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 (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

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 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 93 ( Soden), also known as the ''Empress Theodora's Codex'', is a Greek minuscule manuscript of the New Testament, written on purple parchment, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. It wa ...

is the other) written with a gold ink.

Description

The codex contains the complete text of the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

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 Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...

, and titles in

uncial Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...

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 used in modern texts d ...

. 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 Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main text types. It is the form fou ...

Kurt Aland Kurt Aland (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism. He founded the '' Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung'' (Institute for New Testament Textua ...

did not place it in any

Category Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses * Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) * ...

. 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 classif ...

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, Toulouse, France – 13 January 1929, 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. Batiffol ...

, ''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 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 east of Fier. Berat is located in th ...

. Since 1971, it has been housed in the

National Archives of Albania The General Directorate of Archives ( sq, Drejtoria e Përgjithshme e Arkivave) 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 o ...

(No. 2) at

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and 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 overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

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

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

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