Apocalypse of Zephaniah: an apocalypse from the Lands of Egypt

Abstract

The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, preserved in an Akhmimic manuscript, is an apocalyptic text that reflects a complex interaction between the Jewish-Christian imagination and Egyptian culture in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. This study investigates the connections between the text and the Egyptian context, analyzing religious, symbolic, and literary elements present in the manuscript. Using intertextuality as a methodological approach, based on Marcelo Carneiro, we examine how the Apocalypse of Zephaniah engages with Egyptian eschatology, incorporating images and concepts such as the judgment of the soul, the weighing of deeds, and the role of angels as intermediaries. The research adopts a bibliographic approach, comparing passages from the apocalypse with the Egyptian imaginary. The results indicate that the author was immersed in a multicultural environment and reinterpreted Egyptian elements within a Jewish-Christian apocalyptic discourse. Thus, this study contributes to understanding the interactions between early Christianity and Egyptian culture, highlighting how religious traditions dialogued and mutually influenced each other in Late Antique Egypt.