Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1879.13

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 77963

Introduction: This fragment consists of the upper portions of four torn folios from a bilingual Greek-Arabic Gospel lectionary, probably copied in the 11th century. The presentation of the text in both Greek and Arabic would suggest that it was produced for a Christian community in the Levant, one which had become predominantly Arabic-speaking but retained Greek as a liturgical language. A much larger portion of this manuscript is now St Petersburg, Rossijskaja Nacional'naja biblioteka, MS gr. 84, of 41 folios, which includes the lower parts of these torn folios. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek and Arabic

Gospel lectionary

Gregory-Aland l 311; Scrivener Eust. 297

Parallel text in Greek and Arabic

The Greek text of the fragment begins during the (synaxarion) lection for the fifth Sunday of Luke (Lk 16:24) and ends during that the 6th Sunday of Luke (Lk 8:30), with multiple lacunas due to the loss of the lower part of all folios.

Incipit: || f. 1r ὅτι ὀδυνῶμαι ἐν τῆι φλογὶ ταύτη

Explicit: f. 4v καὶ ἀπῆλ⟨θεν καθ’ ὅλην⟩ τὴν πό⟨λιν κηρύσσων⟩ ὅσα ἐπ⟨οίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ⟩ Ἰησοῦς.||

Physical Description

Form: codex

Support: Parchment, of medium thickness and quality.

Extent: Fragment (quire) 4 leaves. 140 × 84-217 mm. 250 × 217 mm.

Foliation: The quire is foliated with the numbers 1-4, in Arabic numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.

Collation

The fragment consists of 2 bifolios, probably the inner half of a quaternion.

Quire 1^8-4 ff. 1-4 The first, second, seventh and eighth folios have probably been lost, with loss of text

Condition

The lower part of all folios has been torn away, amounting to more than half of the total area in all cases, and the vast majority of f. 4. There is mild water staining and areas of dirt.

Layout

Two columns of up to 12 lines each, probably originally totalling about 27 lines. The Greek text appears in the left-hand column, the Arabic on the right. 74-93 × 130 mm. The original height of the written area was probably approximately 200 mm. Pricking does not survive. Ruled in hardpoint, system probably Leroy 1, type probably Leroy 24D2 or 22D2a (two horizontal lines appear in the upper margin; the number in the lower margin is unclear).

Hand(s)

The Greek text was copied by Hand A in an upright mixed minuscule script, in dark brown ink, with minimal variation in letter size.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings do not appear. Breathings are angular, and mute iota is absent or adscript. Use of the double dot is functional only and nomina sacra are unaccentuated. The double grave accent is in use.

Punctuation used includes the upper point and full stop.

Headings have been added in Alexandrine majuscule script, in red ink.

The Arabic text was copied by Hand A in pale brown ink, sometimes overwritten in black. Headings have been added in red ink.

Additions

Modern chapter and verse numbers for the beginning and end of the text on each folio or of a new lection have been added, along with a note of the end of the last lection in Greek. The fragment has been marked with the present classmark and the former classmark T.35.

Binding

The fragment has a modern card binding reinforced with cloth inside the spine.

History

Origin: The style of script suggests that the fragment was probably copied in the 11th century. The bilingual content would suggest that it was produced in an Arabic-speaking region in the ; eastern Mediterranean.

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the Biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874) .

Bought by the University Library from Tischendorf's executors in 1876.

Additional Information

Availability

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library). For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

Novum Testamentum Graece: ad antiquissimos testes denuo recensuit apparatum criticum apposuit Constantinus Tischendorf, Gregory, Caspar René (Leipzig, 3: Prolegomena, J.C. Hinrichs, 1894)

Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes, Gregory, Caspar René (Leipzig, J. C. Hinrichs, 1900)

Hand-list of the additional Greek manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge Scriptorium, Easterling, Patricia E. (16, 2, 302-323, 1962)

Codex Bezae and other Greek New Testament Manuscripts in Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library: The great collections, Parker, David (Cambridge, 33-43, Cambridge University Press, 1998)

Further "Membra Disiecta Cantabrigiensia" from the Tischendorf Collection Alethes Philia. Studi in onore di Giancarlo Prato Collectanea, Tchernetska, Natalie (Spoleto, Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo, 2010)

Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose (1, Project Gutenberg, 2011)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 1879.13

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