The thrilling legend of Barlaam and Josaphat tells the story of an Indian king Abenner, a persecutor of Christians, and his son Josaphat and their conversion to Christianity through the efforts of a hermit named Barlaam. Purported to recount second or third century events concerning Christians converted by the Apostle Thomas, the story has been found to derive from a tale about the Buddha. The present work considers the Georgian and Armenian versions of this legend with careful attention to their relationship to various other versions, especially the Greek and Arabic texts. Professor Conybeare makes a compelling argument for the Georgian version as the earliest Christian form from which came a Greek and later a Syriac translation, of which the Armenian is an abridgement. Through this study the reader is introduced to the major versions of the legend, both Christian and non-Christian, and the primary literary and textual concerns of the Georgian and Armenian recensions. Moreover, a translation of all that remains of the Georgian text is provided along with that of its Armenian parallels.

Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare (1856-1924) was a British orientalist who wrote extensively on religious themes from biblical and Christian literature with special emphasis on Armenian Christian literature. He taught at Oxford University and authored such notable books as Myth, Magic, and Morals, History of New Testament Criticism, and The Life of Apollonius of Tyana.