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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID974
TM IDTM 61420
Findspot (DEChriM ID)24   (Dišnā)
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumCodex
Text contentLiterary
LanguageGreek
Archive/DossierArchive
Description

Bodmer Composite Codex (P.Bodm. V, VII, VIII and X-XIII) 

Miniature papyrus codex containing an anthology with the Protevangelium of Jacob; the First Epistle of Peter, verses 1:1-5:14; the Odes of Salomon 11; Pseudo-Paulus' 3 Corinthians; the Epistle of Jude; the Second Epistle of Peter 1-3.18. That these works are to be considered as joined with P.Bodm. XX+IX (The Apologia of Phileas and Psalms 33-34) in a composite is not accepted by all scholars.

The codex consists of 96 folios (approx. 142 folios originally) which originally measured 16 x 14.5 cm. The text is written in one column per page, with approx. 14-20 lines of text per column. Pagination is preserved, giving the highest page number of "68".

The following descriptions are arranged in what is assumed to be the original sequence of the codex (cf. the ed. pr.): V-X-XI-VII-XIII-XII-(XX-IX-)VIII. Descriptions of P.Bodm. XX + IX can be found under its own page.

  • P.Bodm. V presents 49 pages of the Protevangelium of Jacob ("the Nativity of Mary"). Double initial and end titles are preserved. This section ends with a prayer from the scribe: "Peace to the one who wrote, and to the one who read". Possibly the same scribe as in the Apology of Phileas of P.Bodmer XX + IX.
  • P.Bodm. X preserves 8 pages numbered 50-57. The text is the apocryphal Pseudo-Paul 3 Corinthians, within which two titles are preserved ("Corinthians to Paul" and "Paul to the Corinthians about flesh") designating the text as the Corinthians' answer to the letters of Paul. This is the first Greek witness to this text.
  • P.Bodm. XI consists of 5 folios numbered as pages 57-62 (error: actually page 61). The folios contain the only Greek witness to the eleventh ode of Salomon. Verse end is occasionally marked by a diagonal slash, while the end of a strophe is consequently marked by blank space or by three diagonal slashes. The scribe appears to be the same as in P.Bodm. VII and VIII.
  • P.Bodm. VII consists of 7 folios with the page numbers 62 - 68. Initial and end titles are preserved. The folios present the epistle of Jude, following directly after the Odes of Salomon on page 62, from which it is separated by a drawn, decorative band. The scribe appears to be the same as in P.Bodm. VIII; see ed. pr. The epistle appears to be of a shorter length than other copies.
  • P.Bodm. XIII presents 3 folios with approx. 16 lines of text per page with the text of Melito of Sardes, Peri pascha ("On passover"). The pagination indicates pages 3-63, of which pages 1-2 were believed lost, but were later discovered and published; see Nongbri/Hall 2017: 576-592.
  • P.Bodm. XII presents 2 pages containing an unknown hymn with a banquet setting. The hymn is written on the verso of page 63 containing Melito's Peri pascha. The verso preserves one page number ("64"). The title of the hymn appears to span 3 lines, and is highly effaced. The hymn itself is written on the verso, and presents 6 lines of a Christian hymn praising the Father and the Mother. The hymn was initially believed to be an unknown work of Melito based on its position in the codex (following directly after Melitos' homily on passover); see Perler 1960. It was later argued to present a lost segment from the second book Peri pascha (as is mentioned in Eusebius) by Stewart-Sykes; see Stewart-Sykes 1998: 127. The authorship of the hymn remains unclear, but some indications point to a Syriac influence; see Caulley 2009.

(then follow P.Bodmer XX+IX, described under their own 4CARE-page)

  • Finally, P.Bodm. VIII (Vatican) preserves 18 folios with the first and second epistle of Peter. The fragments comprise 36 pages of a codex with folios measuring approx 15.5 x 14.2 cm. The fragments also preserve a title and pagination, numbering the pages as 1-36. The scribe appears to the same as in the Epistle of Jude (P.Bodm. VII). A Coptic word can be found in the margin of 2 Peter 2:22.

The anthology is apparently written in four or five different hands. The palaeographer P. Orsini describes the hands A and C as a formal round script, while E appears to be of the Alexandrian stylistic class; D is mixed style; and B is an informal round script. Several nomina sacra occur.

The codex is labelled as belonging to the Dishna papers-archive.

Selection criteriaLiterary genre (Biblical), Literary genre (Non-canonical), Literary genre (Hagiographic), Literary genre (Theological), Subliterary genre (Liturgical), Nomina sacra, Coptic language
Date from300
Date to350
Dating criteria

Palaeography. The ed. pr. places the fragments in the 3rd c. The date was pushed to the 4th c. by E. G. Turner (see Turner 1977: 79), and the palaeographers W. Clarysse and P. Orsini place the codex more specifically in first half of the 4th c.; see Clarysse / Orsini 2012: 471.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

The provenance is uncertain, but a provenance in the Panopolis (Akhmim) in Upper Egypt is possible, as per the suggestions of G. D. Kilpatrick and E. G. Turner; see Turner 1977: 52-53. The papyri were purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1955/56.

Accession number

Geneva, Fondation Bodmer 5 + 7 + 10-13 + Rome, Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Papiro Bodmer VIII.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editiones principes:

• Testuz, Michel. 1959a. Papyrus Bodmer VII-IX, L'Epåtre de Jude, Les deux Epåtres de Pierre, Les Psaumes 33 et 34. Cologne/Génève. Papyri nos. 7 and 8 (Bibl. Bodm. 2)

• Testuz, Michel. 1959b. Papyrus Bodmer  X—XII: X, Correspondance apocryphe des Corinthiens et de l'apôtre Paul; XI, Onzième Ode de Salomon; XII, Fragment d'un hymne liturgique. Cologny/Génève. Papyri nos. 10-12  (Bibl. Bodm. 2)

• Testuz, Michel. 1960. Papyrus Bodmer  XIII, Homélie sur la Pâque par Méliton de Sardes. Cologny/Génève. Papyrus no. 13.

Additional bibliography:

• Aland, Kurt. 1976. Repertorium der griechischen christlichen Papyri: 1. Biblische Papyri: Altes Testament, Neues Testament, Varia, Apokryphen. Berlin. Neues Testament 72 [hand c-d-e].

• Aland, Kurt. 1995. Repertorium der Griechischen Christlichen Papyri. II. Kirchenväter. Kirchenväter 55 [hand a-b].

• Caulley, Thomas Scott. 2009. "A Fragment of an Early Christian Hymn (Papyrus Bodmer 12): some Observations". Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity 13. 403-414.

• Charlesworth, James H. 1973. The odes of Solomon. Oxford: Clarendon.

• Clarysse, Willy and Pasquale Orsini. 2012. "Early new testament manuscripts and their dates: A critique of theological palaeography". Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 88. 443-474.

• Comfort, Philip W. and David P. Barrett. 1999. The complete text of the earliest New Testament manuscripts. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 468-490.

• Crisci, Edoardo. 2004. "I più antichi codici miscellanei greci. Materiali per una riflessione". Segno e Testo 2. 123-126.

• Crisci, Edoardo, and Oronzo Pecere. 2004. Il codice miscellaneo: tipologie e funzioni : atti del Convegno internazionale, Cassino, 14-17 maggio 2003. Segno E Testo. Cassino: Università degli Studi di Cassino. 144 and plates no. 5-6.

• De Strycker, Emile. 1961. La forme la plus ancienne du Protévangile de Jacques. Recherches sur le papyrus Bodmer 5 avec une édition critique du texte grec et une traduction annotée. Subsidia Hagiographica 33. Société des Bollandistes: Brüssel. 

• Geerard, Maurits. 1992. Clavis apocryphorum Novi Testamenti. Turnhout: Brepols. 25 (no. 50), 122 (no. 211.iv).

• Halkin, François. 1963. "L' 'Apologie' du martyr Philéas de Thmuis (Papyrus Bodmer XX) et les Actes latins de Philéas et Philoromus". Analecta Bollandiana 81. 5-27.

• Horrell, D. G. 2009. "The Themes of 1 Peter: Insights from the Earliest Manuscripts (the Crosby-Schøyen Codex ms 193 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex containing P72)". New Testament Studies 55 (4). 502–522.

• Jaroš, Karl. 2006. Das Neue Testament nach den ältesten griechischen Handschriften (CD-Rom). Wien-Würzburg: Echter. 4449-4592, no. 2.56.

• King, M. A. 1964. "Notes on the Bodmer Manuscript". Bibliotheca Sacra 121. 54–57.

• Kubo, S. 1965. P72 and the Codex Vaticanus. Univ. of Utah Pr.

• Lanata, G. 1977. Museum Philologicum Londinense 2. 207-226.

• Martini, C. M. 1968. Beati Petri Apostoli Epistulae ex Papyro Bodmeriana VIII transcriptae. [Mediolani] [u.a.]: Pizzi.

• Massaux, E. 1963. "Le texte de la première épître Petri du Papyrus Bodmer VIII (P72)". Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses: Commentarii de Re Theologica et Canonica 39. 616–671.

• Nongbri, Brent. 2014. "The Limits of Palaeographic Dating of Literary Papyri: Some Observations on the Date and Provenance of P.Bodmer II (P66)". Museum Helveticum 71. 22 and n. 46.

• Nongbri, Brent. 2016. "The Construction of P.Bodmer VIII in and the Bodmer "Composite" or "Miscellaneous" Codex". Novum Testamentum 58. 394-410.

• Nongbri, Brent and Stuart Georg Hall. 2017. "Melito's Peri Pascha 1-5 as Recovered from a 'Lost' Leaf of Papyrus Bodmer XIII". Journal of Theological Studies N.S. 68. 576-592.

• Orsini, Pasquale. 2015. "I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri". Adamantius 21. 63, 70-71.

• Perler, O. 1960. Ein Hymnus zur Ostervigil von Meliton? Fribourg. 

• Rahlfs, Alfred and Detlef Fraenkel. 2004 (1914). Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments. Göttingen. 57-58, descr. no. 2113 [hand a-b].

• Royse, J.R. 2008. Scribal habits in early Greek New Testament Papyri. NTTS 36. Leiden. 545-614.

• Stewart-Sykes, A. 1998. The Lamb’s High Feast: Melito, Peri Pascha and the Quartodeciman Paschal Liturgy at Sardis. SVigChr 42. Leiden 1998. 

• Turner, Eric G. 1977. The Typology of the Early Codex. University of Pennsylvania Press.  52-53, 79.

• van Haelst, Joseph. 1976. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris. Description no. 138, 548, 557, 569, 599, 611, 678, and 681.

• Wasserman, Tommy. 2005. Papyrus 72 and the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex. New Testament Studies: An International Journal 51. 137–154.

• Wasserman, Tommy. 2006. The epistle of Jude. Its text and transmission. Coniectanea Biblica. NT series 43. 30-50.

• Wayment, Thomas A. 2013. The text of the New Testament apocrypha (100-400 CE). London. 12-17, 51-73 and 215-222, 255-280.

• Zwierlein, Otto. 2010. "Der Briefwechsel der Korinther mit dem Apostel Paulus (3Kor) im Papyrus Bodmer X und die Apokryphen Paulusakten". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 175. 73-97.

Authors
Sofia Heim, 2021
Suggested citation
Sofia Heim, 2021, "Artefact ID 974", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/974