AN UNPUBLISHED COPTIC SAHIDIC PSALTER CODEX AT THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM IN PHILADELPHIA: A PRELIMINARY REPORT by Robert A. Kraft (University of Pennsylvania) [= pp. 81-89 in ARMENIAN AND BIBLICAL STUDIES, ed Michael E. Stone (Jerusalem: St. James Press, 1976)] The Egyptology section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia is in possession of portions of a Coptic/Sahidic paper codex of Psalms 1-49, including parts of the original cover materials.\1/ A summary description is provided here: ----- \1/ Appreciation is due to Dr. David O'Connor, curator of the Egyptology section, and to the staff of the University Museum for permission to work with this material and for assistance in various connections. Students who have assisted particularly with this Coptic/Sahidic manuscript include Janet Timbie, Tom Woehrle, Patricia Crown, Lynne Cohen, Ann Bloomdahl, and Saundra Sterling. See also n. 4 below. =====

Inventory number:

University Museum E16261, plus fragments inventoried separately under the numbers E16305 (items "i", "k", "l") and E16528.

Preserved portions:

five relatively large fragments of cover material (leather and linen, with paper filler; some evidence of Arabic writing on the paper materials);\2/ large sections of 108 folios, in three different types of writing. ----- \2/ It has not yet been established precisely how the cover materials connect with the preserved folios, but the pages and cover matter were all stored together and presumably were acquired together by the Museum. Nevertheless, the possibility remains open that these covers never were part of the Psalm codex. =====

Condition:

water damage affects approximately half of each page; pages were not in original sequence when damage occurred; between five and seven folios are missing, prior to last page preserved (=p. "227", containing Ps 49.1-3a); in most instances, water damaged portions have broken away from the better preserved portions of the page; there are frequent minor lacunae in damaged portions; special care is necessary to separate materials fused by the water damage. [page 82]

Original size of page:

approximately 18.5 by 13.5 cm, hands Nos. 1 and 3, and 17.5 by 12 cm for hand No. 2.

Description of writing:

hand No. 1 -- sloppy, irregular Coptic uncial in black ink with minimal punctuation; about 18 lines to the page, single column per page. Three folios containing this writing are preserved, all from the opening section of the codex (pages 1/2, 3/4, 7/8). Hand No. 2 -- neat, regular upright Coptic uncial in dark brown ink with some red decoration and careful attention to the strophic structure of the material (use of marginal letters, punctuation, identation); about 17 lines per page, single column. Only two folios containing this writing are preserved, from near the beginning of the codex (pages 14/15, 16/17). Hand No. 3 -- neat, regular, slightly slanting Coptic uncial in moderately dark brown ink with red decoration and some attention to thought units (punctuation, use of marginal letters); normally 16 lines per page, single column; average of 12-13 (10-16 range) letters per line. Large parts of 103 folios in this hand have been identified (page 18 = Ps 7 onward). Page numbers appear at the upper outside margin, signature numbers at the upper inside margin on the first and last pages of each signature. Titles to new psalms are numbered and set off by broken lines from the rest of the material. Large, decorated initial letters are used at the start of each psalm; there is haphazard use of enlarged letters set in the left margin, often (but not necessarily) when a new sentence or clause happens to begin on a new line; red ink is used to decorate marginal letters, to highlight punctuation and abbreviations, and to set off page/signature numbers and titles of new psalms.

Background:

This Coptic/Sahidic codex is part of a large collection of hitherto uncatalogued papyri and related materials (paper, leather) in varying states of preservation and in various languages (Hieroglyphics, Hieratic, Demotic, Coptic, Greek, Arabic, Pahlevi, Hebrew, and one piece each in Syriac and Latin) acquired by the University Museum near the beginning of this century.\3/ As nearly as can be determined at present, the bulk of this material was purchased on behalf of the Museum in 1910 by [p. 83] Professor W. Max Mu%ller from or through a Professor Moritz in Cairo. Some of the materials seem to have been tentatively identified already when Mu%ller obtained them from Moritz, and Mu%ller contributed notes and observations of his own, but it was not until 1932 that the present inventory numbers were assigned to the materials by Battiscombe Gunn. Almost no systematic work has been done on the collection over the years; indeed, many of the pieces were not even in a condition to be examined until the present writer began humidifying and flattening them in 1966. Now, a concerted effort is underway by a team of students under the writer's direction to complete the job of inventorying and describing the materials.\4/ ----- \3/ Information about the acquisition and subsequent history of the collection has been gathered by Patricia Crown for publication in the near future. The material summarized here is from Ms Crown's report. \4/ Rudimentary catalogues are nearing completion for the leather materials in Arabic and Coptic (by Richard Beal and Robert Childs). An inventory of the Pahlevi materials is available (by Paul Morris), and a catalogue of the Hebrew MS holdings of the University Museum and the University Library (Cairo Geniza material) is nearing completion (by Francesca Rochberg and Joseph Cahn). We are hoping to complete an inventory of the paper materials in Arabic and Coptic by Spring 1974. The bulk of the collection, consisting of Greek, Coptic, and Arabic papyri, will require a longer period of time to organize. The papyri in Demotic, Hieratic, and Hieroglyphic are fewer in number and perhaps can be inventoried in 1974. Most of the groundwork for the inventories has been done by Patricia Crown, Lynne Cohen, and Ann Bloomdahl. =====

The Coptic Codex:

When we rediscovered the Coptic/Sahidic Psalter in Fall of 1972, it was housed rather carelessly in a cardboard box measuring 25 by 19.5 by 4 cm. Along with the inventory number on the face of the box were the words "Coptic Book of Psalms (etc. ?). Paper." It is not clear who was responsible originally for that tentative identification, but since the 1932 inventory card bears the same information, the identification is at least that old. The damaged codex had been handled frequently enough subsequent to its having been damaged by water that various parts of pages were broken off from the larger lump (the water had fused parts of many pages together), and the sequence of pages that had obtained when the codex became damaged by water was no longer preserved intact. One of the first tasks would be the delicate job of physically separating the remaining adhering pages from each other. There was real concern that a successful separation of the water-fused portions might not even be possible.

Separating the Pages

In the Fall of 1972, one of my graduate students, Janet Timbie, assisted in describing the state of the MS and recording the sequence of pages as they were found at that time. Xerox copies were made [p. 84] of all surface areas that could safely be placed on a flat surfaced Xerox machine, and each available page was identified. Much of the initial identification was done by another graduate student, Thomas Woehrle (Temple University). After consultation with Susan Nash of the Museum conservation department and Wilhelm Spawn of the American Philosophical Library in Philadelphia, I proceeded cautiously with the task of separating the materials that still adhered to each other. Some pages and sections responded well to gentle prying apart with the help of a thin, flat metal probe -- a method used by Wilhelm Spawn when he examined the material on 19 December, 1972. Some portions were so tightly fused, however, that attempts at dry separation proved unsatisfactory -- the individual pages sometimes would crack or would split so that one writing surface would adhere to one part of the mass needing separation, while the opposite surface of the same folio would adhere to the other part of the mass, leaving no writing visible at the place where the separation had been made. Fortunately, the inks used in the MS proved not to be soluble in water, so it was possible to use a process whereby a fused mass of fragmentary pages could be soaked and submerged in distilled water, and then carefully separated by stripping off the layers one by one. The results have been highly successful, for the most part, and although much work still remains to be done on various small fragments or portions of split folios that still adhere to the pages to which they were once adjacent, we are now in possession of about 90% of the surface of most preserved pages (when the water damaged portions are joined to the relatively undamaged portion of each page). As each group of water damaged fragments was separated, dried, and cleaned, Xerox copies were made from which to work in identifying and reconstructing the individual pages. Careful record was also kept of the sequence of pages in the fused portions, so that it would be possible to reconstruct with precision the order in which the pages occurred when the MS was damaged by water. Table 1 records the results. This information is crucial for the efficient and accurate identification of small fragments still adhering to their neighbour pages and for assistance in reading occasional "mirror writing" that had transferred from one page to its neighbour due to the vicissitudes undergone by the manuscript before it came into our hands.

Reconstructing the "original" codex.

When the MS was damaged by water at some undetermined point in time past, its pages were already jumbled, with [pp. 85-86 = charts; p. 87] some pages upside down and/or backwards in relation to others. Thus we find that 59 folios are damaged at the bottom, and 49 folios at the top. On many of the former folios, the original page numbers are still preserved -- a fact which assisted us greatly in restoring the pages to their original sequence that existed when the binding of the codex was still intact.\5/ Table 2 presents a reconstruction of the original page and signature format of the codex,\6/ before it became disarranged and ultimately damaged by water. ----- \5/ There was some confusion in numbering in the original codex: the lower part of two leaves (four pages) from the center of signature 10 are still joined together, but their page numbers are not preserved. On either side of this material come pp. 179/180 and 184/185, with numbers preserved. This leaves only three numbers (181-182-183) for four pages (in a signature of 10 folios). Although none of the page numbers in signature 1 is preserved (and there may have been a title page and similar material preceeding what is designated "1/2" on chart 2), there had to be an even number of pages between the folios "7/8" and "14/15". If six pages were necessary for the intervening material (Ps 4.5b - 5.12b), and if Ps 1.1 began on "page 1", there was a numbering error somewhere prior to pp. 24/25 (our first preserved page numbers). Possibly only four pages were required for Ps 4.5b - 5.12b, and possibly the page containing Ps 1,1 was numbered "page 2". In that event, our reconstruction would need to be adjusted so that signature 1 contains the following folios: 2/3, 4/5, (6/7 lost), 8/9, (10/11, and 12/13 lost), 14/15, 16/17. Perhaps a title-page folio was prefixed. \6/ Evidence of actual signature designations is preserved on pp. 17, 37, 56, 76, 96, 116, 117, 152, 153, 172, 191, 192, 211. Two sets of pages from the center of their respective signatures have been preserved with their inner margins still joined: 65/66 & 67/68 and 181/182 & 183a/183b. Notice also that pages from other such sets were adjacent when the materials were damaged: 45/46 & 47/48, 125/126 & 127/128, 143/144 & 145/146, 161/162 & 163/164, 200/201 & 202/203. ===== ----- Chart 1:[p.85] UNIVERSITY MUSEUM E 16261 COPTIC/SAHIDIC PSALTER Correlations between (1) the sequence of pages at the time the codex became damaged by water and (2) the original order of pages (before dislocation) as determined by preserved page numbers and sequence of content. In the following lists, the initial number of a two number notation (e.g. 7/8, 226/227) always designates pages that faced in the same direction (pages facing upward when the pile of leaves lies on a horizontal plane), and the second number indicates pages facing the opposite direction (facing down). Sequence when damaged Original page numbers 1/2 37/38 3/4 39/40 5/6 41/42 7/8 43/44 9/10 49/50 11/12 45/46 13/14 47/48 15/16 69/70 17/18 68/67 19/20 66/65 21/22 51/52 23/24 53/54 25/26 55/56 27/28 57/58 29/30 148/147 31/32 139/140 33/34 141/142 35/36 143/144 37/38 145/146 39/40 138/137 41/42 136/135 43/44 134/133 45/46 29/28 47/48 31/30 49/50 164/163 51/52 162/161 53/54 159/160 55/56 158/157 57/58 156/155 59/60 154/153 61/62 152/151 63/64 124/123 65/66 209/208 67/68 211/210 69/70 4/3 71/72 7/8 73/74 2/1 75/76 15/14 77/78 18/19 79/80 20/21 81/82 22/23 83/84 17/16 85/86 186/187 87/88 190/191 89/90 188/189 91/92 27/26 93/94 179/180 95/96 184/185 97/98 85/86 99/100 64/63 101/102 60/59 103/104 61/62 105/106 96/95 107/108 93/94 109/110 92/91 111/112 194/195 113/114 196/197 115/116 33/32 117/118 192/193 119/120 24/25 121/122 169/170 123/124 107/108 125/126 221/220 127/128 171/172 129/130 173/174 131/132 175/176 133/134 77/78 135/136 79/80 137/138 207/206 139/140 222/223 141/142 166/165 143/144 168/167 145/146 128/127 147/148 126/125 149/150 129/130 151/152 87/88 153/154 89/90 155/156 102/101 157/158 100/99 159/160 98/97 161/162 103/104 163/164 105/106 165/166 109/110 167/168 132/131 169/170 112/111 171/172 198/199 173/174 216/217 175/176 225/224 177/178 205/204 179/180 203/202 181/182 201/200 183/184 114/113 185/186 115/116 187/188 219/218 189/190 226/227 191/192 214/215 193/194 181/182 195/196 183a/183b 197/198 82/81 199/200 117/118 201/202 119/120 203/204 121/122 205/206 84/83 207/208 177/178 209/210 76/75 211/212 74/73 213/214 72/71 215/216 150/149 Missing: 5/6 9/10 11/12 13a/13b (?) 34/35 36a/36b (?) 212/213 228/229 etc. ===== ----- Chart 2:[p.86] UNIVERSITY MUSEUM E 16261 COPTIC/SAHIDIC PSALTER Correlation between (1) reconstructed original order of the folios and (2) the sequence in which the dislocated pages appeared when the codex was damaged by water. Folios in which the water damage affects the upper portion of the page are noted by _underlining_ in column (1). The other folios are damaged in their lower portion. Original page Sequence when numbers damaged -------------------------------- Signature 1 _1/2_ 74/73 _3/4_ 70/69 5/6 _7/8_ 71/72 9/10 11/12 13a/13b _14/15_ 76/75 16/17 84/83 -------------------------------- Signature 2 _18/19_ 77/78 _20/21_ 79/80 _22/23_ 81/82 24/25 119/120 26/27 92/91 _28/29_ 46/45 _30/31_ 48/47 32/33 116/115 34/35 36a/36b -------------------------------- Signature 3 37/38 1/2 39/40 3/4 41/42 5/6 43/44 7/8 45/46 11/12 47/48 13/14 49/50 9/10 _51/52_ 21/22 _53/54_ 23/24 55/56 25/26 -------------------------------- Signature 4 _57/58_ 27/28 59/60 102/101 61/62 103/104 63/64 100/99 65/66 20/19 67/68 18/17 69/70 15/16 71/72 73/74 212/211 75/76 210/209 -------------------------------- Signature 5 _77/78_ 133/134 _79/80_ 135/136 _81/82_ 198/197 83/84 206/205 _85/86_ 97/98 _87/88_ 151/152 _89/90_ 153/154 91/92 110/109 93/94 107/108 95/96 106/105 -------------------------------- Signature 6 _97/98_ 160/159 _99/100_ 158/157 _101/102_ 156/155 _103/104_ 161/162 _105/106_ 163/164 107/108 123/124 _109/110_ 165/166 111/112 170/169 113/114 184/183 115/116 185/186 -------------------------------- Signature 7 117/118 199/200 119/120 201/202 121/122 203/204 123/124 64/63 125/126 148/147 127/128 146/145 _129/130_ 149/150 131/132 168/167 _133/134_ 44/43 _135/136_ 42/41 -------------------------------- Signature 8 _137/138_ 40/39 _139/140_ 31/32 _141/142_ 33/34 143/144 35/36 145/146 37/38 _147/148_ 30/29 149/150 218/217 151/152 62/61 -------------------------------- Signature 9 153/154 60/59 155/156 58/57 157/158 56/55 159/160 53/54 _161/162_ 52/51 _163/164_ 50/49 165/166 142/141 _167/168_ 144/143 169/170 121/122 171/172 127/128 -------------------------------- Signature 10 _173/174_ 129/130 175/176 131/132 177/178 207/208 179/180 93/94 _181/182_ 193/194 _183a/183b_ 195/196 184/185 95/96 _186/187_ 85/86 188/189 89/90 190/191 87/88 -------------------------------- Signature 11 192/193 117/118 194/195 111/112 196/197 113/114 _198/199_ 171/172 _200/201_ 182/181 _202/203_ 180/179 _204/205_ 178/177 206/207 138/137 208/209 66/65 210/211 68/67 -------------------------------- Signature 12 212/213 _214/215_ 191/192 _216/217_ 173/174 _218/219_ 188/187 _220/221_ 126/125 222/223 139/140 _224/225_ 176/175 _226/227_ 189/190 ===== Portions of most of the pages from twelve signature units are preserved. Units two through twelve are written in a consistent Coptic hand (labeled "hand 3" above), but the first signature contains two startlingly different styles of writing. Indeed, Psalm 7 actually begins on page 16b ("hand 2"), but the material was subsequently crossed out, and begins anew on page 18 ("hand 3"). It seems probable that a codex from which the initial signature had been damaged or lost was repaired in tow stages: some pages from another old and damaged codex of slightly smaller format were used for some of the missing material (at least pages 14/15 and 16/17), but the opening pages had to be supplied from a third source, perhaps written by the repairer himself ("hand 1" pages 1/2, 3/4, 7/8; doubtless also 5/6, and perhaps 9/10, etc.). Thus a composite initial signature was prefixed to the other material.\7/ [p. 88] ----- \7/ There seems to be a trace of some sort of glue on the inner margin of folio 16/17. Interestingly, many of the pages of the codex still preserve (three) holes along the inner margin through which a binding thread apparently passed. Does this mean that the signature structure was no longer functional (with each signature sewn separately, then united by means of the threads and cover) when the codex was repaired for its last useful stage of life? ===== How many pages were included in this reconstituted codex is difficult to determine. The last preserved page (p.227) breaks off in the middle of a verse (Ps 49.3). and would not have been the final page of signature 12 if, like most of the other signatures, it contained 10 folios (20 pages) (Only signature 8 has 8 folios.) If signature 12 also had 10 folios, it would have extended to page 231. But even that would not provide sufficient room to include the entirety of Ps 49. Thus it may be that we have only a portion of a much larger Psalter codex, or perhaps the first volume of a multi-volume Psalter. Further research into the habits and techniques employed in producing Coptic codices is necessary in this connection.\8/ ----- \8/ Reference needs to be made to the following articles: H. Ibscher, "Koptische Bucheinhande aus A%gypten,"

Berliner Museen

49 (1928), pp. 86 - 90; D. Cockerell "Development of Bookbinding Methods -- Coptic Influence,"

Library Service

4, 13 (1932/1933), pp. 4, 20 (1939/40), pp. 214 - 33. =====

Dating the writing.

Careful paleographical research on the different hands in the codex is being pursued by Janet Timbie. Initial impressions suggest a date somewhere in the ninth to eleventh century for hands 2 and 3, with "hand No. 2" possibly somewhat earlier (early tenth century?) than "hand No. 3" (end of tenth century?). Both represent Stegemann's "schmaler Stil" .\9/ Comparative material for dating the relatively careless and sloppy "hand No. 1" is more difficult to isolate. "Hand No. 1" leaves the impression of being later than hands 2 and 3 (which is expected if the reconstruction offered above is accepted), but at this point it is impossible to give more than a general tenth to thirteenth century estimate, with some inclination towards a twelfth century date. ----- \9/ V. Stegemann, Koptische Palaographie (Heidelberg: Akademie der Wissenschaften , 1936). For recent palaeographical charts see also M. Cramer, Koptische Palaographie (Wiebaden: Harrassowitz, 1964). =====

The text represented.

Work has only begun on collating this witness with other available materials. The initial impressions gathered by Ms Timbie, Mr. Woerhle, and myself are that our text has few major differences form the sixth/seventh century Psalter published by Budge in 1898.\10/ Orthographic [p. 89] variations abound. A tendency to include the conjunctive "and" where it is lacking in Budge's text has also been noted, but whether this is peculiar to our manuscript or not still needs to be determined.\11/ As could be expected, the titles of the Psalms also show variation between our codex and other Sahidic witnesses (which vary significantly among themselves). The absence of any convenient collection of Sahidic textual data on the Psalms and of any standard critical edition of the Sahidic Psalms makes this aspect of work on the Pennsylvania Sahidic Psalter especially difficult and time consuming. Any detailed report must be postponed to a further date. ----- \10/ E. A. W. Budge, The Earliest Known Coptic Psalter (London: Paul, 1898). For helpful lists of Sahidic MSS of the Psalms, see A Rahlfs, "Die Berliner Handschrift des Sahidischen Psalters,"

Abhandlungen der kgl. Gesell. der Wiss. zu Go%ttingen

4,4 (Berlin, Weidmann, 1901), pp. 5-7; also H. Worrell, The Coptic Psalter in the Freer Collection, ("University of Michigan Studies: Humanistic Series," X,1; New York: Macmillan, 1916), p. xxiii f. For further bibliography, see W. Kammerer, A Coptic Bibliography (Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1950), items 843-862. \11/ See, for example, Ps 17.48c (18.49c) "and saves me from a man" (only Theodoret supports this reading according to Rahlfs' apparatus in his Gottingen LXX ed. of 1931 [1967\2]); Ps 21.2b (22.3b) "and by night" (so also Greek and Hebrew); Ps 21.30a (22.31a) "and my seed" (so also Greek but not Hebrew). ===== //end//