Греческий палимпсест Сodex Athous Zographou Il’inskiy 40
The Greek Palimpsest Codex Athous Zographou Il’inskiy 40

Summary/Abstract: The research results presented here show that the Byzantine palimpsest Athous Zographou Il’inskiy 40 comprises parchment leaves deriving from highly interesting dismembered manuscripts. Substantial and particularly worth noticing are the majuscule fragments. One series pertains to the noncanonical writing known as the Protevangelium Iacobi (2nd century AD), whose anonymous author focuses upon Our Lady’s childhood. The other relates to the Life of Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, and to the memorable Council of Sardica, nowadays Sofia, where numerous Orthodox Bishops met in the presence of Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. Amongst the fragmentary manuscript witnesses written in Greek minuscule, especially worth mentioning is one exhibiting a passage of Saint Gregory the Theologian’s second invective against the Emperor Julian the Apostate, his former fellow student. The investigations that brought to light these representatives of the manuscript tradition were carried out in times when the relevant codex was inaccessible to researchers. With the aid of microfilms, preserved at Thessalonica, Sofia and Columbus, Ohio, the lower layer of writing has been deciphered to a certain extent. A special technique of microphotography had to be developed for this purpose by the author, as documented by the richly illustrated book issued at Bonn in 2011.

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