British Library, Add MS 14448, designated by number 64 on the list of

Wright Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...

, 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, according to the

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 ...

version. It is dated by a Colophon to the year 699 or 700. The manuscript is a lacunose.William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002) 870 p. 41. Gregory labelled it by 14^e (for the

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), 9^a (for the Acts and General epistles), and 8^p (for the

Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest ext ...

). The codex is 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 ...

as Add MS 14448.

Description

The original codex contained the text of the 22 books of Peshitta translation of the

, on 209 parchment leaves (), with some lacunae ( Matthew 1:1-2:13, 3:14-5:24, 8:26-9:19, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and

2 Thessalonians The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle, with Timothy as a co-author. The majority of biblical scholars came to conclude that 2 Thessa ...

, and 1 Timothy,

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

7:4-9:21). The text is written in one column per page, in 26-32 lines per page. The writing is a small, elegant, Nestorian

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 ...

, with numerous vowel-points and other marks, though many of these (as also a very few Greek vowels) have been added at a later period. Folio 64 is a restoration, on paper, supplied in the 13th century. The

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

is divided into 22 sections,

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels, synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from baptism of Jesus, his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the Burial of Jesus, ...

into 13 sections,

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

– 23 sections, and

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

– 20 sections. The

Book of Acts The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

Epistle of James The Epistle of James is a Catholic epistles, general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek. The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. It survives in manusc ...

First Epistle of Peter The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from "Babylon", which may be a reference to Rome. The ...

, and

First Epistle of John The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is ...

are divided into 32 sections. Number of section in the

55. Total number of sections in the whole New Testament, 165. On the margins of some pages there are notes, in a later hand, referring chiefly to matters of pronunciation and accentuation, similar to those in the manuscript Add MS 12138. It lacks the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11).

History of the manuscript

In the colophon on the folio 209 verso written: "This New Testament was begun on the first Ilul, and finished when ten days of Shebat were passed; in the year 1012, according to the well-known era of Greeks, which is, according to that of the Arabs, 80; under the rule of the house of Marwan, in the days of ... he Ishmalites". But there can be little doubt that the book was written in the reign of

Abdu l-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...

, for A.H. 80 = A.D. 699-700 = A. Gr. 1011-1012.William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002) 870 p. 42. Formerly it belonged to the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian Desert. In 1842 along with the other 500 manuscripts it was brought to England. The manuscript was examined and described by Wright. The manuscript is housed at the

(Add MS 14448) in London.

References

{{refend

External links

* William Wright
''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum''

Catalogue of Syriac manuscripts in the British museum acquired since the year 1838
Peshitta manuscripts 7th-century biblical manuscripts Add. 14448

Description

History of the manuscript

See also

References

Further reading

External links