A long-lost chapter of biblical text has been discovered nearly 1,500 years after it was initially written.
According to the study published in the journal New Testament Studies, the previously hidden segment is one of the earliest translations of the gospels.
The medievalist Grigory Kessel of the Austrian Academy of Sciences unearthed the concealed chapter beneath three layers of text using ultraviolet photography.
“The tradition of Syriac Christianity knows several translations of the Old and New Testaments,” Kessel said in a statement. “Until recently, only two manuscripts were known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels.”
One of these lives in London’s British Library and the other was a palimpsest discovered at St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai.
The small manuscript fragment was identified by Kessel using ultraviolet photography as the third layer of text, or double palimpsest, in the Vatican Library manuscript.
Researchers said the revealed text is an interpretation of Matthew 12, originally translated as part of the Old Syriac translations about 1,500 years ago.
They said the fragment is so far the only known remnant of the fourth manuscript that attests to the Old Syriac version, offering a unique gateway to the early phase in the history of the textual transmission of the gospels.
The text also shows differences in the information given from the various translations.
The researchers are yet to reveal a full translation written in ancient Syriac but shared some details, for example that the Greek version of Matthew 12.1 reads: “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat”, whereas the Syriac translation reads, “[…] began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.”
“As far as the dating of the Gospel book is concerned, there can be no doubt that it was produced no later than the sixth century,” scientists assert in the study.
They continued, “Despite a limited number of dated manuscripts from this period, comparison with dated Syriac manuscripts allows us to narrow down a possible time frame to the first half of the sixth century.”
Due to a lack of writing parchment in the region during the period the text was written, pages often had to be reused, resulting in the removal of previous biblical texts.
Claudia Rapp, Director of the Institute for Medieval Research at the OeAW, said: “Grigory Kessel has made a great discovery thanks to his profound knowledge of old Syriac texts and script characteristics.
“This discovery proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts.”
This finding follows a recent announcement from the auction house Sotheby’s that one of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts will soon be up for sale.
Codex Sassoon, a 1,100-old leather-bound, handwritten and almost entirely complete Hebrew Bible, is set to go up for auction in New York on 16th May 2023.
The auction house has put the price tag at $30 million to $50 million, which could mean that it becomes the most expensive historical document ever sold at auction.
To break this record, the winning bid must exceed the $43.2 million paid for a first-edition copy of the Constitution of the United States.
It is almost certain to break the record for the most expensive religious manuscript of all time, which is currently held by the sale of an original manuscript of The Book of Mormon, hand-written in 1830 by Joseph Smith himself and bought by the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for $35 million in 2017.
“The Bible is one of the world’s greatest treasures and holds powerful resonance for the three monotheistic religions and their billions of adherents. For thousands of years, its sacred words have been closely studied, analysed, and meditated on.
“Codex Sassoon, created circa 900, is the earliest surviving example of a single codex containing all the books of the Hebrew Bible with their punctuation, vowels, and accents,” Sotheby’s said.
“The codex is named for its prominent modern owner, David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942), who assembled the largest and most important private collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world and had a special affinity for bibles in particular,” they continue.
Codex Sassoon, long recognised for its importance by scholars, has unfortunately been scarcely seen by the public for centuries. At long last, however, it is finally undergoing a worldwide tour before its sale on May 16.
“Codex Sassoon has long held a revered and fabled place in the pantheon of surviving historic manuscripts and is undeniably one of the most important and singular texts in human history,” wrote Sotheby’s.
(Photograph: Vatican Library)
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