AN INTRODUCTION TO CERIANI'S REPRINT OF THE AMBROSIAN MANUSCRIPT B 21 INF. (CODEX AMBROSIANUS 7A1)

By Emidio Vergarli*

THE HISTORY OF THE MANUSCRIPT

The recent history of the Ambrosian manuscript B 21 inf., almost its second life, began with the photolithographic edition reprinted in the present volume.1 The manuscript had been in the possession of the Ambrosian Library since the beginning of the seventeenth century when Antonio Maria Ceriani (1828—1907),2 Prefect of the Ambrosian Library, undertook to publish it in a diplomatic form employing the same techniques he had already used with his "splendidly reproduced"3 edition of C 313 inf., the manuscript of the Ambrosian Syro-Hexapla.4 It is to Ceriani's credit that he understood the importance of B 21 inf. and promoted the manuscript for philological and biblical studies.5 Ceriani had initially envisaged a critical edition proper, presenting himself as a homo novus in the field of research,6 but the project became, in the course of time and for a variety of reasons, the realisation of a diplomatic edition. Ceriani was well aware that a first-rate instrument was being offered to scholars, and knew his photolithographic reproduction of B 21 inf. would enable them to become acquainted with a manuscript of the oldest and basically integral version of the

* Associate Professor of Sytiac at the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Rome) and Syriac Section Secretary of Near Eastern Studies Class at the Ambrosian Academy (Milan). For various reasons I am most grateful to Sebastian P. Brock (University of Oxford), Cesare Pasini (Vatican Library), Lucas Van Rompay (Duke University) and Gianantonio Borgonovo (Ambrosian Library). I also thank Anna Marson for her translation of my text. 1 A.M. Ceriani (ed.), Translatio Sjra Pescitto Veteris Testamenti ex codice Ambrosiano sec. fere VI photolithographice edita, I, Genesis-Threni, In Officinis photolithographica Angeli della Croce et typographica J. B. Pogliani et sociorum, Mediolani 1876 (Monumenta sacra et profana 6), pp. 1—358; II. Epistola Jeremiae — adfinem, Mediolani 1883, pp. 363—680. Both volumes are co-published: "Londini apud Williams et Norgate - Augustae Taurinorum et Florentiae apud Hermannum Loescher". 2 For an updated portrait of A.M. Ceriani, see A.M. Zaffaroni (ed.), Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani. Uboldo, 2 maggio 1828 — Milano, 2 mar^o 1907. Convegno nel centenario della morte, Società Storica Saronnese, Uboldo 2007. 3 W. Wright, Short History of Sjriac Uterature (London 1894), Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2001, p. 5 note 3. 4 A.M. Ceriani (ed.), Codex Sjro-hexaplaris Ambrosianus photolithographice editus, Impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae Angelus della Croce photolithographice codicem edidit, J. B. Pogliani et sodi notas impresserunt typis bibliothecae, Mediolani 1873, pp. 1-12; ff. 1-193; later: Typis et impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, Mediolani 1874 (Monumenta sacra et profana 7). 5 S. Brock, The ^Development of Sjriac Studies, in K.J. Cathcart (ed.), The Edward Hincks Bicentenary Lectures, University College, Dublin 1994, pp. 94-113 (here: 101 note 34). 6 Here are his actual words in Praefatio to the Monumenta volume of 1861, p. XV: "Omnino editio critica V.T. versionis Pescito cum versione latina, prolegomenis et notis, in quibus varietates adducantur, testes quoque constituti textus exhibeantur, omnes vero discutiantur, praecipuum est votorum meorum, quod foveo amantissime, et quotidie recordor dioicissime et recordans enthusiasmo corripior, quo soluto facilior mors mihi futura videtur". This quotation also appears, among others, in G. Galbiati, Antonio Maria Ceriani. Uuomo e lo scienziato, offprint of the Discorso tenuto al R. Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere (21 February 1929), pp. 1-21 (here: 14).

VII complete Peshitta Old Testament,7 the Syriac version based on the Hebrew text and produced circa the second century CE.8 Ceriani had found in the Ambrosian Library a rich tradition of scholarly and biblical studies, and full of admiration for the ancient authors, he began to apply "philological criteria", interested in the text as an historical document and as evidence of the life of man over the course of time.9 The second half of the eighteenth century had seen scholars' attention focusing in particular on C 313 inf., the Ambrosian Codex credited with being in some way connected with the volume in the hands of Andreas Masius (1514—1573) and which comprises a part of the Syriac translation of the fifth column of Origen's Hexapla.10 Ceriani's Syriac studies stemmed from this interest in the recovery of the oldest text of the Septuagint, and they soon extended to B 21 inf. as well, the other invaluable Syriac manuscript that Cardinal Federico Borromeo's (1564—1631) indefatigable quest for codices had eventually brought to Milan.11 We are given to believe that B 21 inf. was already one of the established Ambrosiana treasures only a few years after its opening in December 1609. The Ambrosiana had been planned according to "modern" guidelines and it availed itself of an effective Body (Collegio) of scholars. Some of its first Doctors were familiar with the study of Oriental languages, and were able to make use of the many works found in the collection, and produced grammars and dictionaries. The most famous of these scholars is perhaps Antonio Giggi (d. 1634). In addition to his pioneering work, an Arabic-Latin dictionary,12 Giggi noted of B 21 inf. that the manuscript had entered the Ambrosian Library coming "ex iEgypto, emptus a Monasterio S. Mariae Matris Dei in deserto Schytin."13 Reference is made to the Ambrosian Syriac Peshitta by Giggi and by Cardinal Borromeo himself in works from 1620,14 indicating that the manuscript was already in the Library by that date. Manuscript B 21 inf. must therefore have arrived in Milan between 1609 and 1620. How did it come, and who brought it? When Cardinal Federico Borromeo founded the Library, he prioritised the collection of manuscripts both near and far, so that the Library would be well equipped with volumes from every field of knowledge and in different languages, in particular those of the Orient.15 Michele Maronita was given the responsibility for collecting texts from the Near and Middle East. He reached

7 In his Praefatio he dates it to "sec. fere VI" and points out how he filled the eight-page lacuna (pp. 79—86) of the Book of Numbers with the corresponding pages "ex codice Musei Britannici Add. 14, 427", see infra, p. 7. 8 S. Brock, The Bible in the Syriac Tradition, Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2006, p. 17. 9 G. Rinaldi, Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani e gli studi semitistici a Milano, Aevum 31 (1957), pp. 297—315 (here: 301). For Ceriani's studies, nurtured by the memory and the emulation of the Ambrosiana scholars, see F. Novati, Commemoratone di Mons. D. Antonio Maria Ceriani, Rendiconti R. Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, II, 44 (1911), pp. 40-57 (here: 43). 10 Cf. C. Pasini, Ta siro-esaplare cieli'Ambrosiana (codice C 313 inf.), in E. Vergani - S. Chialà (eds), Te Chiese sire tra IV e VI secolo: dibattito dottrinale e ricerca spirituale. Atti del 2° Incontro sull'Oriente Cristiano di tradizione siriaca. Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 28 marzo 2003, Centro Ambrosiano, Milano 2005, pp. 17—40 (here: 18—24). 11 For the study of Oriental languages and the quest for manuscripts at the origin of the Ambrosian Library, see, among the early sources, B. Guenzati, Vita di Federigo Borromeo, edited by M. Bonomelli, Biblioteca Ambrosiana - Bulzoni Editore, Milano-Roma 2010, pp. 188—197. Also see G. Ravasi, Il siriaco allAmbrosiana, in E. Vergani - S. Chialà (eds), Te ricchezze spirituali delle Chiese sire. Atti del 1° Incontro sull'Oriente Cristiano di tradizione siriaca. Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 1 marzo 2002, Centro Ambrosiano, Milano 2003, pp. 15—22; C. Pasini, Te acquisizioni librarie del Cardinale Federico Borromeo e il nascere dell'Ambrosiana, Studia Borromaica 19 (2005), pp. 461— 490; Id., Ta raccolta dei manoscritti greci all'origine dell'Ambrosiana: linee di acqusizione (in particolare la missione di Antonio Salma^ia a Corfù negli anni 1607—1608), Studia Borromaica 15 (2001), pp. 59—107. 12 A. Giggeius, ThesaurusTinguae Arabicae, Ex Ambrosiani Collegii Typographia, Milano 1632 (4 volumes). 13 According to Ceriani, see infra, Praefatio, p. 8. C. Pasini remains doubtful over some points of Giggi's handwriting: see his Ta Siropeshitta dell'Ambrosiana, in E. Vergani - S. Chialà (eds), Storia, cristologia e tradizioni della Chiesa Siro-orientale. Atti del 3° Incontro sull'Oriente Cristiano di tradizione siriaca. Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 14 maggio 2004, Centro Ambrosiano, Milano 2006, pp. 13—25, in particular 16 note 12. 14 In his Notae in Duodecim Prophetas minores, Mediolani, 1620 (in the margin of Habacuc 111,1 on manuscript F 19 inf., f. 188v, Borromeo notes down "The Syriac text"); in the same year Giggi produced In proverbia Salomonis Commentarli Trium Rabbinorum [...] His accesserunt versiones Chaldaeae paraphrasis, ac Sirae lectionis ex vetustissimo codice Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, ut ab editione vulgata differunt. See Ceriani, Praefatio, p. 8; Pasini, Ta Siro- peshitta dell'Ambrosiana, pp. 19—20 and in particular note 28 for the description of the codex in a manuscript by Borromeo. 15 Supra, note 11.

VIII Tripolis in Syria and Qanubin on his mission and met his death in Aleppo in 1613.16 The early historians of the Library did not, however, leave any detailed accounts of Michele's expeditions. Only a recent revisiting of his correspondence has brought to light his visit to Rosetta, Egypt, which Monsignor Enrico Galbiati (1914—2004) has identified as a credible point of acquisition.17 If the above reconstruction of events is to be trusted, it means that Michele, with Federico Borromeo's credentials in hand, must have collected from the Monastery two fine codices and initiated the depletion of the wealth of Dayr al-Suryan's library. This depletion would continue with the missions of the Assemanis (1707 and 1715) on behalf of the Vatican Library and that of the English (1837—1847) on behalf of the British Museum.18 The beginning of the seventeenth century was probably not an easy period for Syrian monks at the Monastery, and this may explain the beginnings of the "loss" of Syriac manuscripts.19 It should, however, be noted that other hypotheses have been put forward in addition to that of Galbiati.20 Cardinal Federico had access to a widespread web of contacts through Orientals and missionaries who were willing to help him build up the Oriental treasures of the Library. It was this network that provided the first information on Dayr al- Suryan.21 William Wright mentions the visit of a "capuchin monk", Gilles de Loches, before 1633 in Sketis, where he supposedly saw ancient volumes and acquainted Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc with his discovery.22 Wright noted the wealth of the Wad! al-Natrun monasteries and the exceptional role that Moses of Nisibis had played in the collection of manuscripts,23 and that the library of the Monastery of the Mother of God, which was under continual restoration at least until 1624, had in the course of its history received books and codices from Takrit and from the Takritans in Egypt. Among these codices is found B 21 inf.24 which, as noted in the colophon, was purchased by Abu 'All Zakariya for

16 E. Galbiati, Uorientalistica nei primi decenni di attività, in Storia dell'Ambrosiana. Il Seicento, Catiplo, Milano 1992, pp. 89-120, in particular 106-108. 17 Ibid. 18 H.G. Evelyn White, The Monasteries of the Wâdi 'n Natrun, II, The History of the Monasteries of Ni tria and of Scetis, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1932, p. 454; O.V. Volkoff, la recherche de manuscrits en Egypte, Publications de l'Institut Français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Cairo 1970 (Recherches d'archéologie, de philologie et d'histoire / Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, 30), p. 38. Also see: W. Cureton, British Museum — MSS. From the Egyptian Monasteries, Quarterly Review 77 (1846), pp. 39—69; T.J. Lamy, Tes manuscrits syriaques du Musée Britannique, Bulletins de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux- Arts de Belgique 49 [II. 49] (1880), pp. 223-253. 19 L. Van Rompay — A.B. Schmidt, Takritans in the Egyptians Desert: The Monasteiy of the Syrians in the Ninth Century, Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 1 (2001), pp. 41—60 (here: 41—42) and H. Lammens, Tes manuscrits syriaques du désert de Nitrie, Etudes religieuses, philosophiques, historiques et littéraires 32 [t. 64] (1895), pp. 286-320 (here: 298-299). 20 The Dutch market has been considered, or that the manuscript might have been out of Egypt already when it was sent to Europe. See the present writer's notes 41 and 105 in II colofone della syropsittâ, in C. Baffioni — R. B. Finazzi — A. Passoni Dell'Acqua — E. Vergani (eds), Gli studi orientalistici in Ambrosiana nella cornice del IV centenario (1609—2009). Primo Dies Academicus 8—10 novembre 2010, Bibüoteca Ambrosiana — Bulzoni Editore, Roma 2012 (Orientalia Ambrosiana 1), pp. 287—312 (where the edition, translation and study of the colophon can be found). 21 Evelyn White, The Monasteries of the Wâdi 'n Natrun, II, pp. 417—421; C. Stewart, Yours, Mine, or Theirs? Historical Observations on the Use, Collection and Sharing of Manuscripts in Western Europe and the Christian Orient, in G.A. Kiraz (ed.), Malphono w-Kabo d-Malphone. Studies in Honor of Sebastian P. Brock, Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2008, pp. 603-630, in particular 622-627. 22 W. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the Year 1838, III, British Museum, London 1872, p. V; J.S. Assemani was doubtful about the number "of about eight thousand volumes" that Gilles claimed he had seen: Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana, I, De Scriptoribus Syris Orthodoxis, Propaganda Fide, Roma 1719, Praefatio totius operis § VII e XI. 23 Moses acquired 250 volumes in Syria and Mesopotamia, between 927 and 932: S. Brock, WithoutMushé of Nisibis, Where Would We Be? Some Reflections on the Transmission of Syriac Uterature, in R. Ebied - H. Teule (eds), Symposium Syriacum VIII, The Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 56 (2004), pp. 15—24; now also Id., Abbot Mushe of Nisibis, in Orientalia Ambrosiana 1, (see, supra, note 20). 24 "Early in the xith cent, it was purchased by Abü 'All Zakariya the Tagritan (see nos. cccxix. — cccxxii) for the convent of St. Mary Deipara. See the notes on foil. 1 a and 330a." (Wright, Catalogue, III, p. V. n. §; and Ceriani, infra, pp. 7—8). On the cultural exchanges between Mesopotamia and Egypt, see J.M. Fiey, Coptes et Syriaques. Contads et échanges, Studia Orientalia Christiana. Collectanea 15 (1972—73), pp. 295—365 (here: 323—326; 340-341). On the Dayr al-Suryän Library, Evelyn White, The monasteries of the Wâdi 'n Natrun, II, pp. 439-458; M.J. Blanchard, Moses of Nisibis fl. 906—943) and the Eibraiy of Deir Suriani, in L.S.B. MacCoull (ed.), Studies in the

IX the Monastery and should be added to the four liturgical codices dated to 1006/1007 which are now in the British Library.25 Nevertheless, the history of the manuscript is not easy to ascertain. At one point it was also in the possession of an Abdelmessias from Damascus — 'bed la-msih dayraya, bar haytam bar dawid, (...) d-men darmsüq mdi(n)ta — who wrote his name over an erasure in the same colophon.

THE PLACE OF THE TEXT IN BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP

The importance of the manuscript is beyond doubt. The utmost care with which it was treated where it was preserved is possibly an indication that it had always been considered, as it were, unique. Today it consists of two parchment volumes of 36/37 cm by 25/26 cm.26 We should therefore be grateful to the monk called "Jacob the sinner" (hattàyà Ya'quB), who restored it in 1416 and handed it down to us in such good condition. The manuscript has a tide which presupposes the completion of the OT with the NT, but this is not exactly the case, and Ceriani interpreted the manuscript, not used for liturgical purposes, as unfinished. Since it is the earliest complete Peshitta manuscript of the Old Testament, its value is connected with the type of text transmitted by the Syrians in the sixth/seventh centuries before the Textus Receptus, and with the canon and order of the biblical books it contains. The list can be found in the Praefatio to the edition. On the other hand, it should be noted that the books are arranged in "historical" sequence, in view of the place given to the Psalms and to Job, identified with Jobab (Gen 10:29). Tobias is missing, but manuscript B 21 inf. is the only one which transmits the Syriac text of the Apocalypse of Baruch and IV Ezra in full. V Maccabees is in fact Book VI of Josephus' The Jewish War.21 Although he was aware that among the acquisitions of the British Library in 1847 there were manuscripts of single books which were older than B 21 inf.,28 whose collation he deemed indispensable for a real critical edition,29 Ceriani realised that B 21 inf., being basically complete, was much superior in antiquity to the existing editions. The Ambrosian manuscript itself, in fact, excelled above all the manuscripts used for the preparation of the Paris (1645) and London (1657) polyglot editions, the Samuel Lee (1823) and the Urmia editions (1852).30 In this last edition Ceriani found the existence of a lacuna in 1 Chronicles from 26:13 to the end of chapter 27, which he knew was filled in the B 21 inf. of Milan.31 Since 1861, Antonio Ceriani's Monumenta sacra et profana had offered editions of texts — not only Syriac — which have contributed to the development of biblical studies and to the understanding of the apocryphal books,32 at the same time giving prestige and fame to the

Christian East in memory of Mirrit Boutros Ghali, Publications of the Society for Coptic Archaeology (North America), Washington 1995, pp. 13-24. 25 Add. 12146; 12147; 12148 e 12149 (Wright, Catalogue [London 1870], I, pp. 258-269). 26 Infra, p. 7. For further details, also see Pasini's description in Ta Siro-peshitta dell'A.mbrosiana, pp. 13—15. 27 Infra, p. 7; cf. Brock, The Bible in the Syriac, pp. 43—44 (also note the group of the Books of Women); ibid., p. 46, about the stage in the text transmission represented 'by manuscripts of the sixth to eighth centuries (inclusive)'. 28 Among them he points out Add.14425 which is "the oldest of our version, and the most treasured" (A. Ceriani, Te edi^ioni e i manoscritti delle versioni siriache del Vecchio Testamento, Bernardoni, Milano 1869, in Memorie del R. Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere XI, 2.III, p. 9). Dated to 463/64 AD, it comprises Genesis and Exodus, 5bl in the Leiden edition, it would be among the few evidences of the earliest history of the text, together with Palimpsest Add. 14512 which is considered even earlier (771 of the Greeks = 459/460 AD). See B. ter Haar Romeny, The Syriac versions of the Old Testament, in AJos Sources. Arts et Utterature Syriaques, CERO, Antelias 2005 (Sources Syriaques 1), pp. 59-83 (here: 61). 29 Ceriani, Te edi^ioni e i manoscritti, p. 5. 30 Ibid., pp. 1—5. On this Memoria, F. Parente, T'opera scientifca di Antonio Maria Ceriani, Istituto Lombardo (Rend. Lett.) 113 (1979), 464-488 (here: 475). On the mentioned Peshitta editions, Haar Romeny, The Syriac versions, pp. 62—63. 31 To confirm Ceriani's assertions on 7al (the Ambrosian Syriac Peshitta in the Leiden abbreviations) "more valuable than those used for the printed editions", also see P.B. Dirksen, The Transmission of the Text in the Peshitta Manuscripts of the Book of Judges, Brill, Leiden 1972 (Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden 1), pp. 103-104. 32 As acknowledged by E. Renan, Rapport annuel, Journal asiatique VI.12, L'Imprimerie Imperiale, Paris 1868, pp. 11-164 (here: 96-97).

X Library founded by Cardinal Borromeo. His workmanship was accompanied by attentive reflection on methodological issues in the field of philology.33 The photolithographic editions of the two Ambrosiana treasures (C 313 inf. and B 21 inf.) originated in this cultural climate.34 For the Peshitta, it has been a question of "un véritable tournant dans l'histoire des editions". Once its basic value was ascertained, the Ambrosian manuscript became "la base obligée de toutes les éditions critiques".35 The Memoria of 1869 for the Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere contains a viable work plan for the future editor of the Peshitta,36 and the practicalities of such a venture form one of the reasons the Leiden editors selected B 21 inf. as the basis of their work.37 In any case, it is satisfying to see Ceriani's choices confirmed: he had given, after all, a very good reproduction, and after evaluating the text with extreme care. The editions of the two manuscripts which arrived in Milan from Dayr al-Suryan have therefore "revolutionized Syriac biblical studies".38 A recent reflection on the Leiden edition has recognised that "there is no good ground to regret" the Leiden decision.39 The Ambrosian manuscript is the earliest of the three most important complete manuscripts of the Peshitta: 7al, 8al, 9al. In opposition to Ceriani's aim of uncovering the original text of the Peshitta, Th. Nóldeke, who dated the Milan manuscript to the seventh century,40 claimed that, soon after the translation, the transmission over centuries of the Peshitta text for which we have no manuscripts remains obscure and unreliable.41 The diplomatic edition of B 21 inf. was, in any case, an invaluable step forward, and indeed "this publication was a landmark in Peshitta studies".42

ANTONIO MARIA CERIANI

The lasting lesson of the Ambrosiana Prefect lies in his consistent following of a strictly scientific working method. The merits of Ceriani's 1869 Memoria, in which he "drew attention to the existence of far older MSS of P",43 are not only rightly recognised, but they stem precisely from that critical approach. His strict evaluations of other scholars' work were made with the aim of a common search for truth to be found in simple attention to the text.44 Antonio Maria Ceriani was born into a family of humble origins at Uboldo (Várese) in 1828. He began his studies in 1842 in the seminaries of his diocese, where he studied the Hebrew language in his Theology years, and this was noted by Paolo Ballerini (1814—1897), the future Archbishop of

33 See my II contributo di mons. Ceriani agli studi siriaci, in E. Vergani - S. Chialà (eds), L'eredità religiosa e culturale dei Siri-occidentali tra VI e IX secolo. Atti del 6 ° Incontro sull'Oriente Cristiano di tradizione siriaca, Milano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, 25 maggio 2007, Centro Ambrosiano, Milano 2012, pp. 35-57 (here: 40). 34 About these works, Parente, L'opera scientifica, pp. 476—477; Pasini, La Siro-peshitta dell'Ambrosiana, pp. 20— 23. 35 M. Van Esbroeck, Les versions orientales de la Bible: une orientation bibliographique, in J. Rrasovec (ed.), Interpretation of the Bible, Slovenska Akademija Znanosti in umetnosti - Sheffield Academic Press, Ljubljana- Sheffield 1998, pp. 399-507 (here: 403). 36 In his Praefatio to Monumenta of 1861, p. XV, he had anyway asserted: "Hortor tamen et precor omnes, si qui sunt, qui idem opus suscepetint, ut ne per me illud dimittant, quod perfectum vel me sine ulla ex mea parte invidia a meo retrahet, vel me adjuvabit, ut minus infeliciter meum peragam". 37 P.A.H. de Boer, Preface, in The Peshitta Institute, The Old Testament in Syriac According to the Peshitta Version, 1,1, Brill, Leiden 1977, p. VII. 38 L. Van Rompay, Ceriani, Antonio Maria, in S.P. Brock - A.M. Butts - G.A. Kiraz - L. Van Rompay (eds), Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2011, p. 91. 39 D.J. Lane, The Peshitta of "Leviticus, Brill, Leiden-New York-Kòln 1994 (Monographs of the Peshitta Institute Leiden 6), p. 1. See the formula which is used to introduce the edition (e.g., for Dt): "Essentially the text of the Book of Deuteronomy printed in this edition is that of MS B21 Inferiore of the Ambrosian Library" (W.M. Van Vliet - J.H. Hospers - H.J.W. Drijvers [eds], Deuteronomy, in The Peshitta Institute, The Old Testament in Syriac According to the Peshitta Version, 1.2, Brill, Leiden 1991, p. III). 40 In view of its agreement with the Syro-Hexapla version (ended in 617) in Psalm 2:11, manuscript B21 inf. must be of a later date and so should be assigned to the seventh century (7al, for the Peshitta Institute). In fact, the manuscript is dated only according to "an educated guess" (Haar Romeny, The Syriac versions, p. 61). 41 See M.P. Weitzman, The Syriac Version of the Old Testament. An Introduction, University Press, Cambridge 1999 (University of Cambridge Oriental Publications 56), p. 293 note 84. 42 Haar Romeny, The Syriac versions, p. 63. 43 Weitzman, The Syriac Version, pp. 8—9 (Ceriani is cited at notes 29 and 30). 44 See my Ceriani siriacista, in Zaffaroni (ed.), Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani, pp. 77—97 (here: 79—81)

XI Milan45, when Ceriani was accepted into the Ambrosian Library. He was ordained as a priest in 1852, teaching Latin and Greek at the Collegio di Merate (1853—1855) before moving to Milan's Seminario Teologico to teach Oriental languages and Greek, as well as the Holy Scriptures, until 1870. In 1857 he was appointed as Doctor of the Ambrosian Library: a landmark event in his life. Milan's Accademia Scientifico-Letteraria welcomed him as a Professor of Paleography (1872—1905) and the great linguist Isaia Ascoli, while envisaging a College of Higher Studies after the example of the Collège de France for the city of Milan, foresaw him as the Professor of Syriac literature.46 An inventory of Syriac studies reveals just how widespread were his range of interests and how important were his achievements, not only for the Peshitta but also for the other Syriac versions (Philoxenian, Syro-Hexapla, revision by Jacob of Edessa) and for the apocryphal books. Here, the M-onumenta volumes in question are listed: 1) Prolegomena in edìtìonem versionis syriacae ex textu EXX. Prooemium. Pars prima. De orìgine, conditione et fatis versionis-,47 2) Ktdbé da-bruk wad-ulyàtà d'eramyà w- 'eggartd d-'eramyà ajy]k maslmàniità d-sab'in;48 3) Apocalipsis Baruch, olim de graeco in syriacum, et nunc de syriaco in latinum translated 4) Uber Esdrae quartus, de syriaco translatus, servata quatenus licuit veterì latina versione;50 5) Ubri Veteris Testamentijuxta textum LXX in syriacam linguam versi Quotquot supersunt in Europae Bibliotheàs. Genesis;51 6) Exodusf2 7) Esaiae fragmenta Sjriaca versionis anonymae et recensionis Jacobi Edessenrp 8) Uber IV Esdrae Syriacef^ 9) Apocalipsis Baruch Sjriace (from B 21 inf.);55 10) Flavii Josephi De Bello Judaico liber sextus syriace versus;56 11) Codex Sjro-hexaplaris Ambrosianus photolithographice editus (C 313 inf.);57 12) Translatio Sjra Pesatto Veteris Testamenti ex codice Ambrosiano sec. fere VI photolithographice edita (B 21 inf.).58 Ceriani is a singular figure among Italian scholars. On the one hand, he was a reserved person, secluded in his Ambrosiana world; on the other he was quite open to contacts and cultural exchanges.59 After becoming Prefect of the Library in 1870, in addition to the responsibilities of his new role, he became increasingly dedicated to the revision of the Ambrosian Missal.60 After his appointment as Consultant of the Pontificia Commissione Biblica in 1903, in his final years he launched a polemic against the newer exegetical tendencies, in particular against Alfred Loisy. This

45 C. Pasini, Ceriani all'Ambrosiana, in Zaffaroni (ed.), Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani, pp. 23—50 (here: 30). 46 See my II contributo di mons. Ceriani, pp. 38—39. 47 A.M. Ceriani (ed.), Fragmenta latina Evangelü S. Tucae, Parvae Genesis et Assumptions Mosis, Baruch, Threni et Epistola Jeremiae versionis syriacae Pauli Telensis cum notis et initio prolegomenon in integram eiusdem versionis editionem, Typis et impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, Mediolani 1861 (Monumenta sacra et profana 1, fase. 1), I—Vili ("Caput secundum. Conditio versionis ...", interrupted. Also see Parente, T'opera scientifica, p. 468. 48 Ceriani (ed.), Fragmenta, with backwards page-numbering, that is the one proper to Semitic languages, pp. 1—72 (here: 1—15 [Baruch], 16—62 \Tamentationes]eremiae\, 63—72 [EpistolaJeremiae]). 49 Translation of the B 21 inf. text; Ceriani (ed.), Fragmenta (Monumenta sacra et profana 1, fase. 2), pp. 73— 98. 50 Ibid., pp. 99-124. 51 A.M. Ceriani (ed.), Pentateuchi syro-hexaplaris quae supersunt cum notis. Accedunt nonnulla alia fragmenta syriaca, Typis et impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, Mediolani 1863 (Monumenta sacra et profana 2), pp. 1—112 (with backwards Syriac page-numbering); pp. VII—XXIV: Praefatio, Nomina uxorum patriarch arum priorum juxta librum hebraeum Jobelia nuncupatum, Excepta recensionis Jacobi Edesseni, Supplementum ad capitula Genesis, Praefatio in Genesim (Syro-hexaplaric text of Genesis [Add. 14442] and Exodus [Add. 12134], infra, note 52). 52 Ibid., pp. 113-144. Follows in Monumenta 2, fase. 3, pp. 145-264 ("Versio Syro-Hexaplaris [Pauli Tellensis] Exod. 4,25-20,26"); fase. 4 and fase. 5, pp. 265-406: "Versio Syro-Hexaplaris Ex 20,26-40,28"; pp. 407-408: "Lectiones ex Libro Levitici" (Add.12139 e Add. 14485). 53 From Add. 17106 edited in A.M. Ceriani (ed.), Opuscula etfragmenta miscella magnampartem apochiypha, Typis et impensis Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, Mediolani 1868 (Monumenta sacra et profana 5, fase. 1), pp. 1—40. 54 Ibid., pp. 41—111 (here: 109—111, Notulae A. Te Hir presbyteri Seminarli S. Sulpicii Parisiis in IV Esdrae Syriacum). 55 Ibid., fase. 2, pp. 113-180. 56 Ibid., pp. 181-192 (from B 21 inf.); "continuado et finis" in Monumenta 5, fase. 3 [posthumous], pp. 193-240. 57 See supra, note 4. 58 See supra, note 1. 59 That is how Prefect Enrico Galbiati remembered him: "A man from the good old times, a great worker, a little rough in his manners, but a gentleman at heart. Very few needs. Simple without being shabby. He did not like useless ornaments, not even in his writing" (quoted by C. Pasini, Ceriani all'Ambrosiana e i suoi contatti con i siriacisti, in Vergani - Chialà [edd.], T'eredita religiosa, pp. 19—34 [here: 21]). 60 M. Navoni, Antonio Maria Ceriani studioso di liturgia, in Zaffaroni (ed.), Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani, pp. 51-76.

XII attitude can be explained, not as a narrow-minded defence of tradition, but as adhesion to Anglo- Saxon philology rather than to the German tradition. In the former, a keen critical approach was combined with exegetical conservatism,61 and Ceriani had cultivated contacts with English academia during his visits to England of 1861 and 1866.62 Among these academics were the above-mentioned William Wright (1830—1889)63 and Frederick Field (1801—1885) who dedicated his own work to Ceriani.64 The Ambrosian Library preserves the letters they exchanged with Ceriani and the drafts of his answers. Ceriani called to mind Robert Payne Smith (1819—1895) when he received the Compendius Syriac Dictionary edited by Jessie Payne Smith, recalling the Thesaurus Syriacus and his encounter with father and daughter in their Christ Church home in Oxford in 1866. Much of his correspondence with Philip Edward Pusey (1830—1890) is preserved, a scholar with whom he had maintained a very close friendship, as he described, since 1860. On the occasion of his first visit to London he met William Cureton (1808— 1864) who, he remembered, treated him in a brotherly fashion and whom he deemed to be the best editor of Syriac texts. Within the Ambrosian Library, Ceriani was always at the hub of a rich network of contacts. Outside the English-speaking world we should note his exchanges with Theodor Nòldeke (1836—1930), whose Syriac Grammar he received and for which he thanked him in his letter of 20 March 1880.

CERIANI'S WORK ON THE EDITION

Despite his many appointments and engagements, Ceriani continued his work on the Peshitta over many years, and in particular he appears to have taken care of it on a daily basis between 1890 and 1892.65 The results of these continuous annotations are visible in B 21 ter inf., a copy in separate fascicles of the photolithographic reproduction of 1876—1883, in whose margins he wrote glosses and notes, collating the printed text with the manuscript. As with his Notae on the Syro-hexaplaric version, he had in mind a Supplemento to the completed edition where he would correct possible imperfections that still remained in the reproduction. In the course of the photographic process, he had examined the results page by page, specifically checking that there were no stains making the text illegible, but correcting nothing in ink.66 It is a pity that Ceriani's handwriting is difficult, which makes his last annotations on the Peshitta hardly legible, but his work bears witness to his constancy in fulfilling the enormous task he had set himself to accomplish from the very beginning of his research. In order to make consultation easier, Ceriani supplemented the photographs with the Arabic numerals of the chapters and the verses of all the biblical books, according to the various editions he mentions in his Praefatio. The work's title-page provides information on the network of contacts with editors and scholars, in particular British scholars, who made it actually and economically possible. Ever since the publication of his editions in Monumenta, Ceriani had taken care of the technical problems connected with the printing of Oriental scripts and spent long hours and entire days assisting the typographers working for the Library. When, in his encounter with the young Milanese photographer Angelo Della Croce, a new solution for the reproduction of Syriac texts seemed likely, he was also able to appreciate the advantages of the new photolithographic techniques from a scientific standpoint. In the case of manuscript B 21 inf., this meant continuing the collaboration which had started in 1869 on the Syro-Hexapla edition: it was a pioneering achievement, and one that not only produced remarkable results but also overcame the resistance to new methods which still existed among philologists.67

61 Parente, L.'opera scientifica, p. 483 (this work is also useful for understanding Ceriani's whole production, beyond his Syriac interests). 62 Pasini, Ceriani all'Ambrosiana e i suoi contatti con i siriacisti, pp. 25—31. 63 Ibid, on the following information. 64 "In studiis syriacis excolendis et promovendis primarium locum obtinuisse" (on p. II, volume I, fase. II of his Origenis Hexaplorum quae supersunt, E Typographeo Clarendoniano, Oxonii 1874). 65 Pasini, IM Siro-peshitta dell'Ambrosiana, pp. 21—23. 66 See, infra, the last column of Praefatio. 67 Rinaldi, Monsignor Antonio Maria Ceriani, pp. 306—309.

XIII

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