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The Syriac Collection

The present-day area of southeast Turkey, Syria and parts of Iraq were once predominantly Christian. The language spoken was Syriac until replaced by Arabic in the thirteenth century. Important centres for book production were established in these areas and fine illuminated manuscripts circulated among the various churches. Aspects of Syriac book design influenced other medieval Christian decorated books.

Chester Beatty was only able to acquire a small number of Syriac books to augment not only his biblical collections but also his collection of illuminated manuscripts. The most important text is Ephraem’s Commentary on the Diatessaron of Tatian (Ms Syr 709) c.A.D. 490-510. Although parts of the Diatessaron, a harmony of the four gospels, is preserved in late translations, the Chester Beatty manuscript is the earliest copy known of this text and the only one in the language in which it was written. It is a unique document in the history of Christianity for which Chester Beatty received a special papal blessing from Pope Pius XII in 1959. The Trustees of the Library have made two additional acquisitions of leaves relating to this codex.

In 1929 Beatty also acquired a very finely illuminated gospel-book in Syriac in the Harclean version, dating from 12th century (Syr. Ms 703) and several early evangelaries or service books, choir books and copies of the New Testament.

Publications

Buchthal, Hugo and Kurz, Otto (1942) A Hand List of Illuminated Oriental Christian Manuscripts. London: Warburg Institute.

Cathcart, Kevin (ed.) (1994) The Edward Hincks Bicentenary Lectures. Dublin: University College.
-- (1989) 'The Biblical and Other Early Christian Manuscripts of the Chester Beatty Library', in K. J. Cathcart and J. F. Healey (eds) Back to the Sources: Biblical and Near Eastern Studies in honour of Dermot Ryan. Dublin: Glendale Press.

Hatch, William T. (1937) 'The Subscription in the Chester Beatty Manuscript of the Harclean Gospels', Harvard Theological Review 30: 141-55.

Leloir, Louis (1990) Saint Éphrem. Commentaire de l'évangile concordant. Text syriaque (MS Chester Beatty 709). Chester Beatty Monographs 8. First published 1963. Leuven: Peeters.

McCarthy, Carmel (1993) 'Saint Ephrem's Commentary on Tatian's Diatessaron: An English translation of Chester Beatty Syriac MS 709 with introduction and Notes', Journal of Semitic Studies, Supplement 2.

Petersen, William (1994) Tatian's Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance and History in Scholarship. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Thomas, John D. (1979) 'A List of Manuscripts containing the Harclean Syriac Version of the New Testament', Theological Review, 2 (2).