Scottish twins Agnes and Margaret Smith, born in 1843, were adventurers defying the traditions of their day. In “The Sisters of Sinai,” author Janet Soskice describes them as “unshakably devout Presbyterians deeply interested in biblical studies and languages.” They mastered French, German, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, ancient and modern Greek, Arabic and Syriac. Determined to find “something” of interest, they traveled by camel to St. Catherine’s Monastery, making a most amazing discovery. While examining a collection of stories about saints written on vellum, Agnes realized the vellum had two layers of writing. She faintly saw the words “Of Matthew" and “Of Luke” underneath the more visible text. Those words were from a fourth-century manuscript of the Gospels in Syriac, one of the oldest manuscripts of the Gospels ever found.
Share
More Book Minute Features
September 21, 2020
Septembertestament
Martin Luther is best known for the 95 Theses written in 1517. But did you know he was the first to translate the Bible into an easy-to-read, everyday...
September 14, 2020
Zion National Park
Zion National Park is Utah’s first National Park. The official park tour guide explains how Zion Canyon got its name from the Bible, specifically Isai...
September 07, 2020
Ostrog Bible
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Orthodox Church in Eastern European countries including Bulgaria, Russia, S...