British Library, Add MS 14453, designated by number 66 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. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 5th or 6th century. The manuscript is lacunose.William Wright, ''Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts in the British Museum'' (2002), pp. 44-45. Gregory labelled it by 15^e.

Description

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

, on 182 parchment leaves (25 by 20 cm), with only one

lacuna Lacuna (plural lacunas or lacunae) may refer to: Related to the meaning "gap" * Lacuna (manuscripts), a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or musical work **Great Lacuna, a lacuna of eight leaves in the ''Codex Regius'' where there ...

at the beginning and end. The Gospel of Matthew begins in 6:25, the Gospel of John ends in 20:25. Written in one column per page, in 22-27 lines per page. The writing is a large, regular

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 173 was repaired with paper about the 12th century. The text is divided according to the chapters similar to the of the Greek manuscripts, which were inserted by two later hands; there are lectionary markings added by a later hand.

History of the manuscript

Formerly it belonged to the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the

Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; , "measure of the hearts") is a Depression (geology), depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron- ...

. In 1842 it was brought to England, with the other 500 manuscripts. The manuscript was examined and described by Wright. 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 14453) in London.

References

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Description

History of the manuscript

See also

References

Further reading