CHOICE EXAMPLES OF PALEOGRAPHY.
Fac-similes from Rare and Curious Manuscripts of Oriental Countries.
PAGE FROM AN ARABO-COPTIC PENTATEUCH.
Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century.
This curious reproduction of a page from an Arabo-Coptic script of the Pentateuch, in addition to its philological and exegetical value, possesses a significance of historical nature. At the time the Copts assisted the-Arabs to expel the Greeks from Egypt they were accustomed to copy the sacred writings in Greek, with a Coptic version on the right margin. After the expulsion of the Greeks, they transcribed their manuscripts in Coptic only, but as the influence of the Arabs grew the scribes were compelled to add an Arabic version on the margin. This is termed the third age of Coptic paleography, and fixes the date of this manuscript as being the fourteenth century. As will be noticed, the Coptic characters retain much of the style of their Greek originals.
