E00675: The Revelation of St Stephen, by Loukian of Kfar Gamla, describing the discovery in 415 of the relics of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030) and his companions Nicodemus, Gamaliel and Abibas, is translated from Greek into Syriac between the middle of the 5th and the middle of the 6th century.

Loukian of Kfar Gamla, Revelation of St Stephen (Syriac translation)

The Revelation of St Stephen of Loukian of Kfar Gamla is represented in Syriac by two textual witnesses: (a) incorporated into the 6th c. Chronicle (1.8) of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor (ed. Brooks 1919-1924, v. 1, pp. 93-103); (b) transmitted as an independent composition (ed. Bedjan 1890-1897, v. 3, pp. 188-199, on the basis of ms. Berlin, Sachau 222, 19th c.). While the differences between the two versions of the Revelation are insignificant, the question of the exact relationship between them remains to be answered. Likewise, the relationship of the Syriac version to the Greek original still needs to be explored.

The terminus post quem for the translation of the Revelation into Syriac is provided by the date of its Greek original, which was produced, apparently, soon after the relics' discovery, i.e. the year 415. As to the terminus ante quem, it is provided by the date of the composition of Pseudo-Zachariah's Chronicle, i.e. the year 568/9 (see on this, Greatrex et al. 2011, pp. 32-38). It is difficult, however, to date the Syriac translation with a greater precision within this broad range of the mid 5th to the mid 6th century.