This catalogue presents the Islamic, Oriental Christian, Judaic and Samaritan manuscripts in the University library of Leipzig’s collection. The largest part of the material is Islamic, and it is presented here according to categories. Manuscripts are described by title (if known) and a brief summary of the contents. Dimensions for most of the pieces are given as well. The Christian material includes manuscripts in Arabic, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Georgian. A numerical concordance adds to the utility of this important manuscript collection.

The Odes of Solomon, pseudepigraphically attributed to the son of David, are forty-two odes or hymns that date from the earliest periods of Christianity. No extant manuscript preserves a complete copy of these odes; portions, however, are preserved in one Greek papyrus, one leather Coptic manuscript, one leather and one paper Syriac manuscript. This edition presents facsimiles of these original documents, giving scholars direct access to this early Christian literary work.

The Nomocanons of the Eastern Orthodox traditions are valuable historical sources for the church traditions they represent. Franz Cöln presents here the collated text of a Nomocanon attributed to Miha’il of Malig and preserved in Garshuni and Arabic manuscripts.

The present work contains a number of previously unedited eastern Christian texts (Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Armenian) related to the well-known legend of the Seven Sleepers, edited and translated by the eminent Italian scholar Ignazio Guidi.