Codex Sinaiticus: Old Testament (Facsimile)

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The latest correctors. To these, Constantin von Tischendorf—whose labeling system is useful to maintain—gave the names E and D. E is a relatively minor scribe who made very few corrections in the text, perhaps in the 12th century. It is possible that this same writer added the notes in Greek and Arabic on folios 128 recto and 130 recto of the New Testament. If "E" is understood to represent the final stage of correction in the manuscript rather than a single individual, the label may also be used for the writers of a few names scribbled in the Old Testament: Hilarion, Dionysius, and Theophylact. Tischendorf thought that E might represent medieval monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery. This is a likely guess, but as stated previously, there is no evidence regarding when the manuscript was first brought to Sinai. D is a scribe from the 8th century or later who restored the faded writing in the prophetic books but does not appear to have worked on the New Testament. However, in the Shepherd of Hermas An early Christian literary work once considered part of the New Testament canon by some, another scribe from roughly the same period and style (labeled $D^{Hermas}$) added breathings and accents Greek diacritical marks used to indicate pronunciation and made a few minor changes to the spelling.

Examples of $D^{Hermas}$ and E can be found at the bottom of the third column of Plate II in the facsimile edition of the New Testament.

The intermediate correctors. Tischendorf labeled these as the "C" group. Taken together, they have done far more work on the manuscript than any others and provide extremely important material for textual criticism the study of manuscripts to determine the original wording of a text. As shown on pages 8 and following, they represent a writing workshop in Caesarea original: scriptorium. One of them specifically states that he corrected part of the Old Testament text according to a copy of the Hexapla Origen's famous six-columned edition of the Old Testament made by Pamphilus during his imprisonment and kept in the library at Caesarea. This corrector is referred to as $C^{Pamph}$.

A very similar hand is $C^a$, who wrote in a clear but unrefined style. This scribe made many corrections in the Old and New Testaments and in the Shepherd of Hermas, but skipped the Epistle of Barnabas. It is uncertain whether he used the same ink as $C^{Pamph}$. At first glance, the concluding inscriptions original: colophons for the books of Ezra and Esther appear to be in a different color because they are faint and barely readable. However, this might be due to accidental damage, and in other places, it is hard to see much difference between the inks used by the two scribes. In any case, the ink is brighter and redder than that of the original manuscript. $C^{Pamph}$ and $C^a$ have been dated

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to periods ranging from the late 5th to the early 7th century. Sir Frederic Kenyon A prominent British paleographer and director of the British Museum leans toward the later date, while Professor Hunt favors the earlier one. Examples of $C^a$'s handwriting can be seen in the last column of Plate II in the New Testament edition. However, the best way to study the relationship between $C^a$ and $C^{Pamph}$ is to examine a few pages of Esther, working backward from the concluding note and trying to assign each "C" correction to its specific scribe.

Based on the style of his writing and the color of his ink, $C^b$ appears to have been a contemporary of $C^a$. While his handwriting is easily distinguishable in longer passages, it bears a general resemblance to $C^a$’s. His most distinctive feature is the "feathers"—small decorative strokes—attached to the ends of letters with vertical lines. In the Old Testament, he occasionally altered a correction previously made by $C^a$, meaning he worked slightly later. It is highly probable that $C^b$, like $C^a$, belonged to the workshop at Caesarea. His corrections in the New Testament are limited to the Gospels; examples can be found in the last column of Plate II.

Besides $C^a$ and $C^b$, who are the primary intermediate correctors, two other hands from roughly the same period can be identified: $C^c$ and $C^e$, using Tischendorf's somewhat awkward labeling system. $C^c$ replaced $C^a$ in the Epistle of Barnabas and corrected the text extensively. Examples in the last column of Plate II show that his style is similar to $C^a$ and $C^b$, though likely a bit later. Tischendorf believes this scribe also wrote the mark q, standing for "beautiful" or "excellent" original Greek: ὡραῖον, which was sometimes added in the margins, especially in the books of the prophets. $C^{ca}$ is a similar hand that corrected the Book of Revelation original: Apocalypse. It also belongs to the "C" group type but is probably slightly later. Examples are provided in the last column of Plate II of the New Testament edition.

On the whole, the "C" hands resemble each other so closely—and their dates are so difficult to separate with any certainty—that there is strong evidence they all originated from the same manuscript workshop in Caesarea. They represent a comprehensive effort to align the Codex Sinaiticus with a textual model that was more popular in the 5th and 6th centuries than the manuscript's original text.

The earliest correctors. In the Old Testament, these present