of the Papias' quotes preserved in the Armenian version of the Commentary on Apocalypse by Andrew of Caesarea goes back to an otherwise unknown Danielic pseudepigraphon, which is the oldest known witness of a peculiar tradition where the Watchers are good angelic beings responsible for, together with Michael, the revelation of the Law to Moses.

iod Jewish apocalypse (best preserved in Matthew), whose structure is recoverable from the contents and the order of Jesus’ parables.