Dr George A. Kiraz, a computational linguist from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and one of the world’s leading experts on the computerised use of the Syriac language, was recently a guest at the INTF. In 1986, for example, he designed one of the first computer fonts for Syriac, which remains the most widely used computer font for Syriac worldwide to this day. The founder and director of ‘Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute’, which is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the Syriac heritage and language, was in Münster to clarify the framework for a collaboration with the INTF.

In collaboration with Sabine Schmidtke from the Institute for Advanced Study, George Kiraz is working on a project concerning the Arabic Gospels. His visit to Münster is connected with this project. The Gospels in Arabic translation are preserved in numerous manuscripts. The textual tradition is highly complex, as the Arabic New Testament was translated not only from the Greek but also from the Syriac and Coptic, and the textual history has so far been only partially investigated. The edition of the Arabic Gospels will contribute to a better understanding of the textual tradition and thus also highlight its significance for the textual criticism of the Greek New Testament. Schmidtke and Kiraz will continue their collaboration with the Institute in Münster this summer.

On 8 May, the special exhibition ‘Sacred Texts – Exhibits on the Bible and its history spanning four millennia’ opens at the Bible Museum. On display until 31 October will be highlights from the collection, artefacts tracing the origins of the Old and New Testaments, and the various interpretations from early Christianity to the present day. Due to renovation work, the museum will remain closed until then.

The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, INTF)

Our central task is to research the textual history of the New Testament and to reconstruct its Greek initial text on the basis of the entire manuscript tradition, the early translations and patristic citations. Foremost among the results of this research is the ongoing publication of the Editio Critica Maior, which has been accepted by the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts as one of their long-term research projects in 2007. Moreover, INTF produces several more editions and a variety of tools for New Testament scholarship, including the concise editions known as the Nestle-Aland and the UBS Greek New Testament. Many of the results of our work are also available to the wider public at the adjoining Bible Museum, which is affiliated with the institute.