A curious article about an archaeological dig in Smyrna is highlighted by Mike Aquilina at Way of the Fathers.
Tag: Manuscripts
BBC4 programme on science and islam
Quite by accident last night I found myself watching a BBC4 programme on Science and Islam. Jim Khalili presented it, and did so extremely well and very clearly. This was episode 2, entitled “Empire of Reason”, and in it he discussed the interest in scientific and technical works in the Abbasid caliphate, and various innovations made during that period by people like al-Biruni.
There was mention of the translation of Greek works in the time of al-Mamun (labelled the “Translation Movement”), although Hunain ibn Ishaq was not mentioned by name. But in a one hour programme, detail will be omitted in favour of bright images, and this the programme did well.
Like all popular programmes, the narrative jumped around a bit. I doubt that anyone without a clear idea of Islamic history would have been able to follow who did what when, but this is not a vice in such a programme, which is really intended to spark interest. I did wonder who the intended audience was, tho. But who cares? Let’s be glad of the chance to learn.
The story was told without restraint or qualification. Khalili was an unabashed apologist for how wonderful “Islamic science” was, and how it was the basis of all modern science (!). Of course this is rather a half-truth, but, since he is an Iraqi, we may forgive his pardonable pride in his own racial and religious group. Wouldn’t we all rather hear an enthusiast anyway? The problem seemed to be in what was omitted, and how various elements were given a spin which calmer evaluation might disallow. I would have liked to see more on how the scholars of the period made use of non-Greek sources.
Various experiments were conducted on-screen, and explained very well indeed. He also did meetings with people looking at Arabic books, including images of manuscripts. This was very nice to see. I think we could all do with a better knowledge of Islamic literature. One question, tho — are any of these texts available online and in English? I have my doubts. Is there, indeed, any equivalent to Brockelmann’s massive lists of Arabic authors and texts? I doubt it.
In fact scientific texts from antiquity seem conspicuous by the lack of English translations. Many of these are only extant in Arabic; works by Galen, and Hero’s Mechanica spring to mind. As for being online…!
One very reluctant comment: I do have to say that I think the programme was probably intended by the BBC as anti-western propaganda. But let us restrain our disgust, at them, as far as possible. No blame attaches to the presenter for supporting his own side; indeed his enthusiasm is a bonus – even if, in his enthusiasm, he seemed to forget that Cordoba cannot be used as an example of Abbasid splendour! Let us freely acknowledge the debt we owe to the Islamic world for advances in various areas made during this period. The subject matter is interesting, and it’s easy enough to watch. If we can remember that this is not a balanced picture — that it is just one side of the coin –, then the series itself is full of interest. Recommended.
PS: I see that Jim al-Khalili has started a blog. Read the first post here. I also discover an article that he wrote for the Guardian, in which he states that “I am on a mission to … present the positive face of Islam.” Hmm.
Manuscript digitisation gathers pace
Jim Davila’s excellent PaleoJudaica blog highlights a number of interesting non-Jewish items this week. I don’t seem to be able to link to his individual posts, so here are some excerpts.
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PHOTOGRAPHS of the Cologne Mani Codex are available online here.
The Cologne Manichaean codex is a tiny parchment codex from middle Egypt, containing an account of the youth of Mani. Digitising it and placing it online is such an excellent idea. This is where the internet scores. Suddenly people can SEE the thing! I wonder if an English translation of the text is around, tho?
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ARAMAIC WATCH: More on the manuscript digitization project in Kerala, India: Kerala to preserve Christian heritage
Jim has posted on this before and links to other posts. It seems that the mass of Syriac manuscripts in Kerala are to be photographed. Let us hope they go online! But the easy availability of digital cameras makes digitisation simple. Well done, the Kerala clergymen who seem to be leading this one. They’re also trying to encourage interest in Syriac.
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PHILIP JENKINS’S BOOK, The Lost History of Christianity, is reviewed by Brother Jeffrey Gros, F.S.C. in the Catholic Review Online.
This is a book that discusses Oriental Christianity, and which has been criticised to me for being too Christian, and not Christian enough. I’m going to have a read once the paperback comes out here. Anything which will increase the number of people interested in the obscure Syriac and Arabic Christianity must be a good thing.
Getting hold of manuscripts of the Arabic historian Al-Makin
We all know that Shlomo Pines published an exotic version of the Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus, telling of the events of the life of Christ. This he tells us he got from the 10th century Arabic Christian historian, Agapius. But on closer reading, he says that he reconstructed the text of Agapius at this point using the 13th century Arabic Christian historian Girgis Al-Makin (George Elmacin). This hasn’t ever been published, never mind translated.
The text is in two halves, according to Georg Graf’s handbook, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur vol. 2, p.348-351. The first half covers history to the reign of Heraclius, divided into 120 sections on ‘important people’. The second half covers history from the Arab invasions to his own time.
I’d like to get a copy of a manuscript of this work, and see if I can get the portion on Jesus translated. Graf tells us that there is a manuscript in the Vatican (Vat. ar. 169, 1686 AD, on ff. 1r-194r); another in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Bodl. ar. christ. Nicoll. 47, 1 & 2 = Bodl. 316, 1646 AD), which also has a handwritten Latin translation of the end of part 1 and all of part 2; another in the British Library (or. 7564, AD 1280); another in Manchester (ar. 239, 18th century, but incomplete and breaking off at 1118/9 AD); another in Cairo (Coptic Museum Hist. 266, AD 1893); yet another in Cairo (Coptic Patriarchate Hist. 17, 18th century); one in the Sbath collection wherever that is now (Fihris 80 & 81); and finally one somewhere in the Orthodox Library in Aleppo between the wars, mentioned by L. Cheiko.
That sounds a lot – eight copies. But the Vatican library is closed, and emails are being ignored. The Bodleian is going through a greedy-nasty phase, and wants me to pay some enormous sum so they can make colour images for themselves but only supply low-grade monochrome images to me. The microfilm of the British Library manuscript only covers part 2, and the leaves are said to be disarranged anyway. The John Rylands Library in Manchester also demanded some huge and prohibitive sum for their partial manuscript. Manuscripts in Cairo are inaccessible; a set of microfilms in the USA likewise, for practical purposes. The location of the other two is really unknown.
Here we are in 2009; yet a researcher can’t get a copy of stuff held by state institutions. This is a ridiculous situation, surely?
There are also manuscript copies of each half. Perhaps the answer is to obtain some of these. There are three of part 1 in Paris, for instance, and it should be possible to obtain copies, I would have thought.
PS: The great thing about the Bibliotheque Nationale Francais is that they have scanned their catalogues and put them online. A quick search, and I find that Mss. Arab. 294 and 295 should cover the whole text. 294 is 250+ folios in length, tho. Less good is the prices demanded for colour digital images, which are basically free to make. The prices are prohibitive, which is very silly. I’ve been driven to ask for a duplicate of a microfilm in PDF form, for which they will charge 50 euros each (!). Even that is a ridiculous price for what basically costs half an hour of staff time. When will this ceaseless greed stop?
The last person to see a complete Diodorus Siculus
The splendid efforts by Bill Thayer to scan the still-massive remains of the Universal History by Diodorus Siculus have reminded me that the complete text still existed in 1453. N. G. Wilson in Scribes and Scholars p.72 tells us of a well-established fact, stated by Constantine Lascaris who says that he saw a complete copy of the work in the imperial palace in Constantinople, and that it was destroyed by the Turks.
Scribes and Scholars is a masterwork, but one of its defects is the casual attitude to referencing. But by chance a French correspondent asked me about this very event, and in order to give him a page reference, I pulled down the French translation by the excellent Pierre Petitmengin, D’Homère a Érasme. I was surprised, but delighted, to find on page 48 a reference for this statement: Patrologia Graeca, t. 161, c. 918. One of the reasons why the French edition is useful is that it does fill in some of the gaps like this.
It would be nice to have Constantine Lascaris’ words in English, but that must wait another day!
Digitization of the Plutei collection in Florence
I’ve had an email from the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana in Florence telling me that they are actively exploring digitising the Plutei collection. This includes massive numbers of the oldest manuscripts of any number of the classics, including both Tacitus manuscripts. They think it will take around 30 months, and they intend to put the results online.
Remarkably, they’re also looking at ways for people to contribute to the online material and so enhance the content. This is very far-seeing of them, and will be most interesting to see.
All early days, but very, very interesting.
Nicaea II and missing books
This post raises some interesting questions about the destruction of Iconoclast literature after the second council of Nicaea in 787 AD. (Also commented on here at Labarum).
The thrust of the post is that the council ordered the destruction of iconoclast books, aside from those held in a private collection by the patriarch of Constantinople. The existence of such a collection may explain some of the reading material listed by Photius in his Bibliotheca.
What I was not clear about, tho, was what the historical sources quoted were. How do we know this?
Sadly a firewall prevents me posting a comment, but if you know, please let me know.
I find that this is supposedly from the 9th canon of the canons of the council. In the NPNF translation these read:
That none of the books containing the heresy of the traducers of the Christians are to be hid.
All the childish devices and mad ravings which have been falsely written against the venerable images, must be delivered up to the Episcopium of Constantinople, that they may be locked away with other heretical books. And if anyone is found hiding such books, if he be a bishop or presbyter or deacon, let him be deposed; but if he be a monk or layman, let him be anathema.
Ancient Epitome of Canon IX.
If any one is found to have concealed a book written against the venerable images, if he is on the clergy list let him be deposed; if a layman or monk let him be cut off.
Van Espen.
What here is styled Episcopium was the palace of the Patriarch. In this palace were the archives, and this was called the “Cartophylacium,” in which the charts and episcopal laws were laid up. To this there was a prefect, the grand Chartophylax, one of the principal officials and of most exalted dignity of the Church of Constantinople, whose office Codinus explains as follows: “The Ghartophylax has in his keeping all the charts which pertain to ecclesiastical law (that is to say the letters in which privileges and other rights of the Church are contained) and is the judge of all ecclesiastical causes, and presides over marriage controversies which are taken cognizance of, and proceedings for dissolution of the marriage bond; moreover, he is judge in other clerical strifes, as the right hand of the Patriarch.”
In this Cartophylaceum or Archives, therefore, under the faithful guardianship of the Chartophylax, the fathers willed that the writings of the Iconoclasts should be laid up, lest in their perusal simple Catholics might be led astray.
But here at IntraText I find a different version of the text. Now IntraText is not a scanning site; they just use what others upload. So which translation is this? The same text is here. I also find it here with attribution to Peter L’Huillier.
After much searching, I find online “Canons of the seven ecumenical councils from the Rudder trans. by D. Cummings, 1957, with intro by Archbishop Peter L’Huillier.” (Chicago: Orthodox Christian Educational Society) and discussed here.
Errors in the transmission of the Koran
The following article from Almasry Alyoum sheds an interesting light on claims that manuscripts of the Koran are without error.
Koran Copies Full of Mistakes on the Markets
By Ahmed el-Beheiri 12/8/2008Several flawed copies of the Koran are put on sale from time to time and several of these copies have recently appeared on the markets. Some suras (chapters) are completely missing, while some have been completed with others.
This is described as a great negligence on the part of publishing and distribution houses in dealing with the act of pressing and collecting the verses of the Holy Koran.
Al-Masry al-Youm has obtained one of these copies full of mistakes. It was published by a publishing and distribution house (“Al-Misriya lil Nashr wa al-Tawzie”) that had been authorized by the Islamic Research Academy to print and distribute 40,000 copies.
The copies contain several mistakes in the collection and arrangement of the papers.
Speaking to al-Masry al-Youm, the director of the department in charge of research and composition, Abdel Zaher Abdel Razek, said that the house staff had made mistakes in collecting and arranging the papers of the Koran. As a result, he said, some suras had disappeared while others were completed with others.
He put the blame for the mistakes on the publishing house owner, as the copies were not reviewed once again before being launched on the markets.
“We will have no leniency on the publishing house owner and the others who made the same mistake” he added. “We will send him a strong letter to warn him and call on him to commit to precision and preserve the sacredness of the Holy Koran when printing it, otherwise he will lose his license to print it”.