By Stephen Emmel Institute for Antiquity and Christianity Claremont Graduate School

-10-

THE NAG HAMMADI CODICES EDI TING PRO.JECT: A FINAL REPORT

by Stephen Emmel Institute for Antiquity and Christianity Claremont Graduate School

The Nag Hanmadi Codices Editing Project of the Anerican Research Center in Egypt has marked a crucial chapter in Ehe history of a remarkable collection of ancient manuscripts.I These twelve papyrus codices and part of a rhirteenth, apparently discovered by a farmer in the vicinity of the Upper Egyp- tian city of Nag Haurmadi near the end of Lg452 and now kept at the Copric Museum in old Cairo, date roughly to the latter half of the fourth century CE.3 They are among the oldest well-preserved exarnples of the papyrus codex to have sur- vived the centuries, specimens from the very heart of the epoch-making transi- tion from the scroll to the codex as the standard form for a book.{ They contain Copti.c translations of fifty-one Greek textsrs thirty-six of which rere

* Please note that the bibliographical details for works referred to below by author and date appear at Ehe end of this report.

i- A fu1l and authorlcative account of thls rather coqlicated history ls belng prepared by Jernes M. Roblnson for publication Ln The Faesütile Edition of the Ndg Hawnadt Codices: Inttpdtrction (Leiden: Brlll, scheduled to appear ln L979). See also Doresse (1958-1959) and the revtsed an expanded English trans- latioa of this rrork, Doreaae (1960), Bobinson (1967/68), (L97Zb) and (1977a). A more popular accormt Ls glven by Dart (L976). 2 Fot the most recent l-nfornatlon on the site and the discovery see Robin- son (1976).

3 See especlally Barns (1975, 12), 4 For the historLcal context to rdhlch the developnent of the codex forn is relevant see the stlrrulating study by Roberls (1954) and the artlcle by Skeat (1959).

5 At least tno further text6 may be represented, The largest unplaced frag- lrents of codex xrr (see The Faesiftile Edttion of the Nag Hantmdt. codieee: co&Leee n' fiI dld XIII lletden: Bri]-l, f9731 pt. t0t/102, fragnenra I and 2) have nor yet been ldentlfied with elther of the two knorrn texts in that. codex and nay therefore represent a fl-fty-second text. Falnt traces of ink beneath the decora- tive line narking che preauned end. of The Tripant4te Iractate Ln codex I (p. f3g) may be the beglnning of a fifty-third text, which could have extended ae far as p. 142 of the codex (see EmeL lIgTTal). That at least the l@diate sourcea of the Coptlc texts nere in Greek is not serlously dlsputed by scholars. That -t i-

previously unknor^m in any form, änd represent a selection of works coryosed at different tines across the first three or four cenEuries of our era and in various parts of the Hellenistic world. (See fig. L-2,)

tlhy and by whom these Eexts \^rere collected together in Coptic is far from clear. For although they display an overall interest in the esoteric aspect of the religious fement that washed across the Roman Empire in the early centuries of this era, no one doctrinal position unifies their content and no single there clearly underlies their presentation.6 Rather, they cast a diffuse and welcorn light into several of the darker corners of the religious speculation out of which Christianity emerged as a potent cultural force. (See Appen- dix I: Table of Texts in the Nag Hammadi Codices.)

It is to the difficult investigation of gnosticisrn that the Nag Hamnadi codices make their largest contribution. Prerriously known ahoost en- tirely from the reports of early Christian theologians who sought to refute I them, the gnostics views on Ehe creaEion of the world and on the nature and destiny of nan can now be studied at first hand in most of the texts frour Nag Hannadi. The texts display the rather bewildering diversity of ideas that is itself characteristic of gnosticism and several different types of gnostic thought are represented. One text, though clearly gnostic, polemi-cizes both against catholic Christianity and againsE other gnostic groups as well! This new wealth of primary sources has reopened important questions about the origin and nature of gnosticisrn and, more importantly, about its evolutionary interac- T tion with early Christianity.

But not all of the Nag Haurmadi texts are gnostic. A few reflect more or less orthodox early Christian views. Some derive from the Hernetic tradition. One has been identified as a short section from PlaEors RepubLie.

SeEl-tlc sources 1ay behind sone of those Greek cexts remains a possibllity' especially ln the case of Thz Goepel AcardLng to Tl@mas. (See' for exaryle, Gulllau- nont [1958]. Nagel [1969a] atteqls to illuro:inate sone obscure passages Ln fho- nazs by supposing that it lras t.ranslated directly fron Aramai-c lnto Coprlc.) 5 The apparent lack of uniLy among Ehe texts has led souE scholars to question the general acceptance of the coöces as a group or "library." There is, as yet, no firrn evidence to prove thaE they were ever considered as such in antiquity. (See further Appendix II: The Scribes Who Copied the Nag Hannadi Codices.) Neverthelesg, this diversity of content exists not only aDng the codlces but even anong the texts wi.thin an individual codex. Varlous atteqts to account for thls have been nade by Säve-Söderbergh (1967, esp. PP. 552-553 aad 559-560) and (1975) and by Frederik i{isse (1971' esp. pp. 2L9-222) arrd ItGnostlcisn and Early Monastlclsn in Egypt" to aPpear Lo, Gnoei.s: Fests ehri- ft fut Aow Jonas (Gä*ingen and zürlch: Vandenhoek und RuPrecht ' in press). l{isse argues that the text6 are unlfied by a strlct ascetlc tendency. 7 A comprehensive bibliography of studles on gnosticisn in general and on the Nag llarnnadl texts in partlcular has been Prepared by Scholer (197f). The blbliography is suppleDented annually io the auturm issue of Nooün Iestamentwn beginning rrith vol. 13 (1971). For a stirnulating introduclion to gnostic thought see Jonas (1953). -L2-

\', t'fis. se\+

$\Y :*' -ra$.!

Fig. 1. The Gebel el-Tarif is a section of the eastern wall of the Nile Valley across t.he river from the modern city of Nag Hanmadi in Upper Egypt. All the evidence concerning the discovery of the Nag Ilammadi codices indicates that they I^rere found hidden in a ceramic jar somewhere at the base of this inposing c1iff,

''' i :,

*-t f* Fig. 2. iulost of the Nag Hammadi codices arrived at the Coptic lluseum in Old Cairo still bor:nd into their leather covers. No member of the Nag Hamnadi Co- dices Editing Project ever sar^/ theur thus. -L2 -

Fig. 1. The Gebel el-Tarif is a section of Ehe eastern wall of the Nile Valley across the river from Lhe modern city of Nag Hannadi in Upper Egypt. All the evidence coneerning the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices indicates that they \^Iere found hidden in a ceramic j ar somewhere at the base of this imposing cliff. ffi

Fig . 2 . Most of the Nag llammadi co diees arrived at the Coptic Museumin 01d Cairo still bor:nd into their leather eovers. No memberof the Nag Ha:nnadi Co- dices Bditing Project ever saü/ them thus. -1J-

As source material for the early history of Christian thought and literature the Nag Haumadi codices are clearly invaluable.

The goal of the Nag Hamrnadi Codices Editing Project, funded by the Snithsonian Institution from July L974 through January L975 and again in July and August 197518 has been to further the study of the manuscripts in three re- spects: physical reconstruction of Ehe f ragrnented papyrus leaves, conservation of the entire collection for safe storage and dispLay, and publication. The completion of the project has seen major success in all three of these closely interrelated endeavors and brings to a close a long chapter of research authored by Ehe diligent efforts of numerous scholars.

Reeonstruction

TLre reconstruction of the papyri began, for the most part, in the very late nineteen-fifties with the work of Pahor Labib and Martin Krause. A1- though codex III, the first of the codices to be acquired by the Coptic Museum, had been conserved in glass frames as early as L947, the rest remained in the harrds of antiquities dealers until Lg49.s At that tiure a French scholar work- ing in Cairo, Jean Doresse, completed a hurried inventory of the collection for Egyptian officials and packed the codices into a suitcase. The suitcase was then sealed and kept in the custody of the Departnent of Antiquities pending the procurement of funds for purchasing its contents. Tlrat there hTas already soure disorder among the papyrus leaves and fragnents is indicated by photographs of the codices taken prior to their storage in the suitcase, and some damage apparently occurred between this time and the time when the suitcase r^ras again I 0 opened, b rie f ly in Lg52 and f inally in 1956 . Ac cordingly, when the German Archeological Institute donated panes of plexiglass to the Coptic Museum in 1959, Labib, Krause and Victor Girgis conserved the papyri in the order in which they l l found themr thus preserving the fragments in the sequence and condition in ^' which they had cone into the possession of the museum.

8 I am personally indebted to the Smithsonian Institution and the ARCE for also providing funds for my return to the United States at Ehe close of the project in the auturnnof L977. 9 During this period most of codex I r^/asexported from Egypt and offered for sale in Europe and the United States. It r^raspurchased for the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich, SwitzerLartd. in L952 and later presented to the erni- nent psyctrologist as a birthday present. In return for publication rights to the part of the codex that remained in Cairo, Jungts heirs have returned their possession to Egypt. The last of these leaves and fragments were registered at the Coptic Museumin October L975. The Egyptian antiquities dealer had initial- ly conserved this part of codex I in glass frames. Tlrese r^tere removed when the binding and papyrus leaves r^rereexported, necessitating a second conservation, this time in plexiglass, when the leaves r^rere acquired for the Jung Institute. 0nce back in Cairo this part of codex I \^rasreconserved in conformity with the rest of Ehe collection. 10 See Krause (L962, L22-L23) . lt Krause-Labib (L962, 2L) . L2 Krause-Labib (L962, 5 n. 6). I^iith regard to the smaller f ragments, -L4-

In the case of the well-preserved manuacrlpts this nethod of con- servatlon for the nost part sisrply retaLned the correct sequence of the page8. Thus the initial reconstructlon of codices I, II, III , V, \,:t, WI and XIIIIT posed few problerls. But codices IV, V[II, IX, X, XI and XII consisted of about two thousand fragnents, only a small number of which could be readily placed in correct page sequence. (See fig. 3.) Krause and Labib succeeded in reconstructlng most of codex IV on the basis of other coples of the two texts lt contains, though thLs reconstruction could not be carrled through on-the papyrus itself r.rlthout r" disturbing the official lnvento ry of the fragrents, Whlle Krause waa also able to draw sore conclusions about the original nake-up of the other fLve frag- mentary codices, the exact reconstruction of these renained quLte problenatlc. "

By thls tine, ho\rever, plans were undertay for the Unlted Nations Educational, Sclentific and Cultural organlzatlon (IJNESCO)to supervise the publication of a photographlc facsircile editlon of the collection, a continuatlon of work begun by Pahor Lablb.16 with this project in vlew, nearly all of the leaves and fragrents were photographed betneen 1962 and 1966, thus pern:mently recording the evldence that the inttlal conservation had sought to preserve," In 1968 Janes M. Roblngon was asked by the UNESCOto examlne these photographs and to report on Ehe work that would be required to prepale thero for plöU.cation. the Institute for AntiquLty and ChrLstlanity (Clareoont., Callfornla) the reupon laltiated the Coptlc cnostlc Library Project, directed by Roblnson, to prepare English translatlons of the entire collection. In the course of their work, the scholars engaged in thls project also prepared hypothetlcal reconstructions of the very fragnentary codlces and contlnued the difflcult task of identlfying the proper places of the many snall fragrents remalni.ng frorn all the codlces. But in the absence of direct access to the papyrl ln Cairo their work had to reEaln unconfirroed.

This clrcunstance changed ln Decenber 1970 when the UNESCOInterna- tlonal CoEnittee for the Nag liamadl Codices held its first plenary neetlng in Cairo, 0n December 15 the couoit tee was granted per:nlsalon to open the plexiglass f rares and a techD.lcal sub-corunl-ttee of four nenbers (Sdren Giversen, Rodolphe Kasser, however, this nethod was apparently not. rigorously applied. Instead these r.rere often conserved in clusters in a few plexigldss frames, from which only a very general idea of their original location can sometimes be gained. Many other small fragnents r^tere left lying in Ehe leather bindings or in the boxes in which the bindings had been stored, These r^rerenot consewed in plexiglass until 1970. 13 I^ILratis called codex XIII did not survive into modern tiues as a complete codex. Rather it consists of S leaves that were removed from the niddle of a codex and placed inside the binding of codex VI in antiquity. See Robin- son (L972a). L4 Krause-Labib (L962, 40). 15 See Krause (L962, L27-L29). 16 Labib (1956). L7 Tlris photographic record has proved the value of Labib and Krausers conservation procedure by providing significant clues to the original order of many of the fragmengs. -15-

Krause and Robinson) was charged wlth responslbll-lty for carrylng out the Physi- cal reconstructlon of the papyrL and guLding further photography for the facsln- ile edition. In the course of flve brl-ef sessiona betlüeen 1970 and 1973 the technicaL sub-comittee, assisted by mernbersof the Coptic GnostLc Llbrary Pro- ject, tested and lnproved various hypothetical reconstructions that had been proposed, rearranged those fragnents accordingly, and contlnued to identify and place further fragnents,

The Nag Ilannadi Codlces Edltlng Project contlnued this work intensive- ly froo Jul-y 1974 through August 1975. Under the direction of Jarnes M. Roblnson, Ptlnclpal Aneri-can InvestLgator for the project, Charles 1'I. Iledrick and I de-

Fig. 3 (at left). This photograph, taken in the mid-sixties, shows 22 papyrus fragments conserved with Nag Hammadi codex VIII. Ten of these f ragne.nts have been placed in that codex, one in codex IV, and one in codex XI. Three of the remaining fragrnents, though as yet unplaeed, have been assigned to other codi.ces because the handwriting on them is clearly not the same as that in codex VIII.

Fig. 4 (at right). Charles I^I. Hedrick at r^rork on reconst^ructing the papyrus rolls from which Nag Hammadi codex IV r^/as manufactured. This procedure can sometimes provide the decisive crite- ria for establishing the original sequence of pages in a papyrus codex. It must be used in any case in order to confim a sequence established by other ureans. -15-

Krauee and Robinson) was char:ged rdith reeponsibillty for carrylng out ttre physical reconatructlon of the papyri and guiding further photography for the facsln- lle edltion. In the course of five brief sessions betrüeea 1970 and 1973 the technlcaL sub-comlttee, assLsted by xnenbers of the Coptic Gnostlc Llbrary Pro- jecr, tested and inproved varloua hypothetical teconstructlons that had been proposed, rearranged those fragments accordingly, and contLnued to ldentlfy and pLace further fragments.

The Nag Hamadi Codices Ed1.tlng Project continued thLs nork lotenslve- ly fron July 1974 through August 1975.. Under the dlrectlon of Jares M. Roblnson, Prlnclpal AnerLcan Investigalor for the project, Charles 11. Iledrlck and I de-

Fig. 3 (at left). This photograph, taken in the rnid-sixties, shows 22 papyrus fragment,s conserved with Nag }larnnadi codex VIII. Ten of these f ragre,nts have been placed in that codex, one in codex IV' and one in codex XI. Ttrree of the remaining fragments, though as yet unplaced, have been assigned to other codices because the handwriting on them is clearly not the same as that in codex VIII.

Fig. 4 (at right) . Charles I'I. Iledrick at r,Iork on reconst ructing the papyrus rolls from which Nag ilammadi codex IV was manufactured. This procedure ean sometimes provide the decisive crite- ria for establishing the original sequence of Pages in a Papyrus codex. It must be used in any case in order to confirm a sequence established by other üreans. -16-

voted xrost of our time to lhe ldork of reconstructlon, while throughout the grant periods loany other scholars came from both the Unlled States and EuroPe to work l8 on the manuscripts accoraling to their interests and as their schedul"es Pernitted. By the end of L974 huldreds of fragrents, sone no larger than a fingetnail, had been placed through the uae of advanced papyrological technlques that rely Prl- marlly on the unique pattelns of the papyrus flbers rather than on the nuch lees certain crlteria offered by the text. " A detailed invesEigatlon of how the codices were ori-ginally nanufactured has provided crlteria for establishing the sequence of pages in a papyrus codex with a high degree of certainty and without heavy reliance on scribal paginatlon, which in flumy cases is not extant, or textgal continuity, which can hardly be hoped for in the no re fragrentary codlces.'u (See fig. 4.) At present the page sequence and original lengEh of each codex i-s clear with but three exceptions:

(1) The extremely fragrentary conditlon of codex X' further corryli- cated by a lack of pagination after page 5, has nade it ltrpossible Lo dete rxoine the orlginal length of the codex. Fragnents of 54 lnscrlbed pages survive, but the codlcological relationship of these f ragr0ents indicates that origlnally there nust have been at least 68 inscribed pages and qulte probably there lte re nore. The sequence of the fragrnents now identlfied as pages L3-22 arld 55-58 also re- I rnalns somewhat hypothetical.2

(2) Codex XII represenls the largest loss wirhin the collection. At present it conslsts of only 8leaves and several smaller fragDents. A1- though the leaves lack page nr:mbers they can be put lnto relative sequence through conparison with other copies of the two knohrn texts ln the iodex and' to sone extent, also on the basis of papyrus fiber continulty, Ttlls reconslruc- tion Lndicates that the codex originally contained at least 7l inscrlbed pag"s.22

18 The visiting neuibers of the project rtere G.M. BrortDe, Anton Fackelu,ann, Bentley Layton, Dj,eter Muellert, Birger Pearson, I.Iillian C. Robinson Jr., John Sj.eber, Frederik Wisse, and Jan Zandee. other scholars who visited the project during the grant periods were Sdren Glversen (Dennark), Rodolphe Kasser (Switzer- land), Klaus Koschorke (Federal Pepublic of Gerrnany), Martin Krause (Federal Re- public of Germany), Jean-Plerre llah6 (France), Manfredo Manfredl (Italy), Jacques-d. l,t6nard (France), Peter Nagel (Gerroan Denocratic Republic), Tito Orlandl (Italy)' Torgny Säve-Söderbergh (Sweden), and Hans-Martin Schenke (German Denocratic Re- public). 19 See itedrlck (1976) and the literature clted there (p. 148 n. 4). 20 See WLsse (1975) and Janes M. Robinson (1975a), (1975b) and "Ihe Future of Papyrus Codicology," forthconing ln the first volume, on ltre Future of Copto- 1ogy, ed. R.McL. Wilson, of a new series of Coptlc Studies fron 8rlll (Leiden). Turner (L977) has recently undert aken the inportant and demanding task of laying the foundatLons for a codlcological typology. 21 A detatled discuaslon of the consideratlons that led to the Present reconstruction can be foturd in nhe Faesiftile Edition of the Nag Eonnadt Coöl:Lces: CodLces IX and X (Leiden: Brtll, 1977) xix-:o

Since che few exlant leaves are thenselves relatively well-preserved, nltoesslng to a state of preservation that is inconsistent nith so great an overall loas, it i.s likely that this loss, whl ch presumably includes a leather blndlag, took place only after the discovery in 1945. It is thus to be hoped that the btnding and the remainder of the leaves nay yet cone into scholarly hands, thouglr there is now good re:uion to believe that at least some of this lost portlon of the codex 3 was burnt shortly af ter the di-scovery.2

(3) As has been noted, codex XIII did not survlve into modern tlres äs a coqlete codex.2a It is virtually certain that the 8 extant leaves origlnally lay at the ve ry center of a quire, thus clarifying thelr relaEive sequence even though page numbers can only be assLgned to theD hypothetically. Slnce the last extant leaf ends h'ith the openlng lines of a text preserved conpletely in codex II, a nlnlnal length for the codex can be estiEated at 80 pages. Never- thelesa, the 16 survlving pages are presumably all that were interred with codex trT a - ^- !.1 -...r !., vr rrt 4rL!9srLJ t

Appendix III gives the present inventory of pages and fragments of the Nag ltamadl codices. About 932 of the 1240 inseribed pages that originally nade up the collection are represented by at least a fragnent. (If one dts- counts the najor loss in codex XII alone this figure rises to 972.) 0f the 714 lnscribed fragrents that remain unpJ-aced less than a hrurdred preserve .my nore than a ferd letters of inscription. There is littIe doubt that o:my of the renalning fragmnts can still be placed, but now the Line and effort requlred would probably be dLsprop ortl.onately great compared to the amunt of lnfo rna- tion so galned.

Conse"uation

ConcurrentJ.y with the reconstruction of the nanuscripts - the Editlng Project rmdeltook to conserve the collection for the Coptic Museun." Peggy S. Iledrick and Anita l{. Robinson, conservators for the project., faced a najor problen from the outset. Ihe antiquitles dealers fron whom the papyrl were ob- tained had used transparent cellulose adhesive tape, generously and none Eoo judiciously, to hold sone of the fragrents together, often lncorrect.ly. In the sible to deterrnlne the center of the quire in its present state of preservation. It may even have consisted of more than one quire. In any case codex XII may well have contained f ar more than 7L pages. See f urther lTte FaesiwLLe E&Ltion of the Nag Hunrn&L Co&Lees: CodLees XI, XII üLd XIII (Leiden: Brill, L973) xiii- XV.

23 TLre story reported by Doresse that after the discovery of the codices "the peasants had burnt some of them to brew their tea" (Doresse [fg0O, f18]) has been conf irme d and clarif ied by an eye-rrritness inte rviewed in the Nag Hannadi region by James I'1. Robinson.

24 See note 13 above. 25 For advice on the work of conservation \de are especially indebted to Messrs. Baines-Cope (London), Stanley Baker (London), John Barnst (0xford) , l,Ialter Cockle (London), and Anton Fackelmann (Vienna), who also joined the Pro- ject in Cairo briefly in L974. - 18-

Fig. 5. Anita I{. Robinson carefully removing the old cellulose adhesive tape used by antiquities dealers to hold fragments of papyrus together. Once this delicate and difficult task was accomplished the frag- t ments \dere rejoined with I t,iny pieces of paper tape (cf. fig. 8).

\ I *. . rni*-!-i"{*{,llti t:'fi Ä$1.. i i i'!. " '" ' i t'illil'*i- .j" I te ir.{t}irii ,;; l - I ..- .",r .u ).J_ ,rr T. O(,.f}.-i l.t rrx-..f{r.! i. i''ltr: f "r"l .{€$:\e}:g q:x*g" ' -:; -I-ä- " rJn'" ' i3 1-r,.T;.; i; L . {3lra C. ii -:rrtr- l^--i .Ä*l{.r; ür ,.*a.g,tY{i --* : .: cr: .ü-r.. ?. , { Lf .q.:-i Fu Äary,*t;. tFf i**t}AY ät rsA:-r**rx;Er i ,*;.i i* - -.\. ; *.' j*3"$ tcil n + ;lt$r !-r$tnTÄ?1. *.$l *'*sr5f.r:{' rr}a -''Wiu$ *s*s*.a(l :S*,*rpl.g; xrr-{ Wlit** q-;- } _Tj? &*r- r{xt ,rirb.{ l;$i*r} qu s*g1;Sc1er6:1rttp rrt; i. {tryfiFr. r ry{H:;'ri.l:,' - .Ä. -* R.. ,,\$*.**rw'v_ri-t{i.r , -r.-*t s,k ,ltyl.}" t_ .{l:ry !q n rS$ftu q)\ r.rd r-{ff } tr "" ' ".; t{|sFS'{: "'-* ;"\ r r,.'':-}- i., {!} j 1,, $ q"ti F-.':,r r ,-.1J.!tls rvr!.. ., l ( 6r.A*u ; ;i" rrrtf-r,}-1.\r,{r-? ., *-ft't , -!Yw,&-ll{frrla *.. ($'t'iJ : r.q!ry {}rÄ\ .. e$-: -+'"r1trE }**€,nee 'i",.,, trtt) y*...", iiri,^. r, - J:vtul Ti,, 'E:_ f*-,"*-iü. , *rl'.,r1 i *$$vr*$- a i a,r.i;i',;.;'_,., f.r.e t f , . ::ttO*; 1",.tf rrr r*rr_. i \d $ r **{lYP ., c i;rl -e,lr:: ar; , . S\.:$.S,Si&* q,r r, yF -, ";;",l W"S*ürr*iir' . l;'. ", ":.$,;1i,fi,'* ;.a,Ii,..:,,, n.,Ilf; \"r;'!r' { ** 'li"lii! *t r.*;;;,'r'i$"td<.;.";'i:,,1i'';:, *i..:.,rr rr.:r iil_.,,;11.j,,,'; I' i- Vi -l.l-!r;'z ka ..irI * - !.i.l"i::'n }f ; ü'T:fi,;l;;;;;::'" l':i:', .\:r; L Ä "'' ! f,, fi q.:1: li l, fiyr;1,r,,

Fig. 6-7 . NHC I 8l before and after removal of old cellulose adhesive tape. Note that the removal of the uppermost strip of t ape permitted the addition of a fragment at 81,5-7. -18-

Fig. 5. AniLa It. Robinson carefully removing the old cellulose adhesive tape used by antiquities dealers to hold fragnents of papyrus together. Once this delicate and difficult task r^/as accomplished the fragments r,üere rejoined with tiny pieces of paper tape (cf. fig. 8).

'l '' '\'?.* ' {'.:'r"' ":u{;'" t z't:' ":' "*"tiqf,,tAV* .* ^, .,| ltU.t;g';,{ {{ F}itrg * r"t .... 'i'r -f'Lslrv):'a"err':' t . .t' {r} u .\l ;if F*{: :*r'i"il' i" 4s €{:.tt! \r **\:': i-g: J\r,*a.- (:;'- ; "t.'(':.' "' f; ; l-116' :-!;e ae;f.L iJl' je ii;.'\,'rr-: lr si; i,,i, 'i v r** rd?'{g-,...:'I r-t3 fr Frrr *tr"o'i;" ,fü *{3l3Y ?ft ty'an* -1 6ffi ,+iFi * -. . i.-äi'* *flC te : \4;tr:'t:'a."f ;-a?: ,..,,r "{:r{3qF'iä|-n-4, c'.}i tr ä"f€yt.1 - '4rb\]",#sl€ a*r4 t$ls|rc e'T- . tEeäfr,* -äc* ?4,p''^'4,,Äc*^ o-;,. f *c*r*. F*F*fLt-t.j:)-:*i-\ ,*-..-\. 1-4}* FF&Gr*:*t*+ o:-rrrcä ä ä€f4t?trl r ? "ä' 96rt{Fld- s: : *:.ir*d*3Yrucr "r6ffi. xe'e+ "j ;*'}*srt {l .rii :^-gf€rl*.J gs tr.;"g,iar':Qggry -:tif {': ,,"-F,#"Ti rult o,.ifg#üi *"r*ir $f C T):,rr|ce"ffi.r"r-mqr < ..,,-i..rr s if#{rf:}h6f l: $ t-nJ Zsr€:nrre.'.*rof eron*r-iainÄqr6C . ;3,_, r,f:T$ry' r;vtr:k tt;lä: "&Fry.q ag ..i,*füä:r;y ", .": 6 rr ii ,*,'' ;1'X€16 r"t'r**,€:u'ar"äf i*rr"rcryt.* .*"i"r: ..*_,,. *ä{6* rryrrXe g'-*FÄth"ll .:1 -_u -iriri.ü! Y: ji: r' *i*'rin?e_r1,+örx-- Ci',"$iü*"*.#sv frTl;' :'; {; "Yry:&w*a.ryw;' 1 5,1:jio.l;,,Y:,WW*,, .; 't Y :'*,' : ri} ?-lt{ rrfryrfiruy j . i :.rli ^ c 'Kr [J e {: fr*.Hf üYnt,trt

Fig. 6-7. NHC I 8l before and after removal of o1d cellulose adhesive tape. Note that the removal of the uppermost strip o f t ape per"uitted the addition of a fragment at 81,5-7. -t-9-

course of mre than twenty years this tape discolored and began to stain the papyrus, obscuring portions of the text, In a few cases lhe adhesive had also begun to ooze out fron beneath the cellulose backing, sticking the papyrus to the insides of the plexlglass. ln order to open these the conservators had to brush acetone on the outsides of the plexiglass, which is sughtly porous, so that the fules would penet.rate and dissolve the adhesive on lhe insides.

To rercve the adhesive tape itself two other chesricals were used, first tri chlore thylene as a solvent and then )

To hold fragoents together in their proper relationships we used the b rotrn paper packlng tape wi-th a water-solub le gl-ue that has been in use at the British Museum since the early years of papyrology. Thts tape, cut very sna1l (on the order of Eillineters) and applied under Eagnification wlth a flne brush, can be practically invisible against the papyrus. If necessary ir can be respved easily with a bit of rrater. (See fig. 8. ) I,Ihen two f ragrents do not physically connect, this tape can be used to bridge the gap or to rtrake a firn island !o which the fragrents can be attached. Thus the fragrents of even the most deteriorated leaf can be secured in cheLr proper relative positions wilhout recourse to atEaching then permanently to any kind of backing. (See fie.9.)

For the final conservation we preferred co place the papyri between panes of g1ass. The plexiglass in which they hrere conserved in che early six- tles had becone very scratched r.rith long use and were not of a uniforrn size. Furtherroore, durlng the fj.rst conservation each papyrus sheet, whlch fo rms two leaves (four pages) of a codex when folded at the xdddle, had been cut in half at the splne, Lf they were not already broken there, and the leaves were conserved lndividually. We decided to reunite such conj ugate leaves and to conserve the co-

26 In a few places tape was cleaned around the edges but left in plaee because the papyrus it. covers is too fragile to perrn:it successful renoval. Tape had to remain in a few other places as well because the adhesive involved did not react effectively to the chemicals. Although there is some disagreernnt among conser:vators as to the best chemicals to use in this kind of work (and it may depend on the kind of adhesive co be dissolved) none of Ehose used by us are considered harmful to papyrus.

27 Although it \{as inevitable that removing the Eape at times also üEant removing some surface papyrus and ink, this consideration r^ras outrrteighed by the more deleterious effects of leaving the tape in place. Passages that were dan- aged in the process of removing the tape are included in my collation of exclu- sively photographic evidence for the texts, which has begun to apPear r^lith Enmel (L97 7b). -20 -

',''I-'" fit I t-ftT€ül efibEtefi alfffi;Ir .i'ÄrrrlfiFr ,*i$'nrr t ioY- xrq ,}Lfi.E

f,'tt €3 irerr-ar.elr-., t joo-'r-fr>tl. t'zttoorTF s_ ^+ g N6 -f fg;lJ,tr|L ? itzc,fr'tt**), 5TffYv,ffit rx**lc p.b-tllafr 4gTrez".tzaY.*.'6l.rd. -d |,,l-trftt't.qf :.tt*-f *.pl -nz\Zrzro*t1-ra1- Tre Fig. 8. l\lo fraguents of inscribed pa- H###**e4* pyrus are joined at NIIC VI 10,3 by two minute pieces of paper tape, Ttre ac- *wxt FectrZ-iirrr. tual size of the area shown is only one cm. square. Note the clear continuity of the papyrus fibers across the break.

Fig. 9 . MIC XI L2 has been re const ructed f rom three l arge , trro small , and one uerA small fragnents on the basis of vertical (o., the rector p. 11) and horLzon- tal papyrus fiber continuity as well as on the basis of the contours of deterioration of preceding and succeeding leaves. Ttre stif f paper islands serve to hold the fragments in their correct relative positions without necessitating their attachment to any sort of backing. dices sheet by sheet. Since all of the Nag llaurnadi codices except codex I con- sist of a single quire this method of conservation preserves the aspect of the codex and is therefore of considerable advantage to further work on placing fragrnents and to codicological study.28

The Egyptian Antiquities Orgatization approved our proposed conservation format but requested that plexiglass be used instead of glass. Ac- cordingly, \^te imported a suf ficient quantity of plexiglass panes (37x32 cm. and 3 ffi. thick) f rom Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States and trans- ferred the reconstructed papyrus leaves to them,2e Each sheet is positioned

28 Since codex I is more like three single-quire codices bor:nd into a single cover than it is like the usual multi-quired codices, conserving it in the sane format as the rest of the collection is not overly disruptive of its original structure. 29 Very special thanks must be given to Carol Crochet who volunteered her careful and conscientious assistance in this work in January and June- -20 -

' -..; \:.'rr t t-.5lt*t1 -Zr4;.-,paotil ?rrLAa.^;e$ i -?(r-r.\diTr ,-?i J|'r'*d:-' ,}}*tf tu 3t"' 11 LL tt:-t t t'2 ! r. ", r^;by äo.c-77fi7i!. *.i!ra or..4-F I M 6 *i t$!Jaf{. ?f,vwafiWe" t]t-6;F ^Yc\'rtelr- rXJflc p.,,-tr.Iafr #;i-F-+t, fiirepTzfr-,C1lo:. f ,r'-?TT Ft't .'rf:q a|ffal* ?rrd;;F?fr{'rj Artoy7Er^tr€fi76g11- &f)toYlJ*r Ttc- gTS4Rrrp<.;v &#'b"väni Fig. 8. finro fragments of inscribed pa- ;-i\: aei-41 ryi "Tr&rlf- v-fti*7 F-2;'#j pyrus are joined at NHC VI l0r3 by two frXfi-rrla r&ffiI*#.*p""I.I ifrf, Kr;a.ar minute pieces of paper tape. Ttre ac- xt i Kec^ rZlir*a n*ft l,"rII' tual size of the area shown is only one cm. square. Note the clear continuity of the papyrus fibers across the break.

Fig. 9. NHC XI LZ has been reconstructed from three larger two small, and one uerA small fragments on the basis of vertical (on the rector p. 11) and horizon- tal papyrus fiber continuity as well as on the basis of the contours of deterioration of preceding and succeeding leaves. The stiff paper islands serve to hold the fragments in their correct relative posit,ions without necessitating their attachment to any sort of backing. dices sheet by sheet. Since all of the Nag llauunadi codices except codex I con- sist of a single quire this method of conservation preserves the aspect of the codex and is therefore of eonsiderable advantage to further work on piacing fraginents and Lo codicological study.28

TLreEgyptian Antiquities Organization approved our proposed conservation fornaL but requested that plexiglass be used instead of glass. Ac- cordingly, we imported a sufficient quantity of plexiglass panes (37x32 cm. and 3 nnr. thick) from Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States and trans- ferred the reconstructed. papyrus leaves to them.2e Each sheet is positioned

28 Since codex I is more like three single-quire codices bor:nd into a single cover than it is like the usual nulti-quired codices, conserving it in the same format as the rest of the collection is not overly disruptive of its original structure. 29 Very special thanks must be given to Carol Crochet who volunteered her careful and conscientious assistance in this work in January and June- -l t-

such t.hat when the franes containing a codex are st.acked neatly on top of each- other the relative alignne,nt of the sheets recreates the quire as if it were opened at the center.30 Since the brown t.ape used on the papyrus does not ad- here to plexiglass the sheets are attached to one pane of each frarne with a mininal number of smal1 pieces of fiLmoplcst P, a translucent adhesive paper de- veloped specifically for repairing old books, particularly of paper and parch- ment.st The edges of the plexiglass frames are also sealed with this tape and each frame is labelled with the relevant codexr page and Coptic Museum inventory numbers.

The leather bindings in which the codices were encased are simi- larly conserveci in shallow plexiglass boxes. The unplaced fragments are conserved with the codices to which they have been assigned. TLre scraps of Greek and Coptic papyri (cartonnage) removed from the leather bindings of codices IV' V, VI, VII , VIII , IX and XI are conserved and stored as a unit, together with the miscellaneous fragmen;s, rather than with the codices from which they ltere removed. The binding of codex I, with its cartonnäge, is kept at the In- stitute for Antiquity and Christianity, which purchased it, with the approval of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, f rom a European olrtner. The where- abouts of whatever cartonnage may have been removed from the bindings of codices II, III and X is not known.

At the end of L974 \^re designed two storage cabinets for the papyri. The Cabj-nets l^rere constructed by Design Center Cairo (14 Adli Street, Cairo). Each cabinet contains two cupboards, each designed to hold three portable wooden

August 1975 and again in January 1976. We r,rere also asslsted briefly by Katri-nka Sieber, Juin Foresnan, Anne Jackson, Ted Worth, Connie Mallard, R. Scott Bird- sall, Michael Bryan Fiske, Janes coehring, and Marvin W. Meyer. With regard to one of the najor objections to the use of plexiglass for the cooservation of papyrus 1t should be noted that a static charge can be removed easily with readily available anti-static fluids. the question of possible chemical interaction between plexiglass and papyrus cannot be answered decisively; perhaps only titrE r,till tell. Suffice iE to report that the Nag Hannadi papyri have been in plexiglass franes for nearly thro decades now r{ithout noticeable alteration ort that account, 30 Io the case of codex XIII, on which see oote 13 above, the le aves are aligned such that the contours of deterioration of leaf 49/50 natch those of codex VI Leaf LlZ. 31 This naterLal, rnanufactured by Hans Neschen (D-4967 Bückeburg, POB 1340, Federal Republic of Germany), is advertised as "absolutely neutral: non acldic, non conductive, no wood-alirent, free of plasticlzer, non yellorting, no discolorlng." See Burl-age (1966) and, for a scientific test report on longevity nade in the Danish Nuclear Center \^rith do cunents fron the Copenhagen State Archive, Skall (L974), who reports that the adhesive used for fiT,tnoplast P ls a polyacrylate (p. 38). EilnapLast P fared well in these tests. Ilowever, filnoplat P is too thln to provide much structural support unless lt is used ln large pleces. Since it is most desireable not Eo cover inscriPtion ktlth any adheslve naterial, ne used fiLmopLast P to mend the papyrus only h'hen there was no alternative to placlng lhe tape over a bit of ink. In these few caseg we still used the snallest pieces possible. -22-

boxes. Inside each box are two rov/s of seven shelves on which the plexiglass frnmes are stored, three per shelf. Each frame is kept in a strong plastic bag for protection against scratching. Ttre contents of each box correspond to one volume of the ARE-I]NESCO facsiurile edition and the shelves are labelled in detail to facilitate access to any particular page. Mounted on each scorage cabinet is a glass-topped display area. AE present the cabinets are kept in Ehe manuscript wing of the Coptic Museum library in the care of Mrs. Sanliha Abd El- Shaheed, Ehe Curator of Manuscripts. (See fig. 10.)

Pub Li eatt on. anC b eu ond

The main Jort of the Nag Hanmadi Codices Editing Project is being published in two series of volumes. The first volume of lTte FaesimiLe E&Ltt-on of the Nag Hanna&L CodLees3z appeared in L972. TLre twelf th and f inal vo lume will be pri-nted in L979. This complete photographic edition of the collection doer:ments the reconstruction of the manuscripts as of the beginning of 1978.33 Tlre rapidity \,riEh which these volumes have continued to appear sinee L974 is due in large part to the support of the Smithsonian Insticution and the American Re- search Center in Egypt. TLre Editing Project has also provided members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Projeet wirh repeated opportunities to check their editions against the manuscripts themselves. The r:nchallenged value of autoptic examination of ancient texEs has been enhanced in the case of the Nag Hamnnadi codices by the discovery that deteriorated passages often become quite legible when viewed r:nder ultraviolet light, TLre f irst volume of the Coptic Gnostic Library Projectts critical editions and English translations appeared in 1975,34 a second vol.me is presently in the press, and it is expected that the rem:ining volumes will appear soon now that the reconstruction of the manuscripts has been completed.

The project has also given birth to two important offspring. First, several forays by members of the project to Ehe reputed site of the discovery of the manuscripts near Nag Harnmadi has led to three seasons of archeological survey and excavation in the area r:nder the auspices of the Institute for An- tiquity and Christianity.3s Second., the continued presence in Egypt of members of the Editing Project made possible the highty successful International Con- gress of Coptology, sponsored jointly by the IINESCOand the Egyptian Antiquities Orgarrization in Cairo, December 9-L7, L976, which led in turn to the founöng

32 Published under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt in conjunction with the United Nations Educacional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Leiden: Brill , L972 and following). 33 Users of lTte FaesinrLLe E&Ltion should not overlook the additions and corrections that will appear in Ehe introductory volume in L979. 34 Alexander Aöntig and Frederik t^Iisse, Nag HanrnadLCodLees flfr2 wtd IIrr2: T'l,teGospel of the EgyptLans (Nag llammadi Studies 4) (Leiden: Brill, 1975). All of these editions are scheduled to appear in Brillrs series Nag I{ortrwdL Studi.es. An advance pubtication of translations of all of the texts is no\^Iavailable in Ja:nes M. Robinson, ed. , lTte Nag Humnail:LLibrary in EngLish (San Francisco: Har- per and Row; Leiden: Brill, 1977).

35 See note 2 above and Van Elderen-Robinson (L977). -23 -

L -ildl* -: ** **äb*os;"--%*.y: ?. -

* k

Fig. 10. Mrs. Saniha Abd El-Shaheed, Curator of lulanuscripts for the Coptic Museum, r,üith t.he Nag Harunadi codices in the manuscript wing of the lihrsry. of an International Association for Coptic Studies.36

Of course none of it would have been possible without the generous cooperation of our Egyptian hosts. For their hospitality and assistance of every sort \^re are especially indebted to Dr. Gamal Mokhtar, President Emeritus of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Dr. Pahor Labib, Director Emeritus of the Coptic L1useum, Dr. Victor Girgis, Director General of Egyptian Museums, Dr. Mounir Basta, Director of the Coptie Museum, and Mrs. Sa.uiha Abd El-Shaheed and the other members of the staff at the Coptic Museum,

36 See James M. Robinson, ttThe First International Congress of Coptology," scheduled to appear in Ehe BulLetin de 7n.SoeL7tä dtAneh1oLogi.e Copte 23 (1976- L977), and the Na'tslettev, of the International Association for Coptic Studies I (1977). Inquiries should be addressed to Prof. Tito 0rlandil v.F. Civinini, 24-00L97 Rome, Italy. -23 -

Fig. 10. Mrs. Samiha Abd El-Shaheed, Curator of l{anuscripts for the Coptic Museum, with the Nag Hammadi codices in the manuscript wing o f Lhe lib;:ary. of ErrlInternational Association for Coptic Studies.36

Of course none of it would have been possible without the generous cooperation of our Egyptian hosts. For their hospitality and assist,ance of every sort we are especially indebted to Dr. Gamal Mokhtar, President Emeritus of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Dr. Pahor Labib, Director Emeritus of the Coptic Museum, Dr. Victor Girgis, Director General of Egyptian Museums, Dr, Mounir Basta, Director of the Coptic Museum, and Mrs. Sanj-ha Abd El-Shaheed and the other members of the staff at the Coptic Museum.

ttThe 36 See James l,I. Robinson, First International Congress o f Coptology, " scheduled to appear in tir.e BulLetin de 7n, SocLätä dtAz,eh1oLogie Copte 23 (1976- L977), and the Na'tsLettev, of the International Association for Coptic Studies I (1977). Inquiries should be addressed to Prof. Tito Orlandi, v.F. Civinini, 24-A0L97 Rome, Italy. -24-

APPENDIX I

Table of Texts in the Nag Hammadi Codices

codex, text, page l and line numbers tit le other versions2

I 7t A,36 up-8,1 up Prayer of the ApostLe PauL 2: 1, l-16,30 The Apocryphon of James 3: L6,3L-4 3,24 The Gospel of Truth NHC XII 2 4:, 43,25-50,18 Tne Treatise orl the Resurrection 5: 51,1-l38,extant 26 The Tripartite Tractate

I Titles in ltalic type are preserved as such in the EanuscriPts, Titles in regular type are oodern designations. lhese have been drawn either fron lhe content of the text (NEC I 2, I 5, II 5, qt 6, IX 2, lX 3, XI 2) or frorn the opening words of the text (NI{c I 3) or from the title given to another version of the texr (Nl{C l-v, , V L, VI 5, VI 7, VI 8, XII I, XII 2, XlLl 2). 2 Abbreviacions: Asc. = Asclepius; see A.D, Nock and A.-J. Festugiäre, Hembs T?isneg'i8te: Cotpuß Hetmeticun 2t TrcLtOs YIILXWII, Asel?pita, 2nd ed. (Parls: soci6t6 c'tdi- tion "I-es Belles Lettres," 1960) 257-40L, esp. pp, 32L-337 (= NHCvI E), 353-355 (= NHc VI 7; cf. J.-P. Mah6, "La priäre dractions de gräces Cu codex VI de Nag-Hanadi eE le discours parfalt" La kitschrt ft !üt Pqyrolo 3ia nJ" Epigrcphik f3 [f974] 40-60); Latin, Greek. These, rogerher wirh rhe Cc'pric versions, will appear in convenlent synopsis in Douglas M. Parrott, ed., Nag Hqrna&L Codicee V,2-5 and VI üi.th P@Arus Bez.olinensie 8502,1 and 1 (Nag Ilamadi Studies 11) (Lelden: Bri1l, in press). BM = British Museurn(now the British Library); for 0r, 4926(L) see Christian 'Schrift oeyen, "Fragnente einer sub achrnimischen Version der gnostischen ohne Titel"' in Krause, ed. (1975, L25-L44); for Or, 6003 see Wolf-Peter Funk, "Ei.n doppelt überllefertes Stück spätägyptischer Weisheit" ln Zeit- sehrL ft ff)t' dLe äggptdsche Spnache f03 (1976) 8-21; Coptlc and Arabic (and a late LaEin vergion of Ehe latter), BP = Berlin Papyrus i for 8502 see l.lalter C. Till, DLe gnostischen Schrt iten des koptischen Pqyz,us Bev,ollnensis 8502 (Texte und Untersuchungen 60), 2nd ed. revised by llans-Martln Schenke (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1972); coptic. Chad. = Ilenry Chadwick, The Sentenees af Sertus: A Contributi,on tc the Histo?g of EarLy Christiot E thics (Texts and studies 5) (Canbridge, Englandl The Universiry Press, 1"959), whlch provides information on the other versions of this texti Greek, Latin, Syriac, Armenian. NHC = Nag Hanmadi codex. P.oxy. = Oxyrhynchus Papyrusi for 1,654 and 655 see Joseph A' Fi-tzrryer, "The Oxyrhynchus Logoi of Jesus and Ebe Coptic Gospel According to Thornas" in his Essays on the SemLtic Bockgnow.ci of the Neu festünent (Sources for -25-

II 7: 1,1-32,9 The Secz,et Book AccorCLnq to John NHCIII 1 NHC IV 1 BP 8502 2 2 z 32, 10-5L,28 I'Lte GospeL Aeeording to TLtomas P.Oxy. 654 P.Oxy. 655 P. Oxy. 1 3: 51,29-86,19 T'LteGcspel AeeordLng to PltiLip

4z 86 120-97,23 The Reality o f ihe RuLers 5: 97,24-L27 ,L7 On the Origin of the l,tlorld NHC XIII 2 BM Or. 4926(L) 6: L27,18-137,27 Ihe Exposito rg Treafi,se Coneerming the SouL 7: 138,1-145,23 Ihe Book of I'l'nmas (the eontender wrLting to the perfect ones) III 7z 1,I.-40,11 I'he Secret Book o f Jottrt NHC II 1 NHC IV 1 BP 8502 2 2 z 40 ,L2-69,20 T'l,teHoLy Book o f the Gv,eat InuisibLe NHC IV 2 Spir"t t (less properly called TLte Gospei. of the EgAptians)

<. a). 70,1-90 ,13 Eugnostos the Blessed NHCVl 4. 90,14-119, 18 The Wisd.on of Jesus BP 8502 3 P.Oxy. I081 (. Ua L20,1-147,1 up Ihe DLaLogue of the Sauiot' IV Lz I,1-49 ,28 The Seeret Book Aeeording to John NHC II 1. NHC III 1 BP 8502 2 2:50r1-81,2 The Gospel of the Egyptians NHCIII 2 V 7z lrl-lTrextant l-8 Eugnostos the Blessed NHCIII 3 2 : 17 , extant L9-24,9 Ihe ReueLatLon of PauL 3 t 24,L0-44,extant 7 Tlte (first) ReueLation of Jones 4'. 44,extant 8-63,32 I'Lte (second) ReueLation of Jones 5 : 64,L-85 ,32 The Reuelation of AC"an VI 7: I ,1- L2,22 the Aets o f Peten ura the llseLue Apostles

Biblical Study 5) (I(issoula: Scholars' Press , L974) 355-433, a revised version of his article of the sarre title in ThzeoLogieal Satdies 20 (1959) 505- 560, and LI. Marcovich, "Textual Criticism on the GospeL of Thomas" Ln Jour- naL of I'heologieaL StudLes o.s. 20 (f969) 53-74; for l08f see Harold l.l. At- tridge, "P. Oxy. l08I and the Sophia Jesu Christi" Lrt Enchovia 5 (1975) l-8; Greek. -26-

2 z 13, 1-21, 1 up The Thwtder, Perfect I[inC

3 t 22 ,3L up- 35, 24 Authoz-Ltatiue Teaehing 4 : 36 ,I-4 8 , 15 i4entaL Pereeption, the Coneept c f Cuz, Great Pouer 5z 48,16-51,1 up Republic IX 588b-589b Plato, RepubLie 588b-5 89b 6: 52,L-63,32 The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth

7: 6 3 , 3 3-65 ,7 This Is the Frager TVtnySpoke Asc. 4L (a1so called The Prayer of Thanksgiving) 8: 65,15-78,1 up Asclepius 2L-293 Asc. 2L-29 WI L: I,I-49,9 The Faraphrase of Säem 2t 49,10-70,L2 The lreatise o! tlze Great ^Secona -\aütL

3 z 70, 13- 84,L4 TLteReuelation of Feter 4 z 84 , 15-l 18 , 7 lTte Teachings of Si.L;;uuts Bl'10r. 6003 5: 1l8rLA-L27,L up The three -Qtelae of Seth VIII 1z 1 ,l-1 32,6 ZpstrLanos 2':, L32,10-140 , 26 Tne Letter of Pe*,er, l"{hieh He Sent tc Philip

IX 7 z L,L-27 ,10 l,lelcltizedek 2z 27,LL-29,5 TLreThought of Norea 3z 29,6-74rL up The Testimony of Truth X Lz lrextant l-68,18 !,larsqtes XI 7z L,27 up-21,1 up The InterpretatLon oi lnouLedge 2z 22,extant L-44rL up A Valentinian Exposition 3: 45,33 up-69,extant 6 ALlogenes (or Trrc Stranger) 4z 69 ,extant 7-7z,extant L7 tlypsiphrcne (or She of High llini) XII 7 z 15 ,1- 34, 1 up TLreSentences o f Sextus Chad. 2z 53,11 up-60,1 up The Gospel of Truth NHCI 3 XIII 7 z 35 , 1-50 , 11 up TrLmorphie Prirnal Thought ( i,n 3 paz.ts ) 2z 50,10 up-50,1 up On the Origin of the l^lorld NHCII 5 BI"10r . 4926(L)

3 Krause-Labib (L962, 26) suggested that this text r^ras originally headed by a title but thaE this had been erased and replaced by the scribal note aE 65r8-14. No such erasure is detectable, however, even r:nder ultraviolet lighc. -27 -

APPENDIX I I

The Scribes ltlho Copied the Nag Hammadi Codices

copyofa ..xll" si :H:::.:ffilulni"3li::"::':ilr::.:"t;:l"J:: ;:T:":"1:': compilation of later copies. As many as fourteen different scribes may have been employed in making these copies. They are listed here in the order of their appearance with the Coptic dialect in which they worked given in paren- theses.'

l. I 1-3 (Subachnirnic), 5 (crypto-Satridic?) 2. I 4, XI L-2 (Subachmimic) 3. II 7, 2 (except 47,1-8), 3-7 (Sahidic) 4. II 2, 47,1-8 (Sahidic) 2 5. III L--5 (Satridic) 6. IV 1-2 (Satridic) 7. V L-5 (Satridic) 8. VI 1-8 (Satridic) 9. VII 1-5, XI 3-4 (Sahidic) 10. VIII 1-2 (Sahidic) 11. IX 1-3 (Satridic) 12. X I (Subachurin'ic) 13. XII 1-2 (Sahidic) L4. XIII L-2 (Satridic)

Note that several of the fourteen scribes can be judged more or less certainly to have been closely related i-n time and space in that their work over- laps in several codices: scribes 1, 2 and 9; scribes 3 and 4. But fourteen scribes may well be too conservative a figurei there may have been as few as eight. Scribe 3 is probably to be identified with scribe L4. In codex XIII he used a quicker, more cursj.ve hand. (Compare also the still more cursive super-

I For a suumat:y statenent concerning our present knowledge of the (seven) t'Sa- najor Coptic dialects see Layton (1976b, esp. 5 Z.a.i.). By and large the hidict' texts from Nag Hanuradi appear to have been translated by nati-ve speakers of a dialect other than Sahidic. llost display features of ""tTpto-Subachmirnic" (the term has been introduced by Layton 1L977, 661) , while a few display in- teresting isoglosses with Bohairic and Fayyumic. (See further Nagel [f969b, €sP. pp. !67-469), lL972J, and Layron 1L974,374-3831.) 2 Scribe 5 has left two fingerprints for posterity' one at NHC III 68'11-12 and the other at L20123-24. Both are only clearly visible under ultraviolet lighr. -28-

linear insertion in codex II at 12118.)3 fhe hand of scribe 4 is remarkably sinilar to that of scribe 13, but the surviving work of the for:rrer is too little (only eight lines of text) to per:nit a certain identification. Scribes 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 all have sinilar hands and have often been identified as a single q scribe. However, Ehe similarities may be due rather Eo the influence of a single scribal school. According to the report of Robinson (1975b, 18), Manfredo I'lanfredi of the G. Vitelli Papyrological Institute (Florence, Italy) judged only scribes 8, 10 and to a lesser extent 6 to be really sinilar in this group, scribes 7 and 11 being clearly d,istinct.5

For further considerations bearing on the unity of the Nag Hammadi codj.ces in antiquity see Robinson (1975b, 16-19), (L977b, 14-15).

3 This idenclflcatlon nas first made by Krause-Labib (L962, 297 addition to p. 13). Although Krause later retracted the ldentlfication (Krause [1963, 11] n. 2l), it has recently won strong eadorsenent fron Layton (I976a, 84). I concur in this latter judgeneot and should add that a eomparison of the use and shapes of the articulation merk in codex II (on whteh see Layton [f973, 190-199], notlng, however, that his renarks refer only to the fourth tractate in codex II) and codex XIII further confirns the i dent.l fl cation. Aroong the Nag l{anrnadl codices, II and XIII are unique in this respec!. (See further the brief coürlpnts of Frederik Wisse in The Jourmal of the Americot )rtentaL SoaLefu 92 tL9721 189, who bases them on an examinatlon of all of codex II as well as the renainder of the codices.) Janssens (L974, 34L-342) uses this identlficatlon as a basl.s for sore interestlng speculation concerning the original contents of codex XIII. It should be pointed out, however, that her contentlon that codex II and codex XIII are also siroilar in that they, in distinction to the rest of the codlces, do not contain nurnbered pages ls unfounded. Whlle the pages of codex II were certainly left by the scribe without nunbers, the top arargins of the pages rernaining fron codex XIII are too deceriorated for us Eo determioe whether they ever held page numbers or not. 4 this ldentificatlon was first made by Doresse (f95f, 30 and 34-39) and was accepted by Krause (1963, llo-lfl). 5 Ttre further identification of scribe l wlth scrtbe 12 (Doresse [1961, 31 and 45-451, followed by Krause [1963, f11]) is not generally aecepted. -29-

APPEI.IDIX I I I

Inventory of Pages and Fragnents of the l.lag Hamrnadi Codices

Coptic lluseum original number of extant identified unp laced in- I codex inventory number inscribed p.g"" inscribed prg""' s cribed f ragrents

I 10554, 10589 , 10590, 1l5g 7 , 11640 140 140 68 II 10544 145 L45 I III 4851 r47 135 I IV 10552 81 8t 110 V 10548 84 84 80 VI 10549 7E 78 L7 vrr 10546 L27 L27 VIII 10550 t36 L32 119 IX 10553 75 72 86 X 10551 68 54 r03 XI L0547 72 72 38 xrr 10555 77 20 .8 XIII T0545 r6 l6 4 3 miscellaneous fragments 75

Eotals L240 1156 7L!'

l When these figures involve estimation they are rninimal and conservaEive. Only that part of codex XIII buried with codex VI in antiquity is counted. 2 Si-nce r:nplaced fraguents I and 2 of codex XII do not belong to any of the identifled pages of that codex they are counted here as identified, even though their exact position in the codex cannot be detern'ined. In some cases a leaf j-s represented by a single small fragment. The anount of rdssing text is thus greater than the number of encirely missing leaves can indj-cate.

3 TLrese are fragrnents that \^/ere not at first conserved with a particular codex and which cannot readily be assigned to one on the basis of the scribal hands. -i0-

REFE REN CE S

Altheim, F. and R. Stiehl eds. 1969 Dte Az'aber in det aLten WeLt V.ii (D*s ehrLstliehe Aksiln). Berlin: de Gruyter.

Barns , John W.B. L975 "Greek and Coptic Papyri from che Covers of the Nag HauunadiCodices." In Krause, ed. (1975, 9-18).

Burlage, Johann t I 1966 " f ilmoplast P heilt innere Buchkrankheiten. " Grqhisehe Woelte23, l.

Dart, John L976 lTte Laughing Sauiot', New York: Harper and Row.

Doresse, Jean 1958-1959 Les Liurcs seerets des gnostLques Ct0gypte. Paris : Librarie Plon. 1950 the Seez.et Books of the Eggptian Cmosties. New York: Viking. 196I t'Les reliures des manuscrits gnostiques coptes ddcouvertes ä tchdnobo- skion. " Reuue d'EgApfuLogie 13 , 27-49.

EmmeI, Stephen L977a "Announcement.r' lTte BuLLetin of the AmerLeaztSoeiety of PqaroLcgi.sts 14, 56-57. L977b "Unique Photographic Evidence for Nag HammadiTexts: CG II 2-7 , III 5 arrd XIII 2*." ITte BuLLetLn of the AmerLeqt Soet)ety of PapyroLogists 14, r09- LzL.

Guillaumont, Antoine 1958 "S6ur-itisuns dans les logia de J6sus retrouv6s ä uag Hanädi." Jouz'rteL asiatLqtrc 246, 113-123.

Hedrick, Charles W. L976 "SomeTechniques in the Placement of Papyrus Fragrents. " TLteBuLkttn of the AmerLeanSoeiety of PcpUrologists 13, 143-155.

Janssens, Yvonne L974 "Le codex XIII de Nag Haurradi, " Le Musöon 87, 341-41 3 .

Jonas, Hans 1963 The Gnostie Religion, 2nd ed. Boston: Beacon.

Krause, Martin L962 "Der koptische Handschriftenfund bei Nag Hamnädi: Unfang und InhalE." Iulitteilltngen des Deutsehen ArefuioLogisehen Instituts, Abteilung Katrc 18, L2L-L32. 1963 "Zum koptischen Handschrif tenfund bei Nag Hanrrnadi." MitteiLtmgen des Deutsehen ArehäoLogiseLtenInstituts, Abtei,L,.mgKqiro 19, 106-1t3 . -31-

ed. 1975 EssaAs on the Nag Hawrn&t Tests i'n Hotour of Polor Labtb (Nag Itannadl Studies 6). Leiden: Brill.

Krause, I{artin and Pahor Labib 1962 DLe dret) Vevsl:onen des Apokryplton d.es Jottonnes (ADAIK, Koptische Reihe 1). Wiesbaden:Ilarrassonitz.

Labib, Pahor 1956 CoptLc GnoatLePqyrL l-. Cairo: Governnent. Press.

Layton, Bentley 1973 "Ihe Text and orthography of the coptLc HVpostasi.sof the Archons." Zeitschr[ft für Pqgz,ologie wtd Epig"aphik LL, 173-200. 1974 f'The Ilyposrasis of the Archons." Haruard TheoLogieaLRevieu 67, 35I-425. I976a " Ttre l{ypostasis of the Archons (Conclusion)." Haruaz,dTheologLeaL Re- tLeu 69, 3r-r0l, 1976b "coptic Language." La The rnterpretev's Dieti.ornry o! the BibLe, Sup- plementarV Vol*ne, L75-L77. Na€hville: Ablngdon. rExposicory 1977 "Edltorlal Notes on the Treatise Concerning the Soul' (Tractate II 6 fron Nag Harunadi)." The BuLLetLn of th-e Anerieqt Society of PqyrcLogists L4 , 65-73.

M6nard, Jacques-f. ed. 1975 I'es tectes dz Nag Hanrc&L (Nag lianmadi Studies 7). Leiden: Brill.

Nage1, Peter I969a "Ensägungenzun Thomas-Evangelium. " In Altheim-Stiehl, eds. (1969, 368-392). I969b "Grarnrnatische Untersuchungen zu Nag llanuradi Codex II." In Altheln- srlehl, eds. (1969, 393-469). L972 "Dle Bedeutung der Nag Hannadl Texte für die koptische Dialektges chichte . " In Peter Nagel, ed., Von Nog HanwdL bt)s Zypetn (Berliner Byzan tinls tis che Ar- beiten 43), L6-27. Berlln: AkadenleVerlag.

Roberts, c.H. 1954 " Ttre Codex." Procee&Lngsof the BrLti'sh Aeadenry40, L69-204. Robinson, James M. L967/68 'rThe Coptlc Gnoet.lc Library Today." Neu Testanent Studtee 14, 356-401. 1972a "Inside lhe Front Cover of codex VI." In Martin Krause, ed'., Eeeays on the Nag HonrndL Teete in Honow of Aleaandex Böhlig (Nae Haornadi Studies 3), 74-87. Leiden:81111. 1972b "Introductlon to the Facslmile Edltion of the Nag Ilamadl Codiceg." Included as a loose lnsert in The Facei.mLle Edi'ti,on of tlw Nag Hannadt Codtces: Codec VI. Leiden: Brill. 1975a "The constructlon of the Nag HanmadiCodlces." In Krause, ed. (1975' u0-190). -32-

1975b "on the Codicology of the Nag HammadiCod.ices." rn M6nard, ed. (1975, 15-31) . t'The tt L976 First Season of the Nag HamrnadiExcavation. AmerLemr Researeh Centez. in Egypt, Newsletter 96, L8-24 (= Gottingen MiszeLlen ZZ, 7L-7g). I977a "The Jung Codex: The RLse and Fal1 of a Monopoly. " Religious Sadies Reuieu 3, f 7-30.

L977b "IntroducLiont' in James 1"1.Robinson, ed. , lTte Nag Homwdi Library in English, r-25. san Francisco: Harper and Row; Leiden: Brill.

Säve-Söderbergh, Torgny t'Gnostic L967 and Canonical Gospel Traditions," In Ugo Bianchi, €d., Le )rLgini delLo Cmostieismo (Supplenuents to Numen L2) , i5Z-562 . Leiden : Brill . tSj-tz L975 "Holy Scriptures or Apologetic Documentations? TLre im Leben' of the Nag HammadiLibrary." rn l{6nard, ed. (1975, 3-14).

Scholer, David ]97f Nag Hortna&LBibLiographA 1g48-1969 (Nag HamrnadiSrudies f) Le iden : Brill.

Skall, ngi I L974 "A1terungstests. " Mi-tteiLtmgen d.er Intewtationale Arbeitsgemeinsehaft C'er Arehiu-, BibLLotheks- tmC Grqhikresteur.afuren 4, 37-46.

Skeat, T. C. 1959 "Early Christian Book-Production: Papyri and,Manuscripts." In The CunbrLdge Htstory oi the Bible 2 , 54-79. Cambridge, England: The University Press .

Turner, E . G. L977 The TApoLogA of the Early Cod.er. Pennsylvania: TLre Universiry press.

Van Elderen, Bastiaan and James M. Robinson 1977 "The Second Season of the Nag Hammad.iExcavation. " AmerLeut Reseayeh Center in EgApt, Neusletter 99/LOO, 36-54 (= Cättingen MiszeLlen 24, 57-13). lrlisse, Frederik L97L "T'he Nag HaurmadiLibrary and the Heresiologists.r? [,tgiliae Christianae 25, 205-223.

L975 "N"g HammadiCodex III: Codicological Introductj-on." In Krause, €d. (1975, 225-232).

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS

Fig. 1: James M. Robinson. Fig. 2z Jean Doresse. Fig. 3: Center of Documenta- tion in Cairo. Fig. 4z Peggy S, Hedrick. Fig. 5: Stephen Emmel. Fig, 6: Basile Psiroukis. Fig. 7: Basile Psiroukis. Fig. 8: Stephen Emme1. Fig. 9: Basile Psiroukis. Fig. l0: Dougras Kuylenstierna.