Nag Hammadi Codex XIII
Encyclopedia
Nag Hammadi Codex XIII is a papyrus
codex
with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts
in Coptic
(Sahidic dialect). The manuscript is dated to the 4th century.
and On the Origin of the World
. It is the only surviving copy of the Trimorphic Protennoia.
The text is written in uncial letters. It is well written in an informal book hand. There is no punctuation, no division between sayings. The nomina sacra
are contracted in an unusual way (ΠΝΑ, XΣ, XPΣ, IHΣ), the words at the end of line are abbreviated. The scribe is identical with the scribe A of Codex II
. The scribe employed several styles. The scribe made several errors of haplography
(omitted letter N in 38.7; 48.28; omitted OY 40.18; omitted T in 48.15) and dittography (42.26; 45.31).
The so-called "Codex XIII" is in fact not a codex, but rather the text of Trimorphic Protennoia, written on "... eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth." Only a few lines from the beginning of Origin of the World are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.
It was buried with the other Nag Hammadi Codices
, where it lay until to the day of its discovery in 1945.
On June 8th, 1952 the Coptic Museum
received the codex. The text of the codex was edited by Gesine Schenke. It was examined and described by James J. Robinson in 1979. Currently the manuscript is housed at the Department of manuscripts of the Coptic Museum
(Inv. 10545) in Cairo
.
Greek manuscripts
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
codex
Codex
A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
in Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
(Sahidic dialect). The manuscript is dated to the 4th century.
Description
The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a codex. It is written in Sahidic dialect. The codex contains: Trimorphic ProtennoiaTrimorphic Protennoia
The Trimorphic Protennoia is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha. The only surviving copy comes from the Nag Hammadi library ....
and On the Origin of the World
On the Origin of the World (Nag Hammadi)
On the Origin of the World is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and end times. It was found amongst the texts in the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the Reality of the Rulers, with many parallels between the two texts In particular, it rethinks the entire...
. It is the only surviving copy of the Trimorphic Protennoia.
The text is written in uncial letters. It is well written in an informal book hand. There is no punctuation, no division between sayings. The nomina sacra
Nomina sacra
Nomina sacra means "sacred names" in Latin, and can be used to refer to traditions of abbreviated writing of several frequently occurring divine names or titles in early Greek language Holy Scripture...
are contracted in an unusual way (ΠΝΑ, XΣ, XPΣ, IHΣ), the words at the end of line are abbreviated. The scribe is identical with the scribe A of Codex II
Nag Hammadi Codex II
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...
. The scribe employed several styles. The scribe made several errors of haplography
Haplography
Haplography is the act of writing once what should be written twice. For example, the English word idolatry, the worship of idols, comes from the Greek eidololatreia, but one syllable has been lost through haplography. Other examples are "endontics" for endodontics, and "voraphilia" for...
(omitted letter N in 38.7; 48.28; omitted OY 40.18; omitted T in 48.15) and dittography (42.26; 45.31).
The so-called "Codex XIII" is in fact not a codex, but rather the text of Trimorphic Protennoia, written on "... eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth." Only a few lines from the beginning of Origin of the World are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.
It was buried with the other Nag Hammadi Codices
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
, where it lay until to the day of its discovery in 1945.
On June 8th, 1952 the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
received the codex. The text of the codex was edited by Gesine Schenke. It was examined and described by James J. Robinson in 1979. Currently the manuscript is housed at the Department of manuscripts of the Coptic Museum
Coptic Museum
The Coptic Museum is a museum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt with the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world. It was founded by Marcus Simaika Pasha in 1910 to house Coptic antiquities. The museum traces the history of Christianity in Egypt from its beginnings to the present day...
(Inv. 10545) in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
See also
Coptic manuscripts- British Library Or 4926British Library Or 4926British Library Or 4926 , known also as P. Lond. Copt. 522 , 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...
- Nag Hammadi Codex IINag Hammadi Codex IINag 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...
Greek manuscripts
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 is a papyrus fragment of the logia of Jesus written in Greek. It was the first of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. The fragment is dated to the early half of the 3rd century...
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654Papyrus 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...
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655Papyrus 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...
Further reading
- John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, pp. 359-460.
- Bentley LaytonBentley LaytonBentley Layton , is Professor of Religious Studies and Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University...
, 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. - Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984). ISBN: 3110173859
External links
- NH Codex 11, 12 and 13 LDAB
- John D. Turner, TRIMORPHIC PROTENNOIA (XIII 35, 1 -50, 24)