Book recomendation: Sisters of Sinai

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Book recomendation: Sisters of Sinai

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1MarthaJeanne
feb 25, 2011, 4:59 pm

Sisters of Sinai is a very interesting book about the Scottish twins who discovered many early Bible maunscripts in the 19th century. It was published last year, and if it hasn't yet come in your way, I highly recommend it.

2papyri
Redigeret: feb 26, 2011, 1:20 pm

Thank you MarthaJeanne for highlighting this new publication.

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Twin sisters, Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson, led most extrodinary lives. They were fluent in Greek and had an interest in Biblical manuscripts.

They traveled extensively in the Holy Land, Greece, Egypt and Syria meeting and befriending a number of the major archaeologists and scholars of the time. They charmed the various Greek Orthodox abbots, archbishops and the monks they met, enabling them access to Monastic libraries, inaccessable to other scholars. They even hosted garden parties on the austere grounds of the desert monastery of St. Catherine's in Egypt for visitors and their monastic hosts. They were also, well known to the various antiquity dealers which allowed them to acquire ancient manuscripts. However, they were interested more in scholarship, than just acquiring manuscripts themselves. They were quite content to see that the manuscripts found in the monastic libraries remained there. They were amoung the first to photograph important manuscripts they found and make the images available to other scholars.

Aside from schololarly publications, they wrote about their travels and adventures and they plalyed a role in the discovery of the famous Cairo Geniza (a storeroom of ancient Hebrew manuscripts) in a synagogue in old Cairo, Egypt by Solomon Schechter, a Rabbinic scholar at Cambridge. The Geniza documents represented the earliest and most important discovery of Biblical (and other) manuscripts untill the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were truely incredible Victorian/Edwardian ladies.

An article about them was published in Biblical Archaeology Review a few years ago.

Aside from various articles in academic journals of the time, their publications include:


How the Codex was found. A narative of two visits to Sini, from Mrs Lewis's Journals , 1892-93 by Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1893).

Eastern Pilgrims. Travels of three Ladies by Agnes Smith Lewis (1870).

In the Shadow of Sinai. A Story of Travel and Research from 1895-1897 by Agnes Smith Lewis (1898).

Palestinian Syriac Texts from Palimpset Fragments in the Taylor-Schechter Collection by Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson (1910).

3lilithcat
feb 26, 2011, 11:35 am

They sound like quite an interesting pair!

4MarthaJeanne
feb 26, 2011, 4:25 pm

The biography is absolutely fascinating - the kind of thing that would make great fiction, except that an author wouldn't dare make up half this stuff.

You feel a bit weird though in most company saying what fascinating people these were learning all sorts of dead languages (as well as live ones) and spending time poring over old bits of paper-like materials. But I figured this group would understand.

5AnselmusGW
mar 23, 2011, 11:51 am

Sounds like a very interesting book indeed. I added it to my wishlist.

6gennyt
aug 14, 2011, 5:40 pm

I just finished the book a few days ago. Loved it - it's a fascinating story, well told, and has revived my palaeographical and dead-language-learning interests.

7lilithcat
aug 14, 2011, 5:41 pm

I've read the book now, and I must second the recommendation, and add one of my own: Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza, by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole. It covers some of the same territory (literally as well as figuratively).

8nathanielcampbell
Redigeret: aug 15, 2011, 10:54 am

I should point out that there are many more manuscripts, both Greek and Western (Latin) still to be studied in the Monastery of St. Catherine. I know that Michelle Brown was down there in early 2010 scanning some intriguing Carolingian MSS she discovered there.

9MarthaJeanne
aug 22, 2011, 6:08 am

7> My copy arrived this morning.

10MarthaJeanne
Redigeret: aug 25, 2011, 4:42 am

Thank you very much for the recommendtion of Sacred Trash. I second it heartily.

I have also put in a reciprical member recommendation.

11papyri
aug 25, 2011, 10:59 am

Also worth checking out, is Studies In Judaism - Second Series (1908) by Solomon Schechter. The first parts of the book, A Hoard of Hebrew Manuscripts I & II, detail his exploits searching for Hebrew manuscripts in the Cairo Geniza. No illustrations, but a wonderful account of his discoveries. The work has been reprinted several times and parts (if not all) of it are available on-line.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the manuscripts recovered from the Caro Geniza, the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit is a great place to start. Fragments recovered from the Geniza are preserved in a number of collections around the world, with Cambridge, Univ. holding the loin's share. Though, all the major holders, are currently putting images of their material on-line.