Old Syriac

The Old Syriac represents the earliest stage in development of the language, that emerged by the beginning of the first century AD as the main Aramaic dialect in the region of Osroene, centered in Edessa, and continued to develop during the next two or three centuries, gradually gaining wider regional significance.

Manuscripts
The Old Syriac Aramaic versions of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John exist in two ancient manuscripts:

 Codex Sinaiticus, dated mid- or late-fourth century, discovered by Dr. William Cureton who transcribed and published it in 1858.

 Codex Curetonianus, dated early fifth century, discovered in 1892 in Egypt by two British scholars, Dr. Agnes Lewis, and her sister Margaret, who were then visiting St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai.

References

Category:Semitic languages