There have been many Coptic versions of the Bible, including some of the earliest translations into any language. Several different versions were made in the ancient world, with different editions of the Old and New Testament in five of the dialects of Coptic: Bohairic (northern), Fayyumic, Sahidic (southern), Akhmimic and Mesokemic (middle). Biblical books were translated from the Alexandrian Greek version.
The Mudil Psalter, the oldest complete psalter in the Coptic language (Coptic Museum, Egypt, Coptic Cairo).
8th century Coptic manuscript of Luke 5:5–9
Uncial 0177 with the text of Luke 1:59–73
Codex Zacynthius
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Codex Zacynthius (designated by siglum Ξ or 040 in the Gregory-Aland numbering; A1 in von Soden) is a Greek New Testament codex, dated paleographically to the 6th century. First thought to have been written in the 8th century, it is a palimpsest—the original (lower) text was washed off its vellum pages and overwritten in the 12th or 13th century. The upper text of the palimpsest contains weekday Gospel lessons (ℓ299); the lower text contains portions of the Gospel of Luke, deciphered by biblical scholar and palaeographer Tregelles in 1861. The lower text is of most interest to scholars.
Facsimile from Tregelles edition
The underwriting is 7th-century majuscule of Luke 3:7-8 with commentary; the upper writing is 13th-century minuscule of Matthew 26:39-51, part lection for Holy Thursday
Colin Macaulay, 1792, by John Smart, by permission of the Provost & Fellows of Kings College, Cambridge