The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Martin Soskice

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the things I liked best about this book is how the sisters did not allow themselves to be constrained by the societal limits imposed on women in the 1800's. Although women were not often educated in that time, their father did not ascribe to that theory, and taught them languages at an early age. Their father died when they were in their 20s, and, against popular opinion they traveled to Egypt on their own. This was just the beginning of their many travels. Along the way they learned about ancient manuscripts stored at St. Catherine's monastery and set on their way to find them. Agnes taught herself Syriac, the language she would need to translate the manuscript they were after and they set out on a secret expedition to find it. As a result they made one of the most important biblical finds of their day - Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus (four gospels written in Syriacus, a form of the language Jesus would have spoken). The following, describes it well:

It took them nine days to travel across the Sinai desert, with one day for rest on the Sabbath. They had seven camels carrying tents along with provisions for 40 days, including cages of chickens, turkeys and doves. When they arrived at the monastery they quickly gained the confidence of the monks, thanks as much to their fluent Greek as their letters of introduction from Cambridge friends. They soon uncovered a stash of Syriac manuscripts and were quick to identify the palimpsest. They had been persuaded to bring along a camera and assiduously photographed every page, easing apart the stuck pages with the steam from their kettle. But when they got back to Cambridge they discovered that their photos were not good enough to elucidate the hidden text. They returned a few months later with academics from Cambridge and spent a month painstakingly tracing every letter. Rivalry soon soured relationships with the other academics, but it was Agnes who eventually published the definitive edition of what became known as the Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus, and it was she who eventually furnished an English translation

These ladies were in their 50s when they made this discovery. I love that they did not let their gender, their age, prejudice against their self-taught learning, public opinion keep them "at home", where no doubt many thought they belonged. Indeed, they traveled and collected and translated manuscripts for the rest of their adult lives.

In addition to learning their story, you'll learn a lot about biblical thought of the day, and the history of the written Bible. All in all an interesting and enjoyable read.

View all my reviews