Ben C Smith

I think he has passed on. But his works are probably still under copyright.

Ben.

countjulian

Hmmmmmmmm... doesn't seem like there's really much in the way of evidence for an early Arabic copy of Josephus. How familiar were Muslim scholars with the work in Greek or Syriac?

Roger Pearse

I haven't the faintest idea about what Moslem writers might or might not have read -- sorry.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Ben C Smith

Shlomo Pines writes on page 23 of An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum and its Implications:

Agapius' Arabic text of the Testimonium is in all probability translated from a Syriac version of the Greek original.

This statement is footnoted on the same page (note 97):

This Syriac version may have occurred in the historical work of the Syriac author Theophilos, who may have been Agapius' main source; see above, n. 5.

Looking back to the very lengthy note 5 (on page 6) we find:

Agapius seems to have used Syriac rather than Arabic sources....

I recall no place in the book in which Pines discusses an Arabic Josephus. That may imply that there is no such animal, since it would seem particularly relevant to a discussion of the sources for an Arabic Testimonium.

Ben.

Roger Pearse

I was curious as to who Agapius was, and whether his book was accessible to us. Personally I hate bits of ancient authors which are endlessly tossed around, while the main work remains untranslated. His book is a Universal History. He was bishop of Hierapolis (Mabbug). Several editions exist. Here's one with a French translation. But four fascicles of the PO long makes it a lengthy text indeed -- about the same as the History of the Coptic Patriarchs of Alexandria that I have online:

Main Author: Agapius, Bishop of Hierapolis, 10th cent
Title Details: Kitab al-'unvan = Histoire universelle / écrite par Agapius (Mahboub) de Menbidj ; editée et traduite en français par Alexandre Vasiliev
Series: Patrologia Orientalis ; t. 5, fasc. 4 ; t. 7, fasc. 4 ; t. 8, fasc. 3 ; t. 11, fasc. 1
Publisher: Paris : Firmin-Didot, 1910-
Physical desc.: v ; 29 cm
Note: Arabic and French
Subject: World history
Other Names: Vasil'ev, A. A. (Aleksandr Aleksandrovich), b. 1867
Language: Arabic and French

Here's the other edition (probably with Latin translation):

Main Author: Agapius, Bishop of Hierapolis, 10th century
Title Details: Agapius Episcopus Mabbugensis Historia universalis / edidit L. Cheikho
Series: Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium ; v. 65
Corpus scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Scriptores Arabici ; t.5
Publisher: Beryti : E Typographeo Catholico, 1912
Physical desc.: 429 p ; 25 cm
Note: Historia universalis
Subject: World history - Early works to 1800
Other Names: Cheikho, Louis, 1859-1927
Language: Arabic

If I had money, it would be online in English...

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Chris Weimer

Money - truly no lie was spoken when someone said that money was the root of all evil. I need a bigger paycheck and another beer now.

And speaking of the history of the Coptic church, have you heard from the Polish team about the latest Coptic trove found there? I've been anxious. Even getting in depth in Lambdin instead of that old tutorial I used once before...

Julian

Huh? What's this? Could you provide some sort of linky?

Julian

Roger Pearse

"The love of money" not money itself, of course. Our TV is full of stuff about how a govt minister's husband was bribed by the Italian premier, and her assertions that she knew nothing about it.

Have you ever felt that your ambitions were a bit limited?

If I could have it for wishing, I'd like a huge pension for life, a mansion in the Bahamas, loads of flunkies fluent in Latin, Greek and Syriac; a Ferrari, an oil-refinery (necessary accessory for the Ferrari); a good accountant, a good dentist, and the ability to captivate young women so that they are unable to resist my least wish. (Although of course I already have the last).

This all sounds a bit like that film where Elizabeth Hurley as the devil fulfils a rather similar wish, by making the wisher a cocaine baron!

Zilch. I hate academic small-souled greedy-greedyness.

Not sure that I understand this bit.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Chris Weimer

There's another thread about it here and here for Roger Pearse's webpage on it.