Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-04
Prof. Saunders of Michigan
Pieces Together Papyrus
Now at .Freer Gallery.
RESULT IS GREEK COPY
MADE BEFORE ITO AID.
Text May Have Important Bearing
on Future Textual Studies
Of Scriptures.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Inc STSeT GdIleTy ucIe ID III pOooSo~
sion of q new and important version
of IL books of the Old Testament-the
so-called Minor Prophets-which may
have an important bearing on future
textual studies Of the Scriptures.
This has become known with the pub
LEGATION by Prof. Henry K. Saunders of
the University of Michigan, Of the re-
suits of piecing togeth. mass OF tiny
fragments Of faded papyrus mixed
with sand which were dug from the
Egyptian desert.
The result shows Greek copy OF
these books which, Prof. Saunders con-
cludes from internal evidence, was made
before 270 AID, which is very signih-
cant date. Moreover, there are several
important variations from all other
known manuscripts.
Contains Copies Of Books.
The restored manuscript contains
either complete or fragmentary copies
of the books Of Hosea, Amos, Micah,
Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habak-
kuk, zephaniah, Haggi. Zachariah and
Malachai. The most notable variations
are contained in the two books best
known to the general public and which
ligtouS controversies Jonah and Micah
In all, Prof. Saunders found 216 un-'
supported variations. but As Of them
are only miSspellings, 80 interchanges
Of inflectional forms and 81 additions
Of one or two words. Several OF these
last appear to be only explanatory
notes which have crept into the text,
but the majority are outright additions
which agree with the general sense Of
the passages. There are A omissions.
nine of them of considerable length
and others of only one or two words.
but apparently most Of these were due
to the pure carelessness of the copyist,
because they seldom permit of sensi
BILE Interpretation OF the passage where
they occur.
Material Purchased In Cairo.
The material was purchased in Cairo
In 1915, for the late Charles L. Freer
Of Detroit, who gave the Freer Gallery
to the Nation. Mr.. Freer sent a bank
draft In payment for them, but this was
lost when the mail ship was torpedoed
in the Mediterranean. After this Incl
dent 1t was decided not to risk bringing
such valuable material to America dur
ing the war and they we're packed in
cotton and placed in q bank vault in
Cairo. After the war they were taken
to the University of Michigan.
1t was found that there were % leaves
of papyrus In reasonably good condi-
ton, except that they had been buried
in the sand without protection and
their discoverer had run his spade
through the middle of them before
realizing that he had hit upon some
thing of value. The bottom of the box
was found full Of the small fragments
mixed in sand.
Prof. Saunders set to work on the SEEM
ingly impossible task Of arranging them
in their proper places in sheets. The
fragments were so light and fragile with
age that breath would have scattered
them, and perhaps destroyed them. The
work had to be done In q closed room
into which no one was allowed to en-
ter except the investigator, and he had
to work with the realization that a
single cough or sneeZe might destroy the
labor Of months. Due to the enormous
strain on the eyes 1t was possible to
work little more than an hour q day.
The fragments were studied under a
high powered microscope and gradually
fitted together by comparison with
culties was to distinguish between
actual ink marks and stains in the
papyrus due to its long burial in the
sand.
Price on Title Page.
He found that the copy had been
made originally on thin but good
quality Of papyrus with dark brown
ink which had faded badly. The in
ternal evidence indicated that three
hands had worked on them, probably
an original copyist. corrector and a
still later a notator. A notable dis
covery came from the title page. which
81 %MA AAok ~ fka a
1--WE holocothini" The holocothinus
varied in value enormously from time
to time, depending on whether 1t was
Of gold or silver. Determining the time
| when the current value Of five holo-
cothini" would have been q reasonable
return for such work. Prof. Saunders es-
tabliShed q date previous to 270 AID.
Biblical texts are still attended with
much confusion, which has been re-
| Sponsible. for some Of the celebrated
theological controversies which have
shaken the world in the past. Hebrew
| texts, Of course, had been in existence
| for many centuries, but these were SUBJ
| ject to constant change and the actual
manuscript upon which present trans
lationS are based probably dates only
from about the ninth century. Before
| that there Is a vacuum which Is filled
| in with Greek TRANSACTIONS from the
Hebrew, of which the present version
is one very early example. The earlier
the copy, 1t is assumed, the greater the
probability Of It's agreement with the
| original Hebrew. Most Of the Greek
versions, such as the Septaguint, which
was the text upon which most Of the
Old Testament doctrines Of the early
| Christian Church were established, date
| from the third and fourth centuries
| The present manuscript probably was
| cotemnoraneous with or preceded the
| Septaguint Internal evidence casts
| doubt on whether the author was work
| ing from the same source.
"It is" says Prof. Saunders, "a fab
example Of the many which circulated
among the Jews and early Christians
the Greek text being readapted to the
Hebrew"
After Prof Saunders completed hi.
work the restored pages were returned
| to the Freer Gallery. together witt
some tiny fragments, mostly consisting
L %avs fNN hM vly00