Fragments of Euripides “Palamedes” rediscovered in Jerusalem

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http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2016/06/21/fragments-of-euripide...

June 21st, 2016 by Roger Pearse

Today I learn (via a collection of manuscript finds at J.B. Piggin) of a manuscript discovery that seems to have slipped under the radar.  This is nothing less than pages from a now destroyed manuscript of the Palamedes of Euripides.  This is a lost play.  The pages were reused and are contained in Cod. Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulcri 36, a manuscript that is located in the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.  There is some kind of project being run to work with the palimpsest, a “Project Palamedes“, led by Felix Albrecht, who has also published an article on the subject, sadly inaccessible to me.^[1]

A number of webpages, all in German, give scanty details of the palimpsest find.  The first source that I found is as follows (translation mine):

The “Codex Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulcri 36” is located in the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The manuscript comprises 556 pages and dates from the 13th century; among other things, it contains new, completely unknown texts of Euripides, one of the three great Greek tragedians of antiquity. Of the original over ninety tragedies of Euripides one fifth only has surviveded. The Jerusalem manuscript is one of the main text witnesses of the tradition of Euripides. Although it has long been known, hitherto it has not been explored in its entirety. An analysis of the palimsest revealed that it contains more texts of Euripides by far than previously thought. In addition, the newly discovered passages provide not only material already known, but also unknown material from the pen of Euripides. Moreover, this manuscript contains six patristic or biblical texts, mainly in majuscule, and in the course of processing, it will be decided whether an edition seems sensible.

The University of Gottingen also gives some details:

PALAMEDES – PALimpsestorum Aetatis mediae Editiones Et Studia  …

The Codex Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulcri 36, from the library of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, includes 278 sheets.  The upper writing (scriptio superior) from the 13th century is a text of the sixteen prophets in the Septuagint version.  The manuscript shows several different scriptiones inferior in majuscule and minuscule book hands.  Among these is one of the most important examples of the work of Euripides, especially a codex of the 11th century, created as a teaching tool, with explanatory marginal and interlinear scholia.  This is written in parts on parchment that has been palimpsested several times.  Up to three text layers overlap, which must be deciphered by a method of three-dimensional multi- and full-spectral imaging.

I also found an image of a page of the palimpsest here.  It shows clearly the marvellous results of this multi-spectral imaging:

Nor is this all.  The project is also working on another palimpsest, Codex Parisinus Graecus1330 from the library of Colbert.  The upper text is a colourful nomocanon, but it reused pages from a majuscule manuscript ca. 500 AD containing a previously unknown ancient commentary on the works of Aristotle.  There are also ancient diagrams of the highest quality.  Any discovery gives us something, although this one will perhaps be more for the students of philosophy.

I also found a bibliography for Felix Albrecht, here, which suggested other finds of unknown material that ought to be better known.

More information on this find and the work around it would be very welcome.