>Photo: The ancient Bible written in Syriac

According to a news report published by Reuters, governmental authorities in northern Cyprus have reported that they have discovered an ancient version of the Bible written in Syriac, a dialect of the language spoken by Jesus. According to the report,

The manuscript was found in a police raid on suspected antiquity smugglers. Turkish Cypriot police testified in a court hearing they believe the manuscript could be about 2,000 years old.

The manuscript carries excerpts of the Bible written in gold lettering on vellum and loosely strung together, photos provided to Reuters showed. One page carries a drawing of a tree, and another eight lines of Syriac script.

Experts were however divided over the provenance of the manuscript, and whether it was an original, which would render it priceless, or a fake.

Experts said the use of gold lettering on the manuscript was likely to date it later than 2,000 years.

Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic. Aramaic, which was language spoken by Christ, was also the language spoken in much of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Bible, Syriac Bible

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