The examples highlighted in this lesson come mainly from the 8th-11th centuries. I am calling it “usual” Estrangela because the common type of writing in these examples aligns closely with what people will consider a classic or typical kind of Estrangela, although even here there are also examples of certain shapes more often associated with Serto, and, as usual, in any case, every manuscript shows some peculiarities.

Specific features are indicated below generally only when distinct from those mentioned for DIYR 339 in the lesson on Earliest Estrangela.

Hexaplaric signs are found throughout. As for word-spacing, n.b. w-meṭṭol-hādē written without spaces in f. 48/p. 73, line 2.

Thick lines of relative uniformity.

This manuscript, some pages of which are more difficult to read due to faded ink, has its main text in Estrangela, but the scribe himself (it seems) has also made several marginal notes in Serto (longer ones on pp. 313 and 321, for example). Several pages, including this one, also have some Greek names either in the margin or in a separate column.

The abbreviations are marked, as usual, with an overline, in this case with small dots at each end.

A legible facsimile of Cod. Ambr. A is available here. This manuscript has overall a sharper, more angular ductus than the fifth century manuscripts, and with a shorter line height.

Milan, Cod. Ambr. A, f. 126ra, ll. 24-33.

Note the hexaplaric signs inherited from Origen (and in turn, from Alexandrian Homeric scholarship) to indicate pluses, minuses and other textual relationships between the Hebrew text and the translated, and thus here the Syriac text based on the Greek (see further B.M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible, § 22).

The bulk of the manuscript is devoted to theological treatises of Quriaqos of Tagrit, in whose lifetime this manuscript was copied. The main text is in Estrangela, while the colophon is in Serto.

Column from Jerusalem, Saint Mark's Monastery, SMMJ 129, p. 189. All rights reserved. Image provided by HMML.