Syriac Manuscripts and Scribes

Syriac Manuscripts and Scribes

The corpus of Syriac manuscripts is vast, with an estimate of 10,000 - 20,000 manuscripts worldwide, in public and private collections. Most of these manuscripts are reliably dated from the early 5th century CE to modern times with the oldest one dated in the year 411 CE. These manuscripts are not just historical artifacts but complex documents reflecting the engagement of scholars, religious figures, and everyday people with the Syriac language. They are also among the earliest illuminated Bible manuscripts and some of the earliest precisely dated biblical copies. Almost all our knowledge about the Syriac heritage were found in these manuscripts that were copied many centuries ago and some of them copied many times. But let's not forget that many more Syriac manuscripts and literary work we know about from other works were lost for many reasons and don't have these copies.

Many of these manuscripts has colophons written by the scribes of these manuscripts that contains information about their lives and other information about where and when they lived and sometimes about certain events that can provide historical information about their times

Major Syriac Manuscript Collections Worldwide

The global corpus of Syriac manuscripts is vast and widely dispersed, with an estimated 20,000 existing worldwide. Key historical collections are housed in major libraries and monasteries across the globe, reflecting centuries of Syriac cultural and religious activity :

• British Library (London), UK: This institution holds one of the largest and most diverse Syriac language manuscript collections globally, comprising 1,075 manuscripts dating from 450 to 2000 AD, alongside 12,000 printed books.

• Vatican Library (Rome), Italy: The Vatican Library possesses significant Syriac holdings, including a selection of manuscripts from the Vatican Syriac and Borgia Funds, many of which are available in high-resolution digital images. Notably, a collection of 33 important Syriac Christian manuscripts, some dating to the 5th and 6th centuries, were digitized in a collaboration with Brigham Young University and the Assyrian Church of the East.

• University of Birmingham, UK: Contains the third largest Syriac Manuscript collection in the World. The manuscripts collected mainly by the orientalist Alphonse Mingana and some other gifts

• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML), USA: HMML is a world leader in manuscript photographic preservation. For nearly 50 years, its teams have been photographing and supporting the digitization of manuscript collections across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South India. HMML holds more Syriac manuscripts than any other library in the Western world, with much of their collection digitized and accessible through their "Virtual Hill Museum and Manuscript Library: Reading Room".

• John Rylands Library (University of Manchester), UK: This library houses approximately seventy Syriac manuscripts and fragments dating from the 6th to the early 20th century, encompassing both sacred and secular texts.

• Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Germany: This library's Oriental Department is actively digitizing its 390 Syriac manuscript holdings, with a goal of full accessibility and cataloging. It also holds fragments from the Turfan Collection, which includes Syriac texts.

• Bodleian Library (Oxford), UK: As early as 1864, the Bodleian possessed 205 Syriac codices, with many containing multiple items. It is also the world's foremost repository for Mandaean magical texts.

• Library of Congress (USA): Also listed as having a significant collection of Syriac manuscripts.

• Morgan Library & Museum (New York City), USA: This institution holds Syriac manuscripts of great antiquity, including two Gospel books from the 6th or 7th centuries (M. 783 and M. 784).

• Princeton University Library, USA: Provides a research guide for Syriac Studies, linking to various external resources and digital initiatives.

• Library of the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem: Contains 48 Syriac manuscripts, primarily from the 15th and 16th centuries, with the oldest dating to 1251 AD.

• University of Cambridge Library: Possesses a catalogue of Syriac manuscripts, with Volume I published in 1901.

• Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai and Dayr al-Suryān in Wadi Natrun, Egypt: These two monasteries in Egypt are the major source of the of the Syriac manuscripts held in the in the British Library and the Vatican Library today.

• Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Library in Damascus, Syria: Holds about 350 Manuscripts in Syriac language in addition to manuscripts in other languages

• Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF): This collection holds more than 400 Syriac manuscripts

• Harvard University, USA: Holds a sizable number of Syriac manuscripts that were acquired in the 19th and 20th century

Prominent Scribes and Scribal Families 

• Patriarch Michael Rabo (Michael the Great) (1126-1199): A prominent Syrian Orthodox Patriarch, left behind several surviving autographs. He authored a comprehensive universal Chronicle (Syr. Makhtbhanuth zabhne), which is considered the greatest achievement of Syriac historiography. This work is uniquely laid out in three columns, covering church history, secular history, and various other notes.

• Deacon Mattai bar Paulos of Mosul (1858-1947): A prolific scribe, with over 50 of his manuscripts now housed in the Mingana Collection in Birmingham and about another 50 in other library collections

• Monk Mubarak Bar Daoud: A monk at the Mar Mattai monastery near Mosul, Iraq, is notable for scribing the illustrious Gospel lectionary (Vat. sir. 559) dated to 1220, which is celebrated for its rich illuminations. He was born in Bartilla, Iraq

• Kadavil Chandy Kathanar (c. 1588-1673): Stands out as a celebrated scholar, orator, hymnographer, and Syriacist from the Saint Thomas Christian community in India. His profound knowledge of Syriac language and literature was widely acknowledged, and his acrostic poems even circulated among Syriac-speaking communities in West Asia. One of his surviving poems is preserved in Mannanam Syr 63, copied by Pilippose bar Thomas Kraw Yambistha in 1734.

• The Naṣro Family: This family from Alqosh, Iraq and their lineage is renowned for consistently including detailed genealogical information in their colophons, enabling scholars to trace their scribal history over approximately 300 years. The known genealogy begins in the late 17th/early 18th century with four brothers: Homo, Yaldā, Gíwargís, and Košābā, all of whom were active scribes. Later members, such as Yawsep, provided impressive 10-generation genealogies.