An Amazing Manuscript!

[LawrenceRaymond]

I was looking through the introduction of a book by William Norton written in 1889 entitled 'A Translation in English Daily Used, of the Peshito-Syriac Text and of the Received Greek Text, of Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 1 John' [With an Introduction, on the Peshito-Syriac Text, and the Revised Greek Text of 1881.

On page xxix. of his introduction we find this..."A MANUSCRIPT OP THE FOUR GOSPELS IN SYRIAC, BEARING DATE A.D. 78, is mentioned by J. S. Asseman, in his Bibliotheca Orientalis. The manuscript was preserved at Bagdad on the river Tigris ; at the end it had these words under written ; " This sacred book was finished on Wed., the 18th day of the month Conun, in the year 389," that is of the Greeks, which was A.D. 78, " by the hand of the Apostle Achaeus, a fellow labourer of Mar Maris, and a disciple of the Apostle Mar Thaddeus, whom we intreat to pray for us." This prayer implies that the statement was written after the time of Achaeus (who is probably the person called also Aggaeus), and Dr. Glocester Ridley says that Achaeus died A.D. 48. For this and other reasons J. D. Michaelis says that the statement " is of no authority." (Marsh's Michaelis, 1823, vol. ii., p. 31.)
If it wasn't for William Norton's remark that Achaeus is probably the same person called Aggaeus, my research would have come to an end regarding the claim by Glocester Ridley that Achaeus / Aggaeus could not have written a manuscript bearing a date of A.D. 78 when he supposedly died in A.D. 48. Well...Wikipedia came to my rescue. They have a webpage entitled 'List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East'.

Edessa era

• 1 Mar Aggai (circa 66-81). First successor to the Apostleship of his spiritual director the Apostle Saint Thaddeus, one of the Seventy disciples. He in turn was the spiritual director of Mar Mari.
• This would make Glocester Ridley wrong about Mar Aggai dying in A. D. 48 and the signing of the manuscript in A. D. 78 would coincide with the tenure of Mar Aggai's patriarchate (circa A. D. 66- A. D. 81). Both the listing in Wikipedia and the signing of the manuscript mention Apostle Thaddeus and Mar Mari. 'Mar' means 'lord'. The English do this as well. For instance, Lord Byron (poet & playwright). The full name of J. S. Asseman, mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph, is Joseph Simon Asseman. Finding him on Wikipedia was a little tricky because the major heading is under Giuseppe Simone Assemani. His brother Giuseppe Luigi Assemani, his nephew Stefano Evodio Assemani, and grandnephew Simone Assemani were also among the leading orientalists of their day. Wow! Four Assemanis and they were all top-notch orientalists! Quite a family tradition here!

 

[LawrenceRaymond]

I was looking through the introduction of a book by William Norton written in 1889 entitled 'A Translation in English Daily Used, of the Peshito-Syriac Text and of the Received Greek Text, of Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 1 John' [With an Introduction, on the Peshito-Syriac Text, and the Revised Greek Text of 1881.

On page xxix. of his introduction we find this..."A MANUSCRIPT OP THE FOUR GOSPELS IN SYRIAC, BEARING DATE A.D. 78, is mentioned by J. S. Asseman, in his Bibliotheca Orientalis. The manuscript was preserved at Bagdad on the river Tigris ; at the end it had these words under written ; " This sacred book was finished on Wed., the 18th day of the month Conun, in the year 389," that is of the Greeks, which was A.D. 78, " by the hand of the Apostle Achaeus, a fellow labourer of Mar Maris, and a disciple of the Apostle Mar Thaddeus, whom we intreat to pray for us." This prayer implies that the statement was written after the time of Achaeus (who is probably the person called also Aggaeus), and Dr. Glocester Ridley says that Achaeus died A.D. 48. For this and other reasons J. D. Michaelis says that the statement " is of no authority." (Marsh's Michaelis, 1823, vol. ii., p. 31.)
If it wasn't for William Norton's remark that Achaeus is probably the same person called Aggaeus, my research would have come to an end regarding the claim by Glocester Ridley that Achaeus / Aggaeus could not have written a manuscript bearing a date of A.D. 78 when he supposedly died in A.D. 48. Well...Wikipedia came to my rescue. They have a webpage entitled 'List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East'.

Edessa era

• 1 Mar Aggai (circa 66-81). First successor to the Apostleship of his spiritual director the Apostle Saint Thaddeus, one of the Seventy disciples. He in turn was the spiritual director of Mar Mari.
• This would make Glocester Ridley wrong about Mar Aggai dying in A. D. 48 and the signing of the manuscript in A. D. 78 would coincide with the tenure of Mar Aggai's patriarchate (circa A. D. 66- A. D. 81). Both the listing in Wikipedia and the signing of the manuscript mention Apostle Thaddeus and Mar Mari. 'Mar' means 'lord'. The English do this as well. For instance, Lord Byron (poet & playwright). The full name of J. S. Asseman, mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph, is Joseph Simon Asseman. Finding him on Wikipedia was a little tricky because the major heading is under Giuseppe Simone Assemani. His brother Giuseppe Luigi Assemani, his nephew Stefano Evodio Assemani, and grandnephew Simone Assemani were also among the leading orientalists of their day. Wow! Four Assemanis and they were all top-notch orientalists! Quite a family tradition here!

I found a prefatory remark to the quote concerning the manusript dated 78 A. D. mentioned above. J. S. Asseman had it in Latin but John David Michaelis translated it into English ...

'At Edessa was a written Gospel, ancient but still legible. Not a single iota was erased and it could more easily be read than many modern books, but by reason of its great age the ten first leaves had been lost.' Asseman's Bibliotheca Orientalis was published in 1719. It was in remarkable condition 1,640 years after it was written and signed!!