Artifact overview
URB.GR.64 is an artifact (Papyrus Manuscript) related to the mythological story named 'Hippocratic Oath.' The artifact's condition is Excellent and it is currently located at Vatican Apostolic Library in Vatican City, Vatican, catalogued as record number MSS URB.GRECO.64. The language of the text contained is Greek (Greek writing system). Its estimated date is 1100—1199 CE, which is a range based on available data and scholarship. The mythology associated with this artifact includes the Ancient Greek belief system and related deities: Apollo, Asclepius, and Panacea.
About this artifact
Basic details
| Type | Manuscript Papyrus material |
| Condition | Excellent |
| Date created | 1100—1199 CE |
| Language | Greek |
| Writing system | Greek (script) |
| Location | Vatican Library Vatican Apostolic Library · Vatican City, Vatican |
| No. | MSS_Urb.gr.64 |
Provenience
| Discovery | Unknown |
Museum record data
Vatican Library
Vatican Apostolic Library · Vatican City, Vatican
Item specifications
| Museum No. | MSS URB.GRECO.64 |
Mythological contents
Ancient Greek Religion
The contents of this artifact may depict or reference the following myths and deities associated with this belief system.
Associated myths and deities
| Myths | Hippocratic Oath |
| Deities | Apollo, Asclepius, Panacea |
Background
The Byzantine Codex (URB.GR.64) is one of the oldest copies of the works of Hippocrates and includes the oldest complete copy of the Hippocratic Oath. The manuscript is located at the Vatican Library in Italy.
Extended artifact data for MSS URB.GRECO.64
See detailed information about this artifact from the entity that has access to it.
Location description
- Vatican Library Vatican City, Vatican
Full address: Vatican Library, Cortile del Belvedere V VA VA, Vatican City, VA, 00120, Vatican
The Vatican Apostolic Library (Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana; Italian: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally established in 1475, although it is much older, it is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. It has 75,000 codices from throughout history, as well as 1.1 million printed books, which include some 8,500 incunabula.
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Record numbers
| No. | MSS_Urb.gr.64 |
| Artifact access | Unknown |
Full artifact data
| Museum No. | MSS_Urb.gr.64 |
| Shelfmark | URB.GR.64 |
| Folio Nos. | 124 |
Record notes
About these data
| Retrieval date | Jul. 1, 2020 |
| Copyright | Vatican Library |
Render
See a rendering of the artifact in images, text, and other form factors. Where available, a translation is included.
Digital scan
OMNIKA Reader
Good news. This original artifact is digitized and available in the OMNIKA Library.
Full Translation, Collation (partial)
Ancient Greek ⟶ English a
| Source a Hippocrates, "Oath," 298-301. More info launch |
All texts
| Title |
|
|---|---|
| "The Oath": English Translation of Hippocratic Oath by William H. S. Jones |
|
Mythological contents
This artifact contains mythological contents associated with Ancient Greek Religion. The main narrative mentioned may be Hippocratic Oath, a General myth. The deities depicted or mentioned in the artifact may be: Apollo. Asclepius. Panacea.
Parent belief system
- Ancient Greek Religion · Polytheistic
The ancient Greek belief system represents a collection of cultural myths and stories that date back to circa 1300-1200 BCE. Its pantheon of deities were widely known and written about in Greek texts. The Romans adopted many Greek beliefs and renamed the deities according to the Latin language. In contemporary times, there are countless vestages of Greek culture in popular culture and practice.
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Associated myth
Hippocratic Oath General mythNuthsell
Hippicrates is largely considered the father of Western medicine because of his contributions to the development of modern, rational medical practices. Many of his attributed works, survived to us through a series of books called the Hippocratic Corpus, outline a foundation for the kind of medicine that is familiar in the 21st century. The historical accuracy of Hippocrates as a person is not well understood, and his background is largely considered a mystery.
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Deities depicted
Artifact condition
The artifact named 'MSS URB.GRECO.64' is appraised as being in Excellent condition based on how much reliance is placed on other resources to make it complete and readable.
| Condition | Excellent | Just OK | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |
| Completeness | More than 80% | 50 - 80% | Less than 50% |
| Fragmentation | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Damage | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Legibility | Highly readable | Somewhat readable | Unintelligible |
What's a 'joined' artifact?
A joined artifact is one that was originally part of the other and was broken or fragmented at some point in time. Joins are common among clay tablets because they may get broken during discovery and transportation. The join is notated with the + sign. For example, if tablets A000 and Z999 are joined, we would express this relationship by grouping them as A000 + Z999 to indicate they are related.
If the fragments are owned, maintained, and cataloged by separate museums then classifying the join relationship is critical for accurate translations.
Cite this page
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "URB.GR.64: Byzantine Codex." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 14 May. 2019, omnika.org/stable/157. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
OMNIKA (2019, May 14). URB.GR.64: Byzantine Codex. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/157
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "URB.GR.64: Byzantine Codex." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created May 14, 2019. Accessed May 20, 2026. https://omnika.org/stable/157.
