Coptic Liturgical Manuscripts

Liturgical Manuscripts and How to Study Them
Manuscript Terminology and Scribal Practices 

 
 Manuscript comes from "hand-written" (manu like manos; script...) 

 Manuscript is a written text on a medium that can be transported (as opposed to an inscription on a wall) 

 Mediums:

 
 Papyrus

 

 

 Parchment

 

 

 Paper

 

 
 Oriental/Arabic Paper 

 European Paper 

 Modern Paper 

 
 

 Ostracon

 
 Pottery shard 

 Limestone Fragment 

 
 

 Wood Plate 

 
 

 Paper Medium typically is bound

 
 Stitched Quires 

 Signatures 

 Leather Binding 

 
 

 Formats

 
 Codex

 
 Folio (single sheet) 

 Bifolium (two folio) 

 Page (single side of a bifolium)

 

 

 Quire (bifolia and folios symmetrically arranged)

 

 

 
 

 Scroll 

 Folded Sheet (usually magical texts) 

 Quire 

 
 

 Size: Helps us determine what it was used for

 
 Large (Lectern size) 

 Medium (Monastic use, used by multiple people at once) 

 Small (Private use - monk, priest, layman) 

 
 

 Layout

 
 1 Column (Coptic or Arabic)

 

 

 2 Column (Usually Coptic AND Arabic)

 

 

 Multi-column (Rare)

 

 

 Pricking 

 Ruling 

 
 

 Numbering

 
 Epact (see fourth column) 

 

 Coptic 

 Arabic 

 Foreign 

 None 

 
 

 Ordering

 
 Page (very old manuscripts... page 2, 4, 6, etc.) 

 Folio 

 Quire 

 
 

 Binding

 
 Leather 

 Embossing 

 
 

 Dating Conventions

 
 Indiction (15-year cycles) 

 Era of the Martyrs 

 Hegirae 

 Modern 

 
 

 Scribal Practices

 
 Script (Coptic, Arabic Naskh with diacritical markings, Pointing) 

 Table of Contents (less common in Liturgical Manuscripts)

 

 

 Name of the Scribe, Sponsor, Endower

 
 If he wrote many manuscripts, he's likely a trusted source 

 What was his career? 

 When did he live? 

 Etc. 

 
 

 Illustrator 

 Codex Genealogy

 

 
 This was copied from xyz manuscript that was dated as abc... 

 
 

 
 

 Colophon, Endowment

 

 
 Usually at the end 

 Details of the publication 

 
 

 Illuminations

 
 Miniatures (icons)

 

 

   

 

 Head pieces (at the beginning of a specific part of the MS)

 

 

 Large Capitals (first letter of a prayer or psali - sometimes running from top to bottom of the page - e.g. alpha that looks like an eagle) 

 Small Capitals (usually at the start of a new paragraph - especially Fayoum MSS) 

 Marginals 
 

 
 

 Marginalia

 
 Inserts 

 Decorations 

 Corrections 

 
 

 
 Manuscript Descriptions 

 Classifications of Liturgical Manuscripts 

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