The Fragmentary Ninth/Tenth Century Andalusi Arabic Translation of the Epistle to the Galatians Revisited (Vat. lat. 12900, olim Seguntinus 150 BC Sigüenza)

Abstract

This article offers a new edition of the surviving fragment of the Epistle to the Galatians, currently in the Vatican Library (Vat. Lat. 12900), with the aim of correcting the mistakes of the former edition. We also offer a complete translation and analysis of the Arabic fragment to identify the techniques and strategies used by the translator. The text preserved in Vat. lat. 12900 was revised later. From this review process two witnesses have survived, MS BNM 4971 and MS Marciana Gr. Z. 11 (379), which we have used for a comparative analysis of the three texts to show the changes made in the two processes of revision exhibited by BNM 4971 and MS Marciana Gr. Z. 11 (379). As a result of this comparative analysis we propose a hypothesis according to which the fragment could be dated as early as in the ninth century, and more specifically at the end of the century from both the comparative analaysis and the information provided by the Visigothic writing of the Latin column.