Sisters of Sinai
In the late nineteenth century, Scottish twin sisters Agnes and Margaret Smith emerged as unlikely pioneers in biblical scholarship. Born in 1843 in Irvine, Ayrshire, they would become known collectively as the Sisters of Sinai, celebrated for their groundbreaking discovery of one of the oldest known copies of the Gospels and their enduring contributions to Christian studies. Their courageous and interesting work reshaped understanding of early Christianity and highlighted the important yet historically overlooked role of women in theological research.
Agnes and Margaret were raised in a household that valued education at a time when society at large did not. Their father, John Smith, a solicitor and amateur linguist, encouraged his daughters’ learning and ensured they received rigorous instruction in languages and literature. By adulthood, they had mastered more than a dozen languages, including German, French, Italian, Arabic, Syriac, and Aramaic. It is said that their father allowed them to travel to any country they spoke the language of! An interesting approach and one which must have provided an incentive for the daughters.
The Sisters of Sinai lived and worked in a period when women were largely excluded from higher education and academic institutions. After inheriting substantial means following their father’s death, the sisters settled in London and became active members of the Presbyterian community at Clapham Road.
In 1883, Margaret married James Young Gibson, a scholar trained for the ministry of the United Presbyterian Church. In 1887, Agnes married Samuel Savage Lewis, a classicist, librarian, and fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and an Anglican clergyman. Each marriage soon ended with the death of the husband.
Their travels through Europe and the Middle East broadened their cultural and religious understanding. By the late 1800s, they had cultivated a strong interest in Christian antiquity - an interest that would draw them to the Sinai Peninsula and to the doors of one of the world’s oldest monasteries.
Their most important expedition occurred in 1892 when the sisters traveled to St Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai in Egypt. The monastery, long a repository of ancient Christian manuscripts, had also been a destination for earlier scholars. Yet an invaluable treasure had remained hidden: an ancient Syriac palimpsest - a manuscript on which a later text is written over an erased original.
While examining the monastery’s library, Agnes noticed a humble, dirty codex whose faint undertext showed signs of considerable antiquity. This proved to be the Syriac Sinaiticus, an early translation of the Gospels into Syriac, possibly dating as early as the fourth century and representing a textual tradition even older than many Greek manuscripts. The sisters recognized the importance of this discovery and returned in 1893 with Cambridge scholars RL Bensly, Francis Burkitt, and James Rendel Harris to photograph, decipher, and translate the manuscript.
The palimpsest’s discovery provided scholars with a rare window into early Christian textual transmission. Because Syriac was closely related to the Aramaic spoken by Jesus, the manuscript offered unique insights into the earliest expressions of Christian belief. Its readings illuminated how Gospel traditions were preserved, altered, and transmitted within different linguistic communities.
The sisters’ influence expanded when, during travels in Cairo in 1896, they discovered fragments of an early Hebrew manuscript of Ecclesiasticus. These fragments led Solomon Schechter to uncover the Cairo Genizah, a vast repository of Jewish manuscripts, many of which held significant implications for biblical history. Agnes and Margaret assisted in cataloguing the material, marking yet another key contribution to the understanding of Judeo-Christian textual history.
By highlighting the importance of Syriac Christian tradition, the sisters drew scholarly attention toward ancient Eastern Christian communities. Their findings reminded Western scholars that Christianity had flourished in multiple linguistic and cultural contexts, and that its earliest texts were not exclusively tied to Greek or Latin manuscripts. This fostered greater cross-cultural appreciation within Christian studies.
The Sisters of Sinai were also generous benefactors, particularly to Westminster College, Cambridge, a seminary associated with the Presbyterian Church of England. Their financial support strengthened theological education and pastoral training for generations. Their influence thus extended beyond scholarship into the institutional life of the church.
At a time when women were not awarded degrees at Cambridge University, Agnes and Margaret rose to international prominence. Their achievements inspired subsequent generations of women to pursue theological and academic work, demonstrating that religious scholarship was not the exclusive domain of men.
Their contributions were so significant that they received multiple honorary doctorates at a time when universities refused to grant degrees to women. Institutions included Halle, St Andrews, Heidelberg, and Trinity College, Dublin. Their example encouraged future generations of women to pursue theology, languages, and historical research, proving that high-level scholarship was not only possible but deeply impactful for women.
Margaret died on 11th January 1920, aged 77, and was buried in Edinburgh. Six years later, on 26th March 1926, Agnes died, aged 83. She was buried in Cambridge.
The story of Agnes and Margaret is one of intellectual courage, faith, and scholarly transformation. Their remarkable achievements in the late nineteenth century not only reshaped biblical studies but also laid the groundwork for modern women scholars in theology, linguistics, and manuscript research. By bringing together their discoveries, their Christian commitment, and their enduring influence, it’s clear that their legacy continues to shape contemporary scholarship in profound ways.