Biblia Coptica - The Coptic Bible Texts

The aim of this project is the collection of old coptic biblical manuscripts as well as their processing and publication. The main focus is to examine especially the lectionaries, the liturgical manuscripts, further to judge each biblical manuscript by its worth, and at least to look into the question of the Canon (here especially the order of the biblical books, letters, etc.). The majority of the Bible-codices are not preserved to their full extent; many sheets are scattered in numerous museums and collections all over the world. It is necessary to trace these sheets, to identify them, to determine their connection to already known sheets, and to unite them and publish them together with the existing ones to form a codex. First of all, this applies to the search in the listings with the obvious result that to this day none of them has begun with a listing of all corresponding (known) manuscripts. Even more time-consuming is the search for Coptic Bible texts in library/museum catalogues. The manuscripts are approximately from the 3rd up to the 14th century, written on papyrus, parchment, and paper; writing exercises (also on other materials, that is wood or ostraca) will be considered. It should be noted that the texts have been preserved in different Egyptian dialects. At first, the Sahidic manuscripts are to be processed, followed by the Achmimic and the Faijumic etc. and finally by the Bohairic manuscripts. A completely new catalogue is being prepared, beginning with the text material of the Old Testament. This catalogue contains not only pure Bible manuscripts but also lectionaries and diverse texts whose interpretation usually conforms with the pure Bible manuscripts and which, therefore, are of importance for text analysis. The writing exercises are also included. Special emphasis is laid on the table of contents. In all other respects, the manuscript is described in brief. All important details are given in brief terms. The manuscript list contains, of course, a detailed summary of the contents, registers, and concordances. Meanwhile the preparatory work is going full steam ahead, and the first 6 of at all 24 issues (= 6 volumes) of the "Biblia Coptica. Die koptischen Bibeltexte" have been published. As the whole work is very extensive, it is necessary to rely on the cooperation of other people. So we want to apply for a scientific assistant in order to continue this comprehensive work.

The aim of this project is the collection of old coptic biblical manuscripts as well as their processing and publication. The main focus is to examine especially the lectionaries, the liturgical manuscripts, further to judge each biblical manuscript by its worth, and at least to look into the question of the Canon (here especially the order of the biblical books, letters, etc.). The majority of the Bible-codices are not preserved to their full extent; many sheets are scattered in numerous museums and collections all over the world. It is necessary to trace these sheets, to identify them, to determine their connection to already known sheets, and to unite them and publish them together with the existing ones to form a codex. First of all, this applies to the search in the listings with the obvious result that to this day none of them has begun with a listing of all corresponding (known) manuscripts. Even more time-consuming is the search for Coptic Bible texts in library/museum catalogues. The manuscripts are approximately from the 3rd up to the 14th century, written on papyrus, parchment, and paper; writing exercises (also on other materials, that is wood or ostraca) will be considered. It should be noted that the texts have been preserved in different Egyptian dialects. At first, the Sahidic manuscripts are to be processed, followed by the Achmimic and the Faijumic etc. and finally by the Bohairic manuscripts. A completely new catalogue is being prepared, beginning with the text material of the Old Testament. This catalogue contains not only pure Bible manuscripts but also lectionaries and diverse texts whose interpretation usually conforms with the pure Bible manuscripts and which, therefore, are of importance for text analysis. The writing exercises are also included. Special emphasis is laid on the table of contents. In all other respects, the manuscript is described in brief. All important details are given in brief terms. The manuscript list contains, of course, a detailed summary of the contents, registers, and concordances. Meanwhile the preparatory work is going full steam ahead, and the first 6 of at all 24 issues (= 6 volumes) of the "Biblia Coptica. Die koptischen Bibeltexte" have been published. As the whole work is very extensive, it is necessary to rely on the cooperation of other people. So we want to apply for a scientific assistant in order to continue this comprehensive work.