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T-S 13J7.8
Recto/verso: recto
Verso: Syriac translation of Romans 16:25–26 and 1 Corinthians 13:12–13. The text is written in a distinctive western Syriac hand with most letters of the Estrangelo-type and some reading signs, such as linea occultans and seyame. The presumably Christian scribe did not take special care when writing those verses, for the lines are not ruled and their spacing varies, having being done "by eye." The central crease, which can still be seen, shows that the page was folded at some stage. The verses are taken from the Syriac (Peshiṭta) version of two Pauline epistles. The right column comprises the concluding sentences of the epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:26-27). The left column contains parts of 1 Corinthians 13:12b–13. It is possible that the quotations from the Romans and 1 Corinthians are merely selections, chosen to highlight particular thoughts which might have been important to the writer, e.g. in both sections occurs the catchword ‘faith’ (Romans 16:26; 1 Corinthians 13:13). The assumption that the fragment was originally part of a codex with the intermediate folios being lost is less likely because of the type of handwriting and the fragmentary character of the verses. Be that as it may, the circumstances in which this folio, containing NT verses, was recycled to record a Jewish bride’s trousseau list are perplexing. Perhaps the scribe of the trousseau-list bought this leaf second-hand and was not able to read the Syriac script which cites the name of Jesus the Messiah or it simply did not matter to him, since he had obviously no hesitation or aversion either to using the Muslim basmala formula in Arabic script at the beginning of the trousseau list (T- S 13J7.8 v1). The contents of the Judaeo-Arabic trousseau-list and the Syriac NT verses are diverse and unrelated. However, their mutual appearance is testimony not only for the richness of life in medieval Fusṭāṭ, but for the coexistence of the Christian and Jewish communities during the Fatimid period. Information from Friedrich Niessen, "New Testament translations from the Cairo Genizah," Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 6 (2009), pp. 201–22.
Editor: Ed. and trans. Friedrich Niessen, "New Testament translations from the Cairo Genizah," Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 6 (2009).
Library: CUL
Type: Literary text
