The Nag Hammadi Codices
The town of Nag Hammadi:
A town in upper Egypt in the province of Qina that has become famous for the discovery there in 1945 of the Coptic-Gnostic codices that launched a new era in Coptic studies.
The town, situated on the west bank of the Nile some 80 km south-east of Suhaj, has no Christian tradition apart from its relatively recent frame.
The story of the discoveries of the Nag Hammadi codices
The Nag Hammadi library, a group of codices dated to the 4th century, is one of the most valuable collections of ancient texts ever found, providing a wealth of new information for specialists in the history of religion, cosmology, physiology and codicology ( the study of the externals of manuscripts in codex form, the techniques of their manufacture and the history of manuscript collections.)
The story of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945 has been described as exciting as the contents of the find itself. In December of that year, two Egyptian brothers found several papyri in a large earthenware vessel while digging for fertilizer around the Jabal al –Tarif caves near present-day Hamra Dom in Upper Egypt. The 2 brothers were Muhammad and Kalifah Ali of the al-Samman clan hobbled their camels on the south side of a fallen boulder and came upon a jar as they were digging around its base on the other side.
Muhammad Aly reports that at first, he was afraid to break the jar, whose lid may have been sealed with bitumen ( evil spirit) might be closed up inside it. But, on reflecting that the jar might contain gold, he recovered his courage it with his mattock. The find is known as the Nag Hammadi library because that modern city is the largest in the vicinity.
In 1946, the brothers became involved in a feud and left the manuscripts with a Coptic priest ( Basiliyus Abd Al-Masih). Coptic priests marry, and this priest’s wife had a brother.
Raghib Andraws, who went from village to village in a circuit teaching English and history in the parochial schools of the Coptic church. Once a week when he taught in al-qasr he stayed in his sister’s home. When he saw one of the books ( codex III), he recognized its potential value and persuaded the priest to give it to him. He took it to Cairo and showed it to a Coptic physician interested in the Coptic language, George Sobhi, who called in the authorities from the department of Antiquates.
The resident coptologist ( Director of the Cairo museum) and religious historian Jean Doresse, realizing the significance of the artifact, published the first reference to it in 1948.
After the revolution in 1952, these texts were handed to the Coptic Museum in Cairo and declared the national property. Pahor Labib, the director of the Coptic Museum at that time, was keen to keep these manuscripts in their country of origin.
Meanwhile, a single codex had been sold in Cairo to a Belgian antique dealer. After an attempt was made to sell the codex in both New York and Paris, it was acquired by the Carl Gustav Jung Institute in Zuirch in 1951, through the mediation of Gilles Quispel. There it was intended as a birthday present to the famous psychologist, for this reason, this codex is typically known as the Jung Codex, being codex I in the collection.
Jung’s death in 1961 caused a quarrel over the ownership of the Jung Codex, with the result that the pages were not given to the Coptic Museum in Cairo until 1975.
The Codex of Nag Hammadi
The Coptic manuscripts that make up the library represent the primary source for the study of Gnostiscism, a religious movement known from reports and writings attacking it penned by early church fathers such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria.
Both Christian and non-christian elements are recognizable in the Gnostic texts of the Nag Hammadi library. Some reflect Jewish or Old Testament traditions. Hermetic texts of pharaonic origin are also present.
Gnosticism ( which means knows) spread from Alexandria throughout Egypt. By the second century, the Christian strain of Gnosticism enjoyed great popularity.
The discovery of the Nag Hammadi library shows that Gnosticism continued to exist in Upper Egypt for some time thereafter.
The Nag Hammadi library consists of thirteen codices: 11 of them ( codices I-XI) retain their leather covers. Only 8 leaves are preserved from codex XII, and the same number from codex XIII, separated from their binding and tucked inside the front cover of Codex VI in antiquity.
The bulk of the Nag Hammadi library is preserved in the Coptic Museum.
The manuscripts of the Nag Hammadi library are among the oldest well-preserved books in codex form.
Most scholars agree that the Nag Hammadi library dates to the second half of the 4th century, some codices are probably be placed more precisely in the third quarter of that century.
The Nag Hammadi library contains a total of fifty-two essays or tractates.
Two pages from the Nag Hammadi Library ( Codex II)
Papyrus
Jabel al – Taref, near Nag Hammadi
From the 4th century
Papyrus
Jabel al – Taref, near Nag Hammadi
From the 4th century
These pages are from Codex No. 2 of the Manuscript of Gnostics, which contains 13 codices, or volumes. It combines Christian and Gnostic philosophy. It is considered to be the only witness in the world to the existence of this doctrine.
The codex also contains two apocryphal books, namely the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Thomas. This papyrus contains decorations depicting a number of coronas that resemble plaited ornaments.
This papyrus is considered to be the earliest example of such ornamentation in Coptic manuscripts. This codex was written in Coptic with few decorations. Each page contains 34 lines.
The codex also contains two apocryphal books, namely the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Thomas. This papyrus contains decorations depicting a number of coronas that resemble plaited ornaments.
This papyrus is considered to be the earliest example of such ornamentation in Coptic manuscripts. This codex was written in Coptic with few decorations. Each page contains 34 lines.
The left page of the papyrus bears the end of the Apocryphon ( secret teachings) of John and the beginning of the Gospel of Thomas. The right page of the papyrus is an excerpt from “ on the origin of the world”.
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