Tischendorf and the Codex Sinaiticus

In May 1844 Constantin von Tischendorf, a German scholar searching for early manuscripts of the Bible, visited Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraph on 1844). By his own account, printed in 1866, he saw in the library a basket of old parchments, was told by the librarian that two such heaps had already been burned, and found among them leaves of a Greek Old Testament that seemed to him one of the most ancient he had ever seen (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 28–29). He says the monks let him take about forty-five leaves, since they were destined for the fire, and refused him the rest (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 28–29). The history agreed by the four institutions that now hold the manuscript says that the monks showed him 129 leaves, that he obtained 43, now at Leipzig, and that no record but his own has been identified (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraph on 1844). The monastery calls the story of the burning a slander against which it has always protested (Sinai Monastery, Codex Sinaiticus par. 2–4).

He came back in 1853 and again in 1859, the last time with funds from Tsar Alexander II (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 30–35). On 4 February 1859, he writes, the steward took down in his cell a volume wrapped in red cloth, which held the leaves Tischendorf had seen before, more of the Old Testament, the whole New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas and part of the Shepherd of Hermas (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 30–35). The manuscript was sent to Cairo for him to copy, and he suggested to the monks that they present it to the tsar (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 36–37). On 28 September he received it “under the form of a loan”, to take to St Petersburg (Tischendorf, Narrative of the Discovery pp. 39–41). According to the agreed history he signed a receipt for 347 leaves and promised to return them as soon as the monastery asked, and the Russian ambassador acknowledged in writing that, until a donation was made, the manuscript belonged to the monastery (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraph on 1859).

Tischendorf published the text in 1862 and handed the manuscript to the tsar, and in November 1869 the archbishop of Sinai and the community signed an act of donation (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraphs on 1862–1869). The agreed history says that the evidence conflicts on whether a gift was intended in 1859, and that there is evidence that Russian diplomats tied the donation to their help in a dispute over who was archbishop (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraphs on 1862–1869). The monastery says that he promised to return the manuscript and that it was kept instead (Sinai Monastery, Codex Sinaiticus par. 2–4).

In 1933 the Soviet government sold the manuscript to the British Museum for £100,000; in January 1934 the archbishop of Sinai claimed that the monastery was the “sole rightful owner”; and in 1975 more leaves came to light at the monastery (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) paragraphs on 1933–1934 and 1975). The four institutions state that they “have not come to a full accord” over this history, and record that in 2005 they agreed to conserve and publish all the surviving pages together (History of Codex Sinaiticus (agreed text) opening paragraphs). See Codex Sinaiticus.