Tl IZ ' OREGON "SUNDAY'. ' JOURNAL. :r PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. OCTOBER "'19.'
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Finding a
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Manuscript
in St Luke's
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IAS
k Vm OmrrliUaA. till
The Spot on Mount Sinajl from
r Which Mooes b Reputed to
; Hare ' Delivered tho ' Toft
" , Commandments to the Chil
. dren of Israel . - ,
rBZT to the Hoi? Idmthemost
Interesting f reglpn V In. .tae
. world to Biblical scholars
the BlnaiUo ' peninsula. la- one , re
spect lit Is even more" interesting
' than the Holy;in for: the wealth
of rellcrand, manuscripts i which. It
contains nas hardlf been touched by
modern .InTestlgators. .
! , An Important moyement has now
Aeen' started ': by the universities,
- scholars and ' religious , leaders of
Violan in Annilnr.t A, . thoroufh
j search of the Monastery of St Cathe--;
- line, on MOUni ainai, wuero ti u ur
, Uered that , the oldest existing Bible
manuscripts are to be - found. -;
Discoveries already made Indicate
with V practical; certainty that ; these
manuscripts must be there, but for
peculiar reasons very little progress
has been v made ; In searching for 4
' them. During the years mt, 185 J -,
and 1859 the German scholar Tlsoh-
endorf. spent- much time exploring .
the monastery; libnnttt '
Tha monks were then verr almnle
' and hospitable and quite unfamiliar .
with the ways of the outside world.
They allowed Tlschendorf to do. as "
he pleased In the library. He ..nsed
this liberty with stupendously prof- .
ttable results to himself. He dlscov- r'
' ered the oldest known 1 Greek: mann- , v
. script of the Bible," now known as
!Why Baby
w
which I
-rHY 'the homaa .race its
U-o&e of the . problems that
'1 "Up.aaaUt' mitU. MMU.- ;uJ
which has found general acceptance
: propounded by Dr.-Ernst Wber.
;;Tprove that prlmltlre.manta, hi.
to"'pxotect' the,y heart, carried the shield, in
his left hand, and the aggresslvs' weapons
; Inths'rlfbt . tw! t 'ft r
Sir Daniel .Wilson, however,, ascribes i the r
' HffhthAndftdnesB of the human race to a very,
dlff orent . caused The ' centre , of' Speech
, inUspheA
; soa, i believes v that (the, movem aaad; hut;woatd' not have; its power of speech
O big thart.arm, nerrs. ganglia foiiroli;y;;mateHanyi!mpalrea.,i ' s
. are situated near the centres, of speech, have' ; i : Dr.; Wilson's theory that rlghMiandedness
, developed: antf matured-along WUpJ.; f rlborne
',?4 the,ne rate of progress as, tofyai German poet of renown?who, suffering great:
' Weords'.; 'dating back to; primitive; tlmesv; 1: 4a? ly; from . writer's cramp at an advanced sge
Erchments and the Hgui-es portrayed Ty the fyf. began to .use hJa left hand la ' writing.- He
den'-Chaldeans and : Egyptians,- all ' point ;r, fwftg amazed to find, that after the first Inef-
to-the fact that even In those 'early days the V fectual attempts to, write with the left-hand
raoe was. right-handed,' so that the tendency '. he felt crowding opon him a wealth of imagery
towards right-handedness must have .flegoaVJ5iMlda''lethoa of ideas such as he had not
.very early. r It'probably sprang into life
faltaneously; withthe tendency toward -
aat speech
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Greelc Orthodox Chapel In the Care to Which
the Prophet Elijah Is Said to Hare Retreated.
Should
to UseBoth.
.right-handed ,
I "mere naa poen jnuca uut b.
to - teaching children - to use, both . hands.'
Originally, in prehlstorlo 1 day s, there were
two- cehtres"ot! speech; one 'in neither hemi-;
pop v
,
Is that ,
sphere- of .vthe -brain. ..Lett-nanaea- cnuaren
have their centre ot speech In the right hemi-
who-sought, have their centre cl spatoh is.
dere,, VSgSg&iSZS&i
, toft' speech : centre IS developed at the .ex-
pease oi mo, rigui Bpeecu vouvio,
can-easily be resuscitated in case of injury
to the 'right ' asad;-.ew ' ' 4
There would thus be a- double purpose in
1 leeA1ttiT lih(HTan sa .visiaa sHnt i lSltnrill H.fl. 1&-
; is . in, X-' ft developing both speech ,
sim-C&s' known - since early 'youth.
cohere' 'v J ' to the flow of blood to the
ft -!- v'.-;:-o the train induced; bjr ns
it si
Hands
, ana , ituuo, u
right hand their
oentres. ,to case ot
At He ascribed 'this
right hemisphere
tsnhere ';Sv
ej th$ left paay
Handwriting
and Perhaps
Oilier Sacred
Relics of
Unparalleled
; in the
Strangest
in Jf 11 tk e
World
the "Codex einalttcus." By . some'
scholars It is dated as early as the
fourth century, and -In that case it Is
the eldest practically complete man.
Qsadpt of tbeBlble. ' It consists of
most of the Old Testament, all the
New. Testament and "the Epistle of
Barnabas." ;
This wonderful collection of manu
scripts Tlschendorf -carried , away
without saying a word to the monks.
There are : doubtless collectors to
day who would give fl.000,000 for
these manuscripts. ? When the monks
slowly realised that they had been
robbed of one of the most precious
possessions in the - religious world,
they "became very, angry, and their
anger lasted a long time. . "
For years travellers who visited
the. outcf-theworld monastery re
ported ' that .' the monks were surly
end Inhospitable, and would not af
ford a reasonable opportunity for an
examination of their treasures. Many
of these . visitors . reported that -..the "
monks were ill-nslng their manu
scripts In a deplorable manner, using
them as stands for cooking otenslLs
ana flower pots. ' - - -
Finally, in 1894, two brilliant Eng
lishwomen Mrs. Smith Lewis . and,
Mrs. Gibsonsucceeded in winning ;
the confidence of the monks and se
cured permission to make an exam
ination of the library. Their search
was richly rewarded, for they . dis
covered a fourth century palimpsest,
manuscript of St Paul's Gospel in
eyriac - This Is probably the oldest -known
Bible : manuscript, for the
Tlschendorf Codex, even allowing it
the oldest date mentioned, would
barely equal it , - - " -
Mrsl Lewis and Mrs. Gibson found
that in order , to put the library. In
thorough order ;- and reveal even
superficially;, all that It contained
would require the labors of a con-
slderable , staff of trained workers.
Although the monks gave facilities .
to the two women, they were not
witting to admit, any considerable
Importance
Liorary
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Mount Sinai on Which Tradition Says the
-, ; Calf.. An. Ancient Commemorative Chapel Upon the Site Is Shown. , -Copyright-XI1A
bjs the Stag Company. Great Britain Eighty Resorted,
W
The Monastery of St Catherine
1,500 Years and Is Believed to Contain Original Manuscripts of the Bible
body of investlkators to the monas
tery In' view of their bitter expert;
ence of earlier years, "t " t
The present movement alms ' to
overcome ': the objections er" the '
monks ln a1 friendly, manner. ' The
einaitio .Peninsula . is now in :
Egyptian territory.- When the neces- -sary
funds have . been collected the '
aeslfltance of the Egyptian authort-'
ties will be sought in carrying on '
negotiations with the monks. , ; ' j
Among1 the moat . precious mans-
sorlpts believed to be in the monas
tery is the original of the Gospel of
St .Luke In the handwriting of the
Apostle himself. " This would be in-
comparably the most Important Bible
manuscript ever discovered. The
eyriao copy ox v bu v uuxr s . ucepei :
found by the ' two : English women'
and at present constituting the oldest
known ; Bible 1 manuscript ' contains
evidence that it was translated from -a
Greek original in the library. -
.Scholars, hold that the original
Gospel of St 'Luke was ' in Greek,
The ' Apostle was a physician of
H1 .11''
Corner, of .the
Precious
, Any
ro the Lef t
The Unl et
the Foot of
Israelites Erected the Golden
SV ,J' - fc. '-MttX 1 1 w
Vl
f
at the Foot of Mount Sinai Which Hat Been Occupied for
evidence of Kholarly : attainments. len came.thMomedan uouft.
Early chronicles state, . that ; the - During the centurleawhen
manuscript of St Luke's gospel was tBb followers of the opheroTerran
one of the-, treasures given to' the - the- eastern world thls little spot
monastery by the Emperor Justinian ; x W out for, Christianity; .
in 627 A-D. The buUding contains ' The convent stands at, the. foot of
numerous : represenUUons of the ,fJe JnollIltBto -iesfledt-Jshsl-, Musa,
AposUe wriUng his gospel, snd these wUch,- aocordin to many suthori
anoear to have a' close assoctatlon J the actual mountain wheri
with the foundation of the establish
ment.' ' '"'J.'. e J ,
) The library is . known to contain
about 600 ancient volumes filled with
- f manuscripts in Greek, Arabic, Syrlao
' and ; other- languages. As vone of
these v great . volumes may ' contain
hundreds of manuscripts, the wealth
i of thS library, can only be 'guessed at
. junong . us cnnoauies im m r Tory
snclent complete manuscript v of the
Psalms,' .written ; on. its . leaves In
microscoplo writing. ' W v'iiA':,:'
This monastery i is the oldest .con
tinuously inhabited x building In ' the
world.It was founded by Justinian
in about 637 . A. Dv and 1 has been
occupied ever since. It Is surrounded
by walls thirty, feet high,? and de
fended by cannon, for.lt was cut off
from the . olvlUzed . world for cen
turies. Until ? recently everybody
who entered .was hoisted by a rope
v
m :
sal
JWcinderf ul Library' in St Cath-
Bible ; Manuscripts Than V'
Place in the1 World.
i - a- -. :V' . Z ' J
vw mono wu. . .,
iM.The earth on which thd Tegetables had made and burnt it in the Are,
of, the .monastery V are grown was and ground it to powder and strewed
, brought from .the Holy Land, for, H upon the- water, and made tHe
i, there is no soil in the vicinity. ; In children of Israel drink of ltT , ,
.J& rwS? f?Ww?f e,plirls-The peak where Moses is repute
hurC.tha SInaiUo Peninsula to have witnessed this scene is psrt
was the refuge of many Christiana, 'of the same group where tha 1-u' .
.,.;fleeIng ftoni the Roman-persecuaon.!ef. the chosen-' people recolvri t
.Then the church triumphed and for Ten ,' Commandments from 1 .
centuries after the founding of the The local traditions n -.!-.' - t
monastery it was honored by gifts for all tlicBa c-.-.-'. r:.t
rrpm emperors andj kings, ; , ,, f j rcy
' , ;."''.,'.. " : " "
. ." 7. .. :' r" . f:.. I
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37
the Ten Commandments were ;com-
mitted to Moses by. the Lord. The
site of the monastery, according to
this theory, is the spot where Moses
delivered the Commandments to the
children of Israel. . This is a disputed
question, but there la little doubt
that it is ah Important: site, for the
natives in all ages have revered it
Here passed the children of Israel
during their forty years' wandering
on their way. from Egypt to the Holy
Land. - Here occurred the many mir
acles and wonderful ' events of. the
Exodas4he cloud by day and the
pillar of fire by night the feeding ot
the people with manna, the miracu
lous production of water by Moses,
the battle with the Amalekltes, the
appearance of the Lord onr the
mount the building of the Ark, the
worshipping of the golden calf, the
budding ot Aaron's rod, the raising
of the braien serpent by Moses snd
v finally the death of Moses, s. . ; -'
The einaitio Peninsula covers
about 10,000 square miles, and there
was plenty of room for the forty
years. wandering. The traveller who
sees the land to-day can easily un
derstand why; miracle were neces
sary to keep the children of Israel
alive. It is an exceedingly Darren
wilderness, . largely composed ot
- rocks, tt only maintains a handful
: ot natives, and It Is believed that the
number : has hardly - changed since
' prehistoric times. Though barren,
- the land is very picturesque, and the
red mountains rising ; abruptly into.
, the dear sky are wonderful. ,
Nearly all the sites mentioned in :
' Exodus and the . other . books of
the' Old Testament are identified by
the monks and by locI traditions. '
There is a oeak called Jahal Ras-es 1
SafBaf, which le said to be the exact -spot
from which Moses witnessed .
the worshipping of the golden calf
t by the children .Of Israel, It' is a
.small peak,- giving an excellent view .
ot a large plain, which might very .
" well have been the place where the
J Israelites indulged in their ' Idola-
trous festivities, as : described 14
'( Emdus!;l'C;.l5'::iH..VT:i.f;:
4HAnd it came to pass as soon as
; he came nigh onto the camp that be
saw the calf and the dancing; and
Moses's' anger, waxed hot. , and he
v cast tne tables out of his hands snd
' brake them beneath the mount.
v as a js . a. . '
AuO U9 IOOK UO Call WhlCO thPV
''ibi v.?'!
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