Ǧabal al-Ṭārif is a mountain situated on the right bank of the Nile, c. 11km to the north-east of the modern town of Naǧʿ Ḥammādī, in Upper Egypt. In the general area of the ǧabal, in what has been presumed to have been December 1945, a collection of Coptic codices was found, since named “The Nag Hammadi Library”. The codices were purportedly found by local resident Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Sammān while digging sebakh – who he was with at the time of the discovery, where the actual find-spot is, and the timeline of the codices immediately after their discovery, are all greatly contested matters (see: Goodacre 2013; Denzy Lewis and Blount 2014; Nongbri 2016).

After coming onto the antiquities market, French archaeologist and papyrologist Jean Doresse set out on a ‘fact-finding’ mission in the area in January 1950, so as to locate the the find-spot, and understand more about the archaeological context from which the codices came. During this visit, Doresse identified the south-east flank of the Ǧabal al-Ṭārif as having been the location of the discovery, specifically “at the foot of the wall of rock”, as shown by the photograph (and accompanying caption) on the cover of his 1960 publication (Doresse 1960). Apparently, no locals were willing or able to provide supplementary information regarding the discovery (North 1962: 155 n. 6).

The work of Doresse was followed by that of James M. Robinson in the late sixties, who attempted to develop upon the information obtained by Doresse. Robinson dedicated time to investigative research in the region, with most of the accepted information regarding the discovery coming from his work. Unfortunately, it seems that the investigative techniques employed and the interview etiquette were not particularly appropriate and would not hold up to modern-day anthropological protocols (Goodacre 2013: 312-315). The whole situation was complicated further by the interval between the time of discovery and Robinson’s work in the area, which came some thirty years later. Additionally, as a result of local interpersonal disputes, which are dramatically cemented in popular consciousness as a heart-eating blood feud, there was a great deal of apprehension on the part of Muḥammad ʿAlī and other residents to return to the find-spot, remaining instead in the vicinity of al-Qaṣr. Every informant seems to have provided conflictual information, with a great deal of hearsay and rumor involved. Consequently, details differ between Robinson’s own publications, with overt inconsistencies rendering much of the origin-story of the Naǧʿ Ḥammādī codices unreliable (see Goodacre 2013: 308 for a table regarding major discrepancies between Robinson’s accounts). These exaggerations become particularly evident when compared with Doresse’s modest 1958 account and the difficulties he claimed to have encountered when trying to obtain additional information from residents. Further doubts on his conclusions are being cast by Robinson’s own admittance that Muḥammad ʿAlī was not a particularly reliable individual (Robinson 1979: 213).

Doresse’s own description cannot be considered wholly accurate either. He states that the area at the south-east flank of Ǧabal al-Ṭārif “marks the site of the ancient cemetery where the jar containing the manuscripts was buried” (Doresse 1960, caption to title image). However, the archaeological work conducted in 1975 found no trace of a cemetery in the area of the photograph. It is possible that Doresse was simply referring to the cave tombs as a cemetery area, however, and there are numerous accounts which identify the find-spot as having been in a tomb or a cave (Robinson 1979: 212). Doresse’s own conclusions are not entirely clear: “Was it in one of these tombs that the papyri were found? Certainly, one cannot, even if one searches very far around, see any other place – any ruin or sepulcher – from which they could have come” (Doresse 1960, caption to title image). However, Muḥammad ʿAlī adamantly stated in an interview in September of 1975 that it was not found in cave (Robinson 1979: 212).

Despite this claim, Muḥammad did at one point state that the codices were retrieved from the Sixth Dynasty Tomb of Thauti, which was indeed a cave, which was subsequently excavated to the bedrock without any results. This identification was later retracted by Muḥammad, who said that he had made the statement out of fear (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 72; Robinson 1979: 212). On another visit to the site, Muḥammad walked without hesitation to another area (visible in Doresse’s photo) which he claimed to have been the actual find-spot (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 74). Muḥammad had claimed that the codices were found alongside a body (which he would have reburied), so the excavators were looking for traces of a burial/reburial (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 73, 74; Robinson 1979: 213). Additionally, the jar in which the codices were said to have been located was supposedly smashed at the site, so traces of pottery were also being sought after. The area was excavated, but without any confirmatory evidence based on Muḥammad’s description. Nonetheless, local reports seemingly support Doresse’s identification of the south-eastern flank of Ǧabal al-Ṭārif as the find-spot, as most (or all) of the informants identified the same area as being the origin of the codices, despite not having visited to site since the initial discovery (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 75). To what extent this is the result of leading questions by Robinson, however, is uncertain.

Ǧabal al-Ṭārif is pierced by over 150 caves and ancient tombs, one of which dates to the Sixth Dynasty, while the rest seem to be from the first centuries AD. Some of these are supposed to have been occupied by hermits, with this likely the case for at least one of them, T8, which comprises a room-sized chapel and includes Coptic dipinti with opening lines of Psalms (Robinson 1979: 213; Coquin and Martin 1991: 1317). Based on coins found in this cave, its use seems to have extended as late as the seventh century (Robinson 1979: 213). This cave is the closest one to the boulder identified by Ḫalīfa (one of the people said to have been present at the discovery) to have been the location of the codices (Robinson 1979: 210, 213). Ḫalīfa passed this information on to ʿAbd al-Maǧīd Muḥammad Badārī, the guard for the Department of Antiquities at al-Qaṣr, who identified two distinct boulders on two different occasions, neither of which revealed anything (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 73; Robinson 1979: 210). Additional supporting information regarding the occupation/use of the area by Christians is T65, which had large crosses painted on the north and east walls. Radiocarbon analysis of textiles obtained from T117 gave a fifth century date, indicating that the area was in use around the time the codices are thought to have been written (Van Elderen and Robinson 1976a: 76, 77; Van Elderen 1979: 226).