In New Testament times there were two main types of Greek writing: majuscules (or uncials) and minuscules. Often the original text of a palimpsest can be discerned by photographic process.
![original manuscripts of the bible original manuscripts of the bible](https://www.alchemywebsite.com/images/A088.jpg)
Such a rewritten ( rescriptus) manuscript is called a palimpsest (from the Greek palin, “again,” and psaō, “I scrape”). When parchment codices occasionally were deemed no longer of use, the writing was scraped off and a new text written upon it. The majority of New Testament manuscripts from the 4th to 15th centuries are parchment codices. Some very early New Testament manuscripts and fragments thereof are papyrus, but parchment, when available, became the best writing material until the advent of printing. Not until the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in the 4th century, when Christianity became a state religion, were there parchment codices containing the whole New Testament. The use of the book form testifies to the low cultural and educational status of early Christianity-and, as the church rose to prominence, it brought “the book” with it. In antiquity, the codex was the less honourable form of writing material, used for notes and casual records.
![original manuscripts of the bible original manuscripts of the bible](https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2017/11/11/e/2/3/e23df585-4771-4d93-a7ef-5e0eef2d808e.jpg)
A codex was formed by sewing pages of papyrus or parchment of equal size one upon another and vertically down the middle, forming a quire both sides of the pages thus formed could be written upon. In contrast, the church used not scrolls but the codex (book) form for its literature. Such scrolls were used for literary or religious works and seldom exceeded 30 feet (nine metres) in length because of their weight and awkwardness in handling. Scrolls were made by gluing together papyrus sheets (made from the pith of the papyrus reed) or by sewing together parchment leaves (made from treated and scraped animal skins) they were written in columns and read by shifting the roll backward and forward from some wooden support on one or both ends. Literary works and detailed letters were written on parchment or papyrus, though short or temporary records were written or scratched on potsherds (ostraca) or wax tablets. 300 ce), official records were often inscribed on stone or metal tablets.
#Original manuscripts of the bible how to
![original manuscripts of the bible original manuscripts of the bible](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size4/UoEwmm~1~1/395/0151146c.jpg)
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