LOST tales about Adam, the Queen of Sheba and the apocalypse are among ancient stories from biblical times to be translated by scholars in Scotland.

A handbook of magical spells invoking pagan deities, along with books of prophecies from the “Sibyl” oracles, are among the 50 ancient works to be translated into English for the first time by researchers at the University of St Andrews.

The tales include legends about biblical characters, tales of giants, proverbs and wise sayings, sermons, magical and astrological handbooks, poetry and apocalyptic prophecies.

Often described as “quasi-biblical”, the texts do not make any new revelations about the Bible or its history but are considered important because of the insights they may provide into the ways the Bible was interpreted in ancient times.

Many have never been translated into English. James Davila and Richard Bauckham, of the School of Divinity at St Andrews, will head a team of 30 international researchers, helped by an £84,500 grant from the Leverhulme Trust.

The texts, dating from the 3rd century BC to the early 7th century AD, are known as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

Dr Davila said: “Some of these books are surprisingly unorthodox. We learn that some Christians and Jews enjoyed provocative stories about miscegenation between angels and human beings, some wrote oracles in the name of a pagan prophetess and some ignored biblical laws against magic, making use of spells and incantations that were attributed to biblical characters and which even invoked pagan gods.”

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