Drawing of the Monastery of Sinai in the Description de l'Égypte (1809).
The colophon provides a surprising amount of information about the manuscript (MS Sinai Arabic 137). It identifies the work as a Gospel manuscript organised according to the liturgical year, containing readings for Saturdays, Sundays and other days throughout the year. The scribe identifies himself as the monk Mattā and explicitly states—in the first person—that he copied the manuscript with his own hand: “the handwriting bears witness for me.”
When was it copied? The date given in the colophon, Monday, 4 July, in the year 1526 of Alexander, corresponds to 4 July 1215 AD. The conversion is confirmed by the day of the week: 4 July 1215 was indeed a Monday. The location is never mentioned, and I will not speculate about it.
Mattā asks any future reader who encounters an error in the manuscript to correct it, since every human being is imperfect and God alone is perfect—a fairly common remark in manuscript colophons. The request suggests that correction by later readers was both anticipated and welcomed.
The colophon then becomes more personal and reflective. Mattā writes that, although he has copied the manuscript with his own hand, one day he will leave it behind and depart. Introducing a memento mori theme, he addresses the “dweller of the home” and reflects on the inevitability of leaving the home behind. He ends with a common prayer asking God to have mercy on the reader, the copyist and “every child of baptism”.
The colophon thus preserves not only the identity of the scribe and the date of completion, but also something of his own voice and his conception of the manuscript as an object that would outlive him and continue to be read and corrected by other Christians.
On Monday, I will post the first piece of the family diary found in this manuscript. Have a fantastic weekend!