Constantin von Tischendorf
Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf was a German biblical scholar. In 1844, he discovered the world's oldest and most complete Bible dated to around the mid-4th century and called Codex Sinaiticus after Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai.
Constantin von Tischendorf, around 1870
Title page from Tischendorf's facsimile edition of the Codex Sinaiticus, published in 1862
Matthew 26:52–69 in Tischendorf's facsimile edition (1843)
The Codex Sinaiticus, designated by siglum א [Aleph] or 01, δ 2, also called Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonical books, and the Greek New Testament, with both the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas included. It is written in uncial letters on parchment. It is one of the four great uncial codices. Along with Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible, and contains the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. It is a historical treasure, and using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the mid-fourth century.
Book of Esther
Luke 11:2 in Codex Sinaiticus
A portion of Codex Sinaiticus, containing Esther
John 7:52–8:12 without the pericope 7:53–8:11 in Sinaiticus