Codex Sabaiticus can refer to a number of ancient manuscripts, most of which are currently housed in the Patriarchal Library in Jerusalem, that were originally preserved by "Sabaite" monks from the monastery of Mar Saba in what is today the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank.
Each specific codex is denoted by a number, e.g. "Sabaiticus 242", but some authors may generically refer to any one of these as "Codex Sabaiticus".
These are mostly works on Christian subjects, but this corpus also contains some fragments on non-Christian subjects, such as the Greek mythological Agapenor.[1]
Several codices are manuscripts relating to Cassian, a Sabaite monk of the 6th century.[2] These include:
Several codices (such as Sabaiticus 13, 70, and 72) constitute the renowned Codex Hierosolymitanus, otherwise known as "Hierosolymitanus Sabaiticus", or, in the scholarly discourse, as "H".[3]
Sabaiticus 231 contains scholia on the Psalms, attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria.[4]
Sabaiticus 232 contains commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew by a number of writers: Origen, Theodore of Heraclea, Eusebius of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Severus of Antioch, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Gregory of Nyssa, and Photios I of Constantinople.[5]
This volume is a codex mostly of parchment, with a few pages of linen paper, consisting of 240 folios. In the 15th century it was preserved in the Monastery of St. Gerasimus.[5]
Sabaiticus 242 is a 10th-century manuscript that contains a hagiography of the 4th century Christian martyr named Athenogenes of Pedachtoë, attributed to Anysius.[6]
Sabaiticus 259 is a manuscript of the 11th century containing Christian apocryphal books.[7] [8] It was discovered in Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai.[9]
It is the oldest known manuscript containing the complete Infancy Gospel of Thomas (a fragmentary version from the 4th or 5th century also exists),[10] and contains a version of the story likely dating to a period some time between the 4th and 7th centuries CE.[11] This codex also contains a unique recension of the Infancy Gospel (variant "Gs") not found in other manuscripts.[12]
This volume is a codex of parchment consisting of 317 folios, measuring 260 by 212 millimeters.[12] It is most often dated to 1089 or 1090.
Sabaiticus 261 is a manuscript of a hagiography of Saint Nicholas by Byzantine historian Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, titled Narration in Iambic Verses of St Nicholas' Miracles. It is the longest known piece of hagiography in verse.[13]
Sabaiticus 366 is a tract by 5th century monk Marcus Eremita against Nestorianism, dating to the 13th century, titled Against those who say that the flesh of the Lord is not united to the Word, but that it is merely worn like a garment, and that, for this reason, there is a difference between him who carries and that which is carried (often shortened to "Against the Nestorians").[14]
It is also the source of some short biographical material about Euphratas, eunuch architect under the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.[15]
Sabaiticus 429 is a manuscript dated to 1619 that is a recitation of ideas and concepts from the Old and New Testaments in question and answer form, titled Questionnaires (Ἐρωταποκρίσεις. Ποίημα κὺρ Λέοντος τοῦ σοφοῦ). It is attributed to the 9th and 10th century Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise, but scholars believe it was written pseudonymously. An edition of this work was published by N. Krasnoselčev in 1899.[16]