Agnes Smith Lewis
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Agnes Smith Lewis (1843–1926)Christa Müller-Kessler
Lewis, Agnes Smith (1843–1926)
in ''Oxford Dictionary of the National Biography'', vol. 33 (Oxford, 2004), pp. 579–580.
and Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1843–1920),Christa Müller-Kessler
Dunlop Gibson, née Smith (1843–1920)
in ''Oxford Dictionary of the National Biography'', vol. 22 (Oxford, 2004), pp. 89–90.
nées Smith (sometimes referred to as the Westminster Sisters), were English Semitic scholars and travellers. As the twin daughters of John Smith of
Irvine, Ayrshire Irvine ( ;
; ) is a town and former royal burgh on th ...
, Scotland, they learned more than 12 languages between them, specialising in
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Christian Palestinian Aramaic Christian Palestinian Aramaic was a Western Aramaic languages, Western Aramaic dialect used by the Melkite, Melkite Christian community, predominantly of Jews, Jewish descent, in Palestine (region), Palestine, Transjordan (region), Transjordan an ...
, and Syriac, and became acclaimed scholars in their academic fields, and benefactors to the
Presbyterian Church of England The Presbyterian Church of England was a late-19th-century and 20th-century Presbyterianism, Presbyterian denomination in England. The church's origins lay in the 1876 merger of the English congregations of the chiefly Scottish United Presbyterian ...
, especially to
Westminster College, Cambridge Westminster College in Cambridge, England is a theological college of the United Reformed Church. Its principal purpose is training for the ordination of ministers, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination. History T ...
.


Personal life and education

Agnes and Margaret Smith, twins born on 11 January 1843 to Margaret Dunlop and John Smith, a solicitor and amateur
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
. Their mother died three weeks after their birth, and they were brought up by nannies, a governess, and their father. They were educated in private schools in
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
, Cheshire and Kensington, London (1853–62), with travels in Europe guided by their father. After their father's death, they were left a large inheritance. They settled in London and joined the Presbyterian church in Clapham Road. Already conversationally fluent in German, French and Italian, they continued to learn languages and travelled in Europe and the Middle East, including travelling up the
Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
and visiting
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
in 1868. In 1870, Agnes wrote ''Eastern Pilgrims'', an account of their experiences in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. In 1883, the twins, by then also quite fluent in Modern Greek, travelled to Athens and other parts of Greece, beginning a lifelong affectionate relationship with
Greek Orthodoxy Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Roma ...
, especially the monks in office at
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...
, Sinai.Alan Whigham Price, ''The Ladies of Castlebrae'' (London, 1985), pp. 112. On 11 September 1883, Margaret married James Young Gibson, a scholar trained for the ministry of the United Presbyterian Church, but later working on Spanish translations. In 1887, Agnes married Samuel Savage Lewis, a classicist, librarian, and fellow of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...
. Samuel was also a clergyman. Each marriage soon ended with the death of the husband. Margaret was buried with her husband in
Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...
in western
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. The grave lies on the north wall of the main cemetery. Agnes was buried with hers in
Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge Mill Road Cemetery is a cemetery off Mill Road, Cambridge, Mill Road in the Petersfield area of Cambridge, England. Since 2001 the cemetery has been protected as a Listed building, Grade II Listed site, and several of the tombs are also listed as ...
.


Academic work

By 1890, the sisters settled in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
. Agnes began to study Syriac. Inspired by
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
and Orientalist J. Rendel Harris's account of his discovery at
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...
of a Syriac text of the
Apology of Aristides The ''Apology of Aristides'' was written by the early Christians, Christian writer Aristides (Apologist), Aristides (fl. 2nd century). Until 1878, knowledge of Aristides was confined to some references in works by Eusebius of Caesarea and Saint ...
they travelled to the monastery in 1892, and discovered one of the earliest Syriac versions of the
Old Syriac Gospels Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic. Portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic and there are Aramaic phrases in the New Testament. Syriac translations of the New Testament were among the first and date from the 2nd century. The whole Bible ...
next to the earlier known Curetonian Gospels, now in the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, which gave insight into the Syriac transmission and added valuable variants to
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
studies. It was one of the most important
palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
finds since that of the
Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...
in 1859 by
Constantin von Tischendorf Constantin is an Aromanian language, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian language, Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See ...
. The year after (1883), they returned with three Cambridge scholars that included Professor Robert L. Bensly and Francis C. Burkitt, and their wives, as well as J. Rendel Harris, to copy the whole of the manuscript The
palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off in preparation for reuse in the form of another document. Parchment was made of lamb, calf, or kid ski ...
manuscript was found to have been overwritten by the ''Lives of Holy Women'' in Syriac dated to 779 CE by John the Recluse as well as also having four 6th century folios with a Syriac witness of the Departure of Mary ( Transitus Mariae) underneath. Her second most valuable attribution to the field of Aramaic (
Christian Palestinian Aramaic Christian Palestinian Aramaic was a Western Aramaic languages, Western Aramaic dialect used by the Melkite, Melkite Christian community, predominantly of Jews, Jewish descent, in Palestine (region), Palestine, Transjordan (region), Transjordan an ...
, Syriac) studies and New and Old Testament text critique was the purchase of another unique palimpsest manuscript, the
Codex Climaci Rescriptus Codex Climaci Rescriptus is a collective palimpsest manuscript consisting of several individual manuscripts underneath, Christian Palestinian Aramaic texts of the Old and New Testament as well as two apocryphal texts, including the Dormition of t ...
, in Egypt (Cairo 1895; Port Tewfik 1906), and the largest batch from an anonymous Berlin (Germany) scholar (1905), containing underneath several individual manuscripts in Christian Palestinian Aramaic of various lectionaries with
Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
,
Epistles An epistle (; ) is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The ...
, and
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
pericopes, an early apocryphal text Dormition of Mary with the hagiographic story of Peter and Paul (5th–7th century), and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
with
Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
(7th/8th centuries), overwritten by the Syriac translation of ''Scala paradisi'' and ''Liber ad pastorem'' by the monk
John Climacus John Climacus (; ; ), also known as John of the Ladder, John Scholasticus and John Sinaites, was a 6th–7th century Christian monk at the monastery on Mount Sinai. He is revered as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church. ...
of Sinai (8th–9th century), of which now surfaced the missing quire at Saint Catherine’s Monastery. After the return from their first trip to Sinai Agnes made herself acquainted with
Christian Palestinian Aramaic Christian Palestinian Aramaic was a Western Aramaic languages, Western Aramaic dialect used by the Melkite, Melkite Christian community, predominantly of Jews, Jewish descent, in Palestine (region), Palestine, Transjordan (region), Transjordan an ...
(Palestinian Syriac) by the help of a script table by Julius Euting (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Orientalist). Margaret learned
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
. During this expedition, Agnes catalogued the collection of Syriac and Margaret of Arabic
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
s. It was also on their first expedition (1892) that they were made acquainted with two additional, complete, and dated Christian Palestinian Aramaic (Palestinian Syriac) Gospel lectionaries B and C (1104, 1118), and remnant D in the library of Saint Catherine's Monastery, which they edited 1899 in a synoptic version, including the earlier published
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
Gospel A from 1030 (Vat. sir. 19). In their travels to Egypt, Agnes S. Lewis and Margaret D. Gibson were able to acquire among other unique manuscripts in Christian Palestinian Aramaic as e.g. an hagiographic palimpsest manuscript ''The Forty Martyrs of Sinai, and Eulogios the stone-cutter'' from the 6th–7th century (1906) overwritten by a Christian Arabic text (8th century); a nearly complete eleventh-century lectionary in 1895 of Christian Palestinian Aramaic with noteworthy biblical pericopes, and later 1905 some of the missing folios from a German collector (
Westminster College, Cambridge Westminster College in Cambridge, England is a theological college of the United Reformed Church. Its principal purpose is training for the ordination of ministers, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination. History T ...
); several leaves under Syriac Christian homilies where Agnes detected separate 7th and 8th century Qu'ranic manuscripts, which she and
Alphonse Mingana Alphonse Mingana (), born Hurmiz Mingana (; 1878 – 5 December 1937), was an Assyrian theologian, historian, Syriacist, orientalist and a former priest who is best known for collecting and preserving the Mingana Collection, a collection of ...
dated as possibly pre- Uthmanic. These palimpsest folios were lent to the exhibition “Internationale Ausstellung für Buchgewerbe und Graphik" in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
1914, and due to the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
they were only returned in 1936 after the successful intervention by
Paul Kahle Paul Ernst Kahle (January 21, 1875 – September 24, 1964) was a German orientalist and scholar. Biography Born 21 January 1875, in Olsztynek, Prussia, Kahle studied orientalism and theology in Marburg and Halle. He attained his doctorate i ...
. They collected about 1,700 manuscript fragments and books including the acquisition of
Eberhard Nestle Eberhard Nestle (1 May 1851, Stuttgart – 9 March 1913, Stuttgart) was a German biblical scholar, textual critic, orientalist, editor of the '' Novum Testamentum Graece'', and the father of Erwin Nestle. Life Nestle was a son of the upper tr ...
library with rare editions, now known as the Lewis-Gibson collection, including some formerly of the Cairo Genizah of the
Ben Ezra Synagogue The Ben Ezra Synagogue (; ), sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue () or the Synagogue of the Levantines (al-Shamiyin), is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Fustat part of Old Cairo, Egypt. According to loca ...
in
Old Cairo Old Cairo (, Egyptian pronunciation: Maṣr El-ʾAdīma) is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Babylon Fortress, Roman-era fortress, the Christian settlement of Coptic Cairo, and the Muslim-era settlement of Fustat that ...
, the earliest Hebrew fragments of a
Ecclesiasticus The Book of Sirach (), also known as The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus son of Eleazar, or Ecclesiasticus (), is a Jewish literary work originally written in Biblical Hebrew. The longest extant wisdom book from antiqui ...
manuscript, identified by
Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter (‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the United Synagogue of America, President of the ...
. The sisters continued to travel and write until the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
when they slowly withdrew from their activity as scholars due to ill health. Though the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
never honoured the two scholarly twins with degrees, they received honorary degrees from the universities of Halle,
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, and
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
, and both were honoured in addition with the Triennial gold medal of the
Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...
, the blue riband of oriental research in 1915. At Cambridge, they attended St Columba's Church. They were generous hostesses at their home, Castlebrae, which became the centre of a lively intellectual and religious circle.


Benefaction

The sisters used their inheritance to endow the grounds and part of the buildings of Westminster College in Cambridge. This was long after Nonconformists were allowed to become full members of the
Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...
universities by the repeal of the
Test and Corporation Acts The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Catholics and nonconformist Protes ...
; and that
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
college moved from
Queen Square, London Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology. Construction Queen Square was originally constructed between 1716 and 1725. It was forme ...
to a site acquired from
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
in 1899. They also helped the establishment of the Presbyterian chaplaincy to the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, now at
St Columba's United Reformed Church, Oxford St Columba's United Reformed Church is a congregation of the United Reformed Church (URC) in the centre of the city of Oxford. It is located on Alfred Street, off the High Street, Oxford, High Street. History It was founded as a chaplaincy to Pre ...
.


Works


Agnes Smith Lewis


''Eastern Pilgrims: The travels of three ladies''
(London, 1870)
''Effie Maxwell''
(London, 1876) (a novel)
''The Brides of Ardmore: A story of Irish life''
(London, 1880)
''Through Cyprus''
(London, 1887) * ''Glimpses of Greek Life and Scenery'' (London, 1884)
''Catalogue of the Syriac MSS. in the Convent of S. Catharine on Mount Sinai''
(London, 1894)
''A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest''
(London and New York, 1894)
''A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest''
(London, 1896) (revised and extended edition)
''Some Pages of the Four Gospels Re-transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest with a Translation of the Whole Text''
(London, 1896)
''In the Shadow of Sinai: A story of travel and research from 1895 to 1897''
(Cambridge, 1898)
''Select Narratives of Holy Women: From the Syro-Antiochene or Sinai Palimpsest''
(London, 1900)
''Apocrypha Syriaca: The Protevangelium Jacobi and Transitus Mariae''
(London, 1902, with
Alphonse Mingana Alphonse Mingana (), born Hurmiz Mingana (; 1878 – 5 December 1937), was an Assyrian theologian, historian, Syriacist, orientalist and a former priest who is best known for collecting and preserving the Mingana Collection, a collection of ...
)
''Acta Mythologica Apostolorum''
(London, 1904) (Texts; English translation)
''Supplement to a Palestinian Syriac Lectionary''
(Cambridge, 1907)
''Codex Climaci Rescriptus: Fragments of the Sixth-Century Palestinian Syriac Texts of the Gospels, of the Acts of the Apostles, and of St Paul’s Epistles''
(London, 1909)
''The Old Syriac Gospels or Evangelion da-Mepharreshê''
(London, 1910)
''The Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert and the Story of Eulogius from a Palestinian Syriac and Arabic Palimpsest''
(Cambridge, 1912)
''Light on the Four Gospels from the Sinai Palimpsest''
(London, 1913)
''Leaves From Three Ancient Qur'ans; Possibly Pre-Othmanic''
(Cambridge, 1914, with Alphonse Mingana) * ''Margaret Atheling And other Poems'' (London: Williams and Norgate, 1917)


Margaret Dunlop Gibson


''How the Codex Was Found: A narrative of two visits to Sinai from Mrs. Lewis's journals, 1892 – 1893''
(Cambridge, 1893) * ''An Arabic Version of the Epistles of St. Paul to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians with part of the Epistle to the Ephesians from a ninth century MS. in the Convent of Saint Catharine on Mount Sinai''. (London, 1894) * ''Catalogue of the Arabic mss. in the Convent of Saint Catharine on Mount Sinai''. (London, 1894) * ''An Arabic Version of the Acts of the Apostles and the Seven Catholic Epistles.'' (London 1899) * ''The Commentaries of Ishodad of Merv, Bishop of Hadatha c. 850 ad.'' (London 1911) * ''Matthew and Mark in Syriac.'' (London 1911) * ''Luke and John in Syriac.'' (London 1911) * ''The Acts of the Apostles and the Catholic Fathers.'' (London 1913) * ''The Epistles of St Paul.'' (London 1916)


Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson


''A Palestinian Syriac Lectionary containing Lessons from The Pentateuch, Job, Proverbs, Prophest, Acts, and Epistles''
(London, 1897)
''The Palestinian Syriac Lectionary of the Gospels''
(London, 1899)
''Palestinian Syriac Texts from palimpsest fragments in the Taylor-Schechter collection''
(London, 1900)


Archives

A collection of scrapbooks of press cuttings relating to Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson can be found at the Cadbury Research Library,
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
.


References

* Müller-Kessler, Christa (2004), Dunlop Gibson, née Smith (1843–1920), in ''Oxford Dictionary of the National Biography'', vol. 22. Oxford: Oxford Press, pp. 89–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/55585. * Müller-Kessler, Christa (2004), Lewis, Agnes Smith (1843–1926), in ''Oxford Dictionary of the National Biography'', vol. 33. Oxford: Oxford Press, pp. 579–580. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/34510.


Bibliography

* Whigham Price, Alan (1964), The Ladies of Castlebrae. The Life of Dr. Agnes Smith Lewis and Dr. Margaret Dunlop Gibson (Annual Lecture to the Presbyterian Historical Society, October 1964; University of Durham. Durham. * Whigham Price, Alan (1985), ''The Ladies of Castlebrae''. London. *
United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...
(2004), ''A Gift Box'' . * Cornick, D. and C. Binfield (editors) (2006) ''From Cambridge To Sinai'' United Reformed Church. * Jefferson, Rebecca J. W. (2009) "Sisters of Semitics: A Fresh Appreciation of the Scholarship of Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson" in ''Medieval Feminist Forum'' 45/1, pp. 23–4

* Soskice, Janet (2009), ''Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels.'' London. * Brock, Sebastian P. (2014), Agnes Lewis (1843–1926) and Margaret Gibson (1843–1920), in Predrag Bukovec (ed.), ''Christlicher Orient im Porträt – Wissenschaftsgeschichte des Christlichen Orients''. Religionen im Vorderen Orient (RVO) 2. Hamburg. pp. 267–280.


Citations


External links


Agnes Smith Lewis; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Margaret Dunlop Gibson; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography



Digitised lantern slides of the sisters' travels from Westminster College, on Cambridge Digital Library

National Archives

Agnes Smith Lewis; Who is Who

Agnes Smith Lewis

Sinai Palimpsest Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Agnes and Margaret Linguists from England English Presbyterians 19th-century British women writers British women travel writers People associated with the University of Cambridge English twins British travel writers 19th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish women writers