Add MS 17134

A codex of various works, both poetic and theological, in Syriac. The contents of the codex are as follows:

ff. 2r-3v : Three hymns, including one on Julian Saba, all of which appear to be in the hand of the scribe of the main text ;

f. 3v : A doxology;

f. 4r : A sedrā for Lent ;

f. 4v : Two short extracts from Efraim, as well as a short extract from Philoxenus of Mabug on certain Councils ;

ff. 5v-11r : An imperfect index for the work, which ends in a note about how to use the index in order to find specific writings contained therein;

ff. 11v-75r : 365 hymns, including the Hymns of Severus (295), Yúḥanan bar Aptúnāyā, Yúḥanan Aḥrānā, and others, divided according to various topics, sources and translators, all of which have been translated from the Greek into Syriac;

f. 75r-75v : A note by the copyist of the manuscript, Yaᶜqúb, that the aforementioned hymns were translated by Paul, Bishop of Edessa, while he was in Cyprus, having been exiled there following the Persian invasion. The copyist continues by noting that he completed this copy in 986 AG (675 CE), revising and correcting Paul''s earlier translation;

ff. 75v-82 : An extract from a letter of Severus to the lady Caesaria, which is imperfect;

ff. 82v-84r : Part of the letter of Jacob to George, Bishops of Serug, to which Greek-inspired West Syriac vowels have been added on occasion;

ff. 84r-85v : A calendar of Saints'' Days.

The manuscript contains two deeds of sale, the first of which is found on f. 1v. This document, written in exceptionally cursive Arabic and unpointed, records the sale of land from one monk to another near a convent called Dayr al-Al-ᵓaᶜlá. The deed was written by Saᶜīd ibn ᶜubaydallāh, and the signatures of the witnesses are in Syriac. It appears to be dated 382 AH (992-93 CE).

The second bill of sale is recorded on f. 85v, relating to the transfer of a nut tree by the monk ᶜimanúᵓíl of Dayr ᶜalítā to Yúnan bar Zakarāyā from Gaw ᶜaníṭ (?) in the year 442 AH (1050-51 CE).

This volume is speculated to be have been copied by Yaᶜqúb, Bishop of Edessa, for a variety of reasons. Among them are the age of the volume; the irregularity of the script (giving rise to the hypothesis that it was not copied by a professional scribe); and the care and accuracy with which many of the passages have been copied, Scripture has been cited, and Greek names have been transcribed or written.

There are considerable marginalia and annotations throughout the volume, often in the same hand as that of the scribe. Many of the pages are in poor condition, and the ink of the text has often been faded or otherwise degraded to the point of illegibility. Several pages of the text appear to be wanting.

The manuscript features occasional, small illumination in the form of passage dividers or punctuation. An effaced Syriac text (invocation?) is located within concentric circles spanning the full size of the folio and might have continued over to another folio, which is now missing.