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The Great Synaxarion

Anonymous · titus

BothSourceEnglish
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machine-draft · no human review 18 passages · 186 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Great Synaxarion is an Old Georgian liturgical menologion containing saints' lives and commemorations arranged by the church calendar. Preserved in a single 10th–11th-century manuscript, it is traditionally attributed to the 10th century, but the Georgian version likely dates to the 11th century. The text was translated from a lost Arabic Vorlage, itself derived from a Greek original. It was used in the Georgian Orthodox Church and later influenced the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion, though the direction of borrowing is debated. The TITUS edition lacks a critical apparatus, limiting its use for textual criticism.

The Great Synaxarion is a key witness to the liturgical and hagiographical traditions of the medieval Georgian Church and its connections to Arabic and Coptic Christianity. It provides insight into the transmission of hagiographical texts across linguistic and cultural boundaries, and its relationship to the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion raises questions about the direction of influence between Georgian and Coptic traditions.

Historical context

The Great Synaxarion was composed for the Georgian Orthodox Church, likely in the 10th–11th centuries, a period of intense liturgical and hagiographical activity in Georgia. The Georgian translation was made from a lost Arabic intermediary, reflecting the multilingual transmission of Christian texts across the Near East. The single surviving manuscript (10th–11th c.) suggests limited circulation, but the work's influence on the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion indicates broader relevance. The text belongs to the genre of synaxaria—liturgical collections of saints' lives arranged by calendar date—and shares sources with Byzantine and Oriental Orthodox traditions. Its preservation in a Western academic edition (TITUS) highlights modern scholarly interest in Old Georgian manuscripts.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

72 commentary units 17 structure17 background17 term11 sense5 transmission3 caution2 reception 21 derived notes 19 open questions 18 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: liturgy in Old Georgian; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 18 narrative.
  • caution18 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 Great Synaxarion. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 18.3.2021. 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
grsyn:1 · narrativehigh
Source
[Part: Men.]
English
The Great Synaxarion — Anonymous [Part: Men.]
grsyn:2 · narrativemedium
Source
[Section: Intr.]
English
The Great Synaxarion — Anonymous [Section: Intr.]
grsyn:3 · narrativehigh
Source
[Page of ed.: 3]
English
The Great Synaxarion — Anonymous [Section: Intr.] [Page of ed.: 3] And again, the commemoration of the holy and glorious great-martyr George, the Trophy-bearer.
grsyn:4 · narrativemedium
Source
[Manuscript page: A1v]
English
The Great Synaxarion — Anonymous [Section: Intr.] [Page of ed.: 4] On this day, the commemoration of the holy and glorious great-martyr George, the Trophy-bearer.
grsyn:5 · narrativemedium
Source
[Line of ed.: 1] \\ \\ სჳნაქსარი, * *
English
The Great Synaxarion, * *
grsyn:6 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 2] რომელ არიან კრებანი და წესნი და განგებანი,
English
which are the assemblies, rules, and arrangements,
grsyn:7 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 3] დაწესებულნი წმიდათა მღდელთმოძღუართა მიერ,
English
established by the holy priest-leaders,
grsyn:8 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 4] რომელსა შინა წერილ არს ეკლესიისა საწელიწდოჲ განგებაჲ
English
in which is written the regulation of the church's annual cycle
grsyn:9 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 5] ფსალმუნებისათჳს და გალობისა და წიგნის კითხვისა
English
concerning the psalms and the chanting and the reading of the book
grsyn:10 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 6] და თუ რომელსა დღესა მოვიცლით საქმისაგან,
English
And if on some day we are free from work,
grsyn:11 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 7] ანუ თუ რომელთა წმიდათა ჴსენებასა დავაცადებთ
English
or if we postpone the commemoration of certain saints
grsyn:12 · narrativemedium
Source
[Line of ed.: 8] ჟამთა ლოცვასა და მუჴლთდრეკასა
English
in the prayer of the hours and in genuflection
grsyn:13 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 9] და კუალად წერილ არიან ცხორებანი და წამებანი
English
and again the lives and martyrdoms are written
grsyn:14 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 10] დღითი-დღედთა წმიდათანი სულ მცირედ და შემოკლებულად,
English
Day by day, the lives of the saints, very briefly and in abbreviated form,
grsyn:15 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 11] რაჲთა არა ფრიადი სიმრავლე წერილისაჲ იქმნას
English
so that the great abundance of writing may not be created
grsyn:16 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 12] \\ სახელითა 1 * ღმრთისაჲთა იწყების წმიდაჲ ესე სჳნაქსარი,
English
In the name of God, this holy Synaxarion begins.
grsyn:17 · narrativemedium
Source
[Line of ed.: 13] მოძღუარი სოფლისა და სამკაული წმიდისა
English
Teacher of the village and ornament of the holy
grsyn:18 · narrativehigh
Source
[Line of ed.: 14] კათოლიკე ეკლესიისა
English
of the Catholic Church
Citation. Tergwame, “The Great Synaxarion”, grsyn:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/grsyn#s1
Colophon. Source: titus · licence: This text is part of the TITUS edition of Great Synaxarion. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 18.3.2021. 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: $0.0047 · generated 2026-11-14.