The Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert

The Forty Martyrs of the Sinai Desert Synopsis

The twin sisters Agnes Lewis (1843–1926) and Margaret Gibson (1843–1920) were pioneering biblical scholars who became experts in a number of ancient languages. Travelling widely in the Middle East, they made several significant discoveries, including one of the earliest manuscripts of the four gospels in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language probably spoken by Jesus himself. Originally published in the Horae Semitica series, this fascicule features a text in Arabic and Syriac which tells the story of the massacre of monks at the Sinai monastery in the fourth century. It is a mournful account of extreme suffering for the Christian faith. Edited and translated by Agnes Lewis, the volume also includes the tale of Eulogius, a hubristic stone-cutter. Rewarded by God for his charity, Eulogius was corrupted by wealth, returning to his humble position a broken man. Both documents are of great historical and linguistic interest.