{"product_id":"the-sisters-of-sinai-how-two-lady-adventurers-discovered-the-hidden-gospels-9781400041336","title":"The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1892  two sisters  identical twins from Scotland  made one of one of most important scriptural discoveries of modern times. Combing the library of St. Catherines Monastery at Mount Sinai  they found a neglected palimpsest: beneath an unpreposessing life of female saints  they detected what remains to this day among the earliest known copies of the Gospels  a version in ancient Syriac   the language spoken by Jesus. The Sisters of Sinai is the enthralling account of how two ladies in middle age and without university degrees uncovered and translated this text  bringing a great biblical treasure to world attention.  Janet Soskice takes us  via the lives of Agnes and Margaret Smith  on a quintessentially Victorian adventure. It is partly a physical journey: when Westerners generally feared to tread in the region  the sisters Smith traversed the Middle East  sleeping in tents  enduring temperamental camels and unscrupulous dragomen  and facing uncertain welcome from monks deceived by earlier travellers. It is also a journey of the mind: in an era when religious faith was under attack  when new discoveries in science and archaeology were rewriting the accepted understanding of the Bibles origins as well as those of humankind  a great contribution to knowledge was made by two whose only natural advantage was an astonishing gift for languages  modern as well as classical. Finally  and most movingly  it is a progress of the human spirit. Unwilling to let their lack of formal training or the disdain and jealousy of male scholars stand in their way  Agnes and Margaret became renowned scriptural authorities  in joyful pursuit of their lifelong passions for adventure and learning. Here  rousingly recounted  is the story of two unlikely and unsung heroines of the continuing effort to discover the Bible as originally written.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647580856373,"sku":"ByrdShop_1400041333","price":24.05,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781400041336.jpg?v=1781693980","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-sisters-of-sinai-how-two-lady-adventurers-discovered-the-hidden-gospels-9781400041336","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}