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This thesis is concerned with the Arabic versions of the Gospels. It is an attempt to examine a substantial number of Arabic manuscripts which contain the continuous text of the canonical Gospels copied between the eighth and the nineteenth centuries and found in twenty-one different library collections in Europe and the Orient. Following the introduction, Chapter Two presents the state of research from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present time. Chapter Three introduces and reflects on the two hundred plus manuscripts examined in this work. Chapters Four to Eight concentrate on grouping these manuscripts into twenty-four families and examining their Vorlagen (Greek, Syriac, Coptic and Latin). In order to examine the relationship between the families, phylogenetic software is used. Consequently, the manuscripts are grouped into seven different mega clusters or tribes. Finally the date of the first translation of the Gospels into Arabic is addressed and (a) provisional date(s) suggested based on the textual and linguistic analyses of the manuscripts. The conclusion in Chapter Ten gives the overall contribution made by this thesis and also future avenues for the study of the Arabic versions of the Gospels.

It has long been assumed that the enthronement of the Gospel-book in the midst of the ecumenical councils was a custom initiated at the First Ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 and picked up by the ecumenical councils that followed. Similarly, it is assumed that the presence of the Gospel-book in the modern courtrooms on which witnesses swear oaths to testify truthfully originates from ancient Greek and Roman court practice. This thesis puts forward an alternative approach by suggesting that it was Cyril of Alexandria who first enthroned the Gospel-book in the midst of the Third Ecumenical council of Ephesus in 431 (Ch.1) to manifest Christ’s presence and presidency, attribute all conciliar-judicial decisions to Him, thus giving them infallible and irrevocable authority (Ch.2). The book, as Son of God and personification of the Truth, now aims to lead the participants to the revelation of the truth and the safeguarding of the orthodox faith (Ch.3). With the elevation of Ephesus and Cyril to de facto exponents of faith, this innovative practice gained greater authority and was gradually established too. By the time of Chalcedon in 451, the enthronement of the Gospel-book as Christ in the midst of the councils can be seen in even more bishoprics of the East (Ch.4). In these councils the Gospel-book now has supreme authority, as evident by the way people refer to it (Ch.5), their preference for it over any other religious or secular object (Ch.6), as well as its employment to instil the “fear of God”, extract the truth and attribute infallible authority to their conciliar-judicial decisions, as if they were taken by God Himself (Ch.7). As an aftermath of Chalcedon, the Gospel-book is gradually introduced by the Emperors to the secular sphere and the Byzantine courts: a practice that is preserved until today.

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While the small-sized early medieval manuscripts known as the “pocket gospel books” are well known to scholars of Insular culture, the definition and interpretation of this codicological group are far from secure. This study provides a reassessment of these manuscripts, questioning the nature of their grouping, reappraising their individual uniqueness and theorising their common features. As such, it focusses on distinctive aspects of their physical structure, scripts and imagery to provide an interdisciplinary account, including broader points about the group and detailed case studies of specific features of individual manuscripts. More than this however, it takes these manuscripts as the starting point for an exploration of early medieval scribal and monastic culture, resituating them in a cultural world in which manuscripts, and especially gospel books, were central to personal piety, intellectual study and institutional identity alike.

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No description available.