149 years ago today. . .

On this date in 1859, Constantine von Tischendorf (click here for his Wikipedia biography) found Codex Sinaiticus at St. Catherine's Monestary at Mt. Sinai. Codex Sinaiticius (pictured below) is a wonderful example of 4th century Greek script. It contains the entire New Testament, portions of the Old Testament and a few non-canonical books like The Shepherd of Hermas and The Epistle of Barnabas. It's one of the earliest complete copies we've found anywhere in the world. As you can see from the picture, it's exemplary in its clarity and precisons. In all of its 346.5 pages, the lines and lettering are equally crisp and clear making far easier to work with that some of the other documents. Many have surmised that it's a sister manuscript to the Codex Vaticanus residing at the Vatican. Many more have surmised that both belong to the group of 50 manuscripts commissioned by Emperor Constantine in the early 325 AD. Share with me in marking this special day!

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