Papierblatt aus einem Messbuch mit Texten für die Karwoche in Griechisch, Koptisch und Arabisch

Lectionary in three languages

Coptic, Greek, Arabic, 9th/10th c. and 13th c.? a.d., paper. AD, paper
K 11346

A lectionary contains the biblical readings that are used for the church service throughout the church year. Our paper leaf delivers texts for the Holy Week liturgy to posterity.

This leaf comes from a book that probably originally only contained the Greek text of the Bible with its Coptic translation. The left-hand column shows the Coptic text, written in bold lettering and with large initials. A single passage of text is set off by a wavy line that ends in a heart-shaped leaf.

The column to the right contains the Greek text. The Greek script with the accentuations probably belongs to the 9th/10th century.

The right-hand column contains an Arabic translation of the content. This text was probably added in the 13th century.

Such multilingual texts bear witness to Egypt's multilingual culture. The initially Greek Bible text was translated into Coptic and later into Arabic.

Our database entry  provides further literature references and a digitalisation of the object.

 

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