Illustrative model — an approximation, not a scan of the original object.
c. 350 CE
Nag Hammadi Codex II
Fourth century CE.
- Material
- Papyrus in a leather binding
- Findspot
- Near Nag Hammadi, in a jar buried in the ground
- Discovery
- Found by farmers in 1945 with other codices; it reached the Coptic Museum in 1952.
- Held by
- Coptic Museum, Cairo
- Inventory number
- Inv. 10544
A papyrus book in a leather cover, from a group of codices written in Coptic. It contains several texts, among them the "Gospel of Thomas", a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus.
These texts are not part of the Bible accepted by the churches; they are an important source for studying the variety of religious ideas in those centuries.
Certainty: Established
Codex II holds the only complete surviving ancient copy of the "Gospel of Thomas".
- James M. Robinson (ed.) (1988) “The Nag Hammadi Library in English (3rd ed.)” Harper & Row
- Wikipedia “Nag Hammadi Codex II — Wikipedia” en.wikipedia.org
Certainty: Probable
The jar held twelve codices and leaves from a thirteenth.
Scholarly note: Accounts differ on how much was found, because some leaves were lost or dispersed before reaching the museum.
- James M. Robinson (ed.) (1988) “The Nag Hammadi Library in English (3rd ed.)” Harper & Row