THE INMESTAR INCIDENT. A COMMENTARY TO SOCRATES ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY VII 16 (Wydarzenia w Inmestar. Komentarz do Historii koscielnej VII 16 Sokratesa)

• Authors: Stebnicka Krystyna
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The paper deals with the 'Inmestar incident' described by Socrates Scholasticus (HE VII 16). According to Socrates, the Jews of a Syrian place called Inmestar, having amused themselves and drank a lot, bound a Christian boy to a cross, and then killed him. This account has been considered the earliest testimony to the accusation of ritual murder since the 18th century. In addition, because of both the mockery of the crucifixion and the drunkenness the episode has been associated with the feast of Purim. Actually, this interpretation is hardly convincing, for Socrates does not suggest any festival, let alone ritual, context for the event. The historicity of the 'Inmenstar incident' has been contested by some scholars, but it seems to fit quite well into the context of the sudden deterioration of Jewish-Christian relations, manifest in attacks on synagogues, in Syria and elsewhere, at the turn of the 5th century.

Keywords

EN

5TH CENTURY; ANCIENT SYRIA; CHURCH HISTORY; JEWS; LATE ANTIQUITY; RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: U Schyłku Starożytności. Studia Źrodłoznawcze
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 10
• Pages: 131-147
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Stebnicka Krystyna

• Krystyna Stebnicka, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Instytut Historyczny, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11PLAAAA102912