Although the first four centuries of Christianity are profoundly silent regarding the end of Mary’s life, in the later fifth century, a number of Dormition narratives suddenly appear, all with different endings and divergent views concerning the ultimate fate of both Mary and her body. (Stephen J. Shoemaker, “Death and the Maiden: The Early History of the Dormition and Assumption Apocrypha,” in The Dormition and Assumption Apocrypha [Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 15; Leuven: Peeters, 2018], 36)
