Atticus Research Paper

Words: 625
Pages: 3

Syriac Sinaiticus The Syriac Sinaiticus is an important manuscript due to it being one of the earliest recordings of the bible. Specifically, the manuscript contains “a translation of the four canonical gospels of the New Testament in Syriac” (Wikipedia). It was found by Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson. Despite their last names, they were twin sisters who “had travelled to Mount Sinai in Egypt and discovered an ancient manuscript of the Four Gospels” (Soskice and Nakoneshny 3). This discovery is a monumental achievement for them because they were seeking some of the original sayings of the gospels that had been lost in translation. The manuscript was written in an ancient Syriac language. It relates to the teachings of Greek and Hebrew texts. In other words, the relationship …show more content…
The gospels were written on vellum, young cow skin. There are 182 leaves that measure 22cm x 16cm consisting of two columns of writing on each folio (Saint Catherine, Lewis, and Harris 47). This is also important to note since the use of codex was limited during the early Christian times.
To obtain this ancient manuscript, the ladies went through a rough journey that led them to Saint Catherine’s Monastery. When the twins were born, their mother had died. They grew up living with their father in Irvine, Scotland. They became fascinated with obtaining early manuscripts of the Bible. They traveled many places, and even had to leave a few weeks after their father had died. Some people criticized their lack of respect for the dead, but they did not have much grief due to their belief in God. They believed that their father was in a better place and would have wanted them to go, since he paid for it. This trip is what led them to the monastery in Mount Sinai. One of the sisters steamed the pages of the manuscript that she