What is a palimpsest, and how are they important in manuscript studies?

Answer

A palimpsest is a scroll or a page of a book where the original writing was erased but still shows traces of the initial content. Palimpsests are essentially recycled manuscripts. The recovery of erased text from a palimpsest is now aided by multispectral imaging and x-ray fluorescence, proving valuable in manuscript studies. Reading a palimpsest enables us to trace the history of a text or translation.

Throughout history, writing materials have been quite costly. One such material was vellum or parchment, the treated skin of an animal used as a writing surface. Due to its high cost, vellum was frequently reused. The original writings were erased by rubbing or scraping (palimpsest literally means “scrape again”), and the skin was reused. This practice was common in the Middle Ages. Often, the original writing remains faintly visible on the parchment, and with advanced imaging techniques, we can decipher the initial content on the parchment. The original text can often be almost entirely recovered.

At times, a vellum or parchment that once held a portion of the New Testament was later “rescraped” and repurposed for a different text. Occasionally, this rescraping occurred out of ignorance: the scribe needing more space for the current copy might not have understood Greek or the significance of the text being erased. In AD 692, the Trullan Synod prohibited the sale of old manuscripts of Scripture or Christian teachings for reuse.

Upon recovering the original writing from the vellum, we gain access to another (and older) New Testament manuscript for examination and assessment. The examination and assessment of a palimpsest proceed as they would with any other manuscript. (Most contemporary New Testament scholars do not work directly with the original documents but with electronic replicas of them.)

Saint Catherine’s Monastery

Mount Sinai, Egypt, houses a collection of ancient manuscripts that comprises over 180 palimpsests dating from the fifth to the twelfth century in eight different languages. Among these manuscripts is the Codex Syriacus (Codex א), which contains a significant portion of the four Gospels translated into Syriac.

Some other renowned palimpsests are:

• the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Codex C), from the fifth century, containing the complete New Testament.

• the Codex Nitriensis (Codex R), from the sixth century, containing the Gospel of Luke.

• the Codex Dublinensis (Codex Z), from the sixth century, containing 295 verses from the Gospel of Matthew.

• the Codex Ambrosianus, from the ninth century, containing approximately 150 verses from the Psalms.

Paul Wegner, referencing Bruce Metzger, asserts that around 20 percent of ancient New Testament manuscripts are palimpsests (The Journey from Texts to Translations, Baker Academic, 1999, p. 213). It is possible that there are additional early New Testament manuscripts waiting to be unearthed, preserved beneath an ancient parchment overwritten by another text.