These are 2 codices, 1 in Greek (Codex Sinaiticus) and 1 in Syriac (Codex Yunan)
The world’s oldest Bible will be put on display during the British Museum exhibition slated from October to February.
The
Codex Sinaiticus or ‘Sinai Bible’ is one of the four great uncial
codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. The British
Library which is the sole possessor of this celebrated historical
treasure has agreed to lend the book to the British Museum for the
exhibition, Egypt after the Pharaohs.
Ancient Bible being preserved in the British Library (File photo)
The
exhibition intends to explore Christian, Islamic and Jewish faith in
Egypt after the Pharaohs. The First Gaster Bible, also from the British
Library as well as a masterpiece of the Qur’an from the Bodleian Library
in Oxford will be displayed alongside the Codex.
The exhibition
will highlight changes in ancient Egyptian society especially its
transition from polytheism to monotheism that shaped the modern world we
know today.
The Codex was lent once, also to the British Museum,
in 1990 when the two bodies were sharing the same complex. “It is quite
phenomenal they are able to lend it to us, we are absolutely thrilled,”
Elisabeth O’Connell, assistant keeper in the British Museum’s department
of ancient Egypt and Sudan said.
The British Museum to hold exhibition on Egypt after the Pharaohs
The
codex, which contains the earliest complete manuscript of the New
Testament, was written sometime in the 4th century AD, probably soon
after the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great.
The Soviet
government under Joseph Stalin, which was in desperate need of money,
sold this historical treasure to Britain in 1933. Then British Prime
Minister Ramsay MacDonald took personal interest and more than half the
£100,000 cost was reportedly raised by public subscription.
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