An Israeli company (the Jerusalem Nano Bible) has donated two ‘nano’ Bibles to the Bible Museum: an Old Testament in Hebrew and a New Testament in Greek. They are certified by Guinness World Records as the smallest Bibles in the world at 4mm square, however they are not quite as small as the Technion Institute nano Bible, which is 0.5mm square! The Bible text is laser engraved in nano sized font on very small silicon chips, with each page being smaller than the head of a pin.
Nano Bibles cannot to be read with a normal high strength microscope, they require an electron microscope to be able to see the tiny etching. Nano technology is creating very small sized processors for computers and phones, so this breakthrough technology will soon be miniaturizing current digital reading devices.
Producing books with nano technology illustrates the precise detailed etching achievable, in a format that everyone can relate to. The Bible (in all its versions) is the most printed book in the world and has been in existence for thousands of years. It was the first major book printed in the West, around 1450. Gutenberg’s Bible is now the most expensive book in the world, with just one page costing around $85,000! It is a symbolic choice as one of the most important and oldest books in history, that it should be now printed in such a small scale.
The Bible Museum collection also includes 5mm square nano Bibles in English (King James Version), Latin (Vulgate), Chinese, Russian (Святая Библия), Spanish (La Santa Biblia) and German (Die Heilige Schrift), as well as a ‘large’ collection of miniature Bibles.
The Nano Bible are on permanent display from January 19th 2016 at the Bible Museum, as part of the miniatures collection. For details on visiting or booking a group, see the visiting page or contact us.
Nano Bible Jewellery (nano Bible chips inserted into pendants, watches, etc) can be purchased from Jerusalem Nano Bible in Israel or Nano Jewellery in Germany.