The collection of the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch is now cataloged and available in HMML Reading Room. Manuscripts from this collection date from as early as 1231 CE through the first half of the 20th century, with most originating in the 18th century (174 manuscripts). One significant feature of this collection is its provenance. Manuscript pages show seals, signatures, and gift and ownership notes that bear witness to several collectors and the transition of manuscripts from hand to hand. For example, several people gave their manuscripts, while living or posthumously, to the famous beloved Melkite Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Gregory IV Ḥaddād, who later deposited his entire collection with the patriarchate. Many manuscripts came from the library of another famous donor, the historian ʻĪsá Iskandar Maʻlūf, and his children. Some manuscripts moved through multiple hands as a part of their rich history.

The collection offers new texts available in Reading Room for the first time, showcasing many traditions.

• Commentaries on both the Pauline Epistles (MARI 00027) and the book of Revelation (MARI 00192) by Anthimos, Patriarch of Jerusalem;
• A new history book by Mīkhāʼīl Burayk, Jawāmiʻ tawārīkh al-azmān wa-zahrat aʻājīb al-kawn wa-al-awān (MARI 00130);
• Festal homilies by Elias III, Catholicos of the Church of the East (MARI 00171) and those on the Tawḥīd wa-al-tathlīth by Ṣāʻid ibn Hibat Allāh, Abū al-Ḥasan (MARI 00186);
• Islamic writings by ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Sakhāwī: an Arabic grammar book known as the Book of happiness, and a poem entitled Dhāt al-ḥulal wa-mahāt al-kulal (MARI 00046);
• Fiqh treatises by Ibn Quṭlūbughā, al-Qāsim ibn ʻAbd Allāh, a treatise on purity and ablution and a treatise on the Qiblah (MARI 00051);
• Significant translated texts include the Arabic translations of Voltaire’s work Essai historique et critique sur les dissentions des églises de Pologne (MARI 00187), and De pomo or the book of the apple by Aristotle (MARI 00195);
• A treatise against Calvinism authored by Meletios Syrigos and translated from the original Greek into Arabic in the 17th century (MARI 00090);
• An Arabic translation of the Greek sermons known as the Euangelikē salpinx by Makarios Kalogeras (MARI 00029).

Many of the manuscripts underwent conservation, which included rebinding old and fragile manuscripts, in the first decade of this century. This process was led by the curator of the collection, Dr. Jūzīf Zaytūn, and restoration expert Rajāʼ Rājiḥah. View now