This volume begins with a substantial investigation of the murder of several members of the imperial family during the summer of 337, following the death of Constantine. Two other major articles are devoted to well-known Byzantine illustrated manuscripts, the ninth-century Sacra Parallela and the fourteenth-century collection of theological works by the emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, both now in Paris. A third art-historical paper presents a detailed analysis of the architectural decoration of the church of the “Red Monastery” near Suhag in Egypt. Other studies treat the mystery of the Incarnation as well as the earliest version of the Life of the Virgin and its relationship with the cult of Marian relics in Constantinople.

The volume concludes with three papers from a colloquium on the hymnographer Romanos the Melode.

Founded in 1941, the annual journal Dumbarton Oaks Papers is dedicated to the publication of articles relating to late antique, early medieval, and Byzantine civilization in the fields of art and architecture, history, archaeology, literature, theology, law, and auxiliary disciplines.

In this issue: Alexander Sarantis, “War and Diplomacy in Pannonia and the Northwest Balkans during the Reign of Justinian: The Gepid Threat and Imperial Responses”; Peter Hatlie, “Images of Motherhood and Self in Byzantine Literature”; Maria Evangelatou, “Liturgy and the Illustration of the Ninth-Century Marginal Psalters”; Henry Maguire, “Ivories as Pilgrimage Art: A New Frame for the ‘Frame Group’”; Vasileios Marinis, “Tombs and Burials in the Monastery tou Libos in Constantinople”; and three fieldwork reports: “Second Report on the Excavation in the Monastery of Apa Shenute (Dayr Anba Shinuda) at Suhag,” by Peter Grossman, Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, and Saad Mohamad Mohamad Osman, with a contribution by Hans-Christoph Noeske; “To Live and Die in a Turbulent Era: Bioarchaeological Analysis of the Early Byzantine (6th–7th Centuries AD) Population from Sourtara Galaniou Kozanis (Northern Greece),” by Chryssi Bourbou; and “Study and Restoration of the Zeyrek Camii in Istanbul: Second Report, 2001–2005,” by Robert Ousterhout, Zeynep Ahunbay, and Metin Ahunbay.