Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests

Acta Matthaei in ciutate Kahenat

Standard abbreviation: Acts Matt. Priests

Other titles: Acts of Matthew, Acts of Matthew in Kahenat, Acts of Matthew and Andrew in Kahenat (erroneously)

Clavis numbers: ECCA 212; CANT 268

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Related literature: Acts of Matthew; 1 Revelation of Matthew about the End Times; Martyrdom of Matthew; Commodian, Carmen apologeticum and Instructiones

Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/acts-of-matthew-in-the-city-of-the-priests/

Created September 2020. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

The story begins with Matthew meeting Peter and Andrew on a road. Peter and Andrew are returning from Parthia (Ar.: El Barbar; Eth.: Greece/Syria) and Matthew from “the country of the Blessed” (Ethiopic: Prokumenos, perhaps intended to be Proconnesus). Matthew tells the others of his exploits in the country. When he arrived he was told Jesus appears to the people every day; he sits on a throne, teaches them, and joins in with their feast. The next day, Matthew witnessed Jesus’ arrival on a cloud with the heavenly host and at mid-day Gabriel appeared with the 144,000 infants slayed by Herod and they sang praises to Jesus. The people of this country are revealed to be the lost nine-and-a-half tribes who the Lord brought into the Promised Land (mentioned also by Commodian and echoed in 1 Revelation of Matthew about the End Times). And their country is described as a utopia: there is no want, no deceit, or fornication; they eat no flesh and drink no wine, their clothing comes from the leaves of trees; lions live peacefully among them; they obtain water directly from Paradise, etc.

As Matthew finishes his account, Jesus appears among the apostles and sends them to the next location in their preaching journeys: Peter to Rome, Andrew to Masya, and Matthew to the City of the Priests (Kahenat; perhaps a corruption of Lycaonia, a region in Asia Minor). They are all whisked away to their destinations on clouds. Matthew arrives outside the city and encounters Jesus in the guise of a shepherd boy. Jesus warns him of the tribulations he will endure in the city but assures Matthew that many will become believers. Once inside the city, Matthew talks to the people about their gods; chief among them is Apollo. The townspeople bring him to the temple of Apollo and there he meets a priest named Armis who takes care of the god’s idol. Armis asks Matthew where he is from, and the apostle describes the country of his god in ways similar to the “country of the Blessed”: its streets are justice, and its roads righteousness; the inhabitants do not die; there is no darkness, nor slavery, poverty, deceit, etc.

Matthew calls on God to appear in the temple, and the building is filled with light. Then an earthquake causes the idols to fall and shatter. Armis falls on his face, but Matthew raises him and says to him, “Look at thy god, he could not be saved; how can he save others?” These words become a refrain whenever Apollo is mentioned. Matthew prays again and a table with bread and wine appears. Armis cannot eat until he becomes a believer, so Matthew preaches to him and then he is allowed to eat and is baptized. Then Matthew and Armis lock the temple and depart to Armis’ home.

When the king discovers that the temple is closed, he calls for Armis, who, along with Matthew is punished by being bound by their feet and dragged through the city, then beaten with rods, and thrown into prison. When the king sees the shattered idols, he orders the two men to be burned with fire. Before this can happen, the idols in everyone’s homes shatter and a voice cries out “There is no God but Jesus the Christ, Son of the Eternal God.” These prodigies divide the townspeople split into two factions: one supporting the king, and the other Armis and Matthew. As the two groups stand off against each other, a messenger arrives to tell the king that his son has died. Matthew accompanies the king to his home and raises the boy back to life. The king and his household are baptized and the idol of Apollo is placed in the fire intended for Matthew.

Finally, the Lord appears and tells Matthew to baptize the entire city. The townspeople tear down the temple and build a church in its place. Matthew consecrates it and appoints priests and deacons (in one Ethiopic text, Armis becomes bishop). After some time, Matthew departs.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abraham (patriarch), Andrew (apostle), Apollo, Armis, Gabriel (angel), Holy Spirit, Isaac (patriarch), Jacob (patriarch), Jesus Christ, Joseph (patriarch), Peter (apostle), Satan.

Geographical Locations: Egypt, Greece, Kahenat, Lycaonia, Masya (Mātyās), paradise, Parthia (El Barbar), Prokumenos (Proconnesus), Red Sea, Rome, Syria.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic (BHO 738)

3.1.1.1 Arabic Script

Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 1426 (1855)  ~ contents unconfirmed

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Graf 472 (18th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 1 (13th/14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 2 (14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 3 (1626)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 6 (not dated) ~ contents unconfirmed

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 7 (14th  cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 16 (15th cent.)

Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 198^r–208^v (19th cent.)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ. Arab. 84, fols. 30^r–36^v (ca. 1780)

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Christ Arab. 87b, fols. 45^r–54^r (ca. 1600 and 1700)

Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29 (ante 1664)

Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 397, fols. 27^r–37^v (1333)

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 423, fols. 196^r–200^r (1626) ~ identification uncertain

Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 158^v–166^v (12th cent.)

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 59^v–64^v (18th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 81, fols. 114^v–127^r (16th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 272^r–286^v (19th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 133^r–144^v (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 171, fols. 43^v–48^v (17th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 108^r–118^r (14th cent.)

Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 107^v–116^r (14th cent.)

3.1.1.2 Garšūnī Script

Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 152^v–164^r (ca. 1750)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 232, fols. 279^v–285^v  (17th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, syr. 237, fols. 120^v–142^v (1553)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 132^r–143^v (16th cent.)

Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Arabic acts collection, pp. 97–101).

Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Studi e testi 118, 133, 146–147, 172. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944–1953 (survey of Arabic manuscripts comprising Acts Matt. Priests, vol. 1, pp. 261–64).

Lewis, Agnes Smith, and Margaret Gibson. Forty-one Facsimiles of Dated Christian Abrabic Manuscripts. Studia Sinaitica 12. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1907 (text and English translation of the opening page of the text in Sinai ar. 397, pp. 53–54, and photograph of fol. 27^r, pl. xxvii).

Lewis, Agnes Smith. Acta mythologica apostolorum. Horae semiticae 3. London: Clay, 1904 (Arabic text from the Dayr al-Suryān manuscript, pp. 83–91).

3.1.2 Coptic

3.1.2.1 Coptic (Bohairic) (Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin– Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Mss. simulata orientalia 6, fols. 29^r, 30^r (10th cent.)

Suciu, Alin. “A Bohairic Fragment of the Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests and Other Coptic Fragments from the Genizah of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.” Le Muséon 131 (2018): 251–77 (transcription and English translation, p. 269).

3.1.2.2 Copto-Arabic Synaxarion

The Copto-Arabic Synaxarion includes various elements of the text for Oct. 9.

Basset, René. “Le Synaxaire arabe jacobite (rédaction copte) I: les mois de Tout de Babeh.” Patrologia orientalis 1 (1904): 223–379 (pp. 330–32).

3.1.3 Ethiopic

3.1.3.1 Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests (BHO 739)

London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 119^r–129^v (15th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 231^v–241^v (17th cent.)

London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 53^r–59^v (18th cent.)

Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Eth. 6, fols. 41^v–49^r (19th cent.)

Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the Ethiopic acts collection, pp. 93–97).

Budge, E. A. Wallis. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, vol. 1, pp. 101–13).

Pisani, Vitagrazia. “The apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: unknown witnesses from East Tәgray.” Pages 75–93 in Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa. Hamburg, 17–19 July 2014. Edited by Alessandro Bausi, Alessandro Gori, and Denis Nosnitsin. Supplements to Aethiopica 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015 (descriptions of ten Ethiopic manuscripts cataloged for the Ethio-SPaRe project).

3.1.3.2 Ethiopic Synaxarion

The Ethiopian Synaxarion includes a summary of Acts Matt. Priests for Oct. 9 (Julian).

Budge, Ernest A. W. The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: A Translation of the Ethiopic Synaxarium: Made from the Manuscripts Oriental 660 and 661 in the British Museum. 4 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928 (English translation from the entry for 12 Tikimt, vol. 1, pp. 139–40).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Contendings of the Apostles. 2 vols. London: Frowde, 1899–1901 (translation of the Ethiopic text, vol. 2, pp. 111–29).

Lewis, Agnes Smith. The Mythological Acts of the Apostles. Horae semiticae 4. London: Clay, 1904 (translation of the Arabic text from the Dayr al-Suryān manuscript, pp. 100–109).

Malan, Solomon C. The Conflicts of the Holy Apostles: An Apocryphal Book of the Early Eastern Churches. London: Nutt, 1871 (translation of the Ethiopic text from Rylands Eth. 6, pp. 43–56).

Suciu, Alin. “A Bohairic Fragment of the Acts of Matthew in the City of the Priests and Other Coptic Fragments from the Genizah of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.” Le Muséon 131 (2018): 251–77 (transcription and English translation, p. 269).

3.2.2 French

Pérès, Jacques-Noël. “Actes de Matthieu dans la ville de Kahnat et Martyre de Matthieu en Parthie.” Pages 903–32 in Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Vol. 2. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 443. Paris: Gallimard, 2005 (translation of Budge’s Ethiopic text, pp. 909–26).

3.2.3 Italian

Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (summary, vol. 2, pp. 506–507).

3.3 General Works

Bauckham, Richard. “The Nine and a Half Tribes: A New Translation and Introduction.” Pages 346–59 in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.

Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3. Braunschweig: Schwetschke und Sohn, 1883–1887 (see vol. 2.2:115–20 and 129).

Otero, Aurelio de Santos.  “Later Acts of Apostles.” Pages 426–82  in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2:  Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see pp. 460–61).