Manuscript Studies

This volume presents five vivid tales of Christian martyrs from the fifth century. These accounts thematize the conflict between the martyrs' identity as Persian subjects loyal to the Zoroastrian king and their devotion to Christianity.

A short guide for studying, editing and translating medieval texts in manuscript form, outlining the technical steps for preparing a medieval manuscript for print: evaluating and describing the manuscript itself (transmission, provenance, and physical description), textual criticism (reconstruction, emendation, authenticity, dating, and authorship), and steps to preparing an edition or translation.

Ancient language study is becoming an increasingly sophisticated and complex discipline, as scholars not only consider methods being used by specialists of other languages, but also absorb developments in other disciplines to facilitate their own research investigations. This interdisciplinary approach is reflected in the scope of research papers offered here, invited and peer-reviewed by the ISLP.

The Chronicle of Zuqnin is a universal history beginning with the Creation according to the biblical account and ending with the time of the Chronicler, the years 775-776 AD. The author is most probably Joshua the Stylite, a contemporary of the Caliphs al-Mansur and al-Mahdi, who lived in the monastery of Zuqnin that was located near Amid, the Diar-Bakr of modern Turkey. Parts I and II contain compiled sources some of which survived only in this Chronicle. Sources include the Bible, Cave of Treasures, the Sleepers of Ephesus, Eusebius of Caesarea, Socrates, and the short Chronicle called Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite that deals with Sassanian-Byzantine warfare at the begging of the 6th century. Parts III and IV cover the years 488 and 775 AD. In this volume, Parts I and II, including the author’s dedicatory letter, are now published in an updated edition of the Syriac text and the first English translation.

A new reconstruction of Pelagius's biblical text of 2 Corinthians. It shows how Pelagius's commentary assists us in choosing between variant readings and assessing manuscript reliability. From this new reconstruction, it is now apparent that Pelagius had access to the Vulgate already in the early 5th century.

The so-called "Julian Romance" was discovered among the Nitrian manuscripts in the 1830s. This revised edition, with facing Syriac text and English translation, provides a new, more accurate translation of this important Syriac text.

A reprint of Mynatt's 1994 publication, examining all of the sub loco notes in the Torah of BHS. There is an entry for each such note which compares the Mp of Codex Leningradensis, BHS and (where extant) the Aleppo Codex.

In 1934 the New York Public Library (NYPL) purchased a sizable collection of 250 volumes of Arabic manuscripts through the fund for Semitic literature that had been provided by Jacob Heinrich Schiff. Ms New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Arabic Manuscripts Collection, Volume 51985A, a facsimile of which is included in the present publication, belongs to the Shīʿī material among the collection. It is a multitext volume of 269 leaves which in its present form comprises seven individual works. It is hoped that the present facsimile edition will enable and encourage scholars to delve into the materials it contains.

Iranian libraries hold only few manuscripts that testify to the extended and intensive Muʿtazilite past in the various centers of Zaydi scholarship in the Caspian region, in Ḫurāsān, and in Rayy. Among the few Muʿtazilite Zaydi works preserved in the libraries of Iran is a miscellany held by the library of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Shiraz (ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī Library). The maǧmūʿa, a facsimile of which is included in the present publication, was written between 673/1274-75 and 676/1277 and contains doctrinal works by Imāmi and Zaydi theologians from both Iran and from Yemen. Most of the codex consists of a theological summa, a taʿlīq that had been composed or transcribed by one Abū Ṭāhir b. ʿAlī al-Ṣaffār which was based on the Kitāb al-Uṣūl by Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. Ḫallād al-Baṣrī, the distinguished disciple of the Muʿtazilite theologian and founder of the Bahšamiyya, Abū Hāšim al-Ǧubbāʾī (d. 321/933), with an unknown number of commentary layers in between.

Michael the Great was elected patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church in a most instable period. He nevertheless, found time, clarity of mind, and determination to write a voluminous world chronicle, which he completed four years before he died in November 7, 1199. The present edition and its translation begin with Book XV and end with Book XXI, the last Book in the Chronicle, thereby covering more than 160 years, from AD 1031 to AD 1195.

This work presents to the scholarly world the hitherto unpublished trove of over 500 catchwords that were attached to Masoretic doublet notes in the Leningrad Codex. All the doublets with their catchwords are listed both in the chronological order of their first appearance in the Bible and again on their second appearance. The nature of the catchwords, their purpose, and their relation to other Masoretic notes are described in detail, and suggestions are made how they can be of value to biblical scholars.

Nearly a century has passed since Henry A. Sanders first published his editio princeps of the Washington Manuscript of the Epistles of Paul (Codex I or GA 016). Within that time, it has received very little scholarly attention. This new edition provides a fresh, conservative transcription based on two new image sets.

The dot is used for everything in Syriac from tense to gender, number, and pronunciation, and unsurprisingly represents one of the biggest obstacles to learning the language. Using inscriptions, early grammars, and experiments with modern scribes, Dr. Kiraz peels back the evolution of the dot layer by layer to explain each of its uses in detail and to show how it adopted the wide range of uses it has today.

This volume brings together contributions by scholars focussing on peritextual elements as found in Middle Eastern manuscripts: dots and various other symbols that mark vowels, intonation, readings aids, and other textual markers; marginal notes and sigla that provide additional explanatory content akin to but substantially different from our modern notes and endnotes; images and illustrations that present additional material not found in the main text. These elements add additional layers to the main body of the text and are crucial for our understanding of the text’s transmission history as well as scribal habits.

The most significant and by far largest collections of Zaydi manuscripts are housed by the many public and private libraries of Yemen, an endangered cultural heritage tradition, currently at risk due to the conflict and warfare in Yemen. The contributions brought together in this volume address a wide spectrum of aspects concerning Yemeni manuscript cultures, with some focusing on their history and present state within Yemen and others discussing the collections of manuscripts of Yemeni provenance in Europe and elsewhere.

The British Library possesses one of the most important collections of Syriac manuscripts in the world, with large numbers dating back to the second half of the first millennium CE. The publication of important Syriac texts from these manuscripts has been going on for some 180 years and still continues. The aim of the present volume is to provide a guide to these scattered publications: following the sequence of the shelf-marks (call numbers), for each manuscript indication is given of what texts have been published from it. For convenience, a concordance between Wright’s Catalogue numbers and shelf-marks is provided, along with a list of palimpsests and of joins with manuscripts in other libraries, in particular with those still in the Library of Dayr al-Surian in Egypt, the monastery which was the source of over 500 manuscripts and fragments purchased by the British Museum in the mid nineteenth century.

The book is a synoptic catalogue of a large class of Greek manuscripts: it describes all pre-seventeenth century copies of the Greek New Testament in which the biblical text is accompanied by commentary. Manuscripts where this commentary consists of combined excerpts (catena) from the works of various authors are described in particular detail. Those that have similar content are grouped together, so that the potential relatives of any given manuscript can be easily identified. Several previously unknown types of catenae are distinguished and a number of previously unstudied codices are brought to light for the first time. To ensure its longer shelf-life, the volume systematically references on-line electronic databases (which are regularly updated). It will be of use to anyone interested in Byzantine book culture and in biblical exegesis.

This bundle is focused on a selection of key Syriac Texts and Translations, and will be of interest to scholars and others wanting to learn more about both Syriac language and culture. It comprises: The Law Code of Simeon, Bishop of Rev-Ardashir (Edited and translated by Amir Harrak), Jacob of Sarug's Homilies on the Six Days of Creation: The Sixth Day (Edited and translated by Edward G. Mathews Jr.), Jacob of Sarug's Homilies on Jacob (Translated by Dana Miller; Edited with Notes and Introduction by Mary T. Hansbury), Moshe Bar Kepha's Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Edited and translated by Abdul Massih-Saadi), The History of the 'Slave of Christ' (By Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross). The RRP of the titles in this bundle when sold individually is $347.50. The bundle saves you $139.

This collection brings together five notable titles covering basic studies on the Masorah. The bundle is ideal for those engaged in Masoretic studies at all levels* and includes: The Masorah of the Former Prophets in the Leningrad Codex (1 Samuel) (By David Marcus) The Masorah of the Former Prophets in the Leningrad Codex (Judges) (By David Marcus) The Masorah of the Former Prophets in the Leningrad Codex (Joshua) (By David Marcus) The Sub-Loco Notes in the Former Prophets of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (By Christopher Dost) Hidden Treasure (By David Marcus) The RRP of the titles in this bundle when sold individually is $875. The bundle saves you $350. *Please note, we have a larger, eight volume, Masorah Bundle, that may also be of interest. The eight volume bundle includes some of the same titles (you will find the link to this larger bundle in the long description, below)

The colophon, the ultimate or “crowing touch” paragraphs of a manuscript or a book, provides readers with a the historical context in which the scribe produced the manuscript (or the publisher, a book). At its most fundamental level, the colophon gives us the “metadata” of the manuscript: who was the scribe? When and where was the manuscript produced? For whom was it produced and who paid for it? But colophons are far more rich. They are literary works in their own right, having a style and rhetoric independent of the main literary text of the manuscript. Some are assertive, providing contextual data about the scribe/publisher and manuscript/book; others are expressive, demonstrating the scribe’s feelings and wishes. Some are directive, asking the reader for an action; others declarative, providing all sorts of statements about the scribe/publisher or even the reader. The latter sometimes provide historical facts otherwise lost to histories: wars, earthquakes, religious events, legal agreements, etc. This edited volume brings together scholars from various disciplines to study colophons in various languages and traditions across space and time.

This companion volume to Literary Snippets: Colophons Across Space and Time (Gorgias Press, 2023) gives examples of colophons (and their translations) from the Ancient Near East up to the pre-modern world, in Akkadian, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Persian.

This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. Almost nine-thousand notes are transcribed and annotated with biblical references.

This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. Almost nine-thousand notes are transcribed and annotated with biblical references.

This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. Almost nine-thousand notes are transcribed and annotated with biblical references.

This work represents the first time that a major part of the masorah of the great Leningrad Codex, that of the Former Prophets, is being published with an English translation and commentary. Almost nine thousand notes are transcribed and annotated with biblical references.