Roger Bagula
2006-08-08 01:04:51 UTC
http://en.naukawpolsce.pl/naukaen/index.jsp?place=Lead07&news_cat_id=91&news_id=4545&layout=0&page=text
The Book of Isaiah under the sands of Egypt
The archaeological mystery has been solved! The latest research shows
that the manuscript found by Polish archaeologists in the village of
Gourna (Sheikh abd el-Gourna) near Luxor in Upper Egypt contains the
entire biblical book of Isaiah in the Coptic translation. “This is the
first complete translation of this book in Coptic” – says Prof. Ewa
Wipszycka-Bravo of the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University.
In February last year, Tomasz Górecki heading the Centre of
Mediterranean Archaeology at the Warsaw University mission in Gourna,
made a unique find in the rubbish heap of a monastery. It consisted of
two papyrus books in leather covers and a collection of parchment sheets
bound by two bits of wood. This was the first discovery of Coptic
manuscripts in Egypt since 1952, which are well preserved and supported
by a well-researched archaeological context.
One of the books is the “Code of Pseudo-Basili” – the only preserved
full text in Coptic, which is a collection of rules regulating Church
life. The other contains the life of St. Pistentios, one of the Coptic
bishops. Both texts date back to the 7th/8th centuries.
The books are under conservation in the National Museum in Alexandria
and only then will the full text be known, says Górecki. However, their
character and content are already known.
Identifying the third manuscript was much harder. An untitled collection
of 50 richly decorated parchment sheets written in Coptic, bound by two
pieces of wood. The Polish archaeologists turned to researchers from the
University of Rome to help decipher the texts. Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo
says that Tito Orlandi, who reads Coptic documents like most people read
a newspaper, has pronounced them to be the book of Isaiah. Many
fragments of this book have already been found, but never the whole book.
The wooden planks binding the books were supported by parchment from old
texts, one a known apocrypha – “The suffering of St. Peter”, another
religious text and tax bills – the professor explains.
It is still not known how these books reached the hermitage. According
to specialists, they must have been written in distant scriptoriums.
Moreover, an Italian expert dates the book from the 9th-10th centuries,
which makes them more recent than the other books.
“The hermitage was abandoned at the beginning of the 8th century, so the
parchment could not have belonged to the monks in Gourna. Who brought
them there if no Christians were there anymore remains a mystery” – says
Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo.
On being transported to Gourna, the books were dumped on the rubbish
heap, presumably by the Arabs after chasing out the Christians.
Szymon Łucyk, tr. ajfb
1
The Book of Isaiah under the sands of Egypt
The archaeological mystery has been solved! The latest research shows
that the manuscript found by Polish archaeologists in the village of
Gourna (Sheikh abd el-Gourna) near Luxor in Upper Egypt contains the
entire biblical book of Isaiah in the Coptic translation. “This is the
first complete translation of this book in Coptic” – says Prof. Ewa
Wipszycka-Bravo of the Institute of Archaeology at Warsaw University.
In February last year, Tomasz Górecki heading the Centre of
Mediterranean Archaeology at the Warsaw University mission in Gourna,
made a unique find in the rubbish heap of a monastery. It consisted of
two papyrus books in leather covers and a collection of parchment sheets
bound by two bits of wood. This was the first discovery of Coptic
manuscripts in Egypt since 1952, which are well preserved and supported
by a well-researched archaeological context.
One of the books is the “Code of Pseudo-Basili” – the only preserved
full text in Coptic, which is a collection of rules regulating Church
life. The other contains the life of St. Pistentios, one of the Coptic
bishops. Both texts date back to the 7th/8th centuries.
The books are under conservation in the National Museum in Alexandria
and only then will the full text be known, says Górecki. However, their
character and content are already known.
Identifying the third manuscript was much harder. An untitled collection
of 50 richly decorated parchment sheets written in Coptic, bound by two
pieces of wood. The Polish archaeologists turned to researchers from the
University of Rome to help decipher the texts. Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo
says that Tito Orlandi, who reads Coptic documents like most people read
a newspaper, has pronounced them to be the book of Isaiah. Many
fragments of this book have already been found, but never the whole book.
The wooden planks binding the books were supported by parchment from old
texts, one a known apocrypha – “The suffering of St. Peter”, another
religious text and tax bills – the professor explains.
It is still not known how these books reached the hermitage. According
to specialists, they must have been written in distant scriptoriums.
Moreover, an Italian expert dates the book from the 9th-10th centuries,
which makes them more recent than the other books.
“The hermitage was abandoned at the beginning of the 8th century, so the
parchment could not have belonged to the monks in Gourna. Who brought
them there if no Christians were there anymore remains a mystery” – says
Prof. Wipszycka-Bravo.
On being transported to Gourna, the books were dumped on the rubbish
heap, presumably by the Arabs after chasing out the Christians.
Szymon Łucyk, tr. ajfb
1