Crosby-Schøyen Codex sells for >£3M

ALSO SOLD! Oldest Christian book sells for more than £3m (James W Kelly, BBC).

Christianity's oldest religious book, according to auction house Christie's, has been sold for more than £3m.

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, written in Coptic script on papyrus in Egypt, dates to between 250 to 350AD.

The book, believed to be one of the oldest in existence, was auctioned off for £3,065,000 on Tuesday, Christie's in London told BBC News.

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To be a bit more precise, as are some of the other headlines, this is now the oldest privately owned Christian codex. For a possible (not certain) candidate for the oldest surviving codex, see the comments here.

Be that as it may, this codex has now been sold to an anonymous buyer. As before, I encourage the buyer to donate it to a museum. The buyer of the Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus at the same auction has already set a good example.

Background here and links.

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