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The Resource The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels, Janet Soskice

The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels, Janet Soskice

Creator
Summary
In 1892, two sisters, identical twins from Scotland, made one of one of most important scriptural discoveries of modern times. Combing the library of St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, they found a neglected palimpsest: one of the earliest known copies of the Gospels, a version in ancient Syriac, the language spoken by Jesus. This is the account of how two middle-aged ladies without university degrees uncovered and translated this text, bringing a treasure to world attention. This quintessentially Victorian adventure is partly a physical journey: when Westerners generally feared to tread in the region, the sisters Smith traversed the Middle East. It is also a journey of the mind: in an era when new discoveries in science and archaeology were rewriting the accepted understanding of the Bible's origins as well as those of humankind, a great contribution to knowledge was made by two whose only natural advantage was an astonishing gift for languages--From publisher description
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xii, 316 p.
Note
  • "A Borzoi book"--T.p. verso
  • "Originally published in Great Britain in slightly different form as Sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers found the hidden Gospels by Chatto & Windus ... London"--T.p. verso
Contents
  • Cambridge, 13 April 1893
  • The birth and upbringing of the lady Bible-hunters
  • The journey to the Nile
  • The boat
  • The perfect dragoman
  • The search for the perfect mate
  • Greece
  • The estate of marriage
  • The Cambridge antiquarian
  • Heresy and mortality
  • Sinai and von Tischendorf
  • The perils of Bible-hunting
  • The story von Tischendorf did not tell
  • Setting out for Sinai
  • The treasure in the dark closet
  • The Cambridge party
  • The disjoint expedition
  • The final falling-out
  • The devilish press and the Highland Regiment
  • The Cambridge cold shoulder
  • A lightning course in text scholarship
  • In the company of Orientalists
  • Burying the hatchet
  • Keepers of manuscripts
  • Solomon Schechter and the Cairo Genizah
  • In Cairo with Schechter
  • Castlebrae
  • The college's opening
  • To the monasteries of the Nitrian Desert
  • The active life
  • The darkening to war
  • Palimpsest
Isbn
9781400041336
Link
Instance
Label
The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels
Title
The sisters of Sinai
Title remainder
how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels
Statement of responsibility
Janet Soskice
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
In 1892, two sisters, identical twins from Scotland, made one of one of most important scriptural discoveries of modern times. Combing the library of St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, they found a neglected palimpsest: one of the earliest known copies of the Gospels, a version in ancient Syriac, the language spoken by Jesus. This is the account of how two middle-aged ladies without university degrees uncovered and translated this text, bringing a treasure to world attention. This quintessentially Victorian adventure is partly a physical journey: when Westerners generally feared to tread in the region, the sisters Smith traversed the Middle East. It is also a journey of the mind: in an era when new discoveries in science and archaeology were rewriting the accepted understanding of the Bible's origins as well as those of humankind, a great contribution to knowledge was made by two whose only natural advantage was an astonishing gift for languages--From publisher description
Biography type
collective biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Soskice, Janet Martin
Dewey number
  • 225.092/2
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
LC call number
BS2351.A1
LC item number
S67 2009
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Lewis, Agnes Smith
  • Gibson, Margaret Dunlop
  • New Testament scholars
  • Church history
  • Sinai, Mount (Egypt)
Label
The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels, Janet Soskice
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Note
  • "A Borzoi book"--T.p. verso
  • "Originally published in Great Britain in slightly different form as Sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers found the hidden Gospels by Chatto & Windus ... London"--T.p. verso
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-303) and index
Contents
Cambridge, 13 April 1893 -- The birth and upbringing of the lady Bible-hunters -- The journey to the Nile -- The boat -- The perfect dragoman -- The search for the perfect mate -- Greece -- The estate of marriage -- The Cambridge antiquarian -- Heresy and mortality -- Sinai and von Tischendorf -- The perils of Bible-hunting -- The story von Tischendorf did not tell -- Setting out for Sinai -- The treasure in the dark closet -- The Cambridge party -- The disjoint expedition -- The final falling-out -- The devilish press and the Highland Regiment -- The Cambridge cold shoulder -- A lightning course in text scholarship -- In the company of Orientalists -- Burying the hatchet -- Keepers of manuscripts -- Solomon Schechter and the Cairo Genizah -- In Cairo with Schechter -- Castlebrae -- The college's opening -- To the monasteries of the Nitrian Desert -- The active life -- The darkening to war -- Palimpsest
Control code
000295120
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
xii, 316 p.
Isbn
9781400041336
Lccn
2009011098
Other physical details
ill., map
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 000295120
  • (OCoLC)277201806
Label
The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the hidden Gospels, Janet Soskice
Link
Publication
Note
  • "A Borzoi book"--T.p. verso
  • "Originally published in Great Britain in slightly different form as Sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers found the hidden Gospels by Chatto & Windus ... London"--T.p. verso
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-303) and index
Contents
Cambridge, 13 April 1893 -- The birth and upbringing of the lady Bible-hunters -- The journey to the Nile -- The boat -- The perfect dragoman -- The search for the perfect mate -- Greece -- The estate of marriage -- The Cambridge antiquarian -- Heresy and mortality -- Sinai and von Tischendorf -- The perils of Bible-hunting -- The story von Tischendorf did not tell -- Setting out for Sinai -- The treasure in the dark closet -- The Cambridge party -- The disjoint expedition -- The final falling-out -- The devilish press and the Highland Regiment -- The Cambridge cold shoulder -- A lightning course in text scholarship -- In the company of Orientalists -- Burying the hatchet -- Keepers of manuscripts -- Solomon Schechter and the Cairo Genizah -- In Cairo with Schechter -- Castlebrae -- The college's opening -- To the monasteries of the Nitrian Desert -- The active life -- The darkening to war -- Palimpsest
Control code
000295120
Dimensions
25 cm.
Extent
xii, 316 p.
Isbn
9781400041336
Lccn
2009011098
Other physical details
ill., map
System control number
  • (Sirsi) 000295120
  • (OCoLC)277201806

Subject

Genre

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