Chrestomathia III, 'Vitae Prophetarum', printed by Nestle 'e tribus codicibus Musei
Britannici' (pp. 86-107). ⛔ Nestle names NO individual codex anywhere on this page; the
collective 'e tribus codicibus' of the section head is all the witness information the piece
carries here. There is no witness field in the schema and that gap is a known finding.
⭐ NO LIFE BOUNDARY FALLS ON THIS PAGE. All twenty bands are full-measure text lines: there is
no short indented last line, no ܀, and no one-word name rubric anywhere on p. 98 (contrast
pp. 99-102, which carry six between them). The whole page therefore sits inside ONE Life —
the one that ends at line 259 on p. 99, immediately before the ܢܚܘܡ ܂ rubric at line 260.
⚠ The rubric that OPENS that Life stands on p. 97 (line 236, the last-but-one line of that
page) and I could NOT read it with confidence from the plate: the word resolves to roughly
[low-wide][ܘ][ܠ][?][ܡ] and none of my candidates satisfied it. It is NOT ܢܚܘܡ (which I did
read, twice, at p. 97 line 236's successor page and at p. 99 line 260 — different shapes).
⛔ I have deliberately NOT filled the name in from Schermann's order (where XVII Amos precedes
XVIII Nahum): that is exactly the circular use of the control the brief forbids. work is
therefore the position, not a name. p. 97 is another shard's page; whoever keys it should
settle the rubric and then this record's work can be corrected.
Verified on this page at up to 8x on single words: NO vowel signs of any kind anywhere in the
twenty lines. What IS present: seyame (two dots) on plurals; the dalath/rish point (below /
above the same hook — checked letter by letter); a single low point ܂ as the ordinary pause;
a two-dot colon ܆; no ܀ on this page. Constant with the neighbouring pages of my shard and
with the coordinator's reading of n196, so the layer is constant across Chrest. III.
Th. Schermann, PROPHETARUM VITAE FABULOSAE, Teubner 1907 — archive.org prophetarumvita00schegoog. Latin version of the Syriac (cod. Sinait. syro 10) at pp. 105-106, leaf = page + 74 (calibrated on two running heads); Index nominum propriorum at printed p. 240. ⛔ The Latin Appendix is a two-page CAPITULUM (a summary list of 22 prophets), not the full Lives — SENSE-level control only, and a thin one. It catches a mis-keyed name or a meaningless sentence; it never adjudicates pointing and cannot be aligned page-for-page. See research/syriac-peshitta-editions.md
240, 245, 250, 255 in the LEFT (outer) margin, standing against printed lines 3, 8, 13 and 18. The page therefore carries lines 238-257 of the piece's continuous numbering.
⛔ Codepoints for the marks were NOT read by eye (the MUFI rule). Declared CONVENTION over what the plate shows: · seyame → U+0308 combining diaeresis on the letter it sits over · single low point → ܂ · two-dot pause → ܆ · diamond / 4-dot → ܀ The qushshaya/rukkakha and participle dots on individual letters are NOT transcribed — they are below the resolution at which this pass can be honest. That is a KNOWN GAP, not a claim the plate lacks them. The dalath/rish point IS transcribed, because it changes the letter.
⚠ TWO FLAG FORMS, and the difference matters:
· ⟨?ܟܟܟ⟩ = a word whose letters I read but am not sure of. The letters are a reading.
· ⟨?…⟩ = one or more words I did NOT read. ⛔ NOTHING is asserted about their letters.
This is used instead of inventing a flagged guess, which would still assert letters.
⭐ p. 98 is the WORST page of this shard: see [extraction] for the count.
ܡܕܝܢܬܐ ܂ ܥܠ ܓܢܒ ܡܕܝܢܬܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܂ ⟨?ܢܒܝܐ⟩ ܂ ܘܐܬܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܠܐ ⟨?…⟩ ܗܘ ܂ ܐܠܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?LINE NOT READ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܗܘܐ ⟨?ܓܝܪ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܐܠܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܡܛܠ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܥܠ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܪܒܬܐ⟩ ܂ ܐܝܬܘܗܝ ܗܘܐ ⟨?ܐܠܗܐ⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܠܒܝܬܐ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܥܠ ⟨?ܐܪܥܐ⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܠܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܗܘܐ ⟨?…⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܘܡܢ ܒܬܪ ܕܡܝܬ ⟨?…⟩ ܐܠܗܐ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܕܡ̈ܝܬܐ⟩ ⟨?ܒܐܝ̈ܕܘܗܝ⟩ ⟨?ܕܐܠܗܐ⟩ ܂ ܡܢ ⟨?…⟩ ܗܘܐ ⟨?…⟩ ܠܗ ܕܠܐ ⟨?…⟩ ܐܠܗܐ ܂ ⟨?ܘܐܡܪ⟩ ܡܢ ⟨?…⟩ ܒܬܪ ⟨?ܩܒܘܪܐ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܠܐܪܥܐ ⟨?ܕܝܗܘܕܝܐ⟩ ܂ ܘܡܢ ܒܬܪ ⟨?ܕܡܝܬܬ⟩ ⟨?ܐܡܗ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܒܐܘܪܫܠܡ ܂ ܘܩܒܪܗ ܥܠ ܓܢܒ ⟨?ܒܬܘܠܬܐ⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ܒܐܪܥܐ ܕܢܦܫܗ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܘܡܝܬ ܘܐܬܩܒܪ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܕܗܘܐ⟩ ܗܘܐ ⟨?…⟩ ܕܫܒܛܐ ܆ ⟨?…⟩ ܗܘܐ ⟨?ܪܫܥܐ⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܒܗܘ ܂ ܐܬܪܐ ܥܠ ⟨?…⟩ ܟܠܗ ܐܪܥܐ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܡܝܬ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?…⟩ ⟨?ܫܘܠܡܐ⟩ ܂ ⟨?…⟩ ܡܝܬ ܂ ⟨?…⟩
NONE on this page. There is no rule and no small type at the foot: the last text band (line
257) is followed by blank paper to the trim. No signature either (p. 99 carries G*).
No square brackets anywhere on the page.
keyed from the plate, UNVERIFIED and MOSTLY UNREAD: of ~120 word-slots on the page, roughly 25 are keyed as confident, ~14 are keyed and flagged ⟨?word⟩, and the remainder fall inside ⟨?…⟩ gaps. 1 line (241) was not read at all. No Syriac-reading control exists for this piece.
⭐ THE MEASUREMENT IS THE FINDING, and it is not the same on every page of this shard.
Working from the 1586x2512 master (there is nothing higher), with the Estrangela alphabet
calibrated against a KNOWN string — Nestle's own p. 86 lines 1-4, whose text the brief supplies
— my word-level reading is reliable for the formulaic vocabulary of the Vitae
(ܗܘܐ · ܡܢ · ܐܝܬܘܗܝ · ܡܝܬ · ܘܐܬܩܒܪ · ܥܠ ܓܢܒ · ܐܪܥܐ · ܡܕܝܢܬܐ · ܫܒܛܐ · ܐܘܪܫܠܡ · ܢܒܝܐ · ܟܕ · ܐܠܐ)
and UNRELIABLE for place-names, personal names and rarer nouns — which is most of the content.
p. 98 is the worst case because it is entirely narrative interior with no rubric, no formula
cluster and several proper nouns; pp. 101-102 read far better (see those records).
⛔ Flagged GUESSES were refused for the unread stretches: a ⟨?ܟܟܟ⟩ still asserts letters, and
a corpus of asserted letters at this hit-rate is worse for HTR ground truth than a gap. ⟨?…⟩
asserts nothing. Everything structural on the page IS verified and is recorded above.
WHAT THE CONTROL DID: nothing on this page, and that is the honest answer. Schermann's Appendix (pp. 105-106) is a 22-item CAPITULUM — one clause per prophet, tribe/date/burial — against twenty lines of continuous Syriac narrative here. p. 98 carries no prophet's name, no tribe formula and no burial formula that the capitulum could touch: the one place it could have helped (naming the Life) is precisely where the brief forbids using it, since the plate reading of the p. 97 rubric failed. So the control neither confirmed nor contradicted a single word of this page.
WHAT IT DID CONFIRM, one page later and worth recording here because it bounds this Life:
the rubric at p. 99 line 260 reads ܢܚܘܡ ܂ and line 261 ... ܡܢ ܐܠܩܘܫ ܂ ... with line 262
... ܡܢ ܫܒܛܐ ܕܫܡܥܘܢ ܂ ..., against Schermann XVIII 'Nahum fuit ex tribu Simeon' — an
independent agreement on the tribe, plus 'Elkosh', which the capitulum does not give at all.
UNCERTAIN READINGS ON THIS PAGE, listed as required: ⟨?ܢܒܝܐ⟩ (239) · ⟨?ܓܝܪ⟩, ⟨?ܡܛܠ⟩ (242) · ⟨?ܪܒܬܐ⟩ (243) · ⟨?ܐܠܗܐ⟩, ⟨?ܠܒܝܬܐ⟩ (244) · ⟨?ܐܪܥܐ⟩ (245) · ⟨?ܕܡ̈ܝܬܐ⟩ (248) · ⟨?ܒܐܝ̈ܕܘܗܝ⟩, ⟨?ܕܐܠܗܐ⟩ (249) · ⟨?ܘܐܡܪ⟩ (250) · ⟨?ܩܒܘܪܐ⟩, ⟨?ܕܝܗܘܕܝܐ⟩ (251) · ⟨?ܕܡܝܬܬ⟩, ⟨?ܐܡܗ⟩, ⟨?ܒܬܘܠܬܐ⟩ (252) · ⟨?ܕܗܘܐ⟩ (254) · ⟨?ܪܫܥܐ⟩ (255) · ⟨?ܫܘܠܡܐ⟩ (257). Line 241 not read at all.