Georgian Palimpsest Kept in the National Library of France (Par.Geo.5)

In the collection of Georgian manuscripts of the National Library of France is MS Par.Geo.5, a book of hymns, dated to 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The entire MS is a parchment and consists of 292 folia. The book of hymns consists of three different parts. In the scholarly literature, the first part of MS Par.Geo.5 is believed to be an autograph of George Hagiorites. The second part of the manuscript is a continuation of the first
part, its transcriber is unknown, while the text is considered to be translated by monk Arsen, the spiritual father of David the Builder. The third part of MS Par.Geo.5 contains hymns also translated by Arsen with the canons by Andrew of Crete, translation of which was commissioned to Arsen by David the Builder. According to the colophon, the third part of the manuscript is copied by someone called Okrop‘iri.
MS Par.Geo.5 contains palimpsest leaves (ff. 217-292). Three palimpsests have been revealed in the lower layers of the manuscript. Palimpsest I comprises 6 leaves (ff. 217- 222) and is a fragment of the Jerusalem Lectionary. The text is written in an elegant, mid-size, calligraphic Nusxuri, capital graphemes are in Asomtavruli; based on palaeographic markers, the first palimpsest is conventionally dated to 10th-11th cc.
Palimpsest II has remaining 9 leaves (ff. 239-246, 248); the text is written in a right leaning, slightly elongated, miniscule Nusxuri, capital graphemes are Asomtavruli and occupy the space between two lines. Frequent abbreviations are noticeable. The manuscript is entirely washed, only couple of words can be deciphered. The second palimpsest manuscript has been conventionally identified and the remaining fragment was defined as part of a collection of hymns. Based on palaeographic markers the palimpsest is dated to 11th century.
Palimpsest III contains 61 leaves of MS Par.Geo.5 (ff. 223-238, 247, 249-292). The text is written in rounded Asomtavruli, with mid-size graphemes, without a remarkable style of writing. Based on palaeographic markers, the third palimpsest is dated to 10th century. Liturgical references in the text and the identification of several pages made it clear that the third palimpsest of MS Par.Geo.5 is a Jerusalem Lectionary.
Palimpsest III contains pre-Lenten and Lenten readings. Judging by the volume of the MS and the amount of washed folia that are impossible to identify, we think that the third palimpsest of MS Par.Geo.5 must have contained the full Jerusalem Lectionary.
Comparison of the palimpsest text with the preserved 10th-century lectionaries (Jerusalem, Paris, Latali, Kala, Sinai) revealed mainly variant readings. Par.Geo.5 III palimpsest, despite variant readings, belongs to the edition of the 10th-century lectionaries.