Work dossier · summary and historical context
This dossier examines an anonymous Georgian synodal record from St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, preserved as a palimpsest. The text lists souls for commemoration, reflecting the liturgical practice of commemorating benefactors and monks. The sole Georgian witness dates paleographically to the 10th–11th century, but its underlying Ethiopic Vorlage (lost) and a likely Arabic intermediary point to earlier origins, with a terminus post quem of the 6th-century Nagara council. The work never entered the standard liturgical corpus and was used only in Sinai monastic libraries. It is cited in later Georgian canonical florilegia (e.g., Javsi) and shows parallels with Latin Pseudo-Cyprian, though no collation has been done. The edition marks lacunae in the Georgian but cannot reconstruct the Ethiopic original.
This text is a rare witness to the liturgical commemoration of benefactors and monks at Sinai, illustrating the multi-lingual and multi-cultural monastic environment. Its parallels with Latin Pseudo-Cyprian suggest broader Christian commemorative traditions, though not yet collated. The work's survival as a palimpsest and its citation in later Georgian florilegia highlight the importance of Sinai as a center for textual transmission and the challenges of reconstructing lost Ethiopic originals from Georgian intermediaries.
The text was produced at St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, a multi-lingual monastic community with strong Georgian and Ethiopic presences. The sole Georgian witness is a palimpsest, with the underlying Ethiopic Vorlage lost; the Georgian scribe likely worked from a now-unattested Arabic intermediary. Paleography dates the Georgian hand to the 10th–11th century, while the Ethiopic original's terminus post quem is the 6th-century Nagara council. No colophon survives. The text is cited in later Georgian canonical florilegia (e.g., Javsi) but never entered the standard liturgical corpus, indicating restricted use in Sinai monastic libraries. Its transmission reflects the complex linguistic and liturgical exchanges between Georgian, Ethiopic, and Arabic traditions on Sinai. The work's genre—synodal records listing souls for commemoration—is typical of Georgian Sinai manuscripts, linking Georgian and Coptic commemorative practices.
Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded
| Coptic | Rendering | Count | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| no glossary terms recorded | |||