WOMEN IN ARCHAEOLOGY 329 



special interest attaches to this lectionary from the fact 

 that it is written in the language that was most probably 

 spoken by our Lord. 



Among other notable discoveries of Mrs. Lewis and her 

 sister during the four visits 1 which they made to Mt. Sinai 

 and Palestine between the years 1892 and 1897 were a 

 number of manuscripts in Arabic and a portion of the 

 original Hebrew manuscript of Ecclesiastes which was 

 written about 200 B.C. Previously the oldest copies of this 

 book of the Old Testament were the Greek and Syriac 

 versions. 



What is specially remarkable about the discoveries made 

 by Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson is that they were able to 

 make so many valuable finds after the convent library at 

 Mt. Sinai had been so frequently examined by previous 

 scholars. The indefatigable Tischendorf made three visits 

 to this library and had but one phenomenal success. But 

 neither "he nor any of the other wandering scholars who 

 have visited the convent attained/' as has been well said, 

 "to a tithe of the acquaintance with its treasures which 

 these energetic ladies possess. " 



But more remarkable than the mere discovery of so many 

 invaluable manuscripts, which was, of course, an extraor- 

 dinary achievement, is the fact that these manuscripts, 

 whether in Syriac, Arabic or Hebrew, have been trans- 

 lated, annotated and edited by these same scholarly women. 

 Already more than a score of volumes have come from 

 their prolific pens, all evincing the keenest critical acumen 



and made Him show that courtesy to our sex, even in the person 

 of a degraded specimen, which is considered among all really pro- 

 gressive peoples to be a mark of true and noble manhood. To shed 

 even a faint light upon that wondrous story of His tabernacling 

 amongst us is an inestimable privilege and worthy of all the trouble 

 we can possibly take." 



1 Mrs. Gibson, unaccompanied by her sister, has since made two 

 more visits to Mt. Sinai in order to complete the work so auspiciously 

 begun. 



