The Case of the East Syriac Lectionary <i>Sir. 26</i>: Improvement or Forgery?

Abstract

Among Syriac manuscripts of the Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts in Saint Petersburg, there is an East Syriac lectionary Sir.26. Being an Evangeliary (Evangelion), it is meant for the Gospel lections of the whole liturgical year. The manuscript contains a number of miniatures that were added to it later, as pointed out by Nina V. Pigulevskaia. The additional folia with the miniatures contain also the date of completion and the name of the person involved. Besides, a part of the representations is marked in his hand as ‘a new image’, while the others are called ‘an old image’. Their iconographic features and the data provided by the notes enable us to see in a new light various tendencies that appeared in the manuscript production of the Chaldean (East Syriac Catholic) Church in the 19th — early 20thcc. Besides, the ‘restorer’ wrote quatrains in the miniatures that used to accompany the latter, hence they became an important element of the manuscript illumination.