New research suggests that the portions of the Codex Sinaiticus in the British Library may have been legally acquired. I doubt that this will be the end of disputes surrounding the document however.

From:
RT

Controversy over ancient Greek Bible resolved in Russia
Published 18 February, 2010, 18:05

A document which confirms the British Library’s ownership of Codex Sinaiticus, an ancient hand-written copy of the Greek Bible, has been found in the archives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The agreement was signed in 1869 by the archbishop of the St. Catherine Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai and a representative of the Russian Empire.
Read the rest of this entry »

It is often stated that the Codex Sinaiticus was removed illegally from St Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai desert. Christfried Boettrich, a University of Greifswald theologian suggests that this is not the case though.

Whether or not the Codex was looted however, few could argue that the pages of a book split between different countries makes any real sense. Efforts should be made to reunifiy it because it is the sensible thing to do – the story in one place makes far more sense than the story spread between different locations.

From:
Deutsche Presse Agentur

Scholar rejects Egypt claim to oldest Bible – Feature
Posted : Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:08:37 GMT
Author : DPA

Greifswald, Germany – The extraordinary tale of how a German pastor discovered the world’s oldest book and arranged its removal from Egypt has been told in full for the first time in a new book. It was published in time for the completion in July of an online reconstruction of the 4th century Christian bible, known as the Codex Sinaiticus.

The actual pages of the Codex which are scattered between London, Leipzig, St Petersburg and the Sinai. A codex means a bound book, as distinct from a scroll.
Read the rest of this entry »

The world’s oldest bible, the Codex Sinaiticus is split between many locations. A project has been underway to reunify these separate fragments virtually so that the entire document can be viewed together.

In many ways its situation is similar to that of the Parthenon Marbles – separate surviving fragments split between different countries.

You can view the Codex Sinaiticus online here.

From:
Guardian

World’s oldest bible goes online
Maev Kennedy
Monday 6 July 2009

The oldest bible in the world, the Codex Sinaiticus, written in Greek in the fourth century but now scattered between the British Library, Germany, Russia and St Catherine’s monastery in Egypt’s Sinai desert, will be reassembled online today in a £1m scholarship exercise.

Nobody alive has seen all the pages together in one place. The pages of the codex, described as “a jewel beyond price” by Scot McKendrick, head of western manuscripts at the British Library, which has the largest part, have been scattered for over 150 years.
Read the rest of this entry »

One may be able to see the Codex Sinaiticus virtually reunited from today. This doesn’t solve the complex four way dispute over its ownership that continues behind the scenes though. The British Museum would do well to remember this case when suggesting that the issue of the Elgin Marbles can be solved by providing the Greeks with copies.

From:
The Times

From The Times
July 24, 2008
Ancient Bible with a murky past is on the path to a new era of clarity

The story of the Codex Sinaiticus Bible, the oldest complete copy of the New Testament in existence, reads like a script from an Indiana Jones film.

Ever since a German explorer controversially removed it from an Egyptian monastery, four countries have fought for control over the ancient manuscript.
Read the rest of this entry »

One hears about many collaborative projects at their inception – all too often though interest dies out & the planned eventual result never appears publicly. In the case of the digitisation of the Codex Sinaiticus though, the project has progressed to the extent that much of the work will be available for viewing online later this week.

From:
Agence France Presse

One of world’s oldest Bibles to be put online
21st July 2008

BERLIN (AFP) — One of the world’s oldest Bibles, the Codex Sinaiticus, which was discovered in Egypt in the 19th century, is to be made available online this week, the Leipzig University library said Monday.

The Codex Sinaiticus, which dates from the fourth century, is one of the two most ancient copies of the entire Bible in Greek. The other is the Codex Vaticanus.
Read the rest of this entry »