St Paul’s shipwreck on Malta a mid-17th c. Arabic account

Abstract

In his Della Descrittione di Malta isola nel mare siciliano con Ie sue antichita, ed altre notitie (often referred to as the Malta Illustrata), published in 1647, Commendatore Fra Giovanni Francesco Abela reproduced the Latin Vulgata Clementina version of the verses in chapters 27 and 28 of the "Acts of the Apostles" which narrate St Paul's shipwreck on Malta. Moreover, Abela included an Arabic version, transcribed in Latin characters, of these verses from Acts, sent to him by the Collegio de Propaganda Fide accompanied by a Latin translation of these verses prepared by Fr Domenico Magri, the author of Breve racconto del viaggio al Monte Libano (1654). This Arabic version is of particular interest because it is a translation which predates the publication in 1671, by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, of the Biblia Sacra A rabica. This paper compares and contrasts the Arabic version published by Abela with that of the Biblia Sacra Arabica as well as with the much earlier Sinai Arabic MSS 151 and 154. The study also highlights the motives behind Abela's decision to include the Arabic version in the Malta Illustrata.