An Argument from Silence: The Differing Evidence in the Syriac and Georgian Language Sources

Abstract

This passage is often used as evidence for the relationship between the Iberians and the Syrians in the fifth century, along with passages from the vitae of Symeon the Younger and his mother Martha that were written a century later.2 From this it would perhaps appear that there was regular communication between the two regions that was attested to by the literary sources but, as with all the other evidence examined thus far, this promising beginning is deceiving; there are no other clear references to Iberians found in the early Syriac literature and they do not appear to have played a significant role in the development of Syrian Christianity in general or monasticism in particular. Naturally the argument has been used that since the (As)Syrian Fathers left their homelands to travel to Kartli then there is less likely to be a reference to