The sun., 1903-10-18
TWIN SISTERS, BOTH FAMOUS.
ruE FINDERS or THE LEWIS
pALIWPSEST NOW IN TOWN.
s,or, Of the Two English Women VINO
Dscoyercd the Oldest known Manu-.
script ~ the Gospels Honers Con.
fcrrcd Upon Them - Their Lectures.

fcrrcd pom lue" - hucH AectuEeo'
The University Of Heidelberg did pre-
y;ously unheard of thing last August. It
conferred degrees upon two women. Mrs.
Agnes Smith Lewis and Mrs. Margaret
m,nIop Gibson, of Cambridge. England.
Mrs Gibson and Mrs. Lewis are now in
New York, the guests Of Mrs. Samuel Van
vachten Huntington, Of 90 East Seventy
eighth street.
They discovered what is now known
among scholars as the Lewis palimpsest.
This is syriac version Of the four Gospels.
nronounced to be the oldest manuscript
Of the Gospels yet discovered.
The earliest known date for a manu-
script of the Gospels before this discovery
was 1sO A. D.. the date OF Tatian's Dia-
tessaron Hjelt. the Swedish philo!ogist.
backed by the German critics. declares on
pathological grounds that the discovery
made by the two English women throws
the date Of the earliest known manuscript
of the Gospels far back Of that year.
Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson, who are
twin sisters. made caravan trip Of nine
days into the heart Of the Arabian desert
to find this manuscript. They discov-
cred it in Greek monastery, almost as
old as the Christian era, built on the side
Of Mount Sinai. 80 miles from the nearest
building. u strange old tumble Of towers
and dungeons fortified by the Roman En-
peror .Tustinian in the fifth century. and
known to have existed 200 years before
that.
tN
America few weeks ago to visit cousins
In Canada and Virginia. They lectured on
Oct is at the University Of Pennsylvania,
and on Oct. is at the Jewish Theological
Seminary in this city The story OF their
explorations in the Far East reads like
romance.
The sisters were imbued in girlhood
with the love Of exploring out OF the way
corners of the earths surface. AS girls
they poked about alone. and together. in
remote bvways of Greece and Palestine.
Daughters of an antiquarian, both mar
He'd distinguished men. DIR. Gibson was
author of "The Cid Ballads" and other
works. Dr. Lewis was librarian Of Corpus
Caristi College, Cambridge. Not till both
we're married did the sisters f1nd an oppor-
tanity to continue their travels together.
In the meantime both had become poly
eots. When Rendel Harris found the
Apology Of Aristides" in Syriao Mrs. Lewis
found that from her knowledge Of Arabic
she could get an inkling Of the meaning
OF the characters as published.
This led her to study Syriac, and eyentu-
ally to the determination of the two
sisters to visit the Sinaitic monastery and
thoroughly investigate its contents. Mr.
Harris had found the Apology there,
aud they felt sure that other interesting
fr.ds would reward patient rummaging.
they had to learn photography as well
o. Syriac to prepare themselves for the
undertaking., as the monks will not sci
the manuscripts, which must therefore
all be photographed. At Cairo they en-
gagged dragoman, oamels, and attendants
for the trip. Then they went to Suez and
pushed into the desert for nine days, pur-
suing a general southeasterly course. nearly
the route followed by the Israelites at the
Exodus.
st. GATHERINGS convent is vast rock
bound pile on the mountainside, surrounded
bv an outer wall built when the place was
fortified by Justinian, within which is q
labyrinthine conglomeration OF ancient
stone buildings. 1t is inhabited by COM
rnunity Of Greek monks of the Greek Catho-
lie faith. They raise the vegetables they
nat In gardens, but the monastery has also
ands in Cyprus and Gambia, given 1t in
vast centuries, from which it draws a
,evenue.
Most OF the monks can read and writo
modern Greek. but they know nothing Of
The ancient tongues and have not the slight
est idea OF the significance Of the manu-
scripts to modern thought. After the
travellers had explained over and over
again their hopes concerning the docu-
ments, some old brother would come upon
them poring patiently over the parch-
ments, and. raising his hands in astonish-
nent, would e1claim, in effect:
.Oh. worra, worra! What in the world
40 YOU want with the old things anyway"
They are, nevertheless, a most kindly
disposed people,, and gave the two sisters
the fullest liberty TO investigate. Day
after day the two pored over uncouth char
acters in strange tongues, until at last they
lit upon the now famous palimpsest.
A palimpsest is parchment from which
ono writing has been erased to make room
Tor another. In this palimpsest the second
writing, clear and bold, was "The Lives
Of Holy Women" Between the lines and
on the margins Of this queer, rambling old
record could be detected the faint tracery
of an earlier writing. erased TO make room
for the second on the precious vellum.
With the passage Of time the oxygen OF
the air combined with the iron of the ink
had made it again visible.
There they were, the four Gospels. labori-
ously set down In Syriac by some early
Christian OF Palestine, within $50 years
after the Crucifixion, afterward erased
By some old med evai monk to make room
for his Lives OF Holy Women" and re-
discovered by two English women
One sis, er holding the book and turning
the leaves, and the other manipulating
the camera, they worked day after Gay
Til the whole was photographed. The
photographs when published Immediately
engaged the attention Of the leading phil
ologsi and biblical critics of the world.
In IS8S, Mrs. Lewis having learned the
me- bod Of copying, the two returned TO IT
Catherine and made a more complete copy
filing in many gaps. This was published
by Mrs Lewis in 1895
Mrs. Lewis and Mrs Gibson made two
later trips o the monastery, and discovered
other Interesting things Arabic manu-