Codex Sinaiticus


When we are speaking of the Bible, we are looking for manuscript, not only a manuscript but the oldest one.

Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest written Christian Bible ever preserve in our time. It was written in Greek during the middle of the fourth century, year 325-360,on animal skin, or vellum. It was believed that it was written through the order of the Emperor Constantine after he embraced Christianity.

For several centuries it was housed on different locations and countries. For many centuries the manuscript was housed in St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, in Egypt. In the 19th century the pages were divided, and now reside in the British Library in London, St. Catherine's Monastery, the Leipzig University Library in Germany, and the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg.

Originally some 1,400 pages long, now only 800 pages and fragments remain today.

It is considered on the one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

The reunification project was initiated in 9th of March 2005 with the cooperation of several countries, and made possible by digital technology. The result was a digitized and online compilation available for public viewing since Monday, July 6, 2009 on http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/

Along with the "Codex Vaticanus," a slightly older manuscript that is housed in the Vatican, this Bible offers an opportunity for studying the text of the Old and New Testaments in their Greek version.











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