47 Manuscripts From The Chaldean Catholic Church, Diocese Of Duhok, In Iraq, Are Now Available In Reading Room

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Colorful geometric decoration with interlace and cross motifs, from a 17th-century Evangelion (DCD 00002)

47 manuscripts from the Chaldean Catholic Church, Diocese of Duhok, in Iraq, are now available in Reading Room

Posted: 2023-12-06

Cataloging is now complete for the manuscript collection of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Diocese of Duhok in Duhok, Iraq. The collection consists of 47 manuscripts total, most of which are written in Syriac script, but two of the manuscripts are in Arabic script.

This important collection reflects the history of Syriac Christians in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, and the colophons of several manuscripts provide geographical data for places in the Duhok district. For example, three of the manuscripts in this collection (DCD 00024, DCD 00040, and DCD 00048) were copied by the same scribe from the village of Mār Yaqúb (later known also as Qāshāfīr), located next to the monastery of Mār Yaqúb, near the village of Sheyoz/Shazi, to the northwest of Duhok. Most of the manuscripts are liturgical in nature, though several of them contain important theological works from Syriac authors. Of particular note among the manuscripts are DCD 00026, a lectionary of Paul’s epistles copied and ornately decorated by the prodigious scribe Pawlos Qaša of Alqūsh, and DCD 00002, a 17th-century (dated 1680 CE) Evangelion.

Image caption: Colorful geometric decoration with interlace and cross motifs, from a 17th-century Evangelion (DCD 00002)

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