Olketa Spesol Samting Chester Beatty Hipimap

“Hem fulap witim olketa rich samting bilong pipol from bifor kam, . . . olketa smolfala piksa and nara painting wea luk spesol narawe.” Hem nao samting wea R. J. Hayes, man wea bifor hem lukaftarem Chester Beatty Library long Dublin, Ireland, talem abaotem datfala library. Datfala library garem staka oldfala samting wea garem hae price, spesol samting wea olketa artist wakem, and olketa buk and manuscript wea tu-thri copy nomoa stap and wea garem barava hae price. Bat, hu nao Chester Beatty? And wanem nao olketa spesol samting wea hem hipimap?

Alfred Chester Beatty hem born long 1875 long New York, U.S.A., and famili laen bilong hem kam from Scotland, Ireland, and England. Taem hem 32 year, hem rich fogud from waka bilong hem olsem engineer and director bilong olketa mine. Long full laef bilong hem, hem iusim riches bilong hem for hipimap olketa samting wea spesol and luk naes tumas. Long 1968, taem hem 92 year, Beatty hem dae and leavim evri samting hia for pipol bilong Ireland.

Wanem Nao Hem Hipimap?

Beatty hipimap staka difren kaen samting. Each taem, long datfala library olketa showim samting olsem 1 percent nomoa bilong full samting wea hem hipimap. Beatty hipimap olketa spesol samting wea no staka long olketa stap and wea pipol from olketa difren ples wakem insaed planti thousand year. Samfala samting olketa wakem long Europe long olketa year midolwan 500 C.E. and 1500 C.E. and mek-14 go kasem mek-17 century, and samfala samting kam from olketa kantri long Asia and Africa. Olsem example, pipol ting olketa spesol Japanese woodblock piksa wea hem garem hem olketa best wan long world.

Samting wea difren from olketa spesol art hia, hem winim wan handred pis clay from Babylon and Sumeria wea garem kaen raeting from bifor kam wea olketa kolem cuneiform. Pipol wea stap long Mesopotamia winim 4,000 year bifor raetem story bilong laef bilong olketa long olketa pis clay wea tuwet, and then beikem olketa. Staka pis clay olsem stap kam kasem distaem and diswan pruvim hao pipol bifor savve hao for raet.

Interest Tumas Long Olketa Buk

Luk olsem Chester Beatty interest tumas long olketa teknik wea olketa savveman iusim for wakem olketa spesol buk. Hem hipimap planti thousand buk abaotem enikaen samting and abaotem religion, and tu, samfala copy bilong Koran wea olketa decoratem long spesol wei. Wanfala man for raet talem hao Beatty hem “interest tumas long stael wei bilong Arabic raeting, . . . and hem laekem tumas olketa kala and wei wea olketa iusim gold and silver and samfala nara samting for mekem datfala raeting luk naes go moa.”

Chester Beatty hem interest tumas long ston wea olketa kolem jade, olsem olketa emperor long China tu laekem datwan planti handred year bifor. Olketa emperor ting long jade olsem ston wea spesol winim eni narawan, nomata gold. Olketa ruler hia appointim samfala savveman for katem olketa jade ston for kamap flat, thin, and smooth. Then olketa artist iusim gold for raraet and draw long olketa pis jade hia for wakem olketa buk wea spesol winim eni narawan long world. Pipol evriwea long world tinghae long olketa buk hia wea Beatty hipimap.

Olketa Bible Manuscript wea Barava Spesol

Long tingting bilong pipol wea barava lovem Bible, nambawan samting wea Chester Beatty hipimap hem bigfala sekson bilong olketa Bible Manuscript from bifor kam and olketa year midolwan 500 C.E. and 1500 C.E. Olketa manuscript wea olketa decoratem long wei wea luk naes tumas showimaot patient fasin and savve bilong olketa scribe wea iusim hand bilong olketa nomoa for mekem olketa copy. Olketa buk wea olketa printim showimaot savve bilong pipol from bifor kam saed long wei for printim and wakem buk. Olsem example, long 1479 long Nuremberg, Anton Koberger printim datfala Biblia Latina. Wanfala buk hem sei Koberger, wea laef long semtaem olsem Johannes Gutenberg, hem “wanfala long olketa firstfala barava important man for print and wea duim staka samting.”

Wanfala barava spesol samting long datfala Chester Beatty Library hem wanfala manuscript from start bilong mek-foa century wea Ephraem, savveman from Syria, hem wakem from skin bilong animal. Ephraem talem moa staka toktok from wanfala buk bilong mek-tu century wea olketa kolem Diatessaron. Insaed disfala buk, Tatian, man wea raetem, hem joinim tugeta fofala Gospel story bilong laef bilong Jesus Christ olsem wanfala story. Bihaen, samfala man for raet storyim datfala Diatessaron, bat no eni copy bilong hem stap distaem. Samfala savveman bilong mek-19 century daotem sapos datwan really stap bifor. Bat, long 1956, Beatty faendem raeting bilong Ephraem abaotem datfala Diatessaron bilong Tatian—and diswan addim moa pruv hao Bible hem tru.

Staka Spesol Manuscript wea Olketa Wakem From Papyrus

Beatty hipimap tu staka manuscript wea olketa wakem from papyrus, wea storyim samting saed long religion and olketa nara samting tu. Winim 50 codex wea olketa wakem from papyrus olketa wakem bifor mek-foa century C.E. Samfala long olketa papyrus hia stap insaed olketa big hip papyrus—olsem ples for torowem pepa—wea stap nating nomoa for longfala taem long desert long Egypt. Planti long olketa papyrus hia wea olketa laek sellim, olketa brek finis long olketa smol pis. Olketa wea sellim olketa smol pis papyrus kam witim olketa box wea fulap. Charles Horton, man wea lukaftarem Western Collections of the Chester Beatty Library hem sei: “Pipol wea interest for baem olketa putim hand insaed long box and trae chusim olketa big pis wea garem staka raeting long hem.”

Horton talem hao samting wea Beatty faendem wea “spesol winim eni samting,” hem olketa spesol Bible codex wea “samfala hia olketa barava old copy bilong Christian Old and Niu Testament.” Olketa man wea sellim kaen samting olsem and wea savve olketa codex garem hae price savve kasem moa selen sapos olketa brekem long olketa smol pis and sellim long planti difren man. Bat, olketa no duim, and Beatty peim klosap evriwan. Hao important nao olketa old codex hia? Sir Frederic Kenyon sei only samting wea olketa faendem bifor “wea hem important olsem,” hem datfala Codex Sinaiticus wea Tischendorf faendem long 1844.

Olketa codex hia kam from midol long mek-tu and mek-foa century C.E. Insaed olketa buk bilong Hebrew Scripture long datfala Greek Septuagint version hem tufala copy bilong Genesis. Kenyon sei olketa buk hia spesol, “bikos klosap datfala full buk [bilong Genesis] no stap insaed long Vaticanus and Sinaiticus,” olketa manuscript bilong mek-foa century wea olketa wakem from skin bilong animal. Thrifala codex hia hem olketa buk bilong Christian Greek Scripture. Wanfala garem klosap evri part long fofala Gospel and bigfala haf long buk bilong Acts. Datfala mek-tu codex, wea garem olketa extra page wea Beatty peim bihaen, garem klosap full copy bilong olketa leta bilong aposol Paul, witim leta bilong hem for olketa Hebrew Christian. Mek-thri codex garem smol haf bilong buk bilong Revelation. Kenyon talem hao olketa papyrus “hem strongim go moa olketa reason—wea barava strong finis—for iumi sure hao Niu Testament wea iumi garem hem tru wan.”

Olketa Bible papyrus bilong Chester Beatty pruvim hao for longfala taem finis, maet bifor end bilong first century C.E., olketa Christian start for iusim codex, wea minim buk wea garem olketa page, for changem olketa scroll wea hard for holem gud. Olketa papyrus showim tu hao from olketa short long olketa samting for raet long hem, planti taem olketa man for raraet iusim moa olketa sem pis papyrus. Olsem example, wanfala manuscript bilong Gospel bilong John wea olketa raetem long Coptic languis hem “insaed samting wea luk olsem skul buk wea garem Greek maths insaed.”

Olketa papyrus hia no luk spesol, bat olketa garem hae price. Olketa nao samting wea iumi savve lukim wea kam from taem wea Christian Wei hem start. Charles Horton hem sei: “Taem iu lukluk long olketa papyrus hia iu savve lukim kaen buk wea olketa first Christian pipol bifor iusim—olketa buk wea spesol tumas long olketa.” (Proverbs 2:4, 5) Sapos iu garem chance for lukim olketa spesol samting olsem long datfala Chester Beatty Library, bae iu barava enjoyim.

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Woodblock piksa from Japan wea Katsushika Hokusai wakem

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Datfala “Biblia Latina” hem wanfala long olketa first copy bilong Bible wea olketa printim

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Raeting bilong Ephraem abaotem “Diatessaron” bilong Tatian strongim hao Bible hem tru

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Chester Beatty P45, wanfala long olketa codex wea old winim eni narawan long world wea insaed hem klosap evri part bilong fofala Gospel and bigfala haf long buk bilong Acts

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Reproduced by kind permission of The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin

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All images: Reproduced by kind permission of The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin