The current renditions of the Prophets into Coptic and Arabic are not only of interest for the textual history of the Septuagint -the Vorlage of the Arabic texts-, but also for the approach to the Bible among Copts in the pre-modern era. The scribe carefully compared the Coptic and Arabic texts in front of him and sporadically made small adjustments in them, but he also chose incorporated the so-called Fourteenth Vision of Daniel into the biblical corpus. The Fourteenth Vision of Daniel expands the kingdom themes in Daniel and creates a new vision in which the rulers of the Islamic empires are incorporated. Its inclusion in the biblical corpus gives witness to the apocalyptic atmosphere that still pervaded Christian communities in the East and shows that the biblical themes served as literary topoi, which were used as tools to understand both the logic of the biblical narratives as well as the Christian communities' own place in history. A bilingual Coptic-Arabic compilation of texts in two columns containing the following :. Zechariah: fols. 118r-151v. Malachi: fols. 152r-162v. waqfīyah+ blank page: fol. 162v-163r. Illumination: 163v. Daniel: fols. 164r-252r. Daniel: 1:1-2 fol. 164r. Susanna: fols. 164r-172r. Daniel chs. 1-12: fols. 172r-234v. The Hymn: fols. 183v-186v. The Prayer: fols. 186v-188v. Bel and the Dragon: fols. 234v-240r. 14th Vision of Daniel: fols. 240r-252r. waqfīyah fol 252v. Colophons: f. 162r and 252r, for transcriptions, see Rieu, Supplement, pp. 4-5. Here we read that the various parts of the copy were completed between 15 Mashrī (Misrah) 1089; 9 Hatōr 1090; and 10 Ṭūbī (Tubah) 1090 Anno Martyrum (i.e. 16 August 1373 - 13 January 1374 CE). We also read that the Coptic text was copied from a manuscript from the monastery of St Anthony in the desert of al-ʿArabah, that the Arabic was copied from a text written by Ibn al-Muṣawwaq (?), and that it does not agree with the Coptic. We also learn in the last colophon that the text in the Arabic column was transcribed from a copy by Patriarch Anbā Yūnus, from the translation made by the ''learned Alexandrian priest'' (known as al-ʿAlam by modern scholars), who translated from Greek to Arabic and revised it in line with Coptic. The date range of the item is 15 Mashrī 1089; 9 Hatōr 1090; 10 Ṭūbī 1090 [Anno Martyrum], i.e. 1373-74 CE.
Prophecies and other texts in Coptic and Arabic.
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or 1314(2)
- Dates of Creation
- 1373-74
- Language of Material
- Arabic Coptic
- Physical Description
- 13 texts ff. 135 Material: Paper (first nine folios are written on Western paper; the rest on Oriental paper). Dimensions: ca 310 mm x 240 mm leaf [ca 250-260 mm x 170-190 mm written]. Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil. Lines per page; ca. 21-22 lines/page. Script: Naskh. Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings in red. Decoration: Ribbon-floral patterns often featured as 'gates' (cf. Ar. bāb) and floral-patterned illuminations, in combination with bird motives, ornamented circles etc. are painted in the margins normally to introduce a new book. Similar illuminations sporadically appear in the margins through out the codex. On fol. 163v a circle-floral illumination takes up the page. Binding: British Museum binding. Condition: Waterstains, wormholes, etc. Partly restored (fols. 1-9 replaced); original margins often missing. Marginalia: very few notes. Quires: (the codex is rebound and it is difficult to tell). Para-textual notes: Waqfiyya on fol. 162v; and on 252v. A few paratextual notes by the scribe pertaining to the texts copied from (cf. fol. 164r).
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Immediate source of acquisition: Bought by Sir Charles A. Murray 12 June 1845
Other Finding Aids
Rieu, Charles, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: The British Museum, 1894), pp. 4-5.