Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 9781463235840

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JOURNAL OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies/ de la Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques The JCSSS is a refereed journal published annually, and it contains the transcripts of public lectures presented at the Society and possibly other articles and book reviews

Editorial Board General Editor

Amir Harrak, University of Toronto

Editors Sebastian Brock, Oxford University Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America Adam Lehto, University of Toronto Craig E. Morrison, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome Lucas van Rompay, Duke University Kyle Smith, University of Toronto Copy Editing

Antoine Hirsch

Publisher Gorgias Press 180 Centennial Avenue, Suite 3 Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA

The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies La Société Canadienne des Etudes Syriaques Society Officers 2012-2013 President: Amir Harrak Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer: Khalid Dinno Members of the Board of Directors: Samir Basmaji, Marica Cassis, Khalid Dinno, Geoffrey Greatrex, Amir Harrak, Robert Kitchen, Adam Lehto, Kyle Smith, Albert Tarzi, Ashoor Yousif The aim of the CSSS is to promote the study of the Syriac culture which is rooted in the same soil from which the ancient Mesopotamian and biblical literatures sprung. The CSSS is purely academic, and its activities include a series of public lectures, one yearly symposium, and the publication of its Journal. The Journal is distributed free of charge to the members of the CSSS who have paid their dues, but it can be ordered by other individuals and institutions through Gorgias Press (www.gorgiaspress.com). Cover Genealogy of Jesus in a manuscript dated to 1653 from the Monastery of Mar Behnam (Iraq) (Photo Fr. Najib Mikhael, OP)

JOURNAL OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

Volume 13

Copyright © 2013 by The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey ISBN 978-1-4632-0244-6 ISSN: 1499-6367

GORGIAS PRESS 954 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standards. Printed in the United States of America

The Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies

Table of Contents

From the Editor

1

Mark Dickens,

3 Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community

Pier Giorgio Borbone, Syriac and Garšūnī Manuscripts Produced in Rome in the Collection of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence

29

Nicholas al-Jeloo, A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran

45

Emanuela Braida, Codex Guelph. 3.1.300: The Note of the Restorer

57

Khairy Foumia, The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe

66

Rima Smine,

77 Reconciling Ornament: Codicology and Colophon in Syriac Lectionaries British Library Add. 7170 and Vatican Syr. 559

Khalid Dinno,

88 Accessing the Archival Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church: Preliminary Report

Amir Harrak, Bishop Dr. Julius Mikhael al-Jamil (1938-2012) Members of the CSSS for 2012-2013

99 101

 

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FROM THE EDITOR

CSSS 13 (2013) contains all the papers given at the CSSS Symposium XII entitled Syriac Manuscripts and Archives: Production, Contents, and Illuminations, which took place on the 10th of November 2012 at the University of Toronto. The first article by Dr. Mark Dickens of Alberta takes us to Turfan, China, whose fascinating archives are the subject of his article “Scribal Practices in the Turfan Monastic Community.” It describes the methods and practices followed by several generations of Asian monks in producing manuscripts in at least three languages over four centuries. Much light is shed on scribal practices in copying Syriac manuscripts, including punctuation, vocalisation, pointing, rubrics, marginalia, quire marks, corrections, distinguishing marks and illustrations. While certain features, including copying errors, are common to all medieval scribes, there are other features, e.g. phonetic spellings, which are frequently found among Asian scribes, for whom Syriac was a holy but nonetheless foreign language. Unlike the essentially liturgical Turfan manuscripts, the 16th-17th century manuscripts produced in Rome and now housed at the Laurentian Library, Florence, are technical in nature. The article “Syriac MSS produced in Rome” by Pier Giorgio Borbone of Pisa surveys this collection, which includes calendric, grammatical, lexical, and biblical codices, and reveals a clear interest in things Syriac in

J

Rome at that time. This interest may be seen as the main factor in the rise of the study of Syriac in early modern Europe. Trained scribes (including an abdicated Syriac Orthodox patriarch) and European orientalists were responsible for this quite special collection of some thirty codices. The single manuscript presented by Nicholas al-Jeloo of Sydney in his article “A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran,” is a happy addition to the meagre collection of manuscripts belonging to the Church of the East. As the author says, wars and persecutions were behind the loss of the literary heritage of this ancient Church, but the many colophons he includes in his article indicate that classical Syriac was the language of its scribes and copyists as late as the 19th century, the date of this manuscript. “Codex Guelph. 3.1.300: The Note of the Restorer” by Emanuela Braida of Toronto discusses Garshuni colophons added to a 7th century illuminated Gospel lectionary brought to Rome during the 17th century. In addition to precious details that these colophons give concerning the place and time of the writing and the repairing of this quite ancient codex, we also discover that the Garshuni language of the restorer, a Lebanese resident of the Pontifical Maronite College in Rome, was heavily influenced by Italian! The article “The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe,” i.e. Tell-Kēf, by Khairy Foumia of Michigan, surveys more than two

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From the Editor

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hundred codices, most of them liturgical, owned by the Chaldean Church of the Holy Heart of Jesus. Besides one undated manuscript written with a splendid Estrangela script used before and during the Mongol period, there are some Gospel lectionaries decorated with vibrantly coloured miniatures. The miniatures remind one of Byzantine art, but also of the primitive art of Syriac amulets, though they are far more attractive than the drawings of those charms. Remaining with the subject of art and manuscripts, “Reconciling Ornament, Codicology and Colophon in Syriac Lectionaries British Library Add.7170 and Vat. Syr.559,” by Rima Smine of Leiden, discusses two codices that share identical decorative programs but whose dates of completion diverge considerably. Careful examination of the illuminated manuscripts and their epigraphy leads to the conclusion that while the same workshop produced both codices, Vat. Syr.559 was executed in stages and only given its final form decades after its near twin was completed.

Syriac Churches have lost much of their written patrimonies due to the ravages of war and time, and with this harsh reality is mind, Khalid Dinno and George Kiraz undertook two campaigns to digitize the archives of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The article “Accessing the Archival Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church: A Preliminary Report,” by Khalid Dinno, scratches the surface of this rich repository to reveal how such documents help us to reassess the current scholarly understanding of the Ottoman millet system and provide a foundation for the writing of the history of this ancient Church at the end of the Ottoman period. Finally, JCSSS 13 wants to commemorate a scholarly prelate, Bishop Julius Mikhael alJamil, native of Qaraqosh, Iraq, who passed away in 2012. The prelate left his mark on Syriac Studies mainly in the Arab world but also more recently in Europe. A.H. 6 October 2013

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SCRIBAL PRACTICES IN THE TURFAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

MARK DICKENS UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND1

T

urfan is located 195 km by road southeast of Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China,2 in a large oasis in the Turfan Depression, just north of the Lop Desert, itself on the north-eastern edge of the Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan Desert. Historically, the region of Turfan, with its capital of Gaochang (Kao-ch’ang, equivalent to Turkic Qocho), lay at the junction of two branches of the trade route network we now call the Silk Road; one branch led southeast to the Gansu Corridor and north-west to the Ili Valley, while the other branch headed southwest to Kashgar.3 Turfan was one of several small city-states rimming the Tarim Basin which at various times came under Chinese control, were incorporated into larger non-Chinese polities or achieved limited autonomy. From the second century BCE on, Turfan was subject to the Han dynasty of China, the nomadic Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu), the Chinese Wei kingdom and Jin dynasty, the nomadic Rouran (Juan-juan), the Gaoche (Kao-chü) clan of the Tiele Turkic confederation, the First Türk Empire, the Chinese Tang dynasty

and the Tibetan Empire, before it came under the influence of the Turkic Uighurs. Originally a constituent tribe of the First and Second Türk Empires (552-659, 682742 CE), the Uighurs overthrew the ruling Türks and established the Uighur Empire in Mongolia (744-840 CE). In alliance with the Chinese Tang dynasty, they helped to recover the Tarim Basin from the Tibetans, occupying Turfan in 803 CE. Manichaeism, the state religion of the Uighur Empire, was introduced to Turfan at this time, although the majority religion of the area remained Buddhism. When the Uighur Empire was overthrown by the Turkic Kyrgyz in 840, many Uighurs fled south from Mongolia to Turfan, where they established the Uighur Kingdom of Qocho (866-1284), which dominated the northern Tarim Basin for several centuries until it submitted to the Qarakhitai Khanate in 1130 and then to the Mongols in 1209. From their initial Manichaeism, most Uighurs gradually converted to Buddhism during their time in Turfan (subsequent conversion to Islam did not take place until the fifteenth century). There was also an important Christian minority in the Uighur Kingdom, the subject of this article [Fig. 1].4

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Although we do not know conclusively how or when Christianity came to Turfan, it is most reasonable to assume that Sogdian Christians (both merchants and missionaries) played a significant role.5 As I have speculated elsewhere,6 it is not unlikely that the origins of the Christian community in Turfan … may very well be linked with the period of antiBuddhist persecution in Tang dynasty China, which peaked in the year 845 and resulted in the closing of thousands of Buddhist monasteries and the enforced defrocking of hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns. In the process, adherents of other ‘foreign’ religions, primarily Christians, Manichaeans and Zoroastrians, also suffered persecution and their religious institutions were forcibly closed throughout China… Located as it was between the xenophobic campaign of religious persecution in Tang China to the east and the steady advance of Islam into Central Asia in the west, Turfan perhaps offered a rare opportunity for various religions to flourish that were endangered elsewhere.

The recent discovery of the Luoyang Pillar, which in part chronicles the history of Sogdian Christians living in Luoyang (the eastern capital of the Tang dynasty) in the ninth century, underlies the important role that they played in Tang dynasty Christianity before 845.7

THE TURFAN EXPEDITIONS AND COLLECTION The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a period of intense exploration of Central Asia, with expeditions led by the British under Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943), the Danes under Arthur Sørensen (1880-1932), the Finns under Carl Gustav Mannerheim (1867-1951), the French under Paul Pelliot (1878-1945), the

Germans under Albert Grünwedel (18561935) and Albert von Le Coq (1860-1930), the Japanese under Otani Kozui (18761948), the Russians under Pyotr Kozlov (1863-1935), Sergei Oldenburg (18631934), and others, and the Swedes under Sven Hedin (1865-1952). The most extensive and significant discoveries in Turfan were made by the four German Turfan Expeditions between 1902 and 1914, which resulted in thousands of archaeological items, including manuscript fragments, wall murals, and various artefacts, being brought back to Berlin.8 The Berlin Turfan Collection contains about 40,000 manuscript fragments, ranging from partially-intact remnants of codices to tiny scraps with no more than a few letters on them, in more than twenty languages, including Arabic, Bactrian, Chinese, Khitan, Khotanese, Mongolian, Parthian, Middle and New Persian, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Sogdian, Syriac, Tangut, Tibetan, Tocharian, and Uighur Turkic—a testimony to the multiethnic and multilingual nature of the area. Not surprisingly, given the religious history of the area, most texts are Buddhist or Manichaean. The fragments are currently kept in three locations: the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften; the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz; and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst (formerly Museum für Indische Kunst). The majority are kept between glass plates (with numerous small fragments grouped together under Sammelplatten), except for the few extant booklets and partial codices. Most fragments have the original signature numbers given to them at the time of the expeditions (e.g. T II B 66, No. 10) and all have been given new numbers according to their language, as discussed below.

CHRISTIAN TEXTS FROM TURFAN In addition to the many Buddhist and Manichaean fragments, a significant number of

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Christian texts were discovered during the Second (1904-1905) and Third (19051907) German Turfan Expeditions. Most of these were found in the ruins of a former monastery of the Church of the East, located at Shui-pang near the site of Bulayïq (ten km north of Turfan), but some were also found in other nearby locations, including Qocho, the ancient capital of the Uighur Kingdom. Unfortunately, many fragments in the Turfan Collection held in Berlin were lost during World War II due to various causes; there are now just over 1090 Christian manuscript fragments (whether booklets, bifolia, individual folios, part folios, or small scraps torn from original folios) in the following languages and scripts: Syriac, Sogdian in both Syriac script and Sogdian script, New Persian in Syriac script, Uighur Turkic in both Syriac script and Uighur script and Middle Persian in Pahlavi script.9 Calculating the number of Christian fragments from Turfan is difficult, since all such calculations must be based on signature numbers, not on intact folios (let alone complete manuscripts), given the fragmentary nature of the collection. Thus, both the 61-folio codex MIK III 45 [Fig. 2] and a small fragment containing only a few letters each count as only one “fragment.” Moreover, a number of the Christian fragments are bilingual (e.g. Syriac-Sogdian lectionary fragments) or written primarily in one language, with extracts from a second language inserted (e.g. Syriac liturgical texts with rubric instructions to the priest in Sogdian).10 Thus, the numbers given for individual languages and scripts will not add up to the total number of Christian fragments when compiled in a table, as I have done to arrive at the following statistics. With these caveats in mind, there are a total of 481 catalogue entries for fragments that are at least half Syriac, including ten Syriac folios written in Uighur script (but not including about thirty fragments in

Sogdian, New Persian, or Uighur containing Syriac phrases or short quotations). Catalogue entries for Sogdian and New Persian fragments in Syriac script total 460 and four, respectively. There are furthermore fifty-five Sogdian Christian fragments in Sogdian script, twenty-five Uighur Christian fragments in Syriac script, eighty-two Uighur Christian fragments in Uighur script, and thirteen fragments from the Pahlavi Psalter. The total number of Christian fragments is 1092. The majority of Christian fragments are in Syriac, Sogdian (an extinct Eastern Middle Iranian language), or a combination of the two, indicating the important roles played by the former as the liturgical language of the Church of the East and the latter as the primary trade language of the Silk Road and mother tongue of the Sogdians, who were key players in spreading various religions, including Christianity, along the trade network. The Christian fragments use the following signature numbering systems: SyrHT for Syriac fragments, M for Manichaean fragments, MIK for fragments in the former Museum für Indische Kunst, n (for nestorianisch), designating Sogdian fragments in Syriac script, So for Sogdian script fragments and U for Uighur fragments, whether in Syriac or Uighur script. In each of these numbering systems, some fragments have been mislabelled, so that, for example, one finds Sogdian and Uighur Christian fragments labelled SyrHT, Syriac fragments labelled n or So, and New Persian Christian fragments labelled M.11

CHRISTIAN TEXT GENRES A number of different genres are represented amongst the Christian fragments from Turfan.12 In what follows, although all the relevant languages are considered, the percentages given are for the Syriac fragments (here defined as all fragments that are at least half in Syriac). The core liturgical

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texts are nearly all in Syriac (some with rubric instructions in Sogdian), with a small number of supplementary texts that would be used in a liturgical setting (such as creeds) in Sogdian or occasionally Uighur. The biblical texts (primarily Psalters and lectionaries) are in either Syriac, one of the Iranian languages (Sogdian, Middle Persian, or New Persian) or bilingual Syriac-Sogdian/New Persian. As one departs from the biblical and liturgical centre of the literature of the Church of the East, more and more texts are translations from Syriac into Sogdian (or occasionally Uighur), particularly ascetical literature, commentaries, homilies and hagiographies (precisely the sort of texts one would expect to be read in a monastic community, including frequent references to the Desert Fathers). Perhaps not surprisingly, one finds prayer texts (including prayer booklets and prayer-amulets) represented in Syriac, Sogdian, and Uighur. As for texts written by Christians that are not primarily theological or ecclesiastical (miscellanea or “secular” texts, for lack of a better description), there are very few in Syriac, somewhat more in Sogdian and a fair number in Uighur, undoubtedly reflecting the fact that the latter was the dominant language in Turfan, no matter what the ethnic composition of a given religious community. Thus, when we reach the periphery of texts in use by the Turfan Christians (those furthest from the biblical and liturgical centre), the majority are those composed in or translated into Uighur. Biblical texts account for 22% of the Syriac material. Most of the Psalter material is Syriac (we have fragments from eighteen Syriac Psalters), but there are also remnants from one Middle Persian (Pahlavi) Psalter, two Sogdian Psalters, and one bilingual Syriac-New Persian Psalter, as well as one Old Testament Syriac fragment not from the Psalter (Prov. 9:14-10:12), on the back of which is written a draft letter.

Of particular interest amongst the Psalters are remnants of a Syriac Psalter in Uighur script.13 There are fragments from three Syriac lectionaries, four or five bilingual Syriac-Sogdian lectionaries, one Sogdian lectionary (with Syriac rubrics and incipits), four Syriac gospels, and possibly one bilingual Syriac-Sogdian gospel.14 Liturgical texts account for 43% of the Syriac material, including fragments from twenty-eight Syriac Ḥudras, three Syriac Ṭaksas, and eight Syriac liturgical texts with Sogdian rubrics (as noted above, primarily instructions to the priest),15 some containing Ḥudra material, others containing Ṭaksa material; it is in fact unclear whether the Ḥudra and the Ṭaksa had been separated into two distinct texts at the time that the Turfan manuscripts were written. Most of these Ḥudra and Ṭaksa fragments show differences from the current editions of these texts used by the Church of the East, including the presence of offices that are no longer extant, presumably reflecting the fact that they pre-date major revisions of the liturgical texts that took place prior to the codification of the current form of the text in the sixteenth century.16 In addition to the many Syriac liturgical texts, there are a small number of Sogdian and Uighur texts that would be used in an ecclesiastical context, including: 1) a Sogdian translation of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo;17 2) remnants of an Uighur creed;18 and 3) a folio containing a Sogdian hymn and translation of the Nicene Creed.19 Also of importance for the celebration of the liturgy are the calendrical fragments (crucial in determining the date of Easter and other “movable feasts” dependent on Easter, notably Lent and Pentecost) that have turned up amongst the Christian material, including eleven fragments from calendrical tables employing Syriac letters to represent numbers (many of them with Sogdian texts on the reverse) and several other calendar-related texts.20

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Prayer texts comprise 7% of the Syriac material, but are found in all three languages, as noted above; thus there are at least six Syriac prayer booklets or amulets,21 five Sogdian prayer texts and three Uighur prayer texts, including U 338, a booklet with Syriac sections and extracts.22 On the edge of what might be considered prayer texts are two Uighur Christian texts concerned with divination and predictions: U 328 and U 320.23 Hagiographies and legends comprise a relatively small portion (2%) of the Syriac material; there is one bifolium from the Legend of Mar Barshabba, the semi-legendary founder of Christianity in Merv,24 and eight fragments from the Syriac Legend of St. George; significantly, there are also Sogdian and Uighur versions of the latter, each different from the other.25 In addition to St. George, there are many Sogdian hagiographical texts, including the lives of Sergius and Bacchus, Mar Barshabba, Serapion, and John of Dailam.26 There are fewer Uighur hagiographies; other than St. George, there are only fragments of the Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, and, until it went missing during World War II, a Uighur Christian version of the Legend of the Magi.27 Homilies, commentaries and general ascetical literature occur frequently amongst the Sogdian Christian texts,28 but rarely in Syriac, save two fragments from a “Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew.”29 Amongst the Sogdian material of this nature, one of the more interesting is a Christian polemic against the Manichaeans.30 Miscellanea comprises only 5% of Syriac material, specifically two fragments from the aforementioned draft letter, two fragments from a pharmaceutical recipe book,31 several fragments from lists of names and several more from scribal exercises. There are proportionally many more “miscellaneous” examples from the nonSyriac texts, including: 1) two fragments of a New Persian pharmacological text writ-

ten in Syriac script, giving recipes for different medicinal oils, as well as information on the ailments they are good for;32 2) remnants of a Sogdian version of the Wisdom of Ahiqar;33 3) a collection of riddles in Sogdian;34 4) a Uighur Christian wedding blessing;35 and 5) numerous official and personal documents in Uighur script with references to Christian names or ecclesiastical positions.36 Finally, probably 10% of the Syriac material is still potentially identifiable, but has not yet been identified, while a further 10% is likely unidentifiable, due to the small size of the fragments involved and their damaged state. Reference has already been made to the Church of the East, which held the ecclesiastical monopoly in Turfan and indeed all along the Silk Road from Iran to China. The East Syriac provenance of the Christian material from Turfan is made abundantly clear by the content of the extant texts, particularly the liturgical texts, and the East Syriac pointing that is often used to indicate vocalization. However, there are two texts which some have suggested might have a Melkite connection: the aforementioned draft letter to an unnamed Byzantine official and two fragments from a Psalter in Sogdian script with Greek incipits in rubric.37

WRITING MATERIALS As above, the focus in this section is on the Syriac fragments, although reference will be made to Christian fragments in other languages when relevant. All of the Christian fragments from Turfan are written on paper. This is primarily due to Turfan’s location in a traditional zone of Chinese influence, in contrast to the Middle East, where vellum was used until paper-making technology was transferred westward after Chinese paper-makers were captured at the Battle of Talas in 751. Indeed, the vast majority of texts from Turfan, whatever the

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language, were written on paper, although a small number were written on palm leaves, birch bark, wood, silk, parchment or stone (in particular, the Manichaean manuscript fragments from Turfan include some on parchment).38 Did members of the Christian monastic community at Turfan ever have vellum manuscripts brought from the Middle East to copy? No Christian texts on vellum have been found at Turfan, so the answer to this question will likely never be known. A research project is currently underway to document the writing materials used in manuscript fragments from Turfan and Dunhuang. Although the findings have not yet been published, an initial report indicates that “bark paper made of paper mulberry fibres” and “rag paper based on ramie and hemp fibres” make up “a significant proportion of Turfan and Dunhuang manuscripts.”39 There are also a few examples amongst the Uighur manuscripts from Turfan of the use of dark blue paper made from indigo, written on with yellow ink made from orpiment, but none of these are Christian texts.40 Not surprisingly, most texts were written in black ink, with rubrics and certain punctuation marks in red ink. However, a number of the Christian texts (in both Syriac and Sogdian scripts) appear to be in brown ink. The aforementioned research project has determined that “manuscripts with Uighur on one side and Chinese on the other side were written with black carbon inks… most of the red inks used, including those on stamps, show a mixture of cinnabar with red lead.” It is not yet clear what the apparently brown inks in some of the Christian manuscript fragments were made from, as they have not yet been analyzed.41

FRAGMENT FORMATS AND DIMENSIONS The condition of the Syriac fragments from Turfan ranges from those that are largely

intact to those that were subjected to willful vandalism at some point prior to their discovery. There are remnants of several bound codices, although no covers have survived. Pre-eminent amongst these codices is a sixty-one-folio Syriac liturgical book (MIK III 45), to which other fragments can be joined to form what is known as Ḥudra D42 [Fig. 2]. Amongst partial remnants of smaller booklets (again without covers) are two Psalters: Psalter C (SyrHT 72) and Psalter E (SyrHT 71), consisting of only nine and four folios respectively [Fig. 3]. There are also many bifolia, as well as many individual folios, which seem to have been torn from their bindings; some are intact, but many are ripped in half horizontally, vertically or diagonally or have corners torn off. Finally, there are numerous small fragments (some with margins, some without) and several long strips torn horizontally or vertically from folios. Occasionally, it is possible to make a join between two or more pieces, but many fragments remain as orphans and the process of reconstructing folios, let alone original manuscripts, is a laborious process. Of the fragments in Syriac script, the tallest is n222, a long skinny strip (39.5 x 1.0 cm) that may have originally been a bilingual Syriac-Sogdian lectionary, although there is not enough extant to verify this. The tallest original manuscript with intact folios was the bilingual SyriacSogdian lectionary E3,43 whose one remaining folio, n190, measures 30.0 x 22.5 cm. By contrast, the shortest Syriac manuscripts with intact folios were Ḥudra Q (MIK III 111), measuring 6.5 x 12.0 cm— the only example of a horizontal “landscape” format found amongst the Syriac materials so far [Fig. 4]—and Prayer Booklet G (U 338), measuring 6.5 x 7.5 cm. Other liturgical, lectionary and Psalter texts range between these dimensions. In general, manuscripts with smaller dimensions were presumably for personal use,

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whereas larger ones were used in group situations, whether in the liturgy or in non-liturgical contexts in the monastery. Most of the texts with smaller dimensions were prayer booklets or amulets. Psalters are either smaller or medium-sized. Lectionaries, hagiographies and ascetical literature range from medium to large format. The identical dimensions and matching thread holes of the Legend of St. George (SyrHT 95) and the ChristianJewish Dialogue (SyrHT 94), with intact folios of both measuring 17.5 x 10.5 cm, suggest that they were both part of a florilegium [Fig. 5]. Nearly all Syriac texts from Turfan contain only one column per page,44 although SyrHT 230, the one extant folio of Psalter P, has two columns per page, and U 7252, a folio possibly from the same original manuscript as the Sogdian Psalter (discussed below) has six columns. Column 1 contains Syriac letters from ‫ ܐ‬to ‫ܝܛ‬, representing the numbers 1-19. Columns 2 and 3 contain the same numerals, written plene in Sogdian and then Syriac (both in Syriac script). Column 4 contains a listing of words which do not correlate to the numerals in columns 1, 2 or 3; these were possibly used as mnemonic devices. Column 5 lists the Syriac letters ‫ܨ‬, ‫ܩ‬, ‫ܪ‬, ‫ܫ‬, ‫ ܬ‬and the word ‫ܐܠܦ‬, representing the numbers 90, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 1000. Finally, Column 6 spells out the equivalent Syriac numerals to the numbers in column 5. The folio thus appears to have been a means for Sogdian speakers to memorize the Syriac numbers, essential for reading many Syriac texts used in a monastic setting.45

MANUSCRIPT RULINGS AND REPAIRS Thin grey and red rulings occur in a number of the Syriac fragments, but most are not ruled.46 There are several different rul-

ing options. The aforementioned Syriac Psalter in Uighur script (SyrHT 20-27, MIK III 58) has one side margin ruled in grey (probably thinned down black ink), whereas a number of manuscripts, including Ḥudra K (SyrHT 32, SyrHT 33, SyrHT 37, SyrHT 40, SyrHT 179) and Ḥudra E (SyrHT 41) have one side margin ruled in red ink (single or double lines). Psalter F (SyrHT 90 & 91, SyrHT 92, SyrHT 93, SyrHT 172, SyrHT 173), along with two of the Syriac-Sogdian lectionaries (E3 and E6), have both side margins ruled in grey; Psalter F in particular elongates the ends of each line to reach the ruled margin [Fig. 6]. There are also numerous examples of both side margins and horizontal lines being ruled in grey or red, including Psalter C, Psalter E, Psalter N, Lectionary B, Ḥudra Q and Ḥudra BB. Cells in the aforementioned calendrical tables are ruled in either black or red ink (SyrHT 67-70, SyrHT 273, So 15850, U 3858).47 There are two prominent examples— both probably from the same original manuscript, a Sogdian Psalter in Sogdian script—where the text block (all four margins) is ruled in black. The first example is the aforementioned U 7252, which probably initially had a blank verso before that side was written on in Uighur (both Syriac and Uighur script). The second example (see above) is MIK III 59, containing part of a hymn and the Nicene Creed, both in Sogdian. In the latter, the text is in Sogdian script, but there are rubrics in Syriac script, first in Sogdian and then in Syriac itself, identifying the text as ‫ܛܪܣܐܩܝܐܝ ܘܪܢܝ‬, “The faith of Christianity” and ‫ܡܗܝܡܢܝܢܢ ܒܚܕ‬, “We believe in one” (the Syriac abbreviation for the Nicene Creed). On both the recto and verso of this folio, two names (those of the owners?) are written in Sogdian script: Yuhanis (Syr. ‫ )ܝܘܚܢܝܣ‬and Khatun, a Uighur word (derived from Sogdian) for “lady, wife of a lord.”48

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A final technical aspect to consider is the prevalence of patching with paper strips and the re-use of fragments (again, focussing on Syriac examples). Repair strips or patches are visible on many fragments, usually on the inner margin, a reminder of the value of paper and the need to repair it to ensure ongoing use.49 Examples include the following folios from Ḥudra A: SyrHT 35 and SyrHT 56 & 57. There are also numerous examples of the re-use of paper, where unrelated texts have been written on the blank sides of folios or texts have even been cut to serve a non-literary use. Thus, SyrHT 3 and n296 are two adjacent folios of a Chinese Daoist text, on the back of which (the originally blank verso) a Syriac liturgical text with Sogdian rubrics was later written; subsequently, they were either left as two folios or possibly glued together as a single folio of double thickness [Fig. 7]. A different example of re-use is evident in SyrHT 83 and SyrHT 84, another Syriac liturgical text with instructions to the priest in Sogdian which has been subsequently overwritten in large letters in both Syriac and Uighur (in Uighur script).50 Perhaps most interesting, but certainly not unique amongst Silk Road finds,51 is n348, a Sogdian prayer containing a Syriac phrase; the fold lines suggest that it initially served as a book wrapper, but the actual shape of the fragment clearly shows that it was subsequently used as a shoe insole [Fig. 8].

DATING None of the Christian manuscript fragments from Turfan have dates according to the Seleucid era.52 In fact, other than a few references in Sogdian or Uighur Christian texts to the twelve-year animal cycle used for dating in the Chinese and Turkic calendrical system, such as “the year of the Ox” found in U 338,53 there are no other dates to be found in the Christian texts. One fragment of a Sogdian calendrical text

(n288) mentions “Former Teshri of the Tiger year,” and, after a lacuna, “the number (of the year of the Greeks) was...” but, frustratingly, the actual date is missing.54 Further palaeographical analysis and radiocarbon testing is needed, but a few Syriac texts have been tentatively dated, based on palaeography, notably: 1) SyrHT 1, a fragment of a pharmaceutical recipe book, dated by Miklós Maróth to the ninth or tenth century;55 2) SyrHT 2, the aforementioned draft letter, dated by Maróth to the tenth century;56 3) SyrHT 4143, three bifolia from Ḥudra E, initially dated by Eduard Sachau to the eleventh or twelfth century, and subsequently by Erica C.D. Hunter to the mid-thirteenth century;57 4) SyrHT 95 and seven other fragments, remnants of the Legend of St. George, dated by Maróth to the tenth or eleventh centuries;58 and 5) MIK III 45, the sixty-one-folio core of Ḥudra D, dated by Sachau to the ninth or tenth century and compared by Hieronymus Engberding with British Library Add. 12138, dated to 899 CE.59 Comparison with the plates in William Hatch’s Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts may help to assign approximate dates to more of the Syriac fragments from Turfan, but even here one must be careful, since similar writing styles may indicate one of two possible options: 1) the Turfan scribes were aware of scribal practice in the Middle Eastern heartland of Syriac Christianity and therefore wrote the same way that their co-religionists to the west did; or, 2) these scribes were merely copying exemplars from the Middle East that were considerably older, thus perpetuating earlier scribal styles that were no longer in vogue to the west. Some of the Uighur Christian texts have been dated by Peter Zieme to the Mongol Yuan era (the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries), based on the occurrence of certain words, specifically SyrHT 27, a folio from the aforementioned Syriac Psalter in

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Uighur script, which contains Persian, Tibetan and Turkic words in a Uighur colophon (discussed below), and U 338, a small Uighur prayer booklet with Syriac sections, based on the occurrence of the term ärkägün to refer to Christians.60 According to Nicholas Sims-Williams, the Sogdian Christian texts (none of which contain any dates or references to historical events) can be roughly dated to the ninth or tenth centuries, based on palaeographical comparison with other (nonChristian) Sogdian texts. Therefore, we can probably date the corpus to between the ninth and fourteenth centuries (thus, from the late Tang dynasty to the late Yuan dynasty); perhaps not coincidentally, this is the period when the Uighur Kingdom of Qocho flourished as an independent polity in the area. If the fragments can be dated as early as suggested above, then they are amongst the earliest Syriac texts extant on paper, which is not surprising given their origins in a region dominated by paper long before its popularity in the Middle East, as noted above.61

PALAEOGRAPHY Nearly all of the Christian fragments are written in what is essentially the Estrangela form of Syriac, with certain letters formed according to the East Syriac script, resulting in what William Wright called “Nestorian Esṭrangelâ,” described by Hatch as “not unlike that found in some Esṭrangelâ manuscripts of the same period. Nestorian vowels are sparingly used [ca. 600]… [but] much more numerous in a text… copied in the third quarter of the eighth century.”62 There are no examples in the Turfan corpus of the more distinctive “Nestorian” or East Syriac form of Syriac, not surprising, since it only superseded the “Nestorian Esṭrangelâ” style in the Middle East in the thirteenth century63 and may not have reached Turfan until the final days of the Christian community there, probably sometime in

the fourteenth century. However, there are a few places where letters resemble the Serta style of Syriac. This is not unheard of, since, as Hatch notes, both Estrangela and Serta forms of the following letters can be found in “Nestorian” texts: aleph, daleth, he, waw, mim, semkath, rish and taw.64 Indeed, dual forms of all of these occur in the Turfan corpus, with the exception of daleth and rish, where we only find the Serta forms. In the vast majority of cases, he also appears in the closed Serta form, but occasionally the open Estrangela form is used (e.g. MIK III 110) [Fig. 9]. Final semkath in names or Greek loan-words often has a vertical tail (e.g. SyrHT 78). In contrast to the above examples of dual usage of both Estrangela and Serta forms in “Nestorian” texts, Hatch asserts that such texts only use the Estrangela forms of final kaph, final mim, qaph and shin, and the Serta form of final nun.65 Indeed, the Christian texts from Turfan only use the Estrangela forms of final mim, qaph and shin. However, we find both forms of final kaph and final nun. Of particular interest in these texts is the formation of two letters: lamad, the top of which often ends in a “bulb” or angles either forward or back, forming a hook; and pe in some Syriac texts, which seems to have been influenced by the adapted pe used for the sound /f/ in Sogdian texts written in Syriac script. Also distinctive, and indicative of the role that Uighur-speakers played in copying Syriac manuscripts, is the (presumably unintentional) substitution of the Uighur letter mīm for the Syriac letter ‫ ܡ‬in the word ‫ܡܫܒܚܝܢܢ‬ in SyrHT 204 [Fig. 10].

PUNCTUATION AND VOCALIZATION The punctuation used in the Christian texts from Turfan ranges from single dots (black or red) through double horizontal or double vertical dots (all black or all red), triple horizontal dots (all black or all red), triple

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vertical dots (black-red-black or red-blackred) and triple diagonal black dots, to quadruple dots, either black-red-black or redblack-red;66 the latter two options are frequently used to flank headings in the text or marginalia and in some cases the red dots are elongated into “flames,” usually to flank marginalia, evident in three different Ḥudras: Ḥudra J (e.g. SyrHT 31), Ḥudra F (e.g. SyrHT 327) and Ḥudra L (e.g. SyrHT 149) [Fig. 11]. More complex versions of quadruple dots, sometimes to flank marginalia, are evident in the following fragments: SyrHT 47, SyrHT 186, SyrHT 256 and SyrHT 298. As noted above, East Syriac pointing is used to mark vocalization on many texts. The following points are found in the texts (here following the common names used to designate East Syriac vowel signs): ptaḥa ݃ = ā; zlama pšiqa (‫)ܒ‬ (‫)ܒ‬ ܼ ܿ = a; zqapa (‫ ܵܒ‬or ‫)ܒ‬ ܸ = e; zlama qašya (‫)ܒ‬ ܹ = ē; assaqa (‫ = )ܝ ݄ـ‬i, ē (or a vowel in between); ḥbaṣa (‫)ܝـ‬ ݂ = ī; ܿ = o and alaṣa or rbaṣa (‫ = )ܘ‬u. Of rwaḥa (‫)ܘ‬ ܼ these, the markings for zlama pšiqa (e) and zlama qašya (ē) seem to be particularly prominent.67 However, the frequency of vocalization requires more study to see if this might give clues to possible pronunciation issues for the non-Syriac speakers using these texts. Were there some vowels which required specific notation to ensure proper pronunciation by those reading the texts or were scribes merely copying the vowel signs found in their manuscript exemplars? Two texts that feature frequent examples of vocalization are SyrHT 45 & 46, the Syriac Legend of Mar Barshabba [Fig. 12], and SyrHT 72, the aforementioned booklet containing nine folios from Psalter C.

OTHER EAST SYRIAC POINTING There are no instances of quššaya or rukkaka, but seyame is commonly used, although it is frequently missing in places where it ought to have been included.

However, this is not uncommon in Syriac manuscripts, so it may not be an indication of anything other than scribal sloppiness. Curiously, there are several instances of seyame being used in non-plural words, ̈ ̈ ̈ often names (e.g. ‫ܓܝܘܪܓܝܤ‬, ‫ܝܘܠܝܛܐ‬, ‫ܝܫܘܥ‬, ̈ ‫ܡܨ̈ܪܝܢ‬, ‫)ܨܝܕܢ‬. Its occurrence in the name ̈ ‫ܝܘܠܝܛܐ‬, Julitta, may be an example of Sogdian language interference in Syriac scribal techniques, since the Sogdian Christian manuscripts often use seyame to indicate the vowel -ē on a final aleph in a non-plural word (obviously originating in the fact that the most common Syriac plural form involved the final aleph taking the vowel -ē). However, the practice seems to have been generalized in the names listed above (George, Julitta, Jesus, Egypt, Sidon) beyond just words with a final aleph, and in some of these words we would expect the vowel -i, not -ē (e.g. ‫ ܝܫܘ̈ܥ‬seems to indicate the West Syriac pronunciation Yešu‘, not the East Syriac Išo‘). As with the standard use of seyame to mark plurals, this Sogdian use of the sign to indicate vocalization does not require its placement on any specific letter.68 Quite common is the use of a line above letters to indicate abbreviations, such as ̄ ̄ ‫ܬܫܒܘ‬ for ‫ ܐܝ̄ ;ܬܫܒܘܚܬܐ‬for ‫ ܐܝܩܪܐ‬and ‫ܬܘ‬ for ‫( ܬܘܕܝܬܐ‬e.g. SyrHT 66 and SyrHT 221).69 Other forms of pointing are commonly found, including the East Syriac forms of certain pronouns (e.g. ‫ܗܘ‬, ܸ ‫ )ܗ ܸܝ‬and forms of the verb ‫( ܗܘܐ‬e.g. ‫ܗܘܐ‬, ܸ ‫ܗܘܘ‬, ܸ ‫ܗܘܝ‬, ܸ ‫ܗܘܬ‬, ‫ܗܘܝܬ‬, ‫ܢܗܘܐ‬, ‫ܬܗܘܐ‬, ‫)ܐܢܗܘ‬ and diaܸ ܸ ܸ ܸ ܸ critics used to differentiate homographs (e.g. ‫ܥܘܐܠ‬ ̇ , ‘awla, “wicked” vs. ‫ܥܘܐܠ‬ ̣ , ‘ula, “embryo, fetus”), or the plural forms of ݅ ݅ ݅ ݅ [‫)]ܢ‬. homographs (‫;ܥܘܐܠ‬ ‫ܥܒܕܐ‬, ‫ܐܢܝܢ‬, ‫ܦܫܝ‬ Examples can be seen on SyrHT 72, fol. 1, 4 and 6 [Fig. 3]. RUBRICS AND MARGINALIA Rubrics occur on most fragments, characteristically to indicate a heading or the be-

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ginning of a new section of the text. In the Psalters, rubrics are often used for one or more of the Psalm numbers, the Psalm headings or the canons of Mar Aba (again, SyrHT 72 provides good examples of these rubrics) [Fig. 3]. In lectionaries, rubrics are used to indicate the day and the biblical book from which the reading is taken; in liturgical texts, they are used to mark sections of the service or to give instructions to the priest, especially in Syriac liturgical texts with the instructions in Sogdian. An interesting counterexample, where red ink predominates, is M 7340, a folio from the New Persian pharmacological text in Syriac script mentioned above. Marginalia are used to alert the reader to new sections in the text, particularly in the biblical or liturgical texts. Thus, they may duplicate in the margin rubric headings in the text intended to help the priest or deacon find his place. These marginalia are usually written vertically in black ink, most often with quadruple dots flanking each side (black-red-black or red-blackred). As noted above, sometimes the red dots on the sides are elongated into “flames.” An example in a biblical text is SyrHT 123, containing John 3:21-36 from Gospel A, where ‫ ܀܀ܓ܀܀‬in the outer margin indicates the beginning of ‫( ܨܚܚܐ‬section) 3 of the Gospel of John in the Peshitta text (these biblical sections do not correspond to the chapter divisions familiar to most Western readers). For the use of marginalia in Psalters, see SyrHT 72, fol. 3 and 5. Several Sogdian Christian texts, including n24 (a Sogdian translation in Syriac script of Dadisho‘ Qaṭraya’s Commentary on the Fifteenth Homily of Abba Isaiah), have Syriac numerals in the margin corresponding to Sogdian ordinal numbers in rubric in the text. In some Sogdian texts, the marginalia mixes Sogdian (in Syriac script) and Syriac, such as n489, containing excerpts from the Apophthegmata Patrum,

where a marginal note reads ‫܀ ܨܢ ܡܡܠܐܠ‬ ̈ , “From [Sogdian cn]70 ‘The Dis‫ܕܣܒܐ ܀‬ course of the Old Men.’”71 QUIRES AND VERSO MARKS Although no complete codices survive amongst the Christian texts from Turfan, evidence of the quires of which they were composed can be seen in a few folios from the extant remnants of booklets with stitching thread intact (particularly noticeable in the two Psalter booklets SyrHT 71 and SyrHT 72) [Fig. 3]. On other folios, particularly bifolia, stitching holes are plainly visible (e.g. SyrHT 78, SyrHT 80, SyrHT 94, SyrHT 95) [Fig. 5]. Quires in Syriac manuscripts were generally formed from four or five sheets, resulting in eight or ten leaves/folios after they were folded, with quire numbers placed at the bottom of the page, usually at the end of each quire, but occasionally at both the beginning and end of a quire.72 Based on his work on the Sogdian Christian manuscript C2 (now designated E27), Sims-Williams has calculated that, where there are enough extant folios to reach a conclusion, the quires at Turfan typically consisted of five sheets (ten leaves/folios). However, it seems that the system of quire marks was different from that generally used for Syriac manuscripts, a fact first observed by Werner Sundermann and later clarified by Sims-Williams: “the first page of the MS was not numbered, the letter ‫ ܐ‬being placed on the last page of the first quire and the first page of the second … ‫ ܒ‬on the last page of the second and the first of the third quire … ‫ ܓ‬on the last page of the third quire and the first page of the fourth …”73 As both Sundermann and SimsWilliams noted, this arrangement can be seen on two adjacent folios from Psalter C—SyrHT 72, fol. 4v and 5r—both of which are marked with ‫ ܀ܦ܀‬in the lower right and lower left corners. Sims-Williams

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comments that these quire marks on Psalter C are “striking confirmation of the existence of such a system of numbering quires at the Bulayïq scriptorium… to order the quires correctly the binder merely had to match pairs of identical symbols. Since the monks of Bulayïq may not all have been literate in Syriac, the system suggested might therefore have had a real advantage over the usual method, which required that the binder be acquainted with the order of the Syriac alphabet.”74 Quire marks (or at least the punctuation on either side) are visible elsewhere on Psalter C,75 as well as a number of other Syriac and Sogdian texts [Fig. 13].76 Several folios from liturgical texts have blank sides, presumably the beginning or end of quires, upon which additional notes have been written, sometimes in Syriac, but often in Sogdian or Uighur. Examples can be found on select folios from Ḥudra D (MIK III 45) and Ḥudra H (SyrHT 122, SyrHT 124, SyrHT 287).77 Verso marks are also evident on many of the Christian fragments from Turfan. One mark in particular occurs quite commonly on the verso side of many (but not all) fragments from certain Syriac texts. It appears to be a cross followed by the word ‫ܚܝܐ‬, “living, alive, life-giving” (perhaps to indicate “the life-giving cross”?) and is found in the following remnants of manuscripts (sample folios in parentheses): Lectionary A (SyrHT 48 & 49), Psalter G (SyrHT 96), Ḥudra F (SyrHT 82, SyrHT 107, SyrHT 150, SyrHT 227), Ḥudra J (e.g. SyrHT 75), Psalter N (SyrHT 181), Service book E12 (SyrHT 88) and the Legend of Mar Barshabba (SyrHT 45 & 46). It also occurs on some Sogdian Christian fragments in Syriac script, specifically the lectionary E5 (n153, n158, n162, n165) [Fig. 14]. MUSICAL RECITATION ACCENTS & OTHER DISTINGUISHING MARKS Recitation accents designed to indicate the melody for chanting the text are found on

nearly thirty fragments, most from lectionaries, whether Syriac, Syriac-Sogdian or Sogdian (all in Syriac script). These accents were discussed as early as 1919 by Egon Wellesz.78 They can be seen on folios and fragments originally belonging to Syriac Lectionaries A and B (e.g. SyrHT 48 & 49, SyrHT 241), Syriac-Sogdian Lectionaries E1, E2, E3, E4 and E6 (e.g. n190, n201, n212) and Sogdian lectionary E5 (n153) [Fig. 15]. A number of other marks were employed by the Turfan scribes, including: 1) a black X at the end of lines (e.g. SyrHT 1); 2) a black St. Andrew’s cross with four red dots (e.g. SyrHT 35); 3) line fillers (e.g. SyrHT 62, n122); 4) floral designs or embellishments (e.g. SyrHT 80, SyrHT 223, SyrHT 259); and 5) a verso mark consisting of three dots (representing the Trinity?) (SyrHT 202) [Fig. 16]. SCRIBAL ERRORS AND CORRECTIONS There are many instances in the Christian fragments from Turfan of errors that have been subsequently crossed out and corrected, with corrections written either above the line or in the margin. Typical examples can be seen on the following fragments: SyrHT 28, SyrHT 42, SyrHT 43, SyrHT 61, SyrHT 65, SyrHT 75 and SyrHT 82. Scribal errors and corrections are particularly interesting (and even amusing, given the content) in the Christian-Jewish Dialogue (SyrHT 94). Rubrics indicate when the Jew and Christian are speaking, but the original scribe has mixed the two up in places—side (a), right, ll. 15-16 and side (a), left, l. 24 to side (b), right, l. 1— resulting in the Christian asking the questions and the Jew giving the answers. A subsequent reader has crossed out ‫ܟܪܣܛܝܢܐ‬ and replaced it with ‫( ܝܗܘܕܝܐ‬or vice versa) wherever the original scribe got confused about who had the questions and who had the answers! [Fig. 17].

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A comparison of the extant Psalters with the Peshitta text has turned up a host of uncorrected spelling errors that clearly confirm the scribes were not native Syriac speakers (depending on the date of these texts, they were either Sogdian or Uighur speakers). Three examples from SyrHT 91 and SyrHT 92, folios belonging to Psalter F, will serve to make the point: 1) ‫ܒܒܪܬܐ‬ (b- barta, “with a daughter/egg”) instead of ‫( ܒܒܪܕܐ‬b-barda, “with hail”); 2) ‫ܠܬܗܘܡܐ‬ (lathuma, “to the abyss”) instead of ‫( ܠܬܚܘܡܐ‬latḥuma, “to the border”); 3) ‫( ܚܟܡܬܐ‬ḥekmta, “wisdom”) instead of ‫( ܚܡܬܐ‬ḥemta, “anger, wrath”). In many cases, these errors suggest that, when some scribes were copying the exemplars, they relied as much on their memorized knowledge of a frequently recited text as they did on careful reading of the text being copied. Given that the Psalter in particular was recited in monastic communities many times throughout the year, it is not surprising that scribes would have such texts memorized and, unless they were welltrained, that they could easily make spelling errors based on phonologicallysimilar letters (e.g. ‫ ܕ‬and ‫ ܬ‬or ‫ ܚ‬and ‫ܗ‬, both examples of sounds typically confused in writing by Uighur speakers) or orthographically-similar words (e.g. ‫ ܚܡܬܐ‬and ‫)ܚܟܡܬܐ‬.79 The question of whether or not these spelling errors can answer the question of where the texts were copied—in Turfan itself, or possibly in Sogdiana (modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan)— will require more research to answer.

ILLUSTRATIONS There are very few illustrations in the Christian texts from Turfan, particularly amongst the Syriac material. Crosses are visible on SyrHT 99, a prayer-amulet, and on SyrHT 152, a very small unidentified fragment which may also be a prayer-

amulet. Both are typical East Syriac crosses, ending in “pearls” on the tips. The former, more crudely drawn, is mounted on what appears to be a lotus flower flanked by clouds, iconography reminiscent of the cross at the top of the Xi’an stele (traditionally referred to as the “Nestorian Monument”), as well as some of the Mongolera Christian gravestones found in Quanzhou, China (medieval Zaytun).80 The cross on SyrHT 152 is evidence of more careful penmanship, with each arm of the cross divided in half and additional pearls drawn in the quadrants between the four arms [Fig. 18]. Perhaps the most interesting illustration in the Syriac material is contained in SyrHT 386, a single folio with fold-lines (suggesting it may have been used as an amulet?) on which Psalm 148:1-3 is written in reverse order, with the first line at the bottom and subsequent lines written above it (including the word ‫“ ̈ܡܐܠܟܘܗܝ‬his angels,” which is divided between two lines, starting on l. 4 and ending on l. 3).81 Around a pre-existing hole in the paper, someone has drawn on the reverse side a face with hair on top and what appear to be the upper and lower ear lobes on each side (there are no facial features of course, since this is where the lacuna is located). When the folio is folded over along the existing fold lines, the hole frames two letters upside-down (‫ )ܘܗ‬which are suggestive of an eye and a nose.82 A more developed illustration can be found on U 5179, a fragment in Uighur script mentioning the Apostle Matthew which has an Uighur face complete with a hat and beard (as well as ears that look very similar to those on SyrHT 386) drawn on one side [Fig. 19].

COLOPHONS AND SCRIBAL HANDS There are, unfortunately, almost no colophons in the Christian texts from Turfan,

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certainly none that give clear Seleucid dates, as noted above.83 The only places in which scribes identify themselves are in marginal notes and in most cases these are in different hands from those that wrote the manuscripts in question, so it is unclear if they were indeed scribes or just bored monks who decided to write down something for posterity. Interestingly, there are at least two fragments on which “John the sinner” has added a marginal note. On the verso of U 5545 (the recto contains an Uighur text in Uighur script), along with four partially illegible lines in Syriac script (seemingly in a combination of Syriac and Sogdian), we read at right angles to the above ‫ܝܘܚܢܢ ܚܛܝܐ ܡܠܬܐ )؟( ܟܬܒܬ‬, “John, the sinner—I wrote the word/sentence (?).” Meanwhile, on SyrHT 287, the originally blank verso side of a folio from Ḥudra H (perhaps the end of a quire), is written, first in Syriac, ‫ ܥܠܝ‬.‫]ܝܘܚܢܢ[ ܚܛܝܐ ܨܠܘ‬, and then Syriac transliterated into Uighur, ywxn x[ty]’ sl’w ’ly, “John, the sinner—pray for me.”84 There are also two texts showing evidence of interaction between Syriac and Uighur which have colophons or colophonlike portions. As noted above, SyrHT 27, one of the folios of the Syriac Psalter in Uighur script, contains three lines in Uighur (not Syriac) as follows: bo nišan m(ä)niŋ ol, “This nišan [Persian] is mine”; bo lači mäniŋ ol, “This lači [Tibetan] is mine”; bo tamga mäniŋ ol, “This tamga [Turkic] is mine.” Beside each line is an individual’s personal mark (the nišan, lači, and tamga referred to), although it is unclear who the individual in question is. No date is connected with the extant folios of this text.85 The second text of interest is the small bilingual Syriac-Uighur prayer booklet U 338; as noted above, it contains a colophon mentioning the “year of the Cow/Ox, the first month, on the twentythird (day),” but without a Seleucid date, it

is impossible to know which of the years of the Cow/Ox is being referred to.86 There are a number of very distinctive scribal hands found amongst the Christian fragments from Turfan. One of the most appealing hands is found in the reconstructed Sogdian Christian manuscript E24 (in Syriac script), containing three hagiographical texts: the Legend of the Discovery of the Cross by Helena (n181, n179, n188, n184, n185, n183), the Martyrdom of Sergius and Bacchus (n182) and the Legend of Mar Barshabba (n180, n186, MIK III 44, n189)87 [Fig. 20]. Another singular hand is that of Ḥudra C (SyrHT 65, SyrHT 187), which contains instances of the letter ‫ ܦ‬possibly influenced by the Syro-Sogdian letter for /f/, as noted above. One of the most elegant scribal hands is that found in Ḥudra D, particularly MIK III 45, also discussed above [Fig. 2]. Two other Syriac scribal hands that stand out are those found in the Legend of Barshabba in Syriac, extant in only one double folio (SyrHT 45 & 46) [Fig. 12], and in the single extant folio of Psalter G (SyrHT 96) [Fig. 21]. An important question that will take some in-depth comparison of the fragments to answer concerns which scribal hands were involved in writing manuscripts in two or more of the three primary languages used in the Turfan Christian community (namely Syriac, Sogdian and Uighur). Certainly, there are similarities among various scribal hands that need to be analyzed across the three languages. In addition to texts that are clearly the work of Sogdian or Uighur scribes (such as bilingual texts or those with spelling errors that help to identify the mother tongue of the scribe), identifying Syriac texts that were written by scribes who also copied or wrote Sogdian or Uighur texts would help to further narrow down the possible provenance of the Syriac texts in question. Those copied by Uighur scribes would almost certainly have

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been written in Turfan or one of the other communities along the northern branch of the Silk Road where Uighur was spoken, while those copied by Sogdian scribes could potentially have been written anywhere that Sogdian Christian communities were found along the Silk Road, from Sogdiana to China proper. Syriac texts that betray no evidence of a non-Syriac speaker/writer, and which were not demonstrably written by scribes who also wrote Sogdian or Uighur Christian texts, will require more sleuthing to determine provenance. This may prove difficult, given the discussion above about whether or not writing styles that are similar to dated Syriac hands are an indication of a common date of origin or the copying of earlier manuscripts that were perhaps a century or more out of date, in terms of scribal practice. CONCLUSION The Christian manuscript fragments from Turfan have much to teach us about the status of Christianity in a monastic outpost of the Church of the East, far from the Syriac-speaking heartland in the Middle East. Surrounded by a very different culture than that of their co-religionists to the west, they managed to retain many of the distinctive features of Syriac scribal practice, producing manuscripts for use in ecclesiastical and other settings. Fragmentary as they are now, the codices that Sogdian and Uighur-

speaking monks produced include probably the earliest Syriac texts on paper, including liturgical texts that pre-date textual reforms responsible for the current form of the Ḥudra and the Ṭaksa. For scholars interested in comparing representative texts of the various genres found at Turfan with those found elsewhere in the Syriac-speaking world, there is abundant material awaiting analysis. Many of the questions stirred up by the Turfan material are as yet not fully answered: How much of the Christian material was written in Turfan and how much was written elsewhere, whether in Central Asia or the Middle East? Can palaeographical analysis provide more definitive dating for any of the texts? What can various clues, especially vocalization and spelling errors, tell us about the native language(s) of the scribes copying these texts and how they pronounced Syriac? What do the different scribal hands involved tell us about the development of Syriac scribal technique outside the heartland of the Church of the East, including the evolution of the Estrangela script? Which signs used by the Turfan scribes were innovations or preserved scribal practices lost elsewhere? And, perhaps most important of all, what insights can these texts give us into the daily life of members of the monastic community, as well as other Christians living in Turfan?

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NOTES 1

I am particularly grateful to the following scholars for information and suggestions which helped to improve this article: Renate Nöller (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und prüfung), Simone Raschmann (Turfanforschung, Berlin), Christiane Reck (Turfanforschung), Nicholas Sims-Williams (SOAS, London) and Peter Zieme (Turfanforschung). All images in this article are copyright Depositum der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissen-schaften in der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung. Low resolution images of the Syriac fragments are available on the website of the International Dunhuang Project: http://idp.bl.uk/ (type SyrHT in the Search box). Other than the MIK fragments, images of the fragments in the other signature numbering systems mentioned in this article (M, n, So and U) are available on the Digitales Turfan-Archiv section of the Turfanforschung website: http:// www.bbaw.de/bbaw/Forschung/Forschungsproj ekte/turfanforschung/de/DigitalesTurfanArchiv. The (n) fragments have also recently been added to the German IDP website: http://idp. bbaw.de/. Select Erweiterte Suche on the left side menu and then under 1. Pressmark angeben, select ist identisch mit and enter the exact number (e.g. n 24, with the space) to find the image (my thanks to Nicholas SimsWilliams for this information). 2 Chinese names are given in Pinyin, occasionally followed in parentheses by the former Wade-Giles system of transliteration, where this is commonly used in secondary literature. For Pinyin, note the following rough pronunciation equivalents in English: c = “ts,” q = “ch,” x = “sh,” z = “dz,” zh = “j” or “ch.” 3 For a helpful map and general information on the Turfan Collection, see the booklet Turfan Studies, available at: http:// www. bbaw.de/bbaw/Forschung/Forschungsprojekte/ turfanforschung/en/turfanstudies. 4 On the history of Turfan, see G. Zhang and R. Xinjiang, “A Concise History of the Turfan Oasis and Its Exploration,” Asia Major, Third Series 11:2 (1998), 13-36. 5 On the role of the Sogdian language in Turfan, see N. Sims-Williams, “Sogdian and

Turkish Christians in the Turfan and Tun-huang Manuscripts,” in Turfan and Tun-huang, the Texts: Encounter of Civilizations on the Silk Route, Orientalia Venetiana IV, ed. Alfredo Cadonna (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1992), 43-61. 6 See M. Dickens and P. Zieme, “SyroUigurica I: A Syriac Psalter in Uyghur Script from Turfan,” in Scripts Beyond Borders. A Survey of Allographic Traditions in the EuroMediterranean World, ed. J. den Heijer, A. B. Schmidt and T. Pataridze (Leuven: Peeters, forthcoming). 7 See L. Tang, “A Preliminary Study on the Jingjiao Inscription of Luoyang: Text Analysis, Commentary and English Translation,” in Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia, Orientalia – Patristica – Oecumenica 1, ed. Dietmar W. Winkler & Li Tang (Wien: LIT Verlag, 2009), 109-32. 8 On the history of these expeditions in Central Asia and the resultant collections in museums around the world, see http:// idp.bl.uk/pages/collections.a4d. On the Turfan expeditions in particular, see A. von Le Coq, Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan: an Account of the Activities and Adventures of the Second and Third German Turfan Expeditions, tr. Anna Barwell (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1928). 9 These Christian fragments have been catalogued by The Christian Library at Turfan research project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), based in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and led by Dr. Erica C. D. Hunter, principal investigator. The Syriac fragments are catalogued in E.C.D. Hunter and M. Dickens, Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 5,2. Syrische Handschriften. Teil 2: Texte der Berliner Turfansammlung. Syriac Texts from the Berlin Turfan Collection (Stuttgart: VOHD, forthcoming). The Sogdian and New Persian fragments in Syriac script are catalogued in N. Sims-Williams, Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, 18,4: Mitteliranische Handschriften, Teil 4: Iranian Manuscripts in Syriac Script in the Berlin Turfan Collection (Stuttgart: VOHD, 2012).

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The Sogdian script fragments are included in C. Reck, Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, 18,3: Mitteliranische Handschriften, Teil 3: Berliner Turfanfragmente christlichen Inhalts und Varia in soghdischer Schrift (Stuttgart: VOHD, forthcoming) and the Uighur script fragments in S. Raschmann, Verzeichnis der Orien-talischen Handschriften in Deutschland, 13,22: Alttürkische Handschriften, Teil 14: Dokumente, Teil 2 (Stuttgart: VOHD, 2009). The full texts and translations of the Uighur fragments in Syriac script and Uighur script are given in P. Zieme, Altuigurische Texte der Kirche des Ostens aus Zentralasien (forthcoming). Summary articles on the Christian fragments in Sogdian and Uighur script have been published by C. Reck, “A Survey of the Christian Sogdian Fragments in Sogdian Script in the Berlin Turfan Collection,” in Controverses des chrétiens dans l’Iran sassanide, Studia Iranica Cahier 36, ed. Christelle Jullien (Paris, 2008), 191-205 and S. Raschmann, “Traces of Christian communities in the Old Turkish documents,” in Studies in Turkic philology: Festschrift in honour of the 80th birthday of Professor Geng Shimin = 突厥语文学研究— 耿世民教授80 华诞纪念文集, ed. Dingjing Zhang and Abdurishid Yakup (Beijing: Minzu University Press, 2009), 408-25. On Sogdian Christian literature in general, see also the excellent survey in N. Sims-Williams, “Christian Literature in Middle Iranian Languages,” in The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, History of Persian Literature XVII, ed. Ronald E. Emmerick and Maria Macuch (London: I. B. Tauris, 2009), 266-87. 10 See M. Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts from Turfan,” Journal of the CSSS 9 (2009) 22-42. 11 For further general information on the Christian fragments in the Turfan Collection, see the Introductions to Hunter and Dickens, VOHD 5,2 and Sims-Williams, VOHD 18,4. 12 Only a sample of the many articles written on these fragments is included in the footnotes below. For complete bibliographies of the relevant literature, see the aforementioned catalogues. 13 See Dickens and Zieme, “Syro-Uigurica I.” 14 On the Psalters and other biblical fragments from Turfan, see M. Dickens, “The Im-

portance of the Psalter at Turfan,” in From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores. Studies in East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia, Orientalia – Patristica – Oecumenica 2, ed. Li Tang and Dietmar W. Winkler (Wien: LIT Verlag, 2013), 357-80 and M. Dickens, “Biblical Fragments from the Christian Library of Turfan, an Eastern Outpost of the Antiochian Tradition,” in Perspectives on the Antiochian School of Biblical Exegesis, ed. Vahan Hovhanessian (Bern: Peter Lang, forth-coming). 15 For an example, see S.P. Brock, and N. Sims-Williams, “An early fragment from the East Syriac baptismal service from Turfan,” OCP 77 (2011) 81-92. 16 For an example of a Ḥudra from Turfan, with specific reference to the date of the current Ḥudra text, see E.C.D. Hunter, “The Christian Library from Turfan: SyrHT 41-42-43 an early exemplar of the Hudrā,” Hugoye 15:1 (2012), 293-343, especially 302. 17 See N. Sims-Williams, “A Sogdian Version of the «Gloria in Excelsis Deo»,” in Au Carrefours des Religions: Mélanges offerts à Philippe Gignoux, Res Orientales VII, ed. Rika Gyselen (Bures-sur-Yvette: Groupe pour l’Étude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient, 1995), 257-62. 18 See P. Zieme, “Das nestorianische Glaubensbekenntnis in einem alttürkischen Fragment aus Bulayiq,” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher, N.F. Vol. 15 (1997/1998) 173-80. 19 See F.W.K. Müller, “Soghdische Texte I,” Abhandlungen der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Jahrgang 1912. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, II (1913), 84-88; N. Sims-Williams, “A Christian Sogdian hymn in Sogdian script,” in Grigory BongardLevin Memorial Volume, forthcoming. 20 See M. Dickens and N. Sims-Williams, “Christian Calendrical Fragments from Turfan,” in Living the Lunar Calendar, ed. Jonathan Ben-Dov, Wayne Horowitz, and John M. Steele (Oxford and Oakville: Oxbow Books, 2012), 269-96. 21 See E.C.D. Hunter, “Syriac, Sogdian and Old Uyghur manuscripts from Bulayïq,” in The History behind the Languages. Essays of Turfan Forum on Old Languages of the Silk Road, ed. Xinjiang Tulufanxue yanjiuyuan (新疆吐鲁番学研究院). Academia Turfanica,

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Yuyan beihou de lishi: xiyu gudian yuyanxue gaofeng luntan lunwenji (语言背后的历史 － 西域古典语言学高峰论坛论文集) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe = 上海古籍出版, 2012), 85-87 and E.C.D. Hunter, “Traversing time and location. A prayer-amulet of Mar Tamsis from Turfan,” in From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores. Studies in East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia, Orientalia – Patristica – Oecumenica 2, ed. Li Tang and Dietmar W. Winkler (Wien: LIT Verlag, 2013), 25-41. 22 See P. Zieme, “Zu den nestorianischtürkischen Turfantexten,” in Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur der altaischen Völker: Protokollband der XII Tagung der Permanent International Altaistic Conference 1969 in Berlin, Schriften zur Geschichte und Kultur des alten Orients 5, ed. Georg Hazai and Peter Zieme (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1974), 66264; P. Zieme, “Notes on a bilingual prayer book from Bulayık,” in Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia, Orientalia – Patristica – Oecumenica 1, ed. Dietmar W. Winkler and Li Tang (Wien: LIT Verlag, 2009), 167-80; M. Dickens, “Syro-Uigurica II: Syriac Passages in U 338 from Turfan,” Hugoye 16: 2 (2013) 93-116. 23 See P. Zieme, “Türkische Zuckungsbücher,” in Scripta Ottomanica et Res Altaicae. Festschrift Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, Veröffentlichungen der Societas Uralo-Altaica 56, ed. Ingeborg Hauenschild, Claus Schönig and Peter Zieme (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002), 379-95; W. Bang, “Türkische Bruchstücke einer nestorianischen Georg-passion,” Muséon 39 (1926), 53-64. 24 See F.W.K. Müller, and W. Lentz, “Soghdische Texte II,” Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1934), 504-607, 559-564 (Syriac original), 522-528 (Sogdian translation). See also N. Sims-Williams, “Baršabbā,” in Encyclopaedia Iranica 3 (1988 [1989]), 823. 25 See M. Maróth, “Eine unbekannte Version der Georgios-Legende aus Turfan,” Altorientalische Forschungen 18 (1991), 86108 (Syriac); O. Hansen, “Berliner soghdische Texte I: Bruchstücke einer soghdischen Version der Georgspassion (C1),” Abhandlungen der

Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 10 (1941), 138 (Sogdian); Bang, “Türkische Georgpassion,” 64-75 (Uighur). 26 See Müller and Lentz, “Soghdische Texte II,” 520-522; N. Sims-Williams, “Christian Sogdian Texts from the Nachlass of Olaf Hansen I: Fragments of the Life of Serapion,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 58 (1995), 50-68; N. Sims-Williams, “An early source for the Life of John of Dailam. Reconstructing the Sogdian version,” in Name-ye Iran-e Bastan, forthcoming. 27 See P. Zieme, “Paulus und Thekla in der türkischen Überlieferung,” Apocrypha: International Journal of Apocryphal Literatures 13 (2002), 53-62; F.W.K. Müller, “Uigurica I,” Abhandlungen der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. PhilosophischHistorische Klasse II (1908), 4-10. 28 Many examples in N. Sims-Williams, The Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, Berliner Turfantexte XII (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1985). 29 See M. Maróth, “Ein syrischer Dialog zwischen einem Juden und Christen aus Turfan,” Christian Texts from Turfan, ed. Erica C. D. Hunter, forthcoming. 30 See N. Sims-Williams, “A Christian Sogdian polemic against the Manichaeans,” in Religious themes and texts of pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia, Beiträge zur Iranistik 24, ed. Carlo G. Cereti, Mauro Maggi & Elio Provasi (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2003), 399-408. 31 See M. Maróth, “Ein Brief aus Turfan,” Altorientalische Forschungen 12 (1985), 283-87; M. Maróth, “Ein Fragment eines syrischen pharmazeutischen Rezeptbuches,” Altorientalische Forschungen 11 (1984) 115-25. 32 See N. Sims-Williams, “Early New Persian in Syriac Script: Two Texts from Turfan,” BSOAS 74:3 (2011) 353-74; N. Sims-Williams, “Medical texts from Turfan in Syriac and New Persian,” in The History behind the Languages. Essays of Turfan Forum on Old Languages of the Silk Road Xinjiang Tulufanxue yanjiuyuan 新疆吐鲁番学研究院, ed. Academia Turfanica, Yuyan beihou de lishi: xiyu gudian yuyanxue gaofeng luntan lunwenji 语言背后的历史－西域古典语言学高峰论

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坛论文集 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe = 上海古籍出版社, 2012), 12-19. 33 To be published by Nicholas SimsWilliams. 34 See W. Sundermann, “Der Schüler fragt den Lehrer: Eine Sammlung biblischer Rätsel in soghdischer Sprache,” in A Green Leaf: Papers in Honour of Professor Jes P. Asmussen, Acta Iranica 28, ed. Werner Sundermann, Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin and Faridun Vahman (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988), 173-86. 35 See P. Zieme, “Ein Hochzeitssegen uigurischer Christen,” in Scholia: Beiträge zur Turkologie und Zentralasienkunde, ed. Klaus Röhrborn and Horst Wilfrid Brands (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981), 221-32. 36 See examples in Raschmann, “Traces of Christian communities.” 37 See Maróth, “Ein Brief”; N. SimsWilliams, “A Greek-Sogdian Bilingual from Bulayïq,” in La Persia e Bisanzio, Atti dei Convegni Lincei 201 (Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei), 2004, 623-31; N. SimsWilliams, “A New Fragment of the Book of Psalms in Sogdian,” in Bibel, Byzanz und Christlicher Orient: Festschrift für Stephen Gerö zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. D. Bumazhnov, E. Grypeou, T.B. Sailors and A. Toepel (Leuven: Peeters, 2011), 461-66. On the larger question of the Melkite presence in Central Asia, see K. Parry, “Byzantine-Rite Christians (Melkites) in Central Asia in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages,” Modern Greek Studies, Australia and New Zealand 16 (2012), 91-108. 38 My thanks to Nicholas Sims-Williams for this information on Manichaean fragments (personal correspondence, July 7, 2013). 39 The joint project, which analyzed Chinese, Manichaean, Sanskrit, Syriac, Sogdian, Tocharian and Uighur manuscripts, is being conducted by Renate Nöller of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin and Agnieszka Helman-Wazny of the University of Hamburg, Asia Africa Institute. For details, see R. Nöller and A. Helman-Wazny, “The Materials of Turfan and Dunhuang Manuscripts: Analysis of Paper, Pigments and Dyes,” IDP News, No. 41 (Spring 2013), 6-7, available at http:// idp.bl.uk/downloads/newsletters/IDPNews41.

pdf, from which the quotations in this section of the article are taken. It is not yet clear to what extent the project findings can be generalized to all of the Turfan material. 40 See particularly U 3831 and U 3832 on the Turfanforschung website. 41 On writing materials, pens and inks in Syriac manuscript production, see W.H.P. Hatch, An Album of Dated Syriac Manuscripts (Boston: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1946), 3-11. 42 In accordance with the practice of the anonymous compiler of a type-written hand-list of the Syriac fragments from Turfan, Hunter and Dickens, VOHD 5,2 refers to individual Psalters, Lectionaries, Gospels, Ḥudras and Ṭaksas by capital letters, e.g. Psalter E, Lectionary A, Ḥudra C and so on. For a more indepth explanation, see the Introduction to this catalogue. The transcription and translation of Ḥudra D, with a particular focus on MIK III 45, is the focus of another AHRC project currently being led by Dr. Erica C. D. Hunter. 43 Reconstructed manuscripts beginning with a capital E refer to the cataloguing scheme in Sims-Williams, VOHD 18,4. 44 On columns in Syriac manuscripts, see Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 13-14. 45 See Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts,” 30-32. 46 On rulings in Syriac manuscripts, see Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 14-17. 47 Images of all the calendrical fragments can be found in Dickens and Sims-Williams, “Christian Calendrical Fragments.” 48 See the footnote above on these two texts found in MIK III 59. On the word khatun, see G. Clauson, An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), 602. An image of this text can be found in Müller, “Soghdische Texte I,” Taf. II. 49 Sims-Williams, Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, 16 suggests that, in the case of the Christian Sogdian manuscript C2, “a narrow strip of paper [was] glued along the central fold of each double-sheet.” More study of the Syriac fragments is required to determine if this is the case with any of the Syriac fragments. 50 See Raschmann, “Traces of Christian communities,” 417-18. Images of SyrHT 83 are

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included in Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts,” Fig. 2-3. 51 The high value of paper along the Silk Road meant that it was not thrown out, but was recycled, not only so that texts in other languages could be written on blank sides, but also to be cut and used in clothing or footwear, on which see V. Hansen, The Silk Road: A New History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 3-4, 83-84, 94, 137, 151-152. 52 On the dating of Syriac manuscripts, see Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 18-20. 53 See Dickens, “Syro-Uigurica II,” 318. 54 See Dickens and Sims-Williams, “Christian Calendrical Fragments,” 277. 55 Maróth, “Ein Fragment,” 115. 56 Maróth, “Ein Brief,” 283. 57 E. Sachau, “Litteratur-Bruchstücke aus Chinesisch-Turkistan,” Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1905), 969; Hunter, “ Christian Library,” 335. 58 Maróth, “Eine unbekannte Version,” 86. 59 Sachau, “Litteratur-Bruchstücke,” 973; H. Engberding, “Fünf Blätter eines alten ostsyrischen Bitt- und Bußgottesdienstes aus Innerasien,” Ostkirchliche Studien 14 (1965) 123. 60 On this term, see Dickens, “SyroUigurica II,” 309, n. 16. 61 As Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 7 notes, “the earliest known example of a Syriac text written on paper” dates from 932. 62 Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 28. 63 Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 28. 64 Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 31-38. 65 Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 35, 3839. 66 On punctuation in Syriac manuscripts, see Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 42. 67 The vowel names and their phonetic values are taken from J. B. Segal, The Diacritical Point and the Accents in Syriac, London Oriental Series, Vol. 2 (London, New York & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1953, xi, 152-53, supplemented by T. Arayathinal, Aramaic (Syriac) Grammar, Vol. 1. Mannanam, India: St. Joseph's Press, 1959. [Reprint, Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2007], 7-8. It should be noted that the phonetic values of some of these diacritics have changed over time, particularly zlama pšiqa, assaqa and ḥbaṣa (all of which

designate various palatal vowels), as is made clear in Segal, Diacritical Point, 25-32. 68 I thank Nicholas Sims-Williams for this information about the Sogdian usage of seyame (personal correspondence, August 1, 2013). 69 See Brock and Sims-Williams, “Early fragment” for examples. For an image of SyrHT 66, see Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts,” Fig. 1. 70 In Christian Sogdian, the Syriac letter ‫ܨ‬ is transcribed as c and pronounced as /č/. 71 See Sims-Williams, Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, fol. 60. 72 On quires in Syriac manuscripts, see Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 22-24. 73 Sims-Williams, Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, 15-16 (with the Latin transliterations of the Syriac letters in the original here replaced with the letters in Syriac script), with reference to previous discussion in W. Sundermann, “Nachlese zu F. W. K. Müllers „Soghdischen Texten I“, 2. Teil,” Altorientalische Forschungen 3 (1975), 85-90. 74 Sims-Williams, Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, 15. 75 SyrHT 72, fol. 2r, 3r (not adjacent) and SyrHT 348. 76 Syriac examples include Psalter D (SyrHT 191), Lectionary B (SyrHT 300), Gospel B (SyrHT 325), Ḥudra F (SyrHT 81, SyrHT 85, SyrHT 145, SyrHT 231, SyrHT 327), Ḥudra O (SyrHT 156), Taska A (SyrHT 194, SyrHT 195) and a possible monastic profession (SyrHT 76). Christian Sogdian examples include E5, a Sogdian lectionary with Syriac rubrics (n154, n162, n160, n161) and four compilations of miscellaneous texts: E26 (n145, n104?, n114); E27, formerly C2 (n494, n489, n493, n36); E28 (n367, n257, n334) and E29 (n196). 77 See Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts,” Fig. 6. 78 E. Wellesz, “Miscellanea zur orientalischen Musikgeschichte. Die Lektionszeichen in den soghdischen Texten,” Zeitschrift für Musikwissenschaft, I (1919) 505-15. 79 Other examples of uncorrected spelling errors can be found in Dickens, “Importance of the Psalter,” 370-72. The same phenomenon is discussed in Dickens and Zieme, “SyroUigurica I.”

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On the latter, see S.N.C. Lieu et al, Medieval Christian and Manichaean Remains from Quanzhou (Zayton), Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum: Series Archaeologica et Iconographica II (Turnhout: Brepols, 2012). 81 The full text is given in Dickens, “Biblical Fragments.” 82 Determined by manipulating a doublesided photocopy of the image, not the actual fragment! 83 A good discussion on Syriac manuscript is

found in Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 1718. 84 See Dickens, “Multilingual Christian Manuscripts,” 32-33. As Hatch, Dated Syriac Manuscripts, 17 notes, the “deprecatory epithet” ‫ ܚܛܝܐ‬is commonly used by Syriac scribes. 85 For images of these Psalter fragments, see Dickens and Zieme, “Syro-Uigurica I.” 86 See Dickens, “Syro-Uigurica II,” 318. 87 All published in Müller and Lentz, “Soghdische Texte II.”

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Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 1: Wall paintings from Christian church in Turfan; Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin (Photo by Mark Dickens) Fig. 2: Folio from MIK III 45 (Ḥudra D)

Fig. 3: Folio from SyrHT 72 (Psalter C)

Fig. 4: MIK III 111 (Ḥudra Q) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 25

Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 6: Elongated final letters on SyrHT 90 (Psalter F)

Fig. 5: SyrHT 95 (Legend of St. George)

Fig. 7: SyrHT 3 (Chinese Daoist text on L, Syriac liturgical text on R) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 26

Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 9: Estrangelā letter formation on MIK III 110 (Psalter M)

Fig. 8: n348 (Sogdian prayer fragment used as insole)

Fig. 11:Elongated red dots flanking marginalia on SyrHT 31 (Ḥudra J)

Fig. 12: Vocalisation on SyrHT 45 Legend of Mar Barshabba)

Fig. 10: Distinctive formation of ‫ܠ‬ (SyrHT 76 & SyrHT 157), ‫( ܦ‬SyrHT 65) & Uighur mīm (SyrHT 204) Fig. 13: Quire marks on SyrHT 72 (Psalter C) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 27

Scribal Practices in the Turfan Christian Community _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 15: Recitation marks (large dots) on n201 (Syriac-Sogdian gospel lectionary)

Fig. 16: Various marks on SyrHT 227, SyrHT 80 & SyrHT 202

Fig. 14: Distinctive verso marks on SyrHT 38, SyrHT 61 & SyrHT 88

Fig. 17: Corrections on SyrHT 94 (Christian-Jewish Dialogue) Fig. 18: Cross on SyrHT 152

Fig. 20: Scribal hand on n181 (Legend of the Discovery of the Cross)

Fig. 19: Illustration on U 5179 (Uighur Christian fragment)

Fig. 21: Scribal hand on SyrHT 96 (Psalter G) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 28

______________________________________________________________________

SYRIAC AND GARŠŪNĪ MANUSCRIPTS PRODUCED IN ROME IN THE COLLECTION OF THE BIBLIOTECA MEDICEA LAURENZIANA, FLORENCE

PIER GIORGIO BORBONE UNIVERSITY OF PISA

S

everal Syriac and Garšūnī manuscripts in the collection of the Medicea Laurenziana Library of Florence were written in Rome during the 16th and 17th centuries. About thirty in number,1 these MSS represent a substantial part of the collection.2 Their production was motivated by private study interests or, more often, by large-scale cultural projects. Thus these manuscripts provide us with a fascinating picture of the intellectual world of 16th and 17th century Rome, where people from the East and Western orientalists met. Manuscripts of the same period, produced in the same place and by the same individuals, are kept in other libraries (mainly in the Vatican Library, but also in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France). The choice to direct our attention only here, to the manuscripts preserved in Florence, is therefore somewhat arbitrary, and simply due to the fact that recently we have been involved in the cataloguing of its collection. On the other hand, a thorough study on the subject would deserve a monograph and should extend far beyond the limits of a short communication.3 Nevertheless, as we hope to be able to show, the Florence material is more than sufficient to provide a re-

alistic and accurate picture of the variety of cultural interests involved. In some cases the colophon of a MS mentions the date, the place and the scribe’s name; but even when scribal notes are absent, the dating and sometimes also the attribution to a known scribe is nevertheless possible. In the following tables, the MSS are classed according to their content.4

1. A TREATISE ON THE CALENDAR Code: Or. 301 (64) Date: before 1580 Content: Dissertation on the Calendar (Garšūnī) Scribe: Ignatius Na‘matallah?

This small book (210 × 150 mm, 55 ff.)5 bears neither date nor colophon, but its author is easily identified as Ignatius Na‘matallah, the former Patriarch of the Syrian-Orthodox Church, who abdicated in 15766 and reached Rome at the beginning of 1578.7 He was warmly welcomed by the cardinals and by Pope Gregory XIII, who decided to employ him, as an eminent representative of an Eastern Church, a theologian and a scholar, in the commission for

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calendar reform he had established. The “Gregorian” calendar reform, as is well known, aimed at correcting the discrepancies between the Julian solar calendar and the seasons of the year, which interfered with the proper celebration of Easter.8 Quite understandably, the Pope took the opportunity of Na‘matallah’s presence in Rome to avail himself of the cooperation of an authoritative prelate, who could provide valuable support in the diffusion of the new calendar among the Eastern Churches. In fact, there is evidence that the former Patriarch was proud of his cooperation, as he wrote to his “brothers” in the Levant a letter about “The investigation of the chronon kanon or the 532-year cycle”9 ( ‫ܬ‬ ‫ )ܒ ܐ ܕ ܘ ܢ ܐܘ‬celebrating his participation alongside excellent scholars from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany etc. and magnifying his role in the difficult task. In his conclusion, Na‘matallah says that his work began on “Monday, 17 Tammuz [July] of 1890 AG, 1579 AD”. Another letter by Na‘matallah was found among the correspondence of the astronomer Christoph Clavius. The Patriarch submits to the Pope his criticism of the planned reform, from the perspective of Church tradition and astronomical observation. The letter is written in Italian and does not bear a date, but careful consideration of the chronological information found in it allowed its editors to suggest a date between the end of 1579 and the beginning of 1580.10 Most of the content is comparable to, and parallels, that of the Syriac letter preserved in MS Sachau 81. The Italian letter ends with the promise by Na‘matallah to present to the Pope within a few days (“tra pochissimi giorni”) a detailed report on the matter. Our MS Or. 301 (64) is indeed what Na‘matallah promised to Gregory XIII: an organic treatise in 22 sections (faṣl) where he develops his arguments against some aspects of the proposed calendar reform (ff. 1v-39v [old number-

ing]; ff. 34v-72v [new numbering]). The treatise is followed by a series of calendric tables (ff. 40v-55r [o.n.], 73v-88r [n.n.]) to be used for the search of the Dominical letter (according to the Alphonsine tables, according to the observations of Eastern astronomers and according to the calendar proposed by Na‘matallah), followed by a perpetual calendar. The question of how Gregory XIII could have read a Garšūnī treatise arises immediately. The answer is found in the Vatican Archives, where an Italian translation of the treatise is kept (MS Fondo Bolognetti 315). The difficult task of translating such a technical text was accomplished by Leonardo Abel (Malta 1541 - Rome 1605); the dedicatory preface to Gregory XIII is dated 12 March 1580. This date, combined with chronological references found in the Syriac and Italian letters, allows us to date MS Or. 301 between the end of 1579 and the beginning of 1580. We may imagine that the Patriarch spent most of his time and energy busy studying the intricate calendar problems from mid-July 1579 to early 1580. Any outcome of Na‘matallah’s criticisms appears in the final report of the calendar reform commission, dated 14 September 1580 (MS Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 3685). Nonetheless this report was signed by him, in Syriac and Arabic, with a Latin translation, again by Leonardo Abel. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the new calendar by a decree signed on 24 February 1582; it entered into force on 15 October 1582 in some European countries. But, as is well known, it was never accepted by the majority of the Eastern Churches. The MS Or. 301 is therefore an important witness to Na‘matallah’s doctrine in matters of astronomy and Churchhistory. In the following years, Na‘matallah (who passed away in Bracciano, near Rome, 29 May 1587) would play a central role in the Roman milieu, both in Church

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affairs and in Oriental studies.11 Indeed, his collection of precious Syriac, Arabic and Persian books, which he was able to transfer from the Levant to Rome, became, after an agreement with Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici, the bulk of the textual material that the “Tipografia Medicea”—which we will discuss shortly—meant to publish. The great majority of these MSS, which aroused the interest of European orientalists already in the 17th century,12 is now preserved in Florence, where it represents the core of the Oriental collection.

2. GRAMMAR AND LEXICOGRAPHY Code: Or. 2 – Or. 3 Date: 1606 Content: Bar Bahlul’s Dictionary. In two volumes Scribe: Antonius Sionita Code: Or. 28 (340 - 341 - 342) Date: 1592 Content: Syriac-Arabic Vocabulary; “List of words in which a Syriac šin corresponds to an Arabic sin.” Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo Code: Or. 100 Date: b. 1596 (b. 1614) Content: Collections of works on Syriac Grammar Scribe: Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra? (G.B. Raimondi?) Code: Or. 119 (377) Date: b. 1614 Content: Syriac-Arabic Vocabulary (ālāph-bet) Scribe: G.B. Raimondi? Code: Or. 136 (351) Date: b. 1614 Content: Ktābā da-grammaṭīqī ba-mšuḥtā dmār Aprēm by Bar ‘Ebroyo Scribe: G.B. Raimondi? Code: Or. 246 Date: b. 1614 Content: Syriac Verbal Paradigms Scribe: G.B. Raimondi?

Code: Or. 419 Date: 1589 Content: Syriac Grammar (Garšūnī) by Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra Scribe: Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra Code: Or. 441 Date: 1586 Content: Syriac Vocabulary and Treatise on the Homographs by Eudochos of Melitene Scribe: Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra Code: Or. 460 (fig. 1) Date: b. 1614 Content: “Fragmentum Lexici Syriaci” Scribe: G.B. Raimondi? Code: Or. 463 (fig. 2) Date: 1592 Content: Ktābā da-grammaṭīqī ba-mšuḥtā dmār Aprēm by Bar ‘Ebroyo (partial) Scribe: G.B. Raimondi?

This group of MSS contains lexical material and grammatical works. The scribe most often at work is Giovanni Battista Raimondi (actually only one MS is explicitly signed by him, but in the other cases the attribution is reasonably certain). Raimondi (ca. 1536-1614) was a scholar (he taught mathematics at “La Sapienza” in Rome) and an orientalist, who returned to Italy from Hormuz about 1575 after a long journey in the Near East. He acquired reading, speaking and writing skills in several Oriental languages, as these Syriac MSS, and several others in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Coptic that he left behind, amply testify. The foundation of the Medici Printing Press, or “Tipografia Medicea”, was the result of his ambitious intellectual project, aimed at the publication of scholarly books in Arabic and Syriac and of a polyglot Bible. The project became feasible thanks to the concurrence of favourable circumstances: Pope Gregory XIII’s interest in the Eastern Churches and Levant policy, Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici’s function as a “Protector” of the Eastern Churches, not to mention his considerable

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financial support, and Na‘matallah’s presence in Rome, with his library and his broad knowledge.13 The printing press, sponsored by Cardinal Ferdinando with the Pope’s approval and support, was founded in Rome on 6 March, 1584.14 In the founding act Cardinal Ferdinando expressly says that the proposal came to him by G.B. Raimondi, who had previously discussed the matter with Patriarch Na‘matallah.15 The foundation of an oriental printing press gave Na‘matallah a fresh opportunity: his cooperation in the calendar reform was a memory of the past, and at that time the diplomatic negotiations aimed at uniting the Syriac-Orthodox Church with the Roman Church, in which he had played a role, were at their lowest. Moreover, some of the Cardinals and Papal diplomatic envoys were suspicious of his real aims.16 According to the agreement with Cardinal de’ Medici, Na‘matallah was to receive a lifetime pension, in exchange for his work and his library, which, after his death, would become property of the Cardinal. Raimondi was functioning as director of the enterprise. He devoted all his energy to the selections and preparation of manuscript materials for study and publication.17 Grammar was one of the scholarly fields in which he wished to publish books, and the planned polyglot Bible was expected to include dictionaries and grammars of the “Biblical” languages.18 MSS listed as Raimondi’s in table 2 above are the result of his work, which in the case of Syriac never reached a conclusion.19 Indeed, some texts finish quite abruptly, such as MS Or. 463, a large-size (342 × 235 mm, 7 ff.) copy of the beginning of Bar ‘Ebroyo’s Metrical Grammar, written in one narrow column of 9 lines per page, with wide margins to leave space for the interlinear transliteration and the Latin translation. A similar, less accurate copy of the same grammar is found in MS Or. 136 (280 × 200 mm, 211 ff.). The

MS is acephalous: the beginning of the introduction and the fourth chapter are missing, and only the first, second and third chapters are complete. Raimondi’s interest in Bar ‘Ebroyo’s Metrical Grammar is better understood when one considers that one of the precious manuscripts owned by Na‘matallah, now Or. 298 of the Medicea Laurenziana collection, was a Metrical Grammar with scholia, completed in Nisan (April) AD 1360 by Daniel of Mardin. Raimondi’s copies of the old text in a new layout, with transliteration and translation, were probably meant for study and as a basic text for future printing. Another interesting MS written by Raimondi is Or. 460 (350 × 235 mm, 52 ff.). This Syriac-Arabic (Garšūnī) - Latin dictionary, compiled by the scribe himself,20 is also incomplete and abruptly comes to an end. The title page was decorated by Raimondi with a multicoloured interlaced portal, in keeping with the Syriac tradition. Raimondi’s hand as a Syriac scribe was quite good, as were his skills in the painstaking decoration of interlaced multicolour bands and portals. Another feature that recalls the most carefully written old Syriac MSS is the consistent use of red ink for quššāyā and rukkākā. The second most prolific copyist of grammatical MSS is Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra, whose merits in the field of Syriac grammar studies are better known from his Grammatica Syriaca, printed in 1596.21 Born in Ehden, Lebanon, he arrived in Rome at age of 15, in December 1583, sent by the Maronite Patriarch Sarkīs al-Rizzi (1581-1596) and accompanied by his maternal uncle Ya‘qūb al-Duwayhi, who had already instructed him in the Syriac language.22 The young Ǧirǧis was among the first four pupils of the Maronite College, officially founded on 5 July 1584. The institution of the College, aiming at the instruction of the Maronite clergy, was one of the actions undertaken by Gregory XIII to improve relationships

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with the Eastern Churches. The support given to the Tipografia Medicea (in the same year 1584) was another such initiative. A previous one had been the improvement of an older institution, the College of the Neophytes (first founded in 1543, then re-founded by Gregory XIII, 1 September 1577), which, according to its statutes, should have been devoted to the Christian education of converts from Judaism (two thirds of the pupils) and Islam (one third), but in fact accepted pupils from the Eastern non-Catholic Churches. Another copyist found in section 2 above, Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo, was indeed appointed teacher of Syriac at the College of the Neophytes on 1 April, 1593.23 MS Or. 441 (145 × 100 mm, 156 ff.) was copied by ‘Amīra when he was about 18 years old, “as an exercise and also as a kind of instruction for beginners” (so the colophon, ff. 134v-135r). ‘Amīra’s skill in art is testified by a red-and-green triumphant cross in an interlaced drawing that precedes the title page (f. 1v). The colophon of MS Or. 419 (140 × 105 mm, 102 ff.), a Garšūnī Syriac grammar erroneously attributed to Yūsuf al‘Āqūrī (ante 1614-1648) by S.E. Assemani,24 clearly indicates the author and the place as Ǧirǧis ‘Amīra and the Maronite College in Rome (ff. 95v-96r: ‫ ܗܕܗ‬ΔͨΑͲ.. ‫݂ܝ‬ ‫ܘ‬ ‫ܔ ܔ‬ ‫ܒ‬ ‫ܓܐ ܐ‬ ܿ ‫ܒܐܪ‬ ‫ܔܒ‬ ‫̈ ܐܗ ݂ܕܢ‬ ‫ܗ‬ ‫َ ܐ ܐܒ‬ ̈ ‫ܪܘ‬ ‫ܐܪ‬ ‫ܪ‬ ‫) ܒ‬. According to a note on the endpaper, this MS was bought by G.B. Raimondi. A note on the verso of its cover indicates that MS Or. 100 (235 × 173 mm, 96 ff.) was owned by Raimondi. A scribal note being absent, the attribution is doubtful; I would incline to suggest that it is ‘Amīra’s work, but without completely denying the possibility that it might be Raimondi’s. The content is miscellaneous: the Grammar of Elias of Ṣoba (ff. 1r-62v) is the longer text, followed by several short

grammatical fragments, mostly attributed to David b. Paulos. The Syrian-Orthodox priest Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo is the copyist of three MSS (Assemani 340, 341, 342) that are now bound together as MS Or. 28 (average size 220 × 130 mm, a total of 117 ff.), and which in fact are sections of one and the same work: a Syriac-Arabic (Garšūnī) lexicon (ff. 1r-115v) followed by a short list of words deriving from related roots, in which a Syriac šīn corresponds to an Arabic sīn (f. 115r/v). Four scribal notes in Syriac (ff. 73r, 115v, 116v) and Garšūnī (f. 75v) refer to Malkizdeq as the author/scribe, and Rome as the place of writing. Oddly enough, the note on f. 116v seems to refer to the monastery of Deyrulzafaran as the location ( ‫ܐܨܕܐܩ! ܒ ܐ‬ ‫ܐܪܕ ܒ ܐ‬ ‫ܪ‬ ‫ܐ ܕܒ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ‫ܕܐ ܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܕܙ ܐܢ ܒ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ‫ܝ ܐܓܐ ܣ ܐ‬ ‫ܐܒ ܢ‬ ‫ܕܘ ܐ‬ ‫ܣ ܘ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ‫)ܕܐ‬, but as this would concern only a folio in a gathering of Western paper, and since the ink does not differ from the other parts, it is better to understand the references to the monastery (associated with Malkizdeq’s place of origin) and to the name of the Patriarch of his Church as exotic marks of identity proudly claimed by the author. Malkizdeq wrote this book about one year before being appointed to teach Syriac at the College of the Neophytes; he says in one of the notes (f. 73r) that the lexicon was prepared for “the reverend priest Giovanni Battista”. As Giovanni Battista Raimondi was a layman, at first sight one would not think of him here, in spite of his known interest in the Syriac language. Indeed “Giovanni Battista” was a name so widespread, that others might be candidates for the identification. The compilation of Syriac dictionaries and word lists was very much in demand by Western scholars at this time; we may quote for instance the case of Moses of Mardin, who was requested to write Syriac

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lexica by Johannes Widmanstetter and Andreas Masius.25 A large-format, carefully written copy of Bar Bahlul’s dictionary in two volumes is due to the labour of another pupil of the Maronite College, Antonius Sionita (Anṭuniyos Ṣehyunoyo / Anṭūn al-Ṣahyūnī):26 MSS Or. 2 and Or. 3 (420 × 275 mm, 381 and 289 ff.). The text is written in two narrow columns, leaving two other blank columns of the same size at their sides (for desultory annotations by a reader, or perhaps to host a [Latin] translation – at any rate, the space remained blank). In the case of Bar ‘Ebroyo’s Metrical Grammar copied by Raimondi we may identify the original as MS Or. 298, but as for Or. 100 and Or. 2-3 we cannot indicate which older copies of Elias of Ṣoba’s and Bar Bahlul’s works the copyists could have used in Rome at that time.

3. PHILOSOPHY Code: Or. 6, Or. 8, Or. 10, Or. 37 Date: 1612 Content: Butyrum sapientiae (Ktābā d-ḥēwat ḥekmtā) by Bar ‘Ebroyo. In four volumes Scribe: Antonius Sionita? Code: Or. 142 (278) Date: 1585 Content: Ars brevis by Ramón Llull (12351316) translated into Arabic (Garšūnī) Scribe: Ya‘qūb Ḥaṣrūnī Code: Or. 174 (183, 184) Date: 1592 Content: Porphyry’s Isagoge (Syriac trans. by Athanasius of Balad - 7th cent.); Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias, I Part Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo Code: Or. 209 (196) Date: 1585 Content: Collection of philosophical works Scribe: Moses of Ṣawro Code: Or. 458 (between f. 91 and 92)27 Date: 1592

Content: Collection of philosophical works (fac-simile copy of Or. 209) Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo Code: Or. 462 (3) Date: before 1614 Content: Liber ascensus mentis (Ktābā dsullāqā hawnāyānā) by Bar ‘Ebroyo Scribe: G.B. Raimondi?

The same Antonius Sionita is most probably the scribe of a four-volume Ktābā d-ḥēwat ḥekmtā, MSS Or. 6, 8, 10, 37 (355 × 240 mm [Or. 6, 8, 19], 330 × 235 mm [Or. 37]; 200, 395, 104, 182 ff.). In the first three MSS of the work the text is written in one column of 10 lines; MS Or. 37 is slightly different, with a smaller script and a wider column made up of 15 lines. The presence of catchwords (on the verso of each folio, left bottom margin) and running titles (in red ink, centred in the top margin) makes the page layout similar to that of printed books of the same epoch. The MSS contain only the first part of Ktābā d-ḥēwat ḥekmtā, and the original used by Sionita is identified as MS Or. 69. Information about the date, the scribe and the owner of MS Or. 69 derive from MS Or. 83, which was written by the same hand and contains the second part of the work. Thus we know that Or. 83 was finished in May 1340 by the priest and monk Najm, in Mardin, and was Na‘matallah’s property. The information may surely also be attributed to Or. 69 (supposing that it was copied before Or. 83, we may infer that the work was finished some months before May 1340). The wide margins and the ample line spacing may suggest that the work was meant as a preliminary work for printing, or that additional notes or a translation were expected to be added. Indeed, this is the case of MS Or. 462 (350×235 mm, 11 ff. [incomplete]), containing the beginning of Ktābā d-sullāqā hawnāyānā probably copied by Raimondi: the text is written in one column of 9 lines,

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and the ample line spacing is filled by a transliteration and a Latin translation – the same procedure used by Raimondi for the Metrical Grammar. The identification of the original copied by the scribe is difficult: only two copies of Ktābā d-sullāqā hawnāyānā dated to the 16th century or older are now kept in Europe: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Syr. 244 (14th cent.),28 and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hunt. 540 (1548).29 A comparison of titles (as reproduced in the catalogues) shows that Or. 462 corresponds perfectly to Syr. 244, clearly differing from Hunt. 540. In Table n. 3 we find for the first time a famous Syriac-Orthodox visitor in Rome, Moses of Ṣawro, also known as Moses of Mardin.30 He copied a number of Syriac and Arabic MSS now preserved in several European libraries. The short philosophical works found in MS Or. 209 (210 × 145 mm, 68 ff.) derive directly from MS Vat. Syr. 158 (dated to the 10th century, owned by Moses): a Scheme of the parts of Porphyry’s Isagoge, a List of Aristotle’s works, a Life of Aristotle, Aristotle’s Categories as translated by James of Edessa, and a Commentary to the Isagoge. The writing is quite legible, but the manuscript is aesthetically very poor: it was apparently prepared as an instrument for study and teaching. Indeed Moses was employed as teacher of Arabic and Syriac at the College of the Neophytes from 15 April 1581 to 10 December 1585.31 Other books by Moses of Mardin show that he was skilled in drawing and decoration: for instance, MS Vienna, Cod. Vindob. Syr. 1 (The Four Gospels, copied by Moses and dedicated by him to king Ferdinand I, 10 August 1554), lavishly decorated with interlaced multi-coloured portals and a triumphant interlaced cross,32 and MS Vat. Ar. 945 (Tables of the perpetual calendar, Garšūnī), a large (340 × 235 mm) and beautiful MS, probably a gift from Moses to Cardinal Antonio Carafa (1538-1591;

see the note on f. 5v), where an intricate multi-coloured interlaced cross fills an entire page. This is even more impressive if we remember that Moses had lost the use of two fingers on his right hand (the thumb and the next finger) because of an accident which occurred to him when he was 8 years old.33 This is confirmed also by a document written by Na‘matallah, who says about Moses: “He is missing two fingers, and for this reason he is not suitable for any of the degrees of priesthood.” 34 Thus one wonders about the grandiloquent title of “metropolitan [of Ṣawro]” that Moses used to refer to himself (so e.g. in MS Or. 209, f. 50r), and which was also apparently recognized by the Roman Curia, where they used to call him “Monsignore Vescovo Moyse di Soria”. MS Or. 209 was reproduced as a facsimile by Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo in 1592, in MS Or. 458 (the page layout and the text are faithfully reproduced: a scribal note by Moses of Mardin is preserved [Or. 209, f. 19v = Or. 458, p. 22]). A possible reason for the choice of this kind of copying of these MSS, which enabled readers to easily refer to a specific passage in either, was their use as textbooks in the school. In the same year (1592) Malkizdeq copied another miscellany of philosophical texts, MS Or. 174 (265 × 175 mm, 72 ff.), whose original is again found in MS Vat. Syr. 158. As for Or. 28, a sponsor of the book is mentioned: “the reverend priest Battista” (f. 60r). MS Or. 142 (290 × 210 mm ca, 12 ff.) is a special case, being a copy of a translation into Arabic (Garšūnī), by the Maronite Gabriel Bar Qala‘ī (Lehfed, Lebanon, ca 1450 – Nicosia, Cyprus, ca 1516), of a work by the Catalan Ramón Llull (12351316). Gabriel, after entering the Franciscan order in Jerusalem, studied in Rome from 1471 on, then before 1493 he went back to Lebanon. In 1507 he was consecrated bishop of Cyprus.35 The copyist,

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Ya‘qūb Sim‘ān Ḥaṣrūnī, born in Ḥaṣrūn (North Lebanon), entered the Maronite College in Rome on 27 February 1581 at the age of 22. Fluent in Latin, Italian, Arabic and Syriac, from 1584 he devoted himself to philosophical studies in the College.36 The copy was made from Bar Qala‘ī’s autograph; the short text, entitled in Arabic Handbook of the doctrine of Master Raymond, called the Frank, consists in a translation/adaptation from Latin of the chapters about the four “figures” of the Ars Brevis. Llull’s four figures (three concentric circles and a triangle, divided into “boxes” that contain letters related to concepts) are designed to help the reader’s mind in combining concepts and their qualities and attributes through the rotation of the concentric circles; the figures work as a kind of machine. In the MS the Garšūnī adaptations of the figures are reproduced in ff. 3, 5, 8, 10.

4. BIBLE (OT AND NT) Code: Or. 4 Date: 1610-1611 Content: Syriac New Testament with Garšūnī translation Scribe: Antonius Sionita Code: Or. 13, Or. 14 Date: b. 1614 Content: Syriac OT (pšiṭtā): Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges (1,1-6,37). Latin translation; Judges 6,37 – 1 Chronicles 7,13 (not complete) Scribe: G.B. Raimondi? Code: Or. 254 Date: 1579? Content: Ben Sira (Pešiṭtā) Scribe: Moses of Ṣawro

MS Or. 4 is a luxury book, a complete NT written by Antonius Sionita for G.B. Raimondi (f. 134v: ‫ܗ‬ ‫ܘ‬ ... ܿ ‫ܘܣ‬ ‫ܐ ܪܐ‬ ‫)ܕ ܼ ܐ ܝ‬. Its large size (430 × 295 mm, 316 ff.) allows for a presentation of parallel texts: each page contains two columns, a wide one for the

Syriac and a narrow one for the Garšūnī translation (in thinner writing – a distinctive device already used by Sionita in his copy of Bar Bahlul’s Dictionary). As far as I know, no study has been devoted to the origin of this Arabic translation of the complete NT that accompanies the Syriac text. It is likely that in sponsoring such a huge work Raimondi had in mind to use it for the polyglot Bible project, but unlike other “work copies” previously presented this MS leaves no room for marginal notes or interlinear supplements. An incomplete Syriac OT translation was copied, probably by Raimondi, from MS Or. 58 (9a1 of the Leiden Peshitta Institute classification), one of the most ancient Pešiṭtā manuscripts.37 The story of Or. 58 before it entered the Medici collection is unknown. A clue, however, might suggest that it was one of the MSS owned by Patriarch Na‘matallah: the index of the Biblical books written at the beginning of the MS, f. Vr, can be attributed to Na‘matallah’s hand, and it is in keeping with his habit of writing indexes on the recto of the first folio of his frequently consulted books, referring to an Arabic foliation added by himself.38 Indeed, MSS Or. 13 and Or. 14 (35 × 24 mm, 550 ff., 542 ff.) have several lacunae which correspond to passages missing in Or. 58. In both MSS the text is written in one column of 9 lines, according to Raimondi’s method when producing working copies, to be supplemented with interlinear translation. This is the case of MS Or. 13, where such a Latin translation is found from f. 1r to f. 148v. Marginal collation notes occur, in Arabic (‫ صح‬ṣaḥḥa “corrected”, e.g. in Or. 13 ff. 38v, 65v, 89v etc.) and in Syriac (‫ܬ‬ “corrected”, e.g. ff. 78v, 181r, 270v etc., or “lacking”, e.g. ff. 268v, 305v). Lines and full pages corresponding to lacunae in Or. 58 are left blank. The explanation can only be that the copyist had in mind to fill

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the blank lines and pages with the appropriate text, to be copied from another MS – thus implying that he was able to calculate the space needed for the missing text. Therefore Or. 13 and 14 may be considered evidence for philological and text-critical work on the Syriac OT, on the basis of an old MS, Or. 58, but probably with other copy/copies of the text alongside, so that an evaluation of the space for missing textual portions was possible. If so, why the copyist did not immediately insert the missing text is a question that remains unanswered. The authority enjoyed by Or. 58 as an old OT MS in the 16th-17th century is demonstrated also by the fact that it was again copied by Sergius Risius (MS Vat. Syr. 7). A copy of Ben Sira by Moses of Ṣawro is not dated, but is clearly ascribed to him by a note (f. 60v). MS Or. 254 is a medium size copy (205 × 135 mm, 60 ff.), written in one column; as often occurs in Moses’s MSS, catchwords are consistently used and written vertically in the left bottom margin. Another copy of Ben Sira was made by Moses in 1586, MS Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barberini Or. 76.39 Both were copied from MS Vat. Syr. 6, a parchment fragment of 40 ff. from an OT manuscript, in two columns of estrangelo script.40

5. HAGIOGRAPHY, PATRISTIC LITERATURE Code: Or. 30 (71) Date: 1592 Content: Homilies by Jacob of Sarug and Ephrem (Garšūnī) Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo Code: Or. 33 Date: 1581 (but 1592) Content: Life of the Caliph Hakem and of Abraham the Syrian (Garšūnī) Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo

Code: Or. 47 Date: 1611- 1614? Content: Eusebius of Caesarea, Letter to Carpian I-II; Genealogy of Christ I-II; Eusebian Canons; Teaching to Theophilos Scribe: Rabban Adam? Code: Or. 49 (113) Date: 1592 Content: Life of Mār Rīšā (Garšūnī) Scribe: Malkizdeq of Ḥeṣno d-Kifo

To conclude our brief survey of the “Roman” manuscripts of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and of the cultural world they represent, some MSS of hagiographic and patristic content deserve mention. Three of them, all Garšūnī, were copied by the priest Malkizdeq – we see that he was very active in copying in 1592, just before receiving the task of teaching Syriac in the College of the Neophytes.41 MS Or. 30 (335 × 225 mm, 40 ff.) contains four homilies attributed to Jacob of Sarug (On the guardian angel of Paradise, On Adam’s exit from Paradise, If Adam was created mortal or immortal, The thief on the right side); MS Or. 33 (338 × 230 mm, 34 ff.) contains a Life of the Caliph Hakem and Abraham the Syrian; MS Or. 49 (270 × 170 mm, 16 ff.) a Life of Mār Rīšā (St. Alexis). The three MSS share some features, typical of Malkizdeq’s copies: the large, thin serto script is rather crude, but some care is used in inserting diacritical marks for ‫ ܔ‬and ‫ ܜ‬in red ink. In two cases the sponsor of the copy is still “the reverend priest Battista” (Or. 30, f. 49r: ‫ܐܪܘ‬ ‫ܐܗܢ‬ ‫ܐ ܒ ܒ‬ ‫ܪܘ‬ ‫ ; ܒܐܬ ܐ‬Or. 33, f. 34r: ‫ܐ ܒ‬ ‫ܒ‬ ‫̈ ܪܘ‬ ‫ܒܐܬ ܐ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ‫) ܐܗܢ‬. Two mistakes in colophons emerge. The first in MS Or. 33, f. 34v, affects the date: the AG 1892 = AD 1581 ( ‫ܐܒ‬ ‫ܗܕܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܬ ܐ ܘܐܬ ܘܬ‬ ‫ܒܐܪܟ‬ ‫ ) ܐ‬is odd, because there is no evidence that Malkizdeq was active in Rome so early. Indeed the colophon itself helps to

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correct the error: according to its fourth and fifth line, the book was written at the time of Pope Clement VIII ( ‫ܐ ܐܡ‬ ‫ܣ ܐܘ ܐܒ‬ ‫ܐ ܐ‬ ), reigning from 30 January 1592. This confirms that the AG indication is wrong – probably Malkizdeq was at that time more accustomed to the use of the “year of the Messiah”, which he adopts in his colophons in most cases. A curious mistake occurs in MS Or. 49, f. 13r: in the customary self-humiliation formula, Malkizdeq inverts the terms, and so it results in him being described as “priest in deeds and not by name” ( ‫ܒܐ‬ ‫)ܘ ܐ‬. In the same year 1592 Malkizdeq produced another copy of the Garšūnī Life of the Caliph Hakem and Abraham the Syrian and the Life of Mār Rīšā, now preserved as ff. 28-78 of MS Vat. Syr. 214. The last manuscript we shall mention is unique in the group of the 16th-17th century MSS, because it is written in East Syriac script on parchment, while the other MSS are all written in Serto on paper. The parchment of MS Or. 47 (ca. 33 × 22 mm, 18 ff.) is white and thin, and the fascicules follow the “rule of Gregory”, which is different from the standard practice in old Syriac parchment MSS. Its content may be

considered ‘patristic’, but it could perhaps also be labelled ‘biblical’: the Letter to Carpian (in two versions) and the Eusebian Canons are written in most Syriac Gospel books; the Genealogy of Christ (in two versions) and the last short text, a Teaching received by Theophilos…written before the Acts of the Apostles, are obviously related to the NT. No information about the date and the scribe is given in the MS, but external sources help us to find a convincing solution. An envoy from the ‘Nestorian’ Church went to Rome, sent by Patriarch Elias, in spring 1611, and his stay lasted until 2 June 1614. His name was Rabban Adam.42 He was housed at the Medici’s expense, and parchment was bought for him to copy a ‘Chaldean’ Bible, a work perhaps related to the Tipografia Medicea’s project of the polyglot Bible.43 Although there is no direct evidence of interactions with Raimondi, it is unlikely that the two never met. Thus, in our opinion, there is no better candidate for the authorship of MS Or. 47 than Adam. This is the last document of an ambitious cultural project, which was only partially successful and which was interrupted with the death of Raimondi, about four months before Rabban Adam’s departure from Rome.

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NOTES 1

Some MSS are now bound together, but they were separate when Assemani wrote his catalogue (so for instance MS Or. 28, which is composed by three MSS, catalogued by Assemani as CCCXL, CCCXLI and CCCXLII). The new bindings and shelfmarks were given to the collection in the second half of the 18th century. A concordance to the present shelfmarks and Assemani’s is found on the Library website: http://www.bml.firenze.sbn.it/it/manoscritti_ orientali.htm. Almost all MSS of interest to us here pertain to the sub-collection called “Orientali” – previously “Palatini”, that is from the Medici Palace Library. In the following tables, the numbers in parentheses following the present shelf number refer to Assemani’s catalogue. 2 The Laurenziana collection is small (about 70 MSS) but contains several valuable MSS, both from the codicological and textual perspective. The most famous is perhaps the “Rabbula Codex” (MS Pluteo 1.56, dated 586 AD), which entered the library in 1573 (see I.G. Rao, “Alle origini della storia e fortuna del codice laurenziano Pluteo 1.56,” in M. Bernabò [ed.], Il Tetravangelo di Rabbula. Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 1.56. L’illustrazione del Nuovo Testamento nella Siria del VI secolo (Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 2008), 67-77 and P.G. Borbone, “Il Codice di Rabbula e i suoi compagni. Su alcuni manoscritti siriaci della Biblioteca medicea laurenziana (MSS Pluteo 1,12; Pluteo 1.40; Pluteo 1.56; Pluteo 1.58),” Egitto e Vicino Oriente 32 (2009) 245-53); among others worth mentioning are several MSS containing Bar ‘Ebroyo’s texts, which are in some cases the oldest textual evidence of the work they witness (for instance, Bar ‘Ebroyo’s translation of Avicenna’s Kitāb al-išārāt wal-tanbīhāt: MS Or. 86, dated December 1278, and MS Or. 230, dated August 1278, Bar ‘Ebroyo’s Awṣar Rāzē —the two MSS were copied during author’s lifetime). The collection’s catalogue, by S.E. Assemani (Bibliothecae Mediceae Laurentianae et Palatinae codicum mss. Orientalium Catalogus [Florentiae 1742]) will soon be superseded, or better accompanied, by a new one prepared by Margherita Farina and the present writer, in cooperation with Sara Fani, Simone

I.M. Pratelli, Emanuela Braida, Joseph Moukarzel. Some new descriptions are already available on the Library website. 3 The foundations for research in this field were laid by Giorgio Levi Della Vida in his Ricerche sulla formazione del più antico fondo dei manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca vaticana (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1939). 4 In the tables the question mark (?) related to the date and to the scribe means that in the MS no explicit information is given, but it is reasonably possible to date it and to attribute it to the hand of a specific scribe, known from other MSS or from external sources. For instance, Raimondi’s hand is easily recognizable in MSS as Or. 119 and Or. 246; since we know that Raimondi passed away in February 1614, the manuscripts are prior to that date. A total lack of information is indicated by the question mark alone. 5 A brief description is given by P.G. Borbone, in M. Farina and S. Fani (eds.), Le vie delle lettere. La Tipografia Medicea tra Roma e l'Oriente (Firenze: Mandragora, 2012), pp. 12223. The content of the treatise was discussed by Carl Ehrig-Eggert in his unpublished communication at the Conference of Arabic Christian Studies, Granada 2008. 6 G.A. Kiraz, “Ni‘matullāh, Ignatius,” in S.P. Brock, A.M. Butts, G.A. Kiraz and L. Van Rompay (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), p. 308; Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum, The Scattered Pearls. A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2003), p. 513. 7 Na‘matallah had his first audience with the Pope on 30 January 1578; see G. Levi Della Vida, Documenti intorno alle relazioni delle Chiese orientali con la S. Sede durante il pontificato di Gregorio XIII (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1948), p. 2. 8 See in general P. Archer, The Christian Calendar and the Gregorian Reform (New York: Fordham University Press, 1941); on the papal commission, its members and the principles that informed its work, see U. Baldini, “Christoph Clavius and the Scientific Scene in Rome,” in G.V. Coyne, M.A. Hoskin, and O. Pedersen (eds.), Gregorian reform of the calen-

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dar: proceedings of the Vatican conference to commemorate its 400th anniversary, 15821982 (Città del Vaticano: Specola Vaticana, 1983), pp. 137-69, and A. Ziggelaar, “The Papal Bull of 1582 Promulgating a Reform of the Calendar,” in Gregorian reform of the calendar, pp. 201-39. 9 A copy of the letter in found in MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Sachau 81, f. 216; I owe this reference (as the previous one, in note 5, about Ehrig-Eggert’s communication) to Hidemi Takahashi. 10 The letter is published by Ugo Baldini and Pier Daniele Napolitani in Baldini, U. and Napolitani, P.D. (eds.), Christoph Clavius, Corrispondenza (Pisa: Dipartimento di matematica, Sezione di didattica e storia della matematica, 1992), Vol. 2 Part 1 (text: pp. 21-23), Part 2 (commentary: pp. 14-17). 11 Levi Della Vida, Documenti, 69-71; new documents about Na‘matallah have been found in Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana; see P.G. Borbone, “From Tur ‘Abdin to Rome: the Syro-Orthodox presence in Sixteenth Century Rome”, forthcoming in the Proceedings of the Syriac Conference held in Mardin, April 2012. 12 G.J. Toomer, Eastern Wisedome and Learning. The Study of Arabic in SeventeenthCentury England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 74. 13 Na‘matallah was the authority on oriental calendars consulted by Joseph Justus Scaliger (Agen, 1540 - Leiden, 1609), whose work laid the foundations for modern understanding of the relationship between the numerous calendars of the ancient world. Scaliger acknowledges his debt to Na‘matallah in several pages of his Opus novum de emendatione temporum, Lutetiae 1583 (pp. 78, 112, 195-196, 246). Michel de Montaigne, who was in friendly relations with him during his stay in Rome, in March 1581 received from Na‘matallah a medicine for his disease (G. Levi Della Vida, “Montaigne et le Patriarche d’Antioche,” Bulletin de la Société des Amis de Montaigne 3e série 3 [1957] 23-25). 14 On the Tipografia Medicea Orientale, see A. Tinto, La tipografia medicea orientale (Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 1987) and M. Farina and S. Fani (eds.), Le vie delle lettere. La Tipografia

Medicea tra Roma e l’Oriente (Firenze: Mandragora, 2012), (with extensive bibliography). 15 B. Maracchi Biagiarelli, “La biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Una nuova sala per l’attrezzatura della Stamperia Orientale (sec. XVI),” Accademie e biblioteche d’Italia 39 (22 N.S.) (1971): 88. 16 Levi Della Vida, Documenti, pp. 35-39. 17 The Tipografia had among its associates also the brothers Giovanni Battista and Girolamo Vecchietti, merchants and travellers acting at times as ambassadors to the Pope, to whom Raimondi and Na‘matallah entrusted the important task of buying manuscripts in the Levant. This developed in an intellectual culture that also promoted, for instance, JudaeoPersian studies: the oldest Judaeo-Persian MSS known to the West were brought by (and in several instances written for) the brothers Vecchietti; see A.M. Piemontese and N.R. Kedie, “Italian Scholarship on Iran (An Outline, 15571987),” Iranian Studies 20, no. 2/4 (1987) 99130, and F. Richard, “Les manuscrits persans rapportés par les frères Vecchietti et conservés aujourd’hui à la Bibliothèque nationale,” Studia Iranica 9,2 (1980) 291-300. 18 G.E. Saltini, “La Bibbia Poliglotta Medicea secondo il disegno e gli apprendimenti di Gio. Battista Raimondi,” Bollettino italiano degli studi orientali N.S. 22 (1882) 490-95. 19 Two Arabic grammars were indeed published, both in 1592: Grammatica arabica dicta Kaphia autore filio Alhagiabi, Romae, in Typographia Medicea, and Grammatica arabica in compendium redacta, quæ vocatur Giarrumia, auctore Mahmeto filio Dauidis Alsanhagij, Romae, in Typographia Medicea. 20 The compilation consists apparently of short excerpts from Bar Bahlul’s dictionary. 21 Grammaṭīqī suryāytā aw kaldāytā dfilosofā w-teologos ǧewargīs breh d-mīka’ēl men bet ‘amīrā ‘edīnāyā marunāyā men ṭurā dlebnān... Grammatica Syriaca sive Chaldaica, Georgij Michaelis Amirae Edeniensis è Libano, Philosophi, ac Theologi, Collegij Maronitarum Alumni…, Romae, in Typographia Linguarum externarum. Apud Jacobum Lunam. 1596. “Jacobum Lunam”, the Maronite Ya‘qub b. alHilāl, was formerly a typesetter in the Tipografia Medicea; although the Tipografia Medicea does not appear in the impressum, Raimon-

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di was directly involved in the venture. About the relevance of Amira’s work in the history of Syriac linguistics, see R. Contini, “Gli inizi della linguistica siriaca nell’Europa rinascimentale,” Rivista degli studi orientali 68 (1994) 15-30. 22 N. Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les Maronites et l’Europe. Du Collège Maronite de Rome (1584) au Collège de ‘Ayn-Warqa (1789) (Beyrouth, 1984), pp. 343-48. 23 See Levi Della Vida, Ricerche, 407, 409410; the information is found in a register entitled “Libro nel quale se scriveranno tutti li collegianti e conv[itori] Rettori et Maestri et ufitiali Repetitori he Pre[fetti] nel collegio de Neophiti et trasmarini,” f. 29r.: “Melchisedec Caldeo venne nel Collegio per insegniare la lingua Caldea adi primo di Aprile 1593 et per la sua provisione scudi dodici di moneta lanno senza le spese del vivare”. 24 S.E. Assemani, Bibliothecae Mediceae Laurentianae et Palatinae codicum mss. Orientalium Catalogus (Florentiae 1742), pp. 440. 25 See MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Ms Or. Fol. 13, fifth letter (Moses to Masius, 26 March 1555, from Vienna) and sixth letter (Moses to Masius, 25 July 1555, from Vienna). 26 See H. Takahashi, Barhebraeus. A BioBibliography (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), 249 n. 563, and G. Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. Erster Band. Die Übersetzungen (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944), p. 138. 27 The shelfmark Or. 458 was attributed to a large file containing a collection of many independent fascicules, documents and single leafs bound together in 1771 when the archival material of the Tipografia Medicea was deposited in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Until 2011, the ff. were not numbered. For some reason, the fascicules that compose our MS were left without numbers, and there is no better way to indicate their position than, for example, ‘between f. 91 and f. 92’. 28 Cfr. H. Zotenberg, Catalogue des manuscrits syriaques et sabéens (mandaïtes) de la Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris, 1874), pp. 200-01. 29 R. Payne Smith, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Bodleianae, pars sexta, codices Syriacos, Carshunicos, Mandaeos complectens (Oxford, 1864), pp. 576-85.

30

L. Van Rompay, “Mushe of Mardin,” in S.P. Brock et al. (eds.), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011), pp. 300-01. 31 “Libro nel quale…,” (see note 23), f. 28r: “Monsig.re Vescovo Moyse di soria Maestro della Lingua Arabicha et Caldea venne nel Collegio per insegniare lesudette lingue adi 15 di Aprile 1581. […] Si parti del collegio adi 10 di dicembre 1585 con bona licentia delli Illmi et Rmi Cardinali protettori di esso Collegio”. After Moses left, no teacher was appointed for Syriac before Malkizdeq, in 1593. 32 BW pictures in C. Aboussouan (éd.), Le livre et le Liban (Paris, 1982), pp. 125-27. 33 J. Leroy, “Une copie syriaque du Missale Romanum de Paul III et son arrière-plan historique,” Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph 46, no. 24 (1970) 374. 34 See P.G. Borbone, “From Tur ‘Abdin to Rome: the Syro-Orthodox presence in Sixteenth Century Rome”, forthcoming in the Proceedings of the Syriac Conference held in Mardin, April 2012. 35 See J. Moukarzel, Gabriel Ibn al-Qila‘i († ca. 1516): Approche biographique et étude du corpus (Kaslik: PUSEK, 2007) and J. Moukarzel, “Raymond Lulle en arabe,” Studia Lulliana 105 (2010) 3-20. 36 Gemayel, Les échanges culturels, p. 96. 37 MS Or. 58 / 9a1 is one of the four Peshitta MSS antedating the 13th century that contain a complete OT (with some lacunae), the others being 7a1 (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, B21 Inf.), 8a1 (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Syr. 341) and 12a1 (Cambridge University Library, 0o1.1,2). 38 This is the case, for instance, of MSS Or. 71, 208, 230. 39 The information about the date and the scribe of MS Barberini Or. 76 is given in a note written by Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santoro (Caserta, 1532 – Rome, 1602) on the first folio. He ascribes to Moses the copy of the book and informs about the date of the work: “Romae. traditus nobis dono à Reu(erendissimo) D(omino) Moyse Episcopo Syro, die XX. Februarij M. D. LXXXVI, qui sua mano scripsit”. 40 S.E Assemani, J.S. Assemani, Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae codicum manuscriptorum catalogus II (Romae, 1758), pp. 13-14.

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Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts Produced in Rome _________________________________________________________________________________________ 41

In fact, he did not stop copying manuscripts, mostly Garšūnī, after 1593. But they are mostly preserved in the Vatican Library (e.g. MSS Vat. Syr. 10 [Book of Psalms, Garšūnī, 1593], 27 [Baptismal ritual and Syriac Mass, both with Latin translation, 1593], 72 [Garšūnī, Maronite Mass; Syrian-Orthodox and Maronite Anaforae, 1597], 99 [ff. 1-8: Profession of Faith, 1598], 214 [ff. 28-78: Garšūnī, Poem about St. Alexis (Mār Rišā); Canticles; Life of Abraham the Syrian, Patriarch of Alexandria, 1592], 230 [ff. 5-11: Garšūnī, Profession of Faith, 1595], dated 1592-1598).

42

E. Tisserant, “Église nestorienne,” Diction-naire de théologie catholique 17 (1931) 234-39. 43 A. Bertolotti, “Le tipografie orientali e gli orientalisti a Roma nei secoli XVI e XVII,” Rivista europea N.S. 9 (1878) 218-68, p. 248: “20 marzo 1614 alli heredi del q. Stefano Godier scudi 133 baj. 20 di moneta quali se li faranno pagare per carte N. 740 pecorine bianche da scrivere a ragion di baj. 18 l’una che loro hanno dato al Padre Adamo Ambasciatore del Patriarca di Babilonia per scrivere una bibbia caldea”.

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Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts Produced in Rome _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 1 Or. 460, f. 113r The image is the property of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. On concession of the “Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali”; it may not be further reproduced by any means. ________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 43

Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts Produced in Rome _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 2

Or. 463, f. 284r The image is the property of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. On concession of the “Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. ________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 44

______________________________________________________________________

A HITHERTO UNCATALOGUED SYRIAC MANUSCRIPT FROM THE URMIA MUSEUM, IRAN*

NICHOLAS AL-JELOO SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

W

hilst conducting fieldwork around the city of Urmia, in northwest Iran, during the summer of 2008, I decided to enquire at the city museum to ascertain if they possessed any relevant materials in their holdings. It was then that I was directed to the curator, who mentioned the existence of an “Armenian” manuscript and a Hebrew Torah scroll, written on parchment. According to her, these had been captured some years ago by Iranian authorities from Kurdish smugglers operating on the border with Turkey, but they had not been catalogued or put on display because their contents could not be verified. Kindly, the curator agreed to let me study the manuscripts, so as to ascertain their originality, and to help catalogue them if possible. This was conducted on the evening of Tuesday 19 August 2008. To my surprise, the manuscript which she had believed was “Armenian,”1 actually turned out to be written in Classical Syriac! I shall now turn to it in more detail.

THE MANUSCRIPT This manuscript is in good condition, and has sustained almost no damage, with min-

imal tears, water damage, or burn marks on some of its pages. It is a typical Church of the East Gospel Lectionary, “as… that which is read in the church of Mosul.” The text is arranged in two columns, and is copied out on paper in black and red ink, in a bold and neat nineteenth century East Syriac hand. The manuscript measures 45 x 32 cm (written surface 38 x 23 cm), its folios are unnumbered, and it is composed of 10 quires which are numbered in bold Estrangela letters. The ornamentation on the title page appears to be incomplete, and there is also some decoration around the quire numbering. Otherwise there are no other embellishments. The binding is of brown leather (fig 1), and it has intricate designs stamped into it, with a cross placed transversally on its front cover, meaning it was probably displayed lying on its spine, on the stone stand normally located in front of the sanctuary arch of the mountain churches, known as the šḵīntā ‫( ܫܟܝܢܬܐ‬i.e. “dwelling-place” or “temple”)2 or Gāghūltā ‫( ܓܓܘܠܬܐ‬i.e. Golgotha), in the tradition of the Church of the East.3 Title in red ink (fig. 2): ‫ܥܠ ܚܝܠܗ ܕܡܪܢ ܝܫܘܥ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܡܫܪܝܢ ܚܢܢ‬ ‫ܠܡܟܬܒ ܟܬܒܐ ܩܕܝܫܐ ܕܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ‬

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

̇ ‫ܕܟܠܗ ܫܢ̄ܬܐ‬ ‫ܣܓܝܕܐ ܕܩ̈ܪܝܢܐ ܡܦ̈ܪܫܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܕܚܕܒܫܒܐ‬ ‫ܘܕܥܐܕܐ ܘܐܦ ܕܕܘܟ̈ܪܢܐ ܐܝܟ‬ ‫ܛܟܣܐ ܡܘܨܠܝܐ‬ Through the might of our Lord Jesus Christ we begin writing the holy book of the adored Gospel, of particular readings [i.e. lectionary] of the whole year, of Sundays, of feasts and also of commemorations, according to the rite of Mosul.

Single units within the Bible, not the entire Bible, are all that one would have encountered among the liturgical books of the Church of the East, as is the case with the present manuscript.4 This is the regular liturgical lectionary of the Church of the East and there are many manuscripts of this type. It contains selected texts from the four Gospels, read during the Eucharistic liturgy and arranged according to the liturgical calendar of the Church of the East, for which they had been assigned. This is in agreement with the ṭaksā ‫( ܛܟܣܐ‬i.e. “order” or “rite”) of Mosul.5 As expected, therefore, the contents of this manuscript are found practically word for word in many others. The text of the lectionary ends with the following subscription, written in red ink: ‫ܫܠܡ ܒܝܕ ܬܥܕܝܪ ܪܡܙ ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܐܠܗܝܬܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܕܒܡܚܝܐܠ ܡܥܕܐ ܬܘܩܦܐ ܕܚܝܠܗ‬ ‫̇ܗܝ‬ ‫ܠܡܚܘܝܘ ܟܬܒܐ ܕܦܘܪܫ ܩ̈ܪܝܢܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܕܟܠܗ‬ ‫ܕܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܣܓܝܕܐ ܒܓܝܓܐܠ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܘܥܐܕܐ ܘܕܘܟ̈ܪܢܐ‬ ‫ܒܚܕܒܫܒܐ‬ .‫ܫܢ̄ܬܐ‬ ‫ܐܝܟ ܬܪܝܨܘܬ ܛܟܣܐ ܬܒܠܝܐ ܕܡܬܩܪܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܘܠܝܗ ܫܘܒܚܐ ܘܩܘܒܠ‬ ‫ܒܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܘܨܠ‬ ‫ܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬ The book of particular readings of the adored Gospel for the course of the whole year, on Sundays, feasts and commemorations, according to the integral (and) universally (used) order, which is recited in the Church of Mosul, has been completed through the assistance [and] indication of divine grace, the force of His power, which seizes the weak, in way of demon-

stration. Praise and thanksgiving be to God, Amen.”

Immediately after the subscription is a brief quatrain, also written in red ink, which reads as follows: ‫ܐܫܘܐ ܡܪܢ ܒܛܝܒܘܬܟ‬ . ‫ܠܟܬܘܒܐ ܕܗܕܐ ܣܒܪܬܟ‬ . ‫ܘܠܡܟܬܒܢܐ ܕܠܡܠܬܟ‬ ̈ ‫ܠܒܘܣܡܐ ܕܒܡܠܟܘܬܟ ܀‬ Make worthy, O Lord, through your grace, The writer of this, your good news, And those who write your commands, Of the delights which are in Your kingdom.

THE COLOPHON The most interesting feature of this manuscript is the arrangement of the colophon which gives full details of the scribe, date and place of writing, etc. In this case the scribe has written as many as five short colophons in black and red ink after the subscription of the manuscript. The order and information contained in these colophons are as follows: 1. The first colophon (fig. 3) is in black ink and gives full details of the date of completion of the work as follows: ‫ܐܫܬܪܝ ܗܟܝܠ ܘܐܫܬܠܡ ܟܬܒܐ ܗܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܡܐܠ‬ ‫ܕܡܢ‬ ̣ ‫ ܘܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܣܓܝܕܐ‬.‫ܚܝܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܐܪܒܥܐ ܐܘܢܓܠܣܛܐ ܐܬܛܟܤ ܒܝܪܚܐ‬ ‫ܒܪܝܟܐ ܫܒܛ ܀ ܟܙ ܀ ܒܗ ܀ ܒܝܘܡ‬ ̈ ‫ܐܠܦܝܢ‬ ‫ܕܐܪܒܥܐ ܒܫܒܐ ܀ ܒܫܢܬ ܬܪܝܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܠܝܘܢܝܐ ܒ̈ܪܝܟܐ‬ ‫ܘܡܐܐ ܘܫܬܝܢ ܘܬܫܥܝܢ‬ . ‫ܐܡܝܢ ܀ ܐܠܠܗܐ ܕܝܢ ܐܒܐ ܕܥܕܪ‬ ‫ ܘܠܪܘܚܐ ܕܩܘܕܫܐ‬. ‫ܘܠܒܪܐ ܡܪܟܠ ܕܣܝܥ‬ ‫ ܘܠܫܘܟܠܐܠ ܒܛܝܒܘ ܕܚܢܢܗ‬. ‫ܓܡܪ ܟܠ‬ ‫ ܫܘܒܚܐ ܘܐܝܩܪܐ ܘܬܘܕܝܬܐ‬. ‫ܡܢܥ‬ ‫ܘܣܓܕܬܐ ܘܐܘܚܕܢܐ ܘܪܘܡܪܡܐ ̣ܡܢ‬ ‫ܟܠܗܘܢ ̈ܡܠܝܐܠ ܕܠܥܠ ܘܕܠܬܚܬ ܒܟܠܗܘܢ‬ ̈ .‫ܕܥܠܡܝ ܥܠܡܝܢ ܐܡܝܢ‬ ‫ܕ̈ܪܐ‬ This book full of life, the adored Gospel from the four Evangelists, was thus begun and com-

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

pleted in the blessed month of Shḇat (February), the 27th of it, on a Wednesday, in the year two thousand one hundred and sixty and ninety of the blessed Greeks (= 1879 AD), Amen.6 Glory, honour, thanksgiving, adoration, power and exaltation from all those who are endowed with speech, above and below, in all generations of eternity, unto God the Father who assisted, unto the Son, Lord-of-all, who supported, and unto the Holy Spirit, which brings all to perfection, and leads [things] to completion through the grace of His loving-kindness, Amen.

2.

The second colophon, written in red ink, informs us of the place of copying, that is Ashīthā (modern-day Çığlı), a small town in the Lower Tyāré district of the Hakkârī Highlands, in southeast Turkey. Its patron saint was St. George the martyr, whose church was built there. The colophon thus reads as follows: ̈ ‫ܐܬܟܬܒ ܓܝܪ ܟܬܒܐ ܗܢܐ ܡܐܠ‬ ‫ܚܝܐ‬ ‫ܘܛܒܝܒܬ‬ ‫ܒܩܪܝܬܐ ܒܪܝܟܬܐ ܘܡܒܪܟܬܐ‬ ̤ ‫ܘܥܫܝܢܬ‬ ‫ܒܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ ܐܪܬܕܘܟܣܝܬܐ‬ ̤ ‫ܘܟܗܝܢܬ‬ ‫ܒܟܪܘܙܘܬܐ ܦܘܠܘܣܝܬܐ‬ ̤ ̈ ̈ ‫ܒܟܐܢܐ‬ ‫ܘܣܒܝܣܬ ܒܛ̈ܪܩܐ‬ ‫ܘܙܕܝܩܐ‬ ̤ ̈ ̈ ‫ܘܛܘܠܝܩܐ ܒܝܬ ܢܘܚܐ ܕܐܠܝܨܐ‬ ‫ܘܢܦܐܫܐ ܕܥ̈ܪܝܨܐ ܡܥܡܪܐ ܕܡܟ̈ܪܗܐ‬ ‫ ܕܟ̈ܪܝܗܐ ܒܝܬ ܓܘܣܐ‬7‫ܘܐܟܣܘܢܕܘܟܝܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܕܡܫܩܦܐ‬ ‫ܕܡܛ̈ܪܦܐ ܘܢܚܬܘܡܐ‬ ̈̇ ‫ ܕܒܐܬܪܐ ܒܪܝܟܐ ܕܛܝ̈ܪܐ‬8‫ܐܫܝܬܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܕܣܝܡܐ ܘܡܛܟܣܐ ܘܒܢܝܐ ܥܠ ܓܢܒ‬ ‫ܥܘܡܪܐ ܘܩܕܘܫ ܩܘܕܫܝܢ ܕܡܪܝ‬ . ‫ ܣܗܕܐ ܢܨܝܚܐ ܐܡܝܢ‬9‫ܓܝܘܪܓܝܤ‬ This book, [which is] full of life, was thus written in the doubly blessed village [of] Ashīthā, renowned for its orthodox10 faith, mighty in Pauline preaching, abundant in the just and righteous, densely populated with the most excellent and most distinguished, resting place of those

who are oppressed and breathing-space of those in need, abode of the unhealthy, hospital for the sick, refuge of the perturbed, baker for the stricken, which is in the blessed district of Tyāré, [and] which is set, arranged and built beside the church and Holy of Holies of St. George the victorious martyr, Amen.

This is followed by a section in black ink, praying that the village in which the manuscript was copied be protected from all harm and evil-doing: ̇ ‫ܠܗ ܡܪܢ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܘܡܘܪܒ‬ ̇ ‫ܡܥܡܪ‬ ‫ܠܗ‬ ‫ ܘܢܫܐܠ ܘܢܒܛܠ‬. ‫ܒܝܡܝܢܗ ܚܝܠܬܢܝܬܐ‬ ̇ ̈ ‫ ܘܫܩܐܠ‬.‫ܘܛܠܘܡܐ‬ ‫ܡܢܗ ܛܠܘܡܝܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܘܡܗܦܟ‬. ‫ ܘܥܘܐܠ ܕܥܘܐܠ‬. ‫ܕܐܡܝ̈ܪܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܡܢܗ ܚܡܬܐ ܘܪܘܓܙܐ‬ ̇ ̈ 11‫ܢܫܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܕܐ‬ ‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ . ‫ ܪܓܐܠ ܥܫܝܢܬܐ ܐܡܪܢܐ‬. ‫ܘܒܪܒ̈ܪܝܐ‬ ‫ ܒܨܠܘܬ ܩܒܘܬ‬. ‫ܘܐܝܕܐ ܒܙܘܙܬܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܕܫܠܝܚܐ‬ ̈ . ‫ܛܘܒܢܐ‬ . ‫ܢܘܗܪܐ ܡܪܝܡ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܘܩܕܝܫܐ‬. ‫ܘܕܙܕܝܩܐ ܕܒܥܬܝܩܬܐ‬ . ‫ܕܒܚܕܬܐ ܐܡܝܢ‬ May our Lord Christ make it prosperous and make it great through his powerful right arm; may He end and void from it oppression and oppressors, the taxes of princes, and the iniquities of the wicked; and may He turn away from it the fury and wrath of evil and barbaric men, I say, the violent foot and the hand which plunders; through the prayers of Mary the Ark of Light, the blessed Apostles, the righteous of the Old Testament, and the saints of the New Testament, Amen.

3. The third colophon in red and black ink, mentions the name of the CatholicosPatriarch during whose reign the manuscript was completed, viz. Mār Shim‘on XVIII Rūḇël (1861-1903), whose seat was at the village of Qudshānīs in the Upper Barwar district of the Hakkârī highlands, in southeast Turkey:

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

̈ ‫ܒܝܘܡܝ ܐܒܐ ܘܡܪܐ‬ ‫ܐܬܟܬܒ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܥܠܠܢܐ ܘ̈ܪܥܘܬܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܒܗܬܐ ܘܪܫ‬ ‫ܘܡܫܘܚܐ ܕܟܘܡ̈ܪܐ ܡܣܪܚ ܟܟ̈ܪܐ ܘܡܘܚܕ‬ ‫ܚܘܛ̈ܪܐ ܘܚܟܝܡܐ ܘܡܪܚܡܢܐ ܘܢܓܝܪ‬ ‫ܪܘܚܐ ܘܡܟܝܟܐ ܘܚܝܘܣܬܢܐ ܓܒܪܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܠܗܐ ܘܒܪܢܫܐ ܕܐܠ ܡܘܡܐ ܡܐܢܐ‬ ‫ܕܛܝܒܘܬܐ ܘܫܟܝܢܬܐ ܕܪܘܚ ܩܘܕܫܐ‬ ‫ܢܘܣܐ ܕܕܟܝܘܬܐ ܘܡܥܡܪܐ ܕܬܠܝܬܝܘܬܐ‬ ‫ ܕܪܫ‬12‫ܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܐ ܦܛܪܝܪܟܝܤ‬ ̈ ‫ܦܢܝܬܐ ܡܕܢܚܐ ܘܕܟܠ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܣܘܦܐ‬ ‫ܬܒܝܠܝܐ‬ ̱ . ‫ ܢܬܩܝܡ ܘܢܫܬܪܪ‬. ‫ܕܬ̈ܪܝܨܝ ܫܘܒܚܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܘܡܢ ܟܠ ܢܟܝܢ‬ ̣ ‫ܘܢܬܥܫܢ ܘܢܬܓܢܒܪ‬ ‫ܘܣܘܓܦܢ ܕܐܠ ܙܘܥܙܥ ܢܬܢܛܪ ܒܡܘܪܒܢܐ‬ ‫ ܘܡܥܠܝܢܐ‬. ‫ܕܐܝܩܪܗ ܘܡܪܡ ̱ܪܡܢܐ ܕܕܪܓܗ‬ ̈ ‫ ܠܫܘܒܗܪܐ‬. ‫ܕܟܘܪܣܝܗ‬ ‫ܕܥܕܬܗ‬ ‫ܘܠܚܘܬܪܐ ܕܡ̈ܪܥܝܬܗ ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬ It was copied in the days of father and master of fathers, head of prelates and shepherds, anointer of high-priests, distributor of talents, and he who confers pastoral staffs, wise and merciful, longsuffering, humble and benevolent, a man of God and flawless human being, a vessel of grace and temple of the Holy Spirit, a shrine of purity and abode of the Trinity, Mār Shim‘on, Catholicos-Patriarch of the head of [all] regions, the East, and of all the extremities of the habitable earth, of the Orthodox.13 May he be ratified, confirmed, strengthened and made mighty, and may he be guarded from all harm and injury, without disturbance, by He who magnifies his honour, exalts his rank and raises his throne, for the pride of his churches and for the pomp of his dioceses, Amen.

4.

The fourth colophon, written in alternating sections of black and red ink, states that the manuscript was copied by the deacon John, son of Lāchīn, son of John from the village of Ashīthā.14 This is the longest of the colophons and reads as follows: ‫ܟܬܒ ܕܝܢ ܡܠܘܢ ܚܒܠ ܘܛܪܛܫ ܘܫܚܡ‬ ̄ ‫ܘܫܟܪ ܠܛ̈ܪܦܐ ܗܠܝܢ‬ ‫ܐܢܫ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠ ܕܘܐ‬

̈ . ‫ܒܣܡܠܝܬܐ‬ ‫ ܥܬܝܪ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠ‬. ‫ܘܚܠܫ ܘܚܛܝ‬ ̈ ‫ ܫܦܝܥ ̣ܡܢ‬. ‫ܒܝܡܝܢܬܐ‬ ‫ܘܨܪܝܟ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠ‬ ̈ ‫ ܘܣܦܝܩ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠ‬. ‫ܒܕܠܩܘܒܠܝܬܐ‬ ‫ܟܠ‬ ̈ ‫ ܓܢܒܪ ܘܚܝܠܬܢ‬. ‫ܒܡܩܠܣܢܝܬܐ‬ ̈ . ‫ ܘܡܬܝܢ ܘܡܚܝܠ ܒܫܦܝ̈ܪܬܐ‬. ‫ܒܣܢܝܬܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܝܘܡܐ ܟܠܗ‬ ‫ܗܘܐ ܒܚ̈ܪܝܢܐ‬ ̣ ‫ܛܥܐ‬ ̇ ̇ ̈ ‫ ܚܕܐ ܟܕ‬. ‫ ܦܨܝܚ ܟܕ ܐܟܠ‬. ‫ܘܒܡܨܘܬܐ‬ ̇ ‫ ܡܥܩ ܟܕ‬. ‫ܨܐܡ‬ ‫ ܟܡܝܪ ܟܕ‬. ‫ܫܬܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܐܫܟܪܐ‬. ‫ܕܟܘܒܐ‬ ‫ ܚܩܐܠ‬. ‫ܡܨܐܠ‬ ̈ ‫ ܢܦܫܐ ܡܡܝܛܬ‬. ‫ ܠܒܐ ܥܡܘܛܐ‬. ‫ܕܙܝܙܢܐ‬ ‫ ܡܫܟܪ ̣ܡܢ ܠܒܪ‬. ‫ܬܚܝܬ ܝܘܩܪܐ ܕܚܛܝܬܐ‬ . ‫ ̇ܗܢܘ ܕܝܢ ܒܦܓܪܐ ܘܒܢܦܫܐ‬. ‫ܘܡܢ ܠܓܘ‬ ̣ ‫ ܕܠܝܬ‬. ‫ܗܘ ܠܝܬܗ ܝܕܥ ̇ܗܘ ܕܒܪܝܗܝ‬ ̤ ‫ܕܣܟܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܗܘ‬ ‫ܥܒܕ‬ ̤ ‫ܘܐܠ ܚܕ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠ ܕܠܘ‬ ‫ ܘܐܠ ܙܕܩ ܕܢܬܕܟܪ ܫܡܗ‬. ‫ܒܡܬܥܒ̈ܪܢܘܬܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܒܟܬܒܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܩܕܝܫܐ ܡܛܠ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܥܒܕܘܗܝ‬ ‫ܒܝܫܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܐܐܠ ܡܛܠ ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܚܘܣܝܐ‬. ‫ܘܣܢܝܐ‬ ̇ 15 ̈ ̈ . ‫ ܕܩܛܦ ̣ܡܢ ܦܘܡܝ ܩ̈ܪܘܝܐ ܚܣܝܐ‬. ‫ܡܘܕܥ ܫܡ ܕܘܝܘܬܗ ܕܐܝܬܘܗܝ ܒܫܡܐ‬ ‫ ܟܕ‬. 16‫ ܕܒܛܝܒܘ ܼܿܫ ܵܡ ܵܫܐ‬. ‫ܬܚܘܒܐ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ̈̇ . ‫ܒܥܒܕܐ ܪܚܝܩ ܐܝܟ ܐܪܥܐ ̣ܡܢ ܫܡܝܐ‬ ‫ ܘܐܝܟ‬. ‫ܘܐܝܟ ܡܕܢܚܐ ̣ܡܢ ܡܥ ̱ܪܒܐ‬ ‫ ܒܪ ܡܗܝܡܢܐ‬. ‫ܓܪܒܝܐ ̣ܡܢ ܬܝܡܢܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܠܓܝܢ ܒܪ ܡܗܝܡܢܐ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ‫ܡܢܗ ܕܩܪܝܬܐ‬ ̰ ̇ ‫ ܟܕ‬. ‫ܒܪܝܟܬܐ ܐܫܝܬܐ‬ ‫ܒܥܐ ̣ܡܢ ܟܠܗܘܢ‬ ̈ . ‫ܩܕܝܫܐ ܥܠ ܣܘ̈ܪܚܢܘܗܝ ܕܐܠ ܢܬܦܪܣܘܢ‬ ‫ܕܗܘ ܡܪܢ ܝܫܘܥ ܡܫܝܚܐ ܢܚܘܢܝܘܗܝ‬ ̤ ̈ ‫ ܘܢܫܘܝܘܗܝ ܠܫܘܒܩܢܐ‬. ‫ܒ̈ܪܚܡܘ܊‬ ‫ܕܚܛܗܘ܊‬ ̇ ‫ ܕܠܘ ܐܝܟ‬. ̇ ‫ܥܒܕܘܗܝ‬ ̈ . ‫ܫܐܠ ܡܢܗ‬ ‫ܕܫܘܝܢ‬ ̣ ‫ ܥܠ‬. ‫ܐܐܠ ܡܛܠ ܕܫܦܝܥܝܢ ̈ܪܚܡܘܗܝ‬ ̈ ‫ܚܛܝܐ ܕܐܟܘܬܗ ܒܛܝܒܘ ܕܚܢܢܗ ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬ (In black ink) A most miserable, feeble and sinful man, most rich in wrongs and most lacking in rights, most abundant in repugnant acts and most void of laudable ones, mighty and powerful in detestable deeds, and sluggish and weak in good deeds, wrote, or rather stained, spotted, blackened and spoiled these leaves. For he erred all day in controversies and quarrels, rejoicing as he eats, glad as he drinks, sorrowful when he fasts, weary when he prays, a field of thorns, a farm of weeds, a gloomy heart, a soul shaken under the weight of sin, obscene from within and from without, that is in body and in soul, which his creator knows is a summary of his being. For

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there is no one else who is such a transgressor. He does not deserve that his name be mentioned in the holy books because of his evil and detestable acts, but in order to extract a prayer of absolution [for him] from the mouths of the venerable readers, he will make known the name of his miserable self, which is the wretched John by name, son of the faithful Lāchīn,17 son of the faithful John from the blessed village of Ashīthā itself, by the grace [of God] a deacon, whilst in his deeds he is far as the earth is from heaven, as east is from west and as north is from south. He beseeches all the saints that his faults not be made known abroad, [and] that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself have pity on him through His mercy, and make him worthy of the forgiveness of his sins. But he does not ask that as if his deeds are deserving [of forgiveness], rather because He is abundant in His mercies, upon sinners such as him, through the grace of His compassion, Amen. ̄ ‫ܒܥܐ‬ ̇ ‫ ܘܡܬܟܫܦܢܐ‬18‫ܐܢܐ ܘܐܦܝܣܢܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܘܡܬܚܢܢ ܐܢܐ ܟܬܘܒܐ ܚܠܫܐ ܠܟܠ‬ ̈ ‫ ܐܢ ܐܝܟ‬. ‫ܦܓܥܝ ܒܟܬܒܐ ܗܢܐ‬ ‫ܡ̈ܪܘܬܝ‬ ‫ ܕܐܢ‬. ‫ܕܠܡܩܪܐ ܐܘ ܐܝܟ ܕܠܡܨܚܘ‬ 19 ‫ ܐܘ‬. ‫ܡܫܟܚܝܢ ܒܗ ܦܘܕܐ ܐܘ ܛܥܘܢܐ‬ . ‫ܢܫܝܢܐ ܢܬܪܨܘܢ ܒܚܘܒܐ ܕܐܠ ܪܛܢܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܘܢܗܘܘܢ ܝܕܥܝܢ ܕܟܝܢܐ‬ ‫ܐܢܫܝܐ ܛܥܘܫܐ‬ ̈ ‫̄ܗ ̤ܘ ܘܡܨܛܠܝܢܐ ܐܐܠ ܚܠܦ ܥܘܕܐܠ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܙܐܛܡܐ ܨܠܘܬܐ ܠܒܢܝܬܐ ܢܣܪܚܘܢ‬ ̇ ‫ܥܡܠ ܘܠܦܘܬ‬ ̣ ‫ܠܗܘ ܕܐܝܟ ܚܝܠܗ‬ ̄ ‫ܡܬܡܨܝܢܘܬܗ ܣܪܛ ܡܛܠ ܕܠܫܠܡܐ ܗ ̣ܘ‬ ‫ܡܪܢ ܐܠܗܐ ܘܦܩܕܢ ܒܝܕ ܫܠܝܚܗ ܘܐܡܪ‬ ‫ܕܨܠܘ ܚܕ ܥܠ ܚܕ ܕܬܬܐܣܪܘܢ ܘܣܝܒܪ‬ ̈ ‫ܥܘܣܩܐ ܕܟܠܢ ܒ̈ܪܚܡܘܗܝ ܕܠܗ ܫܘܒܚܐ‬ 20 . ‫ܠܥܠܡ ܥܠܡܝܢ ܐܡܝܢ‬ (In red ink) I, the feeble scribe, beseech, intercede, entreat and make supplication to all my lords who encounter this book, whether as readers or as copyists, that if they find errors or mistakes in

it, or carelessness, that they may correct them with unscrupulous love, and that they may know that human nature is fallible and prone to evil, but instead of complaints and accusations, that they may utter a heartfelt prayer for one who, worked as hard as he could, and who wrote according to his ability, for our Lord God stands for peace, and he commanded us through his apostles saying, ‘Pray for one another, that you may be bound [to one another].’ Thus he endured the vexations of us all through his mercy, for glory is His forever and ever, Amen. ̇ ‫ܐܬܕܟܪܝܢܝ ܡܪܝ ܩܪܘܝܐ ܡܐ‬ ̄ ‫ܕܗܘܐ‬ ‫ܐܢܐ‬ ‫ܥܦܪܐ ܘܚܐܠ ܘܩܛܡܐ ܒܠܒܗ ܕܐܪܥܐ‬ ̇ ‫ ܡܐ‬. ‫ܘܐܡܪ‬ ‫ܕܒܛܠ ܟܠ ܪܫ ܘܟܠ ܫܘܠܛܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܟܠ‬ ‫ ܘܕܢܚ ܡܠܟܐ ܫܡܝܢܐ‬. ‫ܚܝܠܝܢ‬ . ‫ܠܡܢܚܡܘ ̈ܪܡܝܝ ܒܥܦܪܐ ̣ܡܢ ܕ̈ܪܝ ܥܠܡܝܢ‬ ̄ 21‫ܘܙܥܩܐ ܩܪܢܐ‬ ̇ ‫ܐܚܪܝܬܐ‬ ‫ܘܩܝܡܝܢ ܟܠ‬ ̈ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܥܒܕܘ ܛܒܬܐ‬. ‫ܐܕܡܝܐ‬ ‫ܝܠܕܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܘܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܥܒܕܘ ܒܝܫܬܐ‬. ‫ܠܩܝܡܬܐ ܕܚܝܐ‬ ‫ ܐܢܬ ܡܪܢ ܝܫܘܥ‬. ‫ܠܩܝܡܬܐ ܕܕܝܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܥܒܕ ̈ܪܚܡܐ‬. ‫ܡܠܟܝܢ‬ ‫ܡܫܝܚܐ ܡܠܟ ܟܠ‬ ‫ ܘܥܠ‬. ‫ ܥܠ ܟܬܘܒܐ ܡܣܟܢܐ‬. ‫ܘܚܘܣܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܐ‬ . ‫ܒܗܘܗܝ‬ In black ink: “Remember me, O my lord the reader, when I turn into dust, soil and ashes in the depths of the earth, and say, when every chief, every ruler and all powers come to nought, and the Heavenly King appears to resurrect those lain in the ground since eternity, and the final trumpet calls out, and all the children of Adam rise, those who performed good deeds to the resurrection of life, and those who performed evil deeds to stand before judgment, ‘You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of all kings, have mercy upon and pardon the poor scribe, and his fathers.’ ̈ ̈ ‫ܡܟܬܒܢܐ ܕܢܣܝܘ‬ ‫ܐܚܝ ܐܡܪܘ‬ ‫ܫܪܝܪܐܝܬ‬ 22 ‫ܕܐܝܟ ܕܚܐܪ ܘܡܣܟܐ ܩܘܒܪܢܝܛܐ‬ ‫ܕܢܡܛܐ ܠܠܡܐܢܐ ܡܫܝܢܐ ܕܢܬܬܢܝܚ ̣ܡܢ‬

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̈ ‫ܓܠܠܘܗܝ‬ ‫ܥܡܠܗ ܘܛܘܪܦܗ ܕܒܝܢܬ‬ ‫ܕܝܡܐ ܗܟܢܐ ܐܦ ܟܬܘܒܐ ܡܚܝܐܠ‬ ̄ ‫ܠܣܘܪܓܕܐ‬ ‫ܐܚܪܝܐ ܕܢܬܬܢܝܚ ̣ܡܢ‬ ‫ܬܥܫܗ ܘܥܡܠܗ ܕܒܟܬܘܒܘܬܐ ܫܘܒܚܐ‬ 24 ̇ ‫ܠܗܘ ܕܡܥܝܢܝ ܠܗܪܟܐ ܒܪܟܡܪܝ ܨܐܠ‬ ‫ܥܠܝ ܐܘ ܡܪܝ ܒܚܘܒܐ ܕܟܕ ܢܐܬܐ ܕܒܘܪܐ‬ ‫̣ܡܢ ܫܠܝܐ ܒܬܝܒܘܬܐ ܢܫܟܚܢܝ ܘܐܠ‬ ‫ܒܒܛܠܢܐ ܡܛܠ ܕܡܣܟܢܐ ܐܝܬܝ ܘܨܪܝܟܐ‬ ‫ܕܟܒܪ ܢܚܘܢܢܝ ܡܪܐ ܡܪܚܡܢܐ ܒܥܘܕܪܢ‬ ̈ . ‫ܨܠܘܬܟܘܢ ܐܡܝܢ‬ 23

(In red ink) Truly, my brothers, experienced writers have said that, as a ship’s captain gazes and waits to approach a peaceful port that he may rest from his labours and his vexation between the sea’s waves, thus also does the weak scribe [wait for] the final line, that he may rest from the toil and hard work of his scribal endeavour. Glory to He who brought me to this stage, bless me my Lord. Pray for me with love, my lord, that when the Leader unexpectedly comes, He may find me in repentance and not in idleness, for I am poor and needy, so that the merciful Lord might perhaps have pity on me, though the aid of your prayers, Amen. ‫ܐܠ ܡܪܝ ܢܬܛܠܡ ܐܓܪܐ ܕܚܡܫ‬ 26 ̈ ̈ 25‫ܬܐܡܬܐ ̈ܕܐܠܝ‬ ̈ ‫ܘܦܠܚܝ‬ ‫ܘܥܡܠܝ‬ . ‫ ܒܚܩܐܠ ܚܘܪܬܐ‬. ‫ ܙܪܥܐ ܛܒܐ‬28‫ܘܙ̈ܪܥܝ‬ ̈ ‫ܢܫܬܘܙܒܢ ̣ܡܢ‬ ‫ ܐܐܠ‬. ‫ܕܡܢ ܥܒܐ‬ ̣ ‫ܒܩܢܝܐ‬ ‫ ܒܪܝܟ‬. ‫ܢܘܪܐ ܕܒܓܗܢܐ ܐܡܝܢ ܘܐܡܝܢ‬ ‫ ܘܡܫܒܚ ܫܡܗ ܩܕܝܫܐ‬. ‫ܐܠܗܐ ܠܥܠܡܝܢ‬ ‫ ܀‬29‫ܠܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕ̈ܪܝܢ‬ 27

(In black ink) My Lord, let the wage of the five twins which laboured, worked hard, toiled and sowed the good seed in the white field with a stylus from the forest, not be denied. Rather, let them be saved and rescued from the fire which is in Gehenna, Amen and Amen.30 May God be eternally blessed, and [may] his holy name be praised forever and ever.

5. The last colophon, written in black ink and rubricated, informs us that the manuscript was commissioned by the faithful “Hummo, Dīno, Yonādām, Khosho, Isaac, [and] the deacon Simon, from a blessed village in the district of Tyāré… at their own expense…” It was copied for a church dedicated to the fourth century martyr St. Simeon Bar Ṣabbā‘é, located at Oryāthā – another village in the Lower Ţyāré district, in the Hakkârī highlands – where the men listed appear to have been its lay leaders.31 This is then followed by a curse on anyone who steals or borrows the manuscript and fails to return it to its owner (fig. 4). ‫ ܒܡܟܬܒܢܘܬܗ ܕܟܬܒܐ‬32‫ܪܢܘ ܕܝܢ ܘܝܨܦܘ‬ ̈ ‫ܡܗܝܡܢܐ‬ ‫ܗܢܐ ܕܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܩܕܝܫܐ‬ ̈ ̈ . ‫ܩܘܫܬܢܝܐ‬ ‫ܘܡܘܕܝܢܐ‬ . ‫ܐܒ̈ܪܗܡܝܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܘܡܩܠܣܐ‬. ‫ܒܡܫܝܚܝܐ‬ ‫ܣܗܝܕܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܝܘܢܕܡ ܀‬. ‫ ܕܝܢܘ‬: ‫ ܗܘܡܘ‬. ‫ܒܝܫܘܥܝܐ‬ ‫ܚܘܫܒ ܀ܐܝܣܚܩ ܀ ܡܫܡܫܢܐ ܫܡܥܘܢ‬ ‫܀ ̣ܡܢ ܩܪܝܬܐ ܒܪܝܟܬܐ ܕܒܐܬܪܐ ܕܛܝ̈ܪܐ‬ ‫ܘܡܢ‬ ̣ ‫ ܘܐܟܬܒܝܘܗܝ ̣ܡܢ ܡܕܡ ܕܝܠܗܘܢ‬. ̈ ‫ܘܡܢ ܕܘܥܬܐ‬ ‫ܦܘܠܚܢܐ‬ ̣ ‫ܕܐܝܕܝܗܘܢ‬ ̈ . ‫ܕܐܦܝܗܘܢ ܡܛܠ ܝܘܬܪܢܐ ܕܢܦܫܗܘܢ‬ ̇ ‫ܥܕܬܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ܕܡܪܝ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܒܪ ܨܒܥܐ‬ ‫ܡܛܠ‬ ̄ ‫ ܘܠܝܬ ܫܘܠܛܢ‬. ‫ܕܐܘ̈ܪܝܬܐ‬ ̇ . ‫ܐܠܢܫ‬ ‫ܕܫܩܠ‬ ‫ ܠܗ ܡܢܗ ܢܗܘܐ ܠܝܛ‬33‫ܠܗ ܘܕܡܦܩ‬ ‫ܒܡܠܬ ܡܪܢ ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬ The Abrahamic believers and upright confessors, witnessed in Christ and praised amongst the followers of Jesus, Hummo, Dīno, Yonādām, Khosho34, Isaac, [and] the deacon Simon, from a blessed village in the district of Tyāré, thought of and solicited the writing of this book of the Holy Gospel. They commissioned it at their own expense, through the work of their hands and the sweat of their brows [literally: their faces], for the benefit of themselves, for the church of St. Simon Bar Sabbā‘é of Oryāthā. There is no authority for any man to carry it and take it out with him. May he be cursed

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through the command of Our Lord, Amen.”

Following these is a quatrain cursing anyone who does not love God or believe in His commandments: ̇ ̇ ‫ܟܠܡܢ ܕܐܠ‬ . ‫ܪܚܡ ܠܡܪܢ‬ ̈ . ‫ܘܐܠ ܡܗܝܡܢ ܠܡܠܘܗܝ ܕܡܪܢ‬ . ‫ܢܗܘ]ܐ[ ܚܪܝܡ ̣ܡܢ ܦܘܡ ܡܪܢ‬ ̈ ̇ ‫ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬ . ‫ܩܕܝܫܘܗܝ ܕܡܪܢ‬ ‫ܘܐܦ ̣ܡܢ‬ Whosoever that does not love Our Lord, And does not believe in the commands of Our Lord, May he be excommunicated by the mouth of Our Lord, And also by the saints of our Lord, Amen.

CONCLUSIONS The value of such manuscripts is without doubt since they were meticulously handwritten by professionally trained scribes, making them unique—unlike printed books, which are mechanically mass-produced. It is hence significant to emphasise here that, whilst it is kept in the Urmia Museum, the manuscript is actually not from the Urmia region but from across the border in the Hakkârī highlands of southeast Turkey. Bearing this in mind, this manuscript is particularly unique for the following reasons: 1. Among all the known Syriac manuscripts kept in currently catalogued collections, those deriving from the Church of the East are by far the rarest. This is clearly observed when one compares the large number of manuscripts owned by the Chaldean Catholic Church, catalogued and published on more than one occasion during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the meagre number of manuscripts coming from the Church of the East, which only recently began making its own catalogues. Around 2004, some 222 manuscripts in the archdiocesan library of the Assyrian Church of the East in Baghdad

(Iraq),35 and in 2011 another 125 manuscripts belonging to the archdiocesan library of the Assyrian Church of the East in Thrissur (India),36 were catalogued and published with pictures and basic details by Metropolitans Mār Gīwārgīs Slīḇā and Mār Aprem Mooken respectively. This rarity of manuscripts is due to the many wars and pillaging suffered by the Church of the East in eastern Turkey, northwest Iran and northern Iraq through the centuries of its long history, as well as the creation of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1555, not to mention the countless manuscripts destroyed in India as a result of the disastrous Synod of Diamper in 1599. The fate of many manuscripts owned by the Church of the East in modern times is largely unknown, due to its division into two patriarchates in 1968 and to the murder of the abdicated Catholicos-Patriarch Mār Shim‘on XXIII Īshay in 1975 in the United States.37 Thus this manuscript, originating in the Church of the East, is undoubtedly significant since it may be added to the corpus of currently documented codices. 2. There is evidence in this manuscript of the continuity of Syriac literature as late as the nineteenth century. The colophon in this codex, written in the rugged and mountainous Hakkârī region, was composed entirely in Classical Syriac by a trained copyist from the well-known scribal centre of Ashīthā. It covers four folios and the flowery language used to describe the location in which the manuscript was copied, the catholicos-patriarch in whose time it was copied, the scribe who copied it, and the people who commissioned it, is linguistically very interesting. According to Harrak, “The isolation of the Assyrians in the mountains of eastern Anatolia did not prevent them from producing scribes versed in classical Syriac… If one surveys all accessible colophons dated after the 14th century, one would be able to appreciate them as original literature, written

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

down by generations of scribes who never relinquished their Syriac.”38 3. Moreover, some matters are known only through this colophon, such as the existence of a previously undocumented village in the lower Tyāré district of Hakkârī named Oryāthā, as well as the names of the village dignitaries who paid for the lectionary

to be copied and donated to its church, which was dedicated to the fourth century martyr St. Simeon Bar Ṣabbā‘é. The manuscript thus adds valuable details to our knowledge of the Assyrian communities which existed in southeast Turkey prior to their destruction and abandonment during the First World War.

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

NOTES * I am indebted to the curator of the Urmia Museum for the assistance she rendered to me and for permission to consult and to photograph the manuscript which is the object of this article. 1 In Iran, Assyrians are generally mistakenly referred to by the general Muslim populace (whether ethnic Persian or Azeri) as Armenians because of their shared Christian religion. Thus things which are related to the modern Assyrians, or written in Syriac, often get categorised as Armenian, even though they are completely unrelated. 2 On this term see N. Sed, “La Shekinta et ses amis araméens,” in Mélanges Antoine Guillaumont: Contributions à l’étude des christianismes orientaux, Cahiers d’orientalisme 20 (Geneva, 1988), 233-42. 3 By contrast, complete Gospels are usually placed near altars in all the Syriac Churches (including the Church of the East), since in Syriac culture, the Gospels represent Christ himself; Amir Harrak, Catalogue of Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts: Manuscripts Owned by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage (Louvain: Peeters, 2011), p. XVI. 4 Ibid., p. 96. 5 Sometime during its history, the monastery of Mār Gabriel and Mār Abraham near Mosul, also called the “Upper Monastery,” made the Church of the East’s Syriac liturgy canonical. The seventh century CatholicosPatriarch Isho‘-Yāhḇ III, credited with the reformation of the liturgy, may have lived in this famous monastery which was visited by Caliph al-Ma’mun on a Palm Sunday. The mere mention of this “rite” suggests that there were other canonical liturgies, namely that of the Church of Kokhé (Seleucia-Ctesiphon) in Babylonia. This monastery disappeared around the thirteenth century, and its mention in late manuscripts is due to the fact that these are mere copies of ancient liturgical codices. The site of the monastery is now located inside Mosul, where an eighteenth century church dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin Mary (popularly known in Arabic as al-Ṭāhirah ‫ )الطاھرة‬stands to this day in the place of its ancient church. Cf. Ibid., p. XV and 49.

6

This date is based on the Julian calendar and is equivalent to 12 March 1879 AD in the Gregorian calendar. Notably, the date originally read 2160 AG (= 1849 AD), but the word shtīn ‫( ܫܬܝܢ‬sixty) was crossed out, and tish‘īn ‫ܬܫܥܝܢ‬ (ninety) was written after it. 7 MS: ‫( ܘܐܟܣܢܕܘܟܝܢ‬sic). 8 MS: The name of the village is written in black ink. 9 MS: ‫( ܩܕܘܫ ܩܘܕܫܝܢ ܡܪܝ ܓܝܘܪܓܝܤ‬sic). 10 The term Ārthādūksāytā ‫ܐܪܬܕܘܟܣܝܬܐ‬ “orthodox” does not refer to the official Orthodox churches but used in a generic sense to describe the traditional Christian faith of the Church of the East. 11 ̄ (sic). MS: ‫ܕܐܢܫܐ‬ 12 MS: The Syriac text following this word is written in black ink. 13 The term trīṣāy-shūḇḥā ‫( ܬ̈ܪܝܨܝ ܫܘܒܚܐ‬i.e. “orthodox”) does not refer to the official Orthodox churches but used in a generic sense to describe the traditional Christian faith of the Church of the East. 14 The scribe does not appear in a recent study of East Syriac manuscript colophons by David Wilmshurst, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East: 1318-1913 (Louvain, Peeters, 2000). However, John son of Lāchīn of Ashīthā is known in at least one other manuscript, belonging to the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage, a Psalter dated to April 1898 (MS. 30539); Harrak, Catalogue of Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts, 91-95. By that time it appears that he had been ordained a priest, and he gives his full name in the colophon of the latter manuscript as: “John, son of Lāchīn, son of John, son of ‘Aḇd-Isho‘… of Ashīthā.” 15 MS: ‫( ܦܘܡ‬sic). 16 ܵ ‫( ܫ‬sic). MS: ‫ܡܫܐ‬ ܸ 17 The personal name Lāchīn ‫ܓܝܢ‬ ̰ ‫ ܠ‬derives from Persian Lāchīn (‫ )الچين‬and Turkish Laçîn, and is a name for the lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus) native to southwest Asia. Notably, this name is transcribed with a gāmal bearing the diacritic majliyānā, normally transcribed as “j,” and not a kāph, which would normally be transcribed as “ch.” This indicates that the Assyrians of Hakkârī, as late as 1879, had not yet acquired this method of transcribing the distinct sound “ch,” by using the letter kāph bearing the

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

diacritic majliyānā, which had been developed by American Protestant missionaries in Urmia during the 1830s. 18 MS: ‫( ܘܦܝܣܢܐ‬sic). 19 MS: ‫( ܐ‬sic). 20 MS: ‫( ܠܠܥܠܡ‬sic). 21 MS: ‫( ܘܩܪܢܐ‬sic). 22 MS: ‫( ܩܒܪܢܝܛܐ‬sic). 23 MS: ‫( ܕܢܬܬܢܝܚ‬sic). 24 MS: ‫( ܨܠܘ‬sic). 25 MS: ‫( ܕܐܠܝ‬sic). 26 MS: ‫( ܘܥܡܠ‬sic). 27 MS: ‫( ܘܦܠܚ‬sic). 28 MS: ‫( ܘܙܪܥ‬sic). 29 MS: ‫( ܠܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܝܢ‬sic). The spelling ‫ܠܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܕܪܝܢ‬ ̈ is often found in manuscripts; cf. Harrak, Catalogue of Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts, 47. In this manuscript, the second, fourth, sixth and eighth pairs of letters dālath and resh are written in red ink. 30 The “five twins” are the ten fingers of the scribe’s two hands, the “good seed” is the sacred text of the Gospel, and the “white field” is paper on which he writes with a wooden stylus, Cf. Ibid., p. 89. This stereotypical poem also appears in the colophon of another manuscript by the same copyist (MS. 30539), with the alternate ending, ‫̣ܡܢ ܬܒܥܬܗ ܕܥܠܡܐ ܕܥܬܝܕ ܒܛܝܒܘ‬ ‫ )…(“ )…( ܕܡܢܟ ܐܡܝܢ‬and from the punishment of the world to come through the grace of yours, Amen.” According to Harrak, this colophon was written carelessly as well. Ibid., 94. 31 This village does not appear in any statistical lists of the area published by George Percy Badger in The Nestorians and their Rituals: with the Narrative of a Mission to Mesopotamia and Coordistan in 1842 – 1844, and of a Late Visit to Those Countries is 1850; also, Researches into the Present Conditions of the Syrian Jacobites, Papal Syrians and Chaldeans, and an Inquiry into the Religious Tenets of

the Yezeedees (London: Joseph Masters, 1852; 2 vols.), or by Edward L. Cutts, in Christians Under the Crescent in Asia (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1877). It is, however, marked on a large map of the area published by Austen Henry Layard in Nineveh and its Remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers; and an enquiry into the manners and arts of the ancient Assyrians (London, John Murray, 1849). Its name derives from the Syriac word meaning “stalls,” or “mangers,” and it appears to have been adjacent to, or part of, the larger settlement of Lāgippā. Nowadays, Assyrians who originally hail from Lāgippā count Mnāwuryāthā (a cor̈ ruption of Bnay-Oryāthā ‫ܒܢܝ ܐܘ̈ܪܝܬܐ‬, i.e. “the ‘children’ of Oryāthā”) as one of their clans. 32 MS: ‫( ܘܝܨܘ‬sic). 33 MS: ‫( ܕܡܦܩ‬sic). 34 MS: Hoshāv. It is interesting to note the shortened or diminutive forms of proper names, ̇ such as Hummo ‫ܡܘ‬ ̇ ‫ܗܘ‬ ̣ or Hormīzd ‫ܗܘܪܡ ̣ܝܙܕ‬, ̇ ‫ ܕܝ‬for Daniel ‫ܕܢܝܐܝܠ‬,ܵ and Hoshāv (KhoDīno ‫ܢܘ‬ ̣ ܹ ̣ ̇ for Haḇshabbā (Khoshaba) ‫ ܿܚ ̄ܕܒ ܿܫ ܵܒܐ‬. sho) ‫ܚܘ ܵܫ ̣ܒ‬ ܼ̣ ܼ 35 Mār Gīwārgīs Slīwā, Fihrist Makhṭūṭāt Maktabat Kanīsat al-Mashriq fī Baghdād [Index of Manuscripts Belonging to the Library of the Church of the East in Baghdad] (Baghdad, ca. 2004). 36 Mār Aprem Mooken, Assyrian Manuscripts in India (Thrissur: Mar Narsai Press, 2011). 37 After his abdication in 1973 the catholicospatriarch married an Assyrian woman named Īmāmā who, after his murder in 1975, seized all his properties, including books, manuscripts and archival documents originally belonging to patriarchate of the Church of the East. 38 Harrak, Catalogue of Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts, p. XXIX.

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A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 1 Cover

Fig. 2 Title and Introduction _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 55

A Hitherto Uncatalogued Syriac Manuscript from the Urmia Museum, Iran _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 3 Colophon (a)

Fig. 4 Colopon (b) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 56

______________________________________________________________________

CODEX GUELPH. 3.1.300: THE NOTE OF THE RESTORER*

EMANUELA BRAIDA UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

T

he parchment codex Guelph. 3.1.300 Aug. 2o preserved in the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel is a 7th-century illuminated Syriac Four Gospel Book (Tetraevangelium) according to the Peshiṭta version of the Gospels.1 The current binding was executed in Italy, probably in Rome, in the seventeenth century. It consists of 288 bound folios in units of four leaves. Its folia are approximately 28,5 x 35,5 cm, but this is not their original size since they were trimmed probably during the 17th century rebinding. The text is organized in two columns generally of nineteen lines in a large and elegant Estrangelo script. In its current form, it is not accompanied by the Eusebian Canon tables and all introductory material that had to be originally enclosed as shown by the apparatus. The decoration in the codex consists of a single-page image of a large cross on folio 284v, after the Gospels and within the list of liturgical readings. The cross rests on a stepped base and a medallion encompassing the bust of Christ occupies its centre (fig. 2). Two eight-pointed stars resembling flowers are placed on the sides of the upper arms of the cross, while an alpha and an omega are suspended from the horizon-

tal arm by means of decorations shaped as ropes or chains. Most of the colophon was written inside the four arms of the cross. This codex was brought to Germany by the well-known Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher who gave it as a gift to the Duke Augustus of Brunswick and Lünenburg on 19 March, 1666, as Kircher wrote in the dedication on the inside front cover of the book: Hoc opus 4 Evangeliorum rarum et antiquissimum in Syriaca lingua charactere quem Estranghelo vocant, ante annos 721 conscriptum, Ego infrascriptus Serenissimo S.R.I. principi Augusto Duci Brunsvic. et Lunaeburg. in celeberrimae Biblio-thecae suae ornamentum, nec non ad gratitudinem pro tot in me collatis beneficiis contestandam cordintimo affectu Offero. Dico. Consecro. Romae Anno 1666. 19 Martii. Humillimus et devotissimus servus Atanasius Kircherus. This rare and ancient Book of the Four Gospels in the Syriac language written 721 years ago in the characters they call Estrangelo, I, the undersigned, dedicate and consecrate with deep and heartfelt af-

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Codex Guelph. 3.1.300: The Note of the Restorer _________________________________________________________________________________________

fection to the Most Serene Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Augustus Duke of Brunswick and Lünenburg to adorn his famous library and to express my gratitude for all the benefits he granted to me. Rome, 1666, March 19. Your most humble and devoted servant Athanasius Kircher.

In an article written in 1987, Marion Leathers Kuntz2 suggested that this codex was the very Syriac manuscript Guillaume Postel brought from the East in 1550 and used to establish the text of the Antwerp Polyglot a few years later. This seems not to be the case, however, since we know that the Syriac text of the New Testament in the Antwerp Polyglot was established on the basis of the ms Louvain Cod. 1198.3 At any rate, we cannot determine with certainty how Kircher came into possession of this text, since he gives no explanation in the dedicatory letter that he attached to the volume on the day of its presentation. In that letter,4 he stated that he was sending to the Prince August what was to him the dearest and most precious possession he had, “the very rare and ancient codex of the Four Gospels of Christ in the Syriac language, in the character which they call Estrangelo, written seven hundred forty-five years ago, as the inscription at the end of the book shows.” Surprisingly, Kircher says in his dedication that the codex was written 721 years before, while in the dedicatory letter he writes that the book was written 745 years before. Since Kircher wrote both dedications in 1666, the manuscript would have been dated 945 AD in the first case and 921 AD in the second case. The colophon states in fact that it was completed in the year 945, but this date is to be understood according to the Greek era beginning in 312 BC. The correct date is therefore 633/34 AD. It seems curious that Kircher did not take into account the frequent use

of the era of the Greeks, the principal computation system in Syriac. This error had repercussions on some subsequent studies and it sometimes reappears even in modern texts.5 The colophon is divided into four parts (fig. 2), according to the position of the inscriptions in the arms of the cross. In the upper part of the cross the scribe records the date of composition and the subject of the volume: ‫ ܐܢܕܩܛܝܘܢܐ‬/‫ܒܫܢܬ ܬܫܥܡܐܐ ܡܗ‬ /.‫ ܒܝܘܡ ܟܕ ܕܟܢܘܢ ܩܕܝܡ‬/‫ܕܐܒܕܡܐ‬ ‫ ܩܕܝܫܐ ܕܡܬܝ‬/‫ܐܬܬܩܢ ܟܬܒܐ ܗܢܐ‬ /‫ ܒܚܦܝܛܘܬܐ‬.‫ ܠܘܩܐ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬/‫ܡܪܩܘܣ‬ ‫ ܩ̈ܪܝܢܐ ܕܟܠܗܘܢ‬/‫ ܼܗܘܘ ܒܗ ܕܝܢ‬.‫ܪܒܬܐ‬ ̈ ̈ /‫ܘܕܛܟܣܐ‬ .‫ ܕܐܝܬ ܒܫܢܬܐ‬/‫ܥܐܕܐ‬ ̈ ̈ ‫ ܕܐܝܬ‬/‫ ܘܫܘܘܕܥܐ ܡܫܚܠܦܐ‬.‫ܐܚ̈ܪܢܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܒܗܘܢ‬ ‫ ܘܩܪܡܗ ܗܢܐ‬/.‫ܒܐܘܢܓܠܣܛܐ‬ ̈ ̈ /‫ ܗܘܐ‬.‫ ܕܦܐܛܐܠ ܘܕܛܒܥܐ‬/‫ܚܕܬܐ‬ / ‫ܓܝܪ ܒܥܘܕܪܢܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܘܕܗܠܝܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܣܗܕܐ‬ ̈ .‫ ܒܝܬ ܚܐܠ‬/‫ܩܕܝܫܐ‬ In the year 945 / in the seventh Indiction / on the twenty-fourth day of First Kanun (December) / was completed this holy book /of Matthew, Mark, / Luke, John with great / diligence. There are in it / the readings for all the feasts / of the year and other / rites and various indices / that are in the Evangelists. And now its new cover / with plates and gems / was (made) with the help of God and of these / holy martyrs / (of) Beth-Ḥalā.

In the left arm the names of the patriarch and the bishop of the day are recorded in commemoration: ̈ ‫ ܡܪܝ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬/‫ܒܝܘܡܝ ܚܣܝܐ ܘܛܘܒܬܢܐ‬ /‫ ܕܟܘܪܣܝܐ ܫܠܝܚܝܐ‬/‫ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐ‬ ̈ ‫ ܘܩܕܝܫܐ‬/‫ܘܒܝܘܡܝ ܚܣܝܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܢܛܝܟܝܐ ܀‬ ‫ ܐܦܝܣܩܘܦܐ ܕܝܠܢ‬/‫ܡܪܝ ܬܐܘܡܐ‬ ‫ ̈ܪܒܢܐ‬/‫ ܥܘܡܪܐ ܩܕܝܫܐ ܕܒܝܬ‬/ [‫ܕܡـ]ܢ‬ ‫ ܫܡܗ ܩܕܫܐ‬/ ‫܀ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܿܗܘ ܕܥܠ‬ ‫ ܢܫܘܐ‬/‫ ܕܢܪܥܘܢ ܠܥܡܗ ܕܡܪܝܐ‬/‫ܣܝܡܝܢ‬ ̈ ‫ܢܬܪܥܘܢ‬ /‫ܕܐܦ‬ ‫ܠܡܗܝܡܢܘܗܝ‬ ̈ ‫ ܚܝܐ ܕܠܥܠܡ‬/‫ܘܢܬܬܓܪܘܢ‬

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Codex Guelph. 3.1.300: The Note of the Restorer _________________________________________________________________________________________

In the days of the virtuous and blessed / Mar Yūḥannan, Patriarch / of the Apostolic See / of Antioch, and in the days of the virtuous / and holy Mar Tʼoma, / our bishop of / the monastery of Beth / Rabbānē. God, in whose / holy name they are appointed / to shepherd the people of the Lord, / may find his believers worthy of being shepherded and of procuring eternal life.

In the right arm and in the bottom part of the cross the names of the monastery and its abbot are inscribed: / ‫ ܟܬܒܐ ܗ]ܢܐ[ ܩܕܝܫܐ‬/ ‫ܗܘ ܕܝܢ‬ ‫ ܡܪܩܘܣ‬/ ‫ܕܬܬܪܐܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ ܕܡܬܝ‬ ‫ ܐܬܚܦܛ]ܘ[ ܘܣܡܘ‬/ ‫ܠܘܩܐ ܝܘܚܢܢ‬ ‫ ܕܝܠܗ ܒܝܨܝܦܘܬܐ ܣܓܝܐܬܐ‬/ ‫ܩ̈ܪܝܢܐ‬ ‫ ܩܪܡܗ ܗܢܐ‬/‫ ܥܡ‬: ‫ ܘܒܫܩܠܛܥܢܐ ܪܒܐ‬/ 6 ̈ ‫ܘܓܒܝܐ‬ ‫ ܡܝܬܪܐ‬.‫ ܠܥܠ‬/ ‫ܕܐܡܝܪ ܡܢ‬ / ‫ ܩܫܝܫܐ ܘܪܝܫܕܝܪܐ ܡܪܝ‬/ ‫ܕܐܠܗܐ‬ ‫ܚܐܠ‬/‫ܣܒܢܝ ܕܥܘܡܪܐ ܩܕܝܫܐ ܕܒܝܬ‬ ‫ ܘܡܝܬܪܐ‬/ ‫ܕܐܝܬ ܒܟܘܪܐ ܕܕܪܡܣܘܩ‬ ̈ ‫]ܕܓܒܝـ[ܐ ܕܐܠܗܐ‬ Now / this holy book / of the four Gospels of Matthew, / Mark, Luke, John / was diligent to include its readings / with much care / and great patience, along with / its above mentioned cover, / the virtuous and God-chosen one, / the priest and abbot Mar / Sabiniu(s) of the monastery of Beth- / Ḥalā which is in the area of Damascus / and the outstanding among the God-chosen ones.

‫ܐܠܘܣ ܕܪܡܘܣܩܝܐ‬/‫ܩܫܝܫܐ ܡܪܝ‬ /‫ ܕܝܠܗ ܕܪܝܫܕܝܪܐ ܥܡ ܫܪܟܐ‬/‫ܬܢܝܢܗ‬ ̈ ̈ /‫ܘܡܫܡܫܢܐ‬ ‫ܩܫܝܫܐ‬ ‫ܕܟܠܗܘܢ‬ ̇ ‫ ܘܢܛܝܪܬ‬/ ‫ܟܠܗ ܒܪܝܟܬܐ‬ ‫ܘܐܚܘܬܐ‬ ‫ ܕܐܡܝܪ ܕܒܝܬ ܚܐܠ‬/‫ܡܢ ܐܠܗܐ ܗܢܐ‬ /‫ ܕܐܠܗܐ ̇ܗܘ ܕܡܛܠ ܫܡܗ‬/‫܀܀‬ /‫ܩܕܝܫܐ ܇ ܗܘܬ ܠܗܘܢ ܗܕܐ‬ ܼ̈ /‫ ̣ܗܘ ܢܬܠ ܐܓ̈ܪܐ‬.‫ܒܛܝܠܘܬܐ‬ ‫ܛܒܐ‬ ̈ ‫ܥܡ ܗܠܝܢ‬ ‫ ܐܚ̈ܪܝܐ ܕܦܠܚܘ‬/‫ܦܥܐܠ‬ /‫ ܘܢܫܘܐ ܐܢܘܢ‬.‫ ܕܡܫܝܚܐ‬/‫ܒܟܪܡܗ‬

‫ ܕܐܬܗܝܡܢܘ‬/ ‫ܕܢܓܥܠܘܢ ܟܟܪܐ ̇ܗܝ‬ ̈ ̈ ̇ ‫ܓܠܝܬܐ ܟܕ‬ ‫ ܒܪܬ‬/‫ܫܡܥܝܢ ̇ܗܝ‬ /‫ܦܐ‬ ܼ ‫ܒܐ‬ ‫ ܥܒܕܐ ܛܒܐ‬/‫ ܕܐܘ‬.‫ܩܐܠ ܕܐܡܪܐ‬ /‫ ܥܠ ܩܠܝܠ ܡܗܝܡܢ ܗܘܝܬ‬/‫ܘܡܗܝܡܢܐ‬ ‫ ܠܚܕܘܬܗ‬/‫ ܥܘܠ‬.‫ܥܠ ܣܓܝ ܐܩܝܡܟ‬ ‫ ܐܡܝܢ ܀‬.‫ܕܡܪܟ‬ The priest Mar / ʼAllōs of Damascus, the deputy / abbot, with the rest / of [all] the priests and deacons, / and the entire brotherhood blessed / and protected by God (in) the above mentioned Beth-Ḥalā. / May God, for the sake of whose holy / name they acquired this / diligence, give them good / rewards along with the other / workers who laboured in the vineyard / of Christ. And may He find them worthy / of entrusting that talent / that was committed to them with uncovered / face when they hear that / utterance that says: O / good and faithful servant, / over little you have been faithful, / over much I will set you. Enter / the joy of your Lord. Amen.

Finally, above the horizontal arms of the cross we can possibly find the name of the scribe: ‫܀ ܟܠ ܕܩܪܐ ܢܨܐܠ ܥܠ ܩܫܝܫܐ ܡܪܝ‬ ‫ ܕܣܓܝ ܐܬܚܦܛ ܀‬.‫ ܐ‬... / ‫ܣܪܓܝܣ ܕܡܢ‬ ‫ ܒܪ‬/ [‫ܡܛܠ ܡܪܢ ̈ܨܠܘ ܥܠ ܣܪ]ܓܝܣ‬ ‫ ܘܥܠ ܓܐܕܟܘܢܐ‬/ ‫ܓܕܟܐ ܘܥܠ ܡܪܝܡ‬ ̇ ‫ ܠܗܘܢ‬/ ... ‫ܒܪܗ‬ ‫ܒܗ ܫܘܬܦܘܬܐ‬ Let everyone who reads (this) pray for the priest Sargīs, from … who was very diligent. For the sake of our Lord pray for Sargīs bar GDKʼ, for Maryam ..., and for GʼDKWNʼ, his son ..., who associated themselves in it.

Codex ms Guelph. 3.1.300 Aug. 2o contains some twenty-five Syriac, Arabic and Garshuni7 notes written in the margins. As in the case of other ancient Syriac manuscripts, it is possible to trace out partly its location thanks to the notes inscribed in its

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Codex Guelph. 3.1.300: The Note of the Restorer _________________________________________________________________________________________

margins. Unfortunately, the heavy trimming the pages suffered at the time of the manuscript`s restoration often makes it extremely difficult to read what remains of the marginal notes. Nevertheless, we can discern that the codex was no longer in the region of Damascus during the fifteenth century, since the notes from that period were written in a Maronite church dedicated to Saint George in Bqarqāšā, in the Qaddiša valley, Lebanon.8 We do not know how the codex arrived in Europe. Kircher was possibly not its first owner, since a shelfmark (‘Q.IV.19’) written on the last page testifies that the volume entered a Western library before Kircher took possession of it. John Fletcher has suggested that the former owner could have been Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679), who was one of Kircher’s patrons in Rome.9 This could certainly be the case since Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, was the person in charge of the Vatican Library from 1627 to 1636 (when he resigned in favour of his uncle, Cardinal Antonio Barberini). It seems curious, however, that Kircher did not say that he bought or received such a volume as a gift from Cardinal Barberini. During the Barberini`s leadership, the Vatican Library was considerably enriched by legacies and the purchasing of both Western and Eastern manuscripts. Among them, “era stata comprata una famosa Bibbia siriaca da Sergio Risi,10 Arcivescovo di Damasco, per non dire dei vari codici siri ed arabici offerti da Vittorio Accorense,11 maronita.”12 Pope Urban also ordered that the manuscripts and codices from the hospice of Santo Stefano degli Abissini in Rome were transferred into the Library. The catalogue of the Coptic manuscripts was compiled by Kircher himself, and edited in his Prodromus coptus (1636). In 1658 the Vatican Library also acquired the book collection of the last Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere (1549 -

1631), which contained “1767 codici latini e volgari, 165 greci, 21 ebraici e qualcuno arabico”.13 It is possible that the codex now in Wolfenbüttel belonged to one of these libraries. When the book arrived in the hands of Kircher in Rome it was not in good condition. For that reason its margins were trimmed and a rewriting of the final missing pages was committed to a restorer, Ni‘ma al-Ḥaṣrūnī, as he stated in his own words in a Serṭo note on the margin of folio 114v:

Fig. 1 Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: Guelph. 3.1.300 Aug. 2O , f. 114v

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\ ̈ ‫ܬܐܪ‬ ‫ܐ ܐ‬ ‫ܘܨܠ‬ ‫ܐ ܘ [ܗ] \ ܘ‬ ‫ܘ‬ ‫ܐܗܪ ܐ ܒ \ ܐܬܐ ܣ‬ ‫\ ܝ‬ \ ‫ܣ‬ ‫ܐܒ‬ ‫\ ܗܕܐ‬ \ ‫ܘ ܓ ܐܢ ܐܢ ܐ‬ 14 \ ‫ܐ‬ ‫\ ܘܒܐ ܐܕܗ‬ ‫ܐ ܓ‬ ‫ܐܐ‬ \ ‫ܐܪ‬ ‫ܐܓ‬ \ ‫ܪܝ‬ ‫ܪܘ ܐܒ‬ \ \ ‫ܗܘ‬ ‫ܝ‬ \ ‫ܐܪܘ‬ \ ̈ ‫ܪ‬ ‫\ ܪܘ‬ ‫ܐ ܐܡ ܐ‬ \ ‫ܝ ܐܢ ܐ‬ ‫ܐܪ ܐ ܐ \ ܒ‬ \ ‫ܗܘ ܝ‬ ‫ܝ\ ܐ‬ ‫ܘܐ‬ 15 \ ‫ܐܢ‬ ‫ܐ ܓ‬ ‫ܓ‬ \ ‫ܘ‬ \ ‫ܨ ܐܬܗ‬ . ‫ܐܒ \ ܐ ܒ ܐ‬ In the year / 1666 / arrived into / the hands of the Reverend Father / Athanasius, the Jesuit, / this holy book, / and since much was missing / from the Gospel, / especially at the end / of the Gospel of Mar John, / he made a request of me, I, Ni‘ma / al-Ḥaṣrūnī, son of the priest / Joseph, the Maronite, / I who was in those / days dwelling in / Rome in the school / of the Maronites, and I / wrote what was missing. / I ask everyone who / reads in these / holy Gospels to / remember me in his holy / prayers. To God / (be) the glory forever / and ever. Amen.

This note is interesting for both historical and linguistic reasons. From a historical point of view it represents an effective record both of the restoration operated on this volume and Niʿma al-Ḥaṣrūnī`s activities in Rome. Ni‘ma al-Ḥaṣrūnī16 (who was probably born in Ḥaṣrūn about 1640 and who died in Qannūbīn in 1695) was an uncle of the well-known Maronite scholar Yūsuf Simʻān al-Semʻānī (Josephus Simonius Assemanus). In the same year (1666), Niʿma also copied a Syriac hymn on Palm Sunday inscribed in a roll of illuminated parchment now in the Vatican Library.17 From a linguistic point of view, this note witnesses the use of a special Garshu-

ni ‘language,’ which must have been familiar to the students of the Maronite College in Rome at the time of Niʿma. While it is quite common to find Garshuni writing in which the author uses a colloquial form of Arabic, in this case we are facing a text consisting of Arabic words arranged according to conversational Italian: the alphabet is Syriac, the lexicon is Arabic, and the syntactic construction is Italian! For instance, the adjective placed before the noun in the case of ‫ܐܗܪ ܐ ܒ ܐܬܐ ܣ‬ “Reverend Father Athanasius,” is a wordfor-word translation of the Italian title “Reverendo Padre.” Also, the sentences with kāna followed by a participle and often preceded by an independent pronoun are explicitly loan translations from Italian sentences expressed by a copula and a predicate clause ( ‫ܝ ܐܢ ܐ‬ ‫“ ܐ ܐ ܒ‬io scrissi quel che era mancante;” ‫ܐܐ‬ ‫ܪܘ‬ ‫ܗܘ ܐ ܐܡ ܐ‬ ‫ܝ‬ ‫ܪܘ‬ “io, Niʿma al-Ḥaṣrūnī, che ero in quei giorni residente a Roma.”) This familiarity with the Italian language is not surprising in a student of the Maronite College in the mid-seventeenth century. Ni‘ma, like most of the College's students, probably came to Rome in his early teens. As soon as he was enrolled in the school, he and his classmates were fully immersed in a variety of courses aimed to ensure a good cultural background and to provide a basis for their future educational mission in their country. However, for lessons and recreational activities, Latin and Italian were the languages used, and the rules of the College until 1630 forbade students to speak their native language except on holidays.18 The Pontifical Maronite College had been created in 1584 by Pope Gregory XIII and entrusted to the Jesuits. Catholic missionaries - Franciscans, Jesuits and Carmelites - had already made contact with many Maronite communities throughout

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the sixteenth century and in 1578 Gregory XIII sent two Jesuits (Giovan Battista Eliano and Tommaso Raggi) to Lebanon with the task of organizing the church hierarchy, placing it more firmly in the hands of the Patriarch and linking it with the Roman Catholic Church.19 For this purpose, a council was held in 1580 in Qannūbīn and the Maronite College was created a few years later, thereby building a long-term bridge between Europe and the Lebanese clergy. The Maronite College played a very important role not only in the formation of the Lebanese clergy but also in the development of Western orientalism, since, up to the 17th century, almost all the cultural

mediators between Europe and the Arab world in the European courts and academies were Maronites from northern Lebanon. This dual aspect of the role of the College is well embodied by the scholars and relatives Ni‘ma al-Ḥaṣrūnī and Yūsuf alSemʻānī. The latter spent his life mainly in Rome and was most renowned as the main editor of the catalog of the oriental manuscripts in the Vatican Library. Ni‘ma, on the contrary, after studying in Rome from 1653 to 1668, returned to Lebanon where he made a brilliant career in the Maronite Church as a coadjutor of the patriarch Isṭifān al-Duwayhī and then as bishop of Tripoli from 1675 to 1695.20

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NOTES * I am grateful to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada for granting me a PostDoctoral Research Fellowship for the year 2012-2013. I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Amir Harrak, for the guidance, encouragement and advice he has provided throughout my time as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. 1 The codex has been described in the catalog of Julius Assfalg, Syrische Handschriften: Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1963), 8-15. 2 Marion Leathers Kuntz, “Guillaume Postel and the Syriac Gospels of Athanasius Kircher,” Renaissance Quartely 40/3 (1987) 465-84. 3 See Jan De Goeje, Catalogus codicum orientalium bibliothecae academiae LugdunoBatavae, V. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1873), 64–67. In the volume of Robert Wilkinson, Orientalism, Aramaic and Kabbalah in the Catholic Reformation: The first printing of the Syriac New Testament (Boston: Brill, 2007), 132-133, this manuscript is correctly referred as Cod. syr. 1198, while the same author in his The Kabbalistic scholars of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible (Boston: Brill, 2007), 92 wrongly wrote Cod. syr. 1188. 4 Ff. 287v-288r: [1] Serenissime Sacri Romani Imperii Princeps et dux [2] Recognitio ingentium beneficiorum, quae Serenissima Celsitudo Vestra [3] in quantumvis indignam meam personam munificentia regiae haud [4] dispari, hucusque contulit; nonnullam debitae gratitudinis demonstra[5] tionem veluti iure quodam a me exigere videbatur. Sed quidnam tanti [6] Principis liberalitati condignum rependam non invenio; ne tamen subrusticae [7] ingratitudinis convincar reus; mitto id Serenitati Vestrae quo nihil mihi fuit carius, [8] nil pretiosus, videlicet Quatuor Christi Evangeliorum rarissimum ve[9]tustissimumque codicem, Syriaca lingua, nec non charactere quem estran[10] ghelo vocant, ante annos 745, prout inscriptio eius in fine libri demon[11]strat, conscriptum; Continet autem praeter 4 Evangelia nonnullas [12] perbreves glossas marginales, modo arabica, iam Syriaca lingua, conscriptas. [13] In

calce foliorum fere semper Evangelistarum nomina, rubro colore conscripta, [14] reperiet; quibus in occurentium textuum concinnatione consensum concor[15]diamque indicant. Ne vero in reperiundis Capitulis Lector tempus perderet, [16] nos ea iuxta consuetam in Latinis Evangeliis capitulorum seriem et distri [17] butionem, singula suis locis adposuimus, in fine quoque Codicis Evangelii se[18]cundum Iohannem quae deerant, supplevimus. Post haec sequuntur Indices [19] qui quo tempore, die, festisque evangelia, recitari debeant exponunt. [20] Scriptus fuit codex, ubi supra memini, lingua Syriaca, qua tempore Christi [21] tota Palaestina vulgo utebatur: unde, qui Linguam Hebraeam norit, hanc sine [22] difficultate intra breve tempus addiscet; maxime si lingua chaldaea, quam [23] thargumicam vocant, exercitatus fuerit; cum haec ab illa, non nisi charactere [24] differat, ut proinde ad Codicem legendum nil aliud opus sit, quam ut in Chara [25] ctere Estranghelico, qui a Syriaco vix differt, legendo sese exerceat Lector. [26] quod ut maiori cum facilitate fiat; alphabetum hic adponendum censui. Porro [27] textus Evangelicus ubique conformis est ei, qui in Bibliis regiis Plantinianis, Syriace [28] impressis exhibetur. Sed haec de Codicis descriptione sufficiant. Qui enim de anti [29] quitate Codicis, de eius scriptore, de loco, patria, oppido ubi conscriptus fuit, plura [30] scire desideraverit, is adeat folium fini Codicis insertum, ubi singula ex Syria [31] in latinam linguam translata reperiet. 5 See for example, F.A. Ebert, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium Bibliothecae Ducalis Guelferbytanae, in H.O. Fleischer, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium Bibliothecae Regiae Dresdensis (Lipsiae: F.C.G. Vogel, 1831), 76-77; Marion Leathers Kuntz,“Guillaume Postel and the Syriac Gospels of Athanasius Kircher,” 465-67; Paula Findlen (ed.), Athanasius Kircher: The last man who knew everything (New York: Routledge, 2004), 47 n.108. 6 The siome, visible in the picture, are not necessary. 7 The Garshuni notes are written in Syriac script and Arabic language as usual and not “in Syriac language but Arabic letters” as Kircher states in his dedicatory letter. (See the Latin text, note 4 of this article.) Of these four

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Garshuni notes, two are dated 1460 (f. 115r) and 1666 (f. 114v) respectively, while the others lost the first few lines due to the trimming of the pages. 8 Notes on folia 115r, 158r, 285v. 9 Thomas Stäcker, Die Lateinischen Briefe Athanasius Kirchers an Herzog August Herzog d.J. zu Braunschweig und Lüneburgrisius (1579-1666). Eine Internetedition: http:// diglib.hab.de/ edoc/ed000005/start.htm 10 Sarkīs al-Rizzī (Sergius Risius), born in Bqufa, near Ehden, Lebanon, and consecrated Bishop of Damascus in 1600. In 1607 he headed a Maronite delegation to Rome where he spent the rest of his life, until his death in 1638; see Nasser Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les maronites et l’Europe. Du Collège de Rome (1584) au Collège de ‘Ayn-Warqa (1789) (Beyrouth, 1984), 367-74 and 473-74. 11 Naṣrallah Šalaq al-ʻAqūrī (Victorius Accorensis, also known in Latin as Victorius Scialac), born in ʻAqūra, Mont Liban, entered the Collegio Maronita in Rome in 1584. He taught oriental languages in Rome and wrote several treatises on linguistics. He died in Rome in 1635; Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les maronites et l’Europe, 377-85 and 475-480. 12 Isidoro Carini, La Biblioteca Vaticana, proprietà della Sede Apostolica (Città del Vaticano: Tipografia Vaticana, 1892), 83.

13

Ibid, 89. ‫ܙ ܐܕܗ‬, 'increase, abundance', here probably in a vernacular form preceded by bi-. 15 The word in singular but the writer probably meant ‫ܐ ܐܓ‬. 16 The ‘surname’ al-Ḥaṣrūnī means that Ni‘ma came from the village of Ḥaṣrūn located in the north of Lebanon. Students were usually renamed in Rome following their hometown so as to 'compensate' for the lack of a family name according to the Western custom. The recruitment of future Maronite clergy took place mainly in the northern provinces of Lebanon, as it is witnessed by two-thirds of the surnames borne by students listed in the documents of the Holy See; Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les Maronites et l’Europe , 41. 17 See Addai Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques du Musée Borgia aujourd`hui à la Bibliothèque Vaticane,” Journal Asiatique 13 (1909) 278. 18 Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les Maronites et l’Europe, 46-50. 19 See La Civiltà cattolica 58/1 (1907) 206. 20 Gemayel, Les échanges culturels entre les Maronites et l’Europe, 108 and Georg Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, vol. IV (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1947), 377-378. 14

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Figure 2 Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel: Guelph. 3.1.300 Aug. 2O , f. 284v

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______________________________________________________________________

THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE CHURCH OF TELKEPPE

KHAIRY FOUMIA CHALDEAN CULTURAL CENTER, MICHIGAN

T

he Chaldean town of Telkeppe (Tell-kēf) is located some 15 km north of Mosul, on a road leading to several Christian towns including Alqosh, the city of Nahum the prophet.1 Its Aramaic name, Tall-kēpē (“Mound of stones”), tells something about its archaeological past since it lies beside an ancient but unexcavated tell. The earliest mention of the town dates to the 15th century, but it must be centuries if not millennia old,2 being situated in the heartland of ancient Assyria, and since its inhabitants still speak Aramaic. It joined Roman Catholicism quite early, after years of oscillation between its old faith and its adopted one, and gave birth to such eminent personalities as Patriarch Joseph II Ma‛ruf (16941712), a prolific writer and author. The town suffered greatly during the Islamic period, from the time of the Mongols to the time of the Persian Nadir-shah, who invaded the Christian villages close to Mosul before he laid siege to the latter in 1743. Telkeppe was then devastated and its written heritage nearly perished. This heritage must have been particularly impressive since there is evidence of no less than one hundred and twelve copyists who lived there and nearby during the previous six centuries

and there are probably more of them who are not accounted for. Other neighbouring places of manuscript production, mainly Alqosh which is considered a scribal centre, produced countless manuscripts for the churches, including those of Telkeppe as is evident in its extant collection.

HISTORY OF CATALOGUING The manuscripts of Telkeppe have attracted special attention since 1954, when the Deacon Yousif Boji gave each one of them a number, on the basis of their dimensions and not on their merits, and this numbering was used by the late Father Jean Fiey in his publications.3 In 1961 the manuscripts were re-classified by the students of the Patriarchal Seminary,4 who repeated the procedure in 1968. The priest Michael Bazzi left a notebook in this library, recording the titles of some seventy manuscripts. In the early 1970s the late Father Dr. Yousif Ḥabbi published the first scholarly catalogue of the manuscripts in question, unfortunately with only very brief details;5 he even left out a number of manuscripts (including very important ones) without indexing, and the proof of this is their mention by Fiey in his Assyrie Chrétienne. It is worth adding that more than a

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The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe _________________________________________________________________________________________

dozen manuscripts were still in use in the liturgical services before they were added to the collection seen by Ḥabbi. Other manuscripts were donated to this church later on and thus Ḥabbi’s catalogue contained a total of 101 manuscripts. I have myself undertaken the project of cataloguing the extant manuscripts of Telkeppe, whose number of codices is double the number catalogued by Ḥabbi, and I am happy to report that my work is now ready for publication as a monograph (in Arabic) in the U.S.A.6 Matters have recently become more complicated, however. Ten years ago the Iraqi Dominican Fathers founded the Centre numérique des manuscrits orientaux, aiming at repairing and scanning all extant Syriac and Christian Arabic manuscripts of Iraq, in the process of which the manuscripts of Telkeppe were scanned and then returned to their original home. The founder and director of the afore-mentioned project, the Dominican Father Najeeb Mikha’il, informed me that his project scanned as many as 227 manuscripts from Telkeppe, which is 16 more manuscripts than those included in my catalogue. The numbers of the manuscripts I accessed goes from 1 to 119, and thereafter the discrepancy begins. Some manuscripts in my Catalogue are missing in the collection that Fr. Najeeb dealt with, and some codices in this collection are missing in my catalogue. Some manuscripts in Father Najeeb’s collection were originally the property of the priest Raphael Kanona, after whose death they were added to the collection of Telkeppe. With this proviso, I now proceed to describe the collection that I have catalogued in my monograph.

NUMBER AND KIND OF MANUSCRIPTS The 211 manuscripts that I catalogued can be divided into the following literary genres:

1 – Bible a – Old Testament b – New Testament c – Commentaries 2 – Rituals a – Ḥōdrā b – Kashkul c – Gazzā d – Qdām and Bāther e – Psalms f – ‘Ōnyātā d-sahdē (antiphons of martyrs) g – Sōgyātā and poems h – Madrashē i – Memrē of Bā‘ōtā j – Quddāshā-Sanctifications k – Priestly rituals l – Bā‘ōtā-Petition of Nineveh m – Baptismal ritual n – Wedding ritual o – Burial ritual p – Prayers of Abu-Halīm q – Ordinations r – Ḥūtāmē-prayers 3 – Spiritual books in Syriac and Arabic 4 – History books 5 – Monastic books 6 – Spiritual poems 7 – Historical poems 8 – Religious books 9 – Various prayers 10 – Dictionaries 11 – Medical manuscripts 12 – Theological manuscripts

As can be seen above, this collection is made up mainly of liturgical manuscripts, as might be expected from a local church. The few technical manuscripts, such as dictionaries and medical and theological manuscripts, were most probably the property of interested individuals which were later donated to the church. There are also some Arabic, mostly Garshuni and NeoAramaic manuscripts, which contain sermons, homilies, admonitions, and various prayers, such as the Rosary, the adoration of the Eucharist, and the Way of the Cross.

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The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe _________________________________________________________________________________________

Here Roman Catholic piety and spirituality makes its appearance in Telkeppe, as in fact in the rest of the Plain of Nineveh.

SCRIBES Telkeppe was the home of numerous scribes. I identified in the current manuscript collection as many as seventy-three scribes, some listed along with their places of origin, not counting two more whose names are incomplete. Scribes whose places of origins are identifiable are as follows: 37 from Telkeppe,7 17 from Alqosh, 4 from Mosul, 3 from ‘Aqra, 3 from monasteries, and 3 from Lebanon (who are Maronites). One copyist comes from each of the following places: Ashitha, Baṭnaya, Hirmash, ‘Amadiyya, Mar Ya‘qub, and Gissa. One copyist of an Arabic manuscript was a woman (a rare occurrence!) from Telkeppe; her name is Theresa Asmar, not the identically-named woman known as the ‘Babylonian Princess,’8 although both came from the same family and were contemporaries. The brother of Theresa Asmar, Simon, was also a copyist of Syriac manuscripts. The oldest known calligrapher of Telkeppe is the priest Hormizd son of Matthew, one of whose manuscripts is now in Berlin (number 67), copied in the year 1465 AD.

REMARKABLE MANUSCRIPTS The oldest manuscript is a Gospel Lectionary (number 8 in my Catalogue) written on parchment (Figure 1), whose elegant Estrangela script is attested any time between the 10th and the 14th centuries. Unfortunately, it is not complete and thus we do not know its exact date and the professional copyist who executed it. The oldest dated manuscript (number 32 in my Catalogue) is a complete Gazza, lit. ‘Treasure,’ a liturgical volume containing hymns for feasts and commemorations. It is dated to October

2, 1488, but the name of its copyist and the place of copying have disappeared. This item has never been catalogued before. Perhaps the most remarkable manuscripts in Telkeppe are codices containing miniatures previously discussed at some length by Jules Leroy.9 One of them (number 11 in my Catalogue) is a masterpiece consisting of a Gospel lectionary copied by the skilled scribe the Priest ‘Aṭaya son of the Jerusalem-Pilgrim Faraj of Alqosh; it was completed on October 24th, 1587.10 The manuscript measures 56 by 39 by 21 cm, written in two columns in red and black colours, and its 126 folios exhibit a very elegant East Syriac script. The manuscript is ornamented with decorative motifs and two miniatures, one of which (figure 2) represents the entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem (another shows Jesus with doubting Thomas touching Christ’s side). The miniature as a whole measures 27 by 27.5 cm in size and is surrounded on its four sides by a double frame, the inner one being red while the outer one is made up of alternating z-shaped motifs. The scenery consists of three registers. The upper one, the largest, shows Christ seated on a donkey, while the background is filled with plant motifs. The depiction of the face of Jesus is suggestive of a Byzantine style in its stern frontal orientation and in the halo around his head. Of Byzantine origin too is the appearance of Jesus as pantocrator (omnipotent), bearded, and blessing with the three fingers of his right hand, while holding the Gospel in his left hand. His seated body is disproportionate and his feet are partially and schematically depicted. The second and third registers depicting the landscape are distinguished by their colours: the bottom one is entirely yellow, while the upper one is both green and blue. Three boys, the bodies in profile and the round heads in face, spread their tunics below the donkey. The scene depicted, of course, is Palm Sunday.

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The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe _________________________________________________________________________________________

There are three other Gospel Lectionaries with miniatures (numbers 12, 13, and 14 in my Catalogue), dated respectively to 1707, 1763, and 1769. The first was copied (and perhaps embellished) by one of the best Chaldean calligraphers, the priest Gewargis, son of the priest Israel of Alqosh.11 His manuscript, which measures 61 by 42 by 22 cm, is made of 12 quires, each of which consists of 10 folios. Gewargis copied this manuscript along with 20 others in Telkeppe, where the patriarch Mar Elia sought refuge from the aggressive ruler of ‘Amadiyyah. His East Syriac script is particularly beautiful, written in red and black and in two columns. Its miniature represents Jesus, St Thomas touching the latter’s side, and St. Peter (fig. 3). Both apostles are identified by name in the Estrangela script, but Jesus is too well-known to be identified and thus his name is not there. Each person is found in a vertical panel, but the middle one occupied by Jesus is the only one decorated with plant motifs. A horizontal panel below the three vertical ones is decorated with colourful rainbows, and the whole depiction is surrounded by chain-looking borders placed inside a red frame. Jesus is here identified by a cruciform halo and his face is reminiscent of Byzantine art. The artist had trouble with perspective: not only is the head of Jesus seen in face but also his right shoulder and arm, while the rest of his body is in profile. He holds the Gospel with his left hand, and one can see traces of his pierced feet. The face of Thomas the apostle is reminiscent of primitive depictions of human faces in amulets. His head is seen in face and his body in profile, while his finger touches the side of Jesus. St. Peter’s face is crudely depicted, especially the nose which looks like a hook, while the mouth is hidden by his beard. Interestingly, his body is depicted like that of Christ: the right hand in the blessing position while the left hand holds the Gospel! The two other manu-

scripts with miniatures contain only the scene of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. Two notes can be made with regard to this art. Before their union with the Roman Catholic Church, the Chaldeans were members of the Church of the East which traditionally avoided the depiction of human and divine figures in church buildings and manuscripts, although there is evidence that this was not the case in the first centuries of the Christian era.12 The other note deals with the iconography of miniatures in the Chaldean manuscripts. The depiction of people and animals is closer to the popular art of the amulets than to the more professional miniatures of West Syriac manuscripts, although the colours and line drawings in our manuscripts are more vibrant and vivid than the crude depictions known from amulets. Seventeenth century manuscripts are quite numerous, and this is understandable since they are mostly Ḥodra and Gazza, books needed to conduct the Chaldean liturgy. They were copied by the most skilled calligraphers, including the priest Gabriel ibn Nawfal of Telkeppe, the priest Yalda of Alqosh, and the priest Abdesho‘ of Alqosh—brother of the afore-mentioned Gewargis son of the priest Israel. Other such manuscripts were copied by other scribes in the 18th century, but the 19th century manuscripts exhibit an undeniably heavy Catholic influence on this Chaldean village. A number of these contains works of the prolific Chaldean patriarch Mar Yawsep the Second Ma‘ruf of Telkeppe (1694-1712). Others are translations from European languages first into Arabic and then into Syriac and Vernacular Aramaic (Swadaya), and consist of spiritual and pious writings. Manuscripts copied in the 20th century are quite rare because of the introduction of the printing press in Iraq. Printed books deal with such Roman Catholic practices as the visitation of the Eucharist and the Holy Rosary. They were donat-

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The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe _________________________________________________________________________________________

ed to the church of Telkeppe after the death of their owners.

COLOPHONS In the appendix of a number of manuscripts we find historical information of value, commemorating such unusual events as the fall of heavy snow in the region and a long frost that killed many people and animals (number 64 in my Catalogue). One manuscript (number 23 in my Catalogue) perpetuates the story of an Umayyad prince (in other manuscripts he is al-Walid son of ‘Abd-al-Malik, governor of Iraq) who imposed upon nuns to give him one of them to marry, and how after spending a night in prayers, the aggressive prince died. This story is at the origin of the “Fast of the Virgins” practiced by the Syriac churches. One manuscript commemorates the building of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Telkeppe, “completed in the holy month of September, the night of the second Sunday after (the feast of the) Cross, the year 1847 of Nativity. This (book) belonged to the student Jijji son of the believer Yoḥannan son of the believer ‘Isa of the blessed village Telkeppe, the village of St Cyriacus near the Church of St. Mary, which was built this year.” Fr. Ḥabbi dated the construction of this church to 1849 while Father Jean Maurice Fiey dated it to 1851. The building of the church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Telkeppe in 1875 is also commemorated in the following colophon from a Ḥodra (number 23 in my Catalogue):

‫ܼܿܘ ܼܒ ܵ ܹܕܐ ܼ ܿ ̄ ܵ ܒ ܿ ܼ ܼܿ ܘ ܼܿ ܼ ܸ ܿ ܼ ܹ ܵܬܐ‬ ܿ ܵ ܿ ‫ܵ ܹ ̈ ܐ ܼܿܕ ܼܬ ܹܪ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܹ ̈ ܐ ܵ ܝ‬ ܼ ‫ܼ ܬܐ‬ ̇ ܵ ‫ܕܗ ܹܘܐ ܼܐܘܪ‬ ܵ .‫ܼܿ ܿܘܣ ܘ ܵ ܝ ܵ ܿ ܣ‬ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܼ ‫ ܼܒ ܼ ܼ ܼܿܗ‬. ̈ ܼ ‫ܬ ܼ ܼ ܼܘ ܼܬ ܼ ܼܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ‫ܘ ܿ ܼ ܒ ܼ ܿ ܿܘܢ ܼ ܼܐ ܼ ̈ ܿ ܼܓ ܒ ܵܐ ܒ ܸܒ ܵ ܵ ܐ‬ ܵ ܿ .‫ܼ ܵ ܐ ܘ ܼܿ ܼ ܐ ܼܿܘ ܼܒ ܼ ܼ ܹܕܐ ܕ ܼ ܵ ܐ‬ ܵ‫ܘܗ ܼ ܵ ܼܬ ܼܿܐ ܼܿ ܼ ܿܬ̈ܪ ܹ ܐ ܕ ܿ ܼ ܒ ̈ ܐ ܒ ܼ ܐ‬ ܵ ܵܵ ̈ ܿ ܹ ̈ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܼ ܼ ‫ ܘ‬.‫ܸܐ ܼܬ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼܿ ܒ ܼ ܼ ܒ ܼ ܹܐ‬ ܿ ‫ܵܗ ̇ܘ ܵ ܐ ܿܕܐ‬ ܵ ܵ ̣ ‫ܹܕ ܕ ܸܒ ܐ ܸܐ ܼܬ ܼ ܹ ܼܒ‬ ̤ ܼ ܼ

ܿ ‫ ܵܗܝ‬. ܼ ܿ ‫ܬ ܹܪ ܼ ܵܐ ܿ ܼܒ ܼܬ ܼ ܒ ܼܿܕ ̇ ܼܿܐ‬ ܵ ܿ ܵ̄ ‫ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵܬܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ‫ܕ ܸ ܼ ܵ ̤ܬ ܿܒ‬ ܿ ‫ܿܕܐܬܪܐ ܿܕ ܵ ܐ‬ ܵ‫ܿ ܬ ̄ܗ ̣ ܵܘܬ ܒ ܢ‬ ܸ ܼ ̤ ܸ ܼ ܼܼ ܼ ܿ ‫ܵ ܵܬ ̇ܗ ܼ ܿܕ ܿ ܿ ܢ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܼ ̇ܗ‬ ‫ܼ ܵܐ‬ ܼ ܼܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ̈ ܿ ̇ ̈ ܹ ‫ܼ ܪ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܼܿܐ ܵܒ‬ ܼ ‫ܸ ܹ ܐ ܹܐ ܼܐ‬ ܼ ܵ ̇ ܵܵ ̇ ܵ ‫ܕܬ ܼܬܒ ܐ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ‫ܬ‬ ̣ ܹ ܸ ܹ ܸ ܵ‫ܬܐ‬ ܿ ‫ ܘ ܡ ܿܕܐ‬. ̇ ‫ܘܬܬ ܿ ܐ ܵܒ‬ ܹ ̤ ܼ ܼ ܸ ܸ ܼ ܼܸ ܸ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܼ ‫ܐ ܼ ܼ ܘܗܝ ܸ ܼ ܘ ܼ ܿ ܐ ܼܐ‬ ܵ‫ܒ ܐ‬ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܸ ܹ ‫ ܵ ܗ‬.‫ܘ ܼ ܿ ܸ ܐܐ ܵ ܼܘ ܹ ܿ ܐ‬ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܿ ‫ܝ‬ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܼ ‫ܼܘ ܼܒ ܼ ܼ ܼܬܐ ܕ ܼ ܢ‬ ܵ ܵ ܵ .‫ܼ ܼ ܵ ܵܐ‬ ‫ܼ ܼܵܒܐ‬ ‫ܘܕܘ‬ ܼ ‫ܵ ܸ ܐ‬ ܵ ‫ܿ ܿ ܒ‬ ܵ‫ ܘ ܿ ܐ‬.‫ܵܬܐ ܵܗܕܐ‬ ܹ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼܵ ܼ ܼ ܹ ܵ ̈ ܿ ܵ ܵ ‫ܕ ܿ ܼ ̈ ܼ ܵ ܕ ܸ ܼ ܼܒ‬ ̣ ‫ܹ ܬܐ ܗ ܹܕܐ‬ ‫ ܿ ܼܒ ܵ ܐ ܼܿ ̣ ܸ ܵܐ‬.‫ܐ̄ ܵ ܼ ܿ ̈ ܼ ܼ ܵ ܸ ܸܘܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ̇ ‫ ܘ ܵܒ‬.‫ܼ ܼ ܵ ܒ ܵ ܵ ܐ ܵܗ ܵ ܐ‬ ̤ ‫ܼܕܐ‬ ܼ ܿ ܸ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܼܵ̄ ܿ ܵ‫ܵܐܢ ܿ ܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ‫ܼ ܼ ܒ ܼܐ‬ ܼ‫ܒ‬ ܿ ܹ ‫ܼܪ‬ ܼ ‫ ܘܐ ܼ ܸ ܼ ܵܒ‬.‫ܕ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵܐ‬ ‫ ܘ ܵ ܼܝ‬.‫ܿ ܼ ܵ ܵܐ ܿ ܼܒ ܼܿܐ ܼ ܗܝ ܸ ܐܕ ܼ ܵܐܢ‬ ܿ ‫ܒ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܬ ܵ ܼ ܵ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܘ ܸܐ ܼܬ ܼ ̇ܗ‬ ܵ ܵ ܼ ‫ܪܗ ܵ ܐ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܐ ܘ ܼ ܿ ܸ ܵ ̇ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܹܬܗ‬ ̇ ‫ ܘ ܵܒ‬.‫ܼܿܐ ܼ ܗܝ ܼ ܿ ܒ ܼܿܐ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܵܐܢ‬ ܼ ܿ ܵ ܼ̇ܵ ܵ ܿ ܼ ‫ܒ ܵ ܹܕܐ ܼ ̄ ܵܗܐ ܹܐܡ ܼܵܒܐ ܼܪ ܵܒܐ ܹܒ‬ ܵ ‫ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܕܐ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܹ ̈ܐ‬ .‫̄ܗ ܿܘ ܵ ܹ ܐ‬ ‫ܵ ܵܐ ܼ ܿ ܸ ܸܐ ܿ ܢ ܵܐ ܹ ܀‬ In this year (1875; the year of the reparation of the Book of Ḥodra) we constructed and decorated a new church on the name of two saints, Mār Peter and Mār Paul. Its length is thirty-three cubits, and it has three sanctuaries. Their altars are located northwards within the elegant and beautiful building. The columns are of marble, and likewise, the front gates of the altars are constructed with marble decorated with lilies. As for the construction cost, it was paid from what Theresa daughter of ‘Abd-Allah Asmar— she died in Paris, the capital of the land of France—had endowed. She ordered while she was dying that her embalmed body be taken to her ancestral village Telkeppe, and also that a church be built out of her own

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money and that she be buried in it. What she endowed (to build) the church was twenty-five thousand and five hundred qirsh. Upon consultation and approval of our most blessed lord the Patriarch Mar Yawsep the Sixth Audo, we started to build this church. And the rest of the expenses needed by the church were incurred by the people of Telkeppe, because the amount that was endowed by the late lady for this construction was not sufficient. In the same year ‘Abd-al-‘Aziz king of Constantinople died and his nephew Murad Khan sat on his throne as king. He exercised kingship for three months, but was stricken by a serious illness and gave his reign to his brother ‘Abd-alḤamid Khan. In this year too, behold the great war, which still continues, between the Kingdom of the Ishmaelites and (that of) the Romans! May the Lord reconcile them together. Amen.

There is a long poem composed by the Deacon Stephen Rayyis of Alqosh, made of three stanzas in each section, but a fourth stanza was added by the Deacon Joseph ‘Azariah of Telkeppe. The poem describes what was seen as a religious war, as its title suggests: “The war of Moscow and the Sultan.” A copy of the poem exists in the library of the Church Telkeppe, copied from a manuscript housed at the National Library in Paris. In a lectionary of the Epistles of St. Paul, we read the following: (number 17 in my Catalogue):

ܿ ̈ ܿ ܵ ܵ ̈ ܿ ܼ ‫̈ܪܓ ܐ ܕ ܸܓ‬ ܹ ܼ ‫ܼܓ ܹ ܐ ܼܕ ܼܒ‬ ̇ ‫ ܕ ܿܒ ܿ ܼ ܐܐ ܕ ܵܒ‬.‫ܵ ܐ ܿ ܓ ܼ ܹܐܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܵ ܿ ̣ ‫ ܼ ܿ ܼܐ ܼ ܐ ܼܒ ܒ ܵܐ‬.‫ܼܵ ܼܵܒܐ ܵܗ ܵ ܐ‬ ܵ‫ ܐܬܒ ܿ ܿܒ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܐ‬.‫ܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼܸ ܹ ܿ ܵ ܵ .‫ܘ ܸܐ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܵ ܗܝ ܒ ܹ ܐ ܐ ܼ ܼ ܐ‬ ܵܵ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܿ ̣ ‫ܼ ̈ ܵ ܼ ܼ ܓ ܼ ̈ܐ ܼܬܐ‬ ̣ ‫ܿ ܼ ̣ ܼܘ ܼ ܼܒ‬

ܵ ܿ ܼܼ ‫ܘ ܕ‬ ܵ ‫ܿܙܒ ̈ ܐ ܕ‬ ܹܼܼ ‫ܸܐ ܼܬ ܸ ܼܒ‬ ܵ ܿ ܸ ‫ܼܐ ܼܬܪܐ ܕ‬ ܵ .‫ܕ ܵ ܹ ܐ‬ ܿ ‫ܼܿܘ ܼ ܼܒ ܼܿܘ‬

ܿ ‫ ܿܘ ܿ ܵ ܐ‬.‫ܐܘ ܵ ܵ ܐ ܕ ܵ ܵ ܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼܿ ܼ ܼ ܹ ܼ ܼ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܵ .‫ܘܐ ܵ ̇ܗ‬ ܼ ̇ ܵ ‫ ܘ ܼ ܿ ܵ ̇ ܘ ܼ ܼܒ‬.‫ܼ ܼ ܼܬܐ ܵ ̣ ܐ‬ ܵ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܵ . ܹ ‫ܼܪ‬ ̣ ‫ܼ ܐ ܕ ܹܐ‬ ܹ ܵ ܼ‫ܘ‬ ܵ ܿ .‫ܼܕܘ ܹ ܗ‬ ‫ܼܿܘ ܝ‬ ܼ ‫ ܘ ܸܐ‬. ܹ ܼ ܵ ܿ ܿ . ̤ ܼ ‫ܘ ܸܐ ܼܬ ܿ ܼܒ ܒ ܼ ̤ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܕ ܵ ܹ ܐ ܘ ܸܐ ܼܬ ܿ ܼܒ‬ ܿ ܿ ‫ܵܗ ܹ ܼ ̈ ܹ ܐ ܕ ܿ ܼܒ ܵ ܼ̈ܪ ܿܘܢ ܵܐܘ ܸ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܿܘܢ‬ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܵ .‫ ܸ ܐ ܼܘ ܸܒ ܼܬܐ ܼܘ ܸ ܼܒ ܵܐ ܘ ܼܐ ܼܒ ܐ‬.‫ܐ ܼ ̈ ܵܐ‬ ܵ ܵ .‫ܵܐ ܼܐܘ ܼ ܵ ܿ ܼܒ ܒ ܵ ܒ ܿ ܼ ̈ ܼ ܼ ܿ ܕܪ‬ ܹ ‫ܗ‬ ̣ܵ .‫ܕ ܸ ܼ ܿ ܵ ܐ ܒ ܵ ܼܿܐ ܼܬ ܵܪܐ ܕ ܿܒ ܒ ܵ ܵ ܹ ̈ܐ‬ ܼ ܵ ܸ ܵ ‫ܒ ܸ ܒ ܿܘܢ ܕ ܼܿܐ ܼܬܪܐ ܼܿ ܼ ܵ ܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܕ ܿܘܪ ܿ ܼܒ ܵ ٕܓ‬ ܵ ܿ ܿ ‫ܘ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܸ ܵ ܹܐ‬.‫ܹܐܙ ̄ ܼ ܢ‬ ܼ ‫ܼܕܐ ܼܬܪܐ ܕܐܘܪ‬ ܵ ̣ ‫ ܼܿܘ ܿ ܼܒ ܘ ܘ ܸܐ ܿܙ ̣ ܼܿܘ‬.‫ܼ ܢ‬ ܸ ‫ܸ ܼܒ ܼܘܢ ܘ‬ ܿ ‫ܿܐ ܪ ܿܓ‬ ̈‫ ܼܿܘ ܵ ܿ ܿܘ ܼܢ ܿܐ ܕܐܒܐ‬.‫ܗܘܢ‬ ܼܼܸ ܼ ܼ ̣ ܹ ܹ ܼ ܼ ܿ ܼ . ܵ ܸ ܼ ܿ ‫ ܼܿܘ ܼ ܼܒ ܘ‬. ܵ ‫ ܼܿܘܕ ܵ ܐ ܼܿܐ‬.‫ܵ ܿ ܵ ܹ ̈ܐ‬ ‫ ܘ ܹ ̈ ܼ ܵܬܐ‬. ̣ ܸ ܿ ܼ ‫ ܘ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܹ ̈ܕܐ‬.‫ܘ ܿ ܼܒ ̈ ܼ ܵ ܼܿ ܸ ܼܬܘ‬ ܵ ‫ ܘ ܵ ܵ ܵܬܐ‬.‫ ܘ ̈ܪ ܵܐ ܿܒ ܘ‬.‫ܿ ܘ‬ ‫ܘܐ ܼܿ ܹ̈ܐ‬ ܼ ܼ ܸ ܼ ̣ܼ ‫ ܼܿܘ ܵ ܹ ̈ܐ‬.‫ ܘ ܼ ܵܒ ܵ ܐ ܼܿ ܓ ܼ ܵܐܐ ܿ ܼܒ ܘ‬.‫ܵܐܘ ܸ ̣ ܘ‬ ܿ ܿ ܵܵ ܿ ̈ ̣ ܼ ‫ܼ ܼ ܹ ܐ ܘ ܿ ܼ ̈ ܼ ܘ ܸ ܹ ܐ ܕ ܸܐ ܼ ܿ ܘ ܼܘ‬ ܿ‫ܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ‫ܘ‬ ܿ .‫ܒܐ ܼ ܼ ̈ ܘܢ‬ ܼ ܼܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ ‫ܨܗ‬ ܹ ‫ ܘ ܼ ܼ ܼܘ‬. ܼ ‫ܼܘ ܿ ܼ ܵ ܼ ܼܘ ܓ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ‫ ܼܐ ܼ ܸܐ ܢ ܼ ܘܢ‬.‫ܘܢ‬ ‫ܘܼ ܼ ܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ ̄ ‫ ܘ ܸ ܼ ܼ ܗ ̣ܘܘ ܒ ܘܢ‬.‫ܒ ܸ ܼܒ ܵܐ ܼܐܪ ܘܢ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ̣ ‫ ܼܐ ܼ ܵ ܐ ܕ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܢ ܸܐ ܢ‬.‫ܡ ܒ ܡ‬ ܿ‫ ܘ‬. ‫ ܘܐܬܐ ܘ ܿ ܓ‬. ܵ ܵ ܵ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܸ ̱ ܼܸ ̤ ܼ ‫ܼܐܘܪ ܵ ܐ‬ ܿ ܵ ‫ܓ‬ ܵ‫ܼܿܐܒܐ‬ ܵ‫ ܗ‬.‫ܗܘܢ ܿ ܵ ܐ ܿ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܵܐ‬ ܼܵ ܼ ܹ ܵ ܼ ܵ ‫ܼܿܕܐ ܼ ̈ܒ ܵ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܵ ܝ ܹܐ ܼ ܵܐ ܵ ܼ ܿܘ ܼ ܐ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܿ ܵܐ‬ ܵ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܼ ̣ ܼ ܼ . ܼ ‫ܼܒ ܼ ܪ‬ ܹ ܼ ‫ܕ ܼ ̱ ܵ ܐ ܼܕܘ‬ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܿ ̇ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܵ .‫ܼ ܒ ܐ ܼܕܓ ܼ ̣ܫ ܼ ܗܘ ܼ ܐ ܸ ܵ ܐ‬ .‫ܘ ܼܿܕ ܼ ܵ ܐ ܼܿܐ ܼ ܹ ܐ ܼܿܘ ̈ ܿ ܼܒ ܵܐ ܸܐ ܿܬ ܼ ܿܬ ܿ ܼ ܸ ܿܘܢ‬ ܿ ‫ܿܗ ܵ ܬ‬ ܿ .‫ܗܘܢ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ̣ ‫ܘ ܼܵܒ ܹ ܕ ܿ ܼ ܵ ܼ ܢ ܸܐ ܢ‬ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܵ . ܼ ܼ ‫ܐ ܼܐ ܐ‬ ‫ ܼܿܘ ܸܒ‬. ܼ ܼ ‫ܵ ܿ ܼܓ ̄ ܵܒ ܐ‬ .‫ ܘ ܸ ܵܐ ̣ ܿ ܼܒ ܘ‬. ܸ ܼܿ ‫ܼܿܘ ܹ ܵ ܹܐ ܕ ܿ ܼ ܼ ܹ ܗ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ ̣ ܼ ܿ ‫ܘ ܸܐ‬ ‫ܸ ܼ ܩ ܼ ܹ ܕ ܵ ܵܐ‬ ܼ ‫ܕܙ ܹܕܩ‬ ܵ‫ ܕ ܸ ܸܘܐ ܼܕܘ ܼ ܵ ܐ‬.‫ܹ ܕ ܵ ܵܐ‬ ܸ ܿ ܿ ‫ܒ ܵ ܵ ܐ ܵ ̇ܐ ܹܬ‬ ܼ ‫ ܘ ܸܐ‬.‫̣ ܵܒ ܼ ܼܪܢ‬ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܼ ‫ܼ ܹ ܘ ܸܐܬ‬ ܹܿ ‫ ܗ‬. ܹ ‫ܼ ܪ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ .‫ ܘ ܹ ܐ ̣ ܼܒ ܘ ܼ ܼ ܪ‬. ‫ܼ ܼ ̈ ܼܵܒ ܼ ܵ ̣ ܼܒ‬ ܿ ̇ ‫ܕܗܪ ܿܬ‬ ܿ ܵ ܼ ܵ ‫ܼ ܹ̈ܐ ܼܘ ܹ ܵ ܹܐ ܘ ܼ ܼ ܸ ܵ ܹܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܿ ܿ ‫ ܼܕ ܼ ܐ ܼܐ ܼ ܹ ܐ‬.‫ ܘ ܼ ܸ ܸܐ ܢ ܼܘܙ ܼܗܪ‬.‫ܸܐ ܿ ܢ‬ ܵ ‫ܼܿܘ ̈ ܿ ܼܒ ܵܐ ܸܐ ܢ ܵ ܹ ̈ܐ ܘ ܸܐ ܢ ܿ ܼ ̈ ܼ ܵ ܘ ܸܐ ܢ ܿ ܼܓܒ ܹ ܐ‬ ‫ܼܿ ܹ̈ܐ ܕ ܵ ܼ ܒܐ ܼ ܼܿ ܿ ܢ‬ ̣ ‫ܘ ܸܐ ܢ ܸ ܹ ̈ ܐ ܕ‬ ܵ ̈‫ ܘ ܐ‬. ܵ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܼ ܸ ܹ ܼ ܼ ‫ܼܙ ܸܒ ܸܐ ܢ ܒ ܐ ܹ ܐ‬ ܿ ܵ‫ ܿ ܐ‬.‫ܵ ܿܬܢ‬ ̄ ܿ ‫ܼ ܼ ܿ ܼ ܗ ̣ܘ‬ ‫ܕ ܼ ܵ ܘܢ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܵ ܵ‫ܐ‬ 13 ̈ ܵ ‫ܹܡ‬ ‫ ܵ ܹ ܡ‬. ܹ ̇ ܵ ‫ܐܘ ܼ ܵܬܐ ܕ‬

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ܵ ܵܵ ܵܵ ܿ ‫ܵܗ ܿ ܢ‬ ܹ ‫ ܗ‬.‫ܸܬ ܼܬ ܼ ܼܒ ܼ ܢ ܵ ܒ ܐ ܵ ܼ ܵ ܐ‬ ܿܵ ܵ ܿ ‫ܼ ܹ ܕ ܼܪܒܐ‬ ‫ܒ ܼ ܹ ܐ ܕ ܐ ܬܘ ܼ ܬܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ܿ ̣ ‫ ܘ ܼ ܸ ܸܐ ܢ‬. ̣ ‫ ܘ ܼ ܐ ܼ ܹ ܐ ܙ ܼܒ‬. ܼ ܼ ܿ ܿ ̇‫ܵܗܘ‬ ܿ ܿ ܵ ̄ ‫ܐ ܼ̈ ܝ‬ ̣ . ‫ ܘ ܼ ܼ ̈ ܘܢ ܼ ܿ ̣ ܼܒ‬.‫ܹ̈ܪܐ‬ ܿ‫ ܘܐ‬.‫ܿܘܢ ܿܪ ܵܒܐ‬ ܿ‫ܼ ܡ ܕ ̈ ܐ ܕ ܿ ܪ‬ ܼ ܼ ܼ ܼܼ ܹ ܼ ܸܸ ‫ܵ ܵ ܗܝ‬ ‫ ܼܿܘ ̣ ܼ ܿ ܼܒ‬. ܼ ܼ ܼ ‫ܸܐ ܿ ܢ ܵ ܹܬܗ ܿ ܼܒ‬ ܵ ‫ܿ ܼ ܿܘܢ ܼܿܘ ݂ ܼܒ‬ ‫ܼ ܵ ܐ ܼܿܕ ̣ ܼܿ ܘ‬ ܿܿ .‫ ܸ ܸܘܐ ܹ ܕ ܵ ܵܐ ܼܒ ܼ ܼܟ‬. ܼ ܼ ‫ܼ ܿ ̱ ܵܐ‬ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܿ ‫ܵ ̈ ܿ ܹܕܐ ܘ ܵ ̈ ܿܘ ܹܐ‬ ܼ ܵ ‫ܼܘ̈ܪ ܗܝ ܸ ܘܘܢ‬ ܵ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܿ ܿ ܵ ܵ ܵ ܵ ‫ܘ ܼ ܼ ̈ ܼ ܒ ܐ ܼ ܐ ܒ ܼ ܼ ܐ ܘ ܬܪ ܐ܀‬ We inform those who find this calendar that the misfortunes of the temporal world are many. For in the year 2036 (A.D. 1725) one of the barbarian princes from the region of Qatar fought against the Shah, the king of Persia, and attacked him vehemently, destroying, killing and subjecting many cities of the Persian lands until he reached the gates of the capital (Isfahan), which he besieged, subjected and conquered. He removed the Shah from his throne, and after he dissolved his rule, he sat in his place. Chaos ensued in the Persian kingdom that was removed, and surrounding nations around them subjected its people, killing, pillaging, taking to captivity, and destroying. Then a barbaric tribe, members of the Pishtadar, called in the language of the people of the country Balbusians, set their mind to invade the fertile land of Azerbaijan and to loot and kill the Christians of the land of Urmia. They marched across (the land), reaching the destination that they chose. They fell upon Christians like rapacious wolves and godless people, destroying, killing, piercing bellies, torturing children, stripping churches, pillaging villages, and setting enclosures and palaces to fire. They caused great havoc: they captured beautiful children, girls, and women who survived and fell into their hands,

in chains, hungry, thirsty, exhausted and tormented by fatigue, thirst, and bitterness, until they brought them captives into their land. They tortured them every day to turn them away from the Christian faith. They grew much distressed and their cries reached heaven. Then, the father-of-fathers Mar Eliyah the Catholicos-Patriarch of the East—may his memory be a blessing—upon hearing about the devastation that befell the Christian people, and about the great number of them who were taken into captivity sought to abandon their faith, rose up heroically, put on divine zeal, and gathered the heads of his diocese, and taking council with them, he said: “It is our duty to save the people of the Lord for the sake of the name of the Lord, and so that commemoration be in the world for those who will come after us.” They obeyed his order and submitted to his command. Then he wrote letters stamped with his seal and sent them to the priests, the chieftains, and the Christians who were in that place, ordering them and enticing them: “Any prisoner and captive, whether a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, among the Christians whom you could track, buy them without any question, and the price (of redemption) will be provided by us. Even if it amounts to hundreds, you must not be slothful whatsoever in this matter. Then those blessed ones fulfilled the order of the lord without any delay, purchasing the captives and saving them from the hands of the blasphemous. They paid their prices from whatever sums the lord had sent them. They brought them to him and they related to him the suffering inflicted upon them, and they began (to shout) altogether: “Blessed be the name of the Lord! May his mercy rest on

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the supervisors, the diligent ones, and who involved themselves in this lauded and worthwhile deed.”

Another manuscript (number 156 in my Catalogue) contains a very short but important sentence for the biography of the famous priest Khidr of Mosul, in that it claims that he was celibate although all the priests of that time were actually married. A manuscript containing the Lexicon of Ḥassan bar Bahlul was copied by the Deacon Khidr son of the Jerusalem-pilgrim Hormizd of Mosul, who completed it on the 16th of April, 1708. He copied most of it in the monastery of Mar Eliya of Ḥira situated to the south of Mosul, and ended its copying in this city as stated in the metrical notes that he inserted at the end and at the beginning of every alphabetical section of the Lexicon. What interests us here is what he wrote after he completed the shin letter of the alphabet and the beginning of the taw letter: “We completed this work on the 3rd of Nisan (April), on Great Saturday, the night of the resurrection of the Compassionate One, the year two thousand and nineteen of Alexander. The letter shin is completed, thanks to the power of the assisting Lord, at the hand of the greatest among the sinners, the poor Deacon Khidr. He asks for forgiveness from the readers at all times. O friends, he is a monk in name only and in reality a shameful liar.” Thus, the priest Khidr of Mosul was one of the monks in the monastery of Saint Eliya of Ḥira. This monastery was demolished by Nadir Shah the Safavid during his campaign against Mosul in the year 1743.14 When the city resisted him, he took revenge from the Christian villages in the Plain of Nineveh, killing and slaughtering their inhabitants.

As for the monasteries, all of them were destroyed by his army after they killed all those who were inside them. This was the fate of the Monastery of Mar Michael the Friend of the Angels, the Monastery of Mar Eliya of Ḥira, the Monastery of Mar Oraha (Abraham) the Mede near Baṭnaya,15 and the monastery of Rabban Hormizd near Alqosh. There are also two others dictionaries, one with Serto script, which has no match among other such manuscripts that I am aware of; it is incomplete at its end, and I could not determine its author or its copyist (number 157 in my Catalogue). Another dictionary (number 158 in my Catalogue) is in Arabic and Syriac while the meanings are given in Garshuni. It begins with the name Abiram. In 1861 it was the property of Deacon Stephen of the Deza family of Telkeppe. This dictionary has a match in the monastery of Our Lady of Seeds, copied in 1851 by the monk and priest Andrew (later Bishop Emmanuel) Asmar of Telkeppe (which is where he copied it, though he does not mention this fact). In manuscript Telkeppe 38, we find three worm-eaten folios about which Father Jean Maurice Fiey said that they contained details about what Nadir-Shah had caused in terms of devastation, destruction, and murder of Christian women and girls in the Plain of Nineveh during his unsuccessful campaign against Mosul in 1743. The folios were unfortunately pulled out from their original place and have disappeared. More information with regard to the manuscripts of Telkeppe can be found in my Catalogue to be published in Arabic, but I hope that the present article gives an idea about these important codices.

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NOTES 1

Alqosh is near two major monasteries, Rabban Hormizd on the mountain of Alqosh, and Our Lady of Seeds, on its plain. It was home of generations of outstanding scribes and copyists. 2 On the long history of Telkeppe see my book Aḥdāṯ fī tārīḵ Telkeppe wa-mār Yūsif alṯānī Ma‛rūf baṭriyark al-kaldāniyyīn (16941712) [Episodes in the History of Telkeppe and Mār Yousif Ma‛rūf Patriarch of the Chaldeans] (Michigan, 2012). 3 Jean Maurice Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne: contribution à l'étude de l’histoire, de la géographie ecclésiastiques et monastiques du nord de l'Iraq (Beyrouth, 1968), 355-376. 4 In Mosul, renovated in 1912 by the Patriarch Joseph Emmanuel II Thomas (1900-1947). 5 Yūsif Ḥabbī, Makhṭūṭāt kanīsat Talkēf [The Manuscripts of the Church of Telkeppe], 13 Bayn-al-Nahrayn [Mesopotamia] (1976) 29; Fahāris al-Makhṭūṭāt al-suryāniyya fī al-‛Irāq [Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in Iraq] (Baghdad, 1977), 23. 6 Khairy Foumia, Fahras makhṭūṭāt Kanīsat Qalb-Yasū’ fī Talkēf [Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Telkeppe] (forthcoming). 7 I have identified no less than one hundred and twenty scribes native of Telkeppe, whose manuscripts are scattered around the world, among them are Franicis Mery and Buṭrus Ganji, who have produced more than twenty manuscripts each. 8 Theresa Asmar of Telkeppe was a traveller who just before she died in Paris in 1870 donated money for the building of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in her native village. 9 Jules Leroy, Les Manuscrits Syriaques à Peintures, (Paris, 1964), 404-407, esp. 406. 10 On this important scribe see David Wilmshurst, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East 1318-1913, CSCO 582 subsidia 104 (Leuven: Peeters, 2000), 114, 400-423. His name is inscribed on wooden clips used to bind manuscripts dated to 1544/4 and now found at the monastery of Our Lady of Seeds; A. Harrak, Syriac and Garshuni Inscriptions of Iraq,

RIS 2 (Paris: Académie des inscriptions et elleslettres, 2010), vol. I, 827-28, vol. II, pl. 241. 11 In 1676, the same priest copied a quddāshā-Sanctification for the church of Mar Gewargis of the village of Mangēš; A. Harrak, Catalogue of Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts: Manuscripts Owned by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage, CSCO Subsidia, 126 (Peeters: Leuven, 2012), 78-79. He comes from the Shekwana family of calligraphers: In 1673, a Priest named Israel (son of the Priest Hormizd son of the Priest Israel) of Alqosh copied a Psalter for two deacons in Mosul, and in 1710, a Priest Israel (son of the Priest Gewargis son of the Priest Israel) copied the Epistles of Paul for the church of the Virgin Mary in Barzan; see subsequently Buṭrus Ḥaddād and Jacques Isaac, Al-Makhṭūṭāt alsuryāniyya wa-al-‛arabiyya fī khizānat alruhbāniyya al-kaldāniyya, 1. Al-Makhṭūṭāt alsuryāniyya [The Syriac and Garshuni Manuscripts in the Library of the Chaldean Monastery in Baghdad, Syriac Manuscripts] (Baghdad, 1988), vol. 1, 290, and Yūsif Ḥabbī “Makhṭūṭāt abrašiyyat ‛Aqra [The Manuscripts of the Diocese of ‛Aqra],” in Fahāris al-Makhṭūṭāt alsuryāniyya fī al-‛Irāq [Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in Iraq] (Baghdad, 1981), 17. 12 The Acts of Mār Mārī the Apostle dated no later than the beginning of the 7th century speaks clearly of the depiction of Jesus; see A. Harrak, The Acts of Mār Mārī the Apostle (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005), 6-7. 13 This double vocabulary is not Syriac but Arabic and colloquial “imperative, urgent.” 14 On this military campaign see the following sources in Syriac: Behnām Sōnī, Baġdēda in Syriac, Garshuni, and Arabic Texts from the 7th to the End of the 19th Centuries (Rome, 1998), 200-204; B. Ḥaddād, “The Expedition of Nadir-Shah against Iraq in the Year 1145 of Hijra in a Syriac Document,” Bayn al-Nahrayn [Mesopotamia] 33 (1981) 91-99. 15 Baṭnaya is located near Alqosh. Mar Oraha is a 7th century monk from the monastery of Bet-‘Abē (north of the Upper Zab), who founded his monastery about which little is known before the 17th century. The monastery still exists although it does not have monks.

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Figure 1 Gospel Lectionary from Telkeppe (undated)

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Figure 2: Gospel Lectionary (Telkeppe, 1587) Entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem

Figure 3: Gospel Lectionary (Telkeppe, 1707) St. Thomas touches the side of Jesus

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RECONCILING ORNAMENT: CODICOLOGY AND COLOPHON IN SYRIAC LECTIONARIES BRITISH LIBRARY ADD.7170 AND VATICAN SYR.559

RIMA SMINE UNIVERSITY OF LEIDEN

A

rt Historians, relying on archives, inscriptions, and dating markers, place art within its historical context. In case historical information fails to exist, they perform stylistic analysis of an art object to try to fix its date. History, therefore, is an integral part of the art historical methodology, and with this assertion in mind, we turn our attention to the two Syriac lectionaries, British Library Add.7170 and Vatican Syriaco 559,1 traditionally dated to 1216-20 and 1219-20 respectively. Scholars often present the codices in question together because they carry the same set of images related to the readings. Despite the great similarities in their program, the late Father Jean-Maurice Fiey offered a new reading for the Vatican colophon,2 where he identified the date of 1260, that is, forty years later than the London manuscript. We will re-examine the colophon of the Vatican manuscript, focussing on artistic and stylistic features that seem to complicate its history compared with the one housed at the British Library. First we will explain the connections between Vatican Syriaco 559 and British Library Add. 7170, since the former

shows peculiar elements that indicate a digression from what the original scribes and artists had intended. The diverse and rich illuminations of these two manuscripts have enticed historians of Byzantine art and Islamic art to deal with them. Richard Ettinghausen reproduced the image of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem found in the Vatican manuscript in his well-illustrated book entitled Arab Painting.3 The Metropolitan Museum included the London manuscript in the catalogue of its exhibit The Glory of Byzantium,4 while the Vatican manuscript was discussed in the essay on “Christians in the Islamic East” within the same catalogue.5 The shared interest in both manuscripts stems from the fact that they combine Eastern Christian representational tradition and a style that is more reflective of Arabic manuscripts prior to the Mongol period. Recent scholarly publications opt for the later date of 1260, when it supports their arguments: In the article “Religious Diversity under Il-Khanid Rule c.1300,” Theresa Fitzherbert6 irrevocably accepts Fiey’s date, and Maja Kominko does the same as she discusses the validity of Fiey's argument for a portrait of Hulagu and his wife

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under the guise of Constantine and Helena.7 Bas Snelders gives both dates to the Vatican manuscript in his study of Syrian Orthodox Christian identity in Mosul in the medieval period.8 The first publications of the two manuscripts in question, mainly by Buchthal for the London copy9 and by De Jerphanion for the Vatican one,10 accepted the date of their production as the first quarter of the thirteenth century. British Library Add. 7170 had lost its colophon at the end of the volume but an inscription over the reading (fig.1) provides the names of the patriarch and the maphrian-metropolitan of the time, who coincided in their rule from 1216 to 1220. Vatican Syriaco 559 has a colophon at the end of the manuscript which De Jerphanion read and translated into French. An English translation is as follows: The writing was finished on the first Saturday of May, in the year 1531 of the Greeks. The scribe is Mubarak, one of the monks of Mar Mattai, son of David, son of Saliba, son of James, from the famous village of Bartella, located in the district of Nineveh. The donor is Rabban ‘Abdallah son of Khosho, son of Simeon. It is donated to the holy altar of the Monastery of Mar Mattai, Mar Zakko and Mar Abraham...11

The date of 1531 of the Greeks (A.D. 1219-20), convenient for the art historian as it explains the many similarities between the two manuscripts, allowed Jules Leroy to publish their images in parallel, in the same pages of his plates volume.12 This parallelism in the decorative program, where the same images appear for the same readings, reinforces the theory that the two manuscripts are the result of a single workshop. I have examined every single aspect of the making of these two voluminous manuscripts, including the composition of the quires and their number, the line ruling

creating the space for texts and images, the measurements, and finally the decorations, both figural and non-figural.13 I have also rejected Fiey’s identification of Constantine as Hulagu and Helena as Doquz Khatun, his Christian wife (fig.2). Fiey concentrated on the so-called Mongol facial features of the two saints, in particular their round faces and elongated eyes.14 In fact, these features are the norm in the representation of court figures in most manuscripts of the last phase of the Abbasid Caliphate, as well as on most ceramics from this period. This is certainly the case, for example, in the images of Badr ad-Din Lu’lu’, the ruler of Mosul in the second quarter of the thirteenth century.15 Fiey based his dating of the Vatican Library on historical facts rather than on examining the colophon itself. He identified the donor of the manuscript with a person who lived in 1260, arguing that the Seleucid date ‫ = ܐܘܢܐܠ‬1531 (= A.D. 1219/20) was a misreading of the correct date Seleucid ‫ = ܐܘܢܥܐ‬1571 (= A.D. 1259/60). A careful examination of the manuscript confirms Fiey’s argument. Looking at a microfilm image of fol. 250v, one can identify the line where the year is written. After two lines containing the prayer “Blessed be the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for now and ever and unto the ages of ages,” the colophon begins. It is on the second line that we find the word ‫“ ܫܢܬܐ‬year,” and on the following line, the real date which Fiey correctly read as ‫ܐܘܢܥܐ‬, which corresponds to A.D. 1259/60. One can see that the Syriac letter ‘ayn ‫ ܥ‬is in fact the real letter and not the letter lomad ‫ܠ‬, proving that the later date is the correct one, i.e. 1259/60. Most scholars prior to Fiey were misled by the fact that the letter ‘ayn appears to have been elongated on purpose, with its stem turning at a right angle upwards like a truncated lomad. It appears as if the scribe was trying to fool the reader with an earlier date.

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In short, a re-examination of the colophon in the microfilm proves Father Fiey to have been correct, and his date is further validated by his identification of the patron of the manuscript, Rabban ‘Abdallah son of Khoshu, son of Simeon, who lived in the village of Bartelli and was its chief in the year 1260.16 The identification of Rabban ‘Abdallah is also supported by an inscription inserted on folio 148r, at the bottom of the reading, where he is mentioned with his father, mother and brothers. Fiey identified the grandfather Simeon as the chief of the village; he was crucified under the governor of Mosul Badr ad-Din Lu’lu’ in 1222.17 The inscription mentioned above provides us with an additional insight with regard to the making of the manuscript and brings to mind the title of this paper: “A Reconciliation of the Codicology and Ornamentation with the Colophon.” The insight relates to one of the discrepancies of this manuscript, mainly in the treatment of the rulings and columns of text common to all Syriac manuscripts. The preceding text, written in golden ink, is that of the Gospel of John 20:1-18 for the Matins of the Resurrection Sunday, which begins on fol.147r and continues to fol.148r. The text is divided into two columns with 23 lines each, and it ends on the twenty-first line of the left column of fol.148r, immediately over the inscription of Rabban ‘Abdallah. What we see in this page is very unusual, since the inscription appears to be an addition to the text, albeit in the same golden ink. The inscription consists of nine lines written in a very narrow and small script and it exceeds the space of the column both horizontally and vertically, thus covering a great part of the bottom margins. We can conclude from this observation that the original design of this page had no plan for a lengthy inscription, but rather assumed that a single twisted rope would have occupied this one line space as seen on fol.42r.18 Rabban ‘Abdallah seems to have

squeezed in an acknowledgement of his own good patronage. The question of how to reconcile ornament, colophon and codicology becomes a crucial one in light of these differences between the planning of the manuscript and its execution. Many elements in the Vatican manuscript indicate different phases of creation, especially the under-drawings and the final painting of the illuminations. De Jerphanion mentioned the quality of the draughtsman (“un dessinateur assez habile”) as opposed to the mediocrity of the painters (“un ou plusieurs peintres fort médiocres”).19 He adds that the painters lacked originality when they reproduced the archetype, which means that they copied from a better model.20 De Jerphanion also mentions the different stages of workmanship: first a linear drawing is traced with particular details. The final painting is applied in such a weak and thin layer that one can see the errors. He points out that the lance of the centurion is transformed into a feather;21 other mistakes can be cited, including the man resting his face on his hand in the Resurrection of Lazarus (fig.3) when he should have been pinching his nose from the bad smell as represented in the London lectionary.22 One major conclusion of De Jerphanion’s analysis, which I could see upon examination of the manuscript, is that the draughtsman is not the scribe.23 Despite the fact that a new reading of this colophon and an acceptance of a later date would jeopardize an argument for one single workshop for both manuscripts in Mosul, the art historian takes it as a challenge to explain some of the discrepancies found in the Vatican manuscript compared to the British Library copy. The new date forces us to change the way we look at the manuscripts, both at the method used to make them and at their relationship to one another. There are great similarities between the manuscripts which cannot be

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attributed to chance. To explain these similarities, I propose a different timeline for the Vatican manuscript. From the evidence of its inscription, quire arrangement, ruling, textual tradition, ornamentation and illuminations, a date and location of production may be determined for British Library Add 7170. At the time of its production, this was by far the better of the two manuscripts, the real masterpiece, because its scribes and artists paid special attention to every detail. It has a total of 28 numbered quires of ten folios each. A 29th quire begins the manuscript, but it does not receive a number. It includes the frontispiece of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the Capitula Lectionum (the Vatican manuscript has lost this numberless first quire). The rulings of the pages are consistent with other Syriac manuscripts where it is divided into 2 columns of 22 lines each, and it hardly ever changes in the whole manuscript. The script is well spaced with sometimes only two words on the line of a column to maintain the same number of lines. Every image has a title describing it, a feature consistently lacking in the Vatican manuscript. Unfortunately, British Library Add. 7170 has suffered through the years, missing a few of its pages, especially the last 6 folios of the last quire number 28, along with its colophon. The inscription on fol.196r (fig. 1) serves, presently, as a substitute colophon. It comes over the reading of the vespers for Pentecost and it states that “this Holy Gospel was written and decorated at the time of the Patriarch Iowannis and the Catholicos Ignatius.” These names give us a date between 1216 and 1220. The inscription clearly precedes the writing of the text since some of the letters encroach on it, and the same is true in many places throughout the manuscript, leading us to believe that some of the decoration preceded the text. This is important because this sequence of painting the images before

applying the text appears to have been used for the Vatican manuscript as well, a point that Guillaume de Jerphanion included in his discussion.24 The British Library manuscript also contains several examples of decorative ornaments over specific readings. The value of these ornaments derives from the fact that some are finished and exquisitely painted—consider the series of roundels with open lotus flowers on fol. 39v (fig.4) and the flowing rinceaux with pastel colours on fol. 105v—while others are still at the drawing stage as on fol.228v and on fol.113r (fig.5), which reproduces the finished ornament over the vespers readings of Palm Sunday. An unfinished motif from fol.209v consists of a flowering stem enclosed in reverse triangles; it is omnipresent in many images in both manuscripts where it fits [‘fills’?] frame decorations (for example, separating Saint John and Saint Luke on fol.6r (fig.6), where it is inserted in semi-circles). The motif occurs in Islamic decorations, including metalwork ascribed to the city of Mosul, and while the connection with Islamic art is beyond the scope of the present paper, it is sufficient to say that the similarity of these motifs to certain motifs found in metalwork from Mosul suggest that Add 7170 belonged to a workshop in this city.25 Such an attribution means that the manuscript was not the product of a monastic centre. British Library Add. 7170 contains many spaces left empty for eventual decorations, and there are some that have been already decorated with a frame of light yellow ink. It is important to note that a number of these empty spaces in Add. 7170 match the empty spaces of Vatican Syr.559, and can also explain some of the missing images. For example, the reading for Saint Anthony has such an empty space in the London manuscript but a full image of the Holy Fathers is in the corresponding place in the Vatican copy.26 Similarly, the

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empty space over the reading for the Feast of the Visitation in the London manuscript implies that an ornament should be there, but the artists of the Vatican opted for a full representation of the Gospel narrative with Mary and Elizabeth embracing each other, on fol.10r.27 The space of six lines is an unusually small size to contain a figural image, which in this case would be the smallest painted image in the manuscript. The case of the Prayer of the Centurion on fol.72r of the Vatican manuscript28 is the only other example of a tiny illustration. It reproduces the image from the London manuscript in a line drawing, almost, it seems, as an afterthought, which in turn suggests that the preparation of the space had not taken into account this narrative. The scribe, apparently, left two lines for an ornament, a lacuna later corrected by the draughtsman who managed to fill the space with an exactly-drawn reproduction of the image on fol. 82r of the British Library Add. 7170. Thus we can clearly say that specific readings in both manuscripts were intended to receive some form of decoration, be it a figural illustration or an ornament, and we can match these spaces between the two manuscripts.29 Both manuscripts received their fair share of empty spaces for decoration, but the London manuscript exhibits a more elaborate design, and most of its ornaments match only empty spaces in the Vatican volume. For example, the ornament over the Vespers of Nativity from the London manuscript appears on fol.20r (fig.7), while the Vatican manuscript parallels this decoration with an empty space over the same reading on fol.13r, indicating that an ornament was expected in this place. The rope twisting in two circles filled with arabesques occupies the space of four lines of text and we find exactly 4 empty lines over the title of the reading in the corresponding place in the Vatican manuscript.

The Vatican ornaments, when they exist, are simple twisted ropes or an interlacing of red, green or ochre colours,30 similar to the motif we see on the opening page of the London manuscript as well as the roundels of the quire numbers. The quire numbers in the Vatican are left without decoration. Surprisingly, the same motifs that we see as ornaments in the London copy appear as frames for the larger images in the Vatican manuscript. On fol.209 v, as previously mentioned, the reciprocating motif of triangles filled with the same abstracted vegetal motif fills each one of the triangles. It appears in triangles again in the altar of Zachariah in both manuscripts, and one can see it in the Vatican example where the artist has painted over the design.31 It is this same pattern of reciprocating triangles that served as the basis of the frame around the Vatican depiction of the Transfiguration in fol. 206v.32 In this case, we need to note the quality of the workmanship in the Vatican manuscript. De Jerphanion already acknowledged the lack of artistic ability in the colouring work. He noticed that the artist did not pay attention to where he was applying the colour or how much and whether or not it covered the underlying drawing. In the example of the Transfiguration, the underlying design disappears under a thick coat and loses its vegetal effect. In most illuminations of the Vatican manuscript, the drawing clearly appears, as in the image of the Four Holy Monks on fol. 45v (fig. 8), whose haloes can only be seen in the underlying drawing. Clearly the colourist, as De Jerphanion calls him, did not bother to cover the haloes with more metallic paint to differentiate them from the background. When we look at this image from the Vatican manuscript, we notice that what was supposed to be a gold shiny paint is applied very sparingly, and it hardly shows as gold, if in fact it was intended to do so. The same treatment of the gold background appears in the image of the

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Washing of the Feet, where we also see some evidence of the underlying drawing. This is in contrast with the London manuscript where the metallic colour applied in place of gold is more generous and thicker. It raises the question of who ordered the manuscript and the amount he or she was willing to pay. The issue of patronage is crucial, and has an obvious bearing both on the quality of the finishing touches of the London manuscript and the lack thereof in the Vatican copy. What we can deduce from a careful examination of the two manuscripts is that the pages were prepared with the drawings in advance, but the execution and the finishing touches were only undertaken when a patron requested such a manuscript. If this was the case, we can also infer that the same arrangement of text and image should occur in both manuscripts. The artist who did the drawings counted the space needed for the scribe to include the text, and it seems that the arrangement of the text within the quires seems to have been planned at the same time with a later execution for the Vatican volume. At first, it seems that the same sequence of text and image was supposed to take place. The space allocated for the images within each quire should have been sufficient for the images as intended by the original artist. In fact, the first quire in both manuscripts reflects the same plan and was followed very diligently by the artist of the Vatican copy. Earlier, I mentioned the consistency of the ruling system and the ample space for writing in the London volume as opposed to the crammed script of the Vatican copy. This constriction of space in the lines and script happens when the artist and scribe diverge from a planned arrangement. The best example of this divergence can be seen in the image over the Vespers reading for the Feast of St Stephen (Mark 12, the Parable of the Vineyard left to the bad

husbandmen). In the London manuscript, as is the case throughout both manuscripts, the illumination always precedes the Vespers readings, and this explains why the image of the stoning of Stephen is placed immediately over the title for the vespers. In the Vatican manuscript, the later team of artist and scribe used the space allocated to this particular image for a new illustration. Jerphanion calls it “la grande désolation,”33 interpreting it as a metaphor of the Ruin of Jerusalem from the following reading for the Matins from Matthew 23:29-39. The artist created an image different from the one which he was (presumably) expected to supply, that is, the image of the Stoning of Stephen. I would like to point out that unlike most images from the Vatican manuscript, we do not see an underlying drawing here, which means that the image in question was added. Furthermore, while most pages of the manuscript have two columns with a maximum of 23 lines, the pages preceding this particular image have 25 lines on which the script is crammed. In the following quire of Vatican Syr.559, where the artist finally includes the Martyrdom of Stephen on fol. 20v (fig.9), he decides to use the whole width of the page, taking up the space of the right column as well as half of the left one. Already on the preceding fol. 20r, the scribe had to put in 25 lines of text, two more than the regular number in this manuscript, whereas on fol. 20v we find 24 lines. Certain clues help to explain what happened between the time when the manuscript was prepared and its final production. Folio 20v was prepared to receive the image of the Stoning from the underlying drawing of the face of Saul and of Stephen. From the point of view of formatting, the image should have stopped at the figure of Stephen, filling the interior margin as was done in the London image. The stone thrower on the left of the image would have been placed above Stephen, which would

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have left enough space for some text on the left column. The sequence of images for the story of the Presentation of Christ in the temple presents a similar situation, but here, neither the artist nor the scribe were careful enough to take into account the planning of the manuscript. The sequence of the reading is exactly the same in both the London and the Vatican manuscripts, starting with the dream of Symeon on the preceding page. In the case of the Vatican manuscript, the scribe kept on writing the text on the verso of folio 48r after the image of the dream of Symeon. When he realized that the plan was to have a wide image for the Presentation, he had already covered the whole right column and the artist had to improvise and produce an image on two registers, with the major protagonists, Symeon, Jesus and Mary, over Joseph and Anna.34 The combined image of Anastasis and the Women at the Tomb in the Vatican manuscript35 reflects the intention of the artist to have an upper frame for the image, which was never finished. In a sense, the artist of the Vatican manuscript did not realize that the Anastasis was intended to be on a separate folio inserted in the quire, as is the case with the full page image in the London lectionary’s quire number 16. Here we can clearly see the division of labour with a first artist outlining the frame and drawing the figures and a second one finishing the painting. A more qualified artist seems to have finished the dress of the angel where he meticulously painted the scroll folds in different shades of white on white. We may assume that the original plan for this manuscript was to include a wide image of the Women at the Tomb as we see in the London copy, rather than cramming it within one single column. The underlying drawing was not very precise, indicating that it was not the work of the first draughtsman, and the upper frame was

not designed to be of uniform width and length as we see in the London image. I hope that I have demonstrated that, in the case of the Vatican manuscript, there was little coordination in its planning, neither in the division of quires and the arrangement of images within each quire, nor the final execution of both text and image. I would like to suggest two possible scenarios for the production of this manuscript. The first one is that it was planned at the same time as the London manuscript. The folios were prepared but were left to wait until a patron appeared who would be willing to finance the project. The second one is that it was a copy of the London manuscript executed at a much later time, some 40 years later. The inscription on folio 148r might shed some light on this problem. In it, Rabban ‘Abdallah asks everyone who sees these lines to pray for him, the abbot or chief or superior, because he took care of this Evangelion and gave it to the Sanctuary of Mar Mattai. This is a clear indication that the manuscript did not originate in the Monastery of Mar Mattai, but that it was in the custody of Rabban ‘Abdallah who preserved it before handing it over to the famous monastery. My interpretation of this is that it was already in a manuscript state when Rabban ‘Abdallah asked to have it finished and added his dedicatory inscriptions, using gold ink as in the preceding text. We might infer that it came from outside the monastery, therefore strengthening the theory that it was produced in the city of Mosul. The date of 1260 should be used as a terminus ante quem, the last possible date for the production of this manuscript. As indicated above in the discussion of the colophon, the scribe scratched the letter ‘ayn in a way that made it look like a shortened lomad, thus fooling the reader with a date closer to that of the London manuscript. If this is correct, the scribe aimed at a rapproche-

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ment between the Vatican manuscript and the London one which must have served as the prototype or the original. If one accepts my conclusions about the London copy, mainly that it was produced in the city of Mosul, we can assume that an additional copy was made or prepared, and was only later finished, this copy being the Vatican manuscript. Its artists were either

finishing a prepared manuscript or they were simply copying the motifs found in the London manuscript. I tend to favor the theory that the Vatican manuscript was already prepared according to a plan similar to the London one and that it came into the hands of Rabban ‘Abdallah who had it finished and then presented it to the famous monastery of Mar Mattai.

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NOTES 1

Hugo Buchthal, “The Painting of the Syrian Jacobites in its relation to Byzantine and Islamic Art,” Syria, 20 (1939)136-150; Guillaume De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559 de la Bibliothèque Vaticane (Citta del Vaticano, 1940); Jules Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, conservés dans les bibliothèques d’Europe et d’Orient; contribution à l’étude de l’iconographie des églises de langue syriaque (Paris, 1964), 280-313. 2 Jean-Maurice Fiey, “Iconographie Syriaque, Hulagu, Doquz Khatun ... et Six Ambons?,” Le Muséon, 88 (1975) 59-68. 3 Richard Ettinghausen, Arab Painting (New York, 1977), 94 & 96. 4 Helen C. Evans & William D. Wixom, eds., The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1997), 384-385, catalogue n◦ 254. 5 Thelma Thomas, “Christians in the Islamic East,” in Evans and Wixom, The Glory of Byzantium, 367. 6 Teresa Fitzherbert, “Religious Diversity under Ilkhanid Rule c.1300 as Reflected in the Freer Bal‘ami,” in Linda Komaroff, ed., Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 403, n.55. 7 Maja Kominko, “Constantine’s Eastern Looks: The Elevation of the Cross in a Medieval Syriac Lectionary,” in ed. Piotr L. Grotowski and Slawomir Skrzyniarz, Towards Rewriting? New Approaches to Byzantine Archaeology and Art, Series Byzantina 8 (Warsaw, 2010), 177-194. 8 Bas Snelders, Identity and ChristianMuslim Interaction: Medieval Art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul Area, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 198 (Leuven: Peeters, 2010), 151-213. 9 Buchthal, “The Painting of the Syrian Jacobites,” 136-150. 10 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559. 11 Ibid, 6.

12

Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, vol. II, pl. 70-99. 13 Rima Smine, The Illuminations of Syriac Lectionaries (forthcoming). 14 Fiey, “Iconographie Syriaque,” 62. 15 Ettinghausen, Arab Painting, 65. 16 Fiey, “Iconographie Syriaque,” 61. 17 Ibid, 62. 18 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, 10, fig.1. 19 Ibid, 22. 20 Ibid, 22. 21 Ibid, 23. 22 Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, Pl. 85 N◦3. 23 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, 23: “Et cette maladresse a, pour nous, un avantage; car elle démontre, de façon indubitable, que le dessinateur n'est pas le scribe.” 24 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, 22. 25 Smine, The Illuminations of Syriac Lectionaries. 26 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. B1. 27 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. III; Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, pl.74/2. 28 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. IX. 29 Smine, The Illuminations of Syriac Lectionaries. 30 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, 10-11, fig. 1-3. 31 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. III N◦5; Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, pl. 75 N◦ 3 & 4. 32 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. C. 33 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. VI N◦11; Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, pl. 78 N◦4. 34 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. IX, N◦ 18; Leroy, Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, Pl. 81 N◦4. 35 De Jerphanion, Les miniatures du manuscrit syriaque N°559, pl. XX, N◦ 42 & 43.

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Fig.1 London British Library Add. 7170 fol. 196r, Inscription By permission of the British Library

Fig.2 Vatican Syr. 559 fol. 223v Constantine and Helena, after Leroy Pl.99 n°2

Fig.5 London British Library Add. 7170 fol. 113r ornament. By permission of the British Library

Fig.3 Vatican Syr. 559 fol. 101r Raising of Lazarus After Leroy Pl.85 n°4

Fig.4 London British Library Add. 7170 fol. 39v ornament. By permission of the British Library

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Reconciling Ornament, Codicology and Colophon in Syriac Lectionaries _________________________________________________________________________________________ Fig. 6 London British Library Add. 7170 fol. 6r Saint John and Saint Luke By permission of the British Library

Fig.7 London British Library Add. 7170 fol. 20r Ornament for Vespers of the Nativity By permission of the British Library

Fig. 8 Vatican Syr. 559 fol. 45v Holy Fathers After Leroy

Fig. 9 Vatican Syr. 559 fol. 20v Stoning of Saint Stephen After De Jerphanion Pl.VI n°12

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ACCESSING THE ARCHIVAL HERITAGE OF THE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH: PRELIMINARY REPORT

KHALID DINNO UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

INTRODUCTION

R

ecent access to the patriarchal archives of the Syrian Orthodox Church has opened the way into an enormous wealth of information contained in the correspondence to and from the patriarchate over a period of time that spans more than one century, beginning in the early 1820s. The material discussed here had been in storage at two locations: the Saffron Monastery (Dayr al-Za‛faran, Dayro d-Kurkmo),1 located some eight kms to the east of Mardin in southeastern Turkey, and at the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Mardin.2 Having been the seat of the Patriarchs of the Syrian Orthodox Church over nearly seven centuries, the Saffron Monastery was a depository of documents for this church for a long time. Nonetheless, due to the ravages of time, particularly the repeated Kurdish incursions, this monastery lost most of its library and archive material.3 All remaining material had been stored uncatalogued, in random batches each two to four inches thick. The archival material in Mardin had been bound in volumes. This was believed to have been done by, or under the directions of, Bishop Youhanna Doulabani (d. 1967).

Two campaigns were undertaken to digitally photograph what remained of the ecclesiastical archives: In 2005 and 2007, a team headed by George Kiraz photographed some of the material housed at The Saffron Monastery, and in July 2010 another team that included George Kiraz and the author photographed archives at the Saffron Monastery and in Mardin. In the two campaigns combined, the digital imaging work involved nearly 19000 images. The majority of this archival material consists of letters addressed to the patriarch of the day from a variety of sources from within the church and community, as well as from outside sources. These collections also include telegrams, financial accounting data, draft letters, internal reports and internal correspondence. The imaging work naturally involved careful handling of archival material, and typically called for the photographing of both the front (recto) and the back (verso) of documents, including scraps of documents, which were often what was left as result of poor storage or the lapse of time. The number of complete, readable folios (excluding blank versos, or versos with minimal information) that could be formed from the entire collection of images is naturally considerably smaller.

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In the absence of appropriate cataloguing, this number may be estimated to be about one half of the total. Among the letters we find one in Syriac addressed to patriarch Jacob II, from Malabar, India (fig. 1), following up on an ongoing issue concerning Athanasius, a pretender to the Metropolitan rank. Another letter in Garshuni (fig. 2) was sent from a number of clergy to Patriarch Peter III, dated February 11, 1888, relating to unsatisfactory condition within their churches. One more Garshuni letter (fig. 3) is from the Metropolitan Elias to Patriarch Peter III dated February 11, 1888. A letter in Arabic dated July 1, 1840 comes from the Apostolic Delegate P. P. Vilardell, and its content deals with whether or not Ephrem was ‘Syrian’: In as far as I have attended this city and the matter of Mar Ephrem of the Syrians was presented to me; I was overcome by surprise from this and then I was also asked: Was Mar Ephrem of the Syrians Syrian or not Syrian. So I answer this for the sake of revealing the truth and eliminating falsehood, and we say that Mar Ephrem of the Syrians was Syrian and a teacher of Syriac, and to this, all books and correct chronicles that are clear of any ulterior motive bear witness. This is what I bear witness to for the glory of God the Almighty, and for no other purpose. For this I have signed this testimony in my handwriting and I hereby confirm it with my seal: true, true, true. Given (issued) in the City of Ruha (Edessa) in the year 1840 in the month of July, Western (Gregorian), the first.

COLLECTIONS OF THE SAFFRON MONASTERY AND OF MARDIN Given the wide variety of the sources, subject matter and time span covered by the

documents, a complete analysis of the collected material can only be a long-term project involving several scholarly teams. The purpose of the current report is to outline as representative a perspective of the state of the Syrian Orthodox Church and community in the nineteenth century as possible. This perspective would include the state of its dioceses, its ecclesiastical structure, the church’s relations with other churches and with the Sublime Porte, the socio/economic condition of its communities, and inter-community relations. To serve the intended study, a large proportion of the archival material of approximately 4800 whole documents (many consisting of more than one folio), those that record correspondence, have been reviewed and their contents analyzed. Material excluded from the analysis included draft memos, accounts, inventory lists and telegrams. The analyzed material constitutes the majority of the Saffron Monastery and the Mardin collections. The analysis was based on the following parameters: i) ii) iii) iv) v)

Period, Source (Sender) identity, Source geographic location, Subject matter, or issue, and Language of communication.

A form, The Archival Data Analysis Form, was designed to meet the first four objectives. It was developed through an iterative process that involved starting with a limited number, (half dozen) of parameters for the subject of the correspondence, and increasing this number to nearly two dozen entries based on the wide range of issues that were found to have been raised in these documents as the work proceeded. Period The period in the Archival Data Analysis Form has not been defined by specific date or dates but rather in terms of the reign of patriarchs. This was done for two reasons. First, the date is often either not stated or

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not stated clearly, while the name of the patriarch is almost always stated. Second, given the vast number of documents, grouping them into smaller time intervals, say years, would in effect involve cataloguing, a mammoth task that is outside the scope of this work, in addition to being unjustified in relation to the intended purpose. The reign of the following patriarchs was taken to define the period entry in the form: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Elias II (1838 - 1847) Jacob II (1847 - 1871) Peter III/IV4 (1872-1894) Abdul Masih II (1895-1903) Abdullah II ( 1906-1915) Elias III (1917-1932) Ephrem I Barsoum (1933-1957)

Document Dating Two dating systems were in use until 1840: the Gregorian for general internal correspondence and Hijra for correspondence with government. Following 1840, the Rumi calendar was introduced in the Ottoman Empire in civic matters, as part of the 1839 Tanzimat reforms. This calendar was in effect from March 1840 until the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1926. The Rumi calendar was essentially a Julian calendar in length but with a starting point being the Hijra year corresponding to 1840, namely 1256. The Rumi calendar started being adopted on March 30, 1840, Julian (corresponding to March 1, 1256 AH)5. There was no strict adherence to the Rumi calendar and the Gregorian continued to be used, often alongside the Rumi calendar. Language The majority of the documents were written either in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Syriac, or Garshuni (Arabic using Syriac script). Few documents, generally from India or from European countries, were in English, and even still fewer were in Armenian. Generally, correspondence between the patriarch and the bishops and

priests in India were in Syriac. Correspondence with the Ottoman authorities was in Ottoman Turkish. The majority of the correspondence from the Syriac Orthodox communities was in Arabic, or Ottoman Turkish, depending on the source location. Letters from Syria and Iraq were generally in Arabic, written in Arabic script or in Garshuni. Letters from India were in Syriac. Letters from Anatolia were more varied with respect to language. This variation reflects the variety of languages spoken by the Syriac Orthodox communities in that region. Surveying the entire corpus of documents from the Saffron Monastery and the Forty Martyrs Church with respect to language yielded the following results: 20% in Arabic, 27% in Ottoman Turkish, 51% in Syriac and (2-3% in Syriac and 48-49% in Garshuni), and approximately 2% in English and other languages. If we briefly consider the languages spoken by the Syriac Orthodox communities in Anatolia in the period in the nineteenth century, we find that residents of Mardin, Bnebile, Qal‛at Mara, Ma‛serti, Qillith, Isfis and Azikh spoke Arabic, while those of Diyarbakir and Kharput spoke partly Arabic and/or Turkish and/or Armenian, and those further north spoke mainly Turkish and/or Armenian. The majority of the people of the Tur-‛Abdin region, with Midyat as its main city, spoke a Tourani (Turoyo in Syriac), a Neo-Aramaic dialect. Towns speaking this dialect, in addition to Midyat, included Hah, Ainward, Kafro, Kafirzi, Anhil, and Mhaiziz. In the eastern part of Tur-‛Abdin, such as Karburan, or futher, to the east of the Tigris, such as Bisharie, Kurdish was mainly spoken, often in addition to one of the other languages noted above. Despite the fact that Armenian and Kurdish were spoken in many places, hardly any letters viewed so far have been found written in these languages.

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The form of the Arabic language used, whether appearing in Arabic script or in Garshuni, varies considerably from almost literary/classical to very colloquial. A more literary form was generally used by many of the clergy, educated individuals and dignitaries, particularly in letters from Syria and Iraq. A highly colloquial form was generally used by ordinary folk, exhibiting an abundance of loan words, mainly from Turkish, but often also from the NeoAramaic of Tur-’Abdin, and less often from Armenian or Kurdish. Generally the language of communication, particularly from local communities, was highly colloquial, requiring an acquired knowledge to decipher the colloquial terms and phrases that were in use at that time.

GENERAL RESULTS Sifting through an enormous number of letters relevant to three patriarchs, I was able to create statistics for each period depending on senders, geographical provenance, and contents to give a bird’s-eye view of these missives (see fig. 4). The following sections add details about certain peculiarities in the writing of these letters. Senders The letters to the patriarch of the day came from a variety of sources across the ecclesiastical spectrum: bishops, priests and monks; church wardens and community dignitaries; ordinary folk: individuals and groups of individuals; other Christians and Christian churches; Muslim neighbours; municipal and regional authorities; foreign diplomatic sources; and last, but by no means least, the Sublime Porte. Geographic Provenance Determination of the precise geographic source of a great many of the letters presented considerable difficulties since in many cases the location of the sender was

not clearly stated, or, even more commonly, was not stated at all, presumably on the assumption that the sender was known to the patriarch. In many other cases the senders’ locations were minor villages whose names were subsequently erased or changed by the Turkish authorities, as part of the ethnic cleansing that the Turkish government adopted following WW1. However, it was still possible in most cases to identify the location from content or from recurring names of senders, particularly in the case of clergy and community dignitaries.

FORMAT & CONTENTS OF LETTERS TO THE PATRIARCH Besides their content (see below), these letters are of some interest due to the literary structures and formulaic expressions found in their introductions and conclusions. No study has been conducted on Syriac Epistolography and the following are introductory notes on this literary genre. 1. Format a. Address: Expressed in Syriac, Garshuni Arabic or Arabic, the Syriac address may appear in letters written in any of these languages. The Garshuni address is used for both Garshuni Arabic and Arabic letters. The Arabic-scripted address is, as to be expected, used for all letters written in the same script. A common Syriac formula for the address is: ‫ ܘܡܪܡܪܡܢܐ‬.‫ܒܫܡ ܡܪܝܐ ܡܢܛܪܢܟ‬ ‫ܕܕܪܓܐ ܕܟܘܡܪܘܬܟ ܐܒܘܢ ܡܥܠܝܐ ܡܪܢ ܡܪܝ‬ ‫ܐܝܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܦܛܪܝܪܟܐ ܫܠܝܚܝܐ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ ܕܗܘ‬ ... “In the name of the Lord, your Guardian and the Promoter of your patriarchal rank, our venerated father, our lord Mōr Ignatius, Apostolic Patriarch of Antioch…” The Arabic address, whether expressed in Arabic script or a Syriac script (Garshuni) may take one of several vocative forms. The following is typical: ‫ܐܝܗܐ ܐܠܣܝܕ‬ ‫ܐܠܟܠܝ ܐܠܫܪܦ ܘܓܙܝܠ ܐܐܠܚܬܪܐܡ ܣܝܕܢܐ‬ ‫ܕܐܡܗ ܐܠܪܒ ܦܝ ܪܐܣܢܐ ܐܡܝܢ‬... ‫“ ܐܠܒܛܪܝܪܟ‬O

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lord, most respectable and utmost honourable, our esteemed lords the Patriarch … May the Lord keep him as our head, amen.” Even if the body of the letter is in Garshuni or Arabic, the Syriac address is generally inserted, particularly in letters from clergy, as this form offers a flavour of a language that is held in high esteem by the Church and community, in addition to being a marker of their identity. b. Beginning of the body: Reverential in connotation and expresses the writer’s respect and deference to the patriarch in terms that are characteristic of the esteem in which the patriarch is held among his flock. The wording, often in rhyme, may vary slightly. Two examples may be given: i) ‫ܒܥܕ ܬܩܒܠ ܐܝܐܕܝܟܡ ܐܠܟܪܐܡ ܘܐܠܡܪܓܘ‬ ‫“ ܕܥܐܟܡ ܐܠܨܐܠܚ ܥܠܝ ܐܠܕܘܐܡ ܐܡܝܢ‬After kissing your honourable hands and the begging of your good wishes at all times amen.” ii) ‫ܒܥܕ ܬܩܒܠ ܐܐܠܝܐܕܝ ܘܐܠܩܕܐܡ ܐܠܡܪܓܘ‬ ‫“ ܐܠܕܥܐ ܘܐܠܒܪܟܗ ܒܪܟܡܪܝ‬After kissing the hands and the feet and the begging of wishes and blessing, (in Syriac) Bless my Lord.” c. Main Body: Right after the deferential beginning, the main subjects of the letters, except those from clergy of educated notables, are expressed in the colloquial language, which in turn betrays the background of the writers, mostly Syrians from Anatolia. Due to widespread illiteracy, letters were written by scribes who, despite their ability to write, were nevertheless largely of limited education. d. Letter Conclusion: The Syriac phrase ‫“ ܒܪܟܡܪܝ ܥܠ ܫܘܒܩܢܐ‬Bless my lord and pardon” almost always ends the body of the letters, followed by the dates and signatures. The date, as in Arabic letter-writing, is preceded by: ‫“ ܚܪܪ ܦܝ‬composed on…” The inscription above the seal typically identifies the sender merely as a ‘monk’ (e.g. ‫ܪܐܗܒ‬ ‫ ;ܐܠܝܐܣ‬Monk Elias), whereas the seal (in Arabic script) gives the actual rank (e.g.

‫ ;ܡܛܪܐܢ ܐܠܝܐܣ‬Metropolitan Elias). Understating one’s rank is a mark of humility, which has been found to be quite common in letters from bishops to the patriarch. Bishop Athanasius Sham‘on’s letter of 1882 to the same patriarch ends with a more elaborate formula that reflects the formal respect given by the bishop to the patriarch, despite the latter’s elevated ecclesiastical position: ‫ܘܒܟܠ ܟܨ̇ܘܥ ܢܟܪܪ ܬܩܒܝܠ ܡܘܐܛܝ‬ ‫ܐܩܕܐܡܟܡ ܘܐܠܒܐܪܝ ܬܥܐܠܝ ܝܛܝܠ ܠܢܐ ܐܝܐܡ‬ ‫“ ܓܒܛܬܟܡ ܒܐܠܣܥܘܕ ܘܐܠܕܘܐܡ‬In complete submission we kiss again your footstool, and may the Most High Creator lengthen the days of your Beatitude in success and perpetuity”. This seal of the sender the follows, preceded by the statement: ‫ܪܐܓܝ ܕܥܐܟܡ‬ ‫ܟܐܕܡܟܡ ܐܬܐܢܐܤܝܘܤ ܡܛܪܐܢ ܟܐܡܥܘܢ‬ ‫“ ܡܚܝܐܠ‬Requesting your prayer, Your Servant Athanasius Bishop Shem‛un, the weak.” 2. Content As one might expect, the letters dealt with a variety of topics. Some are of an administrative nature, from local bishops, heads of monasteries, priests, monks, wardens responsible for collecting fifes and patriarchal dues. However, a good proportion of the letters came from individuals or from groups of individuals who wished to express concerns or complaints about issues affecting the life of the church community, including the appointment of clergy, or to plead for help in dealing with government authorities, or to report aggression by neighbouring Muslim communities. A surprisingly large number of letters came from individuals, ordinary folk, relating to personal hardships, financial and social, including matrimonial issues and divisions and disputes within families, particularly those resulting from religious conversions.

FINAL NOTES As one might expect, Ottoman period documents preserved in monastery archives

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are of particular interest not only for the writing of the history of the monastery and the church to which they are affiliated, but also for Ottoman history, local or general. The Saffron Monastery and the Mardin collections certainly fulfill this expectation. The accounts which these archives contain of the relations between Christians and neighbouring Muslim communities, among Christians themselves, and between Christians and the Ottoman government provide valuable evidence for reconstructing contemporary social and political conditions. These accounts should provide particularly valuable testimonies to the true state of affairs they describe. A detailed discussion of the implications of the general results presented here is outside the scope of this paper. One is struck, however, by the wide range of topics (social, financial, church administration related…) discussed in letters

sent to the patriarch from individuals and groups of individuals. This demonstrates that the patriarchate was readily accessible to ordinary individuals. Yet at the same time, the reverential manner in which the letters were written reflect the esteem with which the patriarch was held in the minds and the hearts of his people, not only as their highest ecclesiastical leader, but also as their protector and father. Historically, this position was promoted in part by the social system in the Ottoman Empire, which itself was inherited from previous Islamic governments, in which non-Muslims were organized as semi-autonomous millets. The archives described in this report provide a valuable window into the life of the Syrian Orthodox community as viewed from below, a subaltern view, as opposed to the elitist view which conventional social history embodies.

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NOTES 1

The Saffron Monastery (Dayr al-Za‛faran) was the seat of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate from the thirteenth century to the early 20s of the twentieth century. 2 Permission from His Holiness Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, made this access possible. This permission is respectfully and duly acknowledged. 3 In his book Narrative of a Visit to the Syrian (Jacobite) Church of Mesopotamia, 225, Horatio Southgate reports that when he wished to visit the monastery’s historic library, the bishop who accompanied him apologized for the library’s depleted contents, as “the Kurds had used most of the ancient codices as wadding for their guns during their last occupation of the establishment.”

4

He was conventionally known as Peter III during his lifetime, and this is the way his name appears in the archival material discussed here. The correction in designation was made in the 1920s upon a historical review of past patriarchs with this name who sat on the seat of Peter the Apostle in Antioch (counted as Peter I). These included Peter II (the Fuller) (470-471) and Peter III of Raqqa (571-591). This last Peter was known as Petra and was, for this reason, not counted. 5 Thus, the difference of 584 years between the two calendars remains constant. Accordingly, a document dated August 14, 1305 would correspond to August 14, 1889 in Julian calendar and August 26, 1889 according to the Gregorian calendar. The 12-day difference between the Julian and the Gregorian calendars increased to 13 days in 1900.

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Fig. 1 Letter from the Saffron Monastery Collection K05-0873 _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 95

Accessing the Archival Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 2 Letter from the Saffron Monastery Collection K10-B20-0760

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Fig. 3 Letter from the Saffron Monastery Collection K05-0046 _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 97

Accessing the Archival Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church _________________________________________________________________________________________

Fig. 4 Archive of the Patriarchate of Peter III/IV _________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 13 (2013) ― Page 98

______________________________________________________________________ BISHOP DR. JULIUS MIKHAEL AL-JAMIL (1938-2012)

AMIR HARRAK UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

S

yriac studies and church history, especially in the Arab world, have lost an indefatigable scholar and researcher, and also a promoter of dialogue between Eastern Churches within the Pro Oriente Foundation.

Bishop Mikhael al-Jamil was born on the 18th of November, 1938, in Qaraqosh, a town near Mosul whose residents take pride in the fact that Aramaic remains their mother tongue. He studied at the St. John’s Syro-Chaldean Seminary of Mosul and was

ordained priest in 1964. He became the director of this Seminary in 1971, following the expulsion of his illustrious predecessor the late Father Jean Maurice Fiey, OP, from Iraq by the then Baathist government. After the closure of this seminary in 1973 by the same government, he moved to Beirut to serve at the Syriac Catholic patriarchate and in 1986 he was ordained Titular Bishop of Takrit. In 19891990, Bishop al-Jamil became the Auxiliary Bishop over Beirut and in 1997 Vicar Procurator of the patriarchate in Rome. In 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Visitor of the Catholic Syriacs in Europe, and just a few months before he passed away, Pope Benedict XVI made him a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Bishop’s al-Jamil’s scholarly work began in Beirut, where he established the Centre for Syriac Research and Studies, in the context of which he published in the Arabic language the History and Vitae of the Syriac Catholic Priests from 1750 to 1983 (Beirut 1986). This book of more than 400 pages is based on often rare and inaccessible sources, especially for the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a mine of information on generations of priests, some of

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Obituary: Bishop Dr. Mikhael al-Jamil _________________________________________________________________________________________

whom lived in critical political times, while others succumbed to wholesale massacres in Anatolia in 1895 and 1915. The rich onomastica contained in this book, with Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Turkish names, gives an idea about the multilingual and multicultural environments in which those priests lived. The book also gives an idea about the geographical extent of the nascent Syriac Catholic Church in the past two and a half centuries. His next book, also in Arabic and as voluminous as the first one, is entitled Historical Successions of Bishops in the Syriac Dioceses from 1900 to 2003 (Beirut 2003). This is a continuation of Philippe di-Tarrazi’s book bearing the same title which covers the period from the beginning of the Syriac Catholic Church to 1910, date of its publication. This is also a treasure of information on Syriac Catholic bishops, some of whom became important patriarchs, including Patriarch Ephrem Rahmani (d. 1929), a linguist, scholar, and historian, and Gabriel Tappuni (d. 1968), a builder, administrator, and the first Cardinal from the Middle East. Both seminal books, which also are illustrated, are divided according to dioceses rather than alphabetically or chronologically. In 1998 Bishop al-Jamil obtained his doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome, where he defended his thesis entitled Statuto Personale della ‘Gente del Libro’ e autoritá patriarcale nella cittá Islamica—published ten years later as a monograph. Unlike Edmond Rabbat’s Le statut légal des non-musulmans en pays d’Islam (1958), which covers the early centuries of Islam, al-Jamil’s book is not only a fresh look on the subject, but also considers the Ottoman period, during which religious communities lived under the millet system with its challenges in an otherwise entirely Muslim empire. While Rabbat’s book covers a wide geographical region, al-Jamil’s

study concentrates on Syria and Mesopotamia and exploits a variety of Syriac and Christian Arabic sources sometimes not easily accessible. The author published an Arabic version of the Statuto Personale and also prepared a French version that has not been published. The topic of this research was not new to Bishop al-Jamil, since he treated it in various research papers published in a number of Middle Eastern periodicals. Bishop al-Jamil also published a liturgical book, Syriac Breviary, and countless articles on Church history, art, theology, etc. In 2011, while I was conducting research at the Vatican Library, I resided at the nearby Santa Maria in Campo Marzio where Bishop al-Jamil lived. He was working on a history of Syriac literature and on other relevant topics that must now remain on his personal computer; one would hope that this research will be published one day posthumously. Bishop al-Jamil’s scholarship and his mastery of Syriac liturgical music (he had a beautiful voice) will be dearly missed. On a more particular note, all the victims of the terrorist attack against the Syriac Catholic Cathedral Our Lady of Help in Baghdad (2010) who were treated in Rome will miss his compassion, assistance, and devotion. As an 18th century funerary inscription from Qaraqosh says, he is fittingly

‫ܘܬܐ‬

‫ܐܕ‬

‫ܐ ܙܗ ܐ ܘ ܐ‬ ‫ܒ ܐ ܕ ܿܓ ܐ ܐ ܐ‬ ‫ܓ̈ ܐ‬ ‫ܘܐ ܪܐ ܕ‬ ... ‫ܐ‬ ‫ܘܒ‬ ‫ܐ‬ ݂

A venerable and dignified priest, pleasing to Godhood, an abundant source of mimrēhomilies, a chanter of all sūgiōtō-hymns, beautiful of name, and sweet of melody…

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___________________________________________________________________________ THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR SYRIAC STUDIES

MEMBERS OF THE YEAR 2012-2013

Honorary Member BROCK, Sebastian, Oxford, UK GRIFFITH, Rev. Sidney H., Gaithersburg MD VAN ROMPAY, Lucas, Durham NC Corporate Members GORGIAS PRESS, Piscataway NJ SALAM Social Club, Toronto ON GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF SYRIAC CULTURE AND ARTS, Erbil, IRAQ Life Members BADWI, Fr. Abdo, Kasilik, LEBANON DAVID, Sargon, Scarborough ON DINNO, Khalid, Mississauga ON EMMANUEL, Mar Emmanuel, Toronto ON GREATREX, Geoffrey, Ottawa ON GREATREX, Marina, Ottawa ON MALAS, Gabriel, UK MURAD, Janan, Mississauga ON SMITH, Helen, Toronto ON Members ABBA, Bishop Yusif, Baghdad, IRAQ ABDULAHAD, Raika, Thunder Bay ON AFRAM, Zyad, Mississauga ON AKOPIAN, Arman, Yerevan, Armenia ALIBERTIS, Demetrios, Toronto ON ALKABI, Naseer, Toronto ON BADOVINAC, J. & Ed. Mississauga ON

BASMAJI, John, Markham ON BEAULIEU, Paul-Alain, Toronto ON BENJAMEN, Alda, Washington DC BENJAMIN, Renya, Woodbridge ON BIHNAN, Adnan, Brampton ON BORBONE, Giorgio Pier, Pisa, ITALY BOUJIKIAN, Stephen, Scarborough, ON BRAIDA, Emanuela, Toronto ON BRIQUEL CHATONNET, Françoise, Paris, FRANCE BROWN, Kenneth, Aberdeen MD BOUTROS, Ramez, Toronto ON BUTTS, Aaron, New Haven CT CASSIS, Marica, St. John’s NL CLARKE, Colin S., Hamilton ON CONTINI, Riccardo, Rome, Italy CORBETT, John H., Kingston ON COX, James, King City ON DAWOID, Fatdal, Täby, SWEDEN DAWOOD, Fadi, Barrie ON DAWOOD, Issam, Barrie ON DAWOOD, Massarah, Barrie ON DEBIÉ, Muriel, Paris, FRANCE DESREUMAUX, Alain, Paris, FRANCE DINNO, Deena, Mississauga ON DODD, Erica, Victoria BC DOHLER, Anna, Toronto ON DONABED, Sargon, Toronto ON FAIBISH, Neil, Toronto ON FATHI, Jean, Toronto ON

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Members of the Year 2012-2013 ____________________________________________________________________________________

FOREN, Symon, Toronto ON FRAME, Grant, Philadelphia PA GODBOUT, Alain, Halifax NS GRAHAM, Mark, Toronto ON HANNA, Robert, Mississauga ON HARRAK, Amir, Toronto ON HARRAK, Ryan, Toronto ON HARRAK, Sarah, Toronto ON HARVEY, Susan A., Lincoln RI HINDO, Tariq R., Toronto ON HIRSCH, Antoine, Toronto ON HUMPHRYS, Peter, Peterborough ON ISSA, Rev. Stephanos, Scarborough ON ISSAK, Rev. John, Hamilton ON JOHNSON, Nola J., Toronto ON JWAIDEH, Albertine, King City ON KASSIR, Zuhair, Milton ON KIRAZ, George, Piscataway NJ KITCHEN, Rev. Robert, Regina SK KYDD, Ronald, Colborne ON LAWSON, Todd, Toronto ON LEHTO, Adam, Waterloo ON LONDES, Arlette, Thornhill ON LOVRICS, Sarah, Toronto ON MATHEW, Parackel, Rev. Dr. Toronto ON MORRISON, Rev Craig, Rome, ITALY

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