THE DISCOVERY OF THE CODEX

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The discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus by Constantin von Tischendorf is one of the best-known stories in the history of paleography The study of ancient writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts.. In 1844, Tischendorf—who had planned a new critical edition of the New Testament and had already visited most of the great libraries of the West—was traveling in the East to see what new light might still be shed by monastic libraries. In the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, he found forty-three leaves of the Septuagint The ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. in a basket which he believed was meant to hold material for starting fires. He obtained these leaves and published them in 1846 under the title of the *Codex Friderico-Augustanus*.¹ This codex is now kept at Leipzig. Tischendorf confirmed that the rest of the manuscript existed, and although he was unable to take possession of it then, he hoped to return later and be more successful. While no one would deny that Tischendorf rightly earned the fame for discovering this valuable manuscript, Seymour de Ricci, writing in the *Archaeological Review* in 1909 (p. 159), pointed out that it was probably seen as early as 1761 by the Italian traveler Vitaliano Donati during his visit to Mount Sinai. Donati’s diary remains unpublished, but extracts were made from it by G. Lumbroso in the *Acts of the Royal Lincean Academy* in 1879. On page 501, the following statement is found: "In this monastery, I found a very great quantity of parchment codices original Italian: "codici membranacei"... there are some that seemed to me to be earlier than the seventh century, and in particular a Bible on very beautiful, quite large, thin, and square parchment, written in a round and very beautiful script; they also keep in the church a Greek Gospel book original: "Evangelistario" in round gold letters, which must also be quite ancient." The manuscript in gold letters is undoubtedly the *Golden Gospel Book* (officially known as Gregory Evst. 300) which is still shown to travelers today. As De Ricci suggests, the "Bible" may well be the Codex Sinaiticus. The objection that the script is described as "round" original Italian: "rotondo" is addressed by the

¹ Named after the King of Saxony, who served as Tischendorf's patron during his travels.

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fact that the *Golden Gospel Book*, which is also described as "round," is written in uncial A script written entirely in capital letters, common in Greek and Latin manuscripts from the 4th to 8th centuries.. Undoubtedly, Donati intended to distinguish the script from the narrow, compressed type of uncial found in some later manuscripts. After Tischendorf left the monastery, the manuscript seems to have been seen by two other scholars. In 1845, Porphyrius Uspenski¹ visited Sinai and saw the manuscript—not only the remnant Tischendorf had seen but also the other parts to which it was now reunited. It would seem, therefore, that Tischendorf’s conversation with the monks had alerted them to the value of their property. Porphyrius Uspenski also found fragments of two leaves of the manuscript used in the bindings of other books.² The first of these contained, with some gaps original: "lacunae", Genesis 23:19—24:46; it is now reproduced as the first page of this facsimile. The second contained, also with gaps, Numbers 5:26—7:26; it is reproduced as the second page of this facsimile. In addition to Porphyrius Uspenski, it is generally thought that the manuscript was seen by Major Macdonald, a Scotsman who visited Sinai in 1848.³ However, Professor Caspar René Gregory⁴ doubts whether this manuscript was really the Codex Sinaiticus or another later manuscript; fortunately, the point is as unimportant as the debate is inconclusive. In 1853, Tischendorf returned to Sinai but could find no trace of the manuscript, or even determine if it was still in the library. In 1859, however, he visited the Mountain again, armed with a letter of introduction from the Tsar of Russia. He was warmly welcomed but did not dare to ask about the manuscript directly until one evening he found a favorable opportunity to lead the conversation toward the subject of the Septuagint. These tactics were successful, and later on, the steward original Greek: οἰκονόμος (oikonomos), the administrator or bursar of a monastery., wishing to show that the monks also possessed such a manuscript, brought it to him.

¹ See his First Journey to the Sinai Monastery in 1845 original Russian: Первое путешествіе въ Синайскій монастырь въ 1845 г., St. Petersburg, 1856, pp. 225-38. Porphyrius was later the Archbishop of Sinai.
² These were first published by Tischendorf in his Appendix of the Most Famous Sinaitic, Vatican, and Alexandrian Codices original Latin: Appendix Codicum celeberrimorum Sinaitici Vaticani Alexandrini, Leipzig, 1867.
³ See Horne and Tregelles’s Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd edition, 1860, p. 775.
⁴ See his Textual Criticism original German: Textkritik, vol. i, p. 23.