1. The “Praise of the Summit of Mount Sinai” is an anonymous Christian Arabic text that has been preserved in several manuscripts dating from the 9th and 10th centuries CE. It presumably originated at that time or somewhat earlier within the Arabic-speaking community of the Sinai Monastery. Its function must be understood in the context… Continue reading The “Praise of the Summit of Mount Sinai”: Some Notes on the Manuscripts
A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28
A guest post by Aleksandar Anđelović* 1. The manuscript Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. gr. 424 (Diktyon: 65667) is a 9th-century Greek manuscript, now in the Vatican Library, containing the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus. The manuscript was brought to the Vatican from Sinai,1 and its scattered fragments – some remaining on Sinai, one… Continue reading A Wandering Leaf between Hilandar, Sinai, and the Vatican: The Case of Ott. gr. 424 and Sinai Slav. 28
New Materials on Grote (Part 5)
1. Once again, new material about the manuscript collector and dealer Friedrich Grote (1861-1922) found its way to me. You can find the first four posts of this series here, here, here, and here. This time, I must thank Christoph Rauch, head of the Oriental Department at the Berlin State Library and PI of the… Continue reading New Materials on Grote (Part 5)
Miscellaneous Identifications IV: A Missing Quire of the Arabic Apocrypha Codex among the New Finds
[Update (4 February 2026): Unfortunately, I overlooked an important reference as I wrote this post, namely an article by André Binggeli from 2015, in which he already identifies the fragment discussed here as belonging to the Arabic Apocrypha Codex. Here’s the article: André Binggeli, “Early Christian Graeco-Arabica: Melkite Manuscripts and Translations in Palestine“, Intellectual History… Continue reading Miscellaneous Identifications IV: A Missing Quire of the Arabic Apocrypha Codex among the New Finds
Reuniting James Intercisus: A Mingana Leaf Rejoins Sinai Ar. 369
A guest post by Habib Ibrahim* 1. While working on the Arabic dossier of James Intercisus,1 a Syrian-Persian saint of the 5th century, I came across a fragment in the Mingana Collection in Birmingham that belongs to an Arabic manuscript from Sinai. The single leaf preserved under the shelfmark Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Mingana Collection,… Continue reading Reuniting James Intercisus: A Mingana Leaf Rejoins Sinai Ar. 369
Leaving Academia.edu: ‘AI’, Coercion, and Information Loss
[Update: The following text was first published under the title ‘Leaving Academia.edu: “AI” and Information Loss’ on 19 September 2025 and updated on 26 September 2025. The updates are marked and appear in square brackets.] 1. Yesterday I deleted my Academia.edu account. This has a direct impact on my work here. I would like to… Continue reading Leaving Academia.edu: ‘AI’, Coercion, and Information Loss
Andrea Scandar’s Manuscripts in the Vatican Library
1. Over the last few days, I have started preparing a presentation on the Maronite scholar Andrea Scandar of Cyprus (Indrāwus Skandar al-Qubrusī, d. 1748)1 for an upcoming conference in Munich organised by my colleague Dr Vevian Zaki and entitled ‘Once We Were Here: Traces of Mobility across the Ottoman Empire‘ (8-10 July 2025). Scandar… Continue reading Andrea Scandar’s Manuscripts in the Vatican Library
Initial Funding from LMU Munich
1. Today I got news that I will receive initial funding from my faculty at LMU Munich. I’m very grateful for this. It’s a comparatively small sum (around EUR 9,000). But it can already achieve quite a bit. I will use this funding to carry out preliminary work for a larger project dedicated to the… Continue reading Initial Funding from LMU Munich
Annual Report #2
1. This is the second annual report of the project Membra Dispersa Sinaitica (the first one can be found here). I mainly use these annual reports to reflect on what I have achieved with the project in the past year, what went well and what didn’t, and where the journey should go in the coming… Continue reading Annual Report #2
New Materials on Grote (Part 4)
1. This is the fourth post in a series in which I document new biographical material related to the collector Friedrich Grote (you can find the first three posts here, here, and here). Already for the second time I was unexpectedly approached by someone because they came across a source on Grote by coincidence. This… Continue reading New Materials on Grote (Part 4)