The parchment codex MONB.VG is the oldest of the four Euchologia and is dated to the end of the 7^th or the beginning of the 8^th century on account of its unimodular script, also characterised as a thick-and-thin script. Hans Quecke already described the two Berlin leaves SBB, Ms. or. fol. 1609, f. 1-2 as belonging to a Euchologion codex and as successive. These, he writes, “contain the section immediately before the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer, i.e. the anaphora in the liturgical sense.” Quecke further specifies that the Berlin sheets also contain the following: (a) “The conclusion of the oratio osculi pacis of the Egyptian Basilius liturgy;” (b) “A separate version of the proskomidia prayer of the Byzantine Basilius liturgy;” and (c) “The dialogue introducing the Eucharistic Prayer (only the words of the priest) in typical Egyptian form.” Later, Catherine Louis added a fragment from Cairo, IFAO, Inv. no. 277, to the two fragmentary Berlin folios. Unfortunately, it is impossible today to arrange the two fragmentary Berlin folios and the Cairo fragment in any order, as they are all so damaged that no page or quire numbers have been preserved. Moreover, the comparison with the other three Euchologia brought no parallels to light to allow the positioning of the leaves and of the fragment.

 

 

Berlin, SBB, Ms.or.fol. 1609, f. 2v →