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I. Un folio inédit du commentaire sur l'Évangile de Matthieu attribué à Rufus de Chotep A fragmentary Coptic leaf, conserved at the Papyrussamlung of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna (= K 9221), belonging to the same codex as four leaves kept at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, and adding significantly to the corpus of Ps.-Rufus of Chotep, is here identified, edited and translated for the first time. In an additional note (excursus), the author apologizes for omitting the superlinear strokes in his editions of Coptic texts. II. Le commentaire sur l'Évangile de Matthieu par Saint Jean Chrysostome en copte Fifteen leaves of a Coptic manuscript, otherwise unknown, preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples (= Zoega CCLXIII), are not to be attributed to Ps.-Rufus of Shotep, but are part of the 82nd Homily of the Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by John Chrysostom.
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The fragments published in this article are from the Parisinus Arabicus 213, a Christian Arabic manuscript belonging to the Egyptian Coptic milieu at the beginning of the 17th century. These fragments are part of a rich Christian theological and spiritual collection which includes works by the greatest Fathers of the Oriental Church. In this important Coptic Arabic collection are to be found passages that unambiguously derive from two different Epistles of the Brethren of Puritys Encyclopaedia, namely, the Epistle of the Man as Microcosm and the Epistle of Meteorology. The fragments are edited synoptically with the 1957 Beirut edition of the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity, so as to highlight gaps and variants. This discovery should allow us to better understand the diffusion, circulation and success of the Epistles even within a Christian Arabic milieu.
From a short passage in the Syriac version of the De Mundo, translated in the early sixth century, the meaning of the word masparta, which has two distinct meanings according to the dictionaries of Payne Smith and Audo, is investigated. It is argued that Payne Smith, apparently followed by Audo, has created a phantom meaning for masparta on the basis of the Greek word it translates in this passage, while a close reading of the Syriac text (with corroborating evidence form the Arabic versions) shows that masparta has only one meaning: scissors.
Alexander of Aphrodisias On the Principles of the Universe (Mabadi) is extant in a Syriac adaptation as well as its better known Arabic translation. This adaptation, made by the sixth century polymath and doctor Sergius of Reshaina, yields important clues as to the latters special concerns and background. The paper shows how Sergius omitted from the Peripatetic text all references to the worlds eternity, a concern that is known from other contemporary Christian philosophical works. However, Sergius does adopt Alexanders doctrine of celestial motion and influence on the sublunar realm. This cosmology could be, and was, used to buttress modified forms of astrological doctrine, and this appears also to have been Sergius own purpose in translating and circulating this influential work. A proper knowledge of the heavens and their sublunar influence allowed the mind to ascend to the higher levels of the contemplation of God.
The present work consists in the first critical edition, with French annotated translation, of Sergius of Reš'aynās adaptation of Alexander of Aphrodisias treatise On the cosmos. This adaptation had already been translated into Italian, more than eighty years ago, by Giuseppe Furlani, but the Syriac text remained unpublished and survived in a single manuscript. The Greek text is no more extant; only a twice published Arabic version exists, which seems to more reliably represent the original treatise. The notes to the translation are limited to relevant rhetorical and philological problems, or to single points of grammar.
The article deals with the Syriac word usually transcribed 'Shekina'. First of all, the occurrences of this Syriac word are collected in the Peshitta, where it appears only in the books of Chronicles (11 times) and in several books translated from the Greek (3 times). Next, the writings of the Syrian Christian authors are surveyed. There, the word occurs dozens of times, in texts from the 4th to the 13th century A.D. This 'Christian Shekina' and its companion the 'Jewish Shekina', known by numerous texts of the rabbinic tradition, are one and the same, even if Jews and Christians emphasize or soften such or such feature. Therefore, the 'Christian Shekina' appears not so much 'Christian', as the authors avoid inserting it, for instance, in their trinitarian schemes. What about the sources, then, of this 'Shekinas double tradition'? A hypothesis is here argued and developped: the Aramaic targum could be the main source, not only for the Jewish and Christian authors along the centuries, but even for the Syriac text of the Peshitta. Thus, the written texts are not the ultimate clue: much of this tradition might have been transmitted orally.
This article deals with the non-biblical tradition about the palace built by King Solomon in the city of Heliopolis/Baalbek in Syria. The earliest attestation of this legend comes from the three Syriac texts dated by the sixth century the Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah, the Ecclesiastical History by John of Ephesus and the Cave of Treasures. The different versions of this tradition are examined in their relation to each other and an attempt is made to situate it against the background of Pagan-Christian relations in Late Antiquity.
A fragment of a Greek manuscript, conserved in the Matenadaran of Erevan (Catalog number 10) from the end of the eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century contains an excerpt from a homily on the Acts of the Apostles by John Chrysostom. Is this fragment taken from a witness of the same family as that of the Greek model of the Armenian translation reproduced in the manuscript Matenadaran 1315? To respond to this question, this article contains the Greek text of Fragment 10 and the corresponding Armenian text, established from two manuscripts of the Matenadaran. Comparing the two, we find that the Greek text in this fragment is closely related, but is not identical, to the Greek model of the Armenian version from 1077.
I. Varia scripta (R. Lebrun) In this short contribution the lector finds some remarks relating to the Egyptian intendant Urkhiya, the toponyms Pergame and the Aleian plain, the Anatolian gods Kakasbos and Trikasbos, and a philological observation on the new anthroponym Pumuwaza (not Pumuza-/i-) inscribed on a recently discovered Hittite seal. II. Atraḫasis en Anatolie (J. Tavernier) This contribution focuses on three small fragments of the Atraḫasis Epos, found in the Hittite capital. They are commented upon and some general remarks on the Hattusa versions of this Mesopotamian literary composition are presented.
