Newly Digitised Manuscript Sheds Valuable Light on Assyrian Identity

Sections of a rare Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) lectionary manuscript have been digitised for the very first time. The two folios, tentatively dated to the tenth– or eleventh–century, correspond to the books of Micah and Isaiah, respectively. This manuscript was first acquired in the spring of 1895 by Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson while passing through Cairo en-route to Mount Sinai. By 1897, the Scottish orientalists collaboratively transcribed and published the work in its entirety. Following the foundation of Westminster College in Cambridge, the sisters donated the manuscript to the institution’s archive where it remains to this day.

According to this manuscript, specifically in chapter five verse five of Micah, one reads: “And he will be our peace when the Āsūrāyē (Assyrians) invade our land and march through our fortresses.” In Chapter ten verse twenty-four of Isaiah, on the other hand, it is read: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Sūrāyē (Assyrians).” The representation of the biblical Assyrians with the two variant forms— Āsūrāyē and Sūrāyē —as opposed to Āthōrāyē, commonly found in Classical Syriac (CS), is striking indeed.

In a bid to ascertain whether the two variant forms were a result of a mere scribal error led to a comparative assessment of CPA palimpsest fragments in the Taylor-Schechter Collection at the University of Cambridge. These fragments, tentatively dated between the fifth– or eighth–century, contain passages derived from the Book of Isaiah. According to the fragments, additional variant forms were identified for the biblical Assyrians— Sūrāy and Sūryāyē —both without the initial ʾālap̄h or –a. Remarkably, these references may further our understanding on the symbiotic relationship between these nomenclatures.

What is Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA)?

Historically, CPA was a dialect of Western Aramaic (WA) predominately used by Chalcedonian Christian communities in Palestine and Transjordan between the fifth– and fourteenth–centuries. In contrast to Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (JPA) and Samaritan Aramaic (SA)— CPA remained linguistically and lexicographically free of any Hebrew influence. In fact, Dr. Christa Müller-Kessler, an expert, argues that CPA “has many syntactical constructions based on Greek Vorlagen, since CPA has not produced its own literature and, apart from inscriptions, is transmitted in translations of Greek literature”.

The author of this article, R. Edward, would like to acknowledge K. Haidari and J. Bethgawro, as well as H. Weller, Archivist at Westminster College, and the Digital Content Unit (DCU) at Cambridge University Library.