Codex Purpureus Sarzanensis
The Codex Sarzanensis, or Codex Saretianus, designated by j or 22 (in Beuron system), is a 5th or 6th century Latin Gospel Book. The text, written on purple dyed vellum in silver ink (as are codices a b e f i), is a version of the old Latin.
It contains Luke 24 and 292 verses of John (1:38-3:23; 3:33-5:20; 6:29-49.49-67; 6:68-7:32; 8:6-9:21), written two columns on a page, in round letters.[1] John 18:36-20:14 was written by another hand.[2] It has numerous lacunae.[1]
The manuscript was discovered in 1872 in the Church of Sarezzano near Tortona.[1] It was edited by librarian of the Ambrosian Library in 1872 at Milan (2nd edition, 1885). It was edited by Jülicher.[2]
The codex is no longer housed at the Church of Saints Ruffino & Venanzio at Sarezzano, but is kept and displayed at the nearby Museo Diocesano d'Arte Sacra di Tortona (Tortona Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art), in Tortona, Alessandria Province. Only a few pages of the text are displayed at any given time given the delicate nature of the text and the bulk of the work is deposited at a nearby bank under preservative conditions.
Accompanying the text at the museum are items which were discovered with the text upon its removal from the which include the remains of a previous leather binding of the text with holes in the shape of a cross which at one point may have held precious stones and cover of a wooden box which held the book, beautifully painted with a portrait of St. Ruffino.
The museum can be visited by appointment for a small donation.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose; Edward Miller (1894). A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. 2 (4 ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. p. 48.
- 1 2 Bruce M. Metzger, The Early Versions of the New Testament, Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 298.
Further reading
- A. Jülicher, Itala. Das Neue Testament in Altlateinischer Überlieferung, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York, 1976.