Berlin Codex
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TheBerlin Codex(also known as theAkhmim Codexand theBerlin Gnostic Codex,BG), given theaccession numberPapyrus Berolinensis8502,is aCopticmanuscript from the 5th century CE, unearthed inAkhmim,Egypt.In Cairo, in January 1896, Carl Reinhardt bought the codex, which had been recently discovered, wrapped in feathers, in a niche in a wall at a Christian burial site. It was apapyrusbound book (acodex), dating to early 5th century (or possibly late 4th century) that was written inSahidicdialect of Coptic, which was in common use in Egypt during that time.
It was taken to Berlin for theBerliner Museen,where it was brought to the notice of theRoyal Prussian Academy of SciencesbyCarl Schmidt,July 16, 1896.[1]Schmidt edited theAct of Peterin 1903,[2]but thegnosticcontents of the Berlin Codex were not finally completely translated until 1955.[3]Few people paid attention to it until the 1970s, when a new generation of scholars of early Christianity took an increased interest in the wake of the discovery of the more famous group of early GnosticChristiandocuments found atNag Hammadiin 1945, known as theNag Hammadi library.
The "Berlin Codex" is a single-quire[4]Coptic codex bound with wooden boards covered with aleatherthat neither resemblestannedleather, nor does it resembleparchmentoralum-tawed skin (i.e. skin that has been dressed with alum to soften and bleach it).[5]
Four texts are bound together in the Berlin Codex. All are Greek works in Coptic translations. The first, in two sections, is a fragmentaryGospel of Mary,for which this is the primary source manuscript. The manuscript is a Coptic translation of an earlier Greek original. Though the surviving pages are well-preserved, the text is not complete and it is clear from what was found that theGospel of Marycontained nineteen pages, assuming that the codex begins with it;[6]pages 1–6 and 11-14 are missing entirely.
The Codex also contains theApocryphon of John,The Sophia of Jesus Christ,and anepitomeof theAct of Peter.These texts are often discussed together with the earlier Nag Hammadi texts.
Works
[edit]- Die alten Petrusakten.im Zusammenhang der apokryphen Apostellitteratur nebst einem neuentdeckten Fragment, untersucht von Carl Schmidt, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1903. In:Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur.herausgegeben von Oskar von Gebhardt und Adolf Harnack, Neue Folge Neunter Band, der ganzen Reihe XXIV Band. This German translation refers to the papyrus manuscript P 8502 in the Berliner Papyrussammlung.
- Tuckett, Christopher(2007).The Gospel of Mary.Oxford Early Christian Gospel Texts. Oxford:Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-921213-2.
Notes
[edit]- ^Schmidt, Carl: Ein vorirenäisches gnostisches Originalwerk in koptischer Sprache, in: Sitzungsberichte der königlich preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1896 2. Halbband Juni bis Dezember, p. 839.Scan in the Internet Archive
- ^C. Schmidt,Die alten Petrusakten im Zusammenhang der apokryphen Apostelliteratur nebst einem neuntdekten Fragment untersuchtLeipzig, 1903.
- ^W. Till,Die gnostischen Schriften des Koptischen Papyrus Berolinensis8502,(Berlin: Akademie-Verlag) 1955.
- ^A quire is a set of leaves which are stitched together: for more information seebookbinding.
- ^The binding is discussed in detail by Myriam Krutzsch and Günter Poethke, "Der Einband des koptisch-gnostischen Kodex Papyrus Berolinensis 8502"Forschungen und Berichte24,Archäologische Beiträge (1984:37-40 and tables T5-T6).
- ^“The above figures do assume thatthe Gospel of Marywas the first work in the codex and that nothing preceded it. This is probably the case (if there were another text preceding the gospel in the codex, it must have been very short), but given the state of existing evidence, one cannot be certain.”,Christopher Tuckett,The Gospel of Mary,p. 6, n. 8.
External links
[edit]
- Contents of the Berlin Codexappended to an analysis of theNag Hammadi library.
