The Byzantine Story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
- Date of account
- Late antique Christian tradition; Qur'anic and Islamic elaborations later
- Location
- Ephesus, traditionally; broader Byzantine, Syriac, and Islamic worlds
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
The Seven Sleepers tradition tells of youths who hide from persecution and awaken after a long period of sleep to find the world transformed. It circulated in Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Islamic forms, with significant differences in names, chronology, theology, and setting. The story offers comparison with suspended time, refuge, resurrection, and proof narratives, while also illustrating cross-religious transmission. The cave at Ephesus and associated remains have competing identifications, and the narrative should be studied as religious literature rather than a verified medical or historical event.
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