{ "viewingDirection": "left-to-right", "metadata": [ { "label": "Origin", "value": "The manuscript was probably copied during the 9th century, as suggested by the style of script, in the vicinity of Nikisiani. It very likely originates from the Monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa, which is also known as the Monastery of Kosinitsa, near Nikisiani, in Greece (but geographically speaking considered as being part of Macedonia). The Greek scholar Athanasios Papadopoulos-Kerameus (1856-1912) reported in 1882 that, when he consulted the codex, it bore the ex-libris τῆς Εἰκοσιφοινίσσης, meaning 'belonging to Eikosifoinissa'. (C.R. Gregory, Textkritik des Neuen Testamentes<\/i> (Leipzig: J. C Hinrichs, 1900), vol. 1, p. 66)." }, { "label": "Origin Place", "value": "Nikisiani" }, { "label": "Provenance", "value": "

The manuscript was in the possession of a Monastery of the Virgin Mary located to the West of Drama when consulted by Papadopoulos-Kerameus in the 19th century.<\/p>

It is said to have been subsequently owned by a Macedonian doctor toward the end of the 19th century.<\/p>

Later on, in 1900, the English Quaker minister Joseph Bevan Braithwaite (1818-1905) acquired the manuscript, giving it the name of 'Codex Macedoniensis'.<\/p>

In 1901, it came into the hands of his son, the scholar William Charles Braithwaite (1852-1922), who studied it and collated its text.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Extent", "value": "Codexii + 304 + ii Leaf height: 180 mm, width: 130 mm." }, { "label": "Funding", "value": "The Polonsky Foundation" }, { "label": "Date of Creation", "value": "9th century" }, { "label": "Classmark", "value": "Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 6594" }, { "label": "Note(s)", "value": "Gregory-Aland Codex Y / O34; Gregory: ו; Von Soden: ε 073; Scrivener: ד" }, { "label": "Additions", "value": "

The tables of the kephalaia<\/i> preceding the Gospels underwent notable accidents; the table to Matthew and the second half of the table to Mark from kephalaion<\/i> 30 are now missing (due to the loss of f. 80). Moreover, an important number of discrepancies can be observed between the table of the kephalaia<\/i> as presented before the Gospel of Luke (f. 137v<\/a>) and the kephalaia<\/i> headings found within the text of that Gospel. It appears that, in the table, the rubricator made some mistakes when writing the kephalaia<\/i> numbers before the corresponding kephalaia<\/i> titles previously written by the main scribe. Considering wrongly a line break as the start of a new kephalaion<\/i> title, he attributed a new number to a line of text which turns out to be only the end of the title beginning in the previous line. In particular, the table erroneously considers \"[\u2026] τὴν κληρονομίαν\" as a new kephalaion<\/i> title and gives it the number \u201c46\u201d, whereas it is only a part of section 45 (the actual section 46 being Περὶ οὗ εὐφόρησεν ἡ χώρα πλουσίου). From kephalaion<\/i> 46 onwards, the numbering within table is consequently one number ahead of the headings present in the text. That gap remains until the rubricator makes the converse mistake, when he forgets to give a number to kephalaion<\/i> 79 (\"ἐξουθένησις Ἡρώδου\"). That is why, from kephalaion<\/i> 80 until the last one, kephalaion<\/i> 83, the numberings of both the table and the text coincide once again. Furthermore, a mistake (this time made by the main scribe) is found in the kephalaia<\/i> titles of the same table: kephalaion<\/i> 58 (\"περὶ τοῦ οἰκονόμου τῆς ἀδικίας\") was inadvertedly copied twice; once at its expected place, and a second time after kephalaion<\/i> 59, \"Περὶ τοῦ πλουσίου καὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου\", but without altering the numbering.<\/p>

The lection notes are easily recognisable, being written in a small red-ink uncial. A lection note is generally composed of an indication on the time of the year the lesson is to be read, and a very brief sentence summarising its content. Within the body of the text, the extent of the passage to be read is delimited with the abbreviated forms of the words ἀρχή (\"start\") and τέλος (\"end\"). Three main sorts of rubricated lection notes can be distinguished: ones intended for the Saturday and Sunday lessons (the σαββατοκυριακαί lessons), which are respectively indicated σαβ. and κυρ.; ones for the 5 week days (the καθημεριναί lessons), which all start with an indication of the week and day the lesson is read; and finally ones intended for specific religious feasts, which are generally indicated with the name of the concerned feast. An important number of the lessons present in the margins of the Codex Macedoniensis coincide with those used in the traditional menologia<\/i>, that is to say, the second section found in Byzantine lectionaries which supplied a Gospel reading for each day of the year. As in our manuscript, the menologia<\/i> start the liturgical year on the 1st of September and end it on the 30th of August. Although those menological lections frequently overlap with the Saturday/Sunday lessons and the five-day lessons, many of them are independent from the main lection system.<\/p>

The menological lections present in Codex Macedoniensis are the following: Symeon Stylites, 1st September, Luke 4:16-22 (155r); Mammes of Alexandria, 2nd September, John 15:1 (292v); Babylas of Antioch, 4th September, Luke, 10:1-3, 8-12 (186v); Zacharias, 5th September, Matthew 23:29-39 (54v); Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (independent), 8th September, Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28 (190r); Elevation of the Holy Cross, 14th September, John 12:25-36, 3:13, 12:28, 19:6 (285r, 248v, 285r, 303v); Euphemia, 16th September, Luke 7:36-50 (171r); Pantaleon, 17th September, Luke 9:23-27 (182r); Eustace, 20th September, Luke 21:12-19 (225r); Gregory of Armenia (the Illuminator) , 30th September, Matthew 24:42 (59r); Dionysius the Aeropagite, 3rd October, Matthew 13:45 (20v); Zenaida, 11th October, Mark 13:33-37, 14:3 (124v); Luke, 18th October, Luke 10:16-21 (187v): Hilarion, 21st October, Luke 6:17-23 (164r); The Notaries, 25th October, Luke 12:2-7 (195v); Paul the Confessor (independent), 6th November, Luke 12:8-12 (196r); John Chrysostom, 13th November, John 10:9-16 (275v); The Holy of the Holies (independent), 21st November, Luke 1:39-49, 56 (142r); Barbara, 4th December, Mark 5:24-34 (96r); Thyrsus, 14th December, Luke 8:22-25 (175v), Ignatius, 20th December, Mark 9:33-41 (110r); The Eve of the Nativity of Christ (independent), 24th December, Luke 2:1-20; Saturday following Nativity of Christ (independent), Matthew, 12:15-21 (12v); Basil of Caesarea (independent), 1st January, Luke 2:20-21, 40 (147r, 149r); Sunday before Epiphany (independent), Mark 1:1-8 (81r); Epiphany, 6th January, Mark 1:9-15 (82r); The day after Epiphany (independent), 7th January, John 1:29-34 (243v); Euthymius, 20th January, Matthew 11:27-30 (11r); Clement of Ancyra (independent), 23rd January, Matthew 12:1-8 (11r); The Meeting of the Lord (independent), 2nd February, Luke 2:22-40 (147v); Simeon and Anna (independent), 3rd February, Luke 2:25-40 (148r); Tarasios of Constantinople, 23rd February, John 12:24-36 (284v); Martyrs of Sebaste, 9th March, Matthew 20:1-16 (40r); Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (independent), 25th March, Luke 1:24-38 (141v); John the Evangelist, 8th May, John 19:25-27 (305v, 306r); Constantine and Helena, 21st May, Matthew 10:16-22 (6r); Elisha, 14th June, Luke 4:22-30 (155v); Birth of the Forerunner John the Baptist (independent), 24th June, Luke 1:1-25, 57, 76, 80 (138r); Peter and Paul (independent), 29th June, Matthew 16:13-19 (29r); Elijah, 20th July, Luke 4:22-30 (155v); Procession of the Venerable wood, 30th July, Matthew, 27:27-32 (73r); The Transfiguration (independent), 6th August, Luke 9:28-36, Matthew 27:1-9 (31r); The Beheading of the Forerunner (independent), 29th August, Mark 6:14-30 (98v).<\/p>

The margins of the text also contain Eusebian canon numbers in red ink, which were added by the rubricator in the same small uncial script at the time of the production of the volume. They refer to the very short sections dividing the text of each Gospel which were in use in the Byzantine manuscripts of the New Testament. <\/p>

Some marginal notes written in a small brown-ink uncial, subsequently added by the main scribe, indicate omissions, lacunae or corruptions of the text. Some of them are preceded by an asterisk and some by an obelus. Those two signs are also found within the text to indicate the passages concerned. See: 49v<\/a>, 56r<\/a>, 132r<\/a>, 148r<\/a>, 190r<\/a>, 266v<\/a>, 267v<\/a>, 302v<\/a>.<\/p>

The manuscript also contains an important number of marginal notes of later dates written in Greek mixed minuscule (except 152v<\/a>, 158r<\/a> and 168r<\/a>, written in grey-ink majuscules). Most of the annotators used the words ἀρχή (\"start\") and τέλος (\"end\") in their abbreviated forms to indicate the relevant passages within the text. The very abundant notes which are found all around the tables of the 3 extant kephalaia<\/i> have been heavily faded by water (79r<\/a>, 135v<\/a>, 136r<\/a>). In the bottom margin of f. 274v<\/a>, a black-ink minuscule note was written upside down.<\/p>

The following is a non-exhaustive list of folios containing notes of later date: 12v<\/a>, 19r<\/a>, 28v<\/a>, 35v<\/a>, 41v<\/a>, 45r<\/a>, 57r<\/a>, 58v<\/a>, 79r<\/a>, 81r<\/a>, 114r<\/a>, 125v<\/a>, 128r<\/a>, 130r<\/a>, 131r<\/a>, 133r<\/a>, 135v<\/a>, 136r<\/a>, 152v<\/a>, 158r<\/a>, 166v<\/a>, 168r<\/a>, 185r<\/a>, 227v<\/a>, 232r<\/a>, 241r<\/a>, 266v<\/a>, 274v<\/a>.<\/p>

A partly erased pen-trial is found on folio 57r<\/a>.<\/p>

Modern Gospel chapters and verses covered by each page of the text have been added in pencil in the upper right-hand corners of rectos and upper left-hand corners of versos, likely by W.C. Braithwaite.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Subject(s)", "value": "Bible" }, { "label": "Associated Name(s)", "value": "Papadópoulos-Kerameús, Athanásios 1856-1912; Braithwaite, J. Bevan (Joseph Bevan), 1818-1905; Braithwaite, William C. (William Charles), 1862-1922" }, { "label": "Format", "value": "Codex" }, { "label": "Data Source(s)", "value": "This catalogue entry is an updated version of that written by Clément Malgonne, in 2017." }, { "label": "Language(s)", "value": "Greek" }, { "label": "Binding", "value": "

The present binding was made in 1927 by the bookbinder Douglas Cockerell & Son (blindstamped on leather on inner rear cover<\/a>).<\/p>

The wooden boards are partially covered with a white alum-tawed pigskin. It has 4 raised bands. The covered areas of both boards are decorated with blindtooled knotwork. The name of the codex and its classmark are gold-tooled on the spine. White leather straps with engraved silver clasps.<\/p>

Typed note on paper reproduces notes of work done by Cockerell in July 1927, with record of further work done in August 1971 (iv recto<\/a>).<\/p>" }, { "label": "Condition", "value": "

The manuscript has been heavily affected by damage of various kinds. <\/p>

The three edges of the book block have been blackened and appear rounded and worn at the corners.<\/p>

The edges of numerous leaves have been torn and later repaired with parchment or paper patches of various sizes and thicknesses, notably ff. 2-57<\/a> along the upper edge of the leaves. Some badly torn leaves have been resewn with silk thread, for example ff. 25<\/a> and 145<\/a>.<\/p>

Worming is occasionally present, for example on ff. 4-6<\/a>, 121-130<\/a> and 304<\/a>.<\/p>

The book block contains some traces of damp and the leaves are slightly cockled throughout. There is water staining and areas of dirt.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Script", "value": "

The text of the Gospels was written in brown ink by a single hand in an upright ogival majuscule<\/i> script. The height of the letter omicron<\/i> is about 2.5 mm. Breathings are angular and mute iota<\/i> is absent. There is decorative use of the double dot on initial iota<\/i> and upsilon<\/i>. Circumflexes do not appear over breathings. The punctuation includes lower, middle and upper points, and occasionaly commas and colons. Abbreviations are barely found in the main text apart from Nomina Sacra<\/i>, which are unaccentuated. The hypotheses preceding the tables of kephalaia<\/i> contain abbreviations of the diphthong ου and of the word καί. <\/p>

The smaller majuscule script used for several brown-ink marginal notes (appearing on folios 49v<\/a>, 56r<\/a>, 132r<\/a>, 148r<\/a>, 190r<\/a>, 302v<\/a>) presents overall the same features as the main text and was possibly written by the same scribe. In those, the height of the letter omicron<\/i> is about 1.5 mm. Unlike the main text, this script contains syllabic abbreviations for ον and αι, along with abbreviations of the word καί.<\/p><\/div>

The rubricated title headings of the kephalaia<\/i> were written in an upright Constantinopolitan majuscule<\/i> script. The height of the letter omicron<\/i> is about 5 mm. There is no descender on upsilon<\/i>. Breathings are angular and there is decorative use of the double dot on initial iota<\/i> and upsilon<\/i>. The end of those titles is frequently marked with a middle point or full stop comprising a colon followed by a horizontal dash. Numerous superscript word endings are found, along with frequent syllabic abbreviations for ης, ου, ος and ως.<\/p>

Both the red lection notes and the numbers of the Eusebian canon numbers were seemingly written by the same rubricator in a small upright ogival majuscule<\/i> (the height of the letter omicron<\/i> is about 2 mm). Besides the usual Nomina Sacra<\/i>, they include numerous syllabic abbreviations and word abbreviations.<\/p><\/div><\/div>" }, { "label": "Physical Location", "value": "Cambridge University Library" }, { "label": "Abstract", "value": "

Codex Macedoniensis is a 9th century Byzantine manuscript of the four Gospels written in a Greek uncial script. Its text is incomplete due to the loss of its first few quires and several of its leaves. <\/p>

What we know of the place of origin of the manuscript is based on the testimony of a Greek scholar at the end of the nineteenth century who claimed to have seen it described as \"of Eikosifoinissa\", refering to a monastery located in the Pangaion mountains, in northern Greece, but which was geographically considered as being a part of Macedonia. That monastery is likely to be the place of origin of the manuscript, or at least its early home. After acquiring it in 1900 in that area, the English Quaker minister Joseph Bevan Braithwaite gave it the name \"Codex Macedoniensis\".<\/p>

The entire text of the four Gospels was copied by a single scribe in a late uncial script representative of ninth-century liturgical books. At a time when the Greek minuscule hand was already dominating the Byzantine manuscript world, the 9th and 10th century witnessed a persistence of the uncial in service books because its larger, unligatured and easily readable letters proved convenient for public reading. The addition of accents and breathings in continuous uncial texts, as in our manuscript, would also prove helpful to the reader in separating the words more easily, and thus gaining some fluency when reading out loud. <\/p>

The same scribe also provided a list of contents at the beginning of each Gospel in order to help the readers searching for a specific passage, along with very short informative texts which were meant to shed light on the apostolic origin of the following Gospel and explaining where, when and by whom it was written: those are called hypotheses<\/i>.<\/p>

The text of Codex Macedoniensis was abundantly provided with rubrics which can be divided into three different kinds. Firstly, the title headings present in the top margins refer to the kephalaia<\/i>, that is to say, the chapter divisions of the Gospels which were in use in most of Christian Europe before the development of modern chapter divisions. Each of those title headings consists of one number and one short sentence summarising the episode it refers to. The tables of contents preceding each Gospels list these kephalaia<\/i>. <\/p>

Secondly, the Eusebian section numbers, which are indicated in the side margins, refer to smaller divisions of the text of the Gospels which started being used in late Antiquity. <\/p>

Thirdly, the contemporary lection notes added in the side margins refer to lessons taken from the text of the Gospels which were read during the daily offices. Each lection note is composed of two elements: an indication of the occasion in the liturgical year the lesson was to be read and a short mention of the subject of the passage in question. Within the text, some marks indicate to the reader where the reading should start and end. <\/p>

Codex Macedoniensis is a the witness to a period when uncial Gospel manuscripts tended not to be used solely as continuous and linear texts any more; they started to become fully equipped with apparatus so that they could function as lectionaries. In fact, the 9th century also witnessed the development of lectionaries proper, which eventually proved more convenient to find the desired lessons, since the whole organisation of their content followed the liturgical calendar and was not any more subject to the continuity and linearity of the text of the Gospels. That is why, in most Byzantine monasteries, the lectionary was often preferred to the continuous Gospel manuscript. Still, despite the rise of that kind of service book, many monasteries in the Byzantine world persisted in using Gospel books during the mass if they were sufficiently equipped with lection notes to make them suitable for daily lessons. The Codex Macedoniensis is an example of such a liturgical Gospel manuscript.<\/p>

The codex is decorated with refined ornaments on the incipit page of each Gospel. They mostly comprise red-ink headpieces that encircle the Gospel headings. They are largely typical of the ornaments found in Byzantine Gospel books. In particular, the title heading of the Gospel of Mark is enclosed by an ornamental pyle<\/i> (meaning 'gate'), a pi<\/i>-shaped (Π) headpiece very commonly used in the Byzantine Biblical manuscripts (81r<\/a>). Moreover, the presence of gold embellishing the ornaments of the incipit pages suggests that this was a codex of rather high standing.<\/p>

As far as the textual of the manuscript is concerned, Kirsopp Lake pointed out that this codex (refered to as 'Y') is related to the Π family of New Testament manuscripts. (see: Lake S., Family Π and the Codex Alexandrinus: The Text according to Mark<\/i> (London: Christophers, 1936), p. 57)<\/p>Clément Malgonne" }, { "label": "Title", "value": "Codex Macedoniensis" }, { "label": "Author(s) of the Record", "value": "Christopher Wright" }, { "label": "Material", "value": "Parchment (FHHF<\/i>), of medium thickness and good quality" }, { "label": "Collation", "value": "

The manuscript presently comprises 39 quires. W.C. Braithwaite estimated that, before the first quire, the volume may originally have contained three other quires that are now missing (in 'A new uncial of the Gospels', Expository Times<\/i>, 1901, p. 114).<\/p>

The two sets of modern quire signatures have not been replicated in the following collation. The quire signatures used in the collation relate to the numerical and alphabetical quire signatures as follows, with the opening leaf of each quire given in brackets at the end: