Related Research Articles
The codex was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term codex is often used for ancient manuscript books, with handwritten contents. A codex, much like the modern book, is bound by stacking the pages and securing one set of edges by a variety of methods over the centuries, yet in a form analogous to modern bookbinding. Modern books are divided into paperback and those bound with stiff boards, called hardbacks. Elaborate historical bindings are called treasure bindings. At least in the Western world, the main alternative to the paged codex format for a long document was the continuous scroll, which was the dominant form of document in the ancient world. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina, in particular the Maya codices and Aztec codices, which are actually long sheets of paper or animal skin folded into pages. In Japan, concertina-style codices called orihon developed during the Heian period (794–1185) were made of paper.
The Gospel of Thomas is an extra-canonical sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD. Since its discovery, many scholars have seen it as evidence in support of the existence of a "Q source" which might have been very similar in its form as a collection of sayings of Jesus without any accounts of his deeds or his life and death, referred to as a sayings gospel.
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
The Apocryphon of John, also called the Secret Book of John or the Secret Revelation of John, is a 2nd-century Sethian Gnostic Christian pseudepigraphical text attributed to John the Apostle. It is one of the texts addressed by Irenaeus in his Against Heresies, placing its composition before 180 AD. It is presented as describing Jesus appearing and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to his disciple John. The author describes it as having occurred after Jesus had "gone back to the place from which he came".
The Thought of Norea is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the second of three treatises in Codex IX of the Nag Hammadi library texts, taking up pages 27–29 of the codex's 74 pages. The text consists of only 52 lines, making it one of the shortest treatises in the entire library. The work is untitled; editor Birger A. Pearson created the title from the phrase "the thought of Norea" that appears in the final sentence of the text. The text expands Norea's plea for deliverance from the archons in Hypostasis of the Archons. It is divided into four parts: an invocation, Norea's cry and deliverance, her activity in the Pleroma, and salvation.
Allogenes is a series of Gnostic texts. The main character in these texts is Allogenes, which translates as 'stranger,' 'foreigner,' or 'of another race.' The first text discovered was Allogenes as the third tractate in Codex XI of the Nag Hammadi library. The Coptic manuscript is a translation of a Greek original, likely written in Alexandria before 300 AD. In this text, containing Middle Platonic or Neoplatonic elements, Allogenes receives divine revelations.
The Second Apocalypse of James is a Gnostic writing. It is the fourth tractate in Codex V in the Nag Hammadi library, immediately following the First Apocalypse of James. The order is a deliberate scribal choice, since the first text prepares James the Just for his death as a martyr, and the second text describes his death in detail. The existing Coptic version was likely translated in c. 300 AD from a Greek original written in c. 150 AD. In the text, James serves as a Gnostic redeemer who tries unsuccessfully to persuade the people to understand God before his martyrdom.
Coptic binding or Coptic sewing comprises methods of bookbinding employed by early Christians in Egypt, the Copts, and used from as early as the 2nd century AD to the 11th century. The term is also used to describe modern bindings sewn in the same style.
The Hypostasis of the Archons, also called The Reality of the Rulers or The Nature of the Rulers, is a Gnostic writing. The only known surviving manuscript is in Coptic as the fourth tractate in Codex II of the Nag Hammadi library. It has some similarities with On the Origin of the World, which immediately follows it in the codex. The Coptic version is a translation of a Greek original, possibly written in Egypt in the third century AD. The text begins as an exegesis on Genesis 1–6 and concludes as a discourse explaining the nature of the world's evil authorities. It applies Christian Gnostic beliefs to the Jewish origin story, and translator Bentley Layton believes the intent is anti-Jewish.
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.
Codex Bodmer XIX is a Coptic uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, dated palaeographically to the 4th or 5th century. It contains the text of the Gospel of Matthew 14:28-28:20; Epistle to the Romans 1:1-2:3. It is written in the Sahidic dialect of the Coptic language.
Stephen Emmel is a Coptologist and musician.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It was among the first of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt. It was discovered on the second day of excavation, 12 January 1897, in the garbage mounds in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early half of the 3rd century. Grenfell and Hunt originally dated the fragment between 150 and 300, but "probably not written much later than the year 200." It was later discovered to be the oldest manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas.
Hypsiphrone is Codex XI, Tractate 4 of the Nag Hammadi writings, named from the translation of a Greek feminine name word 'Hypsiphrone' or 'Hupsiph[rone]' rendered as she of high mind. The text is highly fragmentary, and only parts of several paragraphs have survived.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It is one of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt between 1897 and 1904 in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the middle or late of the 3rd century. It is one of only three Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Thomas.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It is one of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt between 1897 and 1904 in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early 3rd century. It is one of only three Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Thomas.
Nag Hammadi Codex II is a papyrus codex with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts in Coptic. The manuscript has survived in nearly perfect condition. The codex is dated to the 4th century. It is the only complete manuscript from antiquity with the text of the Gospel of Thomas.
British Library Or 4926 (1), known also as P. Lond. Copt. 522 (Crum), is a papyrus codex with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts in Coptic. The manuscript has survived in a fragmentary condition. The codex is dated to the 4th century. Erroneously it is known also as British Library Or 4920 (1).
Hans-Martin Schenke was a German Protestant theologian, New Testament scholar, and Coptologist known for his pioneering studies on Gnosticism and Coptic manuscripts.
Wolf-Peter Funk was a German historian of religion and Coptologist known for his pioneering studies on Gnosticism, Manichaeism, and Coptic manuscripts such as the Nag Hammadi library.
References
- ↑ Bock, Darrell (2006). The Missing Gospels . Nelson Books. p. 6. ISBN 9780785212942.
- 1 2 Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 2.
- ↑ John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 363.
- ↑ John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 359.
- ↑ John Turner, The Nag Hammadi Library in English, HarperOne, 1990, ISBN 0-06-066935-7, pp. 511-512.
- ↑ Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), p. 13. ISBN 3-11-017385-9
- ↑ Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 4.
- ↑ Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), pp. 8-9. ISBN 3-11-017385-9
- ↑ Robinson, James M., The Nag Hammadi Library, HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1988, p. 10.
- 1 2 John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 401.
- ↑ Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), pp. 26-68. ISBN 3-11-017385-9
- ↑ Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 5.