Thursday, 9 July 2009

The Codex Siniaiticus on line

At this web address

http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/

This Bible written between the years 325 and 360 digitized and compiled online for public viewing.

The "Codex Sinaiticus" is a Bible manuscript written in Greek on animal skin, or vellum. It is believed to have been written by order of Roman Emperor Constantine after he embraced Christianity. Divided among several countries for a century, the pages were reunited online Monday and offered to the world for viewing and study. 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.

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

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.

The reunification project was initiated in 2005 with the cooperation of several countries, and made possible by digital technology. The digital Bible can be viewed free in its original form, with modern Greek translations, as well as some English translations.