Beta
Ra U
s. VII
The dating is very controversial. Tischendorf, Lagarde and Rahlfs, as well as Wilkcken, support an early date (Rahlfs: s. IV?), while Gardthausen places the papyrus in s. VII, with Kenyon following hesitantly and Milne unreservedly, and finally Turner
| Papyrus, 32 ff.
32 leaves of a codex, 220 × 180
mm 220 × 165–180 mm,
1 col., 14–19 lines per page
The codex is written very unevenly, the column length varies.
|
Majuscule (irregular, slightly inclined semi-uncial).
| Provenance: Egypt. Edward Hogg bought the codex in November 1832 "from the Arabs at Thebes". The codex was "discovered among the rubbish of an anicent convent at Thebes“, cf. Hogg, Visit, 310–312.
The British Library online catalogue says: "Provenance: Memnoneia, Djeme (Thebes west), Sheikh Abd el-Gurna, Monastery of Epiphanius“
Psalms (Ps. 10:2–18:6; 20:14–34:6).
| Nowadays stored in thirty-two glass frames. The text is written continuously, but according to Fraenkel, its Vorlage was obviously written in stichoi. The (irregular) orthography is an indicator of a Coptic scribe, cf. Fraenkel, 213. For an analysis of the orthographic phenomena, see Rahlfs, Text des Septuaginta-Psalters, 148–152.
| Collation: LXXGot; Lagarde, Quinqu.; Swete ("U")
| Text-type: Upper Egyptian (Rahlfs).
main witness of the so-called Upper Egyptian text-type (Oberägyptischer Text according to Rahlfs)
| Content | |
| 1–32 | Ps. 10:2–18:6; 20:14–34:6 The British Library online catalogue describes the content in detail |
Bibliography
Aland, K.: Repertorium der griechischen christlichen Papyri: 1: Biblische Papyri: Altes Testament, Neues Testament, Varia, Apokryphen, Berlin–New York 1976, AT 50.
Boud'hors, A.: "À la recherche des manuscrits coptes de la région thébaine", in D. Brakke, S. J. Davis, S. Emmel (eds.): From Gnostics to Monastics. Studies in Coptic and Early Christianity in Honor of Bentley Layton (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 263), Leuven et al. 2017, 175–212, here: 186.
Brightman, F.E.: "The Sahidic Text of the Psalter", in: JThS 2 (1901), 275–276.
Emmenegger, C.: Der Text des koptischen Psalters aus al–Mudil. Ein Beitrag zur Textgeschichte der Septuaginta und zur Textkritik koptischer Bibelhandschriften, mit der kritischen Neuausgabe des Papyrus 37 der British Library London (U) und des Papyrus 39 der Leipziger Universitätsbibliothek (2013) (TU 159), Berlin–New York 2007, 259–327.
Hogg, E.: Visit to Alexandria, Damascus, and Jerusalem, vol. 2, London 1836, 310–312.
List of Additions to the Mss. in the British Museum in the Years 1836–1840, London 1843, 43.
Rahlfs, A.: Der Text des Septuaginta–Psalters. Nebst einem Anhang, Griechische Psalterfragmente aus Oberägypten nach Abschriften von W.E. Crum (Septuaginta–Studien 2), Göttingen 1907, 5, 54, 146–152.
Swete, H.B.: An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek. Revised by R.R. Ottley, With an Appendix Containing the Letter of Aristeas Edited by H.J. Thackeray, Cambridge 21914, 142–143.
Catalogues
Catalogue of Ancient Manuscripts in the British Museum I, London: Trustees of the British Museum 1891, 21, with pl. 12.
Fraenkel, D.: Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments von Alfred Rahlfs. Bd. I,1 Die Überlieferung bis zum VIII. Jahrhundert (Septuaginta. Vetus Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum. Supplementum I/1), Göttingen 22020, 213–214.
Kenyon, F.G.: Greek Papyri in the British Museum. Catalogue, With Texts, vol. 1, London 1893, XVII.
Milne, J.M.: Catalogue of the Literary Papyri in the British Museum, London 1927, 167–168 (Nr. 205).
Rahlfs, A.: Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments (Mitteilungen des Septuaginta–Unternehmens der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen 2), Berlin 1914, 111–112.
Editions
Rahlfs, A. (ed.): Psalmi cum Odis (Septuaginta. Vetus Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Academiae Litterarum Gottingensis editum X), Göttingen 31979, 11, 28–32 (U).
Tischendorf, K.: Monumenta sacra inedita, Nova collectio 1 (1855), Nr. VIII: Psalmorum Fragmenta Papyracea Londinensia, 217–278; cf. XXXXIII–XXXXVIII; pl. 3, nr. VIII.
Online sources
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