Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

SHEIKH ABD EL-GURNA

from the 6th-middle of 7th century AD.
Dating based on parallels of this kind can
approximate the time when the covers were
made, but not the codex itself, the text of
which is provisionally thought to come from
the 8th century. There is no reason, however,
to think that a cover from an earlier codex
could not have been used to bind this
particular manuscript, thus explaining the
chronological discrepancy.
The text is written in one column con-
taining from 21 (pages 42 and 43) to 24
(pages 74 and 75) lines in Coptic.
A translation of part ol the text [Fig. 7}
permitted this codex to be identified as
a collection of rules and regulations (so-

called Canons of Pseudo-Basil) intended
for a church community. It may be the
only preserved lull version of these canons
in the Coptic language (Sahidic dialect).
Previously, it was known only from a late
version in Arabic.3
The second of the Coptic manuscripts
(32.5 by 24 cm; 4 cm thick) was bound in
leather covers with painted decoration
[Fig. 6]. A “rosette" was painted presumably
in the center of the front cover and framed
with a guilloche. The book was tied with
a thong, to which a painted wooden pointer
was attached. There were some 70 cards in
it. Like the other manuscript, the text here
was also written in a single column, each


Fig. 10. Ostracon on limestone chip
(Photo T. Gorecki)

3 W. Riedel, Kirchenrechtsquellen des Patriarchats Alexandrien (Leipzig 1900).

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