The Hymn of the Pearl
E683516
The Hymn of the Pearl is an early Christian-Gnostic allegorical poem that narrates a prince’s quest to recover a lost pearl, symbolizing the soul’s descent into and awakening from the material world.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Christian-Gnostic allegory
ⓘ
Gnostic text ⓘ allegorical poem ⓘ early Christian text ⓘ religious poem ⓘ |
| alternativeName |
Hymn of the Robe of Glory
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Hymn of the Soul NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Thomasine Christianity NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralCharacter | a prince ⓘ |
| centralMotif | quest for a pearl ⓘ |
| dateOfComposition | 3rd century ⓘ |
| embeddedIn | narrative of the apostle Judas Thomas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| focusesOn |
a letter from the king calling the prince to awaken
ⓘ
the prince’s loss of memory of his royal origin ⓘ the prince’s recovery of the pearl ⓘ the prince’s return to his father’s kingdom ⓘ |
| genre | visionary literature ⓘ |
| influenced |
later Christian mystical literature
ⓘ
modern spiritual interpretations of Gnosticism ⓘ |
| interpretedAs |
Gnostic myth of descent and ascent
ⓘ
parable of the human condition ⓘ |
| isPartOf | Acts of Thomas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | Syriac NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| literaryDevice |
allegory
ⓘ
symbolism ⓘ |
| narrativeForm | first-person narrative ⓘ |
| originatesFrom | Syriac Christian milieu ⓘ |
| preservedIn |
Greek manuscripts of the Acts of Thomas
ⓘ
Syriac manuscripts of the Acts of Thomas ⓘ |
| relatedWork | Acts of Thomas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| religiousTradition |
Christianity
ⓘ
Gnosticism NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| scholarlyInterest |
Gnostic mythology
ⓘ
Syriac literature ⓘ early Christian mysticism ⓘ |
| setting | a distant land of Egypt ⓘ |
| structure | poetic hymn ⓘ |
| symbolizes |
return to the heavenly home
ⓘ
spiritual awakening ⓘ the soul ⓘ the soul’s descent into the material world ⓘ |
| theme |
alienation of the soul
ⓘ
call to remembrance ⓘ forgetfulness of divine origin ⓘ redemption ⓘ restoration of the soul’s robe of glory ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.