Skip to Main Content
Library of Congress Research Guides

Monastery Manuscripts Collections: A Resource Guide

Research Tips and Index of Authors and Genres

Research Tips & Search Suggestions

  • Researchers may search the web archive by language, date, author, medium (paper or vellum) and genre or title.
  • The manuscripts’ numbering system is complex, courtesy of the centuries of catalogers who have worked on this collection. In general, the new digital archive follows the Checklist of Manuscripts prepared by Kenneth W. Clark in 1952, which itself retained the manuscript numbers assigned by Victor Gardthausen in 1886. Note that the numbering in the Beneševic catalogs and in Murad Kamil’s 1970 catalog differ from those in this digital archive.
  • The digitizing process revealed manuscripts on the microfilm that were not listed in the checklist of 1952. These include Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin’s handwritten catalog of manuscripts at St. Catherine’s, fragments of Psalms 105-108, Greek 1226, and others. Greek 1226 had a catalog number listed on the microfilm, which the Library of Congress has retained for reference purposes. Others, however, had no identifying number attached to them. The Library of Congress has thus created new manuscript numbers for these manuscripts as outlined on page 6 of this guide.
  • All manuscripts have their titles listed in Greek equivalents (e.g., troparion, menaion…), even those in other languages. Especially for liturgical works, try searching using the Greek name of the work. The glossary table below may be helpful in determining possible Greek equivalents for the liturgical manuscripts in question.
  • Foreign language titles are given as they were in the 1952 checklist, with updated transliterations in brackets. Either version of the title may be searched in this web archive.
  • Remember that Greek words are pluralized differently than English words. So a search for “troparion” would not bring up results for “troparia.” Try searching for both the plural and singular forms of the word in question.
  • Many manuscripts have the vague title “Liturgical,” which could include any number of Orthodox liturgical works (e.g., troparion, heirmologion, evangelion…). These works would benefit from scholars’ further attention.
  • The printed checklist prepared in 1952 contains errors, both in typesetting and content. The information on the microfilm title card, typically the second image in the digital collection, was written at St. Catherine’s by the microfilming team, and thus is closer to the manuscripts themselves and likely more accurate than the checklist. Where information differs between the microfilm and the checklist, both are included in the archive notes and are searchable.
  • For the Arabic Firmans, the printed checklist identifies certain firmans as “explicit missing” and “explicit lost.” The meaning of these phrases is unclear. However, the firmans themselves are present on the microfilm and, hence, in the web archive.
  • In the intervening years since the checklist was written in 1952, scholars have conducted further research on the manuscripts from Mt. Sinai which has suggested new dating, scribal information, and contents. These new discoveries are not reflected in the web archive. The project undertaken here was to digitize the microfilm and link the scans to the information from the printed checklist. The Library leaves the editing of the checklist to future scholars.
Author Manuscript Numbers
Antonin Kapustin, Archimandrite MS SUPPL2
Apollonios of Rhodes MS Gr 1194
Aristotle

MSS Georg. 87 (Armenian)
MSS Gr. 1677, 1720, 1883, 2124
Athanasios MS Gr. 401
Athanasios Komnenos Hypselantos MSS Gr. 1193, 1395
Basil

MS Georg. 36
MSS Gr. 348, 1414, 1654
MS Syr. 9
Basil the Great MSS Gr. 326-329, 332, 345, 363, 384
Dionysios the Areopagite [Pseudo-Dionysius]

MS Arab. 268
MSS Gr. 319-325
MS Syr. 52
Ephraim [Ephraem] of Syria/ St. Ephrem

MSS Arab. 311, 312
MS Georg. 97
MSS Gr. 332-338, 1602, 1909
Evagrius MS Syr. 60
Galen MS Gr. 1848
George Pachymera MS Gr. 1385
Gregory of Nazianzus (usually identified as Gregory Theologos)

MS Ar. 274
MS Georg. 79
MSS Gr. 339- 355, 1207, 1396, 1414, 1639
Gregory of Nyssa

MS Arab. 278
MSS Gr. 311, 330, 331, 383
Gregory of Thessalonika MSS Gr. 1604, 1851
Homer MSS Gr. 1397, 1831, 1838, 1857
Isaac of Syria/Isaac Syrus

MS Arab. 350
MS Georg. 80
MSS Gr. 405-409
John Chrysostom

MSS Arab. 331, 332, 338, 343, 344
MSS Arab. 331, 332, 338, 343, 344
MSS Gr. 356-383, 391, 395, 431, 432, 491, 1607, 1611, 1613, 1652, 1816, 1919
John Climax/John Climacus [John Klimax]

MSS Arab. 281, 282, 285, 291, 292, 303, 304, 308
MSS Georg. 36, 50, 51
MS Syr. 56
John of Damascus

MSS Arab. 317-319, 599
MSS Gr. 383-393, 408, 1722, 1944, 1960, 2034
John Zonaras MS Gr. 1116
Joseph of Thessalonika MS Gr. 343
Libanius MS Gr. 1198
Makarios/Macarius

MS Arab. 358
MS Gr. 396
Makarios of Alexandria MS Gr. 397
Makarios of Philadelphia MS Gr. 314
Manuel Moschopulus MS Gr. 1345, 1349, 1404
Maximus MS Gr. 329, 399, 400
Maximus the Confessor MS Gr. 398, 1837
Plutarch MS Gr. 1831
Procopios MS Gr. 312
Theodore the Studite/ Theodore Studites MSS Gr. 401-404, 1178
Theodoros Balsamonos MS Gr. 1117
Theodoros Magister MS Gr. 332
Theodoros Philosophos MS Gr. 383
Theodoros Prodromos MS Gr. 317
St. Theodorus MS Arab. 326
Theophylact MSS Gr. 302-308, 327
Simeon of Thessalonika MS Gr. 394
Sophocles MS Gr. 1721

Index of Selected Genres in the Sinai Collection

Greek Genre Manuscripts
Akolouthia MSS Gr. 657, 658, 662, 663, 670, 678-680, 712, 728, 1858, 2033, 2045
Anthologia

MSS Arab. 683, 686
MSS Gr. 642, 648, 649, 653, 1294, 1445, 1480, 1509, 1538, 1545
MS Syr. 90

Apophthegmata

MS Arab. 496, 497
MS Georg. 8
MS Gr. 444, 447, 469, 1763
MS Syr. 46

Ascetica

MSS Georg. 25, 35
MSS Gr. 446, 454, 459, 462-466, 468, 470, 476, 481, 484
MS Syr. 23

Canons/Canon

MSS Arab. 316, 390-393, 445, 590, 600, 677
MSS Gr. 1111-1113, 1116, 1117, 1138, 1275, 1340, 1341, 1361, 1400, 1641, 1643, 1658, 1666, 1690, 1816, 1947
MS Slav. 18

Covenants of the Prophet

MSS Arab. 695, 696
Turk. Firm. 1-43
Arab. Firm. 1-5, 961

Evangelion MSS Gr. 109, 204-211, 213-257, 1343, 1413, 1589, 1590, 1592, 1601, 2254, 1343, 1413, 1589, 1590, 1592, 1601, 2090, 2254
Evangelio-Apostolos/ Apostolo-Evangelion

MS Georg. 37
MSS Gr. 212, 258, 263, 264, 268, 271, 272, 1344, 2037, 2053

Gospels/ Four Gospels (Not including lectionaries or commentaries)

MSS Arab. 54, 68-72, 74-76, 80, 82, 84, 89-92, 94, 95, 97, 101, 103, 104, 106, 110, 112, 628
MSS Georg. 15, 16, 19, 30, 38, 81
MSS Gr. 148, 149, 135, 150-201, 203, 1591, 1993, 1994, 2038, 2252
MSS Slav. 1, 3,br /> MSS Syr. 2, 11, 12, 30, 74, 134, 135, 145, 159, 205, 231, 259, 272

Hagiographica MSS Arab. 356, 411, 426, 484, 485, 487, 512-514, 520, 521, 523, 530-535, 537-540, 542, 553, 556, 558, 585, 627
Heirmologion

MS Georg. 14
MSS Gr. 929, 1256-1260
MSS Syr. 40, 64

Lectionaries

MSS Arab. 96, 114, 116-118, 121-125, 127, 129, 132, 133, 137-140, 144, 148-150, 164, 170-174, 680
MS Eth. 2
MSS Georg. 47, 63, 74
MSS Syr. 1, 6-8, 12, 13, 20, 21, 32, 39, 42, 49, 65, 75, 76, 81, 89, 94, 100, 120, 161, 213, 214, 217, 219, 236, 238, 269, 271

Liturgy (not including Liturgica or “Liturgical”)

MSS Gr. 1036, 1037, 1039, 1046, 1047, 1049, 1919, 2017, 2037, 2045, 2111
MS Georg. 89
MS Slav. 40
MS Syr. 114

Lives (E.g., of the Saints])

MSS Arab. 352, 436, 438, 440, 441, 443-445, 447, 448, 452, 455, 469, 471, 475, 476, 482, 503, 505, 528, 529, 536, 541
MSS Georg. 6, 11, 43, 46, 52, 62, 71, 80, 91
MSS Gr. 20, 315, 391, 392, 445, 467, 494, 524, 525, 531, 532, 534, 541, 543-545, 728, 1337, 1375, 1606, 1630, 1685, 1829
MS Syr. 30

Martyrology/Martyrdoms

MSS Arab. 153, 440, 443, 457, 460, 461, 475, 507
MS Gr. 1339

Menaion

MSS Georg. 2, 9, 59, 64, 65, 92-95
MSS Gr. 551-556, 562, 563, 566-570, 572-574, 576, 578-583, 585, 588, 590-592, 595-599, 601, 602, 606-610, 613, 614, 617, 620, 623-628, 630-632, 637-640, 1428, 1554, 1597, 1619, 1627, 1793, 1797, 2079, 2101-2103, 2113, 2128, 2147
MSS Slav. 25-28, 35
MSS Syr. 18, 22, 36, 44, 78, 85, 87, 88, 91, 212, 233, 237

Menologion

MSS Arab. 395, 397-402, 405-409, 395, 423
MSS Gr. 495-506, 508-520, 916, 1994[B], 1335, 1756, 2035, 2096, 2151, 2191

Menologion

MSS Arab. 395, 397-402, 405-409, 395, 423
MSS Gr. 495-506, 508-520, 916, 1994[B], 1335, 1756, 2035, 2096, 2151, 2191

Mimars

MSS Arab. 153, 274, 308, 311, 312, 316, 331, 332, 338, 343, 344, 350-353, 358, 368, 369, 428, 431, 434-436, 438, 441, 443, 445-448, 455, 469, 471, 474-478, 480, 482, 505

Oktoechos

MSS Gr. 495, 795, 805, 812-814, 817, 821, 824, 827, 2098, 1333, 1599
MSS Slav. 11, 19-21
MSS Syr. 156, 208, 210

Oktoechos

MSS Gr. 495, 795, 805, 812-814, 817, 821, 824, 827, 2098, 1333, 1599
MSS Slav. 11, 19-21
MSS Syr. 156, 208, 210

Parakletike

MSS Georg. 13, 17, 96
MSS. Gr. 776-1593 (one ms.), 778-785, 787, 790-794, 796, 798, 799, 820, 1620, 1744, 1911 (Greek-Arabic), 2018, 2135
MSS Slav. 11, 19, 20

Pentekostarion

MS Arab. 685
MSS Gr. 754-756, 758, 760, 775, 1618, 2107
MS Slav. 24
MSS Syr. 4, 71, 77, 80

Philokalia MS Gr. 455
Prophets MSS Gr 5-6
Prophetologion

MS Arab. 11, 18, 588, 595
MSS Gr. 7-10, 12-19, 2042
MS Syr. 234

Prophetologion

MS Arab. 11, 18, 588, 595
MSS Arab. 20-22, 25, 30, 32, 34, 37, 45, 65, 66, 232
MSS Georg. 22, 29, 42, 86
MSS Gr. 11, 24, 28-40, 43, 44, 46-66, 68-71, 75, 80, 87, 90, 92, 94-97, 99, 101, 102, 104-120, 123-137, 139, 140, 259, 1336, 1633, 1662, 2019, 2054, 2057, 2061, 2066, 2069, 2123, 2130, 2132, 2133
MSS Slav. 5 (Latin), 6-9a, 10, 37, 38
MSS Syr. 41, 98, 99, 101-103, 112, 121, 124, 128, 139, 143, 149, 155, 157, 165, 201, 240-242, 244, 245, 247, 253, 257, 260, 267, 268

Psaltike MSS Gr. 1250, 1254, 1255, 1276, 1293, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1311, 1312, 1314, 1323, 1326, 1327, 1463, 1469, 1580
Sticherarion

MSS Gr. 1214-1235, 1237, 1240, 1249, 1251, 1301, 1453, 1464, 1471, 1472, 1484, 1487, 1504, 1552, 1564, 1566, 1584-1586
MS Syr. 25

Synaxarion

MSS Arab. 410-A, 410-B, 412-414, 416-418, 420, 421
MS Geor. 4
MSS Gr. 548, 549, 2095

Triodion

MSS Geor. 3, 5, 70
MSS Gr. 733, 734-735 (one ms), 736, 737, 740-742, 746, 754-756, 1241-1245, 1447, 1493, 1506, 1540, 1588, 1596, 1599, 1614
MS Slav. 23
MSS Syr. 70, 71, 77, 80, 207

Troparion

MSS Gr. 20, 1635
MS Syr. 27

Tropologion MSS Gr. 759, 777, 789
Typikon

MS Arab. 264
MSS Gr. 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098, 1100-1102, 1106, 1109, 2043, 2047, 2110
MS Slav. 30
MSS Syr. 129, 136
Hosted by Springshare
Library of Congress Legal SpringShare Privacy Policy