Scroll of Joshua

Fragment of the coil The scroll of Joshua - dated to the X century manuscript parchment scroll, containing the text of the Old Testament Book of Joshua according to the Septuagint. In the list of manuscripts of the Septuagint by Alfred Rahlf's classification number 661. Stored in the Vatican Library (Signature Vat 431).

The exact date and origin of the document are uncertain. By the thirteenth century, the scroll was in Byzantium, then it came to Italy. Around 1500 was part of the collection of Leonico Thomeo in Padua. In 1571 it was recorded in the collections of Ulrich Fugger in Augsburg, then in 1584 he was sent to the Palatinate Library in Heidelberg. In 1623 the Bavarian Elector Maximilian donated the scroll of the Vatican Library.

The scroll consists of fifteen cards of 30 to 31.5 cm in height and 42 to 89.5 cm in length. The whole roll was originally 10.5 meters long, but in 1902 the cards were split. The preserved text contains sections of Joshua from II to X. The beginning and end of the book are probably missing, but it is possible that the scroll was never completed. On the other side of the scroll in the thirteenth century several different texts were added: fragments of the writings of Gregory of Nazianz, Basil of the Great and Dionysius of Alexandria, and scholia to selected parts of the Old and New Testaments. The form of the scroll refers to the ancient way of publishing epic poems: almost all of its space is occupied by illustrations depicting the stages of conquest of Canaan, under which it unfolds freely devoid of ornaments and the unscripted columns of text. The engravings were made of bright, mostly gray-brown colors, with no more vibrant color accents. The contours of the illustration were made with thin brush strokes. The characters are massive, and the background is filled with idyllic images of buildings, columns and hills.

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