A Concordance to Addai Scher’s Catalogues of Chaldean Collections of Manuscripts in Diyarbakır and Mardin and the Holdings of the Joint Collection in Mardin Digitized by HMML in Collaboration with CNMO

Over the course of the first decade of the 20th century, Addai Scher (1867–1915) – a Chaldean Archbishop of Siirt in Northern Mesopotamia – prepared and published the catalogue descriptions of five Chaldean collections of Syriac and Christian Arabic manuscripts located in Siirt, Alqosh, Mosul, Diyarbakır and Mardin.The work on the concordance grew from my participation in cataloguing of the joint collection of Diyarbakır and Mardin. Adam C. Bremer-McCollum – at that time the lead cataloguer of Eastern Christian manuscripts at the HMML – was also involved in this work, and his contribution deserves to be acknowledged. Geert Jan Veldman kindly provided me with information about the relevant microfilm copies held at the Peshitta Institute in Amsterdam. I am grateful to C. Stewart OSB, J.F. Coakley and A.C. Bremer-McCollum for helpful comments on the final draft of this article. The project would not have been completed without a Nicky B. Carpenter fellowship, enabling me to study the microfilm archive of A. Vööbus as well as the archive of W. Macomber, both currently held at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. I am greatly indebted to the entire staff of the HMML, and especially its director, Columba Stewart OSB. They are to be deeply thanked for their kind assistance in the course of this research. A. Scher, Catalogue des manuscrits syriaques et arabes conservés dans la bibliothèque épiscopale de Séert (Kurdistan) (Mosul: Imprimerie des Pères Dominicains, 1905); A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques conservés dans la bibliothèque du couvent des Chaldéens de Notre Dame-des-Semences,” Journal Asiatique 10e série, vol. 7 (1906), 479–512 & 8 (1906), 55–82; A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques conservés dans la bibliothèque du Patriarcat chaldéen de Mossoul,” Revue des bibliothèques 17 (1907), 227–260; A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques et arabes conservés à l’archevêché chaldéen de Diarbékir,” Journal asiatique 10e série, vol. 10 (1907), 331–362, 385–431, A. Scher, “Notice des mss. syriaques et arabes conservés dans la bibliothèque de l’évêché chaldéen de Mardin,” Revue des bibliothèques 18 (1908), 64–95.The renowned French Syriacist J.-B. Chabot once remarked that it was he who prompted Addai Scher to prepare the catalogues of the Chaldean collections: ‘Un prélat chaldéen fort instruit, massacré par les Turcs en 1915, Mgr Scher avait entrepris, à mon instigation, de décrire sommairement les collections réunies à Séert, sa ville épiscopale, à Mardin, à Mossoul, à Diarbekir’ (J.B. Chabot, Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1934), 12). The publication of the catalogues was met with great enthusiasm from the scholarly community. For Addai Scher’s contribution to the study of Syriac Christianity, see two recent studies published in a volume commemorating the martyred Archbishop: M. Perkams, “Einleitung: Eine christliche Wissenstradition zwischen Griechen, Persern und Muslimen. Zur Bedeutung, Überlieferung und Erforschung des ostsyrischen Schrifttums ein Jahrhundert nach Addai Scher,” in Griechische Philosophie und Wissenschaft bei den Ostsyrern: Zum Gedenken an Mār Addai Scher (1867–1915), Transmissions 3, ed. M. Perkams and A.M. Schilling (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 1–12; A. Becker, “Mār Addai Scher and the Recovery of East Syrian Scholastic Culture,” in ibid, 13–28. The value and significance of the manuscripts kept in those collections were much appreciated, not only because there were unique as well as the oldest copies of many Syriac and Christian Arabic texts among them, but also on account of the fact that by the beginning of the 20th century East Syriac manuscripts were very poorly represented in the European libraries. According to J.B. Chabot, it was possible to procure copies of the manuscripts from those collections: ‘De ces ouvrages, il est relativement facile d’obtenier aujourd’hui des copies soignées’ (J.B. Chabot, Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1934), 13).

The work on the concordance grew from my participation in cataloguing of the joint collection of Diyarbakır and Mardin. Adam C. Bremer-McCollum – at that time the lead cataloguer of Eastern Christian manuscripts at the HMML – was also involved in this work, and his contribution deserves to be acknowledged. Geert Jan Veldman kindly provided me with information about the relevant microfilm copies held at the Peshitta Institute in Amsterdam. I am grateful to C. Stewart OSB, J.F. Coakley and A.C. Bremer-McCollum for helpful comments on the final draft of this article.

The project would not have been completed without a Nicky B. Carpenter fellowship, enabling me to study the microfilm archive of A. Vööbus as well as the archive of W. Macomber, both currently held at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library. I am greatly indebted to the entire staff of the HMML, and especially its director, Columba Stewart OSB. They are to be deeply thanked for their kind assistance in the course of this research.

A. Scher, Catalogue des manuscrits syriaques et arabes conservés dans la bibliothèque épiscopale de Séert (Kurdistan) (Mosul: Imprimerie des Pères Dominicains, 1905); A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques conservés dans la bibliothèque du couvent des Chaldéens de Notre Dame-des-Semences,” Journal Asiatique 10e série, vol. 7 (1906), 479–512 & 8 (1906), 55–82; A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques conservés dans la bibliothèque du Patriarcat chaldéen de Mossoul,” Revue des bibliothèques 17 (1907), 227–260; A. Scher, “Notice sur les manuscrits syriaques et arabes conservés à l’archevêché chaldéen de Diarbékir,” Journal asiatique 10e série, vol. 10 (1907), 331–362, 385–431, A. Scher, “Notice des mss. syriaques et arabes conservés dans la bibliothèque de l’évêché chaldéen de Mardin,” Revue des bibliothèques 18 (1908), 64–95.

The renowned French Syriacist J.-B. Chabot once remarked that it was he who prompted Addai Scher to prepare the catalogues of the Chaldean collections: ‘Un prélat chaldéen fort instruit, massacré par les Turcs en 1915, Mgr Scher avait entrepris, à mon instigation, de décrire sommairement les collections réunies à Séert, sa ville épiscopale, à Mardin, à Mossoul, à Diarbekir’ (J.B. Chabot, Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1934), 12).

For Addai Scher’s contribution to the study of Syriac Christianity, see two recent studies published in a volume commemorating the martyred Archbishop: M. Perkams, “Einleitung: Eine christliche Wissenstradition zwischen Griechen, Persern und Muslimen. Zur Bedeutung, Überlieferung und Erforschung des ostsyrischen Schrifttums ein Jahrhundert nach Addai Scher,” in Griechische Philosophie und Wissenschaft bei den Ostsyrern: Zum Gedenken an Mār Addai Scher (1867–1915), Transmissions 3, ed. M. Perkams and A.M. Schilling (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), 1–12; A. Becker, “Mār Addai Scher and the Recovery of East Syrian Scholastic Culture,” in ibid, 13–28.

According to J.B. Chabot, it was possible to procure copies of the manuscripts from those collections: ‘De ces ouvrages, il est relativement facile d’obtenier aujourd’hui des copies soignées’ (J.B. Chabot, Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1934), 13).

Unfortunately, turmoil brought about by the Armenian and Assyrian genocides and the First World War, caused the destruction of numerous churches, monasteries, and, unavoidably, manuscripts in the region. Thus the collection of Siirt, one of the collections that Scher had catalogued, was almost completely destroyed.

The destiny of four other collections remained unknown until the late 1920s when a Belgian Dominican Jacques-Marie Vosté (1883–1949) visited the region and explored local collections of manuscripts. Jacques Vosté was glad to report that, despite some relocations, the Chaldean collections of Mosul, Alqosh, Mardin and Diyarbakır, known from the catalogues of Scher, had survived. J-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351. Vosté also prepared a new catalogue of the collection of the Chaldean monastery known as “Notre-Dame-des-Semences” (J.-M. Vosté, Catalogue de la Bibliothèque syro-chaldéenne du Couvent de Notre-Dame des Semences près d’Alqosh (Iraq),” Angelicum 5 (1928), 3–36, 161–194, 325–358, 481–498, and republished separately in 1929).

J-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351. Vosté also prepared a new catalogue of the collection of the Chaldean monastery known as “Notre-Dame-des-Semences” (J.-M. Vosté, Catalogue de la Bibliothèque syro-chaldéenne du Couvent de Notre-Dame des Semences près d’Alqosh (Iraq),” Angelicum 5 (1928), 3–36, 161–194, 325–358, 481–498, and republished separately in 1929).

Somewhat later on, in the mid-1960s, these collections were visited and studied by William F. Macomber (1921–2000), who carefully documented the results in the form of checklists and copious notes (all remain unpublished). At approximately the same time, Arthur Vööbus (1909–1988), a prominent Syriacist, was able to gain access to the collections mentioned above and photographed many Syriac manuscripts. Vööbus continued his research expeditions in the 60s and 70s and often revisited the same collection. The research trips of Vööbus have not been documented and there is even not even agreement as to their number (A. Annus, “The Syriologist Arthur Vööbus – a Perspective from Tartu,” in Cultural Crossroads in the Middle East, Studia Orientalia Tartuensia. Series Nova, vol. VIII, ed. V. Sazonov, H. Mölder and P. Espak (University of Tartu Press, 2019), 87–99, here 92, mentions 34 and K. Kasemaa, “Arthur Vööbus - ein Forscher des christlichen Orients,” in Studien zu Ritual und Sozialgeschichte im Alten Orient / Studies on Ritual and Society in the Ancient Near East: Tartuer Symposien 1998-2004, ed. R.T. Kämmerer (Berlin: De Gruyter), 147–151, here 149 states that there were more than 40 expeditions). The only elaborate description of Vööbus’ expeditions can be found in K. Raudsepp, Arthur Võõbus, 1909–1988 (Toronto: OMA Press, 1990), 60–88. For Vööbus’ personal (but unfortunately rather general) accounts, see A. Vööbus, “Pouring over Manuscripts”, Lutheran Theological Seminary Record 66 / Fall Issue (1961), 17–21, idem, “In Pursuit of Syriac Manuscripts,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978), 187–193 and idem, “On the Pathways of the Syrian Orient in Pursuit of Manuscript Treasures,” in The Professor Arthur Vööbus collection of Syriac Manuscripts on film and the institute of Syriac manuscript studies (Chicago: The Institute of Syriac Manuscript Studies, 1982), 2–20. No exact count exists also for the total number of manuscripts that were photographed by Vööbus, but thanks to the ‘Syriac Manuscript Project’ (headed by S. Creason) it was estimated that Vööbus’s collection includes photographs of 695 manuscripts made in 23 different locations in the Middle East (see Oriental Institute 2006–2007 Annual report (University of Chicago, 2007), 107. Finally, it is noteworthy that Vööbus planned to produce catalogues for some of the collections, but none was ever published. Contemporaneously with Macomber and Vööbus, a team from the Peshitta Institute carried out several expeditions and photographed several manuscripts with Biblical content held in Mardin, but for the most part located in the Chaldean patriarchate collection (then) in Baghdad. Several other scholars – for instance, Jean Maurice Fiey (1914–1995) and J.C.J. Sanders (1918–2010) See, for example, J. C. J. Sanders, “Le Manuscrit arabe 128 de Diarbékir retrouvé,” Le Muséon 88 (1975), 31–57. – also studied the manuscripts in the collections under consideration, but they were primarily interested in the manuscripts pertinent to their research. Needless to say, the collections under consideration here were visited and studied by Middle Eastern scholars, particularly at the beginning of the 20th century. In this respect, one should mention Patriarch Afrām Barṣūm (1887–1957), who travelled extensively in the Middle East and visited a large number of libraries (his Scattered Pearls contains multiple references to the Chaldean collections). A prolific Jesuit scholar Louis Cheikho (1859–1927) likewise visited the Chaldean collections of Diyarbakir and Mardin in 1895. Thus, in his travelogue “From Beirut to India”, he mentions paying a visit to the library of the Chaldean church in Mardin, where he saw a Gospel manuscript ‘not older than the 10th century’; illuminated liturgical manuscripts; and a manuscript copy of the Syriac version of Kalīla wa-Dimna (L. Šayḫū, “Min Bayrūt ilā al-Hind,” Al-Mašriq (April 1912), 298–306, here 305 = L. Šayḫū, Riḥlāt ʿilmiyya baḥt̲an ʿan al-maḫṭūṭāt (Beirut, 2010), 123). The last of these was without doubt the unique 16th-century manuscript copy containing the older Syriac version of Kalīla wa-Dimna, which was translated from the Middle Persian. The manuscript seems to have disappeared after the text of Kalīla wa-Dimna was copied several times at the end of the 19th century (for a description of the manuscript’s discovery by A. Socin in 1870, see M. Müller, Essais sur la mythologie comparée. Les traditions et les coutumes / trans. by G. Perrot (Paris: Librairie académique, 1873), 469–479; for an updated state-of-the-art with regard to the Syriac versions of Kalīla wa-Dimna, see B. Gruendler et al., “An Interim Report on the Editorial and Analytical Work of the AnonymClassic Project,” Medieval Worlds 11 (2020), 241–279, here 245–247).

The research trips of Vööbus have not been documented and there is even not even agreement as to their number (A. Annus, “The Syriologist Arthur Vööbus – a Perspective from Tartu,” in Cultural Crossroads in the Middle East, Studia Orientalia Tartuensia. Series Nova, vol. VIII, ed. V. Sazonov, H. Mölder and P. Espak (University of Tartu Press, 2019), 87–99, here 92, mentions 34 and K. Kasemaa, “Arthur Vööbus - ein Forscher des christlichen Orients,” in Studien zu Ritual und Sozialgeschichte im Alten Orient / Studies on Ritual and Society in the Ancient Near East: Tartuer Symposien 1998-2004, ed. R.T. Kämmerer (Berlin: De Gruyter), 147–151, here 149 states that there were more than 40 expeditions). The only elaborate description of Vööbus’ expeditions can be found in K. Raudsepp, Arthur Võõbus, 1909–1988 (Toronto: OMA Press, 1990), 60–88. For Vööbus’ personal (but unfortunately rather general) accounts, see A. Vööbus, “Pouring over Manuscripts”, Lutheran Theological Seminary Record 66 / Fall Issue (1961), 17–21, idem, “In Pursuit of Syriac Manuscripts,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978), 187–193 and idem, “On the Pathways of the Syrian Orient in Pursuit of Manuscript Treasures,” in The Professor Arthur Vööbus collection of Syriac Manuscripts on film and the institute of Syriac manuscript studies (Chicago: The Institute of Syriac Manuscript Studies, 1982), 2–20. No exact count exists also for the total number of manuscripts that were photographed by Vööbus, but thanks to the ‘Syriac Manuscript Project’ (headed by S. Creason) it was estimated that Vööbus’s collection includes photographs of 695 manuscripts made in 23 different locations in the Middle East (see Oriental Institute 2006–2007 Annual report (University of Chicago, 2007), 107. Finally, it is noteworthy that Vööbus planned to produce catalogues for some of the collections, but none was ever published.

See, for example, J. C. J. Sanders, “Le Manuscrit arabe 128 de Diarbékir retrouvé,” Le Muséon 88 (1975), 31–57.

Needless to say, the collections under consideration here were visited and studied by Middle Eastern scholars, particularly at the beginning of the 20th century. In this respect, one should mention Patriarch Afrām Barṣūm (1887–1957), who travelled extensively in the Middle East and visited a large number of libraries (his Scattered Pearls contains multiple references to the Chaldean collections). A prolific Jesuit scholar Louis Cheikho (1859–1927) likewise visited the Chaldean collections of Diyarbakir and Mardin in 1895. Thus, in his travelogue “From Beirut to India”, he mentions paying a visit to the library of the Chaldean church in Mardin, where he saw a Gospel manuscript ‘not older than the 10th century’; illuminated liturgical manuscripts; and a manuscript copy of the Syriac version of Kalīla wa-Dimna (L. Šayḫū, “Min Bayrūt ilā al-Hind,” Al-Mašriq (April 1912), 298–306, here 305 = L. Šayḫū, Riḥlāt ʿilmiyya baḥt̲an ʿan al-maḫṭūṭāt (Beirut, 2010), 123). The last of these was without doubt the unique 16th-century manuscript copy containing the older Syriac version of Kalīla wa-Dimna, which was translated from the Middle Persian. The manuscript seems to have disappeared after the text of Kalīla wa-Dimna was copied several times at the end of the 19th century (for a description of the manuscript’s discovery by A. Socin in 1870, see M. Müller, Essais sur la mythologie comparée. Les traditions et les coutumes / trans. by G. Perrot (Paris: Librairie académique, 1873), 469–479; for an updated state-of-the-art with regard to the Syriac versions of Kalīla wa-Dimna, see B. Gruendler et al., “An Interim Report on the Editorial and Analytical Work of the AnonymClassic Project,” Medieval Worlds 11 (2020), 241–279, here 245–247).

In relation to the subject of the present concordance – the Chaldean collections of Diyarbakır and Mardin – we know that they did not remain intact across the 20th century. Manuscripts were relocated, some were lost, and many new ones were added. The most significant development took place in 1965, when the manuscripts of the Diyarbakır collection were brought to the church of Mar Hormizd in Mardin and merged with manuscripts already present there into one collection. Macomber posits that this was done by the Chaldean priest of Mardin, Revd. Süleyman Şen, who arranged for the manuscripts’ transportation and storage at his own expense. W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” in XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in Würzburg: Vorträge, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Supplement 1.2, ed. W. Voigt (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1969), 473–482, here 481 n. 60. Revd. Süleyman Şen served as a priest in Diyarbakır from 1949 until 1968 (cf. M. Şimşek, Keldaniler ve Diyarbakır (Istanbul: Kent Işıklar, 2018), 49).

W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” in XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in Würzburg: Vorträge, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Supplement 1.2, ed. W. Voigt (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1969), 473–482, here 481 n. 60. Revd. Süleyman Şen served as a priest in Diyarbakır from 1949 until 1968 (cf. M. Şimşek, Keldaniler ve Diyarbakır (Istanbul: Kent Işıklar, 2018), 49).

Although the whereabouts of the joint collection were unknown for some time, it was re-discovered in 2010, and somewhat later, in 2012, the entire collection – consisting of 588 manuscripts – was successfully digitized by the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in collaboration with the Centre Numérique des Manuscrits Orientaux (headed by the Dominican priest – and now Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul – Revd. Michael Najeeb). HMML Project Code: CCM. This digitization was undoubtedly a singular moment in the history of the collection, because the entire joint collection of Diyarbakır and Mardin became available to researchers for the very first time. C. Stewart, “HMML and Syriac Manuscripts,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 49–64. For a vivid personal account by Revd. Michael Najeeb about the re-discovery of the collection in Mardin, see his M. Najeeb, Sauver les livres et les hommes (Paris: Grasset, 2017), 112–114, cf. C. Stewart, “The Chaldean Manuscripts in Mardin and Diyarbakir: Lost and Found,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Spring 2015), 4–7. For a brief presentation of the partnership between the HMML and the CNMO, see C. Stewart, “Our Work in Iraq: Building an Extraordinary Partnership,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Fall 2021), 3–6.

HMML Project Code: CCM.

C. Stewart, “HMML and Syriac Manuscripts,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 49–64. For a vivid personal account by Revd. Michael Najeeb about the re-discovery of the collection in Mardin, see his M. Najeeb, Sauver les livres et les hommes (Paris: Grasset, 2017), 112–114, cf. C. Stewart, “The Chaldean Manuscripts in Mardin and Diyarbakir: Lost and Found,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Spring 2015), 4–7. For a brief presentation of the partnership between the HMML and the CNMO, see C. Stewart, “Our Work in Iraq: Building an Extraordinary Partnership,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Fall 2021), 3–6.

Besides digitized copies of the manuscripts from those collections (or at least those that have remained there) All freely accessible online at www.vhmml.org. the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library today also possesses material that relates to the different stages of the collections’ histories. Included are the unpublished checklists and notes of William Macomber For a brief presentation, see A.C. McCollum, “The Nachlass of William Macomber (1921–2008) Donated to HMML,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Spring 2012), 12 and also McCollum’s blog post https://hmmlorientalia.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/the-nachlass-of-william-macomber-1921-2008/ (last accessed 6 December, 2022). and a vast collection of microfilms made by Arthur Vööbus.

All freely accessible online at www.vhmml.org.

For a brief presentation, see A.C. McCollum, “The Nachlass of William Macomber (1921–2008) Donated to HMML,” Illuminations (Newsletter of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library) (Spring 2012), 12 and also McCollum’s blog post https://hmmlorientalia.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/the-nachlass-of-william-macomber-1921-2008/ (last accessed 6 December, 2022).

The main objective of the present concordance is to correlate the catalogue descriptions by Scher of the three Chaldean collections – in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Mosul – with the digital copies made by the CNMO in collaboration with the HMML. In addition to this, given that many manuscripts are no longer physically present, their current locations – where known – and identifications are provided. Similarly, the presence of the microfilm copies in both the Vööbus’ microfilm archive as well as in the collection of the Peshitta Institute is indicated. Finally, and for the sake of the historical record, I provide the class-marks assigned to the manuscripts by Macomber and record references to the individual manuscripts in studies by several researchers who seem to have firsthand knowledge of the holdings of the collections under consideration. The listing of such references is by no means intended to be complete, but should serve as a preliminary mining of information relevant to the history of the collections.

The current installment contains a concordance of the joint Diyarbakır-Mardin collection, whereas that for the collection of the Chaldean Patriarchate will follow in due course.

A proper history of all these Chaldean collections is yet to be written. Nonetheless a few facts relating to the whereabouts of the manuscripts from the collections of Diyarbakır and Mardin in the 20th century deserve to be mentioned here. See also G. Kessel, “Manuscript collection of the Syrian Orthodox Church Meryemana in Diyarbakır: A Preliminary Survey,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 79–123, here 84–94 (several details are corrected in the present survey). For the earlier history of the Mardin collection, see some observations in D. Wilmshurst, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913, CSCO 582 / Subs. 104 (Louvain: Peeters, 2000), 76–80 and for Diyarbakır, ibidem, 54–60. Regrettably, a recent study of the Chaldean community in Diyarbakır by Mehmet Şimşek (M. Şimşek, Keldaniler ve Diyarbakır (Istanbul: Kent Işıklar, 2018)) does not deal with the history of the Chaldean collection of manuscripts.

See also G. Kessel, “Manuscript collection of the Syrian Orthodox Church Meryemana in Diyarbakır: A Preliminary Survey,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 79–123, here 84–94 (several details are corrected in the present survey). For the earlier history of the Mardin collection, see some observations in D. Wilmshurst, The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913, CSCO 582 / Subs. 104 (Louvain: Peeters, 2000), 76–80 and for Diyarbakır, ibidem, 54–60. Regrettably, a recent study of the Chaldean community in Diyarbakır by Mehmet Şimşek (M. Şimşek, Keldaniler ve Diyarbakır (Istanbul: Kent Işıklar, 2018)) does not deal with the history of the Chaldean collection of manuscripts.

In particular, Vosté reported in 1937 that a group of 23 manuscripts had been transferred from Diyarbakır to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul. J.-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351, here 348–350. The total number of manuscripts indicated by Vosté is 22, because he counts Diyarbakır/Scher 109 and Diyarbakır/Scher 100 as one manuscript (the two volumes of the Lexicon that they contain must have been bound together by that time). Out of these 23 manuscripts Vosté managed to identify 20 as described in the catalogue of Scher, whereas the identification of three additional ones remained elusive. Now, however, it is possible to propose identification for two out of three additional manuscripts (no. 20 = Diyarbakır/Scher 136, and with less certainty no. 21 = Diyarbakır/Scher 103).

J.-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351, here 348–350. The total number of manuscripts indicated by Vosté is 22, because he counts Diyarbakır/Scher 109 and Diyarbakır/Scher 100 as one manuscript (the two volumes of the Lexicon that they contain must have been bound together by that time).

Regrettably, little is known about circumstances of the transfer. Vosté only mentions that it was carried out ‘par les soins de Sa Béatitude Mgr Emmanuel Thomas, Patriarche des Chaldéens’ [1852–1947], J.-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351, here 348. not specifying even the year when it took place. A more informative account was provided by Isḥaq ʿĪskō, who in his brief 1950 article ‘The library of the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul’ reported that the group of 22 manuscripts had been taken from Diyarbakır by Chaldean priest Suleyman Kutchouk Ousta (سليمان كوجك اوسطه), who fled from Diyarbakır and deposited them in the Chaldean church in Aleppo. In 1929, the Chaldean Patriarch Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas stopped in Aleppo on his way from Rome and arranged for the transfer of the manuscripts to Mosul. Isḥaq ʿĪskō adds that this group of manuscripts occupied a prominent place in the library and was known as the ‘Library of Amid’. I. ʿĪskō, “Al-maktaba al-kaldāniyya al-baṭrīarkiyya bi-l-Mawṣil,” Al-Naǧm 11:4 (1950): 217–221, here 219–220. From this report we learn that the Diyarbakır manuscripts were transferred to Mosul in 1929, although the date when the priest Suleyman Kutchouk Ousta brought them from Diyarbakır remains uncertain.

J.-M. Vosté, “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient,” Le Muséon 50 (1937), 345–351, here 348.

I. ʿĪskō, “Al-maktaba al-kaldāniyya al-baṭrīarkiyya bi-l-Mawṣil,” Al-Naǧm 11:4 (1950): 217–221, here 219–220.

However, approximately at the same time when the manuscripts were transferred to Mosul a group of some 30 manuscripts from the Diyarbakır collection had entered the private collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān (1851–1933), the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Diyarbakır. A list of the private collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān was prepared for Afrām Barṣūm in 1934 (A. Barṣūm, Srīṭōṯō d-Ōmīd w-Merdō / Maḫṭūṭāt Āmid wa-Mārdīn, vol. 3 (Damascus, 2008), 93–108) and features (according to my identification) three (or, possibly, five) manuscripts originating from the Chaldean collection in Diyarbakır in the main part of the description and another 25 listed very briefly in a footnote on account of to their overtly Chaldean content. Because of the brevity of the description, a precise identification is not always possible. Whereas one can be relatively sure on the identification of 13 manuscripts (Diyarbakır/Scher 23, 24, 26, 30, 31, 35, 91, 92, 109, 110, 135, 137, 151), the identification of other six is less certain (Diyarbakır/Scher 28, 52, 78, 99, 103, 127). On the manuscript collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān, see G. Kessel, “Manuscript collection of the Syrian Orthodox Church Meryemana in Diyarbakır: A Preliminary Survey,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 79–123, here 85–92, on the person himself cf. now also J.J. van Ginkel, “Mor Dionysios ʿAbd an-Nur Aslan: Church Leader during a Genocide,” in Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide against the Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire, ed. D. Gaunt, N. Atto and Soner O. Barthoma (New York: Berghahn, 2017), 100–112. Interestingly, three of those manuscripts that can be identified with certainty (Diyarbakır/Scher 23, 30 and 109/110) also feature on Vosté’s list. Besides, five manuscripts can be identified with manuscripts currently kept in the joint collection of Diyarbakır and Mardin (Diyarbakır/Scher 26, 91, 92, 135, 151) and four others are now missing in the joint collection and were not present during Macomber’s examination of the collection (Diyarbakır/Scher 24, 31, 35 and 137).

A list of the private collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān was prepared for Afrām Barṣūm in 1934 (A. Barṣūm, Srīṭōṯō d-Ōmīd w-Merdō / Maḫṭūṭāt Āmid wa-Mārdīn, vol. 3 (Damascus, 2008), 93–108) and features (according to my identification) three (or, possibly, five) manuscripts originating from the Chaldean collection in Diyarbakır in the main part of the description and another 25 listed very briefly in a footnote on account of to their overtly Chaldean content. Because of the brevity of the description, a precise identification is not always possible. Whereas one can be relatively sure on the identification of 13 manuscripts (Diyarbakır/Scher 23, 24, 26, 30, 31, 35, 91, 92, 109, 110, 135, 137, 151), the identification of other six is less certain (Diyarbakır/Scher 28, 52, 78, 99, 103, 127). On the manuscript collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān, see G. Kessel, “Manuscript collection of the Syrian Orthodox Church Meryemana in Diyarbakır: A Preliminary Survey,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 79–123, here 85–92, on the person himself cf. now also J.J. van Ginkel, “Mor Dionysios ʿAbd an-Nur Aslan: Church Leader during a Genocide,” in Let Them Not Return: Sayfo – The Genocide against the Assyrian, Syriac and Chaldean Christians in the Ottoman Empire, ed. D. Gaunt, N. Atto and Soner O. Barthoma (New York: Berghahn, 2017), 100–112.

Hence, several manuscripts from the Chaldean collection in Diyarbakır are reported to have been in two different places at the same time. This situation is indeed puzzling and remains to be explained.

As mentioned earlier, in 1965 the manuscripts from the Diyarbakır collection were transferred to Mardin. Prior to the transfer, the collection was apparently kept in the church of Mar Petyun. Macomber reports about his visit in 1965 that ‘[a]t Diarbekir, Dr. W. Baars of the Peshitta Institute in Leiden had preceded me and had, with the assistance of the late pastor, Rev. Süleyman Şen, separated the manuscripts from the printed books’. W.F. Macomber, Checklist of the Manuscripts Kept at the Chaldean Cathedral in Mardin [unpublished manuscript deposited at Hill Museum & Manuscript Library], 1. A. Vööbus was also able to examine the manuscripts in Diyarbakır, and he reports seeing in 1964 a large number of manuscripts ‘in the attic of the church of Mār Petyōn’ A. Vööbus, “In Pursuit of Syriac Manuscripts,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978), 187–193, here 189 n. 15. and elsewhere: ‘I ferreted this codex [i.e. Diyarbakır 15] out of a heap of manuscripts in the attic of this huge cathedral-like church [sc. of Mar Petyun]. Since the glass of the small windows had been broken, the manuscripts were exposed not only to weather conditions but also to desecration by birds’. A. Vööbus, Studies in the History of the Gospel Text in Syriac II: New Contributions to the Sources Elucidating the History of the Traditions, CSCO 496 / Subs. 79 (Louvain: Peeters, 1987), 145 n. 105. It deserves to be noted that (at least) some of the manuscripts from the Diyarbakır collection have remained in the Chaldean church of Mar Petyun. The collection of manuscripts currently kept in this church has been digitized by the HMML HMML Project Code: CHAL. though not yet catalogued. C. Stewart, “HMML and Syriac Manuscripts,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 49–64, here 54. At least one of these manuscripts can be identified as formerly belonging to the Chaldean collection of Diyarbakır (Diyarbakır/Scher 130).

W.F. Macomber, Checklist of the Manuscripts Kept at the Chaldean Cathedral in Mardin [unpublished manuscript deposited at Hill Museum & Manuscript Library], 1.

A. Vööbus, “In Pursuit of Syriac Manuscripts,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978), 187–193, here 189 n. 15.

A. Vööbus, Studies in the History of the Gospel Text in Syriac II: New Contributions to the Sources Elucidating the History of the Traditions, CSCO 496 / Subs. 79 (Louvain: Peeters, 1987), 145 n. 105.

HMML Project Code: CHAL.

C. Stewart, “HMML and Syriac Manuscripts,” in Manuscripta syriaca. Des sources de première main, Cahiers d’études syriaques 4, ed. F. Briquel-Chatonnet and M. Debié (Paris: Geuthner, 2015), 49–64, here 54.

The role of W. Macomber in the study of the collections is worth a special note because he not only examined the holdings of the joint Diyarbakır-Mardin collection but also assigned new class-marks to the entire collection following a subject-based decimal system Macomber mentions this on several occasions, for example, in his W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481; W.F. Macomber, “Newly Discovered Fragments of the Gospel Commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia,” Le Muséon 81 (1968), 441–447, here 444 n. 15; W.F. Macomber, “A List of the Known Manuscripts of the Chaldean Ḥuḏrā,” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 36 (1970), 120–134, here 125 n. 4. and was planning to publish a checklist. Cf. W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” in XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in Würzburg: Vorträge, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Supplement 1.2, ed. W. Voigt (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1969), 473–482, here 481. The new class-marks, written in Macomber’s own hand, can be found today on most of the manuscripts of the joint Diyarbakır-Mardin collection. Macomber referred to the manuscripts from the joint collection according to the new class-marks in some of his publications, see, for example, his W.F. Macomber, “A List of the Known Manuscripts of the Chaldean Ḥuḏrā,” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 36 (1970), 120–134. It is worth noting that Macomber’s decision to use a subject-based decimal system grew out of his earlier modification of the decimal system applied by Raphael Bidawid (Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in 1989–2003) to the collection of the Chaldean Patriarchate. W.F. Macomber, Checklist of the Manuscripts Kept at the Chaldean Cathedral in Mardin [unpublished manuscript deposited at Hill Museum & Manuscript Library], 2. I am going to provide more information about this subject-based decimal system in the next installment of the concordance. Raphael Bidawid seems to have been inspired in this respect by the Dewey Decimal System / Classification.

Macomber mentions this on several occasions, for example, in his W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481; W.F. Macomber, “Newly Discovered Fragments of the Gospel Commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia,” Le Muséon 81 (1968), 441–447, here 444 n. 15; W.F. Macomber, “A List of the Known Manuscripts of the Chaldean Ḥuḏrā,” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 36 (1970), 120–134, here 125 n. 4.

Cf. W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” in XVII. Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 21. bis 27. Juli 1968 in Würzburg: Vorträge, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Supplement 1.2, ed. W. Voigt (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1969), 473–482, here 481.

Macomber referred to the manuscripts from the joint collection according to the new class-marks in some of his publications, see, for example, his W.F. Macomber, “A List of the Known Manuscripts of the Chaldean Ḥuḏrā,” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 36 (1970), 120–134.

W.F. Macomber, Checklist of the Manuscripts Kept at the Chaldean Cathedral in Mardin [unpublished manuscript deposited at Hill Museum & Manuscript Library], 2. I am going to provide more information about this subject-based decimal system in the next installment of the concordance.

Among the manuscripts initially present in Diyarbakır and Mardin’s collections, some – besides those transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate – found their way into other libraries. These are:

Vatican library: Diyarbakır/Scher 9, Mardin/Scher 36, 39, 49, 50, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 68, 69, 70, 71, 91, 93

Peshitta Institute: Diyarbakır/Scher 1 and Mardin/Scher 2, 16

Chester Beatty Library: Mardin/Scher 8 and 9

National Library of France: Mardin/Scher 46

Library of the Bollandist Society: Mardin/Scher 83

Eighteen manuscripts from the Mardin collection were donated to the Vatican library by Israel Audo (1859–1941), the last Chaldean bishop of Mardin. W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 52. An exquisite Four Gospel book from Diyarbakır (Diyarbakır/Scher 9) dated to 1298 and copied on blue Chinese paper in gold letters, was also presented to the Vatican library, this time by the Chaldean Patriarch Yousef Ghanima (Patriarch of the Chaldean Church in 1947–1958).

W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 52.

Although the circumstances of these relocations have not been investigated, it is likely that the above-mentioned libraries preserve within their archives historical records that will shed light on the acquisition of manuscripts from the Chaldean collections of Diyarbakır and Mardin. The archive of François Nau, kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, contains the letters from Addai Scher that elucidate the circumstances of the acquisition by the BnF a group of manuscripts that belonged to the collection of Siirt (cf. F. Pacha-Miran, Le décor de la Bible syriaque de Paris (BnF syr. 341) et son role dans l’histoire du livre chrétien, Cahiers d’études syriaques 7 (Paris: Geuthner, 2020), 15–20). By way of example, one might mention the fate of manuscript Mardin/Scher 46, donated to the Bollandist Society in 1972 by a notorious priest Samuel Özdemir. Priest Samuel sent the manuscript from the Sharfeh monastery in Lebanon to the Bollandist Society in Brussels, but precisely how he got hold of it is unknown. I am grateful to Dr. Pietro D’Agostino for providing me with copies of selected pages of the manuscript; on one of them its acquisition history is documented.

The archive of François Nau, kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, contains the letters from Addai Scher that elucidate the circumstances of the acquisition by the BnF a group of manuscripts that belonged to the collection of Siirt (cf. F. Pacha-Miran, Le décor de la Bible syriaque de Paris (BnF syr. 341) et son role dans l’histoire du livre chrétien, Cahiers d’études syriaques 7 (Paris: Geuthner, 2020), 15–20).

I am grateful to Dr. Pietro D’Agostino for providing me with copies of selected pages of the manuscript; on one of them its acquisition history is documented.

In dealing with the relocation of manuscripts from the Diyarbakır and Mardin collections, one has to bear in mind the possibility of transfer of the manuscripts between the two collections. This possibility is suggested by the nearly identical descriptions of the manuscripts Diyarbakır/Scher 99 and Mardin/Scher 80. Whereas Mardin/Scher 80 has been identified within the holdings of the joint collection, the Diyarbakır manuscript has not.

On the occasion of the 17th German Orientalistentag held in Würzburg in 1968, William Macomber provided a report on his examination of collections of Syriac manuscripts in the Middle East. In particular, he reported concerning the joint Diyarbakır-Mardin collection that he could not identify 30 Diyarbakır manuscripts W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 480 n. 47. and that 22 Diyarbakır manuscripts were considered missing; W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 480 n. 48. as far as the Mardin collection is concerned, he reported only nine manuscripts as missing or unidentified. W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 57. Comparing the holdings of the joint collection at present with the situation in the mid-sixties, when Macomber inspected it, it is possible to say that out of 30 Diyarbakır manuscripts that Macomber could not identify, five are now confirmed (Diyarbakır/Scher 94, 148, 149, 154, 155), and out of 22 missing manuscripts, three have re-surfaced (Diyarbakır/Scher 128, 130, 158). Finally, out of nine missing Mardin manuscripts, one has been found (Mardin/Scher 46). Out of six manuscripts that were tentatively identified by Macomber (W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 56), only for one (Mardin/Scher 88) is the identification recorded in Macomber’s notes. Given that one (Mardin/Scher 84) was relocated, I treat the other four as unidentified (Mardin/Scher 72, 83, 90 and 96).

W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 480 n. 47.

W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 480 n. 48.

W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 57.

Out of six manuscripts that were tentatively identified by Macomber (W.F. Macomber, “New Finds of Syriac Manuscripts in the Middle East,” 481 n. 56), only for one (Mardin/Scher 88) is the identification recorded in Macomber’s notes. Given that one (Mardin/Scher 84) was relocated, I treat the other four as unidentified (Mardin/Scher 72, 83, 90 and 96).

At the same time, many manuscripts have disappeared during the second half of the 20th century. In sum, out of 159 Syriac and Arabic manuscripts in the Diyarbakır collection, 67 manuscripts are currently missing (additionally, from two manuscripts – Diyarbakır/Scher 14 and 23 – only the binding boards have survived), and out of 104 Syriac and Arabic manuscripts in the Mardin collection, the same can be said of 19. Notwithstanding the re-appearance of a few important manuscripts that Macomber reported as missing – for instance, a copy of the First Part of Isaac of Nineveh, Diyarbakır/Scher 46) and a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by Abū l-Faraǧ ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ṭayyib (Diyarbakır/Scher 130) – it is regretful to state that most of the old and rare manuscripts – for example, a copy of Jacob of Edessa’s Hexaemeron dated to 822 (Diyarbakır/Scher 23), an 11th/12th-century copy of the works of Severus of Antioch (Diyarbakır/Scher 30), to name just two – have been lost. It is worth noting, however, that there remains a chance to trace at least some of the missing manuscripts, whether in the Middle Eastern or Western collections.

Several explanatory remarks for the table:

The first column provides the sequential numbers of the manuscripts in Scher’s catalogues of Diyarbakır and Mardin. The second column lists the corresponding HMML project numbers (project code CCM) or their actual shelf marks in case of relocated manuscripts. Given the brevity (and, occasionally, inaccuracy) of some manuscript descriptions in Scher’s catalogue, precise identification is not always possible. The third column presents the class-marks assigned to the manuscripts by Macomber and which can be found today in Macomber’s checklist (kept at the HMML) and, as a rule, on the first page of each manuscript. Macomber marked a manuscript as missing in case he could not find it and as unidentified in case he could not identify it with certainty. The fourth column signals the availability of a microfilm copy in the collection of the Peshitta Institute (Amsterdam) and/or in the microfilm archive of A. Vööbus (kept today at the HMML). It is important to bear in mind that Vööbus usually (at least in case of the collection under consideration) photographed only selected folios of a manuscript; the precise identification of the folios that Vööbus photographed has not been undertaken. Some microfilms belonging to the Peshitta Institute were digitized by the HMML and are now available online in HMML’s online reading room (project code PI). Not all the microfilms (even relating to the manuscripts of Diyarbakır and Mardin) were digitized, and therefore I am grateful to Geert Jan Veldman (Peshitta Institute, Amsterdam), who kindly provided me with information about additional microfilms. The footnotes provide the information of different nature: the sigla employed in the Peshitta Institute’s editions of the Old Testament; references to the Vosté’s list of manuscripts that were transferred from Diyarbakır to the Chaldean Patriarchate; references to the catalogue of the private collection of ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān; references to the studies of relevance for the history of the manuscripts, especially by Afrām Barṣūm and Fiey, although one cannot be sure that they had firsthand knowledge of each manuscript mentioned in their publications.

Barsoum 2003 : Barsoum, Ignatius Aphram I. The Scattered Pearls. A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences / trans. by Matti Moosa. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2003.

Barṣūm 2008 : Barṣūm, A. Srīṭōṯō d-Ōmīd w-Merdō / Maḫṭūṭāt Āmid wa-Mārdīn, vol. 3. Damascus, 2008.

Fiey 1959 : Fiey, J.M. Mossoul chrétien. Essai sur l’histoire, l’archéologie et l’état actuel des monuments chrétiens de la ville de Mossoul, Recherches publiées sous la direction de l’Institut de Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth 12. Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1959.

Fiey 1965 : Fiey, J.M. Assyrie Chrétienne. Contribution à l’étude de l’histoire et de la géographie ecclésiastiques et monastiques du nord de l’Iraq, vols. 1–2, Recherches publiées sous la direction de l’Institut de Lettres Orientales de Beyrouth; Série III: Orient Chrétien, vol. 22, 34. Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1965.

Fiey 1977 : Fiey, J.M. Nisibe, métropole syriaque orientale et ses suffragants des origins à nos jours, CSCO 388 / Subs. 54. Louvain: Peeters, 1977.

Fourth Supplement 1968 : “Peshiṭta Institute Communications VII. Fourth Supplement to the List of Old Testament Peshiṭta Manuscripts.” Vetus Testamentum 18/1 (1968): 128–143.

Leroy 1964 : Leroy, J. Les manuscrits syriaques à peintures, conservés dans les bibliothèques d’Europe et d’Orient. Contribution à l’étude de l’iconographie des églises de langue syriaque, Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 77. Paris: Geuthner, 1964.

Macomber 1968 : Macomber, W.F. “Newly Discovered Fragments of the Gospel Commentaries of Theodore of Mopsuestia.” Le Muséon 81 (1968): 441–447.

Takahashi 2005 : Takahashi, H. Barhebraeus. A Bio-Bibliography. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2005.

Vööbus 1987 : Vööbus, A. Studies in the History of the Gospel Text in Syriac II: New Contributions to the Sources Elucidating the History of the Traditions, CSCO 496 / Subs. 79. Louvain: Peeters, 1987.

Vosté 1937 : Vosté, J.M. “Notes sur les manuscrits syriaques de Diarbékir et autres localités d’Orient.” Le Muséon 50 (1937): 345–351.

Vosté 1941 : Vosté, J.M. “L’ère de l’Ascension de Notre-Seigneur dans les manuscrits nestoriens.” Orientalia Christiana Periodica 7 (1941): 233–250.

14b1; Fourth Supplement, p. 132.

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

Fiey 1977, p. 192 n. 196.

12d3; the manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 361 n. 1.

Fiey 1977, p. 196 n. 219.

The manuscript was lost according to Leroy (Leroy 1964, p. 389–390 n. 2, p. 430).

Vööbus reports seeing it in the collection of the Chaldean Patriarchate in Baghdad (Vööbus 1987, p. 166–167).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 544 n. 3; Fiey 1977, p. 254 n. 588; Vööbus 1987, p. 167–168, 191–192.

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 544 n. 4.

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1965, vol. I, p. 271 n. 6; Fiey 1977, p. 103–104 n. 549, p. 204; Vööbus 1987, p. 141 (reports seeing it in Diyarbakır).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

Fiey 1977, p. 196 n. 219, p. 227 n. 402; Vööbus 1987, p. 145.

Fiey 1977, p. 203.

12k3; the manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Macomber 1968, p. 443 n. 11; Fiey 1977, p. 196 n. 219.

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 106–107); transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Barsoum 2003, p. 13 (in Mosul), p. 338-339 (shelfmark 54).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 104–106); transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Barsoum 2003, p. 278 n. 1 (Mosul, shelfmarks 56 or 122), p. 332 n. 5.

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

? Barsoum 2003, p. 469 n. 5 (cf. Takahashi 2005, p. 251).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

12t4; the manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

Fiey 1977, p. 244 n. 524.

Fiey 1977, p. 113 n. 69.

Fiey 1977, p. 254 n. 588.

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

Fiey 1977, p. 260.

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Vosté (Vosté 1941, p. 237–238) provides a section from the colophon and reports that the manuscript is in the Patriarchal collection in Mosul; Fiey 1977, p. 198 n. 233.

Fiey 1977, p. 254 n. 588.

Fiey 1977, p. 265 n. 651.

Fiey 1977, p. 196.

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

Fiey 1977, p. 113 n. 609.

Fiey 1977, p. 261 n. 622.

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

Fiey 1977, p. 139 n. 31, p. 198 n. 235.

Apograph: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Or. oct. 1256 + Or. oct. 1257; the manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1977, p. 171 n. 51.

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 107); Fiey 1977, p. 20–21 n. 32.

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 107); transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937 # 21).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1977, p. 225 n. 384.

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35); transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35); transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937); Fiey 1959, p. 124 n. 3 (?).

The manuscript perhaps was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

Macomber 1968, p. 444 n. 17.

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

The manuscript was transferred to the Chaldean Patriarchate in Mosul (Vosté 1937 # 20).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108).

The manuscript was in the collection of Metropolitan ʿAbd an-Nūr Aṣlān in 1933/4 (Barṣūm 2008, p. 108 n. 35).

Fiey 1977, p. 152 n. 106.

15b1; Fourth Supplement, p. 133.

13t4; Fourth Supplement, p. 132–133.

Fiey 1977, p. 139 n. 35.

Fiey 1965, vol. I, p. 247 n. 4, p. 318 n. 3; Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 400 n. 2; Fiey 1977, p. 104 n. 553.

Fiey 1977, p. 136 n. 16.

Fiey 1977, p. 112 n. 607.

Fiey 1977, p. 36 n. 459.

Fiey 1977, p. 111 n. 594, p. 203 n. 258.

Fiey 1977, p. 232 n. 430, p. 254 n. 588.

Fiey 1977, p. 234 n. 440, p. 264 n. 644.

16l2.

Fiey 1977, p. 196 n. 219, p. 203.

Fiey 1977, p. 243 n. 514.

Fiey 1977, p. 137 n. 21.

Fiey 1965, vol. I, p. 251 n. 4.

Fiey 1977, p. 72 n. 377.

Fiey 1977, p. 42 n. 186.

Fiey 1977, p. 112 n. 602.

Fiey 1977, p. 227 n. 402, p. 264 n. 644.

Fiey 1977, p. 229 n. 407.

Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 360 n. 2.

Fiey 1977, p. 105 n. 560.

Fiey 1959, p. 59 n. 2; Fiey 1965, vol. II, p. 361 n. 2.

Fiey 1977, p. 196 n. 219.

Fiey 1977, p. 244 n. 525, p. 247 n. 553.

Fiey 1977, p. 236 n. 464.

Fiey 1977, p. 208 n. 287, p. 247 n. 551.