The Books of Adam is a collective name of several
apocrypha
Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...
l books relating to
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
.
*
The Book of Adam or "Contradiction of Adam and Eve", denigrated as "a romance made up of
Oriental
The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world.
In English, it is largely a meto ...
fables" by the 1913 edition of the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
''. It was first translated from the 6th century
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
n version into
German by
August Dillmann
Christian Friedrich August Dillmann (25 April 18237 July 1894) was a German orientalist and biblical scholar.
Life
The son of a Württemberg schoolmaster, he was born at Illingen. He was educated at the University of Tübingen, where he became ...
, and into English by
Solomon Caesar Malan.
*The "Pénitence d'Adam", or "Testament d'Adam", composed of some
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n fragments translated by
Ernest Renan
Joseph Ernest Renan (; ; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...
. "The Penitence of Adam and Eve" has been published in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
by
Wilhelm Meyer.
*"The Books of the Daughters of Adam", mentioned in the catalogue of
Pope Gelasius I
Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 21 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.The title of his biography by Walter Ullma ...
in 495–496, who identifies it with the ''
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by members of Ethiopian Jewish ...
'', or "Little Genesis".
*The "Testament of Our First Parents", cited by
Anastasius the Sinaïte.
*The Book of Adam (
Adamgirk) by
Arakel of Siwnik (Arakel Sunetsi), a book of poetry on Adam and Eve. It was written in 1403, and first published in 1799. It was first translated to English by
Michael E. Stone.
See also
*The scripture of the
Mandaean religion, ''
Ginza Rabba
The Ginza Rabba (), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba (), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest and the most important holy scripture of Mandaeism.
The Ginza Rabba is composed of two parts: the Right Ginza (GR) and the Left Ginza (GL). T ...
'', which is also titled ''The Book of Adam''.
*''
Apocalypse of Adam''
*''
Life of Adam and Eve
The Life of Adam and Eve, also known in its Greek version as the Apocalypse of Moses (; ), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It pro ...
''
*''
Testament of Adam''
*''
Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan''
Sources
*
Old Testament pseudepigrapha
Apocrypha about Adam and Eve
{{Christian-book-stub