British Library, Add MS 12140 is a
Syriac 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 ...
of the
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 ...
, on parchment.
Palaeographically it had been assigned to the 6th century. It is a manuscript of
Peshitta
The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites.
The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...
. The manuscript is a lacunose.
[
]
Description
It contains the text of the four Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s, on 196 parchment leaves (), with some lacunae (Matthew 26:7-28; Mark 10:45-11:1). Folio 3 b was supplemented by a later scribe, but scribe wrote more than was necessary to connect with folio 4, in result Matthew 2:4-6 is repeated.[William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002) ]870
__NOTOC__
Year 870 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 870th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 870th year of the 1st millennium, the 70th year of the 9th ce ...
p. 49.
Written in two columns per page, in 23-26 lines per page. The writing is a fine bold Estrangela
The Syriac alphabet ( ) is a writing system primarily used to write the Syriac language since the 1st century. It is one of the Semitic abjads descending from the Aramaic alphabet through the Palmyrene alphabet, and shares similarities with the ...
. Folio 2, 3, and 5 written in inelegant, angular hand from about the 11th century. Folio 133 is a paper leaf of still later date, with writing on one side only. The manuscript has many notes added by a later hand. On folio 1 b, 2 a, and 133 b it has some Arabic notes.[
The manuscript is housed at 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 ...
(Add MS 12140) in London.[
]
See also
* List of the Syriac New Testament manuscripts
Syriac-language manuscripts of the New Testament include some of the earliest and most important witnesses for textual criticism of the New Testament. Over 350 Syriac manuscripts of the New Testament have survived into the 21st century. The majo ...
* Syriac versions of the Bible
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 ...
* Biblical manuscript
A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see '' Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi- ...
* Codex Phillipps 1388
* British Library, Add MS 14479
References
{{refend
Further reading
* William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (1870; reprint: Gorgias Press
Gorgias Press is a US-based independent academic publisher specializing in the history and religion of the Middle East and the larger pre-modern world.
History
Founded in 2001 by Christine and George Kiraz, the press is based in Piscataway, N ...
2002).
External links
William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum''
Peshitta manuscripts
6th-century biblical manuscripts
Add. 12140