The institutions and libraries highlighted on this list feature collections of documents created before 1000 A.D.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Online Christian Colleges has released a list of the 20 most impressive ancient manuscript collections in the world.
Featuring both institutions with impressive numbers of ancient manuscripts and libraries with a few uniquely interesting works, the list highlights collections of some of the most fascinating documents created before 1000 A.D.
Having collections of ancient manuscripts on campus can be greatly beneficial to students, who may be able to use such items as primary sources for their research. Students working on biblical theses, for instance, might benefit from having a first-hand look at the Dead Sea Scrolls, located at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem or by viewing the oldest known fragment of the New Testament known to still exist in the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester.
Others might be inspired by The Saint Petersburg Bede from 746 A.D., located in the National Library of Russia; a fragment of a book of Homer, located at University Museum and Library at the University of Pennsylvania; papyri found in human and crocodile mummies, hosted by the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri in Berkeley, California.
Still others might be able to make career-changing breakthroughs. Some of the manuscripts found in the libraries in the list have not yet been translated. A student who could do what other researchers have not yet been able to do might make a name for himself or herself.
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Students who are interested in ancient cultures can also benefit from viewing these manuscripts. Some include illustrations. Each features ancient handwriting that students might be able to examine to better understand life in ancient times. Even the materials the manuscripts have been written on might tell the student something about industry and day to day life of the people who lived thousands of years ago.
The following collections made the list:
20. John Rylands Library – University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
19. Coptic Museum – Cairo, Egypt
18. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections – Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ
17. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, NC
16. Rare Book and Manuscript Library – Columbia University, New York, NY
15. The Shrine of the Book – Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
14. Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland
13. National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia
12. The Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican City
11. Manuscript Department – National Library of France, Paris, France
10. Papyrology Collection – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
9. British Library, London, UK
8. Institute for Papyrology – University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
7. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library – Yale University, New Haven, CT
6. University Museum and Library – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
5. Center for the Tebtunis Papyri – University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
4. Department of Papyri – Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria
3. University of Cambridge Library, Cambridge, UK
2. Laurentian Medici Library, Florence, Italy
1. Bodleian Library – University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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