A New Testament uncial is a section of the New Testament in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

majuscule letters, written on

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

. This style of writing is called ''Biblical

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 ...

'' or ''Biblical Majuscule''. New Testament uncials are distinct from other ancient texts based on the following differences: *

New Testament papyri A New Testament papyrus is a copy of a portion of the New Testament made on papyrus. To date, over 140 such papyri are known. In general, they are considered the earliest witnesses to the original text of the New Testament. This elite status amo ...

– written on

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

and generally more ancient * New Testament minuscules – written in

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 ...

letters and generally more recent * New Testament lectionaries – usually written in minuscule (but some in uncial) letters and generally more recent * New Testament uncials – written in majuscule letters, on

Classification of uncials

In 1751, New Testament theologian

Johann Jakob Wettstein Johann Jakob Wettstein (also Wetstein; 5 March 1693 – 23 March 1754) was a Swiss theologian, best known as a New Testament critic. Biography Youth and study Johann Jakob Wettstein was born in Basel. Among his tutors in theology was Samuel Wer ...

knew of only 23 uncial

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

of the New Testament. By 1859, Constantin von Tischendorf had increased that number to 64 uncials, and in 1909 Caspar René Gregory enumerated 161 uncial codices. By 1963, Kurt Aland, in his ''Kurzgefasste Liste'', had enumerated 250, then in 1989, finally, 299 uncials. Wettstein inaugurated the modern method of classification. He used capital Latin letters to identify the uncials. Codex Alexandrinus received the letter "A", Codex Vaticanus – "B", Codex Ephraemi – "C", Codex Bezae – "D", until he arrived at the last letter used by him, "O". Succeeding generations used this pattern, but newly discovered manuscripts soon exhausted the Latin alphabet. As a result, letters of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets began to be used. Tischendorf, for example, assigned the

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

the Hebrew letter א.

Uncial 047 Uncial 047 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering no. 047, ε 95 von Soden) is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels. The codex is dated paleographically to the 8th century. Formerly the codex was designated by Hebrew letter ב. It has full margi ...

received

siglum Scribal abbreviations or sigla ( singular: siglum) are abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in various languages, including Latin, Greek, Old English and Old Norse. In modern manuscript editing (substantive and mechani ...

ב¹, Uncial 048 received ב²,

Uncial 075 Uncial 075 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), Οπ3 ( Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 10th century. Formerly it was designated by ג. It was also classified as minuscule codex 382p. Des ...

received ג,

Codex Macedoniensis Codex Macedoniensis or Macedonianus designated by Y or 034 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 073 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 9th century. The manuscript is lacunose. Descriptio ...

– ו, to name a few. When Greek and Hebrew letters ran out, Gregory assigned uncials numerals with an initial 0 (to distinguish them from the symbols of minuscule manuscripts). Codex Sinaiticus received the number 01, Alexandrinus – 02, Vaticanus – 03, Ephraemi – 04, etc. The last uncial manuscript known by Gregory received number 0161.

Ernst von Dobschütz Ernst Adolf Alfred Oskar Adalbert von Dobschütz (9 October 1870 – 20 May 1934) was a German theologian, textual critic, author of numerous books and professor at the University of Halle, the University of Breslau, and the University of Strasbou ...

expanded the list of uncials through 0208 in 1933. over 320 sigla for uncial codices have been catalogued by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF) in Münster, Germany. However, the 322 currently catalogued does not provide a precise count of all the New Testament Greek uncials. Uncial 0168 has been lost and over thirty manuscripts are associated with a smaller set of designations.074, 084, 090, 0110, 0112, 0113, 0117, 0119, 0123, 0124, 0125, 0137, 0138, 0139, 0149, 0179, 0180, 0190, 0191, 0193, 0194, 0195, 0202, 0215, 0224, 0235, 0285, 0293. Sometimes one number also applies to two separate manuscripts, as with uncial 092a and 092b, 0121a and 0121b, and 0278a and 0278b. Some other numerical designations should be reallocated to other lists: 055 (commentary), 0100 (lectionary), 0129 (lectionary), 0152 (

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

), 0153 (

ostracon An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...

), 0192 (lectionary), 0195 (lectionary), 0203 (lectionary). Uncial 0212 from the 3rd or 4th century is more properly a witness to the Diatessaron than to the New Testament itself. So, the number 322 is merely nominal; the actual figure should be somewhat lower.J. K. Elliott, "The citation of manuscripts In recent printed editions of the Greek New Testament", ''Novum Testamentum'' XXV, 2 (1983), pp. 103–104; T. Wassermann, "Some Bibliographic Notes on Greek New Testament Manuscripts", ''Novum Testamentum'' 49 (2007), pp. 291–295. Conversely, minuscule 1143, known as ''Beratinus 2'', has some parts that were written 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 ...

letters.

Legend

* The numbers (#) are the now standard system of Gregory-Aland. * Dates are estimated palaeographically by the INTF (except

Codex Vaticanus 354 Codex Vaticanus, designated by S or 028 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 1027 ( von Soden), formerly called ''Codex Guelpherbytanus'', is a Greek manuscript of the four Gospels which can be dated to a specific year instead of an estimated ran ...

where the scribe gave a date — 949). * Content generally only describes sections of the New Testament:

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 a ...

s (Gosp), The Acts of the Apostles (Acts), Pauline Epistles (Paul), Catholic epistles (CE), and so on. Sometimes the surviving portion of a codex is so limited that specific books, chapters or even verses can be indicated. Linked articles, where they exist, generally specify content in detail, by verse. * Digital images are referenced with direct links to the hosting web pages, with the exception of those at the INTF. The quality and accessibility of the images is as follows:
† Indicates the manuscript has damaged or missing pages.
^K Indicates manuscript also includes a commentary.
Brackets around Gregory-Aland number indicate the manuscript belongs to an already numbered manuscript, was found to not be a continuous text manuscript, is destroyed or presumed destroyed.

List of all registered New Testament uncial codices

Only one uncial,

has a complete text 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 Chri ...

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

has an almost complete text. It contains all books of the New Testament but lacks some leaves of Matthew (25), John (2), and Second Corinthians (3).

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

lacks the four last books, and the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...

is not complete. Codex Ephraemi has approximately 66 per cent of the New Testament. Uncials with designations higher than 046 typically have only one or two leaves.

Uncials with sigla

The first 45 uncials have been assigned descriptive names as well as a single letter code called a ''

'', for usage in academic writing. Beginning with uncial 046 the assignment of ''sigla'' was dropped and only a few manuscripts thereafter received a descriptive name.

Uncials 046-0100

Beginning with 046, the use of identifying ''sigla'' was dropped, and very few uncials were given identifying names.

Uncials 0101-0200

Uncials 0201-0300

Uncials 0301–

Gallery

File:Codex_Basilensis_(Mt_1).jpg, Codex Basilensis A. N. III. 12 Matthew 1 File:Codex_Boreelianus_F%2B_(09)%2C_Mk_1.JPG,

Codex Boreelianus Codex Boreelianus, ''Codex Boreelianus Rheno-Trajectinus'' (full name), designated by Fe or 09 in the Gregory-Aland numbering and ε 86 in von Soden numbering, is a 9th (or 10th) century uncial manuscript of the four Gospels in Greek. The manu ...

File:Codex_Petropolitanus_Purpureus_Matt._10%2C10-17.jpg, Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus File:Codex_Guelferbytanus_64_Weissenburgensis%2C_folio_90_verso%2C_Lc_1%2C6-13.JPG,

Codex Guelferbytanus A Codex Guelferbytanus A designated by Pe or 024 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 33 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 6th century. The manuscript is very lacunose. Description The ...

Codex Guelferbytanus B Codex Guelferbytanus B designated by Q or 026 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 4 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 5th century. It is a palimpsest. Contents Gospel of Luke 4:34-5:4, ...

File:Codex_Petropolitanus_fols._164v-165r.jpg,

Codex Petropolitanus (New Testament) Codex Petropolitanus (Russian, "Петербургский кодекс" ''Peterburgskiy Kodeks''), designated by Π or 041 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 73 ( von Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the Gospels, dated palaeographica ...

File:Meister_des_Evangeliars_von_Rossano_002.jpg,

Rossano Gospels The Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 18 ( Soden), held at the cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian penins ...

File:Codex_Beratinus_0011b.jpg, Codex Beratinus

'', 1994. * Gregory, Caspar René, "Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments" (Leipzig 1908). * * Kenyon, Frederic. "Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts". ''Eyre & Spottiswoode'': London, 1895, 1896, 1898, & 1939. * Krodel, G. "New Manuscripts of the Greek New Testament". ''

JBL JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. JBL serves the customer home and professional market. The professional market includes studios, installed/tour/portable sound, cars, music ...

'' 91/2 (Jun., 1972): 232–238. * * Scrivener, F. H. A. "

A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament ''A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament: For the Use of Biblical Students'' is one of the books of Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener (1813–1891), biblical scholar and textual critic. In this book Scrivener listed over 3 ...

". Fourth edition. Cambridge 1861, London 1894. * Soden, Hermann von. "Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments, in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte". Berlin 1902–1910.

External links

Lists of manuscripts

A Table of Greek Manuscripts

* ttp://lfnexus.com/greekmanuscriptsquickreference.htm Greek Manuscript Quick Reference – The Life Foundations Nexus
"Continuation of the Manuscript List"
'' INTF'', University of Münster. Retrieved September 8, 2009

Collections

The Schøyen Collection

State Museums of Berlin

Institut für Altertumskunde

Uncial Script Reading Practice

KoineGreek.com Ancient Audio Reader: Practice Reading the NT in Uncial Script with Audio Recording in Historical Pronunciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Testament uncials *

Uncials 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 t ...

Literature lists Greek New Testament manuscripts

Classification of uncials

Legend

List of all registered New Testament uncial codices

Uncials with sigla

Uncials 046-0100

Uncials 0101-0200

Uncials 0201-0300

Uncials 0301–

Gallery

See also

Other lists of New Testament manuscripts

Other articles

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Lists of manuscripts

Collections

Uncial Script Reading Practice