National Library of Russia, Codex Syriac 1
Encyclopedia
National Library of Russia, Codex Syriac 1, designated by siglum A, is a manuscript
of Syriac
version of the Eusebian
Ecclesiastical History
. It is dated by a Colophon
to the year 462. The manuscript is lacunose
.
contains the text of the Ecclesiastical History, arranged in large quarto (4 leaves in quire), on 123 parchment leaves. The leaves measure is about . The first leaf is a flyleaf taken from another volume. The original number of quires was 29. It has a large lacuna
after folio 84 and several smaller defects in other places.
The writing is in two columns per page, in 29-34 lines per column, in fine, large, and bold estrangela
letters, with a few diacritical points. The colour of ink is brownish black. The leaves were numbered by a later hand, but inaccurately. The text is divided into chapters.
It is one of the two extant ancient Syriac manuscripts of the Eusebian Ecclesiastical History. There are also some fragments in other manuscripts. Curiously the text of the later manuscript is better.
The manuscript was examined and described by William Wright
and by William Hatch
in 1934.
It is currently housed at the National Library of Russia (Cod. Syr. 1) in Saint Petersburg
.
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
of Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
version of the Eusebian
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
Ecclesiastical History
Church History (Eusebius)
The Church History of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts...
. It is dated by a Colophon
Colophon (publishing)
In publishing, a colophon is either:* A brief description of publication or production notes relevant to the edition, in modern books usually located at the reverse of the title page, but can also sometimes be located at the end of the book, or...
to the year 462. The manuscript is lacunose
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
.
Description
The codexCodex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
contains the text of the Ecclesiastical History, arranged in large quarto (4 leaves in quire), on 123 parchment leaves. The leaves measure is about . The first leaf is a flyleaf taken from another volume. The original number of quires was 29. It has a large lacuna
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A lacunaPlural lacunae. From Latin lacūna , diminutive form of lacus . is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a musical work...
after folio 84 and several smaller defects in other places.
The writing is in two columns per page, in 29-34 lines per column, in fine, large, and bold estrangela
Syriac alphabet
The Syriac alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language from around the 2nd century BC . It is one of the Semitic abjads directly descending from the Aramaic alphabet and shares similarities with the Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic, and the traditional Mongolian alphabets.-...
letters, with a few diacritical points. The colour of ink is brownish black. The leaves were numbered by a later hand, but inaccurately. The text is divided into chapters.
It is one of the two extant ancient Syriac manuscripts of the Eusebian Ecclesiastical History. There are also some fragments in other manuscripts. Curiously the text of the later manuscript is better.
History
According to the colophon, on folio 123 verso, the manuscript was written in the year 773, it means A.D. 462, and the name of scribe was Isaac. The name of the place where the manuscript was written has been erased. According to the note on folio 1 recto the manuscript was presented to the convent of S. Mary Deipara by one Sahlun, a priest of Harran.The manuscript was examined and described by William Wright
William Wright (orientalist)
William Wright was a famous British Orientalist, and Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. Many of his works on Syriac literature are still in print and of considerable scholarly value, especially the catalogues of the holdings of the British Library and Cambridge University Library...
and by William Hatch
William Hatch
William Henry Paine Hatch, Ph.D., D.D. was an American theologian, born at Camden, N. J. He attended Harvard, graduating in 1898 . Afterward, he graduated at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and from the General Theological Seminary in New York City...
in 1934.
It is currently housed at the National Library of Russia (Cod. Syr. 1) in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.
Further reading
- Hatch, William (1946). An album of dated Syriac manuscripts. Boston: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, reprinted in 2002 by Gorgias Press. p. 54. ISBN 1-931956-53-7.
- William WrightWilliam Wright (orientalist)William Wright was a famous British Orientalist, and Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. Many of his works on Syriac literature are still in print and of considerable scholarly value, especially the catalogues of the holdings of the British Library and Cambridge University Library...
, The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius in Syriac, Cambridge 1898, pp. V-VII