ት Tergwame Greek · Coptic · Ethiopic · Syriac · Armenian · Georgian · Latin

Georgian · Other ·

Expugnatio Hierosolymae

Ant.Strat. · titus

BothSourceEnglish
JSON Dossier
machine-draft · no human review 14 passages · 135 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Old Georgian text of the 'Expugnatio Hierosolymae' is a translation of a lost Greek original attributed to Antiochus Strategos, a 7th-century Byzantine monk. It recounts the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE, blending eyewitness testimony with biblical typology and hagiographic topoi. The Georgian version survives in several manuscripts, the earliest from the 10th century, and likely dates to the 8th–9th centuries. The text shows signs of scribal reworking and interpolation, especially in hagiographic and liturgical passages. It was incorporated into Georgian liturgical collections and used as a source for martyrdom narratives, influencing later Georgian historical writing. The edition provides no apparatus for the Greek Vorlage or variant readings, requiring separate text-critical studies.

The 'Expugnatio Hierosolymae' is a key source for the Persian sack of Jerusalem and its impact on Christian memory. It illustrates the transmission of Byzantine historical and hagiographic literature into Georgian, reflecting the cultural and religious ties between Palestine and Georgia. The work's incorporation into liturgical collections shows its role in shaping martyrdom narratives and historical consciousness in medieval Georgia.

Historical context

The work is set in the early 7th century, when the Sasanian Persian Empire, under Shah Khosrow II, invaded Byzantine territories, capturing Jerusalem in 614 CE. The event was a major trauma for Christian communities, leading to the loss of the True Cross relic. The original Greek text, attributed to Antiochus Strategos, a monk of the Monastery of Mar Saba in Palestine, circulated in Byzantine monastic circles. The Georgian translation emerged in the 8th–9th centuries, likely through Palestinian monastic networks connecting Georgian communities in the Holy Land and the Caucasus. The text was transmitted in Georgian manuscripts, the earliest from the 10th century, and was adapted for liturgical use in the Georgian Synaxarion. Its historical accuracy is debated due to its blend of factual narrative and theological interpretation.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

51 commentary units 14 structure12 background10 sense9 term4 transmission1 scripture1 dating 17 derived notes 14 open questions 14 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: other in Old Georgian; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 14 narrative.
  • caution14 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note.
  • sourceSource edition: titus — This text is part of the TITUS edition of Antiochos Strategos, Expugnatio Hierosolymae. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 12.12.2008. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder.

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
expie:1 · narrativehigh
Source
[Text: Exp.Hier.]
English
The Capture of Jerusalem — Ant.Strat.
expie:2 · narrativemedium
Source
[Chapter: Intr.]
English
The Capture of Jerusalem — Ant.Strat. [Chapter: Intr.]
expie:3 · narrativemedium
Source
[Page of ed.: 1]
English
The Capture of Jerusalem — Ant.Strat. [Chapter: Intr.] [Page of ed.: 1]
expie:4 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 1] მაისსა კ^ : წარტყუენვაჲ იერუსალჱმისაჲ
English
In the month of May, the capture of Jerusalem.
expie:5 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 2] თქუმული ნეტარისა სტრატიკი მონაზონისაჲ, რომელი მკჳდრ
English
The account of the blessed Stratikos the monk, who dwelt
expie:6 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 3] იყო ლავრასა წმიდისა მამისა ჩუენისა საბაჲსსა. ესე თქუა
English
in the Lavra of our holy father Sabas. This he said
expie:7 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 4] იერუსალჱმისა მოოჴრებისათჳს და წარტყუენვისათჳს ქრისტეს
English
concerning the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of Christ
expie:8 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 5] ჯუარისა, რომელ იგი არს ძელი ცხორებისა ჩუენისაჲ, და
English
of the Cross, which is the Tree of our Life, and
expie:9 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 6] წმიდათა ეკლესიათა დაწუვისა და დარღუევისათჳს და ტყუეობისათჳს
English
concerning the affliction and destruction of the holy churches and concerning the captivity
expie:10 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 7] ზაქარია პატრიაქისა და მოსრვისათჳს მღდელთა და
English
concerning the patriarch Zacharias and the slaughter of the priests and
expie:11 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 8] დიაკონთა და მონაზონთა, და ქრისტეს მორწმუნისა ერისათჳს
English
concerning the deacons and the monks, and for the people faithful to Christ
expie:12 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 9] და ყოვლისა მისთჳს რაჲ იგი მოიწია იერუსალჱმს ზედა და
English
and concerning everything that befell Jerusalem
expie:13 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 10] მკჳდრთა მისთა ბაბილოვნელთა მიერ სპარსთა და ქალდეველთა
English
its inhabitants by the Babylonians, Persians, and Chaldeans
expie:14 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 11] ბრძანებითა ხუასრო მეფისა მათისაჲთა.
English
by the command of their king Khosro.
Citation. Tergwame, “Expugnatio Hierosolymae”, expie:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/expie#s1
Colophon. Source: titus · licence: This text is part of the TITUS edition of Antiochos Strategos, Expugnatio Hierosolymae. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 12.12.2008. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder. · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0035 · generated 2026-11-14.