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| Historic Bible pages put online | |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet. | About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet. |
| Visitors to the website www.codexsinaiticus.org can now see images of more than half the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript. | |
| Fragments of the 4th Century document - written in Greek on parchment leaves - have been worked on by institutions in the UK, Germany, Egypt and Russia. | Fragments of the 4th Century document - written in Greek on parchment leaves - have been worked on by institutions in the UK, Germany, Egypt and Russia. |
| Experts say it is "a window into the development of early Christianity". | Experts say it is "a window into the development of early Christianity". |
| Preservation secrets | Preservation secrets |
| Dr Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library, said the wide availability of the document presented many research opportunities. | Dr Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library, said the wide availability of the document presented many research opportunities. |
| "The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," he said. | "The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," he said. |
| This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity Dr Scot McKendrickBritish Library What's missing from the Codex Sinaiticus? | This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity Dr Scot McKendrickBritish Library What's missing from the Codex Sinaiticus? |
| "This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation. | "This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation. |
| "The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago." | "The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago." |
| The original version contained about 1,460 pages - each measuring 40cm by 35cm, he added. | The original version contained about 1,460 pages - each measuring 40cm by 35cm, he added. |
| The British Library is marking the online launch of the manuscript with an exhibition - which includes a range of historic items and artefacts linked to the document. | |
| For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery until it was found in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain. | |
| It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered. | It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered. |
| The institutions' painstaking work can now be seen at www.codexsinaiticus.org. |