Add MS 14528

Two manuscript codices bound together, relating to separate topics. The first codex relates to a series of ecclesiastical canons divided as follows:

ff. 3v-25v : The titles of the Canons of the Councils of Nicaea, Ancyra, Neo-Caesarea Gangra, Antioch, Laodicea, Constantinople and Chalcedon;

ff. 25v-36v : The Canons of the Council of Nicaes, 20 in number, which are preceded by the letter of Constantine, summoning the bishops from Ancyra to Nicaea; the edict of Constantine against the Arians; The Nicene Creed; the Creed of Constantinople; and the names of the subscribing bishops;

ff. 36v-46r : The names of the bishops present at Ancyra and Neo-Caesaria (f. 36r) followed by the 24 Canons of the Council of Ancyra (imperfect);

ff. 46r-50r : The 14 Canons of the Council of Neo-Caesaria;

ff. 50r-56r : The letter of the assembled bishops to the Armenians, followed by the 20 Canons of the Council of Gangra;

ff. 57r-72v : An imperfect list of subscribing bishops, followed by the 25 Canons of the Council of Antioch, which are imperfect;

ff. 72v-88r : A list of subscribing bishops, followed by the 59 Canons of the Council of Laodicea in Phrygia, leaving out the 60th or Biblical Canon;

ff. 88r-102r : The four Canons of the first Council of Constantinople, followed by the names of the subscribing bishops (f. 95r) and by the address of the Council to the Emperor Theodosius (f. 100r);

ff. 102v-150v : The 27 Canons of the Council of Chalcedon, followed by the list of the subscribing bishops (f. 119r), a letter written from Constantinople regarding the reception of heterodox believers (f. 132v); the letter of Theodosius and Valentinian addressed to Stephen, Bishop of Ephesus, regarding the administration of the Churches (f. 134r); resolution of the council of Chalcedon concerning the Confession of Faith (f. 136v); the letter of Leo of Rome to Anatolius of Constantinople, imperfect at the end (f. 138r); and the letter of Leo of Rome to Marcianus, which is imperfect at the beginning (g. 146r).

The colophon for this first codex is found on f. 151r, and it states that these 193 Canons were carefully translated from the Greek into Aramaic (Syriac) in the city of Mabúg in the year 812 AG (501 CE), which may be the same year that the manuscript was copied.

Underneath the colophon are two partially erased notes in smaller 7th-century hand. The first states that the book was given by a priest Mār ?? to a monastery Bét Miṣḥalap? where he was later buried. Below this is an effaced form of curse in a similar hand to that of the first note.

The start of the manuscript (ff. 1r-3r) contains questions posed to Timothy of Alexandria along with his replies. Most of f. 3r has been effaced, and the only work that can be discerned is the name Yuḥanan.

For the most part, the codex is free of marginalia, except for f. 9r, where the monk Abraham is noted to have encountered this codex in 1802 AG (1491 CE).

The manuscript contains numerous pages that have been damaged or stained by water and/or ink, and others that are missing sections.

The second codex contained within the work is a collection of lessons related to various festivals, as well as a codex of secular laws, as follows:

ff. 152r-191v: An index to the lessons for the festivals of the entire year, as well as other occasions, broken down as:

f. 152r: Epiphany;

f. 154v: Lent (imperfect);

f. 159r: Holy Week (imperfect);

f. 171r: Easter Sunday;

f. 173r: The Week of Rest;

f. 180v: The Sunday after the Week of Rest;

f. 181v: The Ascension;

f. 183r: The Pentecost;

f. 184v: When a man receives his tonsure and enters a religious order;

ff. 185r-186v: The Commemoration of the Holy Martyrs;

ff. 187r-188v: The Commemoration of the Bishops;

f. 189v: When a man becomes a priest;

f. 190r: Dedication of a church;

f. 190r: Dedication of an altar;

f. 191r: The apparition of the Holy Cross to the Emperor Constantine;

f. 191v: An explanation of the nature of the preceding text.

ff. 192r-228r: The secular laws and enactments of the Emperors Constantine, Theodosius and Leo, as translated from Latin into Syriac. The colophon on f. 228r contains only an explanation of the preceding text.

f. 228v contains a short note in the handwriting of Múšā of Nisibis, who procured this codex for the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in Egypt in 932 CE.

Many of the pages of this codex are also stained by water and/or ink, and some folios are deficient at their edges.