Syriac and Manichaean-related materials on a British Library blog

Via MedievalEgypt on Twitter I learn of a valuable post on Manichaean-related materials in the British Library, here, by Ursula Sims-Williams:

One of the most important sources in the British Library is the Syriac manuscript Add.12150 which contains the treatise Against the Manicheans by Titus (d. 378) of Bostra (Bosra, now in Syria), translated from Greek. This codex is additionally important, being the oldest known dated Syriac manuscript, in near perfect condition, and copied in Edessa in the year 723 of the Seleucid era (AD 411).

bl_add_12150_titus_end

The final page of Titus of Bostra’s treatise Against the Manicheans. Vellum, dated AD 411 (Add.12150, f.156r).

The article goes on to discuss the manuscript of the Prose Refutations by Ephraim the Syrian, and the efforts of Charles Mitchell to edit these.  I well remember digitising his translation and uploading it, years ago.  He was a casualty of WW1.

I hope that the BL Asian and African Studies blog will do more on Syriac materials!

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4 thoughts on “Syriac and Manichaean-related materials on a British Library blog

  1. A manuscript from 411, and it looks cleaner than a lot of things written last week… amazing.

  2. It is. Some of the pages are ragged at the edges and have been repaired, and some of the pages at the front are yellowed, but in general it’s in excellent condition. Bound in hardback, and folio size.

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