Auctions of three ancient Orthodox manuscripts - one Georgian and two Serbian - were held in London on Tuesday, June 11.

The first manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus, is a palimpsest, with a previously Palestinian Aramaic text from the 5th–7th centuries. century and a church Georgian text from 979, written by Jovan-Zosima, a Georgian monk who lived in a monastery in Jerusalem, and later in the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai.

The manuscript contains the earliest evidence from the Gospels in the closest dialect of Aramaic spoken by Jesus, compiled within a living tradition based in the Holy Land. The palimpsest was replaced by a Georgian text written by the famous calligrapher, writer, translator and bookbinder-monk John Zosimas, and it survives here in its 10th-century binding at the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai.

The Georgian text contains the Gospel pericopes and two ascetic works — the Sayings of Ava Pemen and the Letter of Arsenius.

As the Telegram channel Orthodoxy in Georgia reports, the palimpsest was bought by billionaire oligarch and philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili and will be donated to the National Museum. It sold for $1.595 million (£1.25 million).

Serbian manuscripts — a Slavic octoich from the 14th century and a collection of Slavic texts from the 15th century, including the story of Barlaam and Josiphat — were bought by the Ministry of Culture of Serbia, reports Sputnik.

The octoich sold for $24,125 (£18,900) and the collection of texts for $67,550 (£52,920). Only a few Serbian octoichs on parchment have survived to this day, and none of them are complete.

"This is extremely important and great news for our cultural heritage, which due to historical circumstances is scattered all over the world," said Culture Minister Nikola Selaković.

The manuscripts were purchased through the Embassy of Serbia in London.

Source: orthochristian.com

Translated by: LJ.P.