Early Gospel lectionary, copied in Arabic, acquired by the Church of Nativity, reputed site of the birth of Christ

[Biblia arabica - NT - Gospel Lectionary]. [Arabic Gospel lectionary].

€ 145.000,00

An Arabic Gospel lectionary acquired from the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, on 18 December 1733, with an inscription in an early Spanish hand, "Este livro de Evangelios es del Conv.do de Belen. Se compro en 18 d. Dez. 1733".

This Gospel lectionary was copied in Arabic for a Byzantine Orthodox or Melkite rite religious observance. The manuscript follows the course of a calendar year with gospel readings selected for each occasion of observance. The end of the lectionary year terminates with the feast of the Holy Sash of the Virgin Mary on the 31st of August.

The lectionary was the primary format of the Gospels used in the Arabic-speaking Eastern church, while the continuous Gospels were much less frequently used. A fixed version of the Arabic lectionary seems to have existed from at least the 8th century onwards. At a time when personal reading of the Bible was rare, these Gospel books were designed to be read in church.

The lectionary principally contains readings from the Gospel of St John with further passages from St Luke and St Matthew. It wants a few early pages, but remains bound in its original alla Greca binding, which consists of two plates of wood covered in goat skin and raised cords on either end of the spine; groups of quires have been stitched with thick horizontal threads.