| Artefact ID | 1780 |
| TM ID | 107926 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 1780 () | Class | Textual |
| Material | Parchment |
| Writing medium | Codex |
| Text content | Literary |
| Language | Coptic |
| Description | Askew Codex; Codex Askewianus; PAThs CLM 17. Parchment codex containing the Coptic Gnostic work conventionally known as the Pistis Sophia. The manuscript consists of 178 folios (356 pages), measuring 21 × 16.5 cm, arranged in 23 quires. The first quire contains 12 leaves and the last 8; eight leaves are missing. The text is written in two columns of 30–34 lines per page. Two scribes were responsible for the manuscript. The first copied fols. 1-29 and numbered only the rectos, while the second copied fol. 30 to the end and numbered both rectos and versos. The text is written in Sahidic Coptic and preserves numerous Greek words; the work from which the Coptic text derives was composed in Greek. The Pistis Sophia consists largely of revelatory dialogues between Jesus, Mary Magdalene and other disciples concerning, among other subjects, scriptural interpretation, cosmology, ritual and the fate and salvation of the soul. The manuscript is one of the principal surviving witnesses to late antique Coptic Gnostic literature. |
| Selection criteria | Literary genre (Non-canonical) |
| Date from | 350 |
| Date to | 450 |
| Dating criteria | Relative dating. PAThs places the manuscript in the 4th/5th c. The British Library catalogue provides the broader date range 301-699 CE. |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | Provenance and archaeological find context unknown. The manuscript belonged to the physician and collector Anthony Askew (1722-1774) and was sold to the British Museum by his heirs in 1785, from which circumstance it derives its modern name. |
| Accession number | London, British Library Add MS 5114 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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