The Cheirograph of Adam in Armenian and Romanian Traditions: New Texts and Images

This book explores the legend of Adam’s Contract with Satan that was made after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.This legend was current in the Eastern Orthodox churches of SE Europe as well as in the Caucasus. Unknown forms of the legend have been found in two traditions, the Romanian and the Armenian, and are investigated here. Notably this legend has found its way into folk stories and sometimes into folk music, showing how widely it was accepted and distributed. This legend also inspired images in both traditions. In Romania the most striking illustrations are to be found in Bukovina province, in frescos on the famous painted churches of that region, as well as in manuscripts. In Armenia features of this story are incorporated into the iconography of the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan. Table of Contents List of Illustrations and Maps Series Preface Preface Abbreviations and Critical Signs Introduction The Legend of the Cheirograph of Adam and the Aims of the Present Research The Legend of the Cheirograph, a Piece of the Secondary Adam Literature and Its Relationship to the Bible The Variation of an Apocryphal Story in Texts and Images The Cheirograph Legend, its Transmission and Implications The Written and Oral Literary Carriers Visual Supports Music Inherent Limitations of Our Analysis Final Musings on the Armenian Sources Appendix: The Legend of the Cheirograph of Adam Part 1: New Armenian Evidence for the Cheirograph Legend Armenian Folk Tales A Literary Text A Proposed New Piece of Armenian Iconographic Evidence New Armenian Evidence from Literary Texts The Legend of the Cheirograph and Darkness: Ancient Armenian References Step‘anos Siwnec‘i (eighth century) Yovhannēs Chorepiskopos (late seventh – eighth century) T‘ēop‘ilos (ninth century) Prayer for Epiphany ascribed to Basil of Caesarea (tenth or ninth century or earlier) The Epitome of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (before 981) Artawazd Mzazuni (tenth century) Anania Narekac‘i in Explanation of the Diophysite Dispute (tenth century) Grigor Magistros (eleventh century) Twelfth-century authors Part 2: New Romanian Evidence for the Cheirograph Legend The Legend of the Cheirograph in the Romanian Literary Tradition The Life of Adam and Eve The Romanian Plaint of Adam The Plaint of Adam: an Authoritative Romanian Literary Piece about Adam and Eve The Legend of the Cheirograph in the Romanian PA A Significant Absence: The Plaint without the Legend of the Cheirograph A Literary Piece with an Additive Structure: PA with the Legend of the Cheirograph The Variation of the Legend of the Cheirograph in PA Version A Version B Version C Version D The Use of PA Containing the Legend of the Cheirograph of Adam The Legend of the Cheirograph in Traditional Romanian Beliefs The Legend of the Cheirograph in Folk Poetry Conclusions Iconography Adam signing the Cheirograph A Rare Iconographic Pattern and its Apocryphal Source An Apocryphal Depiction for Princes and Archbishops The Life of Adam and Eve in the Genesis cycles The Genesis Cycles and their Iconographic Context The Baptism with Christ Standing on a Stone Holding a Scroll in His Left Hand upon Which is Written (in Slavonic) ‘Cheirograph of Adam’ Sucevița: The Cheirograph Written and Torn Vatra Moldoviţei: The Cheirograph Written and Torn Dragomirna: The Prominence of an Apocryphal Theme Christ on a Rock in the Baptism with or without Serpents Wallachia, then Moldova Illuminations in Deluxe Manuscripts from Wallachia and Moldova Christ Tearing the Cheirograph The right moment to tear the Cheirograph Whose Cheirograph? Conclusions Between Literary and Iconographic Tradition Epilogue Bibliography Index of Ancient and Medieval Sources Index of Manuscripts General Index of Subjects and Proper Names