British Library, Add MS 17212 is a double palimpsest, with three successive writings: a Syriac translation of St. Chrysostom's ''Homilies'' of the 9th/10th century covers a Latin grammatical treatise from the 6th century, written in cursive, which in turn covers the ''Annales'' of Roman historian Granius Licinianus. It is a rare example of a double palimpsest. The manuscript has survived in incomplete condition.

Description

The manuscript contains 13 leaves (9¼ by 6⅞ inches), most of which were torn along the outer edges. Each page of the manuscript is palimpsest, except folio 9. The youngest text of the palimpsest contains the ''Homilies'' of

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...

. The writing is in two columns per page, 25–29 lines per page, in a good and regular hand. It contains the following homilies: ''On the Prodigal Son'', ''On Lent'', ''On the Human Nature of our Lord'', ''Three discourses on the Contest of our Lord with Satan''. All these homilies follow one another in correct original order, without any lacunae. The older text is of a Latin grammar treatise on folios 1-8, 10-13. It is written in minuscule letters. The writing is most legible on folios 2, 7, and 10. Probably it was written in North Italy. The text of the fragment was published by

Elias Avery Lowe Elias Avery Lowe (15 October 1879 – 8 August 1969), originally surnamed Loew, and known in print as E. A. Lowe, was a Lithuanian-American palaeography, palaeographer at the University of Oxford and Princeton University. He was a lecturer, and t ...

in ''Codices Latini antiquiores'' (1935).''British Library Add MS 17212 (fol. 1-8, 10-13)''
– Trismegistos. The oldest text of the palimpsest, the ''Annales'' of Granius Licinianus, is written in elegant, small-sized uncial letters. The most visible text survives on pages 1 verso and 5 recto. These fragments were edited by Karl Pertz in 1857.

History

The manuscript was discovered in 1842 in the

monastery of St. Mary Deipara The Monastery of Saint Mary El-Sourian is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is located about 500 meters northwest of the Monastery of Saint Pishoy. The monastery is de ...

in the

Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt dep ...

of Egypt and brought to London along with the other 550 manuscripts. The manuscript was described by

William Aldis Wright William Aldis Wright (1 August 183119 May 1914), was an English writer and editor. Wright was son of George Wright, a Baptist minister in Beccles, Suffolk. He was educated at Beccles Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gradu ...

. Currently it is housed at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(Additional Manuscripts 17212) in London. Access to the manuscript requires an appropriate letter of scholarly introduction.

Description

History

See also

References

Further reading