Koen Gh and Anton:
Very interesting that the dots could be seen to point towards the line above.
I find the combination of christian signs and jewish ones on the same folio particularly interesting. To quote one of the sources given by bi3mw:
"If Elijah comes and says: 'Why are all these letters dotted? This is what Ezra said: `If Elijah comes and says "Why did you write (them)?" I will say to him, "I have dotted them"; but if he tells me, "You have written well", I will remove the dots from them.' "
In light of that, here's a little speculation...
If the dots relate to +ma+ria+... could it be a way of saying the scribe is uncomfortable with having written down Mary's name or even the crosses in that spell, and added the dots as a precaution or disclaimer? To paraphrase the above quote, if Elijah comes and says, "why did you use a christian reference?", I will say to him, "I have dotted it".
Very interesting that the dots could be seen to point towards the line above.
I find the combination of christian signs and jewish ones on the same folio particularly interesting. To quote one of the sources given by bi3mw:
"If Elijah comes and says: 'Why are all these letters dotted? This is what Ezra said: `If Elijah comes and says "Why did you write (them)?" I will say to him, "I have dotted them"; but if he tells me, "You have written well", I will remove the dots from them.' "
In light of that, here's a little speculation...
If the dots relate to +ma+ria+... could it be a way of saying the scribe is uncomfortable with having written down Mary's name or even the crosses in that spell, and added the dots as a precaution or disclaimer? To paraphrase the above quote, if Elijah comes and says, "why did you use a christian reference?", I will say to him, "I have dotted it".