Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. The New Testament appears in the original vernacular language (koine) and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. In the Codex, the text of both the Septuagint and the New Testament has been heavily annotated by a series of early correctors. The significance of Codex Sinaiticus for the reconstruction of the Christian Bible's original text, the history of the Bible and the history of Western book-making is immense.
Professor David Parker from the University of Birmingham’s Department of Theology, said: “The transcription includes pages of the Codex which were found in a blocked-off room at the Monaster y of St Catherine in 1975, some of which were in poor condition. This is the first time that they have been published.
“The digital images of the virtual manuscript show the beauty of the original and readers are even able to see the difference in handwriting between the different scribes who copied the text. We have even devised a unique alignment system that allows users to link the images with the transcription. This project has made a wonderful book accessible to a global audience.”
The British Library is running an exhibition form 6 July to 7 September called 'from Parchment to Pixel'
have a look at the online gallery
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