Isa. Ascension of Isaiah
b. San. Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin
1 Clem. 1 Clement
Clement of Alexandria
Strom. Stromateis
3 Cor. 3 Corinthians
Hippolytus
Trad. Ap. Traditio apostolica
Hist. Jos. Carp. History of Joseph the Carpenter
Ignatius
Eph. Epistle to the Ephesians
Inf. Gos. Thom. Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Irenaeus
Epid. Epideixis tou apostolikou kērygmatos
Haer. Adversus haereses
Jerome
Helv. Adversus Helvidium de Mariae virginitate perpetua
Jos. Asen. Joseph and Aseneth
Josephus
A.J. Antiquitates judaicae
B.J. Bellum judaicum
Justin Martyr
1 Apol. First Apology
Dial. Dialogue with Trypho
LAB Liber antiquitatum biblicarum
LAE Life of Adam and Eve
m. Ket. Mishnah Ketubbot
m. Nid. Mishnah Niddah
m. Sotah Mishnah Sotah
m. Ta’an. Mishnah Ta’anit
m. Yoma Mishnah Yoma
Nat. Mary Nativity of Mary
Origen
Cels. Contra Celsum
Comm. Matt. Commentarium in evangelium Matthaei
Hom. Luc. Homiliae in Lucam
Philo
Mos. De vita Mosis
Somn. De Somniis
Spec. De specialibus legibus
Prot. Jas. Protevangelium of James
Ps.-Mt. Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
Rev. Magi Revelation of the Magi
T. Adam Testament of Adam
T. Benj. Testament of Benjamin
T. Dan Testament of Dan
T. Gad Testament of Gad
T. Levi Testament of Levi
t. Hull. Tosefta Hullin
t. Pesah. Tosefta Pesahim
Tertullian
Carn. Chr. De carne Christi
Virg. De virginibus velandis
Modern
ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt
CCSA Corpus Christianorum: Series apocryphorum
CRRAI Compte rendu, Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
ExpT Expository Times
GCS Die griechische christliche Schriftsteller der ersten [drei] Jahrhunderte
HTR Harvard Theological Review
JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
LCL Loeb Classical Library
NTTS New Testament Tools and Studies
NovT Novum Testamentum
PG Patrologia Graeca
SBFA Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Analecta
SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers
SH Subsidia Hagiographica
TS Theological Studies
TSK Theologische Studien und Kritiken
TUGAL Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur
VT Vetus Testamentum
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
Conventions
HB Hebrew Bible
LXX Septuagint
NT New Testament
Introduction
On display at the Yale University Art Gallery is a painting from Dura-Europos, an ancient city in eastern Syria and the location of major excavations in the 1920s and 1930s. Yale archaeologists found the painting in the remains of a third-century house that was used as a church—the earliest Christian church ever discovered. On the southern wall of the building’s baptistery is the image of a woman drawing water from a well, while looking over her left shoulder. While most scholars have assumed it is a depiction of the Samaritan woman narrated from the Gospel of John, Michael Peppard has suggested that the painting is better interpreted as Mary at the well.1 The canonical Gospels of Matthew and Luke do not give a specific location for the Annunciation, despite general assumptions that place the scene at her home based on centuries-long depictions of the Annunciation in Western art. While the scene of Mary drawing water from the well or spring is not a detail found in the canonical infancy narratives, it is a feature of the Protevangelium of James (Protevangelium hereafter) in which the divine voice attempts to make contact with Mary to announce her special role in salvation history (Prot. Jas. 11:1–9). Additionally, the image also depicts a vacant space behind the woman, most likely representing the invisible divine voice of the Annunciation,2 a detail again found in the Protevangelium which describes a bodiless voice speaking to Mary before the appearance of an angel; hence Mary is said to have been looking “all around her, to the right and left, to see from where the voice was coming” (Prot. Jas. 11:3). If Peppard’s interpretation is correct, this painting would be the oldest depiction of Mary’s Annunciation
