Archaeologist Dr. Abdel Rahim Rihan, Director General of Research and Archaeological Studies and Scientific Publishing in Sinai and research team that prepared the scientific report of the manuscript from the Ministry of Antiquities, confirmed that the manuscript announced by the Minister of Antiquities Dr. Khaled Anani, Zamalek is is one of those known as “Palmesit” manuscripts and is the oldest known version of the Bible in Syriac language dating back to the late 5th or early 6th centuries AD. It is thought to have been translated from Greek in the second century AD and attracted the world’s attention due to the importance of St. Catherine Library.
Dr. Rehan added that the Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, welcomed the audience and announced the discovery of the manuscript and pointed to the numerous archaeological discoveries in the recent period in El-Matareya, Dahshour, Luxor and Minya.
Archaeologist Dr. Abdel Rahim Rihan explained that the term “Palmesit” means a manuscript that consists of two writing layers.