Sözde- Metodius'un Kıyameti (692?)
Yedinci yüzyılın sonlarında Süryanice yazılmış olan
Pseudo-Methodius'un Apokalipsi, Orta Çağ'da Hıristiyan eskatolojik düşüncesini
şekillendirmiş ve etkilemiştir. Yanlışlıkla dördüncü yüzyılda yaşamış bir
Kilise Babası olan Olimposlu Methodius'a atfedilen eser Yakın Doğu'nun İslami
fethini anlamlandırmaya çalışır. Methodius’un 311 veya 312 öldüğü tahmin
edilmektedir. Büyük olasılıkla, metin yedinci yüzyılda isimsiz bir Hıristiyan
din adamı tarafından yazılmıştır, Abdülmelik döneminde (685-705) yaklaşık 692
yılına ait olduğu düşünülmektedir.
Sekizinci yüzyılın başlarından itibaren Yunanca, Latince, Eski
Kilise Slavcası, Arapça ve diğer dillere çevirileri yapılmıştır.
El yazmaları: ms Vatican, Syr. 58, f. 118v-136v; ms New Haven,
Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Syr. 10, f. 225-236; mss Mardin,
Évêché syrien orthodoxe, cod. 368, cah. 20, f. 4 - cah. 22, f. 7v (mutilé du
début); cod. 891 ; cod. A, f. 180-183v;
ms Vatican, Syr. 58, f. 118v-136v; ms Vatican, Syr. 58, f. 118v-136v.
Paul J. Alexander, “The Syriac Original of Pseudo-Methodius’
Apocalypse”, in Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh International Congress of
Orientalists [celebrado en] Ann Arbor, Michigan 13th–19th August, 1967, D.
Sinor, Ed. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1971, pp. 106–107; Anastase Lolos, “Die
dritte und vierte redaktion des Ps.-Methodios”, vol. 94. Meisenheim am
Glan: Anton Hein, 1978; Harald Suermann, “Die geschichtstheologische Reaktion auf die einfallenden Muslime
in der edessenischen Apokalyptik des 7. Jahrhunderts” (Frankfurt am Main; New York: P. Lang, 1985), Francfort-Berne-New York, 1985, p.
34-85; Francisco Javier Martinez, Pseudo-Methodius and
Pseudo-Athanasius, Eastern Christian apocalyptic in the early Muslim
period: Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo-Athanasius (1985), Washington (Diss. CUA), 1985, p.
58-92; English: Paul J Alexander and Dorothy deF
Abrahamse, The Byzantine apocalyptic tradition (Berkeley,
Calif.: University of California Press, 1985), pp: 36; Gerrit Jan
Reinink (ed.), Die Syrische Apokalypse des Pseudo-Methodius [Text] vol.
1, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, vol. 540 (Lovanii: E.
Peeters, 1993), Louvain, 1993,
p. 1-48; German: Gerrit Jan Reinink (ed.), Die Syrische Apokalypse des
Pseudo-Methodius [Translation] vol. 2, Corpus Scriptorum
Christianorum Orientalium, vol. 541 (Lovanii: E. Peeters, 1993), pp:
1-78; Sebastian Paul Brock, in “The seventh century in the
West-Syriac chronicles”, ed. A. Palmer, (1993), 222–9; Peter Jackson, “Medieval
Christendom's Encounter with the Alien”, Historical Research. (November
2001), 74 (186): 347–369; Muriel Debié “Muslim-Christian Controversy in an
Unedited Syriac Text: Revelations and Testimonies about Our Lord's
Dispensation”, History of Christian-Muslim Relations (2005), 5: 225–236;
Alan M. Guenther, “The Christian experience and interpretation of the early
Muslim conquest and rule”, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, (May
2007); Sidney Harrison Griffith, “The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque:
Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam”. Princeton: Princeton
University Press (2008); Stephen Pelle, “The Revelationes of
Pseudo-Methodius and 'Concerning the Coming of Antichrist’ in British Library
MS Cotton Vespasian D.XIV”, Notes and Queries. (September 2009). 56 (3):
324–330; Sidney Harrison Griffith, "Christians Under Muslim Rule" in
The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 3. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, (2010); Andrew Louth, “Byzantium Transforming (600-700)”
in The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492, (2010), Richard M
Pollard, “One Other on Another” in Difference and Identity in Francia
and Medieval France. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres(2010);
Jonathan Shepard, “Introduction to 'Approaching Byzantium'” in The
Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500-1492, (2010), Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press; Martin Ballard, “End-timers: Three-thousand
Years of Waiting for Judgment Day” (2011);
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius
Benjamin Garstad, ed. and trans. “Apocalypse of
Pseudo-Methodius. An Alexandrian World Chronicle”. Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachustts Lodon, England 2012’den Yunanca ve Latince Metinlerin
çevrisi
“Chapter 5
And at the end of the fourth millennium, that is
in the twenty-fifth year of Chosdro, in the fifth year of the fifth millennium,
Sampsisano, who was of the tribe of Ionetos the son of Noah, came down from the
east and laid waste the country from the Euphrates to Edroega (Azerbaijan),
that is sixty-seven cities and their territories.
And he came upon the three kingdoms ofthe Indians
and burned them with fire and devastated them, and he came out into the desert
of Sheba and broke up the encampmentof the children of Ishmael the son of Hagar
the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah the wife of Abraham. And they all ran
away and fled out of the desert of Yathrib and came into the inhabited world
and made war with the kings of the nations and laid their lands waste and took
them captive and gained dominion over the kingdoms of the heathen in the Promised
Land.
And the land was filled with them and with their
encamp ment. For they were like locusts and went about naked andate the meat of
camels prepared in skins7 and drank theblood ofcattle and milk.
So when the sons of Ishmael overcame the whole
land and laid waste cities and their territories and dominated the islands,
they then built for themselves ships and used them in the manner of birds,
flying over the waters <of the sea>,and they came up to all the lands
ofthe West as far as Great Rome and Illyricum and Gigetum
and Thessalonica and Sardinia the Great and beyond Rome. And they were
lordsof the earth for sixty years and did whatever they pleased in it.
After eight and a half weeks of their dominion, during which they
prevailed over all the kingdoms of the nations, the heart was exalted within
them at seeing that they werelords and conquerors of all. In that time there
arose among them four tyrants, chiefs of the army; who were sons of Umaia (who
was thus namedby them), whose names {were} Oreb and Zeeb and Zebahand Zalmuna.
These men made war with the Israelites, and just as God brought about for them
deliverance out of the hands of the Egyptians through his servant Moses, thus
at that time he had mercy on them and delivered them from them through Gideon
and freed Israel from slavery to the sons of Ishmael.
For this Gideon broke up their camps and pursued them and drove them out
of the inhabited world into the desert of Yathrib, out of which they came.
And those who were left made peace treaties with
the sons of Israel and went out into the outer desert as nine tribes. But they
will surely come out once again and lay waste the land and prevail over the
inhabited world and the regions at the entrance of peace from Egypt to Ethiopia
and from the Euphrates as far as India and from the Tigris to the entrance of
Nod, the kingdom of Jonetos the son of Noah, and from the north to Rome and
Illyricum and Gigetumt and Thessalonica and Oboia and to the sea of Pontus, and
doubly will their yoke be upon the neck ofall the nations.
And there will not be a nation or kingdom under
the heaven that will be able to fight them until the completion of seven weeks
of years. And after these things they will be defeated by the kingdom of the
Romans and subjected to it. For that kingdom will be exalted over all the
kingdoms of the heathen nations and it will not be wiped out by any one of them
unto eternity. For it has an <invincible> weapon, through which all will
be defeated by that kingdom.”
….
Chapter 10
“Then when the kingdom of the Persians is
destroyed, in its place against the Romans will rise up the sons oflshmael, the
son of Hagar, whom the scripture, that is Daniel, called "the arm of the
south," and they will range themselves in battle against the kingdom of
the Romans in terms of the number of circling weeks in the seventh year, since
the end has come and the length oftime will go no further.”
…
Chapter 11
For in the last millennium, that is the seventh, in that time the
kingdom of the Persians will be uprooted, and in that time the seed of Ishmael
will come out ofthe desert of Yathrib and having come out they will be gathered
together in one accord at Gabaoth the Great.
And then will be fulfilled what was said through the prophet
Ezekiel: "Son of man, summon the beasts of the field and the birds of the
heaven, and urge them on, saying, 'Gather yourselves together and come, since I
will offer a great sacrifice for you. Eat the bodies oflords and drink theblood
ofgiants."
In that time, therefore, at Gabaoth all the lords of the Greeks,
that is of the Romans, will fall at the mouth of the sword. For just as they
themselves slew the lords of the Hebrews and of the Persians, so they also will
fall at the mouth of the sword by the hand of the seed of Ishmael, who hasbeen
called a wild ass, because in wrath and anger they will be sent over the face
ofthe whole world against the menand the stock animals and the wild beasts and
to the groves and the trees and to the copses and to every kind of fruitful
thing.
And their
arrival will be a chastisement without mercy. And four disasters will go before
them on the earth, deathand destruction, ruin and desolation.
For God says to Israel through Moses, "Not because the Lord
God loves you does he bring you into the Land of Promise to inherit it, but
because of the sins of those who dwell in it. "Just so with the sons of
Ishmael. Not because the Lord God loves them does he give them power to conquer
the land of the Christians, but because of the sin andthe lawlessness which
have been brought into being by them. For nothing like their sin has arisen nor
will arise in all generations.
….
“And their road will go from sea to sea and from east to west and
from the north to the desert of Yathrib. And theirroad will be called a road of
anguish, and old men and old women will travel along it, rich and poor, hungry
and thirsty;bound captives, and they will think the dead happy”
….
Chapter 13
…
For people will be born in that chastisement ofthe sons of Ishmael
and they will go in such straits that they will despair of their life. And
honor will be taken away from the priestsand the ministry of God will depart
and every sacrifice willcease from the churches, and the priests will be as the
laity
And in that time, that is in the period of the seventh week, when
the number of the years of their dominion will be fulfilled, during which they
controlled the earth, the affliction will be increased for men and for beasts
and therewill be famine and plague, they will perish and men will bethrown upon
the face ofthe earth like dust, and every day inthat time yet one more blow
will be laid upon men.
And a man will go to bed in the evening and wake up in the morning
and find at his doorpost men who demand of him a weight ofgold or silver and
press him into service, and his entire ready supply of gold and silver will be
exhausted. And the man will offer for sale all his necessary equipment and his
iron tools and his burial shroud.
And in this time of the week men will sell their children. For what
reason would God take no notice of the faithful enduring these afflictions,
except that the faithful and the unfaithful might be made known and the tares
separated from the wheat, because that time is a fire of testing? And God waits
patiently over the tribulations of the just and faithful, so that the elect
will be revealed. For the Lord has already spoken to us in this manner:
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you, but he that endureth to the end shall be
saved."
And after the tribulation under the Ishmaelites has come about,
when men will be in peril and afflicted, having no hope of salvation or
redemption out of the hands ofthe Ishmaelites, hunted, afflicted, and tormented
with hunger and thirst and nakedness, these barbarians will be eating and
drinking and boasting of their victories and of the desolations to which they
have reduced Persia and Romania, Cilicia and Syria, Cappadocia and Isauria and
Africa and Sicilyand those living near Rome and the islands, dressing up like
bridegrooms, and blaspheming they say, "The Christianshave no rescue from
out ofour hands."
Then all of a sudden they will come in chariots and on horses ten
thousandfold. For this horde will come out inthe first month of the ninth
indiction and will overwhelm all of the cities of the east and seize them. Then
it will be divided into three commands. And the one part will turn the land to
winter barrenness as far as Ephesus, the other as faras Pergamum, and the third
as far as Malagina.
And woe to you, land of Phrygia and Pamphylia and Bithynia! For
when it becomes frosty with cold, Ishmael will overtake you. For he will come
like a fire devouring everyone, and he and his seventy thousand sailors will
devastate the islands and those who live along the coast.
Woe to you, Byzans, because Ishmael overtakes you. For every horse
of Ishmael will pass through and the first among them will pitch his tent before
you, Byzans, and he will begin to make war and will break down the gate of
Xylokerkos and will proceed as far as "the cow." Then the cow will
lowloudly and Xerolaphos will bay, since they were thrashed bythe Ishmaelites.
Then a voice will come out of the heavens saying, "This same
punishment suffices for me." And the Lord God will then snatch the
cowardice of the Romans and thrust it into the hearts of the Ishmaelites and
take the manliness of the Ishmaelites and cast it into the hearts of the Romans;
they will turn and drive them from their homes and crush them without mercy.
Then that which was written will be fulfilled:"One shall chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand toflight." Then their sailors also will be
exhausted and willcome to destruction.
Then all of a sudden affliction and trouble will come to them, and
the king ofthe Greeks, that is of the Romans, will go out to them with great
anger and he will be aroused like a man roused from sleep after drinking much
wine, whom men have reckoned to be dead and good for nothing. This man will
come out against them from the sea of Ethiopia and plunge a sword and
desolation into Yathrib, which istheir homeland, and he will take captive their
women and children. The sons of the king will descend upon those who dwell in
the Promised Land and with the sword cut them offfrom the land.
….
And men will be multiplied on the desolated earth like the locust.
Egypt will be devastated, Arabia will be burned with fire, the land of Abran will
be desolate, and the seacoast will be at peace.
…
