Alberto Camplani

La Sapienza Roma

Holy Patriarchs of Egypt in Syriac Hagiography and Historiography:  Recognised Peculiarities and Shared Symbols

Peter, Athanasius, Theophilus, Cyril, Dioscorus, Timothy Aelurus, Peter Mongus, and Theodosius played an important historical role as the supreme representatives of the Church of Egypt, but were also codified in Syriac hagiography and history as figures of the Church resisting the danger of heresy and the flattery of political power through the use of a series of symbols and images of biblical and extra-biblical origin. In Syriac hagiography some of these symbols and images serve the function of highlighting the uniqueness and originality of each of the two anti-Chalcedonian churches, while others have the function of building bridges of dialogue in moments when the ecclesial relationship between the two Churches enters into crisis and there is the risk of a breakup.