One of world oldest Bibles to be put online

Tag : two for one

A leaflet on the so-called Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldestBibles, laying on top of a glass case displaying an original pageof the manuscript at Leipzig University in eastern Germany. TheCodex Sinaiticus, discovered in Egypt in the 19th century, is to bemade available online this week, the university library has said.
One of the world's oldest Bibles, the Codex Sinaiticus, which wasdiscovered in Egypt in the 19th century, is to be made availableonline this week, the Leipzig University library said Monday.
The Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the fourth century, is oneof the two most ancient copies of the entire Bible in Greek. Theother is the Codex Vaticanus.
The manuscript was uncovered by a German scholar in St Catherine'smonastery in the Sinai desert. Much of it, written on some 350pages of vellum, ended up in St. Petersburg.
In the 1930s, most of this treasure trove was then sold by Stalinto the British Museum in London.
Some 40 pages also ended up going to Leipzig University, while yetmore pages were found in the 1970s in a walled-up room at StCatherine's monastery.
The project, sponsored by the British Museum and LeipzigUniversity, aims to put the Bible back together in digital form --scanning all the pages held in Britain, Germany, Russia, and Egypt-- and making it available on the Internet.
Another part of the Codex will be made available in November andthe remainder by next year, according to Schneider.
The codex, which is believed to contain the most accurate versionof the New Testament, can be viewed online in high-definitionpictures, with a full transcript of the Greek text, and translationinto English and German of some key passages.