Minuscule 1143 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 1035 ( von Soden), also known as the ''Beratinus 2'' (

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

: ''Kodiku i Beratit nr. 2''), or ''Codex Aureus Anthimi'' (The Golden Book of Anthimos). It is a Greek

minuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

on purple parchment, dated paleographically to the 9th century.K. Aland, M. Welte, B. Köster, K. Junack, ''Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neues Testaments'', ''

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

'', Berlin, New York 1994, p. 108. This is one of the seven “ purple codices” in the world to have survived to the present day, and one of the two known purple minuscules (

Minuscule 565 Minuscule 565, also known as the ''Empress Theodora's Codex'', is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on purple parchment. It is designated by the siglum 565 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ...

is the other) written with a gold ink.

Description

The codex contains the complete text of the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s, on 420 purple parchment leaves (24 by 19 cm). The text is written in one column per page, 17 lines per page, in gold. It is written in early minuscule, but some parts of the codex in

semi-uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (styles of handwriting), script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Byzantine Empire, Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek language, Gre ...

, and titles in

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

letters. The codex contains simple miniatures, mainly geometrical figures, without any direct Christian symbols. There are also ornaments on the metal cover. In terms of style and age, it is comparable to the Empress Theodora's Codex. The text is divided according to the (''chapters''), whose numerals are given at the margin. There is also a division according to the smaller Ammonian Sections, with references to the

Eusebian Canons Eusebian canons, Eusebian sections or Eusebian apparatus, also known as Ammonian sections, are the system of dividing the four Gospels used between late antiquity and the Middle Ages. The divisions into Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapters ...

. It contains tables of the (''tables of contents'') before each Gospel.

Text

The Greek text of the codex is a representative of the

Byzantine text-type In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testament, text types. ...

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and Biblical studies, biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the ''Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Institut für neutest ...

did not place it in any

Category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

. It was not examined by the

Claremont Profile Method The Claremont Profile Method is a method for classifying ancient manuscripts of the Bible. It was elaborated by Ernest Cadman Colwell and his students. Professor Frederik Wisse attempted to establish an accurate and rapid procedure for the classi ...

History

The origin of this manuscript has been and remains the subject of debate. It was found in a church of Berat, and became known after publication written by bishop of Berat “Description abrégée et historique de la sainte métropole de Belgrade, aujourd’hui Berat” (Corfu, 1868). It was examined by

Pierre Batiffol Pierre Batiffol (27 January 1861, in Toulouse, France – 13 January 1929, in Paris, France) – was a French Catholic priest and prominent theologian, specialising in Church history. He had also a particular interest in the history of dogma. Bat ...

, ''Les manuscrits grecs de Berat d'Albanie et le Codex Purpureus'', Paris 1886. Formerly the codex was located in a church in

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

. Since 1971, it has been housed in the

National Archives of Albania The General Directorate of Archives () is the national archive of the Republic of Albania, located in Tirana. Under the former control of the Party of Labour of Albania, the directorate houses the papers of the former People's Socialist Republic ...

(No. 2) at

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

. ''Codex Beratinus 2'' now is registered with the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as a world treasure.

References

External links

*
Kodikët e Shqipërisë
Tiranë, 2003.
Images from Minuscule 1143
(a portion of the manuscript) at the ''CSNTM'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Minuscule 1143 Purple parchment Greek New Testament minuscules Medieval documents of Albania 9th-century biblical manuscripts Memory of the World Register 9th-century illuminated manuscripts Byzantine illuminated manuscripts

Description

Text

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links