The sisters of Sinai : how two lady adventurers discovered the Lost Gospels / Janet Soskice.

Title:

Author:

Soskice, Janet Martin.

ISBN:

9781400041336

1400041333

Edition:

1st American ed.

Publication Info:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

Description:

xii, 316 p. : ill. ;

General Note:

"A Borzoi book."

Personal Subject:

Lewis, Agnes Smith, 1843-1926.

Gibson, Margaret Dunlop, 1843-1920.

Title Subject:

Bible. N.T. Gospels. Syriac -- Versions -- Codex palimpsestus Sinaiticus.

Subject(s):

New Testament scholars -- Great Britain -- Biography.

Church history -- 20th century.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

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Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... East Library	Book	225.0922 SOSK	Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
Searching... Rockrimmon Library	Book	225.0922 S715S	Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Narrative non-fiction at its fascinating best: to the astonishment of the academic world, two audacious Scottish Victorian ladies make an exciting discovery of an early New Testament manuscript on Mount Sinai.

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

In this delightful, true-life adventure tale, an intrepid pair of middle-aged twins challenge gender limitations imposed by genteel Victorian society by successfully undertaking a hands-on quest to uncover lost biblical manuscripts. Instead of observing a lengthy period of mourning, recently widowed Scottish twins Agnes and Margaret Smith channeled their joint grief into action, setting out on the journey of a lifetime. Fueled by their strict Presbyterian faith, a passion for the Near East that extended to a self-taught mastery of Greek, Arabic, and Syriac, and armed with an intriguing rumor passed on by a sympathetic scholar, they sallied forth in 1892 to St. Catherine's monastery, located on a remote and inhospitable corner of the Sinai Peninsula. Overcoming the harsh and unforgiving terrain, and the reservations of the resident monks, Agnes and Margaret eventually unearthed the earliest known versions of the gospels. Soskice's pitch-perfect chronicle not only captures the spirit, the faith, and the determination of the remarkable Smith sisters but also exposes a significant scriptural controversy that continues to ignite scholarly debate.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2009 Booklist

Library Journal Review

This book actually tells not one but several stories: the grueling feat of undertaking Victorian-era Middle Eastern travel, especially for well-born ladies; the theological and cultural misgivings between Scots Presbyterian sensibilities and Greek Orthodox monasticism; the serendipity, misogyny, and double dealings that lie behind some of the greatest biblical manuscript finds of the 19th century; bickering between academic and scholarly egos; and what the lives of intelligent, educated Protestant widows looked like in Britain in the late 1800s. The two determined Scottish sisters discussed here strove to break free from those limited cultural constraints. Soskice (philosophical theology, Univ. of Cambridge; The Kindness of God) knits all these strains together, offering a fascinating look at the lives of twins Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Smith Gibson, who are credited with uncovering the earliest known copies of the Gospels in Syriac, the language of Jesus, at the monastery of St. Catherine's at Mount Sinai. Verdict Rich in detail, this is really the story of the twins' lives set against the momentous manuscript work that was their Christian witness and calling. Recommended for a wide readership, not just those interested in religion.-Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Map: Europe and the Near East in 1885	p. ix
Prologue	p. xi
1 Cambridge, 13 April 1893	p. 3
2 The Birth and Upbringing of the Lady Bible-Hunters	p. 7
3 The Journey to the Nile	p. 22
4 The Boat	p. 26
5 The Perfect Dragoman	p. 30
6 The Search for the Perfect Mate	p. 51
7 Greece	p. 58
8 The Estate of Marriage	p. 64
9 The Cambridge Antiquarian	p. 78
10 Heresy and Mortality	p. 91
11 Sinai and von Tischendorf	p. 99
12 The Perils of Bible-Hunting	p. 103
13 The Story von Tischendorf Did Not Tell	p. 109
14 Setting Out for Sinai	p. 114
15 The Treasure in the Dark Closet	p. 122
16 The Cambridge Party	p. 134
17 The Disjoint Expedition	p. 143
18 The Final Falling-Out	p. 167
19 The Devilish Press and the Highland Regiment	p. 174
20 The Cambridge Cold Shoulder	p. 185
21 A Lightning Course in Text Scholarship	p. 191
22 In the Company of Orientalists	p. 200
23 Burying the Hatchet	p. 204
24 Keepers of Manuscripts	p. 214
25 Solomon Schechter and the Cairo Genizah	p. 220
26 In Cairo with Schechter	p. 230
27 Castlebrae	p. 238
28 The College's Opening	p. 248
29 To the Monasteries of the Nitrian Desert	p. 251
30 The Active Life	p. 255
31 The Darkening to War	p. 264
32 Palimpsest	p. 271
Coda	p. 278
Acknowledgements	p. 281
A Note on Sources	p. 283
Notes	p. 285
Select Bibliography	p. 301
Index	p. 305

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