The Book of the Rolls

Kitab al-Magall (Book of the Rolls) · Anonymous (Arabic Christian apocryphon) · date unknown (Arabic recension; Sinai MS 508, Monastery of St Catherine) · apocryphon · ECCA 950

Coptic · domain: biblical-apocryphal · researched 2026-11-13

partial / older only. An English translation exists but is partial or older than the critical edition. The gap is a modern, complete translation from the original. A rendering of a daughter version does not count here: it is recorded on the dossier of the text it actually translates.

Why this is in the register

NASSCAL e-Clavis (ECCA 950) lists two partial English renderings: Margaret Dunlop Gibson, Apocrypha Arabica (Studia Sinaitica 8, 1901), English translation pp. 1-58, based on Sinai ar. 508, and Alphonse Mingana, 'Apocalypse of Peter', Woodbrooke Studies 3 (1931), partial translation pp. 100-52, 215-82, 356-407 (https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/book-of-the-rolls/). Gibson stops at fol. 35a and says explicitly: 'The contents of the remaining 100 folios 35 a to 134 b ... partake more decidedly of the nature of an Apocalypse ... I therefore reserve it for translation at a future period' (https://archive.org/details/apocryphaarabic00gibsgoog, p. 58). No complete English translation was located.

Gibson's introduction identifies the work as related to the Cave of Treasures and to the Apocalypse of Peter; the untranslated folios 35a-134b are the apocalyptic section. The Arabic text and the partial English face one another in the same volume.

Existing translations recorded

Edition / series
Apocrypha Arabica · Studia Sinaitica 8 · Margaret Dunlop Gibson · 1901
Apocalypse of Peter (in Woodbrooke Studies 3) · Woodbrooke Studies 3 · Alphonse Mingana (partial translation of related material) · 1931

Electronic text

Source and licence
archive.org · PDF scan · public domain (1901 imprint) apocryphaarabic00gibsgoog

Scanned witnesses

Scan search: not checked. Not searched in the scan pass: this dossier was outside the 121-work scan target set.

Harvard Hollis

Hollis query: "The Book of the Rolls" — 2 record(s); match basis author_title.

Record	Citation
The Bible in Arab Christianity · 2007 · eng	"The Bible in Arab Christianity." Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2007. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990102413550203941
Apocrypha arabica Gibson, Margaret Dunlop, 1843-1920 · 1901 · eng	Gibson, Margaret Dunlop, 1843-1920. "Apocrypha arabica." London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1901. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990016805660203941

Sources checked

Cite: Tergwame, “The Book of the Rolls” (coptic gap dossier), 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/gaps/coptic-anonymous-book-rolls