Investiture of Abbaton

Abbaton, angelus mortis

Standard abbreviation: Invest. Abbat.

Other titles: Enthronement of Abbaton, Encomium on Abbaton

Clavis numbers: ECCA 171; CANT 334; CPC 0405; CPG 2530

Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs

Related literature: Kitāb al-īḍāḥ 9, Investiture of the Archangel Michael, Investiture of the Archangel Gabriel, Attiri Book of Michael, Papyrus Bala’izah 27

Compiled by Steven Su (York University) under the supervision of Tony Burke, York University ([email protected]).

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Steven Su, “Investiture of Abbaton.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/investiture-of-abbaton/.

Created February 2016. Latest update: May 2020.

1. SUMMARY

The text is presented as a eulogy to the angel of death Abbaton (from Rev 19:11) in honor of the feast held on the thirteenth of Hathor (November 24). The text is framed with a homily attributed to Timothy, the archbishop of Alexandria. After a proemium on seeking spiritual matters, six pages of the text are missing. The text resumes with Timothy telling how he visited the holy church of the Virgin Mary in the valley of Jehoshaphat, where he discovered  the account of the investiture of Abbaton in an old library. The recovered text describes Muriel’s journey to becoming Abbaton, the angel of death. The first part details God’s creation of a beautiful earth; however, the earth is empty. God requests an angel bring him clay from Eden so he can create a man out of it. Six out of seven angels refuse to do so out of fear because the clay forewarns them that many sins will result because of his creation. God creates Adam and orders all angels to bow down to him. The First-Creature (presumably Satan), refuses to bow down due to his excessive pride. God orders the angels to cast the First-Creature down, but the First-Creature possesses a magical scroll that contains all the names of existing angelic creatures in heaven and thus, they cannot approach him. Eventually, Michael casts down Lucifer and Eve is created. With the creation of Eve, the First-Creature sneaks into the Garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, resulting in their expulsion from the garden. Millennia pass and Jesus comes to Earth, is crucified and bears the weight of humanity’s sins, thus humanity is saved. Upon hearing this, the First-Creature attempts to enact revenge upon humanity. Muriel is appointed as the Angel of Death to save the righteous from the First-Creature’s wrath and to punish the wicked.

The story of Abbaton ends here but the text found by Timothy continues with John asking one more question to Jesus: “How are the righteous individuals going to survive Abbaton’s terrifying form?” Jesus informs John that he will sit on the throne with the other apostles and judge humanity. Jesus gives John an important role in the final judgment, telling him, “All the saints will be amazed at you because they will not be able to judge before you judge them. We will judge angels before those of the world.” However, before this happens, John will die for 3.5 hours and then Jesus will resurrect him before he ascends to heaven so John can judge the whole world. Christ ascends to heaven and the apostles go out into the world to proclaim the gospel and the story of the investiture of Abbaton. Timothy’s homily then resumes with an exhortation to commemorate the angel Abbaton.

Though Invest. Abbat. survives in only one manuscript, a second witness to the text can be found in the Kitāb al-īḍāḥ, a catechetical writing that has survived under the name of Severus ibn al-Muqaffa‘. The author disputes the validity of Invest. Abbat. by emphasizing the contradictions in the text—primarily the ones that question God’s omniscient abilities. The author starts by insulting everyone—both knowledgeable and ignorant people—for believing anything Invest. Abbat. says. Firstly, the author refutes the idea that God had an angel bring him clay by proclaiming that this imprisons God and places an inhibitor on his abilities. Secondly, the author criticizes the clay’s ability to foresee the unspeakable tragedies his creation will cause, implying that the clay is wiser than God and his army of angels. Furthermore, the creation of the clay itself is questioned. The author disputes the notion that God created man by conveying his definition of what a man is. The man, in this scenario, is not the motionless clay mentioned in Invest. Abbat., but the clay that breathed the grace from God and was given life. The author objects also to the angels bowing down to humanity rather than the creator and to the motive behind Lucifer’s fall, asserting that it was jealousy of the rank of archangel that Adam would eventually claim instead of Adam receiving more love from God than he.

Named historical figures and characters: Abbaton (angel), Abraham (patriarch), Adam (patriarch), Antichrist, David (king), Eve (matriarch), First-Creature (Satan), Gabriel (angel), Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Mary (Virgin), Michael (angel), Muriel (angel), Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Pontius Pilate, serpent, Timothy (archbishop of Alexandria).

Geographical locations: Alexandria, Eden, Valley of Jehoshaphat/Josaphat, Library of Jerusalem.

2. RESOURCES

2.1 Art and Iconography

Wall painting from Tebtunis. Depicts several figures in a scene relating to the punishment of sinners. In the middle stands a gigantic, armored winged figure with claw-like feet. Beneath the image is the inscription “Lord Abbaton, the angel of death, who respects not persons.” The find is documented in a notebook and photographs by A. S. Hunt. This material today is held in the archive of the Griffith Institute at Oxford under the shelf number Crum Notebook 67 (online at the link provided here).

Boutros, Ramez W. “The Christian Monuments of Tebtunis.” Pages 126–27 in Christianity and Monasticism in the Fayoum Oasis. Edited by Gawdat Gabra. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2005 (pp. 126–27).

Walters, Colin C. “Christian Paintings from Tebtunis.” JEA 75 (1989): 191–208 (see pp. 200–204, pl. XXVI).

2.2 Web Sites and Other Online Resources

“Investiture of Abbaton.” Wikipedia.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Coptic (Sahidic; PAThs entry)

London, British Library, Or. 7025 (981) (=MERC.AU)

Budge, Ernest A. W. Coptic Martyrdoms in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London: British Museum, 1914 (editio princeps of Invest. Abbat., pp. 225–48; English trans., pp. 474–96.)

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 Dutch

Oussoren, Pieter and Renate Dekker. Buiten de vesting. Een woord-voor-woord vertaling van alle deuterocanonieke en vele apocriefe bijbelboeken. Vught: Skandalon & Plantijn, 2008 (pp. 461–72).

3.2.2 English

Budge, Ernest A. W. Coptic Martyrdoms in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London: British Museum, 1914 (pp. 474–96).

Suciu, Alin with Ibrahim Saweros. “The Investiture of Abbaton, the Angel of Death.” Pages 526–54 in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

3.2.3 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966-1981 (Italian translation in vol. 3:471–81).

Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. 2nd ed. Turin: UTET, 1994 (a summary of the text appears in vol. 3:427–30).

3.2.4 Norwegian

Lundhaug, Hugo. “Om dødsengelen Abbaton, av Pseudo-Timoteus av Alexandria.” Pages 45–69 in Koptiske skrifter. Edited by Hugo Lundhaug. Verdens Hellige Skrifter. Oslo: De norske bokklubbene, 2012.

3.3 General Works

Hagen, Joost L. “Ein anderer Kontext für die Berliner und Straßburger ‘Evangelienfragmente.’ Das ‘Evangelium des Erlösers’ und andere ‘Apostelevangelien’ in der koptischen Literatur.” Pages 339–71 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Beiträge zu außerkanonischen Jesusüberlieferungen aus verschiedenen Sprach- und Kulturtraditionen. Edited by Jörg Frey and Jens Schröter. WUNT 254. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.

__________. “The Diaries of the Apostles: ‘Manuscript Find’ and ‘Manuscript Fiction’ in Coptic Homilies and Other Literary Texts.” Pages 349–67 in Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies, Leiden, 27 August – 2 September 2000. Edited by Mat Immerzeel and Jacques van der Vliet. OLA 133. Leuven: Peeters, 2004.

Lundhaug, Hugo. “Fictional Books in Coptic Apocrypha.” JSP 32 (2023): 323–41 (see p. 330).

__________. “The Fluid Transmission of Apocrypha in Egyptian Monasteries.” Pages 213–27 in Coptic Literature in Context (4th–13th cent.): Cultural Landscape, Literary Production, and Manuscript Archaeology. Edited by Paola Buzi. Rome: Quasar, 2020 (see pp. 214–15).

__________. “Sitting on the Mount of Olives: Revelation Dialogues in Coptic Apocrypha from Nag Hammadi to Edfu.” Pages 57–80 in Dialogues and Disputes in Biblical Disguise from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Edited by Peter Tóth. London: Routledge, 2022.

Saweros, Ibrahim. “Angels in Coptic Tradition.” Shedet 6 (2019): 74–91.

__________. “How Does the Copt Die? A Study of the Angel of Death in the Coptic Tradition together with a Critical Edition of the Ninth Chapter of Kitāb al-īḍāḥ attributed to Severus ibn al-Muqaffa‘.” Bulletin la Société d’Archéologie Copte 56 (2017): 277–303.

Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (see particularly, pp. 91–92, 126–28).

Tripaldi, Daniele. “Apostles, Long Dead ‘Heretics,’ and Monks: Noncanonical Traditions on Angels and Protoplasts in Two Late Antique Coptic Apocalypses (7th–8th century CE).” Pages 179–205 in Apocryphal and Esoteric Sources in the Development of Christianity and Judaism. Edited by Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 21. Leiden: Brill, 2021.