Old editions of the Cave of Treasures

THE CAVE OF TREASURES is a late antique Old Testament pseudepigraphon (as well as a Christian apocryphon and perhaps arguably even a New Testament apocryphon). It survives mainly in its language of composition, Syriac, but also in Arabic, Ethiopic, Georgian translations and a fragmentary Coptic translation. The Syriac was published in a definitive edition and French translation by Su-Min Ri: La Caverne de Trésors: Les deux recensions syriaques (CSCO 486-487; Scriptores Syri 207-208; Louvain: Peeters, 1987). It was also recently translated into English by Alexander Toepel in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Volume 1 (ed. Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2013).

Early this year the text came up on the Hygoye discussion list in a thread initiated by Professor Naomi Kolton-Fromme, who asked if there was a digital version of the Syriac text available. You can find the full discussion in messages 7333, 7334, 7335, 7336, 7342, and 7343. In the discussion J.J. Van Ginkel and Steven Ring pointed to a German out-of-copyright edition and translation of the Syriac and Arabic texts online, and I have been meaning to mention it here. If you want to do serious work on The Cave of Treasures, use Ri's edition and French translation and Toepel's English translation, but the old edition could be useful for an initial orientation to the Syriac and Arabic texts. The links below are to two independent scans of the German edition.

Die Schatzhöhle : syrisch und deutsch / Ephraem Syrus. Hrsg. von Carl Bezold
Author Ephraem Syrus (actually not - the work is anonymous - JRD)
Editor Bezold
Published
Leipzig : Hinrichs, 1883-
Electronic Edition Halle, Saale : Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt, 2010
Annotation
Pseudepigraphische Schrift
Language German ; Syriac
URN urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:5-20534 info
Keyword Syrische Kirchen DNB Wikipedia / Heilsgeschichte

Tomes
1. Übersetzung: Die Schatzhöhle aus dem syrischen Texte dreier unedirter Handschriften in's Deutsche übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen. 1883
2. Texte: Die Schatzhöhle nach dem syrischen Texte der Handschriften zu Berlin, London und Rom nebst einer arabischen Version nach den Handschriften zu Rom, Paris und Oxford. 1888


Die Schatzhöhle; aus dem syrischen texte dreier unedirten Handschriften
by Bezold, Carl, 1859-1924

Published 1883

Vol. 1. - Übersetzung.- Vol. 2. - Texte

26

Publisher Leipzig, Hinrichs
Pages 400
Language German
Call number AEM-3167
Digitizing sponsor University of Toronto
Book contributor Robarts - University of Toronto
Collection robarts; toronto
Scanfactors 8

Full catalog record MARCXML

Not mentioned in the Hugoye discussion, but there is also an out-of-copyright English translation of The Cave of Treasures which you can also find online, for example, here:

The book of the Cave of treasures : a history of the patriarchs and the kings their successors from the Creation to the Crucifixion of Christ / translated from the Syriac text of the British Museum Ms. Add. 25875, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge ; with 16 plates and 8 illustrations in the text.
London : The Religious Tract Society, 1927.

Again, this could be useful for initial orientation, or just for free, fun reading, but use the more recent publications for any serious work.

Past posts in which The Cave of Treasures is involved are here, here and here. Also, do not confuse the fictional literary work The Cave of Treasures with the Cave of the Treasure, which is an actual cave that contained an actual ancient treasure — the Nahal Mishmar hoard of metal objects from the Chalcolithic period. Past posts on it are here and here.

Cross-file under Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Watch, More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Christian Apocrypha Watch, New Testament Apocrypha Watch, Syriac Watch, News You Can Use, and For You, Special Deal.