4th Century: Codex Sinaiticus

Books, Miniatures, Writing and Supports
(Timeline Project)

4th century – One of the oldest known versions of a complete New Testament: Codex Sinaiticus. This is the earliest known use of iron-gall ink, which fades to brown over time – a mixture of tannin from nut galls and iron sulfate – sometimes carbon black was added for a dense black ink. Written in Greek Uncial in scriptio continua (no separations between words) in 4 columns on parchment. The main text hand is ~4mm high. It is no longer in its binding and is distributed over 4 institutions.

This post is part of an ongoing series on books, miniatures, writing and supports since the year 1. Please consider it a kick-start for your own private timeline and a springboard for further research. See my blog for the rest of the series.