History of the Acquisition of the Sinai Bible by Russia in the Light of Recent Discoveries in Russian Archives
- Introduction
- Original Agreement
- Confrontation between Arch. Cyril and the Sinai Monastic Community
- Donation Document of the Sinai Bible
- Financial Settlement of Problems for the Sinai Monastery
- Conclusions
Here you will find a story of1 the famous treasure of Christian culture, the Sinai Bible that Prof. C. Tischendorff discovered in St Catherine's Monastery and brought to Russia in 1859. The history of the manuscript was influenced by many factors: Tischendorff's scholarly interests; disagreements among the Sinai Monastic Community; complicated ecclesiastical and administrative status of the Sinai Archbishopric; rivalries between Jerusalem and Constantinople Patriarchies; interests of Orthodox Christian communities in Ottoman Empire; Russia's international prestige and its role in the development of the 19th-century Eastern Christian community. That's why the history of the acquisition of the Sinai Bible is so intricate, and various authors describes these events differently.2
We will avoid ethical judgment on matters like the legality of the alienation of the manuscript, personal responsibility and internal motivation of the persons involved.
Our principal goal is to publish new documents from Russian archives related to the acquisition. We recognize that it will not suffice to reconstruct the complete and unbiased history of the Sinai Bible.3 This would require comprehensive investigation in a broader range of sources including various archives, and above all, those kept at St Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai.
The discovery, publication and acquisition of the Sinai Bible were described by Constantine Tischendorff in detail.4 The following are the key points.
In 1844, Tischendorff discovered a part of the Bible at the Sinai Monastery, and obtained it for Frederick Augustus II King of Saxony. In February 1859, being commissioned by the Russian Government to find and purchase old manuscripts, the scholar discovered a greater part of the same book at St Catherine's Monastery. Intending to publish the treasure, he spared no effort in order to acquire the manuscript. The brethren wished to present the Bible to Alexander II in appreciation of Russian Imperial patronage for the community. Official donation could not take place until the newly elected head of the community, Archimandrite Cyril, was ordained as Archbishop of Sinai. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, however, was opposed to the promotion of Rev. Cyril. In August 1859, Tischendorff went to Constantinople to seek assistance from Prince A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky, Russian minister at the Ottoman court. Then, without waiting for Rev. Cyril's ordination, the scholar decided to take the manuscript to Petersburg on loan for publishing purposes. Having obtained a letter of guarantee from Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky (dated 10 September /Old style/ 1859), and consent from the brethren, he took the manuscript away on 16/28 September. When the 4-volume luxury edition of Sinai Bible was completed in 1862, C. Tischendorff presented the original ancient manuscript to Emperor Alexander II. Meanwhile, the question of transferring the manuscript to the full possession of the Russian Sovereign remained unresolved for some years. In 1869, the new Archbishop of Sinai Callistratus, and the monastic community, signed the official certificate of the donation of the manuscript to the Emperor. The Russian Government, in turn, gave 9000 rubles to the Monastery and awarded the Archbishop and some of the monks with orders.5
The story has been well known and repeatedly published in many scholarly and popular editions.6 However, between 1860s and 1880s, and then in 1930s (when the Soviet Government sold the manuscript to the British Museum), the press set rumors of the manuscript being presented to Russia without the brethren's consent or any compensation.7
Doubts as to the appropriateness of the steps taken by Tischendorff and the Russian Government towards the Sinai Monastery were represented in the article New Documents on Constantine Tischendorff and the Codex Sinaiticus published by Ihor Ševčenko in 1964.8 The author distrusted the Tischendorff version and referred to Archbishop Cyril's papers, found on Mt Sinai, and some previous publications, in reconstructing the actual situation.
Ševčenko proposes the following manuscript acquisition version. He assumes that Tischendorff and Archimandrite Cyril made a verbal arrangement in 1859 on presenting the Bible to Emperor Alexander II in return to Russian minister's support in confirming Cyril's appointment as Archbishop of Sinai. But according to the official agreement, testified by the letter of Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky of 10 September /Old style/ 1859, and by Tischendorff's affidavit of 16/28 September 1859, the Sinai community agreed to lend the treasure to Tischendorff for publication. The manuscript was to be returned to the monastery on demand. Correspondence between Tischendorff and Archbishop Cyril does not evivence that Cyril consented to present the Bible to Alexander II. On the contrary, Archbishop Cyril's memorandum, written between 1867 and 1869 and published by Ševčenko, reads:
" <…> neither did the Community of Sinai ever contemplate nor did it deliberate in common upon any idea of offering or donating it to the Russian Imperial Government. Quite to the contrary, many [monks] were displeased even with its temporary cession, and from that time forth found the pretext for launching periodic accusations against their Archbishop Cyril. Arch. Cyril, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, having learned [?] [of the affair], and being opposed in 1859, for reasons of his own, to the promotion of Arch. Cyril to the Archbishopric of Sinai <…>, in addition to leveling other vain and false accusations against Arch. Cyril - they were shown to be such after official investigation - also accused Arch. Cyril to the effect that His Grace had allegedly donated the manuscript in question to Russia in order to gain Her protection and to obtain his installation and consecration to the Archbishopric of Sinai. <…> Such behavior on the part of the Patriarch of Jerusalem called forth an affidavit of Prince Lobanov, under the date 1/13 November 1859, to the effect that the manuscript had been given to Mr. Tischendorff ad interim, and that it would be returned to the Monastery as its possessionСинайская братия никогда не замышляла и не ставила на общее рассмотрение вопроса о поднесении или дарении рукописи российскому императорскому правительству; напротив, многие осуждали даже временное отчуждение рукописи и усматривали в этом повод обвинять архиепископа Кирилла. Когда об этом узнал патриарх Иерусалимский Кирилл, в 1859 г. по своим собственным причинами не желавший возведения о. Кирилла в сан архиепископа Синайского , то он обвинил его, будто тот подарил рукопись России для того, чтобы получить поддержку и добиться хиротонии и утверждения в сане архиепископа Синайского. <…> Такое поведение Иерусалимского патриарха вызвало необходимость в письме князя Лобанова от 1/13 ноября 1859, удостоверявшем, что рукопись дана г. Тишендорфу временно и должна быть возвращена монастырю как его собственность".9
Therefore, Ševčenko concludes, Tischendorff had no right to handed over the Bible to Alexander II in 1862. The final donation of the manuscript to the Russian government was approved under Cyril's successor, Archbishop Callistratus, in 1869, through the efforts of the Russian Envoy to Constantinople, Count N.P. Ignatiev. Ševčenko suggests that financial and political instruments of pressure were used to achieve this goal.10 In particular, referring to the extracts from Ignatyev's letters published by A.A. Dmitrievsky, the author states that in 1867 the envoy arrested the monastery's income from Russia, and in 1869 delayed the transfer of money and orders granted to the monastic community by the Russian Emperor in compensation for the Bible.
Thus, according to I. Ševčenko, the Sinai community felt no desire to present the Bible to the Russian Government. But as a result of Tischendorff's actions and the pressures from Count Ignatyev, they had to hand over their treasure to Russia after a decade of confrontation. This point of view has become the most widespread and still prevails among both foreign and domestic scientists.
Subsequent archival studies have provided fresh insight into Russian acquisition of the Sinai Bible. Thus in 1993, K. Aland published more than a dozen letters written by Constantine Tischendorff to his wife Angelica. They add significant details to his own story of the acquisition of the Sinai Bible and testify to his honest and good intentions toward the Sinai Monastery. 11
Among extremely rich sources on the history of the Codex Sinaiticus in the Russian State History Archives (RGIA) in St-Petersburg and the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI) in Moscow are: letters by Tischendorff, Archbishop Callistratus, Russian consuls in Egypt and ministers in Constantinople (A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky, E.P. Novikov, N.P. Ignatyev), reports to His Majesty the Emperor, and extensive correspondence between Government Ministries and departments supervising the Sinai Bible case at different stages between 1859 and 1871. Almost none of the sources were examined or published before. Analysis of archival findings allows a more objective and comprehensive insight into the acquisition of the Codex Sinaiticus. The successive stages are described below.
