Jul
10
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1
Nestled quietly at the base of Mt. Sinai in Egypt is St. Catherine’s monastery. Protected by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, this site is home to the oldest Christian monastery still in use. Inside its walls is said to be Moses’ burning bush (complete with a fire extinguisher on a wall not far from it), and up the mountain pathway outside its gates is thought to be where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.
St. Catherine’s is also home to the largest collection of manuscripts, scrolls, and early books outside of the Vatican. Its library holds thousands of unique texts, including the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus. Handwritten over 1600 years ago, this codex is the oldest copy of the New Testament in the world. It is written in Greek (photo above) and includes the Old Testament written in Greek, called the Septuagint.
While the exact events are disputed, somehow the original Codex became separated and ended up at four different locations: St. Catherine’s, Egypt; St. Petersburg, Russia; Leipzig, Germany; and London, England. The institutions at the other three locations have not returned their copies to St. Catherine’s; rather, they collaborated on a project to both conserve and digitize the Codex so that it could be accessible to the public in its entirety. Read about their efforts to take high-quality digital images here.
In order to see the Codex (or any other priceless religious art or manuscripts) before this project, you would have had to travel to the Sinai and get a private tour from the St. Catherine’s librarian, Texas-born Father Justin. Thanks to cooperation and some awesome high-tech equipment, what had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is now an easily searchable reference for the common man.
For more in-depth and first hand accounts, check out these sources:
Walking the Bible, Episode Three (also in the book)
