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The world's oldest Bible goes online

24 July 2008

  • Over 25% of Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest existing Christian Bible, becomes freely accessible on 24 July 2008 at www.codexsinaiticus.org
  • The complete Book of Psalms and Gospel of Mark from the British Library together with all pages from Leipzig University Library launched
  • Pages made available as part of a larger international collaboration

The launch of the website is the landmark first phase of an extensive online initiative to reunite the different parts of the Bible now held in four separate institutions. In a ground-breaking collaboration between the British Library, the Monastery of St Catherine (Mount Sinai, Egypt), the University Library at Leipzig (Germany) and the National Library of Russia (St Petersburg), the full text of the manuscript will be accessible in one place for everyone to research and enjoy by the end of the project in July 2009.

The cutting-edge interactive website, going live on 24 July 2008, aims to make the Bible as accessible as possible to scholars and enthusiasts alike.

Users will be able to read and explore a full transcription of the Greek text, including all the corrections added throughout its long history. A translation of selected books and passages will be provided in English and German. Images and transcription are fully cross-referenced; pointing at a word on the transcription, for example, will highlight the equivalent word in the image.

The pages published on 24 July will include 106 from the British Library, containing the complete Book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark, arguably two of the most important texts of the Bible both historically and today. The British Library will put a further 28 pages online to complement the 86 pages held by Leipzig University Library (Germany) from the following biblical books:

  • 1 Chronicles
  • 2 Esdras
  • Esther
  • Tobit
  • Jeremiah
  • Lamentations

Scot McKendrick, The British Library's Head of Western Manuscripts, says: “The British Library is excited to be part of the first major milestone towards making the full Codex Sinaiticus available online. Only a few people have ever had the opportunity to see more than a couple of pages of the world's oldest Bible. The website will make it possible for anyone to see this absolutely unique treasure. The scholarly value of being able to research the text is immeasurable.”

Users can choose which light they want to view the pages in:

  • standard light
  • raking light (images lit at an angle to highlight the physical features of the parchment)

Written around the middle of the fourth century AD, Codex Sinaiticus is arguably the earliest extant Christian Bible. It contains the earliest complete copy of the New Testament. Altogether, there are over 800 extant pages and over 40 fragments, which may be combined to form further pages. All of the extant pages and fragments will be available on the website in July 2009.

The Codex Sinaiticus Project is generously supported by a number of funders, including:

  • The Arts and Humanities Research Council
  • The Stavros Niarchos Foundation
  • The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • The Leventis Foundation

Please contact the British Library press office for images, and to interview the curator of the Codex Sinaiticus project and the Head of Western Manuscripts at the British Library on 24 July. Suvi Kankainen in the British Library's Press Office suvi.kankainen@bl.uk / +44 (0)20 7412 7105 or Lawrence Christensen lawrence.christensen@bl.uk / +44 (0)20 7412 7114.

Notes to Editors:

1. Codex Sinaiticus is the world's oldest Bible and the most important Biblical manuscript. It was written in Greek by hand in the mid-fourth century around the time of Constantine the Great. Though it originally contained the whole of the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha, half of the Old Testament has since been lost. The surviving manuscript concludes with two early Christian texts, an epistle ascribed to the Apostle Barnabas and ‘The Shepherd' by Hermas.

Codex Sinaiticus is named after the Monastery of St Catherine in Sinai, Egypt. St Catherine's is one of the oldest, continuously active, Christian monastic communities in the world and traces its origins back to the fourth century.

2. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages www.bl.uk.

St Catherine's Monastery, Sinai. Built at the foot of Mount Moses, Sinai, St Catherine's Monastery was constructed by order of the Emperor Justinian between 527 and 565. It is built on the traditional site of Moses' Burning Bush. The Monastery was built to house the bones of the Christian martyr St Catherine. It is one of the oldest continually-working monasteries in the world, a Greek Orthodox holy place connected with the Prophet Moses and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

Leipzig University Library. The University Library of Leipzig was established in 1543 and is one of the oldest German University libraries. It serves as a literature and information supplier for the University of Leipzig as well as for the general public of Leipzig and the region.The precious and extensive historical and special collections give the University Library a high national and international reputation. The collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals.

National Library of Russia, in St Petersburg, is one of the world's largest libraries, stocking nearly 33 million items, of which 6 million are in foreign languages. It possesses the most complete collection of publications in Russian. Its staff perform intensive research, produce exhibitions and conduct conferences as well as serving visitors to the Reading Rooms. It also operates an electronic document supply service, allowing users around the world to receive electronic copies of material from their collection.

The term 'leaves' is normally used in manuscripts. Each leaf has text on the recto and on the verso, i.e. has two pages. The number of pages is therefore double the number of leaves.