It is not only the content but also the format of late antique manuscripts that can reveal interesting facts about the use and functions of biblical and non-biblical literature in Roman-Byzantine Egypt. Recently, there has been increased research on particularly small-format codices, as demonstrated by Michael J. Kruger’s monograph “Miniature Codices in Early Christianity,” published in 2025. In his work, Kruger primarily examines Greek manuscripts of the smallest format containing Christian texts. However, this type of codex was also widespread in Egypt among Coptic manuscripts. This became clear several years ago when Alin Suciu published a list of Coptic miniature codices. 

Building on this and other studies, a monograph has recently been published, which, in appr. 600 pages, for the first time explicitly examines Coptic miniature codices from the late antique period. Jan-Malte Ziegenbein’s work defines and catalogues a corpus of over 140 Coptic manuscripts of a particularly small format that can be dated to the 4th–8th centuries. Based on content, material, palaeographic, and linguistic-orthographic characteristics, conclusions are also drawn regarding the dating, origin, and function of the codices.

The work originated as a PhD thesis at the University of Göttingen, supervised by Prof. Heike Behlmer and Dr Frank Feder. It has now appeared as the fifth volume of the series Texte und Studien zur Koptischen Bibel / Texts and Studies on the Coptic Bible (TSKB) distributed by the Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.

Psalter & Gospel of Matthew. Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, Copt. Ms. 815, fol. 152r. Approx. 10.5 x 8.5 cm (h x w), 6th–7th century. Source: https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/image/Cpt_815/305/.

A key to defining a corpus of Coptic miniature codices: In the colophon of Copt. Ms. 815 at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, the manuscript itself is explicitly referred to as ⲡⲉⲓ̈ⲕⲟⲩ<ⲓ> ⲛ̄ϫⲱⲱⲙⲉ “this small book”.