| Artefact ID | 279 |
| TM ID | TM 64398 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 28 (al-Bahnasā) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Codex |
| Text content | Literary |
| Language | Greek |
| Description | P.Oxy. VIII 1081; AP11 Three fragments containing the gnostic text of Sophia Jesu Christi. The three papyrus fragments comprised a folio of a papyrus codex measuring approx. 20.3 x 10.7 cm. The text is presented in 24 lines (verso) and 26 lines on the recto. The verso precedes the recto. The text presents a conversation between the disciples, among them Mary Magdalene, and the Saviour. The dialogue concerns itself with the acquisition of true faith, and presents the Saviour not as Father, but as a Forfather, and describes him to be as "old as the light before him" (l. 49-50: ἰσόχρονο]ς μὲν τοῦ | [ὄντος πρὸ αὐ]το[ῦ φωτός]). The nomen sacrum "Father" (πατήρ) appears both as the more common πηρ as well as the more rare πρ and πρς. The text was formerly ascribed to various gospels, inter alia the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Truth and Sophia Pistis; see ed. pr. Following the discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts, the gospel has been identified as part of Sophia Jesu Christi (see Puech 1950: 91-154). It has since been reconstructed on the basis of Coptic texts; see Attridge 1975. There is no accentuation, punnctuation or other lectional aids. The text contains several nomina sacra. |
| Selection criteria | Literary genre (Non-canonical), Nomina sacra |
| Date from | 300 |
| Date to | 399 |
| Dating criteria | Palaeography. Dated to the early 4th c. by the ed. pr. based on parallels with P.Oxy. III 406 (patristic text from the 3rd c.) and P.Oxy. VI 847 (Gospel of John from the 3/4th c.) |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | The fragment was found in al-Bahnasā (Oxyrhynchos) during the excavations of Bernard Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt. |
| Accession number | Cambridge, University Library Add. Ms. 5894. |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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