Sisters of Semitics: A Fresh Appreciation of the Scholarship of Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson
| Autor: | Rebecca J. W. Jefferson |
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| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Medieval Feminist Forum. 45:23-49 |
| ISSN: | 2151-6073 1536-8742 |
| DOI: | 10.17077/1536-8742.1765 |
| Popis: | gnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson were twin sisters who excelled in Semitic studies, particularly Syriac and iArabic, producing more than forty published works (articles and monographs), of which nineteen were critical editions of important Christian texts based on early medieval manuscript witnesses. The manuscripts, including one of the earliest known versions of the Gospels (dated to the late fourth or early fifth century ce),1 were mostly discovered by the twins themselves and many were in the difficult-to-read palimpsest form.2 Their scholarly work, first conducted when they were in their fifties and at a time when women were not admitted to British universities, was greatly acclaimed. In addition to being among the first women to receive honorary doctorates (including Doctors of Divinity from Heidelberg, Doctors of Law from St. Andrews, a PhD from Halle and a Doctor of Letters from Dublin), the twins were finally awarded the prestigious Triennial Gold Medal for their “special eminence in Oriental research” by the Royal Asiatic Society.3 The recent publication of a new biography of the twins, together with the re-release of eight of their critical works by Gorgias Press, indicates that the time is ripe for a re-assessment and appreciation of the twins’ scholarship.4 Although they are often mentioned in academic writings where their work is relevant, their scholarly work has been somewhat neglected. After their deaths in the 1920s, their contribution to scholarship was recalled by just a handful of Semitic scholars, and only recently has there been an academic article dealing solely with some of their A |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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