The Amazing Lady Bible Hunters: Sisters of Sinai

Join us for a talk by Professor Janet Soskice, Jesus College, Cambridge on ‘The Amazing Lady Bible Hunters: Sisters of Sinai’, in conjunction with the 'Excavating Empire: The Forgotten Archive of Mount Sinai' exhibition from the Cadbury Research Library and in celebration of International Women’s Day.

In 1892 twin sisters Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson made the incredible discovery of the Codex Syriac Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the gospel from the fourth century and the oldest copy of the gospels in Syriac. Born in Ayrshire in 1843, the daughters of Scottish Presbyterians, as women they were not able to attend a British university. However the sisters undertook private tuition and became expert in ancient languages including Arabic, Greek, Hebrew and Syriac. Encouraged by their friend James Rendel Harris they visited St Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, where they made their astonishing discovery.

There will be a reception in Muirhead atrium, by the exhibition, after the talk. All are welcome to attend!