NOBILITY BESTOWED. In 1869, TIschendorf was awarded a hereditary title marked by the assignment of this family shield. The Bible at the bottom with the characters alpha and omega mark his quest to discover the oldest Biblical manuscript and his success in recovering Codex Sinaiticus. The character at the top of the crest pays homage to one of Tischendorf’s ancestors who, while working as a charcoal-burner, foiled an attempted kidnapping of his prince in 1450.