This manuscript, the end of which is damaged, belongs to the genre
of giant Bibles created in central Italy between the mid-11th and
mid-12th centuries in the context of the Gregorian reform. In the
form that we know it today, this manuscript presents the first
volume of a complete Bible which was composed of two separate and
independent volumes. The second volume is missing at this time. The
giant Bible of Sion contains the first part of the Old Testament
according to the Vulgate: the Octateuch (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth), the books
of Kings, the Major Prophets, the twelve Minor Prophets, Job, and
in the last part an incomplete selection of Psalms (Ps. 1-93:22a).
This Bible has been held since its creation in the Cathedral
Chapter Archive of Sion, to which it was probably presented by
Bishop Ermenfroid (1055-1087/1092), who was among the leading
figures behind the Gregorian reform in the dioceses of the Second
Kingdom of Burgundy.
