Published | Parrésia - Ročenka pro východní křesťanství

The Cave of Treasures

The Book of Revelations of St. Peter to Clement

translation from Arabic and Commentary by Mlada Mikulicová

The early medieval pseudoapocryphal “Cave of Treasures” is extant in several Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Georgian, and Coptic manuscript versions. The book obviously enjoyed a great popularity in the Christian Orient. There is no certainty of its origin, though it may have been produced by the Syriac school of St. Ephraim. The Arabic version of the ninth century is set within the frame of Pseudoclementine writings. It tells the biblical history aiming at its explanation as the first act in the divine economy of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the son of Adam. The cave that conceals Adam’s body and his holy heritage of gold, incense, and myrrh, will become the grave of Christ and the place of redemption from the original sin. The book is a catechetical paraphrase of the Scripture, as well as a pilgrim legend of Golgotha. It contains ancient genealogies and liturgical passages.