Arabic Gospel Lectionaries at Sinai

Abstract

Recent studies grouping Arabic Gospel manuscripts into families by Valentin (2003) and Kashouh (2012) have excluded lectionaries. This restriction in scope is understandable but it means that the use of these translations in Arabic Christian worship remains to be explored. A full study of all the surviving Arabic Gospel lectionaries is clearly desirable. This study seeks to provide a small step in that direction by grouping the Arabic Gospel lectionaries currently held at St. Catherine’s monastery at Sinai into their own families according to their types and textual affinities. Twelve distinct families are distinguished and in many instances their sources from families of continuous-text Arabic Gospel manuscripts are identified.