20.4 Symeon Metaphrastes, Lives of Saints commemorated in September
1081
Iviron Monastery, Library, Georgian Cod. 20
Parchment, 27 x 21 cm
Scribe: Theophilos, monk
The codex contains a Georgian translation by the Georgian monk Theophilos (who is also the scribe) of Symeon Metaphrastes' synaxarion for the month of September. The importance of the manuscript lies in the fact that it contains the first Georgian translation from Greek of this work of Symeon's, as also that it preserves two very interesting notes, one at the beginning and one at the end, which reveal that Theophilos did this translation at Triandaphyllou Monastery in Constantinople. The second note also gives information about the wife of Michael VII Ducas and Nicephorus Botaniates: her name was Maria, and she was of Georgian descent.
Of all the texts in the codex, only the life of Gregory, Bishop of Armenia, has been published: Melikset-Bek 1920.