1. This is the third post in a series in which I document identifications associated with the work of early Christian Arabic scribes (you can find the first two posts here and here). This post is about a fragment of the early Arabic translation of the so-called Six-Books Dormition of the Virgin (CANT 140), an important apocryphal text that is also attested in many other languages of the Christian East.1 To the best of my knowledge, this new fragment has not yet been dealt with at all in the literature.2 Here I’d like to present its text and scribal context. I shall start, however, with a few details about its provenance and material features.
2. The fragment is located at Harvard and has the shelfmark Harvard, Houghton Library, Arab SM 8378. It is a single folio of a parchment codex and is written on both sides in 18 lines in black ink. Ruling seems to be recognisable for the text block (see figs 1 and 2). The entry in Harvard’s online library catalogue HOLLIS unfortunately provides no useful information as to the fragment’s dimensions. The record says 19 cm, which must refer to its height. The fragment is one of a total of six Sinaitic fragments held by that library, three of which are Arabic and three Syriac. The three Syriac fragments (Harvard, Houghton Library, Syriac 171 [olim Semitic Museum 8375]; Syriac 172 [olim Semitic Museum 8376]; Syriac 173 [olim Semitic Museum 8377]) were described in detail by Grigory Kessel in 2016.3


3. In his article, Kessel also provides information about the provenance of the fragments: all six come from the collection of Friedrich Grote and were sold to the Semitic Museum for $5 in 1922.4 Kessel sees this noticeably low price as symbolic and suggests that it must have been ‘a gift rather than a profitable sale’.5 He has also demonstrated to which dismembered codices of the Sinai Monastery collection the three Syriac fragments originally belonged. As for the provenance of the Arabic fragments, the fact that they were part of Grote’s collection is a strong indication that they also come from Sinai. In a forthcoming publication, I will show that one of them (Harvard, Houghton Library, Arab SM 8380) is an outstanding Arabic-Arabic palimpsest (with Saḥnūn b. Saʿīd at-Tanūḫī’s Mudawwana in the undertext) that Grote himself claimed to have ‘discovered’ at Sinai.6 In the case of the other two fragments, it is their scribal context that clearly proves that they come from the Sinai monastery as well.
4. Our fragment of the Dormition apocryphon and the third fragment (Harvard, Houghton Library, Arab SM 8379), which is an important witness to an early Arabic translation of Basil of Caesarea’s Prologus IV (CPG 2881), were copied by the Sinaitic monk Thomas of Fustat or in his workshop.7 Thomas (fl. 9th-10th century CE) was already mentioned in the last post in this series. He was an outstanding Arabic scribe-monk of the Sinai monastery, comparable to the Georgian scribe-monk and bookbinder Ioane Zosime (d. after 987 CE), who worked in the same monastery only a little later. As far as the origin of the fragment is concerned, a detailed palaeographical analysis cannot be undertaken here. Still, I would like to point out at least one peculiarity, which I already noticed in the last post of this series, even though a scribal hand can, of course, never be characterised by just one or two selected features. In the last post I pointed out a special form of final nūn, whose tail breaks off downwards forming a curved serif. This feature is particularly prominent in the new fragment. It can even be observed in other letters, such as final mīm (!) or final sīn (as in fig. 3).

5. We also encounter this letter shape in the Christian Arabic undertext of the Mingana-Lewis Palimpsest, the upper text of which was copied by Thomas. In my opinion, the best comparandum for the hand of the undertext is that of the upper text. I think that the new fragment may have been written by the same hand, even though it may not be Thomas’s own hand. Nevertheless, as I said, it is very similar to it. My work on Thomas actually led me to this new fragment and its identification in the first place. We also have another manuscript by him, which also is a witness to the Arabic Six-Books Dormition of the Virgin. It was previously the only surviving textual witness of this early Arabic translation.
6. This second manuscript is the codex Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr College Library, BV 69.2 (fig. 4). However, this is only a part of the original codex. Admittedly, it is even one of the most fragmented early Christian Arabic manuscripts I have ever come across. There are a total of seven membra disjecta in four collections (I will report on a newly discovered one in the next part of this series). Michel van Esbroeck wrote an important article on the reconstruction of this codex in 1980.8 More recently, Tony Burke has published a very interesting post on his blog, which also refers to the most important literature.9 Based on Burke, I will call this manuscript the ‘Arabic Apocrypha Codex’. The research on this manuscript has shown that the Six-Books Dormition of the Virgin is preserved completely in Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr College Library, BV 69.2 and the fragment Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Mingana Collection Chr. Ar. Add. 130.10 In fact, I initially assumed that the new fragment could also come from the Arabic Apocrypha Codex.

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Harvard, Houghton Library, Arab S.M. 8378 |
Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr College Library, Special Collections BV 69 |
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[١أ] ابنه وسكن في بطن مريم :: ومبارك هو المسيح | الدى عظم والدته في يوم موتها :: عند ما جات | تخرج من هذا العالم :: له السُبح والتمحيد ويكون منه | الفرح والسلامه على جميع النصرانيه الى احر الاد|٥|هار امين :: مبارك هو الرب الدى نزل واتضع كما | اشتها نزل من الاب الي مريم وخرج من مريم الي المذود | ومن المدود الى الدوران فى الارض :: ومن بعد دلك | صعد على الصليب منجل حلاصنا ومات وقبر وقام في | اليوم الثالث وصعد الى السما وجلس عن يمين الاب :: | ومن الان نصرخ ونقول انت المسيح ابسط ىارب يمينك | من عرشك في هده الساعه على الدين يسبحوك | ويعظمون اُمك المباركه مرتمريم عىد خروجها | من هذا العالم الى الابد امين :: | اسمعوا ياخوتى كلكم وكل من يسمعنى ممن يرجوا | الخلاص من الخطيه يوم ياتى فيه الرب ليدين العالم :: | افتحو اذانكم وانبهو قلوبكم واسمعوا قصه المبا|ركه مرتمرم والده الرب كيف خرجت من هذا | العالم وجات الحلايق الدىن فى السما عساكر [١ب] القوات :: جات الانبيا :: جات الاتنا عشر تلميذ :: جاو | الاتنين وسبعين تلميذ :: جاو الصالحين والشهدا | المباركين :: جاو الابرار والمومنين :: جا اخنوخ وايليا | وموسى :: وكل جماعه عساكر الملايكه :: واجناد | الابهات كلهم :: جا ابرهيم واسحق ويعقوب |٥| وداود :: هده الامم كلها الاحيا والاموات :: | جاو جميع يسلموا على المباركه والده الرب :: فكل من | يريد ياخذ مغفره من الرب يومن بثلثه اقانيم وثلثه | اسما واحد هو الرب مسيح ليس فيه افتراق ولا |١٠| تفكر له السُبح الى دهر الداهرين امين :: | له يسجد جميع السماويين والارضين :: وهو الدى يحيى | ويميت :: وهو الدى ولد من مريم العذرا تلك التى لم | تعرف رجل قط ولم يخالط دلك الجسد شي من التز|ويج :: ولكنه بمشيته حل فيها وولد منها وهى جفنه |١٥| الفرح الدى اختارها اللـه من قديم الدهر وبعث ابنه | وسكن فيها وولد منها من عير لقا رجل كما تنبا اشعيا | النبى المبارك في الانبيا اذ قال هودا العدرا تحبل وتلد | ابنا ويدعا اسمه عمانويل الدى تفسيره اللـه معنا |
[٥أ:١٠] ابنه وسكن في بطن | مريم :: ومبارك هو المسيح الدى عظم والدته في | يوم وفاتها وقت خروجها من هدا العالم :: له السُبح | والتمحيد ويكون منه الفرح والسلامه على جميع النصرانيه | الى اخر الادهار امين :: :: :: مبارك هو الرب |١٠| الدى نزل واتضع كما اشتها :: نزل من الاب الي | مريم :: وخرج من مريم الى مذود :: ومن المذود [٥ب] الى الدوران في الارض :: ومن بعد دلك صعد على | الصليب منجل حلاصنا :: ومات وقُبر وقام في | اليوم الثالث : وصعد الى السما وجلس على يمين الاب :: | ومن الان نصرخ ونقول يا الاهنا ابُسط يمينك |٥| من عرشك في هذه الساعه على الذين يسبحوك | ويعظمون والدتك المباركه مارتمريم عند خروجها | من هذا العالم الى الاىد امىن :: :: :: :: | اسمعوا ياخوه كلكم الدين يرجون الخلاص من | الخطيه يوم يُاتى فيه الرب ليدين العالم :: افتحوا |١٠| اذانكم : وايقظوا قلوبكم واسمعوا قصه | المباركه مارتمريم والده الرب :: وكيف خرجت | من هذا العالم :: وكيف اتوا الخلايق الدين في السما | عساكر القوات :: :: :: اقبلو الانبيا :: جو الاثنا عشر | تلميذ :: اتو الاثنين وسبعين تلميذ :: :: :: جوا |١٥| الصالحين :: والشهدا المباركين :: جو الابرار | المومنين :: :: :: جا اخنوخ وايلياس :: وموسى وجميع | عساكر الملايكه :: واجناد الابهات كلهم :: [٦أ] جا ابرهيم واسحق ويعقوب : وداود :: جو الامم كلهم | الاحيا والاموات ليسلموا على الطاهره والده الرب :: فكل من يريد ياخذ مغفره من الرب يومن بثلثه اقانيم | وثلثه اسما واحد هو الرب مسيح ليس فيه افتراق |٥| ولا تفكر :: له السُبح الى دهر الداهرين امين :: :: | له تسجد جميع السماويين والارضين : وهو الدى يحيي | ويميت :: وهو الدى ولد من مريم العذرى تلك التى لم تعرف | رجل قط : ولم يخالط دلك الجسد شي من التزويج :: | ولكنه بمشيته حل بها وولد منها : وهى جفنه الفرح |١٠| الدى اختارها اللـه من قديم الدهر :: وولد منها من عير | لقا رجل :: كما تنبا اشعيا النبى المبارك في الانبيا : | اذ قال هوذا العذرى تحبل وتلد ابنا ويدعا اسمه | امانويل الدى ترجمته اللـه معنا :: :: |
8. The comparison not only shows that it is the same version of the text. It also helps us to establish that the fragment reproduces part of the beginning of the text. We can even say more precisely that it is preceded by only two folio pages of text. This is because there is another fragment that contains exactly this beginning and belongs to the same original codex as our new fragment. This second fragment is Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ar. 6725.1 (fig. 5). Just like the new fragment, this one also comes from the collection of Grote. Paul Géhin already reported on this in 2006.11 He identified the text, but was unable to connect the fragment to any other membrum disjectum. He also made a reference to the Arabic Apocrypha Codex and to the palaeographical peculiarities that I have emphasised above. The Paris fragment was brought to my attention by Adrian Pirtea. He is currently working on an edition of the version of the Arabic Six-Books Dormition represented by the Arabic Apocrypha Codex as well as the new fragment and the Paris fragment. In an earlier publication, he also identified the Vorlage of this Arabic version to belong to the longer recension of the Syriac Six-Books Dormition. This longer Syriac recension is only extant in sixth-century Sinaitic palimpsests, including two that were reused by Thomas and/or his workshop (the Mingana-Lewis Palimpsest and Codex Arabicus).12

9. Here are some concluding observations: The Sinaitic workshop around Thomas preserved numerous apocryphal texts, not only in the Arabic Apocrypha Codex. It has not yet been analysed in detail which reading needs and practices these text compilations reflect. In addition to the numerous apocryphal texts, we also find another large homiletic and a hagiographic corpus. I think that the apocryphal texts are strongly connected especially to the hagiographical texts and could belong in the context of a (local?) veneration of saints. It is also interesting that the Six-Books Dormition belongs to a group of texts that were copied several times within Thomas’s workshop – but never in a completely identical way. Sometimes even different versions have been transmitted. This observation must also be related to reading practices. As far as the provenance history of this group of fragments is concerned, it becomes very clear that some of them started to be explored only more than a hundred years after they were sold to Western institutions. These are the epistemic consequences of the activity of collectors like Grote that we still feel today.
Acknowledgements: For their support and advice while writing this post, I would like to thank Lee Davis (Houghton Library), Grigory Kessel, and Adrian Pirtea.
Published: 24 February 2025. Last updated: 27 May 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0. Download PDF
- The extensive literature on this text cannot be cited here. For a very good overview, see Ally Kateusz, “Six-Book Dormition of the Virgin”, e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha ([June 2019] May 2024), URL =<https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/six-books-dormition-of-the-virgin/>. [↩]
- Grigory Kessel stated in 2016: ‘The three Arabic fragments [in Harvard’s Houghton Library] have never been studied or cataloged, and I intend to pursue research on them in due course’; see Grigory Kessel, “Membra disjecta sinaitica II: Three Syriac Fragments in the Harvard Library“, Harvard Library Bulletin, 25/3 (2014 [2016]), pp. 30-54, at p. 51, n. 47. Kessel has not published anything about the Arabic fragments since then and thankfully gave me his okay to write about them. [↩]
- G. Kessel, “Membra disjecta sinaitica II”. [↩]
- G. Kessel, “Membra disjecta sinaitica II”, pp. 50-51. [↩]
- G. Kessel, “Membra disjecta sinaitica II”, p. 51. [↩]
- See Peter Tarras, “The Legacy of a Failed Amateur Enthusiast: Friedrich Grote’s Sinaitic Manuscript ‘Discoveries’ and Their Post-Sinaitic Fate“, in press. [↩]
- For Thomas and his scribal workshop at Sinai, see my forthcoming “Building a Christian Arabic Library at Mount Sinai: The Scribe Thomas of Fustat and the Manuscripts of His Workshop“. [↩]
- Michel van Esbroeck, “Remembrement d’un manuscrit sinaïtique arabe de 950”, in: Samir K. Samir (ed.), Actes du premier colloque international d’études arabes chrétiennes (Goslar, septembre 1980), Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 218 (Rome: Pontifical Institute of Oriental Studies, 1980), pp. 135-147. [↩]
- See Tony Burke, “Reconstructing a Ninth-Century Arabic Apocrypha Manuscript from Mount Sinai”, Apocryphicity: A Blog Devoted to the Study of Christian Apocrypha (17 August 2020), URL = https://www.apocryphicity.ca/2019/06/12/reconstructing-a-ninth-century-arabic-apocrypha-manuscript-from-mount-sinai/. [↩]
- See Alphonse Mingana, Catalogue of the Mingana Collection of Manuscripts Now in the Possession of the Trustees of the Woodbrooke Settlement, Selly Oak, Birmingham, vol. III: Additional Christian Arabic and Syriac Manuscripts, Woodbrooke Catalogues, III (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, Ltd., 1939), pp. 20-21. [↩]
- Paul Géhin, “Manuscrits sinaïtiques dispersés I: les fragments syriaques et arabes de Paris”, Oriens Christianus, 90 (2006), pp. 23-43, at p. 24. [↩]
- See Adrian Pirtea, “The Syriac and Sogdian Prefaces to the Six Books on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary: Marian Traditions between the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia”, in: Chiara Barbati, Vittorio Berti (eds), Iranianate and Syriac Christianity in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Sitzungsberichte, 918 = Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik, 87 (Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2021), pp. 279-331. [↩]
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Peter Tarras (February 24, 2025). Miscellaneous Identifications III: A New Early Arabic Six-Books Dormition Fragment. Membra Dispersa Sinaitica. Retrieved February 11, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/13czs