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 LITURGY OP THE NILE. 
 
 THE PALESTINIAN SYRIAC TEXT, EDITED PROM A 
 UNIQUE MS. IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 
 
 WITH A 
 
 TRANSLATION, INTRODUCTION, VOCABULARY, AND 
 TWO PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES. 
 
 BY 
 
 G. MARGOLIOUTH, M.A., 
 
 ASSISTANT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ORIENTAL PRINTED BOOKS AND MSS., 
 BRITISH MUSEUM; FORMERLY TYRWHITT HEBREW SCHOLAR. 
 
 Reprinted from the “Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.” 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 DAVID NUTT, 270 and 271, STRAND. 
 
 1896. 
 
 [ The right of translation and reproduction is reserved. ] 
 
 If 
 
6 , i$.04~ 
 
 Qfoologira/ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BX 350 .A3 S8 1896 
 Orthodox Eastern Church. 
 The liturgy of the Nile 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Plate I 
 
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 ‘ : ^*uy&o 
 
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 ^ Y .^n^To i&SjQ 
 
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 ^yniu>»6<^TU»r6ajp 
 ^aj^ ptnim^ft ! ^iufl PflTiyo 
 
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 fnT ftn^* ! iftoll Ainy litCQaTiEn V, 
 Ywi^t jWrt*ii»V 
 
 ■ 6V. 4951, fol 38 P 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/liturgyofnileOOorth 
 
Plate II . 
 
 mCflJT'n r&l m < niOnnm>»i > fcSy < ^ 
 Srda tflji'i^p’j dirijdji^aun' 
 
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 uiV-^tAT crnortt: s^^ ;: u*nrdXiT' 
 
 -^ ^igD mon^oib^an^ 
 ^Hi^)iri^cOIIT' OTonn Vi 
 
 mmiTlW .^nfflio WnoftiAi 
 
 Or.4951,fol 61? 
 
THE 
 
 LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 THE PALESTINIAN SYRIAC TEXT, EDITED FROM A 
 UNIQUE MS. IX THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 
 
 WITH A 
 
 TRANSLATION, INTRODUCTION, YOCABULARY, AND 
 TWO PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES. 
 
 BY 
 
 G. MARGOLIOUTH, M.A., 
 
 ASSISTANT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ORIENTAL PRINTED BOOKS AND MSS., 
 BRITISH MUSEUM ; FORMERLY TYRWHITT HEBREW SCHOLAR. 
 
 Reprinted from the “Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.” 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 DAYID NUTT, 270 and 271, STRAND. 
 
 1896. 
 
 \_The right of translation and reproduction is reserved .] 
 
NOTICE. 
 
 F presenting to the public a reprint of “ The Liturgy of the 
 
 Nilefi the author desires to express the hope that the other 
 Services contained in the British Museum MS. Or. 4951 may 
 soon find an editor and translator. 
 
 The Seivice contained in the p?'esent little work constitutes 
 (apart from the well-known Gospel Lectionary, edited by Count 
 Miniscalchi Erizzo and also by Lagarde) the only complete 
 Palestinian Syriac text that has as yet been published; and the 
 addition of nine other complete, though very small, texts in the 
 same dialed, is sure to be welcomed with eagerness by Aramaic 
 students, both in England and on the Continent. 
 
 From a liturgical point of view the gam is likely to be at 
 least as great, for the Malkite, or Graeco-Syrian, Services contained 
 in the MS. reach back to a considerable antiquity, and will be 
 found to offer several interesting points for study and comparison. 
 An editor of these texts will, therefore, be able to appeal to two 
 different classes of students, and the risk of finding no reade?'s 
 will thus be reduced to very small proportions indeed. 
 
 G. M. 
 
 October , 1896 . 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 1 . Description of the MS. 
 
 2 . Analysis of the Service, followed by Remarks on (a) the 
 
 Dates of its Celebration, (6) its Malkite Origin, (c) the 
 Biblical portions contained in it. 
 
 3 . Analogies from ( a ) the Ritual of the Ancient Egyptians, 
 
 (6) the Graeco - Roman Period, (c) the Religious 
 Observances of the Coptic Church, ( d ) Muhammedan 
 times. 
 
 II. The Palestinian Syriac Text. 
 
 III. An English Translation, with Notes. 
 
 IV. A Vocabulary of Unusual Words and Forms. 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 1 . Description of the MS. 
 
 The MS. from which the text of the Nile Service is taken 
 is numbered Or. 4951 , and is a recent acquisition of the 
 British Museum. It consists of 69 paper leaves, measuring 
 about 6Jins, by bins., with mostly 15 lines to a page. The 
 quires, 7 in number, are of 10 leaves each (the last leaf 
 being blank). The Syriac letters b}r which the quires are 
 numbered are written in the middle of the lower margin, 
 both on the last and the first page of each quire. Thus, 
 on fol. 106 , the letter ] denotes the end of the first quire, 
 and the same letter also stands on fol. 11 a\ the letters 
 etc., are similarly written on foil. 206 and 21r/, 
 
4 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 foil. 306 and 31r/, etc. The only exception is the absence 
 of the letter O on fol. 61 a. The style of writing, 1 though 
 smaller, approaches very nearly to that of pi. xx (repre¬ 
 senting fol. 34 a of Add. 14,664) in vol. iii of Wright’s 
 “ Catalogue of the Syriac MSS. in the British Museum,” 
 which has been assigned to the twelfth or thirteenth 
 century. The letter “ rlsh ” is, with very few exceptions, 
 written 5 2 (with two dots instead of one), and the “daleth” 
 is, as a rule, not distinguished by a dot below. There 
 are no diacritic points below the letters, and points over 
 the text (see the first facsimile, representing fol. 386 of 
 the MS. chosen to exemplify some of the characteristics 
 mentioned here) are mainly employed in the following 
 cases: (1) one dot over the letter 2 to mark the aspirate; 3 
 (2) a dot often placed over the 01 of both the 3rd person 
 suffix masc. and fem. sing. ; (3) the occasional distinction 
 of the plural form by the two dots known as “ seyame ” 
 (e.g. in the fourth line of the first facsimile) ; (4) 
 
 two dots over the inverted pe (*£), and sometimes also 
 over the letter . 
 
 1 The earlier stages of Palestinian Syriac writing are exemplified in plates 
 xviii and xix published in Wright’s Catalogue ; see also the facsimiles given in 
 Land’s “Anecdota Syriaca,” vol. iv, and in “ Anecdota Oxoniensia,” Semitic 
 series, vol. i, parts v and ix. 
 
 2 It is well known that there was a double pronunciation of the “rish” in 
 Palestine (see J. Derenbourg, “ Manual du Lecteur,” Journal Asiatique, 1870, 
 p. 446), but one can hardly refer the occasional use of ) in this MS. to a 
 difference of pronunciation. 
 
 3 Differences from the Edessene Syriac are shown in such words as lA*o 
 
 (Jew. Aram. NlTl)? etc. 
 
 perfect regularity. 
 
 The dot is, however, not used with 
 
THE LITUKGY OF THE XILE. 
 
 O 
 
 There are no vowel-signs 1 for the Syriac in the MS., and 
 the system of iuterpunction consists mainly of two, three, 
 or four dots, differently grouped. 
 
 It contains the following Services of the Malkite Church, 
 in the Palestinian JSyriac dialect, the rubrical directions 
 and several of the headings being in Karshuni, and also 
 embodying prayers and liturgical “ formulae ” in Greek 
 transcribed into the Syriac character :— 
 
 I. Two services for the Consecration of a Church. 
 
 (a) The consecration to include the Holy Table. 
 Fol. 2a. 
 
 Heading : Vr aJ • VmOjjO (*gD>0 
 
 *£D r nlo U^jGi 2 3 *mapZ guo^gicj 
 
 • w 
 
 •^0 GU^ 3 Ql r a.SQ^O 
 
 • • 
 
 (b) The consecration to apply to the Chancel only. 
 Fol. 126. 
 
 Heading: r ®0 ai£CU.lQ^ 4°^ JSLipZ )>Ol 
 
 1 On the vowel-signs which are used in connection with the Syriac tran¬ 
 scription of Greek words, see further on. 
 
 2 For oZ in the sense of “consecration” see Dozy, Supplement aux 
 
 Diet. Arab., vol. ii, p. 455. 
 
 3 i.e. ijoU5\j. 
 
6 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 II. A series of Ordination Services for Celibate Clergy. 
 
 (a) The Ordination of Readers. Fol. 16(7. 
 
 Heading : ]!-*->-* 
 
 2 .QdUjQ^ * r JL&^ 
 
 •pso Uo- r £) A-»|k) f iD 
 
 At the end of this Service : ]] IjOl ]Zq^^ OOlO 
 
 ♦ jAo v^o>p> oiL -oy] 
 
 This prohibition to marry is not repeated at the end of the 
 other Services belonging to this series, as the obligation of 
 celibacy being taken at the ordination to the lower degree 
 covers the ordinations that follow. 
 
 (b) The Ordination of Deacons. Fol. 18(7. 
 
 Heading : ' r ®0 }l£iLOi3t!o IjAj J>Qj.CQ) 
 
 ( c ) The Ordination of Priests. Fol. 22 a. 
 
 Heading : ]cQ^4 
 
 At the end of this Service is the following colophon : 
 
 )Lo\^ (for ^JQLO) 
 
 3 q 4 -JQ&sl M ♦ 
 
 OlZaL^ r *j> ^QOO ^ r l0 
 
 ^1 
 
 1 Note the use of in this place to express the Greek 
 
 TrauTOKparccp. The usual Pal. Syr. rendering is r ^> whilst t-*-*-*! 
 
 is the regular translation of the Syro Hexaplar. 
 
 2 i.e. 'x.^ipoTov'ias (for ipoToviav ). The separation into two words, as 
 written above, appears to show that the etymological sense of the word was 
 unknown to the copyist. 
 
 3 is here used for 6 ; in the “ Liturgy of the Nile,” oZ occurs for 6 
 (see p. 22, 1. 6). 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 7 
 
 i.e. “ Finished by the help of the Lord ; the prayer 
 of the laying on of hands is finished. I, Antony, 
 the sinful Metropolitan. Pray for me, my masters, 
 and everyone shall be rewarded according to his 
 prayer. Amen.” 
 
 If the Metropolitan Antony, who appears to have written 
 the MS., could be identified, the period to which the copy 
 belongs would cease to be uncertain; but, unfortunately, he 
 does not appear to be mentioned in Le Quien’s “ Oriens 
 Christianus,” nor can I find a trace of him in Neale’s 
 work on the “ Holy Eastern Church.” Some scholar who 
 has made a special study of the Malkite ecclesiastical 
 history of that time might be able to throw light on the 
 subject. 
 
 III. The Liturgy of the Nile. Fol. 27 a. 
 
 Heading: ]^»030 ]pD30 
 
 jZaioZj ^,a,o>L\d 
 
 For the full heading and translation, see pp. 21, 37; 
 an analysis of the Service, together with an account of 
 the lessons from the Holy Scriptures, will be given in the 
 second part of the Introduction. 
 
 IY. A series of Ordination Services for Non-celibate 
 Clergy. 
 
 (a) The Ordination of Headers. Fol. 43rL 
 Heading : 011 d p idZ 
 
 *,»o : 
 
 (b) The Ordination of Subdeacons. Fol. 48«. 
 
 Heading: 0 XLd p .qZ 
 
8 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 At the end of this Service : l* J-z i_ aJL> 
 
 i, ^ \ b jL*l h ^y UJ lj 
 
 5 ^ ^ ^ A All h l.' A*J» - 1 Lj I— 
 
 (sA/) ajl^l i_*j 101 uLla--c. 
 
 £ *1*^1 * b iA-^J ^ 1 » Ifti hi 1 >vu.a!^» t y ,UJj J * it '*Uy 
 
 1 A>»_! I <L. ,»✓»,£>- > AcUaII ciaIj cjUIaAj 
 
 (c) The Ordination of Deacons. Fol. 52&. 
 Heading : ;®0 *.co|iQ* 01^0^2 
 
 At the end of this Service : . *L*a 
 
 up 
 
 
 1 UAa All -aJ!, , ~UaII <ujJu izj]ss? 
 
 e 
 
 1? Ur 
 
 v- 
 
 (<f) The Ordination of Priests. Fol. 60 a. 
 
 Heading : ^*0 >£Qa£Q£) Vo)a.co 
 
 At the end : cn jlL fc CQa.mn^ Ujq^ju® AlADO 
 
 ^jAo] l r ^1 fcaOj Ol)H> ]]}lZ 
 
 MLqcd ^.Ldo ^Ldo ];£) ^_ 1 d oi!L 
 
 . ^iD j <_jlLd] ^£>0 
 
 1 One should expect JjUUj . 
 
 2 The diacritic points are mostly absent in* the latter part of this colophon in 
 the MS. With regard to the style of writing, it ought to he remarked that 
 Dr. Charles Rieu, now the Adams’ Professor of Arabic at Cambridge, considers 
 it to be not later than the thirteenth century. His judgment, therefore, 
 strengthens the opinion formed with regard to the MS. as a whole. 
 
TIIE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 9 
 
 Greek 1 transcribed into the Palestinian Syriac character 
 is more common in the second series of Ordination Services 
 than in the rest of the MS. As a photographic illustration 
 fol. 61rt is chosen, containing in 11. 5-13 the central formula 
 for the ordination of priests. The barbarous nature of the 
 Syriac transcription will be manifest by a comparison with 
 the Greek 2 which it represents. The use of the Greek 
 vowel-letters o and co is very conspicuous in other parts 
 of the MS., and there are also slanting strokes and other 
 signs both over and under the lines, the exact force of which 
 will no doubt be elucidated by means of further study. 
 Besides o and co , the vowel-letter a is found in other places. 
 Occasionally the Syriac letters 1 (see line 2 of the second 
 facsimile) and are written over the line to indicate the 
 pronunciation; and there are some other marks, both over 
 and under the line, which an editor of those parts of the 
 MS. will have to consider. In the present publication only 
 the peculiarities occurring in the “ Liturgy of the Nile ” 
 have been treated on as fully as possible. 
 
 On the last page of the MS. the invocation GlkLcmO 
 S*o tet? is written twice in yellowish ink in a very similar 
 —if not the same—hand as the rest of the MS., the Arabic 
 translation (of the same date) being in both cases written 
 underneath the Syriac. 
 
 Then follow two Arabic sentences in the same hand as 
 the invocation :— 
 
 (1) c)/ 3 ' (*)i 
 
 • L-^ 
 
 •• • ♦♦ 
 
 i.e. “ One of the fathers was asked, when the feast 
 shall be P 
 
 He answered and said, when thy sins will be far from 
 thee.” (Note the rhyme: wUxj .. .) 
 
 1 The few Greek words which occur in the Nile Service will he found re- 
 transerihod into the Greek character in the notes on the translation. 
 
 2 7] Qela %apts V va aadevri depairevoucra ica ] ra iWeiirovra avanXripovcra ic.t. A. 
 Comp, the formula now used in the Greek Church as given in the Euchologion. 
 
10 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 (2) (- 1 <£_j c—■^***.rs^ j ^-1 i y Jk_!' y-1 ^ 
 
 (Ps. xxxii, 2<?). 
 
 Diacritic points are almost entirely absent in these sentences 
 in the original. 
 
 2. Analysis of the Service. 
 
 The Service begins with a procession to the ford over 
 the Nile, which is assigned to the Malkite community. 
 One of the priests carries a cross, and the other objects 
 taken are a copy of the New Testament, incense, and wax 
 candles. They group themselves close to a basin into 
 which water out of the Nile had been poured. After the 
 singing of a “ troparion,” or short hymn, one of the priests 
 addresses the Patriarch of Alexandria, the Metropolitan, 
 and all the priests and deacons present, declaring the object 
 of the Service with the words—“We have come to prepare 
 a good season and an acceptable year ; risen is the well- 
 spring of God, the Nile, and by the command of God has it 
 mounted upwards.” In connection with this address, which 
 is repeated twice, the following verses 1 from the Psalms are 
 recited as antiphons : xxix, 3; lxv, 10 a\ lxv, 11; lxv, 12-14. 
 Then comes another “ troparion,” after which three lessons 
 are read from the Old Testament, viz.: Gen. ii, 4-19 (con¬ 
 taining an account of the rivers of Paradise, with one of 
 which, namely Gihon, the Nile is identified) ; 2 Kings ii, 
 19-22 (in which the healing of the water by Elisha is 
 related) ; Amos ix, 5-1 4a (where the Nile is expressly 
 mentioned). Ps. xxvii, 1 is then said, followed by the 
 reading of Acts xvi, 16-34 (ending with the baptism of the 
 Philippian jailer). After this lesson vv. 10tf and 11 of Ps. lxv 
 
 1 Note that all references to Old Testament passages relate to the printed 
 text of the Hebrew Bible. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 11 
 
 are once more recited, and subsequent to this St. Matt, xiv, 
 22-34 (containing the account of Jesus walking on the 
 waters of the Lake of Gennesareth) is read. The chief priest 
 then pronounces a blessing over the water that is in the 
 basin, using the words of St. Luke ii, 14 (“ Praise be to God 
 in the heights,” etc.), Ps. li, 17, and lxxi, 8. The two 
 longest prayers of the Service come next. In the first 
 of these the water which had been put into the basin is 
 spoken of as “an offering” to God “of the firstlings of its 
 rising,” and as “a type and a figure” of the waters of 
 the Nile. 
 
 The latter part of the Service contains the more specially 
 characteristic ceremony connected with it. After the re¬ 
 newed recital of the verses from the Psalms which were 
 sung before, the cross is dipped three times into the water 
 of the basin, the pTiest saying the words—“ In the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
 for ever and ever. Amen.” All the people present then 
 drink of the holy water, and after the repetition of a few 
 versicles and responses by the archdeacon, the officiating 
 priest, and the deacon, the Service is concluded with a 
 special form of the doxology. 
 
 (a) Times of the Service. 
 
 The dates between which the present Service was held 
 do not quite agree with the period of the gradual rise of 
 the Nile in Lower Egypt. The “Lailat an-Nuktah,” or 
 the night during which a miraculous 1 drop was believed 
 to fall into the Nile and thus cause its increase, is that of 
 the 17th of June, and the greatest height is reached on 
 the 26th or 27th of September. The actual period of the 
 gradual rise is between the summer solstice and the 
 
 1 On this popular belief, as on the various dates connected with the rise of the 
 Nile, see Lane’s “ Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians,” ii, pp. 224- 
 236; Maspero’s “Dawn of Civilization,” pp. 20-24; also Sir Gardiner 
 Wilkinson’s “ Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,” ii, p. 428. 
 
12 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 autumnal equinox ; but, according to the heading of 
 the Service in the MS., the season of its celebration fell 
 between the Sunday of the 318 Nicene fathers and the 
 feast of St. Mark as anciently celebrated at Alexandria, 
 that is (taking the dates of this year, 1896) between 
 May 17 and Sept. 23. It may be argued that the very 
 early beginning of the celebration is due to the fact that 
 in the upper parts of the Nile the rising naturally begins 
 much earlier. Khartum 1 is actually reached by the swelling 
 tide of the Blue Nile in the middle of May, and at the 
 cataracts 2 the rise is perceived about the end of May or 
 the beginning of June. It is very doubtful, however, 
 whether these facts would be taken account of by the 
 Malkite community of Alexandria, and it certainly appears 
 more likely that the dates of the present Service were 
 suggested by those of the Christian festivals which occurred 
 on those days. Their object was evidently to dissociate 
 their worship and thanksgiving as much as possible from 
 the customs that prevailed around them. They probably 
 had some special reason for selecting the Sunday of the 
 318 Nicene fathers as the starting-point. The feast of 
 Pentecost, which falls on the Sunday following, would be 
 particularly suitable for the celebration connected with the 
 blessings which are secured by the increase of the Nile; 
 and for the conclusion of the cycle the day following the 
 feast of St. Mark, which was held on Sept. 23, would be 
 selected as occurring very near the actual greatest height 
 of the Nile waters. 
 
 (b) The Malkite Origin of the Service. 
 
 Not much need be said to prove the Malkite 3 origin 
 of the Service. The structure of it is distinctly that of the 
 
 1 See Maspero, op. eit., p. 22. 
 
 2 See Sir Gardiner Wilkinson, loc. cit. 
 
 3 The term Malkite answers to the Syriac word Malkaya , i.e. royal. The 
 Eastern adherents of the decrees issued by the Council of Chalcedon were so 
 named “ proptera quod . . . menti imperatoris Marciani se submiserant.” See 
 l'ayne Smith, Thes. Syr., col. 2144. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 13 
 
 Greek liturgies from the beginning to the end. The 
 “ troparia,” the antiphons, and a terra like aopiaf are quite 
 enough to stamp it as a service belonging to the Syriac¬ 
 speaking branch of the Greek Church. The presence of 
 a considerable amount of Greek in Syriac transcriptions 
 is another mark of the same origin. The Ordination 
 formulae ” are also distinctly those of the Greek Church, 
 though containing many interesting variations from those 
 in common use; and it should also be noted that the lesson 
 from St. Matthew 1 2 as indicated in the Nile Service is 
 referred to the well-known Palestinian Syriac Lectionary 
 of the Gospels, which is acknowledged to be Malkite. In 
 fact, all the Palestinian Syriac MSS. hitherto discovered 
 appear to be Malkite throughout, and there can, in any 
 case, be no question at all as to the Greek 3 character of 
 the Service before us. 
 
 (c) The Biblical portions of the Service. 
 
 Of the four Biblical 4 lessons contained in the Service, 
 it is enough to say in this place that the three lessons from 
 the Old Testament are unmistakably based on the LXX, 
 and that the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles 5 is clearly 
 an adaptation of the Peshit.ta. The fact that these four 
 lessons are given in full, whilst the one from the Gospel 
 of St. Matthew is referred to the Lectionary, does not 
 necessarily show that there was no recognized Lectionary in 
 Palestinian Syriac of the Old Testament and of the rest of 
 
 1 The exhortation addressed to the people by the deacon: see p. 52, note 6. 
 
 2 See p. 46. 
 
 3 See also the note on |Z|Q£ILa.J , p. 40. 
 
 4 The Biblical portions contained in the Service will he published separately, 
 in complete photographic facsimiles contained in eleven plates, and will he 
 accompanied by full textual and philological notes. 
 
 5 A proof of the dependence of the Pal. Syr. translation of St. Luke ii, 14 
 on the Philox. version will be found on p. 46. 
 
14 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 the New Testament; for it may be that the four passages, 
 with their exact number of verses, did not constitute 
 Lectionary divisions on any other occasion besides the 
 Service of the Nile. 
 
 3. Analogies from other Rituals. 
 
 The Malkite or Syro-Greek Liturgy of the Nile, as it is 
 now before us, is peculiarly free from any superstitious 
 element that one may have been led to expect finding in it. 
 If tbe pouring 1 of some water out of the basin into the Nile 
 formed part of the ceremony, one must, indeed, see in it 
 a reference to the superstitious observance of tbe “ Night 
 of the drop,” when, as was believed, the increase of the 
 Nile is caused by a drop falling into the Nile from Heaven ; 
 but the rest of the ceremonial is exactly what one should 
 expect to find in a service of the Greek Church. The 
 baptizing, or dipping, 2 of the cross into the water of the 
 basin is evidently a means of consecrating the water from 
 which the worshippers were afterwards to drink. It is, in 
 fact, tantamount to the preparation of holy water with 
 which various Christian communities are fully acquainted. 
 The Biblical character of the Liturgy is, as will have 
 been noticed, fully maintained, and the prayers are also 
 remarkably free from any unorthodox or superstitious 
 element. 
 
 It is, however, natural to think that the Christian Nile 
 Service must have some historical connection with the ritual 
 of the ancient Egyptians, and that some analogies will be 
 found for it both in the religious ceremonies of the Coptic 
 
 1 See p. 48, note 10. 
 
 2 For the possible connection of this ceremony with an older ritual see p. 19. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 15 
 
 Church and the ritual observances of the Muhamraedans. 
 It is, then, in this spirit of historical comparison that we 
 must proceed to offer 1 some observations on the other known 
 forms of the Nile Liturgy. 
 
 (a) The Ritual of the Ancient Egyptians. 
 
 The extent of the Nile ritual among the ancient 
 Egyptians, by whom, as may be expected, the god (Hapi 
 by name) was mystically identified with the fertilizing 
 Nile course, may be gathered from the following lines, 
 forming the thirteenth stanza of a Nile hymn 2 3 which was 
 composed in the reign of Merenptah, son of Raineses II, 
 nineteenth dynasty :— . 
 
 3 “ 0 inundation of Nile, offerings are made to thee ; 
 
 Oxen are slain to thee; 
 
 Great festivals are kept for thee; 
 
 Fowls are sacrificed to thee ; 
 
 Beasts of the field are caught for thee ; 
 
 Pure flames are offered to thee ; 
 
 Offerings are made to every god, 
 
 As they are made unto Nile. 
 
 Incense ascends unto heaven, 
 
 Oxen, bulls, fowls are burnt. 
 
 Nile makes for himself chasms in the Thebaid. 
 
 Unknown is his name in heaven ; 
 
 He does not manifest his forms, 
 
 Vain are all representations.” 
 
 1 An exhaustive investigation on this subject could, of course, only be under¬ 
 taken by a specialist in Egyptology. 
 
 2 See “ Hymne au Nile,” Maspero, Paris, 1868; “Records of the Past,” 
 old series, vol. iv, pp. 105-114 ; Maspero, “Dawn of Civilization,” pp. 40-42. 
 Comp. Renouf, “ Origin and Growth of Religion,” etc., pp. 223-4. The text 
 is preserved in two papyri in the British Museum. 
 
 3 The lines are here quoted from F. C. Cook’s translation in “ Records of the 
 Past,” loc. cit. ; Maspero’s French translation in “Hymne au Nile” is 
 practically the same as far as this stanza is concerned. In “ Dawn of 
 Civilization,” pp. 40-42, the first twelve stanzas only are translated. 
 
16 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Even if one allows a certain amount of poetic exaggera¬ 
 tion to have had a share in the composition of this hymn, 
 enough—and more than enough—remains to show the great 
 extent, as well as the popularity, of the festivals in question; 
 and the opinion 1 that there must have existed a considerable 
 number of similar hymns specially adapted to the annual 
 Nile celebrations appears to be borne out by almost every 
 indication one meets with in connection with this subject. 
 More definite chronological data of actual Nile festivities 
 are afforded to us by three official 2 “stelae ” engraved for 
 the purpose of recording the personal 3 participation of 
 Rameses II, Merenptah, and Rameses III in the religious 
 ceremonies which were observed in connection with the 
 rising of the Nile. Two festivals are there expressly spoken 
 of—the first 4 “on the 15th of Epiphi, when the river was 
 thought to come forth from his two chasms ”; and the 
 second 4 “ on the 15th of Thoth, when the inundation 
 arrived at ‘ Khennut,’ or Gebel Silsileh.” The first of 
 these dates 5 fell, however, about a month after the 
 summer solstice, and the second 6 is evidently the celebra¬ 
 tion held in connection with the completion of the Nile 
 increase. 
 
 The manner of celebrating the Nile festivals need not 
 be dwelt upon in this place, nor will an opinion be hazarded 
 here as to whether there is any truth in the statement 
 that the ancient Egyptians were in the habit 7 of throwing 
 a virgin into the Nile as a sacrifice to the river-god in 
 
 1 See Brugsch, “ Religion unci Mythologie der Alten Aegypter,” ii, p. 640. 
 
 2 See Maspero, “Dawn of Civilization,” p 39 (note 2); “Records of the 
 Past,” old series, vol. x, pp. 37-44 (Ludwig Stern). For further references 
 see Maspero, loc. cit. 
 
 3 L. Stern, in “ Records of the Past,” loc. cit., does not appear to agree with 
 Maspero as to the special reason for the engraving of these stelae (see p. 38). 
 
 4 L. Stern, loc. cit., p. 38. 
 
 5 Ibid., p. 39. 
 
 b Ibid., p. 40. 
 
 7 See Maspero, “ Dawn of Civilization,” p. 24. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 17 
 
 order to secure a plentiful inundation; but the importance 
 which was attached to the Nile celebrations appears to be 
 perfectly certain. “ According to a tradition transmitted 
 from age to age,” says Maspero, 1 “ the prosperity or ad¬ 
 versity of the year was dependent upon the splendour and 
 fervour with which they were celebrated”; and judging 
 from the plentiful indications that are to be found on the 
 subject, one is led to expect that some day Egyptologists 
 will discover more actual texts and data than have hitherto 
 come to light. 
 
 (b) The Graeco-Roman Period. 
 
 A glimpse into the Nile ceremonials of the Graeco-Roman 
 period is obtained from the description given in Heliodorus’ 
 romance “Aethiopica,” and as it is believed that Heliodorus 
 drew his facts on this point 2 “ from the lost works of some 
 Ptolemaic author,” one may assume that one is here dealing 
 with data which have a real historical foundation. In 
 the ninth book of his romance (we quote from the English 
 edition of 1622) is the following reference to a Nile festival 
 celebrated at Syene about the time of the summer solstice 3 : 
 — “For then it happened that Nyloa, the highest feast that 
 the Egyptians have, fell, which is kept holy about Mid¬ 
 summer, at what time the flood increaseth, and it is honoured 
 more than all other for this cause : The Egyptians faine 
 Nyhis to bee a god, and the greatest of all gods, equal to 
 heaven, because he watereth their countrey without clouds, 
 or raine that commeth out of the ayre : and thus doth he 
 everywhere without faile, as well as if it should raine.” 
 
 1 Maspero, “ Dawn of Civilization,” p. 39. 
 
 2 Ibid, (note 3). 
 
 3 “Aethiopica,” p. 286. 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 With, regard to the manner of keeping the festival, the 
 same author says : —“ When the feast of Nylus was come, 
 the inhabitants fell to killing of beasts, and to doe sacrifice; 
 and for all that their bodies were busied with their present 
 perils, yet their mindes, as much as they might, were godly 
 disposed.” The question as to whether the Niloci spoken 
 of here corresponds to the Epiphi-day 1 mentioned on the 
 stele of Rameses II, need not be discussed now, but the 
 historical continuance of the Nile celebrations into the 
 Graeco-Roman period appears to be established without a 
 doubt, and this is the only point which has a distinct 
 bearing on the present investigation. 
 
 (c) The Coptic Church. 
 
 The observance of Nile festivals among the Copts is 
 sufficiently attested both by their almanac and by historical 
 tradition. The legend of the “ Lailat an-Nuktah ” 2 appears 
 to be very closely connected with the 11th of the month 
 Payni, which falls a few days before the summer solstice, 
 and this more modern form of it seems to have been 
 substituted for an older belief connected with the “Martyr’s 
 Festival,” 3 which was observed down to the year 754, or 
 755, of the Hijrah. Other more or less certain historical 
 data appear to show that in later times the principal 
 Nile festivity among the Copts was connected with the 
 official measuring of the Nile by means of the Nilometer. 
 According to one account, 4 this function was performed 
 by a priest at about three o’clock in the afternoon, after 
 
 1 L. Stern, op. cit., p. 39. 
 
 2 See Lane, op. cit., p. 224 ; L. Stern, loc. cit., pp. 39, 40. 
 
 :1 See L. Stern, loc. cit., p. 39. , 
 
 4 Silvestre de Sacy, “ Relation de l’Egypte,” par Abd-Allatif, p. 403. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 19 
 
 the celebration of the Mass ; and it is further stated that 
 the Muhammedans, in taking over the function from the 
 Copts, conformed, mutatis mutandis , to the religious 
 usages which had been practised before. According to 
 Makrlzi, 1 the privilege of measuring the Nile was taken 
 away from the Copts in the year of Hijrah 247 (a.d. 861), 
 by the Khalif al-Mutawakkil, who had also ordered the 
 construction of a grand new Nilometer. It is just possible 
 that the ceremony of baptizing the cross, as observed in 
 the Malkite Liturgy before us, has some connection with 
 the anointing of the Nilometer reported to have been 
 practised by the Muhammedans, and presumably also by 
 the Copts before them. 
 
 (d) Muhammedan Observances. 
 
 The close relationship of the Muhammedan Nile festivities 
 with those of the Copts, from whom they, in the main, 
 borrowed them, is clear from what has just been said. The 
 religious almanac of the Copts is, indeed, as Lane 2 has 
 pointed out, the foundations of many customs and beliefs 
 which became prevalent among their Moslem conquerors. 
 A link with some more or less authentic traditions of ancient 
 Egypt is probably to be found in the idea 3 that the 
 irruption of the river into the bosom of the land was the 
 presentation of an actual marriage. The reported drawing 
 up 4 of a contract by a cadi, and the confirming of its con¬ 
 summation by witnesses, is considered by Maspero to be 
 connected with the story of the “ Bride of the Nile,” by 
 
 1 See Silv. de Sacy, op. cit., p. 404. 
 
 2 Op. cit., p. 222. 
 
 3 See Maspero, “ Dawn of Civilization,” p. 24. 
 
 4 See the reference for this report in Maspero, loc. cit. 
 
20 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 which the above-mentioned legend of the sacrifice 1 of 
 a virgin appears to have been understood. The modern 
 popular and semi-religious observances of the Muhammedans 
 are so fully described in Lane’s well-known work on the 
 “ Modern Egyptians,” 2 that very little need be said about 
 them in this place. It need only be pointed out that the 
 Crier of the Nile (Munadee-an-Neel) performs his ritual in 
 the streets of Cairo from about the 3rd of July to the 26th 
 or 27th of September, according to our reckoning, and that 
 the “ cries ” consist of versicles uttered by the “ Munadee,” 
 and responses made by a boy who accompanies him. 
 
 1 Compare the term “ aroosali ” (or bride) as applied at the present day to the 
 “round pillar of earth, diminishing' towards the top,” which is raised at a 
 distance of about sixty feet from the dam. See Lane, op. cit p. 229. 
 
 2 pp. 225-236. 
 
21 
 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 II. The Palestinian Syriac Text. 
 
 >A:A KlsL-IClo.! 1 Kljjoio r^ia.io rdrsKll criJ 5 a*JL=> Fol. 27* 
 oooIaAT r<Lz..lCU3.1 rC'^ain^rC' • • ^xJzrA^ 
 
 ck\<^ K'&xca.aK'.i rdra o_3L=3 ^«xa • 
 
 * klA^qd dni^ia^ rdsCULs *a» ^79 • TJ 2 a.v b\.l^n'b\0 
 
 Q0CUnVS?3 ,i509 rd.3L.Ta.JQ i^v^D ^30 
 
 : K^XJLI^.T cnin^jaa b\o\ Kliaaji ^A\rCto * rcliiflaajsa 
 
 rC'iamra ^Gcn.sa ^.0 • rC'ixu.i*) rdzA^A Klica^o 
 
 rdL^xjao &a.\ *• rc'^oi^no K'la.’sa.^saa KiaL.vnJsa 
 
 ^irdiiiai^ ^.ICTD + : rclx^q cn.3 pa.flo‘^^\JS3.T Fol. 27 * 
 
 = * qoOvjA.i ncl»9 oi=jOJ» * AanxA pCt*^u^\3L rdiiia 
 KU»oi jjlA-3l»t A~».yaA : KlI^ajL &\aA joA-sd rc'rsa 
 crA rdaJTZJOJL • rdsa.*l^.A rdlJaa.jjLAJSO.T 
 
 rdx^wKlL^J : cn^v-n-^vra rclx-i.iJ^o • rda 
 
 jaA^VQflr*3T 2 r^3L3T-=3l CI3 \m 3 \ f ^*\ 
 
 Kl\.i ^.icrA rtl^ooJSQ rdsr^ • ^aoa.i£a Ax:A 
 r^T-n.A.a] rd3Liaxa.l rclwoi : i^v.a.^3 paAsA cnsCU. ^9 
 : KliAa^ir^ ^a2Lk^»V^ a:ia»ir<' : crA*.! rdi.^ rd\ib Aa^ 
 
 ^‘crA jAflo r<l jjlxX.^3 t * Kli.^rda ' Cl^na rc!xl*£a Aaa, 
 
 1 For ndwGi.lG. 2 MS. K^L1 ( 19.1. 3 F01 CUn^o. 
 
 j. r. A. s. 1896. 
 
22 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Fol. 28 “ 
 
 Fol. 2S b 
 
 iojsa* nci*iciG^ ^».icn ^solaLsa *^g • 1 r >~ 3 in AtGcn! 
 ^Gcazo &taA K'&tCl^.rj.i nd»in ^.icn + ndxJcna ^33 
 : rC'&Gi^ixans }a\£vzL33.i caXr^.i cnzx.m Or^ : rdxlca^.i 
 K^i-si K^X-l-x .1.33.1 PCLa, V» tA^-T) O KUcrds ^ A CV.-^ 
 
 : rCLx.lcn.a.1 pC'&\rC'cLz_»i.i ^Gcn_z_»i : oo Q.->i.1.1.02 aA r^.i 
 ^OcaAo-SkO • K'i-xJL* GAG.3r^T-\^3 2 G^\ ^Ag.^G 
 
 &igA rdxZ3az..i ^Gcn^\io k'g rdxzxzn.i *^Gcn£\zxia 
 rtifloGixn ^1 *'b\r£ .Vk • rC'AtrcU^flo rCxlz. 
 
 cov»..=>T-3 pa^nGi&rC' • rC'^\A.,n_n_33 K^vjlg p^rardAg 
 
 *. AtsA £&b\SBr< K'cnArC'.i cn.ia.na.3G oocvAxl K'cnAr^'.i 
 *. ^i-SnrC' rd^lcnSk ^GorAckfk cnX ^ai^ao : r<Axl rCiiorc' 
 ndxieaa ^calcn * 1 2 3 ^CV-ax^r^ * rC'crArC'.i cazxm GrC' 
 
 K'iiijcaL^.i rc'erArC' trdxin A^. K'i-'Sa.l ctAjd + : ^ijsnrC' 
 
 ca\ ^x2Lx^33G • >.^00 ^53 4 (^33) A^. K'lJSa ^ 1^1 PC' 
 
 rC'orArC'.i cnzxio Gp^ * ^i-'SarC'rC'-xAcnnG rdxicna. ^Genian 
 nc'caAr^.i cnica .1 : pC'-l.x.l'^ ^CV.1.2wJL. ia^i.* ^.sG^G 
 :v\iGi\^- »cn ^.ia.i rcliGv^Q *. ^x33 5 axLsn^\rC f 
 
 GrC' • rCLix* vycn pcIxXoqjdg r<lx.Jcn.a cnA ^.xa.x^qG 
 ca.aa\A\ * *. ^».icn pG'^G : rc'oolrc'.i onr»io 
 
 1 The words enclosed thus r t are corrupt ; see the translation. 
 
 2 For 6 , see Introduction, p. 6 , note 3 . 
 
 3 The four antiphons are marked by the first four Syriac letters in 
 the margin, and partly also in the body of the page. 
 
 4 So the MS., but omit ^.!5n which seems to be only a wrong ditto- 
 
 grapliy for that follows. It is also possible that the correct 
 
 reading is ^x.31 A^A. 
 
 One would expect (sing.). 
 
THE LITURGY OE THE NILE. 
 
 23 
 
 ,co jJSQ : cnjx^X ^ooD‘iu» 
 
 «^ocrAcv^ cnX ^.n.i.^80 • ndjjL^o^Jtaa rKi^.arsa&vSo 
 
 io^o * K'coAk't ca.x.*.TD Or^ * rcCi-lca.^ 
 v^a.!2uaxa.i K'&isc.i KtAAa. &\rt : .1 : rdx^xsi 
 
 COS Jq\.Xs&\ l ^lOaftL ^CUL VyV3L*SOO + Fol. 2g n 
 
 Cir.iA : rC'G.vxra rduJA^O 
 
 : [^Jo^fla-j pc!a.V.ijl.io 1 2 K'AxK'tso.I ^Oorx*i^.i 
 
 rducniw ^gctAoa ^zii^pao : ^ovx*o , fcfc cux*^j 
 
 ^OVSO.*G • K'coAk'.I OQ.SLa.VO OK' ^.V2W03 KIaAcojoO 
 '• rdAcaoG rKlxlcasw ^ O ctAqa ctA ^xnx^QQ • r^Ls»cmx.h\ 
 jA± A pdso.VwG pal^. ^J50 ^oisa*o K'otAk'i oar *to OK' 
 
 • p<lsn2*»a Klxicn^. ^oca\(U caA a • 
 
 aAo^t KL*io ^3*Av.t33 ,.i 0003 poi\ nt'cn\rC'i car *to or< 
 
 2 ptliOrK' Klucn^k ^J2n tm icxjstIj : rdno.:A rtCx.^no 
 
 • KlAcano Klx.lcn^+ ^GoAoa crA * rAxl Fol. 2 g h 
 
 ' ^xi=3\ con toj^OjO • 3 4 ^.1=3\ • r? I rAxl KiiGK' 
 
 r<lxJca.2i »^OcnAo-2w ^^GT-SOjG • Kii-O rdiGK' nd.iGK' 
 
 • : Kl3ca^ iaJ50*0 *. r*Au KUop^ rclio K' • pdAcnnG 
 
 ^Oco\oa ^OT-SOjCV : kJlj 3 rdlGrc' KliGrC' KiJOK' : ^*.l=3t 
 KiiOr^ KliOK' rdiOr^ • ^xlrs\ I ^ : rtlAcaoo rdxloa^ 
 
 1 4 [.=>] rtlLna P<ljVcicC^ ^».103 t A^ ^SO’^Q • Kllu 
 
 1 For K'&Va^.TSOT ? see p. 39 . 
 
 2 The letters K', .a, and «^jire written in the margin of the MS. 
 to indicate the number of times rKlaGK' is used at each response. 
 
 3 For r<Llr>\. 
 
 4 The letter o is omitted in the MS., but 3 os is written in red 
 in the margin. 
 
24 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Avia ^.1 KlStt Acxi V^*CT3 
 
 : r^calr^ rC'ioanra b\X\» • b\3..x.x»‘b\r?x Kl'Sa Acv.^ 
 
 rc^cLsaA on'cka &v.z..io • v\A ^\.rzi-a k!*'^\-xJ53 
 
 : kiAcia t<Lx>ci.a.x.Av.=) ,.i &\.sx\b\j&r? 
 
 rxxx.3LX.znc\ f.x\xx.zn ,cnJi : Klr».To+ v\*>c\i ^A &ujAx.o 
 
 r^<K.»T^3 ^3 • r^'cvzuJ ^ToO • v\^ O cnA r<A, 
 
 • v^ia&oa.i r£zn 
 
 Genesis II. 4-19. 
 
 ’ Kls^ircLio rtlxJSacix.:! K'.vacv^.t kSSlxSd ocn ^*.tcn 
 r€x3n<\JL r? cyAk' pC'vszj .T-3.^- cn.=).i Kl'Sac.* rc'acrJ . 1 ^ 
 vfctlx r<lA O.T^ .T^. rrtcvA^.l Klaoicu Aa^o : p^.^inc'o 
 t<lA O.T^ .1^- r<£zi£a^. orAcv^a : A^. 
 
 As^ K'ctAk' ncA 
 
 : nd^.ir<lA cn<^\» xsCvAs^.l K'acn r<l\ T-lrc'o : ►cK' 
 
 >.a.xJSO K'ocna : ^50 jaA.oo k'gcd >i ^G..3LZn 
 
 rdx_iirA K'crAr^' k'v^d Azx^o : K'.ik.iK'.i >ai:r<' AcxsA 
 
 : ^iiw.i yzn cvz.3 >c\.iipd=3 xx^io : p^.^irs' wasi -airc' 
 K'i-'ia 33j~%o ' r^Lx.x» y.xA-lA ^a.Tr^ rdx.iis + i^x^.c^K'o 
 : Klxx.l.iJSW A^ 7J.1CU3 ^T^.=3 n£Oa*.Ti<\aA K'cyiApC' 
 
 r?\3n sxxZn^rfcs : An^i ^n.iK' KlxJ t=A 1 ^aflorc'a 
 
 rCJ2*uxJSl\ ■ix^.x..’! ^LpC* Aoa : rd^irt' .ia!w rC'crApi' 
 
 CD &v.^-^J 5 a .=3 rdii.M .1 rd.lA.xK'a : Aa.i.^A .rjrcA^O 
 
 : Xxa.io jdkiA^.i r<b\G\^r? ^..vi KiilxK'G : rdflax.Tia^.i 
 
 1 Corrected, apparently, into pCLxfloK'O. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 25 
 
 od&\~» K'.u.Xj.i jL.a.,1 K'ocn ,1 K'icn.io 
 
 Kl^3iKlA KtaoDO *xi.£.J33 ood ^nb\ ^ao : Klflo».iio&\ 
 
 OzAo*A 003.1 ^>.1 : ^Oflfltx°i .1X3.1 OZ.31x3L : ^xX*l 
 
 cn’^lx.l CTZ3CID.10 : K1303.1 ood ^50&\.i : 1 A^oAoK.! KlSk-iK' 
 
 : K'&l^.l Kl^xiiO K^ 10.31^ >03 ^..33^0 : .sKlA^ Kls^-lK* 
 
 003.1 ^».l : ^Owux^ KllKlxli^V r^i023.1 CT2J31xJLO + Fol. 3 i a 
 
 Kl*&\.xA&> PC'icn.a.i oz.3i.»..3LO : JLOA.l ozAoaA 
 
 K'icnao : ,.*ioa> AoziaaA Axtrc' oos.i ^».i : k'A^ixK’ 
 Klx.zi. 3 A K'crAr^ K'ijss jajaaio ::$\io^ ood rdi^oi 
 K'cn*.! : ^13^.1 Kl02x.iio&3 03$u pa.xfi&K'o •: Aa.\i )o.ir^ 
 K'crzAn^ K'i-33 od&v-x .i.aAO : crzA i.xA-,.1.^73 O crA 
 rdfiflx.iio^.3.1 kIaAIk'^O oAoii ^..33 : crzA i.33K'o ^o.iKlA 
 
 •sKlA^.l K'&Ol^K' J^.lx.l khIaK* ^J330 : Aoix/^v Aa*LxJ33 
 AvK'.l Kl.330 x3.1 A* 1Zi\ : 02.1.33 AoiL»&V KlA : 1X3.10 
 
 : k'ozAk' rc'iia i33K'o : &\o:33l*&v &>o.39 02.133 Ao*L»&v 
 KlAK : ,0.10 xjAs )a.lr^ Klx.Z13 K'ozxl .3KlA^ KlA KVid.I 
 K'ctAk' ^ K'i-33 Ah^O : Gd'^VK'O^. ^Kl3*.xflaJ33 02 A lx33»Jl Fol. 3 i b 
 crzAo^O : K'ioA^.l K'&Oxxz cvzAoSt : Kl^-iK* (-33 . 10 . 3 *- 
 : ^oiK* &>oA ^Oo3*i\-x ►A^.xK'o : Klx.330.3Li 
 K'ia.i Kl-33 Ao^o : ^Oca\ K'la oco k1_33 k1j33.xx.».i 
 02.31x3L OOD J.x.103 KlxXJ T-X.^J ^O.lK' ^OOlA 
 
 : K'iaixJ^.i Kl ^73 k'&voA.j^.i : .1 : Kla&vsw ^33 
 
 1 I.e. Et'etAar = r6 v in. 
 
26 
 
 THE LITUHGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 2 Kings II. 19-22. 
 
 k'oo : ^-x.iArcA oa^arc'a 
 
 : Ki-SO v^cn r^L=iS^ K'^u.iJsan rc'^na.na.Sk. 
 
 : js-z-iAk* i^aKb : KlV^c’^ kL^k'o ^JLaj=j k* Vnao 
 
 : jjulI.^ 73 can : Pv&.taj K'.tm K'&vlcia A o'^uK' 
 
 1 ^Ocamcv.nno\ .\. T.il r? cal J3/N3Q : cn&tcA 
 i^ar*' ^». , i*wcn : V^a^o KUxAjna ^jna$> rc'.uc.G : rdxjs^.i 
 .1CU>*» K'ca* Kilo I KliJib ^-xAcal KiiK' b\i£or± : K'iifl 
 Fd. 32“ cu adk&k' ^Acra : Ax*ia^.io dnjna.i ^na& ^.jna 
 
 • j^xArc'.i cra&Ana vp^gd ^».T^acul rem.\x. 
 
 *. K'ioivJsa.i rtlna rd*n,s ^cuna-a*. ^na rcl»’<KA^\ 
 
 Xmos /X. 5-14 a. 
 
 •rjiia.i ^».icn rdAcxa .T*^l K'calK' inarc' ^.iacn 
 
 Acva ^cAnre'Auo cn&u 2 jwv^-. 1W^30 : rdi-iiV cola^A 
 
 ^i^na.i rc'icaj vs^cn j 3 Q..qq-»o : cal ^Acn 
 
 A^. m ^r^j 30 : cn&\xoaAflL 2 a Kl&^CXzn rdm.i ^».icn 
 
 v^aAi.o KLnii.i >a.ra k'ijo.i ^.ico : tjlkLso Kl^irc' 
 r<Acv.a, .t» ^.1 K'oqIk' K'lia l cajucrC' A^. ^Ocal 
 
 ^ mjlo^ rdl-n vy»cn Kll KlJSa.i : cr^m.±.x, Gan 
 
 ^vaflort' A>r^T-OQ-* kA : K'ina inar^ A-»TJaa_*K':i pdxm 
 
 K»ic\fialo rdna.icuLo ^na y^xAsAo ^H^jna.i Kl^ir^ ^na 
 
 1 For ^Ocoica.2xaal. 
 
 2 ctd&v* after cannot be correct. 
 
27 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 A-^. rdooArd rdi-TOi + ,cna.l.x.^. rdcn :rdn.^9CiA. ^ro Fol. 
 cn.x.cK' ^20 cn<^\.* rdmv*a rdxA.a.oo.i ^c^&clsJLto 
 
 cn^vxrs poxi.ro rdird ,o^xxA rdA.i : rd^ird.i 
 
 :yn. 2 iJro rdird rdcn.l A.*.t-=iA : rdiro i.rord aa.n.v*i 
 rdo*cn : i^TQQ*rc / .i rdA\xa\ rdxlxTO .^OctAclo ^xr> K'i.vo 
 
 A. 2 *. 1 f.n..*x.xj=> A 02^ rdA rd*i.i.ro:i rduo&i rdiu^.T 
 
 ^Acn [>jro^.:i] tcX^Qo 1 2 ^>GJ5?i* >.i rdai-ixa : rd^ird 
 
 : rd'iuLxra t A co cniA^. .^rdxi^rd rdAo rdA ^impdi 
 
 : A^. 1.1 ^k.icn .TaO.ii cnioxro paxn.ro rdird rdrocu cn^uao 
 : po-ijo-so rdlrC' cnAii-^^roo cn&iL&ro rdird >_inroo 
 ^cUkQA cAmA : rdraA^.i ,cnct.roa.* v^cn cn&u rdiaua 
 >J31 iL ) ini\K'.i rdx.ijL.r33 ^^ocrAano rdxjLi.i.=j Ai-xi^x. 
 ^xrocXx rdcn : ^Acn Tr^.1 ^»Tcn rdir33 irord ^ocaA^. 
 rd°A^nO : rd2A^nA rdoi.l J3C\.=.T»0 rdiro irord ^rdx&rd 
 rdx'iai^ ^.asA^iiO rd^ivra rdxni^. ^a.^.ro*o :rd^.i A 
 .nxAvro rdlrdo : ^OcQi ^x.nY^.1 rdxAA^ Acu^O Acuj 
 
 : 3 A~»iaond A cao.i coAunx. 
 
 rdA.m ^aroA^rjrd iciTOxG : rdx^\.x.^c\i-=3 Avrolx. 
 rdird ^ro ^ro »li.ut.roo >ioen.l rdiro • ^ • rdx'A\A'^> 
 rdird ^JTO ^TO m-jj A*. ^j.^ro rdiro • cnA\xl^ • Axx>l 
 : rdin&oo.i rd.ro rdixAx-.i oaxmoiE ^ro ^xin : ocni&os 
 
 1 For ^ Oca a.3jigJQ ? The form of the s» is here LI. 
 
 2 For ^O^CLrax. 
 
 3 So the MS. for the usual Abxifiaxrd. 
 
28 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Fol. 33 b 
 
 Fol. 34 a 
 
 Acts XVI. 16-34. 
 
 
 good 
 
 ^\\K r : KlxJtDCU v\i 
 
 A 
 
 ct2=j ,i *oeri: 
 
 k'.tm r^^v.^-'sa.Aa^. ^aco&\» ii^-iorc' : rc'&xcA,- ^v&A 
 ^pc'ccn K'.va.^.ot Ir^no. oojo.i rdwGi crA &>god Auk's 
 &\Gcd.i r<2taa.flao,r3 K'&xiO-^rc'^ cn^'i^aA 
 
 qooAq..c i’^ri ‘^xr^ocrj rd»<^\rC'a : r£zaa..Baj3 
 
 «^cucd Ktz.ixir? ^Aod : K'i.i^aK'o rtUxx^sa £iocno 
 
 «^cv..^A ^.*T-fla-a-sao : KLzoJSaoi^a k'ctAk'.i 1 cn* txzl^. 
 •: ^jo ^octd ^.i^ono : rdiius KluiaK' 
 
 r^-lr^ Tn^Jta : ,cn kLmoA crx\ ■vSDK'O qocAciH T^'^Axnrta 
 cnao : 02.1^33 ( xncA\.i tKliXilia oocvsn^.i crx.t7ixr.r3 >aA 
 crA jiA.s .1 caxH.m CV.t3ix> .VwO : rdwoi Aiii&l rK'Av^xrs 
 
 oocAaxA CTx&u o.iik^ : *^Gci3Ana.\K'&.i >.i k'viqo cni^a 
 
 cx^H-do : rdxocxxA «^oct 3&\» cA^rc' o.t^jo : klAxxAg 
 goodg •: K'^Ux.TZa.i r£r»HAo kIx^A^A^okA ^ggd‘Au 
 crxA ^n.=3T^.^a ^ cvj an 1 r^r-Li-i-rs ^xAod.i * ^-*i-t73rC' 
 
 <A ^-x\i.^..t 33 a : ^ 0.303 ^x.i.ioca.«.i A*in\ : .v=*A 
 
 rVcas.io ^txn.ta nc'cas.i ^A A^xVr. pcA.i ^Aon rtlxi^Or^ 
 
 >\po Klz.xi^a : ,.i Aut^ ^Kl-taoi.! Ax.tzA 
 
 CX.^.V-3 rdx.^-xA^HA^J»^iia •: ^ocrxA^. CUX-LlA\rK' 
 
 o.t^j .t^o : ^ocn^\x c\*n^G •: ^ocaxirelta 
 
 o.toAQ : rd^ixQor^ &\xs.s ^ocn&u cx-rai >^ao ^oodAx* 
 
 : AuK'vcDt *j3cd$u tA^i^.i rtlxixflor^ &vx=3.i icA^A 
 
 1 So the MS. for >Q.’|xa^.. 
 
 003 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 29 
 
 : K\icun.2i ^i.icn Ai.no *a >1 
 ^OcnxA^i ixfloK'O : KliTAfloK ivo.i r^iuna >.1 
 
 CO CD KlAxX.O >.l qocAcut : KlAA.l ca.^kaO I <V3aa 
 ^ooA 0003 ^a.nax.O K'onAKlA ^x_ii~nxjnao ^A^Jna 
 : .T-n.a,fr\r^ rtlai Kla.Ot kIiAjl, ^nao : KL*H-x_a>K' 
 
 ^Jna 0 .m&\2FAk' 0 : rdiTiflor^ &ua.i rdxX-Or^ ►a»va»:i\r<'o + Fo1 - 34 b 
 ^ocrAcua.i ^ocn*icua>K'o •: ^ocrAon r£.x.± m 'i'b\ rc'.i.u 
 rdXuO : Kix’UfioK' ^ua.l icA^i txa-A^ *ao : Cui&ix.K' 
 KlanO rdSaflo .nflai : r£.»\*JX>r< ’^\xn 1 Klxa.i&\ ^i.uu*^\^.l 
 ^Ocn\ O.oiaw.1 rc'ooD inflo.i A».in\ : c ojl&a AcvA^.n^.1 
 VtaKto rdni rAas cdcAclc. cn&u ^dO : Kliii-flor^ 
 
 t xiAa.a.i Ai.Tnl : >Aoa y^-^A kA : aA 
 
 A^o ioje.o : r^Li^oii cnA i*crxir<'o •: ^AW KiaKcn 
 •: klLijl.io cocvAoJE.i ^ocaxV^i Aa. A°uo : AxK'i *a 
 Kina ^ oc rA Keen inaKo in\ ^ooo’iv* m.cK'o 
 
 ^xinaK' ooo3 ^ojodo : Klun.i v\*oa .ia^. K'cox.i A A^i 
 
 kUxx^\o : KUxxxna cocun. ^iaia ^na.*o3 : aA Foi. 35 * 
 }aa-o Kina* cn&xLna craaoa. cAAnao : v^\xa cvAciao 
 I rdilxla cn.n t^k^.i.13 cn.no : cn^iaiia ^ oc qAoa 
 
 J4 - .' ' v - • ? - . t ■. *■ 
 
 oaA.a-x-i-no : ^_ooa$>.iciJ^j ^.na ^ooa’iv-i >~*x.a> ia.i 
 ^ccra^vx jaxCoK in .10 : ^ocrAo.a oaAxzixinO j^iA^ok' 
 ^.ao-a^Kb : KiO^iA >1 ^ocrA ^tu-fl^Ko : cn&v-i-nA 
 : K'cyAk'.i K'&G.mixcnn oa&un vino ocn ' Keen 
 
 • ^x.na 1 ^ulna^K Kinai cnicni : KliCtLiAcn A 
 
 a.O 
 
 Read jAso^tK', see note 5 on p. 22 . 
 
 1 
 
30 
 
 THE LITUKGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Fol. 35 b 
 
 Fol. 36 s 
 
 : *^ocn‘iu Auoird co^aAAt • )icu> 
 
 .l_xxA pc' jalA^r* : ooodrv^Q.i coicuam cnA K'^.zx-*0 
 >Ax- .tao I cnj^lsArC* coa&\^3 .Sfc-QorC'AxArC' 
 
 rdai Klica^O I rC^ClA^ rd.lX-Sa.2Lia lO-isa* K'lO.fias 
 ore' : rdxjsa.i A.^ Td’A\aA^+ ^-».icn icLsa.„» 
 
 cn^u>o.nL^ • rdsjJ.T^aA caxiinC'a • rd^-sa.i rdl.x.n 0Q.°i 
 
 KlzjuizL=) kL^Ll rd^-ipd A^o rdxjsaai^aa tdenArdA 
 
 >^730^0 &\r£ t'WftAi .op rdvsa 
 
 : vyJ 
 
 CLi^3, 
 
 v^cn r^ftaL^ >Jsoaa, Jjsa’iv^ • v\^ucinL^ rdi'^sa 
 : rdxsoi rdsacu orAcisw • 1 cvnx. b\ \xx*x 
 
 tdtCO rd'AxcA^. lOJSOx ca^o 
 : rd\aA rC'TiTD K'ivsptL^ rdAaA.i rd^oi.sa OK' 
 
 rdxjsacux. ^».icn • rdx:sac\.xi-3^ Acx^.i rdenArd 
 
 ^ gen&cuLp&rd-a ^ocd‘4\-» A.xA.^o : ctd'^\cv..ijcu3-33 
 cn'b\^ 2 .t-*^o • ^x£a A^ rd^-irdA %xx-rdo : rdxaAQA.i 
 Qaxo COS .%2.2fe»Q • ^ rdfiau.TiaA ^3^.10 * ^xl»^l=> 
 
 e rtlV.jjL.3 cn&i* jj&v^a.i ^*.icn • 
 
 : £_»icnjk rd^-rsird rd.t-u rdl.i.\. ^50 ^n^.i .vd.^O 
 cn.=3 ^.x . 2 w.v»<Kjsa ^ocaA-».i rdA\rc'aJ5Ja..xjL. 3 £vsa^.fl0rdo 
 rdAunordo • ^ocaisa ix> Aa^A 4 £v»ajLrdo • k&iclsi:^ 
 rdv.irdr> A^x>.i ^ClQax^ ^Ocnra.i rdxia..p : crA rdi».jNi.:i 
 : &nci^a ctA^taK'o : 6 rdict 3 ^ AanaA ocn.i A^cA.i 
 : pds*.ird:i ci3*A\^-^2fc.=) ^octd‘^ ii.To^o 
 
 MS. v^uanL^.i 
 
 See note' 4 on p. 47 . 
 
 2 For V^G ? 
 
 See note 5 on p. 47 . 5 For rdlClS^. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 31 
 
 .tcL^o cn'bu rdiu ^icno 
 
 3 K'.i-ii^&v2>3.1 3 ^»i^.oo! • r£*i&>K'G 2 r^rC'cLcaYl 
 
 rdviK' coAcisA cnAu >.n.z.*C ^p^Lsl.CL^i Klt.saa.a*^G 
 : cni»^ cos»ju v^K'^u.i crc’ck* ,gvg I 
 
 ‘ CT2=3 ^Acn.l K'&taixxxJSoA 4 K* 1x3.10 + &ut^L&x£» Fol. 36 b 
 
 * cD&uxaaausa.i K'ixaa ^sa ^xsiasa o.t^. ^.i^cn 
 
 vyl^o jX*3G 6 JLrdl-O : KlMCV.a.2t-^\=J izalQ A.Acr2xi 
 OD&\a£a«saGi .isi^.<^.i r<lL».uio Kt-xJaix»&> God &\r £:1 
 cnxjax-sn.i Klxjsa cuj&> $>a\ v\*ivxx=j jA&\oa.».iG KlsaAxxs 
 
 ia.jsa.ft sa.z.S 93 • ^.x.saft' • i-sar^ rtiAerija • cnA~».i 
 
 Kl^ireli ^az. • iojsqu cas* *• ^ojsol* cordA^rd^, 00 •A 
 
 : ooalxl.i rdicni.i ^.xjsas i rdsardA^ Gen A\rd.i v\^^i =3 
 
 v-ikio^. .aA^ A.^. : ^i^JSa.i rd.ix.ipd.i rd*i*^ y-^-QorC' 
 
 KLxJsaard^G rdAvsiA^.i rd.Sk-a.2LSa god ^irdi v^Acn-o.i 
 v\^aA ^JSa.l rdA>riela. A^ K^uaoDOJSa AaSk.l • rd&\^in.i 
 : pd\<m rd^oisa vyiJsa + ^x ^.=3 ^xird ^ A^.iaA : »cn Fol. 37* 
 rd 1 sn ^_».ion3 : rdLxJ.i rdica.1.1 ^rdjijsa v^i 1 »i\.i 
 
 rdscrix.i • ooalxi.i rdicni.i rdjLsa ►J^Jiopd ^ut.Qo^JSa.1 
 
 'jsa.xte&vsa.i rclx.sa ^.icn A^x. ^xii.saaxxsi : cnix^ rd^-iK' 
 
 ^LsoA )tuLoi cd&i* 1 1 v rc"A>K / a^i.*.iG rdoa-^aA^ 
 ^A*rdx.a v\i2a g.vl ».i ^jAWg • ooalxi.i ^»icai.i 
 
 ^isa Lk. v\^is jxAza^.i : rdijsa v\^cvA ^QQ»r. -73 g 
 
 si v> cn.i.sa ^i\jcsfl.i •j^x.sq ^>cdg rtAaJit r^icni.i 
 
 1 Read ^.Tn^. 
 
 2 So the MS.; for rd^rdoflal^J?), see p. 48, note 1. 
 
 3 See p. 48, note 2. 4 See note 5 on p. 48. 6 Read ^a\rdx.G. 
 
32 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Fol. 38 a 
 (fol. 37 b 
 being 
 blank). 
 
 Fol. 38 b 
 
 *^ocaxooi*i ^».vto3 i K'iio.r.o rdxxu rdi.53i^ 
 
 KlxL_2fl'<^\JSfl A ^Sfl.i rC'&xrelxAjx.! rd.Lxw r^.virc'.l 
 
 ' p^.vW ^Sfl ^.icd rel^i\ axJSo^&.i r£:sa.i-x.2fla 
 
 v-^cojl t K'lJSfl v\~LSfl >! ^.xJf< i_».*T.nic\ 
 
 K'ionJ.i relx.Sfl ^a2floi.j^M r<lx.lxl=3 "a..x>io relxJCVJx><L 
 
 >Lsfl&v».i rdiJM.i cnJSflCtu&M cq^ocxVx- ndJifli i^» reixli 
 >.l Ai.1 mp^ • rdlili reljlsfl ce'crAre'.i cnicral rdxOiJSfl Or^ 
 Gp&v* ,in^ KllG^i^- >cn ^».i^*cv3 rdiov-Sfl calJSfl v^cnxA 
 '• cnb\* jOiK'O CDcvixi.1 r^icni.i ^jLSfl.3 Kl^irei 
 ^OcrAa^i ,0• caik.l Klx^.CV.SUSflO rtlxJSfl ^xUSfl Kl\.l 
 : caL».i K'l^VxlJSaio ^.lauo K'i-aM.JSflG rdx.LxxJ 
 r<l*ix&ja rel*x.Sfl^.Sfl retire* kItm'^^.i l ooL».i pdxix^i 
 : Kl*03\0 rt'b\\x*Li~ relx.ncl.l-^.3 rdjsajaaa&csfla r-C'&izi^ 
 b\r? v^Tsi-Sfl : cDolxi.i ^xjsa : pdx^.i p£x3^j< 
 
 c\AjSfl<L* v\i-S.x.2flO v\^c\.JSaj-fia.=j.i k'^vjc-.i relLxi.^. 
 i.:^ : ^i^JSfl.i K'A.iK' cars )aijC-*$\G : ^x..2flCUL 
 
 ^oi-Qoreix r<lx-\A(^ K'O.TmO : QoCli.xJ.lt K'icnJ.l ^.xJSfl 
 i ^oi.x.x_»a t^xo t x \** rdAxxio 
 
 ,.1 ^xJK' v\i-=JG I v\-xicn.o.i ca.^io^, jL 5^ l.v. 
 
 >orelz. .T.a..^.o rC'cnire'a >.i w K'iJSfl : ^o’i\ 
 
 ^xx.u ^r^tTa-Ar%Li >n . ^.ra( 
 
 rdJSflxQar) K'&vxluGi ^*ix£t .vnJxJG 1 C 3 cn*b\io ><Lxi.i 
 
 ^uQ 2 ^^vjl .i-x>C\ KVelJSfl i»x> rdxjo^a kH-xAjc. vyio 
 : ^xixooccsaxii^.^. jaccxxJSflo : «^\Lkxflo jacinto : 
 relQoxVc&vsfl vn^cc^Jusag rel^ijaJSfl v^Jsa.xjL.i 
 
 1 Sec uote i on p. 50. 
 
 For 
 
THE LITURGY OE THE NILE. 
 
 38 
 
 * K1x-.1CVhD. 1 ri'.uoio K'isaG, rtlrar^ I Kl«x=3^\ZJ^ v\^CV.=3io 
 K'ctApC' ^rc* • ^K'aA^. ,icu* * ^xJSfcK' ^x£zA^. pcAsA G.i^. 
 
 cn.Acusa.i KiAuM 1 cdxteGixo.i ^ooaj.^3CUJLa.1 
 
 co 1^3.1 : Aa^=) Kil&u.i ^a.xX» i\3ca*Q K'Axin^..! Fol. 39 " 
 
 An=> ^oj^iz. K'^cvjcj i.=3.i K'AnG^. v^GaArc' <ksA^ 
 
 ^»V3.i Klsaa.* ^».icq=d ca=j : v^cna.i cn^>a.^r30 cn&>cA 
 
 onica.i ,pcuaa.»G A.^. i^JL VyA\~» 
 
 ^*.icn crAa^ >.nZaO X-xO oocAxJi 
 
 ocn.i ^*.icn cn&\.xj3CUKL2a 2 r<Lx^3a.t. 2 >-1 jd.1 
 
 )a^oiiuO rel^.ir^.1 ^Oonxi: pc' Kix^ia~^3 
 
 l qd cv.i.x. 3 3 K'icnJ 
 
 xxSa^^G ca.^-irt' crACV.-*kA 
 
 ZS' 
 
 A.x^^\G CQm 3 ^ ^*JLa\ ctd Ao.2lA rdn.fia.2*. 
 
 rCixAca_o ^cvAcl^O : b\\ cviLxJ^i A )axAo 
 
 ctAp^ 3 *A\A:i' v^GcyApC'.i ca^iA ^cuig^\** 0 ^^G^riflaxG 
 
 nd^.irc'o &\*Gcn rdx^ 73 a.x-) : v^i ^3 vA ^*ix>Gr<' 
 
 > 
 
 o.vi^.i'K' ^oca*ia.JS 7 iiwO v^co rc'i^G ‘Avgcvs Foi. 39’ 
 
 caflo cx.^ixAizx^ AA^A ^xr<^ 7 ix 3 Ki^.T-a in^. ,-xAcnA 
 v\^7ix>i.i rclx\cuao v\»cn >1 Axp^ : (^GcniJ^ jAgd Axgctdi 
 ^ xsa r^aaAxX. ^^.n.!k.G Klx^cxzA ca.^.iK' 
 kIxZa^o v^ArclAsa.i rt lr.cu.ii ^ardxj.l rdaar) *^oca*i'^ 
 ^GoQJsa,^. v\\ ^»i.xjeJS 3 rc'iaeal xxi3.^3 
 
 1 Head ^UTX. On the possible meaning of this passage (evidently 
 corrupt) see p. 50. 
 
 2 In the original passage (Amos ix. 6): r^x.^ 73 CV.3E.r3 r<llr3.T 
 
 3 The mark ' before may possibly be a sign of interpunction. 
 
 4 The passage enclosed in ( ) is hopelessly corrupt in every clause; 
 see p. 51. 
 
34 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 Fol. 4G a 
 
 Fol. 4Q b 
 
 Ao*.ct rdi-owovow.a rdcnArdA cnb\*><\a.z.&\ : ^ai-OWr-do 
 
 rdazAxX. cn'<A* : v^cua^. rdx.lxlra ^x=)G rdawljLX. cd^ird 
 ca.=3 : vy-x^wiGo rdjai rdxAcan 1 Ao^o : ^A .sen 
 
 rdicnia reixjsixfiarj v\^\^irj.l j^OK' asg'Ai^o : 2 rdx*.To 
 I cajx.irdi caJfrC' A.^. ^ocn’Av-i Vy0^xi\0 qdO.A-i.jii 
 
 : ca=> ^Acn AoaA + ^ix^o jjlOW^ A\o 
 
 rdAcan ^oAiLiO rCuix^ ^o\oa*0 rdxiA*rd ^oixi’iu 
 3 »^GcnGi:rd got Atrdi : vr^-OWxxA ^gig£\x*g ^O^.n0a*O 
 ^Aao v^-^31on ^.x-rxiArdn ^xjrdo : rdxawo-x. o.^-pi 
 ^Ay -x-XA ^lILLlXJS.I ^>CIL — &V» ^* 3 \. I ^1 
 
 A«A°A ^x^& }aAx.i-iG aim) v\^CicnAr 
 
 4 v\am1x- ^aw ^A relaw v^*cn *»: 
 
 : v\iO-»-=^ oizi^-o oia.x-1 ^Aot rcliiia 
 
 chAiA-a rdiv.^iaaQ rd'£\.x.^i rdivJLx.voi gp’Ag.qq-H.-3 
 
 otAgA^tjg : paxi^w jAiaw Ai A.2w rdAo’Aso : rdcnArdi 
 ^.i-i.iiawa : rdi.2w..ri.QQawG rduswuiJaw rdi.x>a^ ,iawi 
 ^Oca.x.«iO KliiXj ^Aca-rardo rdx.x_»in KliwA-L' 
 A^ex-x.^ : lelui.n.iaq rd*ica.QDO rd-x.2wynaw rdx.ica.2wi 
 relxJOwa.z.3 jjoi rd&is Ac. 2 x=a 5 v\ix:aN\ v^*i=>G 
 rdAiG^aoG rdi-im»rdG rdAjjG..=L.x. A v^O : rdix-irdsa 
 rd inAo rdaardA : v\A ^xnQQ.aw ^.xJrd rdAo^lO Ax.rdO 
 : ^.xowrd ^awA*. ^eAiAo 6 *OOTG on rdx.io.X3i rduoiAo 
 caAcu^A ^.uiv^o : rdaiA^ JO-QQ-x rdJcGA ^i’Aao 
 
 a^wii cn A» 
 
 ^Ordx.O 
 X»in paAo.x.3 
 fdn 13..0W rdxXx in 
 
 1 Read AojAc. 2 rdXxin cars is untranslatable in this place. 
 3 So the MS. for era0.3rd 4 Read y ^ xxxx A x., 
 
 For 
 
 vy. 
 
 xiaisA ? 
 
 Apparently corrupt. 
 
/ 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 35 
 
 ooooi : K'&xaA^.'i Kl xzan dxacn.i Klucvi^z. 
 
 enA ^i 2 Lx^£ 8 CX : cnntiA^K' Aort' y°X j.Ak' 1 ^xJ^aK'v^Ar^' 
 
 pa ex r<U>a.nx.^O : 2 .=j$xr<I^*A\J 273 Ocd.I KlS*ll»co rdAcan 
 Klicafk :^aV^v=j^ pao : ^x.iSk r^Acao 3 Foi. 41" 
 ca^oxz^a licusja^o :^vis\ : K'in.xJta Kinl^A 
 
 pJ^aA^. paJSQ^A rdJL-.ia-o.i rcLuCXiO K'i-ra.lO rdsrc'i 
 
 caA 
 
 CV^k 
 
 ^x-xjsog : psaK' 
 
 icx.jsa-»a : psaK' 
 
 rt Lai iJtsa m^O : Klx.n.jaJSa rtLx^S pa KlAca^o 
 rclA'^x ca&o : r*L\CU» vs^cn K'erAr^ plA^. ^o.mVAxK' 
 
 psar^ : ■usanc' n£sa.2h. : K*i-ra»jTJsa k'ctAk'.i AaApsa 
 
 K'^\a\al£f<' : v^ar^ rd.^1^ : Kta-S^a^, : ia~sa* : jrza 
 rdiajk : ^aA^jL^rtlAjfp^ : icusa* ca^ : 
 
 cn_^ : ooGK'&xKlxr*' coOOK'i r^b\JX> ...xJSar^' 
 
 icxJta_x 
 
 vr^i^ao prC* v\&xcxAg 5 v\i^3.1 ciLsaX : pa&v»oa 
 
 r^iuiCUUL^Q K'^CUrtoixx.n^ pairisa v^cx pL:io&v2a ^ Fol. 4i b 
 pSfeA.^. }oA.lA rd.x.3<\J3.l r^jjoiAo KS-nAa r<i-3T<LA 
 Ki^irLSa oocvAxl.i K'^xa.lo&xK' ^oA^xx.K' : )aAx. : psar^ 
 pjsar^ : rdAcuwO KLx.m K'cqAk'.i ca.10.T ^..Qq.3 
 
 : ►xJSaK' 
 
 1 Note the form >TaJSflr^V-' 5 aAr^. 
 
 2 Note the form .a^xr^A^vsa. 
 
 4 For ^^KX.'sna. 
 
 3 For 
 
 5 
 
 .01:5*1x0. 
 
 See note 3 on p. 53. 
 
36 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 ^j.lC\2w=J pair. 
 
 ^ rduO A.*i K'erArccA rd»x=>CUL. 
 
 k'pAk* £uxj=j K'ixia.ijsa rnaSioa^rdra ^».i ^oiujAtK' 
 rt'ivux&aLSa &\x.o ^.x.i\G rcVdsai^^a 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 37 
 
 III. Translation. 
 
 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, for ever and ever, do we write the Order of the feast of 
 the blessed Nile [which is observed ] on the Sunday 1 2 of the three 
 hundred and eighteen fathers, [and also ] from the Sunday 1 of 
 Pentecost [and onwards ], and after the conclusion of the feast 1 
 of St. Mark the Evangelist. And the priests go to the ford of 
 the congregation, one priest carrying the venerated cross, and 
 taking ivith them the holy Gospel, and incense, and wax candles; 
 [and approaching ] a basin, into which water had been put, 
 they shall say this troparion 2 in the sixth 3 tone to the tune 
 of “ Bear that which time does bring ”— 
 
 The Lord has gone up to heaven, in order that He 
 may send the comforting 4 Spirit to the world. Heaven 
 has been prepared for Him as a throne, and the clouds 
 are His chariot. The angels were astonished when 
 they saw the Son of Man rise above them. The Father 
 beholds Him crowned 5 who had never been separated 
 from His bosom. The Holy Spirit commands all His 
 angels: Lift up your gates, 0 ye chiefs. All the 
 nations chipped their hands, because Christ has gone 
 up 6 to where He was before. 
 
 1 Of the three dates mentioned, the “ Sunday of the 318 Nicene fathers ” is the 
 one which precedes the Sunday of Pentecost (Whitsunday), the latter coinciding 
 this year (1896) with the Latin date of the festival (May 12 Gr. cal. =May 24 
 Lat. cal.), as Easter Day fell on the identical date (March 24 = April 5). The 
 feast of St. Mark spoken of here is not April 25, which is the day now assigned 
 to the evangelist in the Byzantine calendar, but Sept. 23, the day dedicated to 
 St. Mark at Alexandria in ancient times (see Smith’s Dictionary of Christian 
 Biography, vol. ii, p. 1089). For further remarks on the dates of the Service 
 see the Introduction. 
 
 2 On the troparion see Neale’s “ History of the Holy Eastern Church,” 
 General Introduction, pp. 832, 918. The word is “the generic term for all 
 the short hymns of which the services of the Greek Church almost entirely 
 consist.” 
 
 3 The sixth of the eight tones of the Greek services is called f3apvs : see 
 Neale, op. cit., Gen. Introd., p. 830. 
 
 4 Literally “the Spirit of the Comforter.” In the Edessene Syriac the word 
 would mean “ the resuscitator ” instead of “ the comforter ” : see F. Schwally, 
 “ Idioticon des Christlich Palastinischen Aramaisch,” p. 54. 
 
 5 See the note on p. 38. 
 
 6 The rendering “to where He was before ” is free, the text being evidently 
 corrupt. 
 
 4 
 
38 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 And after they had finished this troparion shall one of the 
 priests address this call for prayer to the chief of the priests :— 
 O holy one of God, who is perfected in excellency, N.N., 
 pope 1 and patriarch of the great city of Alexandria, 2 chief 
 of the chiefs of the priests; and [thou], N.N., the upright 3 
 metropolitan; and all [ye] assemblies of priests, and orders 
 of deacons, through many years enduring 4 : we have come 
 to prepare a good season and an acceptable year; risen is 
 the well-spring 5 of God, the Nile, and by the command 
 of God has it mounted upwards ; [saluted be thou, 6 ] 0 Nile ! 
 and all the priests respond to him? and say, O holy one of 
 God 8 ( antiphon ). 9 All the priests say : 10 “ The voice of the 
 Lord is upon the waters: the Lord of glory thundereth: 11 
 
 1 The word “pope” is here merely used to represent in an exact literal 
 manner the Syriac word UK 
 
 2 The text reads “ Alexandras.” 
 
 3 is equivalent to the Hebrew • occurs in Pal. of 
 
 1 Kings ix, 4 (see “ Anecdota Oxoniensia,” vol. i, part 9). 
 
 4 It seems best to translate ^ 5 Ain this place by ‘ ‘ enduring ’ ’ (see 
 P.S. Thes.,cols. 1856, I860), though the word \ An in the preceding troparion 
 was best rendered by “ crowned,” in accordance with the special meaning of the 
 root in Palestinian Syriac and the allied dialects (see Schwally’s “ Idioticon d. 
 Chr. Pal. Aram.”). Note also the instances of the same signification in Biblical 
 Hebrew, as e.g. the Af‘el YlTD' in Prov. xiv, 18. 
 
 5 With , literally “the son of the well,” comp, the Talmudic 
 
 NITVO TG (Hullin, fol. 106a). 
 
 6 b°1 appears to he the same as ^0*|, 0 ! The rendering given above 
 
 probably represents the full meaning which the interjection is intended to convey 
 in this place. 
 
 7 i.e. to the priest who opened the Service. 
 
 8 The words “ 0 holy one of God” are probably only the beginning of the 
 
 response. 
 
 9 On the exact meaning of the term “ antiphon,” see Neale, op. cit.. General 
 Introduction, pp. 364, 368. Here it relates to the verse or verses from the 
 Psalms, followed each time by “ 0 holy one of God,” etc. 
 
 10 Psalm xxix, 3. 
 
 11 = Hebr. LXX iPpovrrise, Peshitta So also in Pal. 
 
 St. John xii, 29 : where the Peshitta has fVnv i . 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 39 
 
 the Lord is upon many waters.” And all the priests and 
 the people 1 respond 2 3 4 to him and say, O holy one of God; 
 and furthermore he shall say the second Psalm z : 4 “The liver 
 of God is filled with water; Thou hast prepared the food, 5 
 for thus is Thine ordinance.” And the priests and the people 
 respond together ; O holy one of God. And furthermore 
 this antiphon : 6 “Its ridges hast Thou watered, and increased 
 the fruit thereof; through the raindrops 7 8 is it rejoiced and 
 quickened.” And all the priests respond : 0 holy one of 
 God. And he shall say the fourth antiphon : 8 “Thou blessest 
 the crown of the year of Thy goodness, and Thy plains 
 shall be filled with fatness of fatnesses. May the land of 
 Egypt prosper in it, and let the hills gird themselves with 
 joy. The rams of the flocks 9 shall become clothed, and 
 the valleys shall be overgrown with wheat; they shall 
 rejoice, yea, and they also shall sing.” And all the priests 
 and the people respond thus : 0 holy one of God. And 
 they shall say : Glory. 10 And all the priests and the people 
 
 1 Note the plural form j_iA OLQ , as if the singular did not already represent 
 the same idea. 
 
 2 The former response was hy the priests only, whereas the second is by the 
 priests and the people combined. 
 
 3 p or yQ.lL* in the sense of Psalm, see Schwally's “Idioticon”; the 
 
 numeral “second” only indicates the fact of its being recited next to the 
 preceding verse from the Psalter. 
 
 4 Psalm lxv, 10 a. That the translation was made from the LXX, can be seen 
 at a glance. 
 
 5 }jo]Lo (Syr. Hex. and Pesh. ^QfTIA < L dD *|^r>) =t rjv rpocp-qu (Hebr. 
 
 “their corn”); y"> oAl (Syr, Hex. = 7] eroi/u-aaia 
 
 (tov (see Swete’s edition of the Septuagint). 
 
 6 Psalm lxv, 11 ; the Palest. Syriac represents a somewhat free rendering of 
 the LXX. Comp, the Syro Hexaplar, and see also the Hebrew text. 
 
 7 With Lai “raindrops” compare i?T]D &u s m \pn (“ through 
 
 the rain was I walking”), quoted in Levy’s “ Neuliehraisches und Chaldaisches 
 Worterbuch,” vol. ii, p. 176. See also P.S. Thes., p. 1446. 
 
 8 Psalm lxv, 12-14. The translation is based on the LXX; hut notice, e.y., 
 “fatness of fatnesses” to represent the one word ttiottitos, and especially the 
 reference to the land of Egypt suggested hy the nature of the Service. 
 
 9 Taking UlL>; to he so written instead of 1ZU.1-.1DJ. 
 
 10 i.e. the doxology. 
 
40 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 respond: 0 holy one of God. And they shall say: From 
 eternity to the eternity of eternities. And all the priests 
 and the people respond: 0 holy one of God. Once more 
 they shall recite 1 the whole call 2 [ for prayer ] from the 
 beginning to the end. One of the priests shall say : 0 Nile. 
 And all the priests and the people respond once : O Nile. And 
 the priest shall say twice 3 : 0 Nile. And all the priests and 
 people shall respond twice: O Nile. And the priest shall say 
 three times : 0 Nile. And all the priests and people shall 
 respond three times: 0 Nile. And they furthermore recite 4 
 this troparion in the second 5 tone: 
 
 Thou wast born in accordance with all that Thou 
 hast desired, and Thou hast appeared 6 in accordance 
 with all that Thou hast planned. Thou hast suffered 
 in the flesh, 0 our God. And from the dead hast 
 Thou risen, and hast trodden upon death. Thou 
 hast risen in the glory which filleth all, and hast 
 sent us Thy Holy Spirit, in order that we may sing* 
 and offer praises to Thy Godhead. 
 
 And one reads the first 7 lesson* from Genesis :— 
 
 Gen. it, 4-19. 9 
 
 v. 4. This is the book of the creation of heaven and earth, 
 when the day was on which the Lord God made heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 1 “ Be ye reciting” appears to be the literal rendering of the phrase. 
 
 2 *jZc.AO} ] » * Q is the fuller term used before. 
 
 s Only the interjection “0” is repeated two or three times, as the case 
 requires, in the original. 
 
 4 Literally “pray.” 
 
 5 The second of the eight tones in the Byzantine Services is called irXayiov a': 
 see Neale, op. cit., Gen. Introd., p. 830. 
 
 6 Or “ hast been seen,” or “hast been made manifest.” 
 
 7 Note the masculine form with the feminine subst. 
 
 8 The word U1 (comp. Arabic ijj) represents avayvwais in its 
 
 liturgical use as applying properly to the lessons from the Old Testament. 
 This may be taken as one of the many indications showing that the Service is 
 Malkite. The vowel letter ] after the O is merely the “ mater lectionis.” 
 
 9 These translations represent, as far as possible, the literal meaning of 
 the Palestinian Syriac. For full textual notes, see “More Fragments of the 
 Palestinian Syriac Version of the Holy Scriptures,” by the same author. 
 
THE LITURGY OF TIIE NILE. 
 
 41 
 
 v. 5. And no green thing of the field was yet upon the 
 earth, and no herb of the earth had yet sprung up ; for 
 the Lord God had not caused rain to rain upon the face 
 of the earth, and there was no man that he may till the 
 earth. 
 
 v. 6. But a well was rising up from the earth, and was 
 watering the whole face of the earth. 
 
 v. 7. And the Lord God formed the man Adam of the 
 dust of the earth, and He blew into his nostrils the breath 
 of life, and the man Adam became a living soul. 
 
 v. 8. And the Lord God planted a paradise in Eden in 
 front on the east side, and He placed there the man Adam 
 whom He had formed. 
 
 v. 9. And the Lord God caused again to grow every tree 
 that is pleasing for sight and good for eating; and the 
 tree of life in the middle of paradise, and the tree of under¬ 
 standing the knowledge of good and evil. 
 
 v. 10. And a river was issuing from Eden that it may 
 water the paradise, and from thence it divided [itself], and 
 became into four heads. 
 
 v. 11. The name of one is Pison : this is it which encircles 
 the whole land of Olot, where there is gold. 
 
 v. 12. And the gold of that land is good, and there is the 
 carbuncle and the emerald. 
 
 v. 13. And the name of the second river is Gihon : this 
 is it which encircles the whole land of Cush. 
 
 v. 14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: this 
 is it which goes in the direction of the Syrians. And the 
 fourth river is the Euphrates. 
 
 v. 15. And the Lord God took the man Adam whom He 
 had formed, and He placed him into the paradise of Eden 
 that he should dress it and keep it. 
 
 'V. 16. And the Lord God commanded Adam and said 
 unto him. Of all the trees that are in the paradise eating 
 mayest thou eat. 
 
 v. 17. But of the tree of understanding the knowledge 
 of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for on the day on 
 which thou eatest thereof dving shalt thou die. 
 
42 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 v. 18. And the Lord God said, that, behold it is not good 
 that the man Adam should be alone, but let us make him 
 a helper like unto him. 
 
 v. 19. And the Lord formed again from the earth every 
 beast of the field, and every fowl of heaven, and he brought 
 them to Adam that he might see what he would call them ; 
 and everything that Adam called them a living soul that 
 was its name. 1 
 
 The lesson that is read from the fourth hook of Kings 2 :— 
 
 2 Kings it, 19-22. 
 
 v. 19. And the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold the 
 habitation of the city is good, as our lord seeth, but the 
 water is bad, and the land is barren. 
 
 v. 20. And Elisha said, Bring me one new pot, and throw 
 salt into it; and they brought [it] to him. 
 
 «?. 21. And Elisha went out unto the springs of the water, 
 and he threw salt therein, and said, Thus saith the Lord, 
 I have healed these waters, and there shall no more be 
 thence that which is dead or is bereft. 3 
 
 v. 22. And these waters were healed unto this day, ac¬ 
 cording to the word of Elisha which he spake. 
 
 The third lesson is read from the prophet Amos : — 
 
 Amos ix, 5-14$. 
 
 v. 5. Thus saith the Lord God, the all-apprehending One, 
 He who toucheth the whole earth, and shaketh it, 4 and all 
 those that inhabit it,' shall mourn ; and it shall rise up like 
 the river of Egypt which 5 buildeth its rising in heaven. 
 
 1 The above is the verbatim rendering of the latter part of the verse; 
 the meaning no doubt is—“and whatsoever Adam called every living creature 
 that was its name.” 
 
 2 Literally “ of Kingdoms” (LXX PcuriXeiuv). 
 
 3 Or “barren.” 
 
 4 Or “ and it shaketh.” 
 
 5 Or “ He who buildeth.” 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 43 
 
 v. 6. And established its 1 promises on the earth ; He 
 who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out 
 upon the face of the earth, the Lord God, the all- 
 apprehending One, is His name. 
 
 v. 7. Are ye not like children of the Ethiopians, 0 ye 
 children of Israel ? saith the Lord. Israel have I brought 
 up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappa¬ 
 docia, 2 and the Syrians from the depth. 
 
 v. 8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are against the 
 kingdom of the sinners, and I will remove it from the face 
 of the earth ; only so as not to destroy completely will 
 I remove the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. 
 
 v. 9. For behold, I command, and I shall winnow among 
 all nations the house of Israel, as one winnoweth straw with 
 a winnowing-fork; there shall not [anything] fall upon 
 the earth in the pounding thereof. 
 
 v. 10. By the sword, then, shall die the sinners [of my 
 people] who say, 3 These evils will not approach us, nor 
 come upon us. 
 
 v. 11. And on that day will I raise up the tabernacle 
 of .David which had fallen down, 4 and I will build up its 
 ruin, and raise up its destruction, and I will build it up 
 as in the days of old. 
 
 v. 12. In order that the rest of men, and all the nations 
 upon whom my name is called, may seek [it], 5 saith the 
 Lord, who doeth 6 these things. 
 
 v. 13. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and the 
 threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage the 
 seed[-time], and the grapes shall mix with the seed, and 
 the mountains shall drop sweetness, and all the hills shall 
 be planted. 
 
 1 Or “His.” 
 
 2 It may also be rendered “from the Cappadocians,” but “from Cappa¬ 
 docia” is required by the Hebrew, LXX, and Fesliitta. 
 
 3 Or “ those who say.” 
 
 4 Or “ that which had fallen down.” 
 
 5 i.e. the tabernacle spoken of in v. 11 ; or “the Lord” with the Alexandrine 
 text of the LXX ? 
 
 6 Or “ He who doeth.” 
 
44 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 v. 14 a. And I will bring again the captivity of my 
 people Israel. 
 
 Finished is the lesson from the Prophets J Then shall he 
 said a Psalm in the third 1 2 3 tone: 3 “The Lord is my light 
 and my redeemer ; whom shall I fear P ” Its response : 
 “The Lord protects my life; of whom shall I be afraid ?” 
 Then is recited that which is read from the Acts of the 
 Apostles :— 
 
 Acts xvi, 16-34. 
 
 v. 16. In those same days, as the apostles were going 
 to the house of prayer, there met them a certain young 
 woman who had a spirit of divination, 4 and she was bringing 
 her masters much gain by the divination which she was 
 divining. 
 
 v. 17. And she was following Paul and us, and she 
 was thus crying and saying, These men are the servants of 
 the Most High God, and they announce to you the way of 
 life. 
 
 v. 18. And thus was she doing many days; and Paul 
 became angr} r , and said to that spirit, I command thee in 
 the name of Jesus Christ that thou go out of her ; and 
 in that same hour did the spirit depart. 
 
 v. 19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their 
 gain had gone out from her, they seized Paul and Silas, and 
 they dragged them and brought them to the market-place. 
 
 v. 20. And they brought them to the magistrates and 
 to the chief men of the city, and they said, that these men 
 trouble our city, because they are Jews. 
 
 1 = Trpo(p7)Te'ia. 
 
 2 The name of the third of the eight tones is : see Neale, op. cit., Gen. 
 Introd., p. 830. 
 
 3 Ps. xxvii, 1; the rendering “redeemer” points to the LXX aurrip, but 
 
 io is not a literal translation of v-irepao-mar^^. 
 
 4 Literally “of a diviner.” 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 45 
 
 v. 21. And they teach customs which are not lawful for 
 us to receive, or to observe, because we are Romans. 
 
 v. 22. And a great assembly was assembled against them ; 
 then did the magistrates tear their clothes, and commanded 
 that they should scourge them. 
 
 v. 23. And when they had scourged them much, they cast 
 them into prison, and commanded the prison-keeper that he 
 should keep them carefully. 
 
 v. 24. He, therefore, having received such a command, 
 brought [them in, and] bound them in the inner prison- 
 house, 1 and made their feet fast in the stocks. 
 
 v. 25. And in the middle of the night, Paul and Silas 
 were praying and praising God, and the prisoners heard 
 them. 
 
 v. 26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, and 
 the foundations of the prison were shaken, and all the doors 
 were suddenly opened, and the bands of all of them were 
 loosed. 
 
 v. 27. And when the prison-keeper awoke, and saw that 
 the doors of the prison were open, he took a sword, and 
 wanted to kill himself, because he thought that the prisoners 
 had fled. 
 
 v. 28. And Paul called unto him with a loud voice, and 
 said unto him, Ho thyself no harm, because we are all here. 
 
 v. 29. And he lighted himself a lamp, and sprang and 
 came in trembling, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. 
 
 v. 30. And he brought them out, and said to them, Sirs, 
 what befits me that I should do, so as to be saved. 
 
 v. 31. And they said to him^ Believe in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy whole house. 
 
 v. 32. And they spake to 2 him the word of the Lord, 
 and to 2 all his household. 
 
 v. 33. And in the same hour, in the same night, he led 
 [them] and washed their stripes 3 ; and in the same hour 
 was he baptized, and all his household. 
 
 1 Literally “ in the inner house of the prison-house.” 
 
 2 Literally “with.” 
 
 3 Literally “washed them of their stripes, or stripe?” (i.e. heating). 
 
46 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 v. 34. And he led [them] and brought them to his house, 
 and placed meat 1 before them; and he rejoiced, he and his 
 household, in the faith of God. 
 
 And for 2 the Allelnyah : 3 “The river of God is filled with 
 water.” Another: “ Its ridges hast Thou watered, and 
 increased the fruit thereof.” And a lesson shall he read from 
 the Gospel of Matthew. Look for the ninth Sunday after 
 Pentecost 4 (from Matthew'). And when the Gospel lesson is 
 finished, shall the deacon say a prayer. And the chief priest shall 
 say this prayer over the basin 5 of water : 0 cistern 6 of water ! 
 (his face being turned to the east). 7 “ Praise be to God in 
 
 1 Literally “a table.” 
 
 2 For in tlie sense of pro see P.S. Thes., col. 2887. 
 
 3 See above, p. 39. 
 
 4 See Miniscalchi Erizzo, “ Evangeliarium Hierosolymstanum,” p. 143. The 
 lesson comprises St. Matt, xiv, 22-34, containing the account of Jesus walking 
 on the Sea of Galilee, and thus being as appropriate to the occasion as the three 
 lessons from the Old Testament and the one from the Acts of the Apostles. One 
 may, perhaps, conclude that the Gospel Lectionary was the only one which was 
 widely in use. It may, however, be held that the reason for the other lessons 
 being given in full is to be sought in the fact (F) that the exact number of verses 
 were not used at any other Service. 
 
 5 See p. 37. 
 
 6 » Profit = Lat. piscina, Gr. maKivT]. 
 
 7 St. Luke, ii, 14. The final (71 of 01A ajQ d&L stands for "j, as is often 
 
 the case in the MS. The reading at the end of the verse is remark¬ 
 able. The Palest. Gospel Lectionary has The translation given 
 
 above assumes the same use of ^ i n * as in the Lord’s Prayer (Pesli. also 
 
 ]\ * 4n the Lord’s Prayer, but ]^ in St. Luke ii, 14). The 
 
 explanation of this remarkable reading must be sought in the rendering of 
 ev8oKia by Lo' r Zl® in the Philoxenian version (ed. White). The 
 
 Palest. Lectionary then omitted 2o m r Zi3, and in the present text *j 1 Q 
 was further altered into This appears to show the dependence of 
 
 the Palest. Syr. upon the Philoxenian version. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 47 
 
 the heights, and upon earth peace, amongst men [be] Thy 
 will [done] ”— 1 “ 0 Lord, my lips hast Thou opened, and 
 m 3 7 mouth is telling forth Thy praise ”— 2 “ My mouth has 
 been filled with praise, so that I may sing Thy praise, the 
 whole day the greatness of Thy beauty .”—And the priest 
 shall say this prayer: 0 Lord of all goodness, 0 Lord, the 
 all-apprehending One, God of all consolation, who hast 
 established the heavens with wisdom, and hast crowned 
 them with their orders of stars, and hast founded the earth 
 upon water, and hast beautified 3 it with flowers, and hast 
 planted the paradise in Eden, and hast created in it the 
 tree of life ; Thou who hast made the expanse of the sea, 
 and hast hemmed it in with sand, and hast commanded that 
 out of one spring there should issue four rivers, and hast 
 caused 4 their names to be known in the inhabited world, 
 and hast caused 5 each one of them to flow , 5 and [hast 
 appointed] the path which befits it: the first among them, 
 Pison, which encircles the land of Lot , 6 which is towards 
 the north , 7 and Hiddekel , 8 and the Euphrates. And Thou 
 hast commanded them that they should become separated 
 in the middle of the earth. And this Nile hast Thou com¬ 
 manded that it should rush, and pour itself out, and flow 
 
 1 Ps. li, 17. The perfect Aj^AS) appears to be free. 
 
 2 Ps. lxxi, 8. Translated from the LXX, the clause “6™? v/jirjvo-oo ttjv 
 S o^av aov ” not being represented in the Mas. text. 
 
 3 If r „*^0 k ere a mistake for *^Q, the literal rendering would be “ and 
 
 hast painted it.” 
 
 4 ^juipiAlQ.ASo^colo is by no means a Semitic construction. 
 
 One should, perhaps, emend the latter word into .^A^ASO), and the trans- 
 lation would then be ‘ ‘ and hast assigned [to them] their names which are known 
 in the inhabited world.” 
 
 5 For *|ZqjQs"| in the sense of op^uara rS>v troTajjiwu, see Land, “ Anecd. 
 Syr.,” vol. iv, 105, line 6. The present passage can hardly be translated 
 differently. 
 
 6 i.e. ^qIoI = EueiXar = 'p'ln. 
 
 7 Taking to stand for . 
 
 8 The final 01 in Oli^r-ilo stands for ]. See p. 46, note 7. 
 
48 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 upon gardens (P) 1 and lands 2 .and the 
 
 borders of the Ethiopians, and that it should water the 
 whole land of Egypt, and that it should satiate it, so that 
 its seed should be enriched, 3 and its fruit abundantly 4 
 
 multiplied. 5 for the support of those who dwell 
 
 in it, as we even now make an offering unto Thee of the 
 firstlings of its rising. We laud and sing with praises, 
 and we ask and beg of Thee, for Thou 6 art gracious and 
 merciful, that Thou mayest prepare its lifting up in peace, 
 and that it may mount up by Thy grace to the border of 
 its measure. The congregation sags : Amen. The deacon 
 says : 7 8 [Let us bow] our heads [to the Lord]. The priest 
 sags: 8 Present thy blessing to the land, for Thou art good, 
 by means of the water of the Nile. Multiply the fruits 
 of the land of Egypt, on account of the needs of thy 
 people, for Thou art the source of goodness and the 
 sea 9 of blessing, as all good gifts are from Thee. We, 
 therefore, beg of Thee, 0 Creator of all things, that Thou 
 mayest bless the waters of the river Nile. By means of 
 this water which is put in 10 multiply the waters of the 
 
 1 If "12] nrflt^ be the right reading, it might he compared with 
 see P.S. Thes., colL 743, 755.' 
 
 can hardly he translated. Are “ the lands on both 
 sides of the Nile which are burnt up {i.e. parched) ” meant P 
 
 3 must apparently he taken to stand for • j AlAjJ : comp. Ulr'-D?, 
 p. 39. 
 
 4 Note the application of Aj|^U M f° a physical process, whereas its proper 
 signification ( studiose , diligenter) qualifies a mental act. 
 
 5 Untranslatable. 1j.jw.S50 would mean “and of the wells” ; something 
 appears to have dropped out. See p. 31, 1. 5. 
 
 6 Note the forms IaJQIjjZ and ]» Vo . 
 
 7 Greek: t as Ke<pa\as 7]/j.d>u\_Tcp Kvp'uc k\ ivw/xev]. 
 
 8 On the root see Scliwally, op. cit., p. 96. 
 
 9 Uldo]Z evidently represents the Hebrew Dinn, Aramaic NOinn, 
 ]L000 iZ. Compare Gen. xlix, 26: Finn D^2“l tlinn DD“D. 
 
 10 Part of the ceremony appears to have consisted in pouring some water, 
 previously taken from the Nile, into the river; this is the offering which is 
 spoken of before as “ the firstlings of its rising.” It is possible, however, that 
 J>Q.*£dALD 5 only refers to the pouring of the water into the basin. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 49 
 
 river Nile, so that the earth may bring forth her fruit. 
 For 1 we who are standing by these waters that are put in 
 as a type and a figure have made it a sign of the waters 
 of the rivers of the Nile. And we now beg of Thee, and 
 ask, and beseech Thee, 0 Lord, that Thou mayest send Thy 
 blessing upon the waters of the river Nile ; and as the 
 water which one drinks 2 provides life and strength to the 
 bones, thus may it provide to the inner parts of the earth 
 supernal strength which by Thee is made full and perfect, 
 so that this seed which has sprung out of the earth may 
 grow. And on this account do we beg of Thee, O Lord, 
 who art very merciful and lovest man, that Thou mayest 
 lift up the waters of the river Nile to the perfect height 
 of the border of [its] waters, so that the river of God, 
 the "waters of the Nile, may be filled, 0 God. Renew 3 
 from it food for Thy congregation according to [Thine] 
 ordinance. 4 Visit the earth with the water of the river 
 Nile, and satiate it. Multiply without number its waters 
 and its wells. Satiate all the valleys, and plains, and fields, 
 and its harbours. 5 Multiply its fruit, so that the earth 
 may rejoice, overgrown with good fruit, and rejoicing with 
 beautiful and shining grapes and pure flowers, by means 
 of 6 the waters of the Nile. 7 Thou blessest the crown of 
 the year of Thy goodness, and Thy plains shall be filled 
 with fatness; and may the land of Egypt prosper in it 
 by means of the waters of the river Nile, and may the 
 hills gird themselves with joy, and may the valleys be 
 overgrown with wheat; may they rejoice, yea, may they 
 also sing, on account of the needs of Thy congregation. 
 
 1 o y must be taken to stand for . 
 
 3 Note the form . 
 
 3 Note the form 2 which is evidently the imperative of an Af‘el of 
 
 4 - 
 
 4 Apparently an allusion to Ps lxv, 10 (last word): see p. 39. 
 
 apparently = (from the Greek Xi/mrjv). 
 
 6 Note this signification of ,,£5. 
 
 7 Compare Ps. lxv, 12-14, as given on p. 39. 
 
50 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 And bless us furthermore, our Lord and our God, that we 
 may bring, and give , 1 and produce good spiritual fruit, 
 sweet, and pleasant, and acceptable 2 to Thee, one a hundred¬ 
 fold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold. And forgive 
 us our sin, and blot out our transgressions, on account of 
 Thy blessed name, and Thy lauded kingdom, and Thy 
 glorified majesty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now [and] 
 for ever and ever. Amen. Another prayer : Thou, 0 God, 
 who, in the fulness of the times, hast opened the womb 
 of her that was barren, and hast given [her son] 3 a name 
 that he may tell for all generations [the praises of her] 3 
 from whom Thy Godhead put on the form of humanity: 
 hear the voice of the prayer and supplication of Thy 
 congregation. On the same day on which we call upon 
 Thee send Thy promise 4 upon the earth, and may the 
 river Nile rise up, and be poured out, and water the whole 
 land of Egypt, [the Nile] which buildeth its rising in 
 heaven, [and] which stands in need of blessings . 5 May 
 the face of the earth be covered, and may be lifted up 
 the river Nile, which is the joy 6 of the whole earth, and 
 may herb grow for all those who dwell in it; and mayest 
 Thou give fruit for seed and bread for eating, so that the 
 people may eat and be satisfied, and confess to the name 
 of Thy Godhead that there is no other God beside Thee.. 
 
 1 jdou Ajo means literally “and that we may be given.” One should 
 expect ^Ajo . 
 
 2 Note the uncertainty iu the usage of gender and number. To 
 
 as substantive belong the adjectival form ] Ajl.j-.xj03 , 
 
 ] ■ and ] a ri ^. Such irregularities are not rare in the MS. 
 
 3 This translation is conjectural, the text in its present form being very 
 enigmatical. In the translation it is assumed that the mother of John the 
 Baptist is spoken of first, and that John was destined to tell the praises of the 
 Virgin Mary. This rendering is, however, not without its difficulties. 
 
 4 With y.L^ 
 
 .o comp. ,V> in Amos ix, 6. 
 
 s 1 juDJ.£AO, literally “ those that bestow blessings.” 
 
 c This appears to be the sense intended by . One should expect 
 
 a copula or ^oAu] (Palest, for ^CTIoAj')) to accompany the relative > . 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 51 
 
 1 [The heavens were sealed, and the earth did not yield her 
 fruit, and the inhabitants of the land were distressed in 
 the former generations, on account of the transgression 
 which was rising up from them.] But Thou, according 
 to the multitude of Thy mercies, hast effected a recon¬ 
 ciliation between the earth and the heavens, and hast made 
 peace between the two, at the time 1 2 when the assembly 
 of Thy holy angels stand in the morning at the rising of 
 the sun, [and] sing to Thee with them, 3 saying: 4 “Praise 
 be to God in the heights, and upon earth peace, and 
 amongst men [be] Thy will [done].” That peace give to 
 
 us and to all the people that stand before Thee. 5 
 
 and open the treasures of Thy good blessings [that are] 
 in the river Nile, and pour them out upon the face of 
 the earth, and cause herb and fruit to grow for all that 
 dwell in it. May the trees rejoice, and may fruit multiply, 
 and may the people eat and be satisfied, and make acknow¬ 
 ledgment to Thy name, for Thou art their Father who is 
 in the heavens, and we are standing before Thee, and beg 
 for Thy mercies. Make us worthy that with simple minds 
 worthy of Thy Godhead, we may approach and kiss 6 one 
 another with a holy kiss, as has been delivered 7 to us by Thy 
 holy [and] blessed apostles, who have pleased Thee, and done 
 Thy will: by the intercession 8 of the holy and pure blessed 
 one, the mother of God, the pure 9 virgin, our Lady Mary, 
 
 1 The passage is manifestly corrupt, and the translation here proposed is 
 entirely conjectural. 
 
 2 On > * j in the sense of quo tempore , quum , see P. S. Thes , col. 
 1984. 
 
 3 i.e. with the heavens and the earth ? 
 
 4 St. Luke ii, 14: see note on p. 46. Instead of the simple 
 
 preposition is used on p. 30, 1. 7. 
 
 5 Two words of which the translation would he “in it the holy one ” are here 
 in the original. 
 
 6 See Schwally, op. cit ., p. 96. 
 
 7 See Rom. xvi, 16. 
 
 8 Note the form IZomi = Edes. Syr. lAshla. 
 
 » ZiAa for uadapa. 
 
52 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 and the prayer of St. John, the forerunner and baptist, and 
 of our lords, the holy apostles, and our righteous fathers, 
 and the chiefs of the blessed priests, and the glorified 
 martyrs. Stretch out Thy right hand, and bless Thy 
 servants with every spiritual 1 blessing in heaven and earth. 
 And to Thee do we cause to rise up glory, and honour, and 
 worship, and confession, even to the Father, and the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever and ever. Amen. 
 And after this shall the priest take the cross, and they shall 
 repeat all [the portions of~\ Psalms which were [mid] at the 
 beginning of the prayer. 2 (Then shall the chiefs [of the priests'] 
 repeat the Psalms which are at the beginning of the prayer, and 
 the people respond as it is [there] written ; and “ Glory”* and 
 “from eternity,” 3 4 * and the people say thusd) And after this 
 does the priest immerse the venerated cross three times, saying : 
 “ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.” And the people 
 shall say: Amen. And all the people drink of the holy water. 
 And the archdeacon shall say : “ Have mercy upon us, 0 God, 
 according to the multitude,” etc. And the priest adds r ° : 
 “Because God is merciful.” The people say : Amen. The 
 deacon says : Sofia . 6 7 The people say : 7 “Bless, 0 ye saints.” 
 The priest says: “The blessed One .” 8 The people say: 
 
 1 The construction ^*03 is very strange. 
 
 2 The part enclosed thus ( ) is partly a repetition of the preceding 
 
 directions. 
 
 3 Both these expressions refer to the doxology. 
 
 4 It is not stated what they shall say. 
 
 •112 appears to mean here “he recites aloud”: see Cardahi, “Al-Lubab,” 
 vol. ii, p. 619 ; comp, the Arabic Dj . 
 
 6 The fuller form of this exhortation addressed to the people by the deacon is 
 2o<£ia opOoi “wisdom, erect,” or 2o<£fa, irp6sx^^v “wisdom, let us attend.” 
 See Katharine Lady Lechmere’s “ Synopsis,” Introduction (by T. Gennadius), 
 pp. xiii, xiv. 
 
 7 "|Z\A1 = evAoyeire ayioi. 
 
 8 Greek: rbv evXuyrjToy. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 53 
 
 “Amen; confirm it, 0 God/’ 1 2 The priest concludes: 
 2 “Because by Thee 3 and with Thee do we take refuge, and 
 by Thee are we sanctified, and to Thee do we offer confession 
 and praise, even to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.” 
 
 Finis. Finished is the Order of the blessed Nile, by the 
 help of the living and mighty God. Amen. Amen. Amen. 
 
 1 Apparently c rrepeou a? 6e6s, “ confirm Thou, 0 God,” as a kind of translation 
 of “Amen.” 
 
 2 For the usual meaning of j qLsdL see Schwally, op. cit., p. 51. 
 
 3 is very strange in this place, as ^ ^*1^0 J can only mean 
 “ from Thee [we] flee.” There is probably some corruption in this passage. 
 
54 
 
 THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 IY. Vocabulary of Unusual Words and Forms. * 1 * * 
 
 ( — EveiXar, rfr'in), p. 25, l. 4. 
 bol, p. 22, 1. 11, passim. 
 
 CTU^^k), p. 30, 1. 2 from bottom. 
 (= *jAi}), p. 25, 1. 4 fr. bottom. 
 
 CL^ai, p. 26, 1. 5 ; o4-»l, p. 28, 1. 13. 
 
 ^ooia£ , | (for ^ooiq£d 1), p. 34, 1. 8. 
 
 Gl£)] for CTLjuS] (besides similar instances), p. 34, 1. 5. 
 
 *Z] (=iAl) in ^Z]A.a, p. 31, 1. 4. 
 
 ]ZqijQ2 , p. 30, 1. 10 fr. bottom. 
 
 ])QCQ!D, ivayyeXtov, p. 21, 1. 7 ; p. 30, 1. 2. 
 
 p. 28, 1. 7. 
 
 p. 21, 1. 6. 
 
 p. 22, 1. 9. 
 
 jZioSQ^* 4 carbuncle,” p. 25, 1. 5. 
 
 IjqSO^D “censer” (incense), p. 21, 1. 8. See Schwally, 
 “Idiot.,” p. 19, and Vienna Oriental Journal, x, 2, 
 pp. 134, 135. 
 
 IZlncm . . r» 31 12 
 
 1 Only the more important words and forms are collected in this list. It 
 
 will he seen that, besides some entirely new additions to the Palestinian Syriac 
 vocabulary, the Nile Service also exhibits fresh examples of words, forms, and 
 
 shades of meaning, of which only a scant number of instances were known 
 
 before. The Arabic words occurring in the text are not noted here. 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 55 
 
 2-r^ in p. 32, 1. 7. 
 
 in UkJQi^Z, p. 31, 1. 8 ; p. 32, 1. 5. 
 
 W, dypo?, p. 24, 1. 13 fr. bottom; p. 25, 1. 5 fr. bottom. 
 
 “ raindrops/’ p. 23, 1. 1. 
 
 (applied to a physical process), p. 31, 1. 5. 
 f p. 22, 1. 6 ; p. 34, 1. 7 fr. bottom. 
 
 IZpj “ emerald,” p. 25, 1. 5. 
 
 jAd in >Ank) “ crowned,” p. 21, 1. 3 fr. bottom. 
 
 1Au.1Sq!^ Xt/jLrjv), p. 32, 1. 11. 
 
 l-* *-l-»-k), p. 21, last line; p. 27, 1. 12. 
 
 Ilk) in > in the sense of “because,” p. 35, 1. 5 fr. 
 
 bottom. 
 
 )L]o£i±2, p . 24, 1. 6. 
 
 (for .naj) in ^oai^oaciLD. p . 26, 1. 5. 
 
 in ]lSQ**.ik) “ the comforter,” p. 21, 1. 7 fr. bottom. 
 
 ;nj in IZopI, p. 24, last line; p. 25, 1. 13. 
 
 «^k)QaJ, p. 24, 1. 7 fr. bottom. 
 
 L£l£0 (for in Ln&flDl, p. 29, 1. 4 fr. bottom. 
 
 Ill. O . m Lc “baptist,” p. 34, 1. 8 fr. bottom. 
 
 UsLk.cc, p. 21 , 1. 8 ; p. 30, 1. 5. 
 l-JOplCO, p. 35, 1. 2 fr. bottom. 
 
 in ^ .S io ^k), p. 28, 1. 8 fr. bottom. 
 
 * r ^S) in lZ* r<v ^k), p. 27, 1. 10. 
 
 klXa in ^j^SoLiiAk) “astonished,” p. 21, 1. 5 fr. bottom. 
 See Schwally, “Idiot.,” pp. 74, 75. 
 
 IZocoC' (=Edes. Syr. ]AcQj.g)), p. 34, 1. 10 fr. bottom, 
 u. (for p. 31, 1. 13. 
 
 (for p. 30, 1. 2 fr. bottom. 
 
 7 ravTOfcfniTcop, p. 26, 1. 9 fr. bottom ; p. 30, 1. 12. 
 
56 
 
 TIIE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 CL^SIO (for CLm 2 iO), p. 21 , last line. 
 iO P £) in )iio r QSo “ forerunner/’ p. 34, 1. 8 . 
 
 .ju^OQ (with a feminine noun), p. 24, 1. 6 . 
 
 |s>ao “ feast,” p. 21, 11. 2, 5. 
 
 j]oiQ (=]iQL), p. 27, 1. 5 fr. bottom, passim. 
 
 fcoamo (-|Sdo^d), p . 28, 11. 3, 4, 5. 
 
 *j2^o, p. 33, 1. 7. 
 
 12 ^ 1 ^£), p. 26, 1 . 6 fr. bottom. 
 
 (for in IZIjiD, p. 23, 1. 7. 
 p. 24, 1. 7 fr. bottom. 
 
 U^>, p- 31, 1. 8 . 
 
 in p. 22 , 1 . 6 fr. bottom. 
 
 in “bast caused to flow,” p. 30, 1. 4 fr. bottom. 
 
 A .*^® f p. 27, 1. 12. 
 
 “present,” p. 31, 1. 11. 
 ll«, p. 22, 1. 4 fr. bottom; p. 35, 1. 1. 
 y.Q2k3 (evidently an active participle, analogous to the 
 Samaritan form), p. 26, 1. 5 fr. bottom, 
 p. 33, 1. 3. 
 
 in p. 31, last line. 
 
 ^AaSo , p. 35 , 1 . 7 . 
 
 'l-vlco'jZ, p. 31, 1. 10 fr. bottom. 
 
 UooZ, p. 26, 1. 3. 
 
 2 , ibid., 1 . 8. 
 
 in UaioZI, p. 21, 1. 2; p. 22, 1. 7 ; p. 30, 1. 14. 
 
 Greek Words and Phrases. 
 
 yjraXfjLos (note the use of the nom. for the acc.), 
 p. 27, 1. 4 from bottom. 
 avTijxovos, p. 22 , lb 12 and last ; p. 23, 1 . 3 . 
 
THE LITURGY OF THE NILE. 
 
 57 
 
 L^-^col, arparriyoL, p. 28, 11. 4 and 9 fr. bottom. 
 
 , evXoyelre ayioi , p. 36, 11. 11, 12. 
 
 irainros “ papa/’ p. 22, 1. 4. 
 i&CDQQ^l^, 7reVT7JfCOGT7 ], p. 21, 1. 4. 
 
 , 7rpo(p7jTela, p. 27, 1. 4 fr. bottom. 
 
 to-9 fce<pa\a<; rjpLwv, p. 31, 1. 11. 
 
 TOV €v\oy7)70Vj p. 35, 1. 12. 
 rpoirapiov, p. 22, 1. 1; p. 23, last line. 
 
 <-.>U>a4, p. 21,1. 9. 
 
 Li Ao for /cadapa, p. 34, 1. 9 fr. bottom. 
 
 ♦flOoUVI ^CDOolilAco, arepeov co 6eo$, p. 35, 1. 7 fr. bottom. 
 , 7Tpdft9, p. 27, last line. 
 ao(f)La , p. 35, 1. 9 from bottom. 
 
 /cal yap, p. 23, 1. 8 ; p. 32, 1. 7 fr. bottom, 
 o 1, to (for o), p. 22, 1. 6. 
 
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, 
 
 PRINTERS, HERTFORD. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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