Sigla: 
Modern names for the manuscript, including inventory and publication numbers.
|
Al-Suryan MSS 383 |
| Category:
Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical. |
Magical (formulary ?) |
| Contents: | 1. fol. 1r-207v: Biblical texts and prayers, including the Psalms, 12 odes attributed to Biblical kings, four prayers associated with Syrian monastic fathers (Ephrem, Simeon Stylites, Isaac of Nineveh, Ephrem), liturgical prayers asociated with different hours and occassions. |
| Form: | Codex |
| Material: | Parchment |
| Dimensions (cm): | Height: 17 | Width: 13 | Depth: |
| Dimensions (notes): | Abd al-Masih 1947: p. 65. |
| Folding pattern: | |
| State of preservation: | Incomplete. |
| Pages/Columns:
Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.
|
456 |
| Pages/Columns (notes): | Manuscript has 227 folios (=456 pages) in total. Manuscipt begins from two folios before quire ⲗ̅ⲅ̅ (Abd al-Masih 1947: p. 65). The text is inscibed on 7 pages of the manuscript. Abd al-Masih does not give line numbers, but seems to give an average of 18 lines per page (?) (Abd al-Masih 1947: p. 65). |
| Hand: | Hand of Gabriel (later Coptic Pope Gabriel III) |
| Findspot: | Dayr al-Suryān (TM places ID: 48046) |
| Place of purchase: | (TM places ID: ) |
| Writingspot: | Dayr al-Suryān (TM places ID: 48046) |
| Present Location: | Cairo, Coptic Museum (?) |
| Collection History: | Production of the literary patron al-Amjad Ibn al-‘Assāl in Cairo and produced in 1255 CE by his personal scribe Gabriel in the house of his master (Gabriel later became the Coptic Pope Gabriel III) (Davis 2017: p. 179). The manuscript was separated into two parts (Psalter MS 12 Bibl.) and MS 266 Lit. (Abd al-Masih 1947: p. 65). Currently likely in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. |
| Trismegistos collection:
Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. |
72 |
| Collection website: |
| Notes/Discussion: | This same codex contains also an Arabic translation of the letter. The Arabic version of the Agbar letter contained in this codex is the oldest one written in this language (Davis 2017: p. 182). “As originally organized, the Psalms were followed in sequence by the contents of MS 383, which contains twelve odes or prayers of biblical prophets and kings, four prayers associated with monastic church fathers from Syria (Ephrem, Simeon Stylites, Isaac of Nineveh, and |
| Bibiliography |
| Editions: | Abd al-Masih, Yassā. “An Unedited Bohairic letter of Abgar [1].” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale 45 (1947): 65-80. |
| Translations: | |
| General: | Bélanger Sarrazin, Roxanne. “The Abgar Correspondence in Coptic and the Production of Magical Manuscripts by Monks.” Handout from the Apocrypha Workshop – Oslo, 4 December 2021. |
| Trismegistos ID: | PAThs: |
| PGM:
Papyri Gracae Magicae
|
SM:
Supplementum Magicum
|
GEMF:
Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming)
|
ACM:
Ancient Christian Magic
|
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| Bélanger Sarrazin:
Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes” |
AKZ:
Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte |
CBd:
Campbell-Bonner Magical Gems Database |
Mert.-Pack:
Mertens-Pack online database |
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| Van H:
van Haelst, Catalogue des papyrus littéraires |
Bruyn-Dijkstra:
de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)" |
TheDefix:
Thesaurus Defixionum |
To Zodion: |
| Edit History: | MPS (17/12/2021) with thanks to Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin; MPS (20/12/2021); MPS (14/1/2022); KD (14/2/2022); KD (15/2/2022) |