This volume contains a bilingual Coptic-Arabic version of the four Gospels according to the Alexandrian Vulgate version arranged into two columns. Contents :. Cross, fol. 1v. Introduction and sum up of Matthew, fols. 2r-4v. Matthew, fols. 5r-72r. (Fols. 72v-73r, blank; later notes). Introduction and sum up of Mark, fols. 73v-76r. (Fols. 76v-78v, blank or later notes). Illustration, circle, fol. 78v. Mark, fols. 79r-121r. (Fol. 121v blank). Introduction and sum upsof Luke, fols. 122r-124v. (Fols. 125r-126r, blank, includes a waqfiyya). Short text, fol. 126v. Luke, fols. 127r-203v. (Fol. 204r blank). Introduction and sum up of John, fols. 204v-205v. Illumination of bird, fol. 206r. John, fols. 207r-264v. The manuscript does not contain a colophon but is estimated to have been copied in the 12th or 13th century CE.
Gospels
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 1001
- Dates of Creation
- 12th century-13th century
- Language of Material
- Arabic Coptic Greek
- Physical Description
- Codex 264 ff Material: Oriental paper; first ten folios European paper. Dimensions: 245 x 165 mm [200 x 130 mm written; Arabic 30 mm]. Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; Coptic numerals in upper left corner of the verso. Lines per page: ca 32 lines/page. Script: Naskh.Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings in red (in Coptic, the first letter is sometimes in yellow). Decoration: On fol. 2v, a cross in red, yellow, black, and white takes up the entire page. Sporadic decorations featuring birds in the same colours appear in the margins. On fol. 76v, there is an illustration made up of a circle in red, yellow, and black ink. A similar decoration is found on fol. 206v. A headpiece in the same colours introduces the Gospel of Mark on fol. 79r. A headpiece in the same colours including a human face introduces the Gospel of Luke on fol. 127r. On fol. 206r, there is an illumination of a bird, seemingly not finished. Binding: British Museum binding. Condition: Good, though first ten folios are restored. Marginalia: Passages from the Greek text not present in Coptic are added as are quotations from the Christian Old Testament in Arabic etc. cf. Crum, Catalogue, 323. Quire marks: Quinions; an ending and beginning quire spread is marked with geometrical figures in yellow, green, and red ink in the middle of the upper margins.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Bought by the British Museum from N. Nassif on 21 May 1869.
Other Finding Aids
Crum, Walter Erwing, Catalogue of the Coptic Mss in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1905) vol. 2, item 735, p. 323.