In 1859, Constantine Tischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus manuscript.
The Codex Sinaiticus has been dated to the fourth century. It contains an almost complete version of the New Testament with a few other writings not usually there. It also contains about half of the Hebrew Bible. Historians consider this manuscript the oldest Bible on record.
Constantine Tischendorf discovered this manuscript in the Saint Catherine Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. In the 1840’s he took several leaves of the manuscript. Then in 1859, he convinced the keepers of the manuscript to give him it in exchange for protection. He took it on behalf of Czar Alexander II of Russia.
Russia kept the charge of the manuscript until 1933. They then sold it to the British Museum. In 2009, they put the Codex Sinaiticus online for all to see.
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