Holy smokes, that's a special Bible

Talk about an epic homecoming: The world’s oldest surviving Latin Bible, which weighs seventy-five pounds, is back in the country that produced it over 1,300 years ago.

The Codex Amiatinus was one of three massive Bibles produced in 716 AD by monks at England’s Wearmouth-Jarrow Abbey.

While the other two stayed in England (and survived only in fragments) the Codex Amiatinus was sent to Pope Gregory II and remained in Italy until just recently.

Thanks to several years of negotiation, the codex left Florence to form the centerpiece of a comprehensive Anglo-Saxon exhibit at the British Library.

Clare Breay, the library’s lead curator, described the exhibition as a “once in a generation” event to The Guardian, where you can read more about it and other artifacts.