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Or 1001

Record Id:

032-004541070

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-004541070

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100182564513.0x000001

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Or 1001

Title:

Gospels

Scope & Content:

This volume contains a bilingual Coptic-Arabic version of the four Gospels according to the Alexandrian Vulgate version arranged into two columns.

Contents :

Cross, fol. 1v

Introduction and sum up of Matthew, fols. 2r–4v

Matthew, fols. 5r–72r

(Fols. 72v–73r, blank; later notes)

Introduction and sum up of Mark, fols. 73v–76r

(Fols. 76v–78v, blank or later notes)

Illustration, circle, fol. 78v

Mark, fols. 79r–121r

(Fol. 121v blank)

Introduction and sum upsof Luke, fols. 122r–124v

(Fols. 125r–126r, blank, includes a waqfiyya)

Short text, fol. 126v

Luke, fols. 127r–203v

(Fol. 204r blank)

Introduction and sum up of John, fols. 204v–205v

Illumination of bird, fol. 206r

John, fols. 207r–264v

The manuscript does not contain a colophon but is estimated to have been copied in the 12th or 13th century CE.

Collection Area:

Oriental Manuscripts

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "032-004541070", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 1001: Gospels" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-004541070

Is part of:

not applicable

Hierarchy:

032-004541070

Container:

not applicable

Record Type (Level):

Fonds

Extent:

Codex, 264 ff

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Arabic
Coptic
Greek, Ancient

Scripts:

Arabic
Coptic
Greek

Start Date:

1100

End Date:

1299

Date Range:

12th century-13th century

Calendar:

Gregorian

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Material: Oriental paper; first ten folios European paper.

Dimensions: 245 x 165 mm [200 x 130 mm written; Arabic 30 mm].

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; Coptic numerals in upper left corner of the verso.

Lines per page: ca 32 lines/page

Script: Naskh.Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings in red (in Coptic, the first letter is sometimes in yellow).

Decoration: On fol. 2v, a cross in red, yellow, black, and white takes up the entire page. Sporadic decorations featuring birds in the same colours appear in the margins. On fol. 76v, there is an illustration made up of a circle in red, yellow, and black ink. A similar decoration is found on fol. 206v. A headpiece in the same colours introduces the Gospel of Mark on fol. 79r. A headpiece in the same colours including a human face introduces the Gospel of Luke on fol. 127r. On fol. 206r, there is an illumination of a bird, seemingly not finished.

Binding: British Museum binding.

Condition: Good, though first ten folios are restored.

Marginalia: Passages from the Greek text not present in Coptic are added as are quotations from the Christian Old Testament in Arabic etc. cf. Crum, Catalogue, 323.

Quire marks: Quinions; an ending and beginning quire spread is marked with geometrical figures in yellow, green, and red ink in the middle of the upper margins.

Custodial History:

On fol. 77v, there is a note by Athanasios, bishop of Abū Tīj who had the copy restored (cf. Crum, Catalogue, 323) and on fol. 125v a waqfiyya note donating the ms to St Anthony’s Monastery in the ʿAraba desert. A similar note, as well as two other ones, are glued onto fly-leaves at the beginning of the book. On fol. 264v, there is a note referring to the year 908 Anno Martyrum (1192 CE), perhaps referring to the original copy (Cf. Crum, Catalogue, 323).

Source of Acquisition:

Bought by the British Museum from N. Nassif on 21 May 1869.

Finding Aids:

Crum, Walter Erwing, Catalogue of the Coptic Mss in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1905) vol. 2, item 735, p. 323.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Related Material:

For further information, see Kashouh, Hikmat. The Arabic Versions of the Gospels (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012), p. 212.