Theodosius (archdeacon)

Theodosius the Archdeacon is considered to be the author of a Latin script, De situ terrae sanctae ("On the sites of the Holy Land "), which was written between 518 and 531 . It is a kind of manual for Christian pilgrims .

person

Only two of the twelve manuscripts of the text name an archdeacon or deacon Theodosius as the author. This probably came from North Africa . This is indicated in chapter 14 by the mention of an Arian monastery as " religionis Vandalorum ".

Own knowledge of the mentioned places is rather unlikely due to the numerous errors and omissions on the part of the author. He drew from numerous written sources available to him. Since these sources are lost to us today, the information drawn from them is all the more valuable.

content of the text

The text, in its partly arbitrary and content-wise jumping arrangement, gives the impression of a collection of material rather than a finished text. It is made up of very different parts:

• Itinerary (1–6, 27, 32)
• Pilgrimage report with description of the holy places in Jerusalem (7–11, 17, 21, 31), Asia Minor (12–13), Egypt (14), Jordan Rifts (18–20), Phenicia (23), Asia (26)
• City lists with references to saints: Asia Minor (15), Arabia (24)
• Bible excerpts : Geography of Paradise (16), Jordan (22)
• strange stories: Urbicius (28), the Persians in Dara (29), Eudoxius about Melitine and Susa (30)
• Middle East Provincial List (25)

Editions and translations

• Johann Gildemeister : Theodosius de situ Terrae sanctae in the real text and the Breviarius de Hierosolyma completed . Marcus, Bonn 1892 (text edition, digitized version ).

• Paul Geyer: Itinera hierosolymitana saecvli IIII-VIII (= Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Volume 39). Tempsky, Vienna 1898, pp. 135–150 (text edition, digitized version ).
  • reprinted with minor improvements in Itineraria et alia geographica (= Corpus Christianorum , Series Latina Volume 175). Brepols, Turnhout 1965, pp. 114-125.
• Herbert Donner : Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The oldest accounts of Christian pilgrims to Palestine (4th – 7th centuries) . Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-460-31841-4 , pp. 190-225 (German translation and commentary).

literature

• Georg Röwekamp : Theodosius, archdeacon . In: Lexicon of ancient Christian literature . 2nd Edition. Herder, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-451-23786-5 , pp. 598-599.
• Bärbel Dümmler: Theodosius, archdeacon . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 9 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2000, Sp. 142 .