Recently a student of mine came across this subscription to 1 Timothy in Greg.-Aland 1977 (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana ms. laur. Plut. 10.9):
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I interpreted the two final lines as:
+ εγραφη απο λαοδικειας ητις εστιν μετροπολις της προς
φρυγιας της παγκρατιανης (decorative tail)
The problem was how to interpret what is in the frame on the picture, a so called monocondyle, a conventional scholarly term formed from the classical Greek adjective μονοκόνδυλος, “having but one joint” (said of the thumb). The term designates a word or sentence written without lifting pen from paper. Monocondyles occur in Byzantine MSS from the 10th century.
I could make out a part of it, but in the end I had to consult a specialist in Byzantine palaeography. What do you think it reads? Write your interpretation in the commentary area.
For a more elaborate example, see this page in Paris, BnF, MSS Occidentaux, greg. 2988.
Further reading:
Oikonomides, N. (2000) “La re´introduction des lettres majuscules dans l’e´criture minuscule et les origines du monocondyle.” In G. Prato, ed., I manoscritti greci tra riflessione e debattito. Atti del V Colloquio Internazionale di Paleografia Greca, Cremona, 4–10 ottobre 1998, vol. 1: 239–48. Florence.
I interpreted the two final lines as:
+ εγραφη απο λαοδικειας ητις εστιν μετροπολις της προς
φρυγιας της παγκρατιανης (decorative tail)
The problem was how to interpret what is in the frame on the picture, a so called monocondyle, a conventional scholarly term formed from the classical Greek adjective μονοκόνδυλος, “having but one joint” (said of the thumb). The term designates a word or sentence written without lifting pen from paper. Monocondyles occur in Byzantine MSS from the 10th century.
I could make out a part of it, but in the end I had to consult a specialist in Byzantine palaeography. What do you think it reads? Write your interpretation in the commentary area.
For a more elaborate example, see this page in Paris, BnF, MSS Occidentaux, greg. 2988.
Oikonomides, N. (2000) “La re´introduction des lettres majuscules dans l’e´criture minuscule et les origines du monocondyle.” In G. Prato, ed., I manoscritti greci tra riflessione e debattito. Atti del V Colloquio Internazionale di Paleografia Greca, Cremona, 4–10 ottobre 1998, vol. 1: 239–48. Florence.