Textual strategy in a fourth century Syriac hymn on the life of the ascetic Abraham of Kidun

Abstract

The fifth hymn in the cycle on Abraham Kidunaya, a Syriac saint from the fourth century, is analysed on a literary and an ideological plane. The objective is to define the way in which this text was supposed to function as a vehicle of communication. The anthropological model of honour and shame as pivotal values in ancient Mediterranean societies is used as an interpretative key to the text. It is argued that the purpose of this hymn was to honour the memory of Abraham of Kidun and thereby to sustain and propagate those ascetic ideals that were exemplified through his life.