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Sacred texts: Selections and highlights

See a list of all the sacred texts available online here, or browse selections by a particular theme.

zooming in on detail of 10th-century New Testament from Constantinople

Browse all texts

Info, zoomable high-res images, interactive maps, and more

very small detail of Indian Qur'an, 16th century

Browse by faith

Detail of Henry VIII's Psalter

Kings and queens

Lavishly-made sacred texts made for, and sometimes also featuring, those who ruled religious empires

Detail of first printed Mishnah, 1492

Firsts and oldests

From the earliest complete Bible and earliest Buddhist texts, to a depiction of a temple built by Abraham at the dawn of monotheism

Detail of Luttrell Psalter

Pictures and portraits

From artistic visions to snapshots of ancient everyday life - pictures, portraits and images that have embellished sacred texts

Detail of Old English Hexateuch

Languages and translations

Only Qur'ans in Arabic, and Jewish Bibles in Hebrew, have sacred authority; the Christian Bible has been translated in hundreds of ways

detail of Mamluk Qur'an

Illustrating the word

Turning words into works of art: masters of calligraphy and decoration at work

Detail of Italian ketubah (Jewish marriage certificate)

Unusual items

Unusual sacred texts, from a Torah used in a remote Chinese synagogue, to a 700-year-old travel guide for pilgrims walking across Spain