Return to: Ancient Biblical Manuscripts
The Codex Vaticanus, a 4th century manuscript of the Septuagint and the New Testament, is, along with the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the two extant 4th century manuscripts of the Old and New Testament in Greek, the language used by the early Christians. Some experts estimate the date of the Codex Vaticanus as slightly prior to the Codex Sinaiticus. The Codex Vaticanus was written on sheets of parchment in a three-column format in Biblical majuscule in scriptio continua, without word division, punctuation or pagination, by two or three different scribes. Quires are numbered in the margin. Its page format is considerably smaller than the Codex Sinaiticus, with its pages currently measuring 27 x 27 cm. Its place of origin is uncertain; Rome, southern Italy, Alexandria, and Caesarea have been proposed.
During the 10th or 11th century the fading ink of the codex was written over, so that the original characters are obscured.
The manuscript has been housed in the Vatican Library for as long as it has been known to scholars; it was included in the Vatican Library’s earliest catalogue in 1475.
The Vatican Library has digitized Codex Vaticanus: http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1209
Return to: Ancient Biblical Manuscripts